Why Monitoring Your Competitors is Smart Business
So much of what you do as a successful business owner is based on customer demand. If you weren't offering products or services that met your customer's needs, you wouldn't stay in business very long.
And as your customer's needs evolve and change, so should your offerings. Because if you don't stay relevant, you risk going out of business.
But sometimes, it can be challenging to stay in the know about your particular industry's direction, especially if you get caught up in the day-to-day activities of running a business, and you lose sight of future trends. That's why having a competitive intelligence strategy is essential to the ongoing success of your business.
There are a couple of ways to stay up to date on what your customers want:
Listen to them. What are they buying? What isn't selling? And what are they asking for that you don't offer?
Industry news. What are the experts talking about? What are the forecasts telling you? What topics are being written about over and over?
Competitors. What are your competitors doing? How are their offerings evolving? Are they stealing share from you?
You can often identify growth opportunities for your own business by keeping a watchful eye on your competitors. Because if your business starts to decline, it might not be the result of lack of demand but instead the result of competition stealing share. So what are some key ways to keep up with what your competitors are doing? Here's a list of easy things you can do to stay abreast of your nearest competitors:
Sign up for their newsletter. What are they talking about, and what news are they sharing with their list of subscribers?
This is such an easy way to be the first to learn of changes in their business. And if they find a topic worth talking about that's not part of your business model, then it might be time for you to learn more.
Follow them on social media. What do they post? How often do they post? How many followers do they have? How many of their followers are your followers or past customers? As much as no one wants to be a troll, some awesome information can be gathered from social media accounts.
Perform a quarterly audit of their website. What's changed? What products or services have they added? What have they removed? Any new team members? Any new job openings? All of these areas can provide insight as to which parts of their business are expanding and contracting.
Set up a Google alert. If the company is large enough, set up Google alerts to be notified when they announce something. This is also helpful if you're a small fish in a big pond to stay on top of industry trends. Learn from the whales in your field. There's a reason they got big, and it's because they know what they're doing!
Be friends with them. They're our competitors. Not our enemies. And while we may be vying for the same customers, there's also an opportunity to be a referral for one another when we can't take a piece of business.
These strategies also work for companies you aspire to be like. Perhaps you're growing your business and admire the growth and direction of a company in the same space as you. By routinely monitoring their business, you can learn from what they do as a way to grow your own business. As they say, the sincerest form of flattery is imitation.
