Ingredient: Competitive Research

The position that you occupy in the minds of your prospective clients can be a critical factor in their decision to speak with you or not. If you find that prospects are choosing to work with your competitors, you may need to reposition yourself against the competition.

Start by conducting some competitive research to find out what it is that clients like about the people you are competing with. Are those qualities you can emulate? In what areas are clients not as satisfied with them? Could you offer them more satisfaction there?

Ask your current or former clients about their experience with the competition. They may be quite candid with you about what they liked and didn’t like, and also give you some valuable insight into why they chose you. To expand your competitive research to prospective clients, spend some time sleuthing online. Testimonials and reviews posted by your competitors’ clients can be quite revealing about how they see your competition. Or, consider hiring a market researcher to survey some prospective clients for you. Prospects may be much more willing to speak with a third party.

To learn more about how your competitors are positioning themselves, visit their websites. Read their mission statements or tag lines, review their lists of features and benefits, notice how they headline their Web copy. Consider how you might position your services more positively when compared to theirs.