In today’s business environment, talent alone will not ensure success. You must also learn the skills that help create a successful business, and essential to that undertaking is knowing your competition. Do Olympic athletes train in a vacuum, oblivious to what they will face when the competition begins? No. They exploit their talents, train hard, and know the competition they’re up against.

Step 4: Know Your Competition

Chances are good that you’re not the only business of your type marketing in the area. If you have not differentiated your business, you will not stand out in the crowd, and you can’t differentiate without understanding what your competitors are bringing to the table.

Competitive research needs to start at the top of your organization. Leadership needs to be involved to signal to everyone that this is a priority. The good news is that it doesn’t have to be expensive or difficult to conduct. Ask your employees about the competition. Shop the competition. Some basic questions and first-hand experience can provide a lot of information.

Next, conduct a SWOT analysis. Many business owners have heard of a SWOT analysis, but few have conducted them. Have you conducted an analysis of your business to determine your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT)? If not, now is the time.

Look at a SWOT analysis as an opportunity to grow your business and excel beyond your competitors. The comparison of how you stack up against your competition is where the value lies. Ask yourself these questions:

• How can we use our strengths to excel beyond the competition?
• Where can we improve on our weaknesses so that they are no longer a weakness when compared to the competition?
• How can we capitalize on our competitors’ weaknesses?
• What opportunities exist within these strengths and weaknesses?
• What are the threats to our business from inside and outside our organization?
• How can we eliminate the threats to your business?
• Does our competition even consider themselves to be competition?

I was working with an organization recently and by conducting a SWOT analysis we discovered that what they considered their strengths were actually on par with the competition, so, in fact, they did not have the distinct advantages they thought they did.

Don’t fool yourself into thinking you are better than your competition. Know where you stack up. Do the research and use the results to strengthen your game. Knowing the competition will only help to make your business stronger and improve your bottom line.

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How do you compete with the guy across the street or in the next town over? What makes a customer seek you out as opposed to the competition? Most likely your business has a lot of competition in the same space. Standing out in the crowd can be difficult and you don’t want to be the low cost supplier just to get business. That is a fast road to the bottom. We must differentiate ourselves from the competition, we must stand out or we will be ignored. Hence the third step in The Essential Steps to Business Success.

Step 3: Differentiate Your Business

In Seth Godin’s book Purple Cow he describes driving through the French countryside with his family and how enchanted they were by the storybook-like cows grazing on picturesque pastures beside the highway. They drove for some time marveling at how beautiful everything was. But then in about twenty minutes, they started ignoring the cows. The new cows were just like the old cows, and what was once amazing was now common. In fact, they were worse than common—they were boring. But then he thought, a purple cow, now that would be interesting. The essence of the purple cow is that it would be remarkable and stand out in the herd. It would get their attention.

Due to the enormous volume of stimulus bombarding each of us every day, we have become skilled at filtering out whatever is common or boring. Our businesses are subject to the same phenomenon, and to be successful we can’t just be “better,” we must also be different:

• Do you know your unique value proposition? Or are you jumping on the bandwagon of fads (the road to failure)? If you think you should be like the guy down the street, you will never stand out in a crowd. You’ll just be one of the herd.
• What are your vision and values for the organization and do you have the right people engaged to help take your business to the next level? Often the primary difference between you and the competition is you and your management team. Your vision and values give your organization personality and character and can make the critical difference.
• Where is your focus? Is it on the customer? Is that true for your entire staff? When your staff is customer focused, continually anticipating and meeting customer needs, you are collectively creating a business that stands apart.
• How can you provide more value than anyone else in your industry? You can’t do it without understanding who you are, what business you are really in, and what your customers want. What dramatic and quantifiable value will you create for your customers? What is your competitive advantage?

