When you compete in the same market for long enough, you get to know the people across the table just as well as the work itself.
In this video, Kent Waltman, Chief Administrative Officer, and Will Trepp, Co-Founder and COO of Rockport, reflect on years of competing in the commercial real estate technology market and explain why healthy competition plays a critical role in driving innovation. They discuss how competition sharpens focus, clarifies who you are as a business, and leads to better outcomes for clients.
Will and Kent also share why credibility and track record matter more than marketing claims, especially in enterprise software. Rather than focusing on competitors’ weaknesses, they explain the value of staying true to your strengths and consistently delivering for customers over time.
Watch to hear how Rockport’s leadership thinks about competition and innovation in a highly connected industry.
Visit the Rockport Studio to hear more perspectives on entrepreneurship, leadership, and long-term thinking:
https://www.therockportgroup.com/resources/rockport-videos
You compete with somebody for ten or fifteen years; you get to know them pretty well. I continue to say that I think competition is very good in our space. I think it drives innovation. You learn things from your competitors in watching how they deliver goods and services to their customers. And the market's big enough for competition, but in that competition, you must know and define who you are and what you're delivering, the price point at which you can deliver it. You must understand that, be able to explain it, and really have some thought behind it.
And I think the way customers can know that they're developing a long-term relationship with somebody that does understand their business is simply by looking at the track record. And I think there's really no way around that. And one of the things, as you and I were talking, your track record speaks for itself. And so, there's no better way to understand the future than looking at past delivery of those products and services. Right? And so, I would encourage our customers to always make sure they look at that, as they're evaluating who they want to do business with, which is the critical question.
You're a newcomer, but you're not because you knew us for the better part of, what, ten or fifteen years of competing against us. The commercial real estate finance world is a pretty small world. And especially in a small niche like that, you really get to see, the strengths and weaknesses of the people you're competing against. You get a real sense of someone, I think especially when you compete with them, because you see how they act under pressure. It really boils down to focusing on what your strengths are and selling to those strengths as opposed to trying to highlight, your opponent's weaknesses.
Eventually, what goes around comes around on that. And so, you'll pay a price for that. There's no reason to do it. If you're confident in the services you're providing and you know what you're doing, you don't have to trash others. You just must deliver.