How to Outcompete Your Rivals: A Guide for SMEs
Small businesses are aware that, without an established place in the market, they’re fighting directly with their competitors to secure customers. That means that you’re always working to be that little bit better, and that culture of competition is a great creative motivation for your firm. But how you go about outcompeting rivals is something that you could always revisit, fine-tune and streamline. In this short guide, we’ll look at some of the most effective methods you can use to outcompete rivals in the coming months.
Review
Reviewing the position of your rivals is more important than you might think. You’re in a battle to secure profits, and there’s a finite market for you to do so in – and as such, you need to know about the position of your rivals in order to have the best chance of outflanking them.
A typical example here is on the point of price. If you know what prices your rivals are offering, you’ll be better able to differentiate – either by upping the quality of your service or reducing your price below theirs. But this is a tip that goes beyond price wars: it’s about marketing, sales, and presentation, too. Keep reviewing your competitors so that you know what you ought to do to best compete with them.
Overheads
Your business overheads may feel static, but in truth, they’re something that you can always tinker with. Every little bit of cash you save by adjusting your overheads, the more you’ll make in profits that you can reinvest in your business. So, take a look at your expenditure, and whether there’s any way you can reduce your monthly costs is a great way of subtly outcompeting rivals.
One way to do this is by reducing costs you pay each month – like subscriptions, rent, and utilities. For instance, you can secure the best water rates on the market by going to providers who offer such a service, such as https://www.businesswaterquotes.co.uk/. Likewise, you can cut out costly software subscriptions your firm could actually do without. You can even renegotiate your rental contract – asking for a lower fee or threatening to up sticks and relocate.
Service
Finally, most SMEs are aware that they grow as much by word of mouth as by sheer weight of marketing and sales drives. And that means that your service is particularly important – far more important for your type of firm than for the larger incumbents. If you can differentiate on the point of exceeding your customers’ expectations, they’ll refer their friends to you, and they’ll come back for more.
All this means being sharp when it comes to customer delivery, experience and success. You need to make sure you’re hitting all the right notes, whether that’s getting packages delivered on time or being there to pick up the phone to help a customer. All of these should be front and center of your customer journeys so that your firm gains the best reputation for service in your market.
