7 Ways to Outsmart Your Competition

When you run a business there will come a point in your career when you have to ask “How can you stand out against your competition?”

It’s a tough call but having an awesome product is just half of the battle. Chances are there are other businesses in your industry offering equally impressive products as yours. It’s like being in an extremely tight race where you find yourself wishing for a button to get your car into hyper drive.

But races aren’t always how fast your car is. You also need a good strategy, know who you are up against and what they are capable of, and make sure that your vehicle is well-maintained — not flat tires, the oil is changed, and your engine is in top shape.

There is no single solution to stay ahead of the competition. For customers to choose your product over the other and for them to keep coming back, you need to take a few extra steps.

Be the Expert Your Customers Need

An outstanding business not only sells outstanding products and services but also provides value to their customers in the form of information. Educating your customers about the ins and outs of the industry you are in helps to position you as an authority figure to whom customers turn to when they need to know more.

The simplest way to establish yourself as an expert, by far, is by writing about topics that are not only related to your business but are also interesting to your customers. For example, if you have a carpet cleaning business, then you can write about carpet maintenance.

Setup a blog so you can have a platform to publish your work or you can also guest write on other blog sites. Apart from this, you can also write reports or tutorials that you can give away for free to your customers.

The best part about this is that customers are more likely to support businesses who know what they are talking about and if they identify you as an expert in your field, then your target market can easily decide to turn to you and your products.

Provide Awesome Customer Service

One of the simplest ways to carve out a special spot in your customers hearts is by giving excellent customer service.

This is the best way to let your customers know that you care about them and that you are willing (and more than able) to answer their queries and to help solve any issues they might encounter while using your products and services. Open the line of communication between you and your customers.

If you can, set up a live chat service. If not, you can always turn to social media for this purpose. Make the most out of Facebook and Twitter and use this as a platform to bolster the satisfaction of your customers.

Remember also to be prompt when responding to customer inquiries and to be polite and sincere at all times.

Use Your Data to Make Your Business Better

Research is your best friend when your business. It allows you to understand a lot of things including your market, industry trends, customer behaviour, and the effectiveness of your marketing efforts. Don’t be afraid to dive into your data and to discover the story behind the statistics you have.

Once you get a clear understanding of why you arrive at such numbers, then you can do the necessary adjustments to your business strategy.

Celebrate Your Customers, Especially the Loyal Ones

Customer loyalty is one of the key elements to keeping a business relevant in a market. Not only are they religiously supporting your business by repeatedly buying your products but they also evangelize about you.

Be sure to set up a platform to praise them and to let them know that they matter to you and to your business; that without them, your business wouldn’t be the same. A simple shout out on social media can be encouraging already but you can always take it up a notch and feature them on your blog. You can even reward them by giving them special discounts or freebies as a token of appreciation.

Be Generous to Your Customers

Special promos, contests, giveaways, and even markdown sales are excellent means to stay ahead of your competition. Not only do these special offers foster customer loyalty but they also work wonders for winning over your competition’s customers.

Make your offers irresistible to your target market. You can give away your own products or you can research other products your market collectively loves and use it as a prize. Discount coupons are also always a welcome treat for customers.

This level of generosity cements your place as a darling in the eyes of your customers.

Build a Community with your Clients

A business is only as strong as the relationship it has with it’s customers. It is a vital part of the identity of a business. By establishing a solid relationship with clients, you are able to acknowledge your customers and you are also opening the doors for participatory discussions. What’s more, it also drives buyers, influences, and ambassadors towards your brand.

Engage with your customer base and you’ll have a loyal community that can influence the buying behaviour of the rest of your target market.

Know Who You’re Competing With

When you think about it, your competition is one of the best teachers when you’re in business. By knowing who your competition is and what they are capable of doing, you can easily take away a few lessons.

For example, you can learn from their mistakes. Think of it this way, they’ve tripped over a few hurdles so you wouldn’t have to.

Inversely, you can also emulate what works best for them. Identify their strategies that give them the best results and use this as a guide to improve your own business.

How about you? What are your winning strategies to propel your business to the top? Let me know in the comments section.

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