Competitive marketing

As a business owner, there may be times when you have to market your products against a direct competitor.

Having to market your business competitively is always a tricky situation. Openly bad mouthing your competitor will make you seem bitter and petty to the customer, and leave them wondering if your product is inferior. There are two very important focus points when selling against a competitor.

The first point is simple: Know your product and the competition’s well enough to be able to point out the differences. A quick internet search or a read through your industry media will help you research your competitor’s product. Then figure out what a customer
might find more attractive in your product and make this your key focus.

The second point requires a simple communication method: guide your conversation with the customer so that the superiority of your offering becomes clear in their mind. Be honest with the customer, communicate clearly why you think your product is better.

Getting the customer to think in a way that is advantageous to your marketing position will bring the focus back to your competitive edge.
What sets a good salesperson apart from an average one is listening skills. They hear what the customer is saying and make sure to address these needs. If you can get your questions to reflect the customer’s line of thinking, they will feel they are being listened to and are likely to trust what you tell them about your product.

The tricky business of cold calling

Nobody likes cold calls. Nobody likes receiving them, and nobody likes making them. If this is the case, then why on earth do businesses continue to make them?

Dispute resolution

If you are a business owner or manager, disputes are more than likely a regular occurrence. Customers, employees, suppliers and tradespeople are all common examples of parties you might have a dispute with. Dealing with these issues in a professional and sensible manner will help you to achieve the best outcomes for your business. Here are some guidelines for effective business dispute resolution:

Don’t let it get personal: As soon as a dispute crosses over into personal territory, it becomes significantly harder to resolve. If the other party is attempting to place a personal spin on things, take a deep breath and rise above it. Similarly, if you’re feeling tempted to say something personal, remember that in the end it will probably do you more harm than good.

Listen: Even if the other party is being completely unreasonable, you should always listen to their grievances. If they feel that they have been heard, they will be more likely to accept your perspective. Getting an insight into their frame of mind will also make it easier for you to propose a solution that will be acceptable to them.

Be open to suggestions: If the other party, or anyone else who is involved in the situation, has a suggestion for resolution, consider it. Even if it is a solution that it unacceptable for you, think about whether you could implement some aspects of it. At the very least aim to give an insightful explanation as to why it is impossible.

The dangers of competing on price

A lot of businesses have a narrow focus on reducing their prices to keep business going, holding the belief that lower profit margins will be offset by an increase in volume. Unfortunately, this is a strategy that works for very few businesses, and in pursuing ever lower prices you made end up inadvertently damaging your business.

Of course, you should remain aware of what your competitors are charging, and review your pricing structures regularly. However, you should remember that cheaper is not necessarily better and that there are a lot of other things that are important to your customers.

Here are some tips to help businesses that are trying to compete on price:

Think about what you’re sacrificing: If you want to compete on price, it’s natural to try to reduce your operating costs. For most businesses, the first areas to cut costs are wages, marketing and suppliers. Unfortunately, cutting corners in any of these three areas is a huge risk. Think very carefully about whether this is going to pay off for your customers.

Customers can be fickle: If you build a customer base on low prices alone, then these same customers will abandon you the moment a cheaper competitor arrives. Spend some time thinking about where competition may arise, and how you would be able to survive a price war. If you can see risks here, you need to think about other ways to keep customers loyal.

Value doesn’t mean cheap: Remember that value refers to quality for money, not just low prices. If your product or service is good value, it won’t matter if you’re not the cheapest. By targeting the right customers with a valuable product, you will put yourself in a great position to compete.

The importance of logos

A logo is an image that can be associated with your company, helping establish your identity and giving the public another way to remember you. A visual image makes your company more memorable because people learn things and remember things in many different ways — some people are more verbal, some more visual. People use more of their brains when they associate you with both words and images, meaning you make more of a mental impact.

Some logo pointers for small businesses:

A good logo conveys something about your company and gives people a feeling about the kind of company you are.

An inexpensive way to create some visual images for your business is to add graphic elements: lines, squares, circles or diamonds.

A logo doesn’t have to be a drawing or illustration; a logo can be made up entirely of typography.

Brainstorm logo ideas on your own — make sketches, list words and phrases you’d like your logo to convey, etc. — but think about hiring a graphic designer to create the finished product. An unprofessional looking logo can damage your brand.

