Editor’s Note: Here at Dispatches, we are always looking for ways to help our readers do things. For some of our readers, that means helping navigate the working world, for others, it means assisting in the ever challenging question,“what’s for dinner?” For still others, it means figuring out how to balance family life with everything else. In an effort to aid in all of these endeavors, we have collaborated on this article written specifically for our readers.
Keeping up with competition is crucial to a successful business. Competition encourages companies to offer the best possible service and continue to improve. However, competition isn’t just about getting more customers. You also want to attract the best employees, have a higher market share and have the best image in your field. Overall, you want people to think of your company before any others when thinking of your sector. Here are five tips to help you rise above your competition.
- Reach Out To New Markets Increasing your target demographics can boost your business reach. Make sure you are doing this strategically. For example, if you run a women’s fashion store, you can beat out competing stores by also offering children’s clothing. When thinking of which store to go to, mothers will be much more likely to choose yours. But if your target demographic isn’t mothers, offering children’s clothing may alienate your customer base. It’s all about finding out what competing stores don’t do that makes sense for your business. Find gaps in the market and be the first to fill them.
- Get The Best Employees You will want the best employees in the field. Excellent employees will drive your business to be the best that it can be. The highest salaries and/or best benefits will often attract the most valuable employees. You can use the Croner salary benchmarking survey to find out what other businesses in your field are offering. You may have to pay more in salary or benefits, but the trade-off is usually more dedicated employees.
- Offer Better Service Customer service is huge for retaining a customer base. Delivering high-quality customer service should always be a high priority for your company. Excellent service can include fair return policies, customer loyalty rewards, and friendly customer service reps. If customers from your competing business are unhappy with the service there, they’ll turn to you instead. Keeping customers happy will keep them coming to you over the competitors.
- Build On Your Strengths To be the best in your sector, you have to clarify what you offer that competitors don’t. For many businesses, this means offering the lowest prices. Supermarkets often offer price-matching and compare their prices with competitors in advertisements. You don’t have to be the cheapest in the field. You can focus on having the highest-quality products, or offering the best customer service. Figure out what areas you beat competitors in, and build on those strengths.
- Utilize Marketing Marketing your organization is crucial to beating the competition. For example, being the cheapest taxi service in town means nothing if no one knows about it. Get your name out there and develop your reputation. There are many ways to market and advertise your business. Look into modern marketing techniques. Marketing can quickly help you get ahead of competing companies.