Going to war with a trading partner will cost you money and damage your relationship. But sometimes it’s the only way to respond to an outrageous demand or to step-change your profitability. Whoever wins gains a powerful precedent and a lasting psychological advantage, so it’s essential you go in with a clear objective and a very sound plan.
Click on the title to find out more about each of the five steps you need to take.
1. Choosing your weapons
Look across all the products, services, contacts and the competitive landscape that you share. Find the pressure-points that will put the most immediate and most powerful pressure on your counterparts
2. Timing your attack
Identify when your action will be most acutely felt, and when you will have the longest possible time to sustain it without damaging yourself
3. Planning the battle
How could they respond? What’s the worst they could do? Would they do it? How could you mitigate it? If you did, how would they respond?
4. Forcing the issue
How far will you go and how long could you hold out? What can you put in place that will ratchet the pressure on them? How can you offset the impact to your business? What escape routes can you plan to give you a way out of the conflict if it turns out you need one?
5. Protecting the relationship
What do you think your relationships will be afterwards? What do you want them to be? What steps can you put in place that will help?
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