No one wants their competitor or the fiercest enemy to “help them”. Think about that story of the Good Samaritan. The story is about a man who is injured on the roadside and many of his own “people” just pass him by and offer no help. Then a Samaritan walks by. The Samaritans are your people’s worst enemy… the fiercest competitor, the people that you hate more than death itself. And the Samaritan stops and looks at you. You begin to worry thinking he is going to kill you or take advantage of you because you are down and injured. You are scared… but the Samaritan does you no harm. In fact, he mends your wounds, helps you and then heads on his way when he knows you are safe.
I can honestly say that over the years I have been blessed to have been assisted and helped by my competitors and “arch enemies” several times. I remember when I was a Director of Development for a cancer agency. I thought about a capital campaign around setting up an endowment for the organization. A woman at a different cancer agency overheard my conversation and approached when I was done talking to my peer. She apologized for “eavesdropping” and reminded me my goal of my organization was to find a cure for this specific cancer and by setting up an endowment (something that cannot be closed down) I was basically saying to our donors that we don’t ever think we will find a cure so support our endowment fund so we can continue to do research… even through our mission statement said we WILL find a cure. On other occasion a competitor radio salesperson (long time ago) provided me with a lead that they could not help, and it became a big client for me in my radio days. And there was the time we were short some product at a community event for an activation and a competitor came to the rescue.
So, when this happens how are you supposed to feel? Do you feel shame for accepting help from the competition? Do you question their motives? I know we all prefer to be self sufficient and often have a hard time in asking for help from friends and peers… and then a competitor supports you. Wow how does that make you feel?
I used to think… I cannot tell anyone. I cannot admit that if it was not for my competitor I may have made a huge mistake. Then I “put on my big boy pants” and came to the realization people just instinctively want to help other people. (Sure, there are the few a-holes out there, but they are fewer and farther between than you realize.) When this happens to you, feel grateful. Thank them and make a new friend. For me, at this stage in my career, I am 100% open to speaking with the competition, helping them however I can, especially younger start ups. Many people over the years have helped me without expectation of anything in return and now I try and so the same.
As for that injured man on the roadway that was helped by the hated Samaritan… he obviously told the truth of what happened and today we have a centuries old example of how we should act… just like the Good Samaritan.
If you would love to meet over a hundred folks who fit into that “Good Samaritan” profile and learn from them about everything from sponsorship to doing good business… then register for Canada’s #1 sponsorship marketing conference, the Western Sponsorship Congress® – Alberta Forum .
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