How will you paint yourself purple to stand out from the herd? If you need help differentiating your business from the competition, call us. We can help you find your true color, making a dramatic improvement in your success and bottom line revenue.  garyfurr@garyfurrconsulting.com

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Benefits and results is the language of customer orientation. Too often business owners focus on the mechanics of what they do, not the benefit and results of what they do. Potential customers/clients are not interested in the mechanics; they want to know what benefits and results they will receive from doing business with you, which leads us to the second step in essential business success.

Step Two: Know Your Customer

• It is critical to understand your customers—in depth. You need to know about their likes and dislikes, and you uncover those by asking questions with the intent to understand. It’s about them, not you. It is common to listen with the intent to reply, not understand. But understanding is what will allow you to give your customers what they really want. You can ask your customers what motivated them to start their business, what they are struggling with, and how you can help them to be more successful. What would an entirely different way of meeting the needs of your customer look like?
• Create a customer-focused culture within your organization. That culture is all about what the customer thinks and what they want as well as the value you provide. Do your team members understand the value they provide the customer? Can they articulate it? Do they believe it?
• The commitment to know and understand the customer must permeate your organization from the top to the bottom. How do you align your organization to provide maximum value to your customers?
• Develop an open communication channel with your customers and communicate with them often. You cannot over-communicate as long as you are bringing value to them with every contact. Revenue growth is about effective communication.
• Develop yearly surveys, audits, and questionnaires to better understand your customers. I have heard owners express that they did not want to know this information because they were afraid of what they might hear. Wouldn’t it be better to know how your customers are feeling so you can make corrections and adjustments rather than finding out they were unhappy after they have fired you as a vendor or supplier? I think so! Ask your customers questions like these: What is your favorite thing about doing business with us? How has business improved as a result of working with us? Companies that ask these questions have increased customer loyalty and increased sales.
• Your organization should be intently focused on its customers. Knowing your customer is what allows you to deliver what they truly want and to continue to innovate and grow your business. Your ability to focus your value and align your employees will create greater rewards for your organization and improve your customer relationships. It takes constant vigilance and intentional focus on the customer. Remember, it’s about them, not you.

If you missed Step One of Business Success, Know What Business You Are In, click here: https://garyfurrgtp.garyfurrconsulting.com/the-essential-steps-to-business-success-step-one/.

If you want to dramatically improve your success in business, take your business to the next level, and make more money, contact us.

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       The Essential Steps to Business Success – Step One

The Essential Steps to Business Success: I don’t know a single business owner who doesn’t want to grow their business, take it to the next level, and make more money. That’s what being a business owner is all about, but sometimes we get tripped up on the how to. In the next few blog posts I will outline the nine steps to developing a successful business, because each step is critical to growth and your bottom line.

STEP ONE: Know What Business You Are In

This sounds basic, but it is the foundation upon which your business is built. Take some time to answer the following questions about your business.

• What business are you really in? Dig deep to find the answer. Keep asking the question and drill down to find out what business you are really in. Often it is not the first answer that comes to mind. Think about it from the perspective or your customers/clients.
• What do you do for your customer/client? Too often business owners focus on the mechanics of what they do, not the benefit and results of what they do. People are not interested in the mechanics; they want to know what benefits and results they will receive from doing business with you.
• Where do you see your business in five years, three years, and one year from now? Clarity of direction is one of the most important aspects of a successful business. If you don’t know where you are going, you can’t chart a course to get there—and you won’t know when you’ve arrived.
• If your prospective customers or clients are not buying from you, then who are they buying from and why? What does your competition do or provide that you do not? Know thy competition.
• What are the most important reasons your customers or clients buy from you? You need to know why your customers do business with you. If you don’t know, ask them.
• How is your product or service positioned in the marketplace? High-end, mid-tier, low-end, or price leader? Where do you stand in the marketplace?
• Do you and you and your employees know your vision, mission, and values? You can’t maximize performance unless everyone is on the same page.

Need help understanding what business you are in and how to maximize your results? Give us a call. We can dramatically improve your individual and organizational effectiveness, maximizing your bottom line revenue. http://www.garyfurr@garyfurrconsulting.com

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