#52 The simple way to outplay your competition

Have you ever felt a little overwhelmed by your competition? Wondered how
you are going to outplay them? Wondered how you are ever going to be
first choice for customers?

Some
of us are fortunate enough to work in very niche areas, but the rest of
us have chosen businesses that operate in a crowded market place. For
the latter I’m thinking mainly of people who are using their ‘trained’
skill as the basis of their business. So recruitment consultants,
personal trainers, photographers, bookkeepers and the like.

If that’s you, how do you get ahead?

Often
we look for a quirky difference, or something amazing and
revolutionary. But the search can be long and fruitless. Finding nothing
that customers actually want.

I
worked with a client once whose business had been badly impacted by the
arrival of cheap imports from China. The business made stuff for hotels
– pipes and widgets to get beer from the keg to the tap. They spent
years trying to find clever ways to be different to their overseas
competition.

One
day the boss was talking to a customer about how he was trying to
improve the product. The customer leaned over and said “Don’t bother
mate, all I care about is you delivering the stuff in full and on time”.

And
that’s how the company found their difference. They didn’t do anything
clever, they didn’t do anything quirky or fun. They just made sure they
delivered everything in full and on time. And guess what? They blitzed
the competition.

As they say

 

So thought for the day: “What is the simplest thing (that your customers want) that you can organise yourself to do better than your competition?

Comments

comments