-
Website
http://www.chrisbrogan.com/ -
Original page
http://www.chrisbrogan.com/how-to-compete/ -
Subscribe
All Comments -
Community
-
Top Commenters
-
Ari Herzog
120 comments · 23 points
-
Don Lafferty
59 comments · 3 points
-
Danny Brown
77 comments · 28 points
-
Dale Cruse
65 comments · 4 points
-
gerardmclean
43 comments · 7 points
-
-
Popular Threads
-
If I Were a Realtor
5 hours ago · 28 comments
-
While the Iron is Hot
2 days ago · 68 comments
-
I Was Wrong About Twitter Lists
3 days ago · 68 comments
-
The Visible Media Maker
2 days ago · 36 comments
-
Simplicity Trumps Most Other Emotions
4 days ago · 54 comments
-
If I Were a Realtor
I believe anticipating what the customer might want if they knew it was possible if one of the key skills in competing smarter in the marketplace.
I think this is especially relevant for all of us working in novel areas like social media, online reputation management and related fields.
And the time tested philosophy of 'service first, money later' is also of paramount importance.
The only competition is a person's ignorance. Observe the competition to see what the majority is doing; then don't do it.
You can learn from your competition but the thing which will separate you from them is your creativity. World-renowned successes sprout from visions. Richard Branson, founder of that airline referenced above, is called a 'visionary.'
He sees things that few others do and acts on them.
The highest achievers focus primarily on creating, not competing.
RB
His companies care deeply for their customers and it has obviously worked very well. Some people think Virgin is scattered but they fail to understand that the glue is their brand and their brands says " we're cool and we care".
@isfan
It's a matter of creativity and focused thought (vs laziness?)
I know I've been on the guilty end of this in my efforts to learn. Ah well, gotta start somewhere I suppose. Onward and upward.
I much rather prefer the word "differentiation", cause that means being aware of what others are doing but work on differentiating our own services by working harder to make our services/products different. That is what Zappos did. If we get caught up with competing, IMHO , we will always be playing catch up. But getting on the differentiation and innovation route lets people compete without competing.
So, in a lot of ways, I am NOT competing. I am innovating. And a number of times, when I come across people in the same space, I get more out of trying to learn from them or even working with them ....
Maybe I am being too naive :)
I'd add "Can you solve a problem no one else will?" So many industries have common problems that no one is willing to address. Think banking and bankers' hours.
If you're willing to fix something no one else will, gives you a huge advantage IMHO.
@TomMartin
I fully agree that competing on price is a losing proposition, because someone else is always cheaper (so said my first sales manager).
From my perspective there's a few things to consider with respect to competition:
1. You can provide a product/service of value that NO ONE else is or...
2. Make your product/service better than anything on the market.
Of course, distribution and awareness are what competition is really about. If you don't form profitable relationships with a lot of people, nothing happens...
It's important to remember that your clients/customers are paying you for a complete experience. The sales/education experience, the purchasing experience, the usage experience, the after-sale support experience AND, of course, the efficacy of your product, information or service.
Is every aspect of your client's experience with your business smooth and enjoyable?
Get in their shoes. Get behind their eyes. What experience do you see when you really look?
-@joshuaguffey
Go that extra bit for your client. It comes back to you.
Wonderful things to think about. Now, I'm off to see if my children can exhibit some velocity in their efforts to get up, dressed, and out the door to school. :)
"You can get everything in life you want; if you help enough others get what they want."
That's how I have endeavored to live my life for the last 20 years, I believe it works.
LB
Thanks for your thoughts, Julie.
your blog game is very proper when it comes to Social Media. Drop by sometime and let's rap :-)
Shawn
http://www.ShawnDrewry.com
I choose Apple over Microsoft because I relate to the creativity and innovation of Apple. I don't relate to the imitating, complex nature of Microsoft.
There's many comedy troupes/clubs in Chicago (Second City, Improv Olympic, ComedySportz to name a few). People like certain ones over others because they can relate to the performers and the material more.
Although I think "vision" is critical to launching a business or idea; when it comes to competing, I think that customer service and - more accurately - a great, overall customer experience is what really makes the difference between top dog and the next pooch.
I recently wrote about a powerful "asset" based on a term coined by the leader of the band for which I sing backup (you just never know where marketing insights will come from, do you?). That asset is an "assumption of competence," and it really goes far beyond actual competence to a place where your service gives your customers a sense of total confidence and comfort in your ability to deliver. You compete by making their lives so easy that they don't even have to think about the problem your product or service solves. It's a no-brainer for them to engage with you because it's just that easy and painless.
