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Ten Tips to Competing in Challenging Times

Guest post by: Geri Stengel

Article Overview: Competing in challenging times requires a continuous rethinking of current strategies. To help you stay on top, here are 10 tips for fine-tuning the way your business operates.

Ten Tips to Competing in Challenging Times

As we've all been reminded lately, business is cyclical. When your company enters a down period, it's a good time to fine-tune your strategy to improve your chances for success. Here are 10 guidelines for doing just that. 1. Know Your Company: Develop a clear vision for your organization. Define what it does, how it does it and what it stands for. Base your vision on a broader view of what your products or services actually are rather than just how they work. Since people buy solutions, articulate what problems you help solve. Communicate your vision consistently through advertising, packaging, pricing and customer-service policies.

2. Know Your Customers: Define who buys and who influences the purchase of your product or service. Know who uses it and how it is used. Develop a process for tracking and reporting all relevant sales data. Find out what your customers and prospects want by asking them, either through informal polling or formal research studies.

3. Know Your Competition: Learn everything you can about the competition, including their mission and objectives; how they position, manufacture, price and distribute; which markets they serve; and what their strengths and weaknesses are. Start by shopping your competitors, or asking your customers and suppliers about them. If the company is public, become a shareholder in order to gather information.

4. Create a Competitive Advantage: Competing effectively in challenging times involves creating, managing and exploiting assets and skills that competitors find difficult to match or counter. Developing this advantage is a continuing process, not a fixed event. The key is to build unique core competencies that customers want, so you can leverage them to develop new products or go after new markets. This ability helps firms achieve economies of scale and scope across geographic areas and business units.

5. Focus on Customers: Let dissatisfied customers know that their complaints don't fall on deaf ears and that their problems are taken seriously. You can turn a negative customer experience into a positive one by sending a replacement item (or refund), along with a personal note of apology and some additional item of value. This unexpected extra - which can be a coupon, product or discount on a future purchase - can transform an unhappy customer into a loyal one.

6. Build Customer Loyalty: Every business seeks satisfied customers who return again and again because they trust its product or service. Their repeat business comes at a much lower cost than that of someone who must be constantly enticed into buying.

In addition to working on core product and service attributes that build customer loyalty (such as treating each customer as a valued individual), businesses must work on such issues as instilling a helpful staff attitude, delivering on advertising promises, developing a favorable return policy and providing accurate product information.

7. Target Market Segments: Divide your market into niches, segmenting it by age, income, product type, geography, buying patterns, customer needs, lifestyle and psychographics. Understand which segments have the greatest growth potential and which of your products/services serve them best. Emphasize these niches in your marketing efforts.

8. Engage in Growth Initiatives: Identify opportunities such as geographic expansion or new target markets. Enter those markets using the most effective method (e.g., strategic alliance, outsourcing, direct). Where risks are high and/or adequate internal resources are unavailable, search for a partner who can join in developing a cooperative venture. Select partners with complementary resources and appropriate strategic intent.

9. Create Buzz: Spread news about your products and services through marketing that moves, grows and persuades everyone it touches. A variety of devices can be used, including topical surveys or newsworthy events.

10. Stay Flexible: Competing in challenging times requires a continuous rethinking of current strategies. Strategic flexibility gives any firm the ability to respond quickly to changing conditions and thereby develop and/or maintain a significant competitive edge.

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Business Tips - How about: Tips for managers to handle employees more effectively? Tips on how to deal with difficult customers? Tips on how to deal more effectively with suppliers? The only three I have in mind right now, but will try to come up with something else. Chris
Re: Info for would be franchisers... - [quote="Sebastien":1d29sdv1]Like Franchise Times, Franchise Update is a very practical magazine. There is no blah blah, just straight facts that anyone in the franchise community can relate to. I just want to mention that all these magazines are NOT franchisee oriented. I mean these magazines are for franchise professionals. If you're looking to buy a franchise, you won't find much information in there. To answer your question, getting published in Franchise Times was fairly easy. I don't want to brag too much but I think I am known in the franchise industry. I was the marketing guy at Franchise.com for a few years before joining my new company, the World Franchising Network. So people know me and I have a very good relationship with Nancy Weingartner, the Managing Editor at Franchise Times. I was talking with her at the last Franchise Expo South in Miami and she mentioned she'd like me to be profiled. I was like "ok, sure!". I like this franchise executive profile thing in Franchise Times as it is rarely BS. People are usually really natural in there.[/quote:1d29sdv1] Thanks for the follow up Sebastien! And I can't say that I'm surprised that networking with the right people and managing your relationships with them properly are the keys to being published. I guess the old adage holds true of "it's not who you know, but who knows you" that's important.
Does a New Company need a "Big" PR firm? - I've started work with a brand new company that is going to do loss mitigation. My boss intends to hire a "big" PR firm - ie one that costs a lot of money - because he wants press releases sent out to the New York Times, the LA Times - all the major papers around the country - and he think they'll be more likely to print them if they come from a "big" firm as opposed to a one-person PR firm. I think it doesn't matter where the press release comes from as long as its well written. What are the opinions here?
Re: Does a New Company need a "Big" PR firm? - [quote="OmnivoreInk":dmj1i0sv]I've started work with a brand new company that is going to do loss mitigation. My boss intends to hire a "big" PR firm - ie one that costs a lot of money - because he wants press releases sent out to the New York Times, the LA Times - all the major papers around the country - and he think they'll be more likely to print them if they come from a "big" firm as opposed to a one-person PR firm. I think it doesn't matter where the press release comes from as long as its well written. What are the opinions here?[/quote:dmj1i0sv] I think the most important factor is whether your press release will reach the most number of your target audience or not. It won't matter if the press release is well written if no one has the opportunity to read it. I also believe that credibility comes with having your press release in an established source like The New York Times, LA Times, etc... For instance, if you enjoyed playing tennis, who would you trust more? The advice from a recreational tennis player who has his own column in [i:dmj1i0sv]Tennis Magazine[/i:dmj1i0sv] [u:dmj1i0sv]or[/u:dmj1i0sv] the recreational tennis player who has his own blog? I don't know about you, but I'd listen to the guy on [i:dmj1i0sv]Tennis Magazine[/i:dmj1i0sv] over the blog owner at least 9 out of 10 times.
Re: Does a New Company need a "Big" PR firm? - I agree with Kevin [quote:3b8fyubd]I think the most important factor is whether your press release will reach the most number of your target audience or not.[/quote:3b8fyubd] You dont a big company that will charge mega bucks as Im sure they will even add a %age to the cost of the press release. Im sure if you approach New York Times, the LA Times with every thing presented professionally I think it will still stand the same chance. I would start advertising online, then locally thats when the NYT can see what there missing out on! And to test the water first!


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