Discussing the Competition

The safest way to discuss the competition whenever chatting with potential clients is to say nothing that is in any sense disparaging. [I always silently recall a Victorian line - "All our brothers are valiant and all our sisters are virtuous" - as a guide.] It can nonetheless be tempting to draw contrasts without being direct.

While in college, I had a summer job with the State Insurance Department. Stuck in a back room with a bunch of ledgers, I would get phone calls from citizens wanting to know about the financial health of insurance companies. We were under strict orders to express no opinion on that subject and yet I found it was possible to provide some interesting comparisons: "Let's see, sir. The Cockadoodle Do Insurance Company that you are considering has a total of $2,000 in assets while Old Line Blue Chip Insurance Inc.of Boston has $250 billion." I figured if they couldn't get the hint - and some could not - then they were beyond rescue.


It can be frustrating. We've lost bidding wars with firms that I would not hire to watch paint dry. Although diplomatically-worded explanations of how we might differ "from other consulting firms" can be tucked in our proposals, that hinting can only go so far. On occasion, we've been called in to handle matters in the wake of these characters. It has always been frightening if not edifying. No business person wants to be edged out by the competition and yet you always hope that if you don't get the contract, it will go to a respected competitor. There is, however, a hard truth:

Some days, Cockadoodle Do gets the gig.