business organization

An Effective Small Business Tactic to Counter the Competition

When you are managing a small business it is absolutely vital that you understand what your customers are thinking. You have to remember that your customers are not just buying your products or services, they are buying what your products and services do for them. Every time your customer is considering buying decision this question is in their mind, “What’s in it for me?” “How does it make my life better, reduce my costs, increase my profits, make my job easier, makes me and managing my business more effective and where is the fun?” Before you can start evaluating your competition, you have to understand what your customers regard as value in your products or services.

There is only one way to find out and that is to ask them. Get together with some of your existing customers and your potential customers. Buy them lunch. Explain that you are going to ask them a series of questions and that you will listen intently to their answers. You will make notes of their answers and incorporate their information into your marketing.

When you get to the coffee stage at lunchtime start asking your questions. First of all, walk them through the buying experiences that they have had with your business. Go through every single point where they have had contact with your business staff. Go through your advertising, product, packaging, public relations, sales service, receptionists, the showroom and so on. Ask them to evaluate each of these points of contact. This will give you a reasonable picture of your business strengths and weaknesses. At this stage you may also ask your existing customers what they would like to see in the way of improvements. Their answers may surprise you.

Then ask them to do the same with your business competitors. Ask the same questions and you will be out to make a direct comparison from your customers’ point of view of the comparative strengths and weaknesses of your business and that of your competitors. It will enable you to target the weaknesses of your competition so that you can gain more market share. This exercise will also enable you to recognize the strengths of your competition and maybe identify areas where you do not wish to compete. At the end of this stage you may wish to ask this question, “If you had a magic wand what would you change about the competitor’s performance?” This may reveal information that will enable you to meet their needs.

The overall picture is important because it gives you the opportunity to identify the needs of customers that are not currently being met. This will give you direction for positioning your business in the most advantageous way. It may even open up another niche market.

Even if you have owned your business for several years, this sort of approach can rejuvenate your sales during times when there is a very tight market place. It is a strategy that should be used at least once every 6 to 9 months because of the quality information it reveals low cost.

PLMitchell is a business consultant who has helped many diverse businesses to increase their profits. He has created and owned several business and has a wealth of practical experience which he is willing to share freely.
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