Sometimes, a Perceived Competitor is the Best Corporate Partner

In an active project at the moment, I’m assisting a client company in their Internationalisation plans and helping them enter the Middle Eastern Healthcare markets. So Maidsfield is identifying and opening the doors to their best-fit System Integrator or Support Partners. [Sometimes called: VARs (Value Added Resellers), Implementers, Channel Partners, Solution Providers, Dealers, Agents, ISVs (Independent Software Vendors).]

In analysing the specific markets, on first looks, the competitors are diverse companies that seem to have responded to opportunities on the edge of the core industry domain expertise. Basically the companies don’t seem to specially focus on Healthcare but have delivered projects into the sector. So, should we consider them as competitors?

In some cases the perceived competing System Integrator companies have partnered with competing product companies and implemented their product into the market. In other cases they seem to have developed their own. There is only so much you can tell from reading their websites and searching the news items. There is only so much reading between the lines you can do with Middle Eastern companies; the lines are few. They haven’t adopted the active and open web communications to the same level as Irish companies yet, or to that of many other western markets.

The scenarios, to be validated, could be as follows (note: I’m an optimist first, but a simple phone call can verify the scenarios, nothing ventured etc etc):

1) The Perceived Competitors have gained some exposure into this market but haven’t yet started to really push it as a real opportunity. With the right product and specialist partners with the relevant track record, who is serious about tackling the market, they may be ready to move and use their connections and expertise to build a new business stream.

2) The Perceived Competitor’s solution may compete with one of your products, but they have room for your other products and would appreciate the opportunity to sell more to the same or related markets.

3) The Perceived Competing System Integrator is focussed on making money not developing solutions, so if you present them with a bigger and better opportunity within their local markets and demonstrate the commitment to supporting them, they may be interested.

4) The Perceived Competitor doesn’t have a product at all, but technologies and capabilities. They may even be only communicating their interest to move into this market but haven’t established themselves yet. If you can present them with a strong solution, committed support, faster deal turnaround, better margins and happier customers, then they may be interested.

OK, maybe they are competitors, but they will be very quick to tell you this, once you get them on the phone. So be ready, but don’t give in too easy.

Maybe their first impression of you is that you are a direct competitor but any of the above may apply. Seek out the opportunity to talk at length with them to learn about their market. If they compete, try to find out how important this sector is to them, if they have a specialist division within their company for this sector or whether they see it as a growing or stagnant market. Start with the soft questions and dig a little deeper each time. It’s just a conversation. Equally, be willing to open up a little to what your company is doing. If you compete, so what, just compare notes.

more on this later…DK