5 Strategies To Help Your Business Surpass The Competition

Looking for ways to make your business stand out above the sea of competitors? It can seem daunting but with a few moves in the right direction, you can propel your business forward more than you thought possible.

As a business, it’s essential for you to not only maintain your status in the market but stay ahead of the curve. Competition exists in every market and smarter companies strive to keep an edge.

1. Identify and Solve Challenges of Your Customers

Running your business successfully means listening to your customer's needs and fulfilling them to the best of your ability. This means asking open-ended questions to find out specifically what your customers want and need when using your services or products.

It is also important to provide solutions to prospects and give them exactly what they need versus what you want to sell them. Remember, if you fulfill the need, then you will be more likely to have a return customer who appreciates the service. Your product or service will then start to sell more when you fill the void your competitors are missing.

2. Build Your Own Niche

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With a market that is crowded and continually expanding, it becomes essential for your company to offer something unique to prospective and existing customers. This will help you to create your own niche and minimize the current competition. It’s not just about finding your niche, but being sure to take advantage of it and making yourself noticeable in those circles.

Storytelling

Storytelling is a great way to carefully craft ideas around your brand. With the help of well-told stories, you can become a part of your prospective client’s lifestyle, and not remain a singular stand-alone service or product. This can be done in several ways, such as image branding, social media usage, and unique content creation for clientele.

The value of proper branding of your company cannot be emphasized enough. This is because the associations with your brand will go well beyond the singular interaction you have with your client. Make sure that every choice your company makes is aligned with that brand identity. You should be consistent with your color palettes across marketing materials and your team can even use illustrations for team members or get company headshots to use on your website and on LinkedIn profiles. This will help to further serve you as your company grows and acquires new customers.

Specialization

Honing in on specific specialties is another fantastic way to create a scalable and successful business. A niche market can be highly reliable and easier to target. Furthermore, the customer retention rate is solid. Remember to begin by targeting locally relevant platforms where you can more easily connect with customers and customize a strategy for them.

3. Get Proper Pricing

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A perfect pricing strategy involves specific marketing psychology. Before you set your pricing strategy, make sure you have thoroughly researched the competition. You should determine who is offering the most value for the cost. From there, the price you set should be standard and have a competitive advantage of some sort.

This doesn't always mean lowering the prices of existing products in order to gain more customers. There are three segments in every market: lower, middle, and upper class. The first step is to identify the class you are specifically targeting. Once you know the answer to this, it will be easier to set your price and target the right audience.

4. Be Innovative

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Remember that change happens, so embrace it and ride the wave of possibilities. As Tim Ferriss once said, “Focus on being productive, not busy.” Remember that creative ideas can lead to increased productivity and profit, so invest time and resources in that innovation.

Our ability to connect with people via online opportunities is massive, so the digital marketing resources available to your company can bring a whole new tier of untapped customers. Find new ways to market your image, who your product benefits, and how it improves the quality of life of its users, and you’ll find an audience with whom it will resonate for the long haul.

Also, remember to keep in mind that we are all a part of the global economy sharing the same resources of the planet. Much of the time, customers are looking for businesses with a commitment to being eco-friendly and finding sustainable solutions. The first steps are easy -- recycling, using eco-friendly LEDs in your office, striving to go paperless, donating and going local -- but don’t stop there. If you look for ways you can innovate your business on the eco-friendly front, you’ll not only connect to a more empathetic and loyal customer base but you will also be doing the planet a favor as well.

5. Improve Your Customer Service

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People love businesses that provide top tier customer service. If you keep your customers satisfied with quality human interactions and great service, you’ll gain customers who are loyal for the long haul as well as more likely to refer you to additional customers.

Hire staff who have a great understanding of your products and services and who are able to remain patient and courteous even under stressful situations. And as Larry Page, the co-founder of Google, once said, “Always deliver more than expected.”  With that in mind, if you keep your customers happy, you are guaranteed to have a business that is on the right track to success.