Handling Competition in Business | Baremetrics Academy (2024)

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Competition is healthy for businesses – it will force you to innovate, staying ahead of the curve.

Yet that rivalry can also be intimidating.

You don’t want to back down, but you aren’t sure how to combat competition. Every company deals with this problem. What success comes down to is developing a plan to help you better serve your customers, accurate branding, and team support.

Learn How to be Competitive in Business

If you want to compete in business, you need to know the game. Becoming a competitor in your industry requires research, strategy, and some risk-taking. Read on for seven real-world ideas of strategies you can use to learn how to beat your competition in business.

1. Know Your Customers

Did you know 80% of companies don’t have enough customer data to build effective marketing campaigns?

Most marketers know their customers’ purchasing patterns, which is certainly helpful to track. But there is so much more information you can be using to continue refining your marketing plans.

By knowing your customers, you can build a relationship between them and your company, extending the customer lifecycle beyond only a couple of purchases. Data can help you get to know your customers. For example, social activity often helps marketers uncover critical insights regarding the timing of purchases and related searches.

Using online tools such as Facebook’s Audience Insights, your company can better understand what ultimately triggers your customer to make a purchase.

2. Understand the Competition

To understand your competition, it is most important to examine the marketplace.

First, take a hard look at the things your competitor does. Does that company have intimate conversations with customers that lead to conversions? Do they have a unique angle to tell their story from?

Second, look to see what your competitor doesn’t do, and then try to fill in that part of the market.

In the 1980s, Canon and Xerox were competing in the market for copiers. Xerox thought Canon’s prices were ridiculously low based on their assumptions of the cost to create a copier.

Through examining the market, they found there were cheaper ways to make a copier. Through Xerox’s market research, they discovered that Canon found its way into the market through innovation, leading to a better market for consumers.

3. Highlight Your Difference

You can use your differences to learn how to handle competition in business.

After completing market research, understand what makes you different from the competition. Do you have more ethical sourcing for products? Or, maybe your prices are cheaper. Perhaps you have an angle to your company’s story that could push you above the competition.

In the case of IKEA’s 2011 catalog, IKEA knew they had the resources to do something extra special with their publication. While IKEA’s print catalog had more competition, the company decided that simply moving to a digital platform was insufficient.

So they used their marketing resources to create an augmented reality version. Just by understanding what they could do differently, IKEA’s design overhaul doubled the amount of time customers spent browsing the catalog.

4. Clarify Your Message

To attract customers, your company needs to have a clear message. Customers want to know what you can do for them that no one else can, and that is how you will win their business.

It is not enough to throw a message into the void and hope it sticks with someone. Instead, clearly craft a narrative to bring customers to you.

The car rental service Enterprise clarifies its messaging every time it communicates with customers.

With each communication, Enterprise takes into consideration the specific audience it is trying to reach and then considers what tone or message will be the most effective to extend the customer lifecycle.

By consciously considering your audience with each message, you too, will be able to communicate more clearly with consumers.

5. Explore Strategic Partnership Opportunities

For businesses, partnership opportunities are very popular right now. Most businesses are reaching out to others in the hopes of reaching a new market or demographic. These symbiotic relationships help both partners by providing some sort of opportunity that was not otherwise attainable.

When considering partnerships, consider what your company needs to succeed and act on that opportunity.

Starbucks has partnered with Earthwatch since 2001. One of the goals of this partnership was to introduce Starbucks employees to the scientific research behind coffee beans – benefitting Earthwatch’s goals. Additionally, Starbucks was able to increase employee engagement through this partnership.

The partnership helped Starbucks develop its ethical approach to coffee while assisting Earthwatch in spreading sustainable and scientific practices.

6. Keep Innovating

In today’s world, it is crucial to iterate, iterate, and iterate. That should be your marketing team’s mantra in today’s constantly shifting world of online media. As pointed out earlier, your new and old markets benefit from innovation as well.

By constantly innovating, your team will stay focused on the goal while keeping your customers interested in your company.

Older companies are great to look to for leadership in innovation. How have they managed to keep up with the times? What company policies allow them to continue to innovate and change while functioning well for their customer base?

These questions will help you see the logic of innovation, even when it seems out of reach.

Handling Competition in Business | Baremetrics Academy (1)

7. Look After Your Team

Your products are only as good as your team. This may not seem like the most obvious tactic in learning how to handle competition in business. However, you can keep your team productive by keeping them happy as well.

It may not be necessary to get everyone a beanbag chair or to have some kegs on tap like many companies think. Listen to your team when they tell you what they need to be happy, not what trends think they need.

Case studies from Snack Nation can teach you how to retain your best employees. Most employees only really ask for trust, professional development, collaboration, and the opportunity to take ownership of their work. Allow your employees these opportunities, and you may find that you have happier employees and lower turnover.

Helping your employees find happiness in their work will lead to dedication from employees – and this is where you can beat your competition.

Equipped for Competition

There are a million ways to combat competition in business, but which are suitable for your company? Following these strategies to handle competition in your business will help you better understand what your customers need.

With these ideas in hand, you can be sure your customers will keep coming back again and again. Remember, an unsuccessful idea is only failure if you stop trying.

Handling Competition in Business | Baremetrics Academy (2)Handling Competition in Business | Baremetrics Academy (3)

FAQ's

  • What are the most important competitor business metrics to consider?

