(David’s update: this article was written in spring of ’09.  There are now unfortunatley several more competitors who have closed, but the tenets below still apply.)

Dance on the grave?  Hardly.

Opportunity?  Perhaps, but that needs to be handled with respect.  I’m as competitive as the next salesperson, but in such situations, it’s too easy to “overreach.”

So what is the best way to proceed?  I believe it involves responsibly making  your network of clients, contacts and prospects aware of the situation, and of your desire to be of service . . . and then step back and let them choose the next move.

We presently have a case in point here in the DC area.

You may have heard that a local CD/DVD manufacturing competitor of ours, Imatek http://www.imatekcd.com/ has recently closed its doors.

Ok, I’ll be frank . . . there are some other competitors I’d feel worse about closing, but regardless of my personal opinion, let’s face it, a lot of good people inevitably get hurt when a business closes.

So I will say just this:  If you have worked with me before, then you are already aware of the excellent customer service and competitive pricing I can provide. 

If you haven’t used Video Labs before, I invite you to contact me dryan@videolabs.net  301-217-0000 x104 to discuss with me further how we can be of service.   You may also find it useful to check out what clients say about me at http://tinyurl.com/44uw9j 

Furthermore, those who have worked with me know about my referral discount policy: http://tinyurl.com/6om562  I will extend this to include, through April, former Imatek customers who have not used Video Labs previously.

Again, I appreciate your consideration.

And regardless of what you do, keep marketing out there!  It’s more important now than ever.  You may be interested in reading my blog listing some marketing tips for these tough times: http://tinyurl.com/bq6gu9

As always, I welcome your comments below.

(You can also follow me on Twitter at www.twitter.com/DRMediaSolution or LinkedIn http://www.linkedin.com/in/davidryanmediasolutions )