Respect your competiton

Respect your competiton

Relax, I say. Its okay to see what your competitors are doing and what they are doing well. Its okay to benchmark yourself against them and see yourself from their eyes as well as how your customers see you and them in the same light.

Its okay to accept that you have direct competitors and that they are other organisations and people that you are competing with! Believe me, many still say – “we don’t really have any direct competitors, they are organisations who do the same thing but they are not competitors really” Really!

Its okay to think about competitors but keep everything in balance – lets not get obsessed. However lets focus on some detail and some actionables.
Some thoughts for you to chew on:
Research: Research what your competitors are doing, why they’re doing it, and what they’re achieving from it. Take note of what they’re doing well that you could do better, but also capitalise on their weaknesses by making them your strengths.
Improve on competitors’ concepts: Market the difference you can make to the customer, rather than how you are different from your competitor. If you see a competitor doing something well, assess how you can improve on it to make a better service for your customers.
And finally:
Ditch your USP: The chances are, your USP is not truly unique, we have all picked this from generic management training and possibly TV programmes such as Dragons Den where they are always looking for uniqueness. What if you stopped doing unique and just did better and gave more value? Would that work for you? Focus on what you’re good at and as said above just play more to your strengths.
Any other pointers, thoughts?