Gain Competitive Advantage for Your Business
Are you thinking of starting a business? If you already have a successful business, you may be unsure of where to go next. The first thing you should do is to think about analyzing your competition and using your competitive advantage. We may not like to put ourselves up against others, but this is the reality of owning a business. Who else is in your field? Which strategies are these businesses using to bring in clients? What seems to be working, and what isn’t?
This is when you consider: is there something I could be doing that my competitors aren’t? How could I make my strategies even better and of a higher quality than theirs? What needs do potential customers have that are not being met? Competitive advantage refers to the aspects of a company that allow it to produce better or higher quality products or services than its competitors. These products or services must offer a greater value to the client. This greater value is seen either by lowering prices or by increasing prices but adding more benefits that competitors do not offer.
To illustrate these benefits, let’s say you’ve opened a cupcake bakery. You are bringing in a good number of customers every day. People love your products and keep coming back, which is great! However, you’ve noticed that the bakery two blocks over seems to be doing just as well, if not better. How can you make yourself better known to the community? Here are examples of some benefits that can offer your business a competitive advantage and give you an edge over your competitors.
Differentiation
Differentiation is exactly what it sounds like. You want to make your product or service different from your competitors but still familiar enough that potential customers will know what it is. Some ways of doing this are strong branding and an establishment of brand loyalty. For your cupcake bakery, you realize that there is not much of a brand attached to your business.
You contact Colortech’s creative team to create a logo and establish a marketing plan, just to get started. You want people to associate your business not just as a business but as an experience. What factors make your business memorable? What values do you want to showcase? That is what is going to differentiate your business from your competition and attract new customers.
Quality Customer Service
Customers love being able to get in contact with a real person rather than navigating through an automated service. People will typically expect the best customer service from local businesses, so this is essential when establishing yours. Be just as good if not better than the chain businesses around you. You automatically have a competitive advantage by being local, so use it wisely.
For your cupcake bakery, make sure that any contact information you put out for the business is correct and is something you and your team can handle. At the same time, look at what your competitors are doing. Sure, they will have the typical phone number and email, but if they have no social media, this is a chance for you to step in. Allow people to contact you via social media for anything relating to customer service. If someone’s cupcake order is wrong, take care to fix it immediately and offer sincere apologies. Offer coupons to returning customers. Give someone a free cupcake when they sign up for your email newsletters.
These are just a few ideas on offering quality customer service and are a great way to gain an advantage over your competition, especially if they do not partake in these same ideas. Responding to people quickly and in a friendly manner will let people view you positively AND potentially bring you more customers.
Access to New and Improved Technology
The further we evolve with technology, the more people are going to expect it everywhere they go. Even with the simplest of businesses like a cupcake bakery, it will always help to bring in some new tech to make you stand out. This past year has taught us the importance of businesses offering curbside pickup and being able to make mobile payments. For a business like this one, it will be more than essential to ensure you stay in business. People love the option of being able to pay ahead of time before picking up their orders. If the other bakery across the town does not offer this but yours does, you have a huge advantage. Social media advertising is also a great way to take advantage of technology to stand out amongst your competitors. You can choose who to target your advertisements to and how long you want your ads to run. Colortech can help you out with this!
Conclusion
Remember to constantly keep revisiting what your competitive advantage is. No matter what type of business you have, aspects of it will constantly be in development and need to be examined again. The more you work at offering a greater value to your customers or clients, the more you will demonstrate your own value as a business.