Successful business is not the toughest in the schoolyard
Is the worst thing any business endeavour can do is emulate its competitors? Trying to be as good as the competition does not provide the competitive edge that differentiates one business from another, the deciding factor that drives a customer to choose what it considers the best option.
Business leaders are often too focused on other players in the field, too willing to jump in the same direction as soon as a rival has deviated from the expected route.
Competitive advantage can be obtained by not looking in the direction of a competitor, but looking in the opposite direction towards customers.
If keeping pace with a business rival is your only motivation, the race is already lost.
It’s time to abandon the rivalry, step off the playing-field and focus on developing a viable exclusivity. Forget the competition and stop heeding peer-pressure to be a member of the tough, yet indistinguishable gang in the schoolyard.
Walk out of the schoolyard, step into the streets and speak with people, ask customers what they value, seek feedback on what you do well and what your do poorly.
Succeed in meeting customers’ expectations and you will be successful; go beyond what a customer expects and your position in the marketplace will be elevated above the self-absorbed rivals who only listen to their own advice.
Peter Mulville has over 23-years’ professional experience focusing on organisational challenges, such as business processes and improvements, facilitation and enablement, service management orientation, and strategy. Experienced in leadership, coaching, mediation, team-velocity and the concept of People-First, Peter is critical thinking, complex problem solving and uses emotional intelligence and body language to nurture a culture of trust, respect, communication and cohesion. Peter is also a Project Manager and well-versed and experienced in governance, risk, and compliance, IT information security and SQL business intelligence.
Keywords: #MatsudaMulville #MatsudaMulvilleThinking #BusinessInnovation #CustomerFocus #ProcessImprovements #ServiceOrientation #AddedValue #DisruptiveInnovation
𝐖𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐨-𝐛𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐭 𝐳𝐨𝐧𝐞!
5yRemember a decade or so ago how Blockbuster Video was the dominant player in home video rentals. They had absolutely huge stores and more locations than their competition, Hollywood Video. Each store worked to take steps to get ahead of their competitor. After a few years of fierce competition, guess who won? Netflix and Redbox. . While Blockbuster and Hollywood Video were worried about each other, Netflix and Redbox emerged and decided to worry about what the customer wanted. . The bottom line is, as you suggest, that if you focus on the customer and how you can help them better than anyone else, you’ll never have to worry about the competition.