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Nov 11th

Both Sides of Choosing to Disconnect, Un-Follow or De-Friend your Competitors on Social Networks

friends_enemies1This is an interesting debate that has come up a lot recently as I’m out talking to business folks and organizations on how they can effectively use social web tools in their business efforts.

The client question always goes something like this: “Should I remove my competitors from my network on LinkedIn?”

You can go ahead and replace LinkedIn with Twitter or Facebook.  The platform is irrelevant.  What’s important is the reasoning behind the act of disconnecting, un-following or de-friending other people in the business world who might present some type of threat to your efforts or your company.  I always respond with the same question.

“Why would you ever want to reduce the reach of your social graph?”

Here’s the top 3 responses I’ve heard from the client side recently:

  1. I don’t want my competitors to be able to see my clients.  They might try to contact them and take my business.
  2. My competitors might look at my profile and try to copy what I’m saying or doing so they can use it too.
  3. I’m not really interested in what they are saying or doing.

And here’s my opinions on those lines of reasoning.  Please pay special attention to the bold and italicized word in the last sentence.  These are my opinions only, based on my own business experience.  There really is no definite right or wrong answer here.  The right or wrong answer depends heavily on how your organization and industry operate, how your people do business, your relationship with your existing clients, the value and service you offer your clients and many, many other variables.

But here’s what I think:

I don’t want my competitors to be able to see my clients…
So what if you competitors can see who your work with?  If you’re a blogger or use other social media publishing tools, you’re now required (to a certain extent) to disclose that information regardless.  You’ve worked hard to build your client relationships, haven’t you?  If so, what are you scared of?  If your client is willing to jump ship on your business relationship, simply because a competitor can see them and send them messages, you have a much bigger problem to deal with in terms of the client’s relationship with you and your organization.

My competitors might look at my profile…
Yes, they probably will.  They are also going to look at your website and marketing materials and trade show booth.  They might even try to get their hands on an old proposal you issued years back if the opportunity arises. Simply put, both you and your competitors are going to do whatever you can (within your personal ethical boundaries) to get whatever information and competitive advantage you can against your competition.  Banning them from being your LinkedIn connection will not make much difference in how much information they can access about you and your company.  Your only real choice is to accept this as fact, and move on.

Also consider this: do you plan on working in the same company your entire life?  If so, good for you!  But for most, the days of staying in one place for 30 years are long gone.  Economic times and generational needs have changed.  Try getting a millennial to stay at the same company for more than five years, and you’ll understand what I mean.  When the time comes for you to make a change of scenery (and trust me, someday it will), where will you look first?  Wouldn’t it be helpful to have a inside relationship with a competing provider?

I’m not really interested…
To me this is a cardinal sin in business.  For one, why would you not be interested?  These are your fellow subject-matter-experts.  Your competition knows as much, if not more than you do about your industry.  Chinese general and military strategist, Sun-tzu told us to: “Keep your friend close, and your enemies closer.”  By cutting off connections with your competition, you make the choice to give up access to an automated flow of information, coming from them and their own professional network.  Is it not a benefit to have access to more information when making strategic decisions, especially in a competitive environment?

What do you think of this debate?  Has it come up in your office?  How are you or your organization dealing with the decision to connect with, or not connect with your competition?

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  • You bring up a very interesting point, Jay. Thanks for the comment. IMHO, if sales people are really doing their job and uilding real relationships, it's a moot point as to if someone else connects with them on social media networks. For one, just because I follow someone on Twitter or LinkedIn does not necessarily mean that my relationship is strong enough with them that I could approach them as a sales rep.

    Having the ability to monitor those relationships via SM is a good thing. For one, it allows departments to police themselves. If one of the salke associates is neglecting contact or letting the relationship slip, others in the organization will have a sense of what's happening. Silos in organizations in terms of who's doing what with which prospect or client have always presented challenges. You are correct in that having access to new media profiles makes some portion of previously guarded information public.

    For me, I think it's really an argument for shifting organizational culture, from cut throat and guarded relationships, to open dialog and sharing. The culture of a sales department is always the side product of the attitudes of the leaders and the tone they set. Social media tools can help make those nuances visible, but shifting organizational culture happens as a result of humans working together on the ground...
  • Jay Schmidt
    Nate, I really like all the opinions you lay out in the post. Everything makes really good sense. I'm wondering what your opinion is on friending / following as it pertains to a sales organization. Most sales organizations have archaic sales guidelines where accounts are "carded" by individual sales people and therefore cannot be called on by any other salesperson in the organization. What are the repercussions of following an individual or an organization that is already "carded" by another sales associate in your organization? Is that the same as making a sales call and violating the sales guidelines? At my company I follow several agencies that are carded by another sales associate. So even if I can't have direct access to that organization and present a sale, I can at least track the activity and become familiar so that I might be able to engage them if that salesperson moves on or if they drop the account. Its never been brought up to me, but I have a feeling that my fellow sales associates would be a bit put-off that I have been following their clients and in some instances, RTs or replies@ could be misconstrued as actual contact, thus violating sales guidelines. Any thoughts on those scenarios?
  • Eric
    I agree completely.
    My company has advised us not to "friend" people from companies we contract with, a policy ignored by nearly everyone. Most people where I work came from companies we contract with. Several heard of the job they currently have via their social network.

    Business relationships are with people. When people switch companies, it's good to be able to know where to find the ones you need to get the job done.

    On a social networking site, you are your own worst enemy and best friend. What you tell everyone can make or break you. Your friends (good or bad) have little to do with that.
  • This is something that has definitely come up in our office when we tweet out pictures of current projects we are doing for clients. Can they go and "steal" our clients? Yes. But if I am doing a good job creating a trusting relationship I shouldn't have to worry about my client jumping ship. And besides, companies risk competitors stealing clients every day, with or without social media!

    I would rather have access to my competitors information and learn from them as well. You can have "friendly" relationships with competitors. We do. If we don't have something, or need to know how to go about producing something in a better manner, we ask! Our competitors do the same with us. I don't see why people want to go and shut out others from receiving their message, or vise-versa. There is a lot we can learn from other people and other companies without sacrificing ethics.
  • Thanks for the comment Stephanie. I tend to agree with you, but I'm learning that there is a very large population of people who are guarded about their client relationships. There's probably good reason for that - but IMHO, the access that social media creates should not be one of those reasons. :)
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