I have found two ways most
business leaders view competition.
1. Choose not to recognize them
They build walls around what they
listen to and view. They focus on the production of their product/service with
great intensity hoping to maintain a steady margin. The problem with this is
that one day the brand’s leadership wakes up and realizes that 40% of their
customers have switched to their competitor. This happens because of a market
innovation, price point or new delivery option that they would have been aware
of months or even years before if they observed their competitors.
They are so focused on every
detail of what their competitors do that they start looking alike, speaking
alike and marketing alike. Subconsciously they believe that what their main
competitors are doing is right and they fear being left behind. The problem
with this is that it positions the brand into a following mode, not a leader
mode. Which is near impossible to get out of once the marketplace picks up on
it.
I have found both of these
viewpoints to be unsuccessful. The best way to handle competition is not from
an “ignorance” or “jealousy” viewpoint, but rather as an observer.
An observer knows who he is, is
confident in his character and purpose in life and uses what’s around him as
gold nuggets of opportunity to fast track the success of his purpose.
He doesn’t get caught in the
“jealousy” of his competitor’s success or is “ignorant” of them, but wisely
uses them as marketplace indicators like the orange buoys on a river way.
He learns from his competitor’s
“New Coke” failures, which allows him to maximize his R&D (research &
development) department and adjust his structure. He is a doctor monitoring the
health of his market through the symptoms of his competitors.
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