In any competitive marketplace, having a clear understanding of your who you’re up against can be the difference between success and failure.
A comprehensive competitive analysis will provide invaluable insights into what makes your competition tick, giving you an edge in any market.
In this blog post, I’ll discuss why performing a competitive review is essential if you want to outsell them.
By the end of this piece, you’ll have a sense of how to size up your competition and use that information to develop your sales strategy.
The Benefits of Competitive Analysis
Effective competitive analysis serves as your guide to determine and evolve your strategic positioning in the marketplace.
The first step in this process is to determine how crowded or selective your market is. You need to know the playing field if you want to devise a winning strategy.
Key information you need to analyze your market should be in your previous sales history.
In addition, an effectively implemented CRM will help you to track your overall sales pipeline performance, the ratio of net new opportunities created, and the sales team’s close rates.
This level of clarity helps you see where your competitors may be gaining ground in certain segments or with specific product offerings.
Analyzing your performance compared to key competitors will help to uncover whether growth in a particular area is likely to continue or if it’s wise to shift your strategy given a change in market dynamics.
Competing can be expensive and sometimes exiting lower-margin markets can pay off just as much as entering them. You must monitor your return on investment when running compete campaigns.
I help clients dissect their competitors’ marketing strategies, product offerings, and target markets to empower them with the information they need to be uniquely positioned in their industry.
By taking the time to evaluate the strategies used by your competitors, you’ll gain valuable insight that can elevate your own strategy and scale your revenue.
Gaining an Edge in Your Marketplace
By taking time to assess your competition, you can develop the perfect plan for propelling your business ahead. Crafting a value proposition that closely reflects current market trends and sets you apart from alternative options is essential for achieving success in today’s competitive environment.
An ideal method to do this is to perform a competitor SWOT analysis by gathering a diversified group of people from across your organization – including anyone who has worked for your competitors – to discuss each major competitor’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT).
Facilitated properly, the insights coming out of this process enables you to better understand your competitors’ business and, in turn, your own.
Performing a competitor SWOT analysis as part of your annual strategic planning process is highly recommended. There might not be much change from year-to-year, but revisiting your findings annually forces you to make sure your market positioning remains strong.
It is also an ideal time to ensure your marketing collateral is up to the level of your competition and determine if you need new messaging or additional tools to compete as competitive shifts are recognized.
Finally, it is important to take a long look at how well you stack up against other players within your industry; do you need to make changes to your company-level strategy to remain competitive?
Analyzing competitor pricing, capabilities, product offerings, customer service styles, and even marketing campaigns can stimulate new ideas that your company can capitalize on.
Armed with competitive insights, you’ll have the clarity to know when it’s time to adjust your current strategy to pursue new opportunities while avoiding costly mistakes.
If you haven’t gone through a competitive SWOT workshop recently, I encourage you to carve out time for this impactful exercise. The output not only helps guide your strategic business direction, but it also equips your sales team with the visibility they need to win in the trenches!
Elevate Your Sales Strategy and Marketing Messaging
A SWOT analysis of your competitors also plays a role in informing the design of your marketing messaging to ensure it is truly unique.
By understanding the strengths and weaknesses of your competitors, you are able to sets yourself apart more tangibly from your competition.
You can also use this information to adjust your sales strategy to target customers who may have different needs or desires than what your competition has positioned as their strength areas.
For example, if one of your competitors has a low-cost product but poor customer service ratings, you could focus on your strength of providing exceptional customer service and its tangible impact.
You would equip your sales team to showcase your higher level support as a method to qualify “the right” customers who recognize value in this area of differentiation, making the low-budget competitor unlikely to be chosen.
Crafting unique marketing messages by highlighting your superior customer service is another way to leverage competitive insights. For example, writing short stories based on customer testimonials provides additional ammunition your sales team can incorporate into their sales conversations and outbound sales messaging.
Leveraging competitive insights to create attention getting headlines are key in capturing the attention of qualified buyers. Learn more about how to stand out in today’s information rich environment by reading my article called, “How Do I Generate More Qualified Leads?”.
Analyzing new traction areas created by competitors is also important when developing a sales strategy and messaging plan. Using this information, businesses can enter potential markets or target audiences that their competitors have stimulated but only scratched the surface.
Likewise, understanding potential threats posed by the competition allows businesses to anticipate changes in the market and adjust accordingly.
By taking the time to understand their competition’s strengths and weaknesses as well as identifying opportunities for growth or areas of concern related to future threats, businesses will be better equipped for success in today’s competitive landscape.
Key Takeaways
Performing a comprehensive competitive analysis is essential for any business leader to understand their competition. It enables them to create an informed strategy that is more likely to succeed. Without it, you risk falling behind while your competitors take advantage of new opportunities.
In summary:
- 96% of small and mid-sized businesses have not conducted a thorough competitive analysis
- The wrong strategy in a crowded or selective market can be disastrous
- A competitive SWOT is the first step in creating a strategy to outsell your competition
- Competitive insights can open new opportunities while avoiding costly mistakes
- To ensure your market positioning is truly unique, you need to validate the strengths and weaknesses of your competition
With my help as a Fractional Sales Leader, I can guide you through a comprehensive competitive analysis process to ensure your business is well-positioned for success. Contact me at (773) 203-7086 or jmcleod@salesxceleration.com.
Be careful to recognize that completing a competitive SWOT is just one of the fundamentals necessary to fuel sales success.
Invest a few minutes to take my Sales Agility Assessment to gain a report on how your current state compares to a high performance sales department.
It’s filled with tips on how to optimize your sales environment based on your unique responses, making the report individualized and insightful!
I am part of a national group of Senior Sales Leaders who collaborate to share insights like the examples shown in this article. We formed because of our shared passion to help business leaders exponentially grow their revenue.