It’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking that life in our business would be much easier if we didn’t have competition, that’s one of the most frequently asked questions coming from people I have talked to: “How you beat competitors in a service-based business?”
“I have a lot of competition, and I just can’t continue to lower my prices,” said one of the people sitting next to us in a Café.
Of course, it made me curious since that is one of the biggest difficulties my clients face when they start working with me.
Solving this problem with the wrong strategy can destroy your business and your life.
How to beat competitors in a service-based business: what nobody tells you
One of the most common errors that service businesses make is imitating their competitors and doing the same thing they do, such as lowering their prices.
I’ve spoken with various people who’ve applied this strategy in their business for years, and the result is that they’ve taken their business to bankruptcy because most of the time there’s no way to reverse the lack of money in the business.
A few months ago, we decided to try going to a different grocery store to do the house shopping.
We are lucky to have many options to go to, all at similar distances.
Have you ever thought about what grocery stores do to standout?
What makes you choose to go to one place over the other?
In our case, we discover they’re many factors influencing how we choose where to go.
The one factor that seems to have more weight, is time.
We prefer to go to a smaller grocery store, which has less merchandise and purchase options, to devote less time to this task every week.
Imagine the following scenario: If a small store assumes that we all want to go to the same type of store as large as all of its competitors, we would lose our new shopping option.
But it turns out, we’re not the only ones wanting to save time, thousands of people think alike.
And that’s exactly how small grocery stores standout and succeed.
How to beat competitors in a service-based business (3 mistakes you should avoid)
1. How are you going to standout
If what you’re looking for if for your business to stand out and distinguish itself in the sea of competitors, I want you to know there’s hope.
There is nothing worse for your business than the danger of imitating others.
The mistake many make is to think that it is about seeing what others are doing and trying to do the same.
There are two significant problems with imitating the competition:
The first problem:
You don’t know if their strategy works, so perhaps you are copying something that doesn’t work at all.
Remember, just because another business does it, doesn’t mean that their strategy works.
The second problem:
If you always copy what others do, you’ll always be behind your competition.
Neither of these two options allows you to grow or standout.
So what should you do?
2. Understand how your audience makes decisions
A few days ago I read a Google article describing how people prefer to research the product using the Internet, before buying it from the store, with the sole purpose of reducing their purchasing decisions and wasting less time. That proofs that my husband and I are not alone in this.
The purchasing process is easier when we have fewer options to choose from.
So how can you apply these processes to your service-based business?
When you know your audience like the palm of your hand, you know what’s important and what’s not important to them, which leads us to step 3.
But before continuing, I’d like to share an infographic illustrating: How to beat competitors in a service-based business (3 mistakes you should avoid).
3. Design a strategy which allows you to standout
The first thing your strategy needs is a captivating message, one which communicates with absolute clarity the reason why people should choose your business services.
However, it is ineffective to have an irresistible message if there’s no client traffic.
That’s why you need a strategy that includes both: a highly visible captivating message which allows you to stand out, and constant client traffic every day.
The combination of both is what will allow you to grow your business.
If you want to understand the steps you must follow to execute this type of strategy in your business, I encourage you to take a look at my FREE class so you can finally see the results you want.
Conclusion
It turns out that the best way to beat your competition is not to compete directly with it.
The moment you understand this, you can position yourself as a leader in your business.
What are you doing to stand out from your competition?
