I was at a conference yesterday, and talking to a lot of similar-sounding vendors.  Apparently I wasn’t the only person to think so, because I overheard a conversation that went something like this:

“We do X and Y for your site and Z is the benefit you’ll see.”

“Oh, so you’re like Company B?”

“No, we don’t compete with them.  They do P and Q, we do X and Y.”

Nope, guess what?  You do compete with them.  When your audience sees you as part of the same solution set, you are competing for their attention and their comprehension.  They may not issue an RFP where they lay out exactly what they need and assess how you vs. company B meet their needs.  You probably won’t even get that far.

It’s not the customer’s responsibility to figure out exactly what differentiates you from other companies, and it’s not their burden to figure out how to use your technology “right”.   Your competition is every other option that your customers would choose if you weren’t around.

Who’s the competitor you should fear the most?  Status quo.  Doing nothing different is a really attractive vendor.  It’s cheap.  It doesn’t require learning any new technology.  It doesn’t require justification in a budgeting meeting or drive up customer service calls.

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