I saw a post on LinkedIn today about the importance of doing combat with your competitors.

That’s misguided and wrong.

When you devote resources to something, you are by definition taking them away from something else. Every bit of time and attention you focus on your competitor means less focus on the customer.

Competitive focus is an internal exercise. It makes you feel good to rally the troops, maybe. But your customer doesn’t care if you beat the competition or put them out of business. They just want their problems solved.

Takeaway: Put down the sword. Get close to the customer. And win.