Your Real Competition Isn't Who You Think

You might think your obstacles in business development are other service providers in your niche.

In reality, your competition takes such forms as internal resistance, false solutions, belief barriers, and relational dynamics:

𝙄𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙣𝙖𝙡 𝙍𝙚𝙨𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚:

• Procrastination (“I'll get to it next quarter.”)

• Perfectionism (“I need to do more study first.”)

• Fear of failure (“What if I make the wrong decision?”)

• Decision fatigue (I’ve got too much going on right now for this.”)

𝙁𝙖𝙡𝙨𝙚 𝙎𝙤𝙡𝙪𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨:

• Do-it-yourself mentality (“Let’s Google it.”)

• Throwing tools at the problem: buying a tactic when a strategy reset is needed

• Band-aid fixes (“Let’s just patch it for now.”)

• Overreliance on AI tools: mistaking automation for insight

𝘽𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙚𝙛 𝘽𝙖𝙧𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙧𝙨:

• “We’ve tried that before.”

• “We’re different and no one else gets us.”

• “That won’t work in our industry.”

• “Our clients don’t care about that.”

• “That sounds too good to be true.”

𝙍𝙚𝙡𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙡 𝘿𝙮𝙣𝙖𝙢𝙞𝙘𝙨 (particularly when the client is corporate)

• Internal politics, such as fear of stepping on toes or offending leadership

• Waiting for consensus (“We’ll move once everyone’s on board.”)

• Fear of vulnerability (“If I bring someone in, I’ll look weak.”)

• Loyalty to underperforming vendors (“We’ve worked with them forever.”)

Even when a client seems to be pitting one provider against another, there are often unseen competitors lurking in the background.

The provider who gets hired is often the one who recognizes the unseen and gently sets it in the middle of the table.

This is where The Generosity Mindset® comes in. The target of your focus should be the storms that are raging in the heads of your clients.

Marketing to the competition is often a disguise for self-absorption. You might be focused more on your inadequacies relative to another provider or some other mindset than on where the real issue lies.

So ditch the PowerPoint. Listen deeper, be curious, and serve instead of sell.

That’s how you build trust.

That’s how you get hired.

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Are you frustrated by your pricing? Need help articulating your value? Do you need a better way to identify and close your best-fit clients? Do you want to restore the joy you used to have for your business? I may be able to help you.

I’m John Ray, a business consultant and coach, author, and podcaster. I advise solopreneurs and small professional services firms on their two most frustrating problems: pricing and business development. I’m passionate about how changes in mindset, positioning, and pricing change the trajectory of a business and the lifestyle choices of its owners. My clients are professionals who are selling their expertise, such as consultants, coaches, attorneys, CPAs, accountants and bookkeepers, marketing professionals, and other professional services practitioners. Click here to learn more or contact me directly.

I’m the author of the national bestseller, The Generosity Mindset: A Journey to Business Success by Raising Your Confidence, Value, and Prices. The book covers topics like value and adopting a mindset of value, pricing your services more effectively, proposals, and essential elements of growing your business. The book is available at all major physical and online book retailers.