All of us have competition.  Competition is an ugly word but competitors are a fact of life in business.  Your business must compete with other businesses.  You must create an edge separating your business from the competition. 

You should learn everything there is to know about your competition and to understand and know what their marketing strategies are.

The first thing you should do is to make a list of the competitors that are a threat to you and your future. Take the time to research them and get a feel for how they deal with their customers, then answer the following questions:

1. Do they have testimonials and are they positive?
2. Do they offer discounts?
3. Do they offer a guarantee and do they have a return policy?
4. By comparison, are their prices in line and competitive with yours?
5. Do they offer anything special like free delivery or double your money?
6. Which areas are they negligent in and how can you capitalize on it?
7. How do they promote their business?
8. What do they offer that you don’t?

Now you should create a profile of each of your main competitors.  Outline how they advertise and why you think their customers shop there; in fact, you should try to locate one of their customers and ask them that question.  Next determine what areas they need to improve on and how successfully you can expect to compete with them.

Doing the above will help you understand your competitors strengths and their weaknesses.

Now, evaluate and compare your own strengths and weaknesses, in comparison to the competition.

Once you have this list, you can now shout the differences between you and your competition in all of your advertising and marketing methods.

The information that you glean about your competition will also help you formulate your Unique Selling Proposition.

This is why it’s important to research your competition first.  One of the keys to a successful business is identifying what makes your business unique and letting everyone know about it.

This in turn will help your prospects understand why they should buy from you, rather than the competition.  When it is used successfully, it makes you the obvious choice in their minds.

The best USP’s consist of unique concepts that set your business favorably apart from your competition.

A business that employs USP’s has a way of competing in the marketplace that goes way beyond price.  Price will never be an issue.

Let me know what your USP’s are in the comment section.

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