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Competitive Knowledge is a Dangerous Thing

Guest post by: Rebel Brown

Article Overview: Nothing we do that follows our competitors will make us market leaders. We abdicate responsibility for our own success and empower the competition to define our future.

Competitive Knowledge is a Dangerous Thing

Too much competitive focus turns us into a permanent follower. That's the kiss of death for growth. Why?

Our focus on the competition limits our thinking. We end up following their tails instead of breaking out in our own path.

We obsess over matching and beating the competition. Winning against the competition replaces servicing our customers as our business goal - and we begin a long and painful tailspin away from the source of our growth - our buyers.

We fail and come up pointing to the competition. Their new whatchamafloppy, discount structure or new marketing campaign was insurmountable. We must have a similar, only better whatchmafloppy, pricing or campaign to win against them.

We abdicate responsibility for our own success, and empower the competition to define our precious future.

Nothing we do that follows our competitors will make us market leaders.

As my grandpa used to say, "The view never changes unless you're the lead cow." Yet that's exactly what happens when we get obsessed with the competition. We end up with the same view of our business, our products, our value and our futures...all based on how we stack up against our competitors.

Market leadership is not about being just like everyone else in our markets. Leadership means providing special value in ways that knock our customers socks off. That means we follow our customers' lead and put the competition in our rear view mirror.

Beating the competition is not the way to win the game.

Serving customers is the best winning strategy.

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Article Tags: business growth strategy, competitive analysis, customer focus, winning strategies



Related Forum Posts
Hello all... - Hello everyone - this is just a short intro. My name is Evie Parsons and I'd just like to say hello to everyone. As everybody knows that nowadays forums are the best source of Knowledge, and through forums we can learn a lot. I look forward to meeting you all and wish you the best of success.
Re: Service Or Product? - I agree with starting a Service-based Business in the economy. Here is what I think is critical: 1. Researching that your Service business has a market. 2. Marketing the Service with as much leverage as possible. 3. Product-izing the Service (aka Package Expert Knowledge). This will only help elevate you as "the" expert in your niche and make you accessible to people in different price points.
Re: Franchise of a popular call center - If you have knowledge in running a call center and know how to manage it effectively then it sounds like it’s a good business for you. Workforce management relates to employee matters like payroll, HR, and employee training. Knowledge management relates to research, strategies, innovations and the effective use of technology. In both cases your prime clients are corporate sectors especially those who want to reduce their cost and increase performance at all levels.
Re: 21 Ways To Get New Customers In A Slow Economy - Thanks Evan, Your ideas are full of wisdom required for a time like this. I`ll like to add another idea to your list : Update your Knowledge and Sharpen your Skill on a daily basis. The economy may be considered slow,but customer awareness is on the increase,therefore,if the pocket (disposable income) of the proposed new customer is of any interest to you,then you must stay ahead by at least one step in your skill and knowledge. The 21 ways as listed by Evan is a sure way to increase in knowledge and sharpen you skill.
Re: Is getting a formal education worthwhile for entrepreneu - Knowledge in whatever form is valuable. Its not just about usefulness in the business that you plan to start. The knowledge that you gain via an education system definitely is not enough for an entrepreneur because Facts that you will face in your role as an entrepreneur will be much different than what you have learnt. But having an education will definitely equip you with getting the leads in handling situations. So my suggestion is that you continue with your studies and gain as much knowledge you can. You are already aware that the learnings you make can be applied on the Website. Same also applies for all your other learnings. The only thing is you will have to wait for the time to apply what you have learnt.


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