For every success you have in growing your market share, another business will inevitably lose ground. The trick is to stay ahead of the game. Here are 5 quick and easy business tips to help you gain a competitive advantage.
- Always optimize your pricing.
If you are at the value-driven end of the market, don’t assume slashing prices necessarily means incurring a loss. Low pricing can help you rapidly onboard a heap of new customers who may also buy other items in your shop and return in the future.
However, dropping prices doesn’t necessarily raise sales. For instance, if you position yourself as a premium brand, then your customers aren’t necessarily value-driven, so cutting prices could possibly tarnish your brand.
Context also counts for a lot with pricing. The best way to sell a $5,000 watch, for instance, could be by putting it next to a $10,000 watch. Think strategically when it comes to deciding any price point.
- Own your niche
Sometimes it’s better to be a master of one discipline than a jack of all trades. On one hand, multiple revenue streams can spread your risk – if one stumbles, the others can take up the slack. However, consumers often associate ‘specialists’ with higher quality products or services than generalists. And with good reason, too: specialists typically invest all their resources into perfecting a single product or service.
- Sell solutions
Like it or not, folks out there aren’t necessarily searching for your brand. They are mainly looking to solve a problem or find a type of product. Explain to the customer in simple, straightforward terms how your service or product – and your delivery and your price point – solve their problems, fill their desires, and make their lives easier or more pleasurable.
- Be humble
Don’t ever get too satisfied with your business. You can always improve – and improve you must! Don’t get me wrong: without moments of smug satisfaction, what’s the point? Relish in your successes or take pleasure in positive customer feedback, but don’t become complacent. The disruptive innovator of today could become a complacent market leader with a tired business model ready to be surpassed by a competitor.
Many imaginative, nimble and innovative businesses often do better than big market leaders that became too complacent after seeing some success. Try to be humble and always strive to improve. Seek inspiration from other entrepreneurs, from books and from seminars. The moment you think ‘mission accomplished’ is the same moment you become vulnerable to being usurped.
Wrapping up
Try integrating these four tips – continual price optimization, owning your niche, selling solutions and the practice of being humble, into your existing strategies. They are simple and low-cost activities, yet they are solid, proven techniques.
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