Learning from competition encourages internal review
Often in business, we forget to do the obvious. Focused on innovation and managing inventory, we can overlook what the competition is doing. It is always a good idea to stay on top of how the competitor operates, and stopping by their place of business is an easy way to see how they do things. They may know something you don’t, or you might just see how you can improve how you do business seeing things through the eyes of the customer.
How does your competitor receive their guests? Do they take an active and aggressive or passive and suggestive approach to salesmanship? Are they knowledgeable, helpful, or intrusive? Do they encourage customers to browse for themselves? What products and displays to they feature? Do they concentrate on private, national, regional, or imported brands? Would you do business there if you were looking to buy?
Another approach is to take advantage of public information. Do they publish annual reports? What kind of publicity do they receive from the media, and -more importantly- do you get similar coverage? If not, why they do get more favorable attention from the media? Do they engage their customers through social media opportunities like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn? Do they participate in the local community, support higher education, or engage in new research opportunities? Do they have a media department with established relationships with journalists, industry organizations and other opinion leaders?
A third approach is to give them a call and see how you are treated. Ask for some basic information. Do you feel like you just called a government agency and get bounced among different representatives to end where you started or are you received by a knowledgeable consultant who addresses your needs quickly? After you evaluate their customer service model, have someone do the same for your company. You may be surprised by the feedback.
For the most part, customers are habitual and loyal to the brands they choose. Another avenue of learning from the competition is to engage their current customers. Ask them why they do business there, and –more importantly- why they chose to not do business with you. Again, you may be surprised by the feedback. The information you gain is invaluable for the direction of your next strategic plan.
This project doesn’t have to take much time or money, but what you learn is priceless. It doesn’t require a consultant either. We all are consumers in one way or another and know how we would want to be treated. Taking a look at those on the other side of the fence can be the best way for us to re-evaluate how we do things in our own backyard. What we learn can only make the company better.
