Considering the increasing number of companies that perform in different domains, staying above the floating line may be a tricky task. It is very important to know how to deal with business competition. Also, you must be able to keep your knowledge up to date and adapt to the 2020 business environment.
How to deal with business competition in 2020? There are various ways of dealing with business competitors in 2020. However, the most noteworthy are:
- Analyze the market
- Understand your competitors
- Know your customers
- Explain what makes you different
- Improve your marketing
- Take care of your customers
- Customer service
- Loyalty programs
- Discounts
Now that you know what the most commonly used tactics are, let’s take an in-depth and find out what works best for you!
Why You Need To Know How To Deal With Competition
The total number of businesses that appear on the market every day is very important. However, many of these companies cannot keep up with their senior competitors. This happens because of various reasons such as
- Improper dealing with competition
- Customers trust well-known companies
- Lack of initial financing
- Too rapid expanding pace
- Lack of prior market investigation
Statistics state that up to 70% of small businesses fail in the first 10 years. This number is astonishing considering the enormous amount of companies that are founded every day.
As mentioned before, the incorrect dealing with business competition is one of the most common reasons a company fails. That’s why it is very important to know how to deal with business competition.
How To Deal With Business Competition In 2020
Now that you understand how important overcoming business competition is, let’s find out what the most efficient ways to deal with your competitors are. Keep in mind that to perform better than your opponents, corroborate all the methods explained below. It is definitely not a one-and-done job.
Analyze The Market
The market is your workplace. To achieve high proficiency in terms of sales, analyze the current market. You want to know as much information as possible about how things are going worldwide/locally, what problems other businesses encounter, what the nowadays trends are, etc.
Statistics are very relatable in business. Even if it may not fit perfectly to your situation, you may find yourself in a position that could have been predicted using statistics. However, analyze the latest statistics available as things change wildly. For example, you can learn more about the most important statistics in matters of small businesses in 2020 here.
Understand Your Competitors
You cannot possibly overcome an unknown obstacle. Conducting a market analysis is very important especially before starting a business. If you choose a domain that is already saturated you will definitely struggle to break the ice.
However, constantly analyzing your competition is very important too. You want to know their perks and drawbacks and what makes them perform better (or not) in the current market. This way, you will understand what you are doing wrong, what they are doing wrong, and what you should work on.
Being able to compare your business against your competitors will give you a better understanding of what the most important aspects of your company are.
Know Your Customers
Business imperatively involves two persons: the seller and the customer. Considering that you know what your pros and cons are, get to know your customer. An excellent idea is to create a customer persona.
A persona is basically a set of characteristics that represents your usual customer. When creating a customer persona, you consider different meaningful aspects, such as
- Age, gender, location
- Occupation, hobbies
- Spending habits
- And more.
After completing the persona, you will understand what you should improve to gain your buyers’ attention. Having a well-researched persona will help you make educated decisions that will positively affect your company’s sales.
Explain What Makes You Different
What makes you better than your competitors? This is a very important question that you must be capable of answering. You must have a crystal clear understanding of your advantages ahead of your competition. Your perks may be in terms of logistics, prices, quality, offers, and any other matters.
Also, it is a brilliant idea to emphasize why customers should choose you instead of your competitors. However, make sure not to exaggerate this type of marketing method. You may end up in a trial for denigrating your opponents if you go too far.
Improve Your Marketing
Marketing is the spine of a business. That’s why constantly improve your marketing content and adapt it to the 2020 trends. You can advertise your business in a lot of distinct ways, such as
- Digital
- Flyers
- Television
- Radio
- And more.
It is very important to adjust your marketing strategy to the changing trends. For example, in 2019, 60% of smartphone users have contacted a business directly using the search results. This reveals that you should prioritize the digital environment for advertising your business.
Do your best to reach out as many customers as you can. However, make sure that all your ads are relevant. It is a commonly used tactic to bait clients on your website. Keep in mind that a customer that feels like cheated from the second he accessed your website will never invest trust in your company.
Take Care Of Your Customers
Whether they are new or repeated, customers are the key to dealing with competition. There are some important aspects you should take into consideration if you want to attract as many customers as possible. The most noteworthy aspects you should consider related to your clients are:
- Customer service
- Loyalty programs
- Discounts
Customer Service
It is the most crucial part of keeping your customers happy. Let’s be serious: would you hire a company that does not care about your needs and only wants your money?
Whether we are talking about pieces of advice about future orders, technical support, or any other issue that your customer may encounter, it is very important to have a team of experts that are ready to satisfy your clients’ requirements.
Loyalty Programs
Existing customers are pure gold in business. It is easier, cheaper, and more proficient to keep an existing customer than to find and gain the interest of new customers.
One way you can attract the existing buyers to keep buying your services is to provide loyalty programs. There are lots of possibilities in terms of loyalty rewards, starting from discounts and loyalty cards to birthday gifts and priority for future orders. All you have to do is to be creative. Think for yourself: what would make you repeatedly buy one’s services?
Discounts
Even if discounts can be a part of the loyalty programs, why not include them in your everyday business routine? You can analyze the latest sales and offer a discount on the products/services that you are having trouble selling.
This may represent an impulse for the customers to try out and buy less demanded products. The same rule as before applies: be creative! But make sure you don’t exaggerate with the discounts. You don’t want to diminish your profit too much.
Expect Future Changes
The service market is volatile. That is a fact. You must take advantage of the changes that may occur in the future. For example, predicting a drop in the currency market will definitely help you minimize its effects on your business.
Always look to the future! You have to be ready to adapt your business to any changes that you may encounter during the following years. Make an imagination exercise: Where do you see your business in five/ten/twenty years? Answer this question and you will get a better understanding of what your expectations are about your future business timeline.
Final Thoughts
To sum it up, dealing with business competition in 2020 may be a tricky task. However, now you know how to respond proficiently to your opponents in the business market.
Make sure you combine all the mentioned pieces of advice to get an effective competitive approach.