I read an interesting article in my December issue of Entrepreneur magazine tonight. It's been sitting on my desk for oh, about two weeks, but I've just now had a minute to skim it.
The article was titled "Mind Games - When Your Competitors Try to Rile You Up, Sanity is the Best Policy" by Wise Guy.
In my industry and probably just about every other, competitors can drive you crazy! I won't even get into the ones that copy your stuff, because my good friend at Jamie Lentzner of Jamie's Painting & Design has already posted quite a few good posts on her blog about this that resulted in many, many comments. (Check them out) I'm just talking about competitors, not knock offs.
The article gives a Top 5 list of things to do and here's a very brief run down of what they are. Check out this months issue of Entrepreneur (or click Mind Games above to read it online) for the complete article, it's very good. And this is my own summary of what I read, so as not to plagiarize their article. I hope they realize I'm giving them a great plug and not stealing their article!
1. Delight Your Customer - If your customer is happy, then they won't be going to your competition, which will ultimately drive your competition crazy instead of YOU.
2. Don't Assume that Perfect Information Exists - Basically saying that just because it was recently posted on Google or in a press release does not mean everyone knows it. You, your competition and Google could be the only ones who do.
3. Take a Chill Pill - "Don't let your competition see you sweat!" If you are in panic mode you are more likely to do something dumb or something you will regret later. Plus you give them the upper hand (confidence) by letting them know you are worried about them. Don't even let them know that they are on your radar! Also, when your competition "beats you to the punch" on something and you have no control over, don't obsess about it, worry about the things you can change.
4. Hang a Negative on Your Competition - This one is my personal favorite and I have to quote here on what they said. It's too good to put in my own words. "When F.W. Woolworth opened his first store, a competitor that had served the community for years hung out a sign that said, 'This same spot for 50 years.'" Well the next day Woolworth hung his sign out reading, "A week old. No old stock!!"
5. Act Like a Maniac - In other words, make them think you are psycho, they may be scared to mess with you. An example they use is to accept your competitors coupons. That will drive them crazy! A good example of a company that does this is Bed Bath and Beyond, who accepts Linen's & Things coupons and also will honor expired coupons as well as let you use more than one in one transaction! They have my business ALWAYS!
All in all, the main thing that will keep you on track is focusing on yourself and your customer. Emphasize your strengths on customer service, quality and value. Let the competition do the "running around with their heads cut off" routine! Let them stress over YOU.
The article was titled "Mind Games - When Your Competitors Try to Rile You Up, Sanity is the Best Policy" by Wise Guy.
In my industry and probably just about every other, competitors can drive you crazy! I won't even get into the ones that copy your stuff, because my good friend at Jamie Lentzner of Jamie's Painting & Design has already posted quite a few good posts on her blog about this that resulted in many, many comments. (Check them out) I'm just talking about competitors, not knock offs.
The article gives a Top 5 list of things to do and here's a very brief run down of what they are. Check out this months issue of Entrepreneur (or click Mind Games above to read it online) for the complete article, it's very good. And this is my own summary of what I read, so as not to plagiarize their article. I hope they realize I'm giving them a great plug and not stealing their article!
1. Delight Your Customer - If your customer is happy, then they won't be going to your competition, which will ultimately drive your competition crazy instead of YOU.
2. Don't Assume that Perfect Information Exists - Basically saying that just because it was recently posted on Google or in a press release does not mean everyone knows it. You, your competition and Google could be the only ones who do.
3. Take a Chill Pill - "Don't let your competition see you sweat!" If you are in panic mode you are more likely to do something dumb or something you will regret later. Plus you give them the upper hand (confidence) by letting them know you are worried about them. Don't even let them know that they are on your radar! Also, when your competition "beats you to the punch" on something and you have no control over, don't obsess about it, worry about the things you can change.
4. Hang a Negative on Your Competition - This one is my personal favorite and I have to quote here on what they said. It's too good to put in my own words. "When F.W. Woolworth opened his first store, a competitor that had served the community for years hung out a sign that said, 'This same spot for 50 years.'" Well the next day Woolworth hung his sign out reading, "A week old. No old stock!!"
5. Act Like a Maniac - In other words, make them think you are psycho, they may be scared to mess with you. An example they use is to accept your competitors coupons. That will drive them crazy! A good example of a company that does this is Bed Bath and Beyond, who accepts Linen's & Things coupons and also will honor expired coupons as well as let you use more than one in one transaction! They have my business ALWAYS!
All in all, the main thing that will keep you on track is focusing on yourself and your customer. Emphasize your strengths on customer service, quality and value. Let the competition do the "running around with their heads cut off" routine! Let them stress over YOU.
1 comment:
i haven't been over here for a while, you have all sorts of tasty information. i'm going to finally take a minute and add your to my feedblitz so that your blog posts come directly to me and i can get them right away.
ps. glad you won : ) and thanks for playing!
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