subject: Why You Should Know A Lot About Your Competitors [print this page] According to Wikipedia:
Competition is also a major tenet in market economy and business is often associated with competition as most companies are in competition with at least one other firm over the same group of customers, and also competition inside a company is usually stimulated for meeting and reaching higher quality of services or products that the company produces or develops.
Wikipedia also goes further to advice that
competitor analysis in marketing and strategic management is an assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of current and potential competitors. This analysis provides both an offensive and defensive strategic context to identify opportunities and threats. Profiling coalesces all of the relevant sources of competitor analysis into one framework in the support of efficient and effective strategy formulation, implementation, monitoring and adjustment.
Here are a few steps that can guide you in finding out more about your competitors and some possible scenarios which you can use to compete:
1.What solutions do you potential customers currently use? If they dont use anything then doing nothing can be your biggest competitor of which you didnt know and should know in order to plan your awareness (advertising campaign).
2.How or where do customers get these goods if they are currently solving the need with another solution? What if the current solutions are being obtained only at supermarkets alone? Can mail order work? Can you use a mobile application to ease the way they will obtain your products? Can they order online? Can you deliver it fast enough via local post or local agents?
3.How much do these solutions currently cost in the market? How satisfied are the buyers of these solutions? Are they willing to pay more for a better service or product? Are they willing to pay less for the same service or product? If the quality of the goods or service is reduced will they mind or they want better quality compared to the competitor? Check if the prices of the goods hinder people from buying and try to see if you can offer alternative payment terms like payment in installment payments. If it is feasible then give it a consideration.
4.Where do your competitors shop at? Do you shop at the vendor or can you get a better deal elsewhere?
5.If your competitors rely on resellers or wholesalers, how much is the margin they give? Can you improve yours? Can you have a more personal approach to give concessions to your most trusted resellers or wholesalers? Sometimes your competitors might be strict in business and a relationship based approach can win over their customers.
6.How does your competitor promote their products or services? How much do they spend? Can you compete on that or perhaps you need a different approach?
7.How about the look and feel of your competitors products compared to yours? Which looks better and why? Can you do something to improve the packaging and product designs?
Every business is different and you need to think of the best ways to implement your own strategy.
by: Anioko1
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