subject: What You Really Need to Know About the Competition [print this page] What You Really Need to Know About the Competition
If a customer perceives a competitor to be superior - they are.
All the time and effort our experts spend on competitive analysis doesn't give us market truth. Reality comes from what our audiences believe.
What you learn from your markets, about yourselves and your competitors is what matters. Focus on customer perspective if you want to grow. But what do we need to know about our competition to be successful? And how do we find the right information and then apply it in the best ways possible?
You ask the right questions of the right people. Don't make things more complex by diving into all the trivia, examining every minute detail about your competition. Focus your analysis on two key aspects, and leave the rest of the details behind.
Identify their Achilles Heel. Everyone has an underbelly - including your competition. The trick is to choose the weakness that maps to your specific market focus. Picking five competitive silver bullets' that aren't important to your buyers doesn't do you much good. Picking the right point of focus can win the game. Sometimes you need one focus per market, sometimes there's one weakness that you can play across all your audiences. But be sure to focus attacking multiple potential weaknesses to find one that sticks is not a good strategy. Explore beyond product offerings. Underbellies show up in the most unexpected places; areas of expertise, quality of support, their caring' factor when the stuff hits the fan, that slow delivery that gets slower and slower. You'll find out about all these Achilles Heels as you build trust with your audience.
Identify their sweet spot. Every competitor has one market that they own. One of the strongest competitive strategies is to graciously give them that market space especially if it's a complicated market that will keep them busy. If they can win hands down, don't try to beat them. Focus on other markets where you can win. Be gracious as you pigeon hole them into that industry segment or customer problem. You can claim a very different and larger segment as your own. If there isn't enough market to give them their space while retaining a sizable opportunity for yourself then you might want to rethink your choice of markets. A limited market isn't usually the best growth opportunity unless it's a stepping stone to a much larger segment.
When it comes right down to it, the only that really matters is what our buyers think. Focused customer assessment is the best way to learn the truth about ourselves, our competitors and what we really need to enhance our future success.
Forget the " me too" followers approach. Change your view, follow your customers and lead your market!