I don't know about you, but when I find a brand that offers me something I need (or want) in an annoyance-free way, I usually become a fan for life. My assumption of their competence means I don't have to waste MY time checking up, coming up with contingency plans, or putting out fires. THAT's a hands-down win over any other competitor who may try to lure me away with price, fancy features, or any other diversionary tactic.
That said, the post does point to many other factors on competition. We in the U.S. live in a predominantly service economy now, and being able to listen to customers/clients and offering them what they want, anticipating what they want, and making life easier for them will be crucial to business survival.
One key thing I always do is try to understand whatever I am doing from the customer point of view. Being in an industry that is ultimately about selling in a retail environment, I spend at least a few hours each week in various retail environments watching how people shop and how retail environments are created. While distribution and the company's corporate culture are important, ultimately, the consumers are making the final purchases that determine failure or success.
Big companies are screwed.. its like going to the coolest museum in the world where you can actually see living breathing dinosaurs..
I think the number one challenge of business today is change management... Businesses that are big.. the whole history of the study of how you manage a business.. it's based on a totally different situation then the one we are entering in now. So between that and just the nature of bigness.. from culture to how management is conceptualized.. it's just not about agility.. I mean being a little guy is like a skate boarder versus an air craft carrier in a game of.. well how well you can move on a dime.
I think even in you're best case scenarios big businesses have huge disadvantages.. the more we can conceptualize and approach markets asymmetrically.. the more we see democratization of things, shifting power relationships between customers and brand.. the less the power of a market position is going to matter.
There's a lot of things stirring in the tech waters.. that could change things dramatically.. like.. "what if open source figures out how to do user experience?" All the tools the social media kids are using are really just beta's of what will be.. etc, etc, etc, etc.
So um.. here's a few things.
#1 re conceptualize business structure: If individuals are inherently better at change management could the future of social networking have something to do with a granular organization system where we come together in new ways to collaborate on projects? So I've been looking into starting a meet up group to explore this.
#2 The contrarian advantage: How do people see the world.. how do big organizations see the world? What is difficult to quantize into there systems, that you can see, why there's an opportunity for you. To maximize the possibilities of this sorta advantage, when you think about the educational part of your career development don't identify too strongly with off the shelf carrier paths.. Innovation comes from a synthesis of disparate stuff.. what defines things as disparate is how stuff gets compartmentalized. Remember it's all miscellaneous! If you conceptualize your path in such a way that you are a synthesis of different compartments.. you will see lots and lots of stuff know one else sees.. cause everyone else is to narrowly focused.
#3 I've personally been looking at the hollywood visual effects industry. Turns out for an investment of about $15K or so beyond what I already have invested, I can do what they can do with the only expense being my labor. I could there for work on very short piece of content where I could rival what they can afford with respect to production values.
Does that matter in the DIY Youtube age? How about if micro theaters become a reality? Think more broadly about digital distribution possibilities? I recently saw a panel where Quentin Tarantino "if you kick ass there is no competition, the competition becomes a bunch of beached whales." I think he was onto something.
#4 Don't be chicken shit. People freak out about twitter "but they don't have a business model." I understand your old Boss, Chris, wasn't big on business models? Don't be afraid if you can't see the way.. be like a Jedi and don't let what your eyes see confuse you.. cultivate that inner intuition and voice and learn to rely on it. Come to trust in your ability to discover the way. Above all, make sure you are on the right / true path for you as an individual.. which more or less comes down to something a little deeper then doing what you're passionate about.. but following you Bliss to quote Joseph Campbell
I like solving problems people didn't know they had, but my problem there is educating them about said problem.
Brilliant post.
In the trading company I work for, we provide free education to the clients, like the rest of the industry. We also provide them the possibility to trade in all the stuff they cannot do in the other companies.
The big advantage is the sales people, that are picked by country, and are supposed to talk as long as they can with the customer, and convince him to get take theyir money out.
It makes "less buisness", but allows the company to grow really fast, since they are coming back, usually the next day.
Forgive my self-promotion, but you'll find ideas in lead generation at http://findnewcustomers.net and a discussion at http://fearlesscompetitor.com
It did also help that I managed to get a couple of the top teams at the time to use the equipment in an important event and win of course. But I never once put down my competitors. I now have 90% market share.
cheers
Col
Cheers Col
To be read by all young entrepreneurs...
thnx for sharing it!
www.craigbiertempfel.com