Competition is natural – and probably inevitable – if you own a small business. And the truth is, if you want to succeed, you have to know how to get ahead of your competitors … but make no mistake: They’re working hard to get ahead of you, too.
As a small business owner, there are plenty of ways to take the lead over your competition. Marketing, sales, and customer service play a big role in growing your business; knowing how to leverage them can help you set yours apart.
I’ve been managing marketing teams for nearly 20 years and have helped companies like eBay, IBM, and Oracle beat their competition, online and off. I’ll walk you through the best strategies for success and teach you how to beat the competition — large and small.
The Guide to Winning More Business Online
DownloadHow to Beat Your Competition in Business
Below are eight strategies to beat the competition in business. It’s all about understanding what you’re up against and finding opportunities to highlight your brand.
1. Identify your competitors.
The first step is identifying your competitors. You need to know who you’re competing against and their strategies for attracting and retaining customers.
If you’re competing against big brands, look at what they do well and the opportunities for your business to imitate it. Pay attention to their sales promotions, marketing content, and how they respond to customers. While you might not have the same resources, you can provide high-quality service and personalized customer experiences.
You should also determine where these companies fall short. Check their online reviews, social media pages, and company blogs for comments about their products and services. If you can identify their customers’ pain points, that’s a powerful message that can swing their attention to your business.
2. Grow your online presence.
Today, every business needs an online presence. 98% of consumers use the Internet to find information about local businesses. They read reviews, check social accounts, and Google your company to learn more about it.
Here are some must-haves for growing your presence online. My team has put together some great guides that can help you get started with each of these channels:
At the very least, when someone Googles your business, they should be able to find it. It should show up on Google Maps and in popular directories like Yelp.
Pro Tip: You can use an online listings management tool to update your Google, Yelp, and other business listings from one place.
3. Explore AI tools.
It’s hard to ignore AI’s popularity. But while experts say business owners should use these tools, figuring out which ones are best for your company, and the right ways to use them, can be tricky.
Here’s a list of free AI tools you can use right now. My top three are:
ChatGPT is great for creating marketing content – but use it with caution. Sometimes, even the most cutting-edge AI can make mistakes, and you should still make sure the content you publish is uniquely and originally yours.
Canva, meanwhile, can help you design custom images for your brand. Finally, Veed.io makes videos for your business using a keyword or phrase; I created this video in about 5 minutes using the phrase “how to trim your dog’s nails.”
4. Automate your sales and marketing campaigns.
One of the most effective ways to compete with big brands is to use AI to automate your campaigns — which basically means that the AI will do a lot of the work on things like marketing or ad campaigns for you. AI tools increase your productivity by helping you save time on tasks they can do for you, so you can produce more content and engage more customers using the same resources. This approach allows you to compete with big businesses with more employees and social followers.
Here’s an effective email automation ​​tool that any small business should have. When a customer books an appointment on your website, it should automatically send them an email with information about your business, products, and the upcoming meeting with them. Bonus points if you send them a reminder on the day of the meeting so they don’t forget.
Not only does this create a pleasant customer experience, but it’s a cost-effective solution for your business. You don’t have to click “send” every time, and you’ll reduce the number of no-shows during your workday.
5. Prioritize customer service.
Great customer service is essential for beating your competition in business. 76% of customers regularly read online reviews, and if you have too many poor ratings, they’ll move on to your competitors rather than take a chance on your business.
As a small business owner, you should practice in-person and online customer service. That means developing strong communication skills and providing support channels that make your company more accessible.
Clint Fontanella works on our content team today, but he used to be a customer support rep and recommends a balanced approach. While you want to cater to your customers’ preferred channels, you don’t want to stretch yourself too thin.
The best customer service is personalized and thorough. Respond to reviews thoughtfully and communicate with customers, and make the most of channels like social media and web chat – that’ll help reduce calls to your phone, making it easier to manage customer support.
6. Build a good website.
Gone are the days when an outdated, difficult-to-navigate website was enough to get by. A good website is a huge opportunity to stand out from the competition and promote your products and services.
A good website should have:
- A home page, landing pages, and blog posts
- Pages that load quickly with a visually appealing design
- A navigation bar that’s easy to use
- A footer that includes company information
- Multimedia elements (photos, video, animations) that promote your products and services
The good news is that you don’t have to be a web developer to design an effective website. Plenty of templates and website builders will create a site for you without coding. These solutions are improving daily, making it more reasonable for small business owners to build their online presence.
7. Improve team communication.
Your marketing, sales, and customer service efforts will be much more effective if everyone who works with you also knows and understands what your goals are. That means you need good communication between team members and a central place to share information.
One solution is a shared inbox, where messages are stored in one place. Customers reach out to your business via email, social media, or phone, and those conversations are recorded in an inbox that your whole team can access. It’s convenient, and you can brainstorm together before responding to customers.
Here’s what a shared inbox looks like:
Even solo entrepreneurs benefit from a shared inbox. All your messages are funneled to one place, so you don’t have to switch between apps to find what you want. That makes it easier to locate information, but it also reduces the chance you’ll forget or overlook a message.
8. Collect customer feedback.
If you want to beat your competition, you have to collect and learn from customer feedback. You can’t shy away from harsh comments or negative remarks. Instead, consider these opportunities to improve your brand and create a better customer experience.
Surveys are a great way to collect feedback. You can automate them so they’re sent after a customer interaction and update them over time to obtain new information.
Here’s a survey that was sent via email after a phone call with a bank. Customers rate their experiences on a scale of 1-10, so the business knows if the call was positive or negative.
Surveys also help you retain customers. Recording scores in your CRM allows you to see how happy or unhappy people are with your business. You can use this information to improve interactions with customers who may think poorly of your brand.
Creating a Winning Strategy for Your Business
Small businesses are competitive, but that’s part of why you do it. Knowing your business stands out from the competition and that people want to choose your brand over others feels good.
Use these strategies to keep your business on the cutting edge and add more over time to stay ahead of your competitors. Remember to try new tools and collect customer feedback, as that will make you more proactive and focused on the customer experience.
