How to Drive Your Competition Crazy
Dear Visitor:
Welcome to my blog.
We are all operating in a highly-competitive and rapidly-changing business
environment. If you know your biggest advantages and the capabilities
of your competition, you can detect exploitable, market-busting niches
and take your business to the next level. Just don't let a bad economy
hold you back.
I hope the valuable tools and suggestions below will help you get ahead
of your competition and substantially increase your profitability.
1. First things first: Know yourself
Before you start researching your competition, spend as much time as you
can getting to know yourself, your company, your products or services.
Try to answer a few basic questions below. These questions will help you
understand your business and guide you towards new markets and
bigger opportunities...
"What business are you really in?"
"Where do you see your company in five, ten, twenty years?"
"If prospects don't buy from you, who do they turn to?"
"What are the major benefits of your products or services?"
"What are the most important reasons clients or customers buy from you?"
"Are they using your products in ways you never intended?"
2. Know your customer
To know your customers, you have to get out and meet them. Customers
can tell you what they want or what they need. However, they might not
know what they need beyond the immediate frame of reference. It is
YOUR job to go beyond your customers' "articulated" wants and serve
their "unarticulated" needs. It means that you should know them well
enough to satisfy desires they don't even know they have.
Not an easy task...but absolutely necessary for your growth...
3. Know your "enemy"
You should always be aware of what your competitors are up to.
Watch them closely and find out what their mission, goals and
objectives are. You should also determine what their strengths
and weaknesses are. It important to know if your competitors
are market-driven or product-driven. Do they consider you
their competition? What distribution channels do they use?
How do they position their products? What are their pricing,
discounting or distribution terms? And how do they handle
customer service?
Go to their store. Visit their headquarters. Buy their product or
services. You may even purchase a share of stock to receive reports.
Gaining competitive intelligence may be crucial to your success
(as long as you use ethical means to obtain information). In addition,
you need to read everything you can about your industry and
keep up-to-date on all the latest developments. You should
attend trade shows and meetings and even occasionally browse
government records. Why? Simply because your competitors often
have to reveal information about public offerings, bids, tax assessments,
patent registrations, etc. Look it up! Might come in handy...
4. Focus on your customers
That's probably one of the best ways to drive your competition
crazy. What you should do is focus squarely on your customers.
Your job is to find better, quicker and more efficient ways to help
them solve their biggest problems. You should also figure
out how to save them money. Smart companies provide toll-free
telephone numbers, offer free shipping, etc. Now, what can YOU
do to make their lives easier and eliminate headaches?
You may increase the value of your product or service without lowering
the price. You could increase the warranty length, improve support,
guarantee delivery or provide inexpensive upgrades. You should work
hard to establish brand loyalty and get people to buy over and over again.
You may even use "frequency marketing techniques" to keep customers
on board. For example: New York Times has a program for residential
subscribers. Members receive discounts from restaurants and other
businesses. That creates incentives to keep subscribing.
I hope some of my insights above will get your creative juices
flowing and encourage you to do your homework. Don't let old
assumptions hold you back. Sometimes, all it takes to get ahead
is ignore conventional wisdom, ignore conventional practice and
ignore conventional perspectives. This may result in a lot of new
business and referrals. Good luck with your endeavors!
If you need any help with your marketing or copywriting projects,
please call (516) 889-8636 today or email: angela@kambarian.com
Welcome to my blog.
We are all operating in a highly-competitive and rapidly-changing business
environment. If you know your biggest advantages and the capabilities
of your competition, you can detect exploitable, market-busting niches
and take your business to the next level. Just don't let a bad economy
hold you back.
I hope the valuable tools and suggestions below will help you get ahead
of your competition and substantially increase your profitability.
1. First things first: Know yourself
Before you start researching your competition, spend as much time as you
can getting to know yourself, your company, your products or services.
Try to answer a few basic questions below. These questions will help you
understand your business and guide you towards new markets and
bigger opportunities...
"What business are you really in?"
"Where do you see your company in five, ten, twenty years?"
"If prospects don't buy from you, who do they turn to?"
"What are the major benefits of your products or services?"
"What are the most important reasons clients or customers buy from you?"
"Are they using your products in ways you never intended?"
2. Know your customer
To know your customers, you have to get out and meet them. Customers
can tell you what they want or what they need. However, they might not
know what they need beyond the immediate frame of reference. It is
YOUR job to go beyond your customers' "articulated" wants and serve
their "unarticulated" needs. It means that you should know them well
enough to satisfy desires they don't even know they have.
Not an easy task...but absolutely necessary for your growth...
3. Know your "enemy"
You should always be aware of what your competitors are up to.
Watch them closely and find out what their mission, goals and
objectives are. You should also determine what their strengths
and weaknesses are. It important to know if your competitors
are market-driven or product-driven. Do they consider you
their competition? What distribution channels do they use?
How do they position their products? What are their pricing,
discounting or distribution terms? And how do they handle
customer service?
Go to their store. Visit their headquarters. Buy their product or
services. You may even purchase a share of stock to receive reports.
Gaining competitive intelligence may be crucial to your success
(as long as you use ethical means to obtain information). In addition,
you need to read everything you can about your industry and
keep up-to-date on all the latest developments. You should
attend trade shows and meetings and even occasionally browse
government records. Why? Simply because your competitors often
have to reveal information about public offerings, bids, tax assessments,
patent registrations, etc. Look it up! Might come in handy...
4. Focus on your customers
That's probably one of the best ways to drive your competition
crazy. What you should do is focus squarely on your customers.
Your job is to find better, quicker and more efficient ways to help
them solve their biggest problems. You should also figure
out how to save them money. Smart companies provide toll-free
telephone numbers, offer free shipping, etc. Now, what can YOU
do to make their lives easier and eliminate headaches?
You may increase the value of your product or service without lowering
the price. You could increase the warranty length, improve support,
guarantee delivery or provide inexpensive upgrades. You should work
hard to establish brand loyalty and get people to buy over and over again.
You may even use "frequency marketing techniques" to keep customers
on board. For example: New York Times has a program for residential
subscribers. Members receive discounts from restaurants and other
businesses. That creates incentives to keep subscribing.
I hope some of my insights above will get your creative juices
flowing and encourage you to do your homework. Don't let old
assumptions hold you back. Sometimes, all it takes to get ahead
is ignore conventional wisdom, ignore conventional practice and
ignore conventional perspectives. This may result in a lot of new
business and referrals. Good luck with your endeavors!
If you need any help with your marketing or copywriting projects,
please call (516) 889-8636 today or email: angela@kambarian.com
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