Competition is good. We need it. It keeps us honest. Without it, we get lazy and think we can coast to the finish line. World records are only broken during competition. We need the push and we need a point of reference. If nobody is at your heels, you’re not sure how hard to push.
Business is defined by competition. For years, the iPhone dominated. Now more and more people love the Galaxy. It’s making Apple raise their game. College basketball is the same. As the season progresses, and the teams refine their tactics, those who make it to the Final Four have to really bring it – or it’s over.
For trainers, coaches, experts, authors and gurus, it’s no different. The competition is always trying to take what you have. Sometimes they do it ethically, sometimes not so much. However, there is a way to crush the competition while maintaining your ethics, morals and integrity.
Here’s how you do it:
1. Simply outwork them. Yeah, this one may be obvious, but there is something more to it. You need to outwork them while being intelligent. You must constantly ask yourself if the massive action you are taking is intelligent. Are you just working hard, or are you working hard while getting the results you want. This is why you always need metrics. You need to know your numbers. What specific and measurable results are you getting from each of your efforts? If you are not getting results that you can quantify, STOP DOING IT!
2. Out “technology” them. You should always be researching new and better ways to reach more customers, become more efficient, and streamline your operations. If you don’t do this, you end up being stuck working IN your business and not ON your business. You are in the black hole death spiral. When you do any activity once, think how it can be linked together with other business actions to save time and create a better experience for you and your clients. EXAMPLES: How can you find, communicate and convert prospects into customers in a single place? HINT: It’s Facebook! How can you stay connected to prospects and current clients for a very low cost? ANSWER: Email and text messaging
Always ask yourself how can you streamline the commerce of your business. It’s called creating a frictionless transaction. So, when a person registers for a program or service you offer, how can you make it fast, easy, simple and seamless for them? Amazon does this best. Services such as 1shoppingcart.com or Infusionsoft.com are excellent. 1shoppingcart.com is less expensive and very easy to use. Infusionsoft.com costs more but has far more features and benefits. FitnessBusinessNinja.com handles client management, scheduling, billing, contests and much more. It’s used by all types of coaches and trainers in all niches.
3. Be consistent in your efforts. I cannot tell you how many times I see new business owners crush it for a month and then flake. They make lame excuses, or just give up. I just don’t get it. Once you have your metrics and you know what works, keep doing it on a scheduled, consistent and deliberate basis. I personally use Google calendar and have marked tasks I need to do on specific days each week. EXAMPLES: Monday Skype with team, Tuesday is for press releases, Wednesday is to check all metrics, Thursday is for social media focus, Friday is for closing up and finishing all of the week’s tasks. Saturday is my creative day. I seek new opportunities, watch webinars, listen to podcasts, and do research. I also go for meditative walks to sort things and figure out what’s working and what is not.
4. Figure out what you do best at given points in a day. I bet you have a time of the day you do the best creative writing. I know most coders/tech nerds (my people) do best late at night. Frequently, I find that by biggest business decisions need to be made in the first half of the day. When I get a bit more tired towards the end of the day, yet I have more work to do, I do lower level tasks that are still within my pay grade. So, to further pull away from your competition, you must learn how your brain works best. Think about it right now….. When do you do ____ best? And, when do you do ______ best? Make a list of your daily/weekly tasks and be honest. Then, switch the timing of your tasks and watch your productivity explode.
5. Study how the competition operates and functions. Although there are many techniques and strategies used in your business, most companies have standard modes of operation. The military calls it SOP (standard operating procedures). Companies are often predictable. For example, they might always compete with price, volume or quality. To find out what your competition is doing, get involved in your industry’s community (Facebook groups/pages, LinkinIn, live events and blogs.)
When you implement these 5 strategies, you will dominate your competition. Why? Because they likely aren’t doing it. It’s that simple.
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Nicole says
Thank you for your advise. 🙂