7 Simple but Effective Business Strategies to Stay Ahead of Competitors

Competition exists in every sphere of life, and business is not excluded. To be a successful entrepreneur, you need to have different business strategies to help you stay ahead of your competitors. As business activities are naturally brutal, protecting your business from competition is sacrosanct.

Understandably, competition in business can be cutthroat as brands would do almost anything to get ahead of one another; it is essential not to lose sight of your value and competitive advantage amidst the conundrum.

Here are some simple result-oriented tactics you can try.

Hire the right personnel

The right employees can catalyse your company’s growth and take you far ahead of competitors, while the wrong set can sink your business. They serve as the first contact people have with your brand. The sales personnel’s attitude and relation will determine if the customer is a one-timer or will be retained.

Hiring approachable and friendly sales representatives will also lead to more sales. For efficient results, train them how to relate with good or bad customers intelligently. It is usually better to cut loose employees who aren’t trainable and have continually recorded bad reviews from customers. 

Solving a general problem

Every user has a particular issue that needs solving. So focus on your product and ensure that it meets a specific need. The particular need your product caters to or solves will serve as the product’s selling point.

To effectively execute it, you can ask yourself questions such as how the product or service solves people’s problems and make lives easier. Since users are after a solution, sell it to them using simple, clear, and concise terms. 

Delivering value helps your business stay ahead of competitors

In business, value is everything. The brand providing the most value will get the most cheque. Another dimension to that is how to communicate your value effectively. 

If a client’s perception of your brand is that you provide the most value, even if that’s not necessarily correct, the client will always return to you anyway. The keyword here is ‘perception’. Any brand that can articulate its value effect will get the client.

Price reduction is one way to appear valuable. However, it doesn’t work in all cases. For instance, the price reduction tactic may undermine how quality-conscious customers perceive your brand if you operate a high-end business.

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In this case, you might need a value-add to maintain your brand image. For example, if you are a software company and your top product slacks in the market, you could offer free one-month maintenance and make sure the value ad is not what your competitors can afford to provide.

This is one of the best ways to give your quality-conscious customers a reason to choose your brand over others. But if your business is not value-driven, a price reduction method might work for you. 

For example, you can attract new customers by slashing your price on old stock while upselling your new inventory.

Giving your customers needed attention

Customers always want your attention when they demand it. Some would even reach out after work hours. Always ensure their needs are met. This might be your only edge over competitors.

Some of the strategies you can integrate are chatbots that offer real-time communication before being redirected to a call representative. You can also redirect customers to pre-set questions and answers on your website. This way, the customer does not feel ignored. 

Leads first, sales second

This can be likened to reverse psychology, but it works. Without new or existing leads, there cannot be sales, so strategise on how to get new leads. 

One way to do this is by offering a service or valuable content for free, with the intention to sell the main product to those who show interest in the freebie. You can do this with content marketing, website optimisation, and strategic email automation.

Leverage social media

Social media has proven to be a great way to improve brand image and conversion. Make sure to create a brand image that people can resonate with. To do it properly, it is best to know how the different social media platform works or get someone who does. This is important for proper business branding. 

Be an authority in your space

This doesn’t happen overnight. Brand authority is earned over time. Usually, it is after a brand has consistently delivered value and proven to be solving a problem. This builds trust for your brand.

To earn the trust of your audience, online or offline, you must consistently meet their needs over a period of time. This also dovetails into the ‘know your audience’ topic. If you don’t know your audience intimately, how would you know what they want and don’t? Or how to serve them.

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