I attended an interesting presentation late last year in which I first heard the term: "Coopetition." A combination of the words Cooperation and Competition.

After spending some time thinking about the concept I decided at the beginning of this year that I no longer believed in competition. Having adopted that mindset for the last 6 months has really shown me that doors that you couldn't even see before get flung wide open when you embrace this way of thinking. I've even started referring a lot of competitors to each other.

Here's the way I see it. As long as you go in without preconceived notions and an open mind, you can have a great meeting with your competitor. 90 percent of the time you'll find that there are a variety of things that your company does better than they do, and there are several things that they do better than you. Therein lies the opportunity. If you can find these areas, and find a way to work together to take advantage of these expertise you'll both win!

I know, I know. You think I'm nuts! Humor me. Pick up the phone right now and call one of your competitors. Tell them that you'd like to get together for lunch, a cup of coffee, or better yet a couple of beers. Be up front! Either tell them on the phone when you're setting the appointment what your agenda is so that they can prepare themselves, or make sure you explain the purpose of you're meeting at the beginning of your time together. Better yet, have them read this blog post (you can use the ‘e-mail this page' link at the top of the page).

There are other reasons to network with your competition as well. Read my friend: Thom Singer's August 2nd post entitled "Competitors As Friends" on his Business Development/Networking Blog. In this post Thom suggests some other compelling reasons why you might want to build a good relationship with your competition.

Look for other opportunities as well. Do they service a market that you're not interested in? Refer that business to them. Maybe they'll be willing to call up their old prospects and refer them to you. Imagine the power and goodwill that would be created in your own mind if someone that you decided not to do business with called you and said the following: "Ms. Prospect. I know you've decided not to do business with us, and that's ok. In case you still have a need for wacky widgets I thought I'd offer to connect you with our competitor. I want to make sure you get what you need, and they might be a better fit for you. Should I have them give you a call?" I don't know about you, but I'd probably fall out of my chair. I'd also have a really great feeling about both companies.

The possibilities are endless. Try it! What's the worst that could happen?

Have a competitor experience you'd like to share? I'd love to hear about it. Send me an e-mail: scott |at| networkinaustin.com.

Happy networking!

Scott Ingram
NetworkInAustin.com