When was the last time you spoke to your competitors? Or at least the people that most might consider your competitors?

In business we often think of competitors as 'those people over there' and there can be animosity.

But in reality if we are doing things right in our own business, they aren't competitors at all.

If you have differentiated yourself in your market and your industry then your message to others should be clear on how you stand out. How you are different. What you can do for them.

So in that case your competitors aren't your competitors at all. And they could become your allies.

There can be something truly powerful about speaking to others in your sector and your industry.

There is often so much which can be learned from doing this, and the effects are normally mutually beneficial.

Once you get to know other people in your space you might find out that what they offer is completely different to you anyway. You might offer different takes on the same services.

Your quality will be different. And your personalities will be very different.
What it is that you do will depend how much of these matter to your prospects, and you can be certain that they will view each of you differently.

Just think the last time you went to buy a car - each dealership (normally) has its own personality and the person you dealt with would be different at each place. And with independent dealers this is even more true.

Can the same be said about your industry?

I went out for lunch yesterday with three other business coaches. We talked about what had gone well recently, our wins, our successes and how we had achieved them, but we also talked about things which hadn't gone so well.

Being able to get advice from others in the same space allows a completely different perspective on things that I just can't get elsewhere. And we all become stronger because of it.

I am a member of a business community in Southampton and they do this on steroids. There's a property group, a creative group, a tech group and so on.

By bringing these businesses together to learn from each other it becomes so powerful.

So this week I encourage you to go out and find these people if you haven't already. I can almost guarantee that by working together you will all be better off.

And no - the sun wasn't shining on Bournemouth beach yesterday!