Image by Diamondduste via Flickr

I noticed something interesting at the gym. The gym I go to is by no means a meat market. . . there are few mirrors, most of the patrons are really there to work out, not to see and be seen, the clientle, on the whole, seems to care about attaining or maintaining their health through exercise and that’s their agenda as far as being there goes.

On occasion, despite this not being one of ‘those’ kinds of gyms, I notice that I’ll be on a stationary bike or elliptical machine going at my pace and then someone will get on the machine next to me. My response is not conscious. I automatically pick up my pace a little. It could be that my other than conscious wants us to show off a little at how good we’re getting. Maybe it doesn’t want to be out done.

Conversely, I have also noticed if I get on a machine next to someone, they’ll often do the same thing. Most people have a high desire for competition. This drive may or may not be something we embrace. I’m a competitive person who embraces it. As a sales person I loved challenging myself using other people’s records as benchmarks. I would constantly challenge myself to double or triple what the other sales people around me were doing.

As resources become limited, competition escalates. Watch any show about animals and how they compete for water and food and mates. In the U.S., especially, we have managed to build our entire economy on the survival of the fittest. We don’t care about trade or cooperation, but compete for recognition, for money, for mates, for parking spots, for first in line. Ironically, when we’re done competing out in the real world, many of us enjoy watching other’s compete–sports, game shows, reality contests, beauty competitions. WE LOVE A GOOD COMPETITION.

My observation at the gym showed me that competition can be a huge incentive for self improvement. If I frame it as such, I can convince myself that by working out harder, showing them what I’m made of, I win. And really, everyone wins. We’re all in a context where we are doing ourselves good (unless fanaticism plays a role and injury strikes).

So how can this base instinct be used most effectively for selling our products or services? Well, we see it all the time. . . two gas stations across the street from each other with slightly different prices, the lower of the two deciding to take that much less for the product. I’m not suggesting you lower your prices by any means, but through framing, we can show ourselves, our products, our services, as the answer in the minds of our affluent prospects and clients. ‘I am by no means the cheapest, and in fact, I may be one of the more expensive realtors, but you really do get what you pay for.’

What is your relation to competition? Do you embrace it or shy away from it?

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