    Competitor value propositions, engagement campaigns, pricing, and what they are not doing. All of these can help provide insights into why they are successful, and how you can emulate or innovate on that success.

  • What is competition in business?

    Competition in business refers to companies trying to outdo each other and sell more goods and services than similar businesses. The severity of this competition can vary drastically by industry. Winners in business competition have higher revenue and profit, more sales, happier customers, and a strong reputation.

Handling Competition in Business | Baremetrics Academy (2024)

FAQs

How do you handle competition in business? ›

Learn How to be Competitive in Business
  1. Know Your Customers. Did you know 80% of companies don't have enough customer data to build effective marketing campaigns? ...
  2. Understand the Competition. ...
  3. Highlight Your Difference. ...
  4. Clarify Your Message. ...
  5. Explore Strategic Partnership Opportunities. ...
  6. Keep Innovating. ...
  7. Look After Your Team.

How do you stand out from competition answers? ›

How to stand out from the competition
  1. Know the competition. Take the time to research your direct competitors. ...
  2. Know your audience. You can't sell to everyone, so there's no point in trying. ...
  3. Personalise your offer. ...
  4. Branding. ...
  5. Innovate. ...
  6. Communication. ...
  7. Social responsibility. ...
  8. Reviews.
Jan 17, 2023

Why is it important for businesses to respond to competition? ›

Competition often happens between businesses that target the same customers or that provide similar products and services. Healthy competition can motivate organisations to innovate their products, provide better customer services, ultimately increasing sales and revenue.

How might competition be a good thing for a business? ›

Competition in business encourages innovation and motivates companies to create products people value at prices they can afford. If you want to improve an organization's bottom line, you might benefit from reviewing the best practices for managing the competition it faces.

How do you handle competition interview question? ›

To answer, explain your experience with competition through an example from a previous position or experience. During this part of your response, you provide context for the experience. This part of the response is best when concise, allowing you to focus on your actions and results instead.

How do you manage being competitive? ›

Focus on a goal that is about self-mastery rather than one about beating others. If the emotions that accompany your competitiveness have any fear or negativity, try to release the critical voice. Ask: What is the best feeling I can have for this task without it involving dominating or conquering anyone else?

How do you outwit your competitors? ›

How do you outsmart your competitors?
  1. Know your strengths. Be the first to add your personal experience.
  2. Know your competitors.
  3. Know your customers.
  4. Choose your position.
  5. Plan your actions.
  6. Adapt and improve.
  7. Here's what else to consider.
Jul 16, 2023

How do you positively take competition? ›

Here are 10 steps to apply to your workplace when cultivating an environment that supports positive competition:
  1. Make the competition optional. ...
  2. Set clear goals. ...
  3. Have a reason to compete. ...
  4. Add an element of fun. ...
  5. Offer incentives instead of punishments. ...
  6. Provide a variety of opportunities. ...
  7. Give everyone the tools to succeed.
Jun 24, 2022

How do I make my business stand out from competition? ›

By developing a unique and recognizable brand identity, building relationships with reporters, using social media to promote your business, leveraging influencers and participating in local events, you can ensure that your brand stands out from the competition and is remembered by customers.

What is an example of a business competition? ›

These are businesses offering similar (or identical) products or services in the same market. They also vye for the same customer base. Some famous examples of direct competitors include Apple versus Android, Pepsi versus Coca-Cola, and Netflix versus Hulu.

What is the purpose of business competition? ›

Competition is important in business because it helps keep businesses on their toes. It makes them strive to develop cutting-edge products and services that are suited to their customers and gives them a marketplace advantage. Businesses with competitors know they need to work hard to maintain their customer base.

How does competition affect a business positively? ›

Competition between companies translates into a greater quantity of products and services, a better quality of goods, and lower prices. In the end, this is what the consumer is looking for — the best quality at the best possible price.

How does competition affect the success of a business? ›

Benefits of Competition

Competitors will try to win market share by cutting costs, improving efficiency, lowering price and innovating by either creating new products and services or improving upon old ones. In other words, competition tends to give consumers better goods and services at lower prices.

Does competition make you successful? ›

It will keep you motivated.

Having a competitive nature prevents complacency or settling on past achievements. If we're competitive, we can acknowledge and be satisfied with what we've achieved, but remain motivated to continually improve. If we fail at something, we'll be able to use it as motivation to keep going.

How do individuals handle the competition? ›

To deal with competition in a healthy way, it is important to set goals that work for you, and to stick to them no matter what happens to other people. For instance, you can set a personal goal of graduating with a 3.8 or higher grade point average. If that means you become valedictorian, then great.

How do you deal with professional competition? ›

Dealing With The Competition In A Professional Manner
  1. You Can't Wish Away The Competition. ...
  2. We Control Our Attitudes, Not Them. ...
  3. Why You Must Respect the Competition. ...
  4. The Competition Is Still An Option For Your Customer. ...
  5. Lose The Superiority Complex. ...
  6. Don't Believe Everything You Hear. ...
  7. Never Speak Down On Your Competitors.

How can we stop competition in the workplace? ›

Encourage employees to challenge one another without conflict and cheer on each other's successes. Keep communication channels open to stay on top of the office atmosphere, and step in when rivalries become too intense. The goal is to encourage motivation and every team member's professional development.

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