Biz Dev 101: don’t speak poorly about customers.

Working on Farcaster and Warpcast. Longer thoughts at https://dwr.email

📷 + Channel Owner /nature | Go-To-Market and Service Design Sprint Master /distribution

Helping build @midao. Probably on the water if I’m not thinking about crypto. /eagles /betting /off-grid

The enemy is always the problem/pain you are solving. When you speak negatively about your competitors you are taking the focus off the problem that you solve better than anyone. 

You're creating dissonance which is bad for your brand and in some cases it forces the person your talking to to defend your competitor, especially if they do business with them. Don't do this.

This is sage advice. Thank you for explaining. 

How would you broach the subject? Be objective?

I usually acknowledge a competitor and what they’re doing - and how what we’re doing something similar, but while solving some of the pain points that people may find with our competitors.

Exactly. You can acknowledge competitors without tearing them down. Something like: “They’ve done a great job bringing attention to this space. We’re approaching it differently—focused on [X pain] that we kept hearing wasn’t being addressed.”

That way, you stay focused on the customer’s pain while positioning your solution as the natural next step. It’s confident, not combative.