I don’t know about you, but I do a lot of networking as this is how I get business for Koogar. Meeting new people at different events and locations around the Northwest is a great way to speak to and find potential clients.
In the tail end of last year I met a person who says “I do the same thing as you…“.
Have you ever met people who say that to you?
How can another company do the same thing as your company as all businesses are different:
- different way of producing work
- different quality of work
- different experience within their field
- use different products/software
- are able to sell to different types of people/businesses
- have different products
- and so on…
There are a lot of factors that are not the same… and most importantly Koogar’s USP is different.
I feel at Koogar we walk the talk and deliver what our clients need and want to attract new clients/customers.
However recently we have been subject to what is called a Professional Business Stalker. Its a bit of a grand name for what this person actually does…
Just wondered… Have you ever experienced this? If you have what have you done to deal with the person involved… If you haven’t what would you do in my shoes?
Passing yourself off as another company must be illegal… surely…
When networking, don’t tell people you do the same thing as someone else as you probably don’t. You should have your own USP, target clients and pricing structure… but what cant be helped is if your a step ahead of your competition.
We would love to hear from you and your thoughts.
We’ve seen our menus reproduced word for word, events duplicated in detail and strap lines blatantly copied.
It can be annoying and frustrating to have all your hard work plagiarized but I’ve learnt over the years that while our competition is busy looking backwards to see what we’ve been doing, we’re busy looking after our customers and looking forwards, coming up with fresh, new ideas. This will always give us an edge.
We now take heart in knowing that where we lead others follow, or trail behind. Imitation is, indeed, the sincerest form of flattery!
Hi Carol.
Thank you very much for your feedback with regards to the “Professional Business Stalker”.
All I can say is your words are very true!
Sometimes its a little difficult to understand why someone would do this to you as your trying your best to be the best and standout from the crowd.
Other times I do feel like I am ahead of the game and cutting edge by doing the things I do.
I know Im not alone with this subject as I have heard many stories while being in business. I hope I can carry on being the best I can be and show these people that Koogar are hard to follow.
Recently an ex-customer has copied my business model, using a business name very close to mine and undercut my rates.
They are currently using my business name on their web tab (Solicitor is looking into that) too..
It annoyed me at first, but as I have sat simmering about it, the ideas of how and what I need to do to keep one step in front of him have just come flooding in.. And off we go again..
I’m starting to feel flattered..
Greg, I felt exactly the same when this happened to me. You feel hurt and betrayed by someone you thought was an OK person. And you know what, it is OK to feel annoyed it’s what you do afterwards that makes you the person you are! I’m sure this person will find their way eventually but don’t let them knock you off course! Keep up the good work and stay positive.
What are you going to put into place in case this happens again?