things you MUST know about your COMPETITORS An ebook from

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1 7 things you MUST know about your COMPETITORS An ebook from

2 7 THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT YOUR COMPETITORS / PAGE 2 7 THINGS YOU MUST KNOW ABOUT YOUR COMPETITORS Can you imagine a market without any competition? Just one monopolistic provider for every type of product and service you use, setting their prices as high as they see fit with no competitors to fuel the provision of good customer service, no competitors to drive innovation and efficiency? On a more personal level, there would be no competition to drive ambition and motivation. Consider some of the best known competing brands for example or some of the most highly competitive industries- how different would their products and services be without competition? Microsoft without Apple, Coca-cola without Pepsi, the car industry, the UK supermarket chains it would be a very different world! Competition drives us forward, making us more innovative, more creative, more motivated and ambitious. It keeps us and the industries we work in more dynamic and fresh and, most importantly of all, brings choice to our consumers. Almost every industry (with very few exceptions) breeds competition and this is healthy for business and customers, but as a competing business what should YOU learn about YOUR competitors and how can you use this knowledge to your advantage? Here are the top 7 things we think are essential to help you compete effectively

3 7 THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT YOUR COMPETITORS / PAGE 3 #1 PRODUCT SET Probably the most obvious factor and the one that most businesses do by default, but it s still important to set out. Learn about your competitors product sets. Identify potential gaps and evaluate whether or not your own products and services fill these gaps. How do your products compare to your competitors and where can you improve? Why would a customer pick you over your competitors? Similarly, it s important to understand the specific customer needs your competitors cater for and identify your own niche. Analyse what needs your competitors address and this can help you to define your own market positioning. Will you compete for the same market position and cater for the same needs or select a different area to focus on? This will help you to develop your own USP. #2 PRICING Second most obvious and important factor is pricing. You may have a superior product or service but have you significantly over (or even under) valued it? How does your pricing match up to your competitors? You don t necessarily have to be the cheapest, in fact that s not always the best approach, but you need to be competitive and if your pricing is higher you need to be aware of that and be able to educate your customers to the superior service, quality, etc, they will receive by choosing your business. Similarly, it s also important to be aware of any special promotions or incentives your competitors are currently running and assess their impact on your own sales. Perhaps this explains certain dips in your sales or your customer retention over a set period, or competes directly with something you have planned or have previously offered.

4 7 THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT YOUR COMPETITORS / PAGE 4 #3 CUSTOMERS We don t necessarily mean identifying their customers and attempting to lure them away, although that is of course central to most companies growth strategies. Do you know how many of your customers previously used their services and why they moved to you? Do you know if any of your customers use both your services and theirs and could therefore be tempted away to them more easily or be upsold by you? This sort of information can be very valuable and significantly affect your sales and customer retention and marketing strategies. #4 STRATEGY AND OBJECTIVES This brings us nicely to point number 4 - strategy and objectives. This may not be the easiest of information to get hold of but if you can figure out their own internal strategies you can gain an idea of the direction they plan to move in. Are they focused in growth of a certain area or market for example? Are they looking at entering new markets or targeting certain customer groups? Are they focused on investment into a certain product or improving an aspect of their service? This knowledge can be a valuable sales and marketing tool and can help you when formulating your own strategies and forecasts. Try reading through recent press interviews and releases or talking to mutual contacts that may be able to shed some light on their plans. #5 POSITIONING AND MARKETING How do they describe themselves? What is their mission statement? Where do they position themselves within the market? Who do they think are their main competitors and are you on the list? Their perception of the market may be quite different to yours and it s interesting to find out where they think they fit into the mix and how they view your position. Can you learn anything from their approach or use it to develop your own counter approach for example? Look at our own industry and the big players who constantly use comparative marketing against each other for example.

5 7 THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT YOUR COMPETITORS / PAGE 5 #6 PEOPLE The chances are you will know people within their organisation. Perhaps you used to work with a member of their staff at a previous organisation, or you ve previously worked together on a project. Maybe you just know each other from industry networking events or through mutual contacts. People are a valuable investigative tool and you can learn an awful lot about a business from them whether it be about strategy and customers or just useful information of how to motivate and recruit your own highly skilled staff. As BT once said it s good to talk! #7 VALUES AND REPUTATION Last but not least it s important to keep an eye on the reputation and values of your competitors and this is something that can change very frequently. One major outage can make or break a provider s image and reputation amongst its customers and this is valuable information for any competitor. Monitor the trade press for news, forums for disgruntled customers and connect with them on social media to view their announcements and the way in which they respond to customers questions and complaints. Social media has made this information much more visible to the outside world and can give you an interesting insight into the processes and quality of their customer service. Have they won any awards recently that could position them as a higher quality provider? Do they have any accreditations or numerous case studies and testimonials from happy customers? Similarly, research the company s values and CSR policies. This significantly affects a company s brand and image within the market and the ethical policies of a company can be a deciding factor for some customers when making a purchasing decision. This could also be a way of differentiating yourself against the competition- It worked for innocent drinks! So, how much do you actually know about your competitors and when was the last time you refreshed your knowledge? Why not set some time aside to have a read through your competitors websites and latest press releases, take a look at the industry press and maybe even set up some alerts (Google do a free service) to you when a competitor s name is mentioned in a new article. Connect and follow them on social media and subscribe to any RSS feeds they offer to ensure you stay informed. After all, knowledge is power!

6 7 THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT YOUR COMPETITORS / PAGE 6 ABOUT ENTANET Entanet is a leading wholesale voice and data communications provider and operates via a network of wholesale and resale channel partners. It was founded in 1996 and employs over 100 staff at its offices in Telford, Shropshire. In February 2014, mid-market equity investor Mobeus Equity Partners made an initial 6 million investment to support a 14 million management buyout. Entanet offers an extensive portfolio of connectivity services, including wholesale and packaged broadband, leased lines, EFM, IP VPNs, hosting and co-location, VoIP and traditional telecoms. The company operates its own fullyresilient nationwide next generation network which enables it and its partners to provide up to 10Gbps capacity to customers right across the UK. In addition, it has further connectivity into Amsterdam and Frankfurt and over 900 peering relationships across Europe. The quality of Entanet s services and its commitment to partners has been widely recognised. The company was recently named Wholesale Provider of the Year - Large in the 2015 Comms Business Awards and received the 2015 ISPA award for Best SME Business Broadband and CRN Sales and Marketing Award for Best Vendor Account Management Team. The company has also been listed on a number of occasions in the Sunday Times Tech Track 100, Deloitte Technology Fast 500 EMEA and other listings of fast-growing, privately-held UK companies.