Stepping Ahead of the Competition through Information
In a war, knowing who your enemies are is important in achieving victory. Military officials do everything they can to know about the enemy before making a move. The information they gather is critical to their success.
The same thing is true in the business industry. There’s a war that business owners should be prepared for. Just like military officials, they should know first who their competitors are before making a move. Otherwise, they will be blindsided and doomed for failure. It’s through proper planning and enough information about the competitors that a business can easily outshine others.
So, if you don’t want to get outperformed by your competitors, make a point to know more about them. How do you do that? Here are the steps to take:
#1: Collect information. This will require research and conscious data collection. You can start by talking to your customers. Perhaps there are some who have moved to your competitors. Instead of mopping around and wasting your time getting angry at your competitors, use the chance to know what your competitors have that you don’t. Your customers can help you in that area.
You can also set a meeting with customers and try to get information from them about your competitors. Perhaps you can get them to talk a little about what your competitors are doing. If you can’t stir your customers to talk about your competitors, just keep your eyes and ears open on the things that your competitors do. Collect the custom made printed flyers or brochures they distribute or look into the online strategies they do.Take down notes so you can compare them on the strategies that you do and find out new tactics that can help you improve your business.
#2: File and keep the information gathered. You might not have immediate need for the information you gathered today, but they can be useful in the future. Keep a good record of every bit of information you find so you can easily find them in the future. You can keep them on a file cabinet or an electronic device. Anywhere you keep the details, make sure that they are secured so you don’t lose them.
#3: Open the file regularly. Just because you have filed and stored the information carefully doesn’t mean that you forget about it and keep it stored. You have to take it out from time to time to compare and contrast the strategies you intend to do with what your competitors are doing.
For instance, if you intend to get your own promotional flyers ready for print, you can take a look at your file and see how your competitors did their own flyer campaign. You can get ideas from their flyers to make your flyer more incredible and attention-grabbing than them. As you collect and store information, you will eventually get a better picture of what other businesses are really doing. The more you collect, store, and analyze the information from your competitors the more competitive you become. This will help you stay on top of the game and get the market share you desire.
In the information age, information is power. It will help you perform better and stay ahead of your competitors. So make it a point to collect good information and use that to put your company on top.
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