How Often Do You Scope Out Your Competitors?

Me? I do it on a regular basis (as I’m sure they do me). That doesn’t mean I spend every waking moment stalking their sites and spying on their work. It’s good business practice to size up the competition and know what you’re up against. The last thing you want to do is dismiss them regardless of their threat level (which I’m certain you underestimate). In a perfect world there’s room for everyone but here on Planet Reality it’s not all roses and sunshine.

This article is not about my competition though it’s about yours. When I was young I remember reading a poster about hurricane preparedness that said: ‘To be forewarned is to be forearmed’. Liken that to ‘Competitor Preparedness’ except that there is no bulletin or clarion call. Often the warnings go unnoticed because they are so mild, for example, phone stops ringing, fewer repeat customers, you find yourself saying “Long time I eh see so and so…” and the ‘ker-chings’ of the cash register are fewer and far apart.

If they’re not buying from you then they’re buying from someone else for they sure as heck haven’t quit using it (er… toothbrushes and soap?). Are you going to shrug your shoulders and say that competitors have to eat too? Nothing’s wrong with both of you having a meal but when you starve and he’s rubbing his belly you have a problem Houston.

So how do you scope out/monitor, a.k.a. ‘maco’ the other guys? Do you even know who the ‘other guys’ are? That’s the first place to start. Most businesses can generally identify their immediate competition. Then if they’re doing better than you or stealing your customers there must be a reason why.

THE FIVE WHYS

This is a simple tool to make you step back when you can’t see the forest for the trees- you know those times when things aren’t so obvious. Since I’m in the website business, I’ll use it as an example:

1. My website/Facebook Page is not getting any traffic, WHY?
2. Because traffic is going to my competitor’s website/Facebook Page instead, WHY?
3. His visitors seem to like his content and interact more, WHY?
4. He has content/information that they want to read, WHY?
5. He seems to know what they want better than me, WHY?

Well maybe he’s taken the time to do some more research on the needs of his (and your) market which is to find out what they want, get it and give it to them. The trouble is that many business owners spend a lot of time putting out fires and trying to keep their head above water that they fail to make even minor course corrections that will go a long way.

This is A TOOL not THE TOOL and I never said a magic wand. Every now and then though, try something different. This technique can be applied to any problem to get to its root. If your competitors are doing anything better than you there must be a reason why. Stop ‘scratching yuh head’. Find it.