Who Hates You?
There’s always going to be people who dislike you and your company or your product. You can’t avoid that. While I both say that it is important to know what your competition is doing, I also agree with what Tyler Hurst wrote about not worrying about your competition.
Building on his point, it is important to know that if you are doing anything of consequence – anything that makes a difference in the world at all – then you’ll have people who hate you.
You’ll have people who badmouth you, degrade you, and tell all manner of half truths and outright lies to tear you down.
You’ll hear that you are overpriced, understaffed, or closing.
You’ll hear about how you are not using the latest or best tools or techniques.
You’ll hear that someone else can do it better, faster, cheaper.
You’ll hear that your clients are all leaving you.
You’ll hear about how you aren’t going to solve their problems anymore like you used to.
You’ll hear that your customer service has gone to hell.
Etc etc
You hearing these things are bad enough, when your current or potential clients are hearing these things – that’s when you’re going to start steaming.
The best thing you can do in this case is not to fight it, let your actions prove them wrong. When a client hears things like this, reassure them with all sincerity that you are still taking care of them the way you always have. Eventually your success will ruin their credibility.
If no one hates you, you’re not doing a good enough job of being remarkable.
