There is a saying to keep your friends close and your enemies closer. Well, all though that is a good saying it doesn’t really apply in my case.My competitors include some good friends and acquaintences, We respect each other, although we do get jealous of each others successes. Especially when they are ahead of us on Google.It’s good to keep in mind, especially in a service
Couldn’t agree more. I’ve actually learned a lot from my competitors and hope they took some from me too. I’m on good terms with the majority in my area and good friends with several.
I keep up with mine in passing, through foreign relations 
Name this movie:
[B]Charlie[/B]: Eh, lieutenant, what were you doing there?
[B]Goose[/B]: Communicating.
[B]Maverick[/B]: Communicating. Keeping up foreign relations. You know, giving him the bird!
[B]Goose[/B]: [[I]Charlie looks puzzled, so Goose clarifies] You know, the finger
[B]Charlie[/B]: Yes, I know the finger, Goose.
[/I]
depends who your competition is
I had one guy I said “hi” to from my truck that was unmarked and no equip in it that weekend.
He was cleaning garage door glass, he stopped cleaning walked up to my truck as I extended my hand for a handshake and introduced myself, he literally pulled his hand away turned around and walked away, ha! Never had that before.
I kept waving at him as we would pass each other on the road
I even referred jobs that were out of my scope and in his to him and talked to his wife on the phone for awhile as I did.
after 7 years, he finally waves back as I pass him on the road, lol
Of course, no one is going to share details or much about their strategies, secrets and “what’s working”, but developing a rapport certainly is helpful and can be an assett at times.
I even went into the local Fish office and introduced myself and talked a bit to the husband and wife owners, who were very nice people. i ended up referring a lot of jobs out of my service area to them back in the heydey of “rolling out of bed” and the phones ringing off the hook (meaning the days of [B][I]zero [/I][/B]marketing effort bringing in [I][B]too much work[/B][/I])
And actually the more you know who you are for and your niche marketing wise, the more you realize you may not even have a head to head constant competitor in your local area! Making it even easier to talk to others.
“Top Gun”
I personally know some of my competitors, I just avoid talk shop when we visit. That way we can stay friends and avoid any personal conflict. At least as much as possible on my end. Strategy: [I]Be a peace maker not a peace breaker.[/I]
There is a window cleaner in my county who called me and asked if he can refer P Wing jobs to me. He know’s I also do window’s but I have gotten some good paying jobs from his customers. I believe we can all work together if the effort and “want to” aspect is there.
Those were the days, now you might as well sleep in lol
I have no competition…
I only have one direct competitor that I’ve befriended. We’re both members of the Celtic Arts Foundation, have a fondness for very good single-malts and play music. Kind of hard to be enemies with someone like that. I’ve tried to strike up conversation with others that shut me down pretty quick though.
I find that the sole operators (making an educated guess) who do route work only have no interest in talking and become guarded when they see us. Others in the same boat as us, focused on residential, are pretty laid back and friendly.
I can not think of a company that I hate, but I can think of several ones that we help each other without giving up too much info.
