Here are some best practices tips for demonstrating competitiveness in your online offers.
1. Until you develop more illustrations of your value IN COMPARISON to your competitors, it will be difficult for your leads to determine why they should buy from you.
2. The key to competitiveness is not what you are proud of about your business or brand or what you do well (that would make you an employee and not a business owner), its about what the customers in your industry VALUE.
3. All evidence of your competitiveness must be spoken of in direct comparison to your competitors. If you have more than your competitors, you have to demonstrate the numbers of "more" in a chart, graphic or presentation to explain. If you have a higher quality than your competitors, you need to make a side by side comparison, chart, graphic or presentation to explain. If you are competing based on price, you need to show a side by side comparison of pricing versus your competitors.
Here's a spreadsheet example of how to determine your competitiveness on all different types of factors:
4. Once the evidence of your competitiveness is created for your offer, we can summarize them and reference the "evidence" on your lead offer page.
These are some price comparison and feature illustrations:
Here are some additional tips from to consider as a long-term strategy Marketing Sherpa:
Tactic #1. Conduct win/loss analysis
Win/loss analysis requires interviewing new customers and those prospects you lost to competitors. The goal is to uncover the motivations behind their decisions.
During interviews, ask customers what they were looking for in a product or service, and why they did or did not choose your company. If they went with a competitor, ask them why. These questions will help you uncover:
o Misunderstandings around your product/service
o Competitors’ selling points over your products/services
o Features to tweak or add
o Marketing message ideas
o Problems with the sales approach
Tactic #2. Talk to internal and external experts
People inside your company know a lot about your industry. Search your company for experts and invite them to meet for a cup of coffee.
Ask them about market trends and competitors’ habits. Express interest in this type of information, and ask them to send you anything relevant they may encounter. Industry relations people are generally good resources due to their high number of relevant contacts, Naylor says.
Also, look for industry experts outside your company and reach out. Experts who maintain blogs or are frequent speakers at industry events are usually happy to talk shop on the phone.
Tactic #3. Use trade shows as fact-finding missions
"I think trade shows are one of the biggest Meccas for competitive intelligence," Naylor says.
Trade shows are filled with industry experts, prospects and competitors, eagerly chatting on expo floors. Attending shows with open eyes and ears can help you gather a ton of great information.
On the first day of a show, attendees are excited and exhibitor booths are crowded. Many will be talking, so picking up bits of information can be easy. You can also identify the most talkative people and the people with specific areas of expertise, such as marketing or technology.
"As a collection person, you can just hang out on the periphery and listen. You don’t even have to ask questions," says Naylor.
Fatigue begins on the second day and really takes hold by the third day. Booths are emptier and exhibitors may appear less
Having internal staff gather intelligence at a conference can be a challenge, since their name badges and presence put competitors on their guards. Using someone from outside your company is likely to have added benefits.
Tactic #4. Build an information database
There is a wealth of information online. You should gather it and build a database that can easily be browsed or searched. This information will prove valuable when starting new projects, or for keeping abreast of the industry as a whole.
Monitor information published by:
o Regulatory agencies
o Industry publications
o Expert blogs
o Competitors’ public relations departments
This information can be organized on a company intranet to provide access to other departments.
Tactic #5. Remain ethical and avoid deception
You may feel the urge to call competitors and pretend to be a customer to learn about their rates and programs. Stifle this urge, Naylor says, because it’s unethical. It’s essentially lying.
Additional unethical tactics include saying you are:
o From a different company
o A student working on a project
o A researcher gathering information
"You have to look at yourself in the mirror the next day," says Naylor, so be honest.