10 Ways Your Business Can Gain Advantage Over the Competition
It goes without saying that there is a lot of competition in the business world – regardless of the industry you are in, chances are, there are other businesses that offer almost the same products or services that you do, in almost the same area that your business is located in. Those businesses are your direct competition. In order to see growth and gain brand authority, you need to always be a few steps ahead of your competition so that shoppers support your establishment over the over guys.
10 Ways Your Business Can Gain Advantage Over the Competition:
Market: If no one knows that your company exists, they will go looking elsewhere. Therefore, continuously marketing your business is the most important ingredient to gaining success and advantage. You must put aside a monthly marketing budget and gently-yet-persuasively get in the faces of your target audience so that they continuously flock to your establishment. Your marketing techniques should include SEO, online ads, social media marketing, directory listings, community involvement (charity sponsorship, hosting events), PR, promotional giveaways, loyalty programs and cross-promoting.
Know your industry: It will be beneficial to seek the aid of a business mentor or an industry professional so that you can learn all there is to know about the sector you are about to embark on. Knowing your industry will increase lender’s trust, give you economic insights, guide you in the right direction and help you educate the customers that support your business.
Have a strong online presence: Having a strong online presence goes hand in hand with marketing – your business website should be eye pleasing, informative and easy to navigate and your social media profiles should be interactive and welcoming.
photo/ Michael Jarmoluk via pixabay
Utilize advanced technology: Capturing an online signature for staffing companies, facilitating customer transactions, tallying inventory, and storing sensitive information has never been easier than it is in today’s technology driven world. Utilizing advanced technology can help your company increase productivity, improve transaction speed, cut down on errors and increase revenue.
Offer quality products/services: You must make the effort to offer higher quality products and services than your competition and showcase the good qualities of them so that customers see the value in choosing you over the others.
Value your employees: Valuing your employees will create a genuine love for the business – a happy team will work hard for you and represent you in a positive way, while employees that feel invisible express low desire and negativity that customers can quickly pick up on.
Be Green: The public respect companies with strong sustainable values and often reward them with their loyalty. Your eco-friendly efforts can include being waste-free, using post-consumer materials and supporting environmental causes by continuously donating funds, products and services.
Make your establishment asthetically pleasing: Regardless of the industry you are in, it is important that your storefront always looks its best. This means that the space should be organized, clutter free, easy to navigate and generally eye-catching.
Quality customer service: Delivering quality customer service can not only gain you competitive advantage, it might gain you customers for life. Poor customer service is one of the top complaints that people have when dealing with businesses, therefore, you must make it a priority to properly train your team to calmly and expertly deal with every type of customers. At the end of the day, you want that customer to get off the phone or off live-chat feeling that their questions and concerns have been met.
Out of all the small businesses that have formed and that will form, only about ten percent of them will go on to see continual success. You want to be part of that ten percent, so you must know more about your industry and do more for your business so that you can beat the competition and be successful.
Author: Ravi Kumarr Gupta