Keeping in touch with old staff members

Many employers will simply lose touch with an old employee once they have left the workplace. While individual staff members may stay in touch via social media sites, especially LinkedIn, it is communication from the business itself that will often be left wanting. By sending out alumni newsletters, holding annual events that ex-employees are invited to or just dropping the occasional email you can go a long way in maintaining relationship that may prove valuable down the track.

Ex-employees with whom your firm is still on active and amicable terms are valuable assets. They make up a unique network who can recommend potential future employees to you or might be willing to come back to work for you in the future. Additionally, many of your old staff members will have expertise about your business that can not be found anywhere else, making them an amazing knowledge pool. Treating old staff members with ongoing respect and attention will also improve the image of your company to current staff members, potentially improving your retention rates.

New interview techniques

The entire recruitment and interviewing process is currently undergoing a lot of changes. Social networking sites such as LinkedIn are becoming an increasingly mainstream way to identify job candidates, and the entire workforce is becoming more fluid. There have also been a lot of exciting new ideas about how best to conduct interviews, many of which might be able to give you a much better idea of how a candidate will perform in the role.

Multiple interviewers: It can be a great idea to invite other staff members to sit in on interviews, either as silent observers or active interviewers. Not only will this give you the benefit of a second opinion, but they may be able to hone in on qualities or skills that will be valuable to the company’s inner workings.

Behaviour based interviews: This can be anything from asking a candidate to describe their behaviour in past roles and situations to setting a test or activity for them to complete. Setting a common activity for all of your candidates to complete can be a particularly insightful way to differentiate between the competition.

Reframing traditional job interview questions: Most interview candidates will have rehearsed their answers to traditional job interview questions, making it hard to get an accurate reading of their abilities. If you present a question in a slightly different way to normal, you will get a more natural answer that is reflective of the candidate’s adaptability. For example, instead of asking someone what they think their weaknesses are, ask them to describe how they have resolved a situation where they lacked knowledge or experience.

Outsourcing for SMEs

Outsourcing jobs used to be something that was only done by large corporations, as economies of scale were required to make it profitable. However, as technology has progressed, an increasing number of small to medium businesses have been outsourcing administrative and customer service roles, including outsourcing some jobs offshore, with the Philippines being a popular destination.

Outsourcing your customer service or administration is something you need to consider carefully. It is advisable to consider what your business might lose, for example, a personal touch with some customers, and weigh this up against the savings you might make. Outsourcing administrative costs can be particularly cost effective for businesses who do not require a full-time administrative staff member.

Additionally, if you need to complete a specific project, for example, the design of a new website, it is no longer necessary to limit your recruitment of freelancers to your locality. Interstate and even international freelancers may be able to perform the work just as effectively, and possibly for a lower rate.

Creating a culture of innovation

Innovation is fundamentally important to long-term business success. While you may be able to take on the main role of envisioning breakthroughs for your business, it never hurts to get input from your employees.

In order to ensure that your employees’ contributions towards innovation are as valuable as possible, you need to create a workplace environment in which new ideas are encouraged and celebrated. Here are some tips for creating a culture of innovation within your workplace:

-Keep open lines of communication with your employees. This does not need be limited to your direct reports. If you believe that your frontline staff may have some valuable ideas, extend an open invitation for them to approach you.

-Ensure that you have adequately considered innovation in your budget. The level of resources that should be directed towards innovation will vary greatly depending on the size of your business and the industry in which you operate.

-Celebrate creative ideas, even if they prove to be unfeasible. This will help you employees to feel more confident in bringing ideas to the table.

Identifying competition

In today’s fast-paced and ever-changing business environment, it is becoming increasingly important to be aware of your competition. It is not just the activities of competitors you are currently monitoring that you should take notice of, but also the potential that new, indirect competitors may emerge. The rate at which new technologies are being developed, in addition to becoming increasingly affordable, means that competition may arise suddenly, and from unexpected places.

A good place to start is by listing your top five direct competitors and your top five indirect competitors. A direct competitor is someone who offers a very similar product to your own, while an indirect competitor is someone who may steal market share from you by offering a different product.

Once you have listed your major competitors, you should make a comprehensive list of all of their strengths and weaknesses. From here, you will easily be able to see what advantages and/or disadvantages your business is facing, and hopefully succeed in addressing any issues before they become seriously detrimental.

You should also consider how you can capitalise on singular advantages that your business may have, for example, your location or a consistently loyal customer base.