Five steps to beat your competitors

Many small business owners have a tendency to think that their competitors are smarter and more successful than themselves.

If you think this way as well, it's worth pointing out that if it were the case, then your competitors will also probably think you're smarter and more successful than they are too.

So who's right, and who's going to be smarter and win in your sector?

The business with a proactive competitive strategy? Or the trader without a clue or a plan who's just paranoid about their rivals and whinges every time someone does something new?

In other words, you or your rival(s)?

So what is there that a small business can do that will minimise or neutralise the effect of their competitors? Is there a secret formula that will ensure your customers beat a path to your door or visit your website rather than go to your rivals?

Well, while there may not be a magic formula for this, there certainly are a few simple principles that any small business can use. And this involves following some basic business rules and practical marketing steps.

Here are five of those rules for you to chew on.

1) Do more of what works

You should be familiar with the phrase "if it ain't broke, don't fix it", but in marketing terms this is nowhere near as important as doing more of what works the most. If you can, identify the marketing activities that are producing the best results for you at the moment, or have done the business for you in the past, and then work out how you can do this again.

What was it that worked to get you that new contract, big customer or surge in website traffic? How can you replicate that and make it work again or succeed elsewhere?

2) Be different

This is probably the crucial component in any competition-bashing strategy. In any sector or industry it's a natural phenomenon for businesses to copy other ventures - the same products, price-cutting offers, sales messages and other poop-stick promotions. The reason for this is that it's easy to be a copycat.

But this doesn't make any sense if you want your business to outsmart and outsell your rivals, and it doesn't have to involve rocket science or mastermind marketing tactics. Simple methods of differentiation include:

• Being quicker to respond to customer requests or market needs.
• Focusing on quality of product or service rather than lowest prices.
• Selling the performance and substance of your product rather than gloss.
• Being more available, open for business longer or more accessible than anyone else.
• Providing faster delivery.
• Offering more accessories, add-ons and related products than others do.

3) Be precise

Being precise with your marketing means making sure you are focusing on the value and benefits of your product or service from your customers' point of view. This will also involve making the buying process and customer experience as easy, uncomplicated and free from hassle as possible. Communicate the benefits of your offer and how you are different from your competitors, and have a clear call to action that helps your customers order from you.

Don't waffle, don't confuse and avoid saying things from your own rather than your customers' point of view.

4) Lead them higher

It's worth re-emphasising the point about "me-too" marketing tactics that involve copying competitors or simply undercutting their prices, as this will generally prove to be a short-term and very narrow strategy.

It's too easy to have a standard price, version or model of a product on your shelf or website, and then to offer a discount, lower-cost, more basic or lower-grade version for customers to buy. Again, most small businesses use this tactic, resulting in very little competitive differentiation in a market.

A less frequently used but more productive and profitable strategy is to take your customers from the standard version of your product or service and lead them to premium, higher-quality or deluxe versions. The key is to ensure that the higher price is more than offset by the higher value which the customer perceives or believes they will receive. This should be communicated clearly in every aspect of your marketing.

5) Make service a priority

It's an important point to make that the customers you're trying to attract to your product or service are totally selfish.

Every single one of them.

They don't care about you, your problems, your costs and margins, your lead times, your staff shortages, your deadlines, your sick pet or anything else like that.

They are only interested in themselves and the benefits they might be able to squeeze from your business instead of the one across the street, or the other ones like you listed in the Yellow Pages.

And a priority need for every selfish customer or prospective buyer is personal service.

They want to feel confident that when they buy from you they will get practical advice, helpful suggestions, personal treatment, the benefit of your experience, after-sales service, lengthy guarantees, and that rare "warm feeling" when they realise that you genuinely have their interests rather than your own as a priority.

These are five simple steps and marketing principles that can be applied in just about any business sector. If you don't use them, some of your rivals eventually will, or might already do, and it's your business that will be playing catch-up.

That's a certainty.

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