Using the Competition to Your Advantage - Think Strategically!

Summer vacation was a blast this year. My family spent a lot of time at the beach and on those cloudy, rainy days when wiggling our toes in the sand along the shore line wasn't an option, we stayed inside and played the interactive computer game, Wii. My 14 and 12 year old niece and nephew picked up the tricks of how to play the various games rather quickly but their 7 year old sister struggled for a bit. She then asked her older brother for help. Keep in mind, they were competing. When I asked my nephew why he helped her he said, "If she's playing at her best, it makes me get better. Besides, if I know where she's weak, I can attack her on that skill." I see a lot of wisdom in this statement and it got me thinking about how this can work in business and how it contributes to the ultimate satisfaction of a customer. Here are some of the things I came up with regarding how competition can help us:

* Education- We can learn from the competition just like my niece learned from her older brother. They give us ideas and motivate us to come up with new products and services intended to benefit the customer. By observing them, we can also learn new ways to operate that may be more efficient or effective. By reducing operating costs, we become more profitable.
* Joint Venture Partners - We can't be all things to all people anymore. In those instances where we lack a product or service to fulfill a need, we can partner with a competitor to provide it. I work with a lot of other marketing firms for example to provide mystery shopping services. It is a service they do not ordinarily offer so they partner with me to get the information they need to support or complete a project.
* Alternative Providers - Some of the best customer experiences I've had are when a business will refer me to a competitor when they don't have the product or service I need. This happens a lot in the retail industry. I always appreciate it when a sales associate will direct me to another store that carries the product I want. They understand that for today's consumer it's all about immediate gratification. I will always remember and go back to the store who referred me out of loyalty. Most consumers recognize that in these situations, satisfying a customer's needs outweighs the fear of losing a customer.

In looking back at my nephew's approach to competing with his sister, I see that if we approach it strategically, we can use the competition to our advantage and garner the loyalty and support of our customers while we're at it.

Be good to your customers so your competitors never get the chance to!

Angela V. Megasko is the President and founder of Market Viewpoint, LLC, a market research firm specializing in professional mystery shopping. Her organization has been helping clients see their operations through the eyes of the customer since 1996. Angela has helped clients in all industries increase their profitability through the power of customer retention. She believes so strongly in the idea that our clients can make us profitable that she recommends having a solid customer service plan as a part of your firm's overall Marketing Plan. To learn more about her services, go to http://www.marketviewpoint.com

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