How Can Your Competition Also Be Your Customer?


The limousine industry has undergone a major transformation in the last 5 years or so.  Simply stated, almost every limousine service has now become a nationwide or global concern due to a proliferation of affiliate networks that currently thread nearly all limousine and ground transportation companies together, either directly or indirectly.  These relationships link services in differing markets together, offering potential sales opportunities that might not have been recognized prior to the transformation, but they have also created a situation that seems counter-intuitive...when your "competition" becomes your client.  I'm sure it has been happening all along, but it's taking place on a much larger scale now.
For example, O'Hare-Midway Limousine Service has been operating in the Chicagoland area for over 55 years.  If a client were to call us in the 1990's and ask if we could help them with a limousine in New York, we would have scrolled through our Limousine Industry Directory and used a scientific method called "eenie-meenie-miney-moe" to select a company for them to call.  If that same question is asked now, we would reference our partner network to arrange their transportation, handling everything for the traveler, and even processing their payment.  The best part is that the work is done for the traveler.  The company has been researched, they are properly insured, and are similar in method and philosophy to ours.   However, due to a shrinking of the landscape, we are now in direct competition with that New York company.  What makes this ironic (sort of) is that...while we're in competition...we've also become a client, since our client will be transported by the New York  service, who in turn will be paid by O'Hare-Midway.  Simple...right?
The principle works both ways.  A company in New York can now advertise that it provides transportation in the Chicagoland area as well.
 The "globalization" of our industry has been a good thing, especially for the traveling public. It has made finding transportation solutions easier, safer, and more reliable for our clients.  A happy and satisfied customer is likely to be a repeat customer, which is better for us, even if that customer is our competition.