5 Effective Strategies To Get A Lead Over Your Competitors

“The person who figures out how to harness the collective genius of their organization is going to blow competitors away.” -Walter Wriston.

In this era, commencing a business is pretty easy. You’d need to select an industry, formulate a business model, secure funding, and complete legal formalities to begin the operations.

However, with hundreds (or thousands) of competitors out there, ensuring that consumers prefer your product or service is burdensome for entrepreneurs. Of course, healthy competition is necessary to encourage innovation. At the same time, it’s also intimidating.

As companies operate in monopolistic markets, you’ll find competition in every industry, irrespective of how large or small it is.

So, what can you do to nullify the negative effects of business rivalry and enhance your market share? Continue reading to know.

Identify Consumer Pain Point

How well you understand your consumers can make or break your business. However, due to the frequent changes in consumer tastes and preferences, staying updated with their new demands becomes daunting. Consequently, competitors can overrun your business.

To avoid this situation, you need to be well-versed in the consumer’s pain points and address them.

How?… Well, conducting a consumer behavior research survey would help you here. It’ll help you learn what consumers think about your product or service. And position your products accordingly. As you’ll get real-time feedback from the target audience, you can elevate the:

1. Product Quality
2. Product Satisfaction
3. Consumer Service
4. Brand Loyalty
5. Brand Awareness

Focus On USP

Having a monopoly in the market is the dream of every entrepreneur. So, what if we tell you that this dream is attainable? Yes, you read it right! Creating your niche in the prevailing market can draw the consumer’s attention to your brand and product.

In order to do this, your marketing efforts should be centered around your brand’s USP (Unique Selling Propositions). Let’s take an example for better understanding.

Suppose you sell sanitary napkins. In that case, you can build your brand niche in the market by focusing on product quality, i.e., rash-free and breathable material. Or, you could use an emotional approach to share stories associated with your brand to establish a deeper connection with the target audience.

Doing so, you’ll be able to make your own space even in the crowded marketplace.

Play With Product or Service Prices

Last but not least, you can make your product or service price more affordable. As you might already know, customers love discounts and offers. It is one of the easiest ways to attract them and get a lead over competitors.

Nevertheless, you do have to maintain an ideal price point so your revenue is not affected. Conduct a competitive analysis for this purpose. It’ll assist you in offering value to the end user as well as building an effective price-competitive strategy.

Now, here’s the catch. Entrepreneurs always assume that the best pricing strategy is associated with lowering the existing prices. However, you need to take into account your target audience type.

They are typically categorized into lower, middle, and upper-tiered customers.If your brand is for upper-tier customers, there will be a need to set a minimal value price point for the customers.

Likewise, for lower-tier customers, you can set the price that covers the actual cost of the product (though it would not be preferred as when you increase the prices again, you’ll lose the customer interest). So, be vigilant about the product price.

Note: Generally, the competitive price strategy is for short-term success. So, you need to make it lucrative to attract more audience.

Be Flexible With Changes

Following the business model is critical to stay on track with set objectives. However, it does not mean you have to be rigid about the guidelines and techniques. Instead, leave room for modifications and flexibility.

Come up with quirky ideas that can possibly boost your brand image. It will contribute immensely to your brand’s success.

For instance, if you own a retail store that operates only during the day time; you either extend the operational hours or provide a 24*7 service. This way, you can address the needs of late-night customers and outperform your rivals.

It is noteworthy that adapting to new concepts is not easy. You need to take a liberal approach to attend to and implement the new suggestions. It will ensure that your business presents innovative ideas to the market in a manner that it’s challenging for competitors to engage.

Prioritize Consumer Service

Consumer service plays a critical role in making your brand stand out. If the service is excellent, i.e., you understand the customer needs, serve them, and have a good consumer grievance redressal policy, the end-user is likely to return to you.

Furthermore, consumer service is used as a marketing tactic to boost your brand’s presence. Simply put, when consumers are impressed with your service, they are likely to recommend it to their fellows. Thus, you reap the benefits of word-of-mouth marketing.

However, this marketing strategy can also backfire, provided your customer service is not up to the mark. That way, the end-user may speak ill about the brand, leading to avoidable chaos. So, you must provide satisfactory customer service. It may include:

Apart from this, the company environment and security are also significant in consumer service. You have to make sure that the end-user feels safe and gets good vibes when they connect with your business.

To attain this goal, you should further consider hiring well-qualified and experienced employees.

To Sum It All Up

The key to successfully beating your competitors is to set yourself apart. It could be by solving the consumer pain points or emphasizing the product’s USP. Nevertheless, it’ll ensure that you understand your target audience and cater to their needs.