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Competition, which is natural for almost any market, is often good for a business than not. It is hard to improve when you are the only player in your field. Without competition, you would not feel as motivated to innovate as otherwise.
I assume that you have competitors who are stronger than you are. I also assume that you currently have a similar product to your competitors. How can you differentiate yourself and stand out when you have the similar product as your competitor? Here are some brilliant ways to do it:
Make something better than your competitors
Your powerful competitor isn’t untouchable. And to say your big competitor has the best product possible is a myth. In fact, we’ve witnessed this happen many times before.
Myspace was one of the most visited sites on the web, and the biggest social networking site before Facebook. Today, do you hear the name “Myspace?” How can a social networking site so big like Myspace go down unnoticed? It is because Facebook does it better than Myspace. That’s why Facebook is the third most visited site in the world. And it’s also the biggest social networking site with over 1.59 billion monthly active users.
It would be wrong to say Facebook offers the best product possible. Yes, users can also leave Facebook if there’s a better social networking site. So, think of something you can do better than your competitors. If you can do that and you’ll see a lot of customers coming to your way.
Make your product easier to use and understand
If you can make a client use and understand your product easily, then you’ve won! A lot of products on the web are hard to use and understand. If you want to gain a lot of market share you’ve got to make yours so easy that a 10-year old would be able to use it without any difficulty.
Look at Slack, for example, they became successful within a very short time because they have the best user experience. And anyone can use it.
Pay attention to your product and the design. Ask a 10-year old kid to check it out. If the kid can understand the idea within seconds, then you’ve got a good product that can help you win more clients over your competitors.
Provide better customer service
Customers are the lifeblood of any business. If your customers are happy with you, there’s a high chance that they will tell their family and friends about your product. This is why you need to invest heavily in making your customers happy. Provide best customer service possible. Make sure your customers don’t have to suffer when they need support.
Your customer service representatives are the ones who interact with your customers on a daily basis. They have to be putting smiles on the faces of your customers. They have to be polite by getting their complaints fixed within a short time. Your big established competitors may find it difficult to provide better customer service because they have a lot of customers. This is an area you can quickly excel and beat your competitors.
Customers will always go to companies that treat them right and make them feel special. You should make your company a place where customers want to come knowing that you have talented representatives waiting to help them get any issue resolved. Offering a good customer service also reduces your customer acquisition cost.
Use what people say about your competitors to improve your product
With the rise of social media, it’s easy to see what people are saying about your competitors. There are two things you’ll see when you follow your competitors on social media:
• You see a thread of discontent about your competitor
• You also see good things about your competitor
You should pay more attention to the first. When you see someone complaining about the usability of your competitor’s website or product, you should focus on making yours better.
Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, forums and even search engines are places you should be watching what people are saying about your competitors.
Work on your product offerings
To compete with your competitors, you might want to improve the quality of your own offers. You are small and nimble while your competitors are heavyweights. You can quickly react to trends and industry changes, but it will take your big competitors some time to react.
Think of some valuable, complementary products you can include in your offering. This will immediately set you apart and make your business more attractive to customers.
