Top 7 Ways to Eliminate the Competition
Friday, October 06, 2006
If you are in the construction, remodeling, or repair business, then you have competition. What's the best way to stay in business? By being better than your competition. And, if at all possible, eliminating your competition.
1) Discover Your Specialty - create a niche for your company that allows you to be a specialist in your category. If you are concrete contractor, perhaps you become the acid stained concrete specialist. Install flooring? Perhaps you are the Travertine or Bamboo Wood Flooring Installation master.
2) Do Your Research - Whether you can afford to make your business a specialty or not, talk to your current customers and find out what they are truly looking for from their service professionals. Find out what they want and make every effort to give it to them. If your customers want itemized billing statements or 24 Hour Service Calls at no extra charge, try to make sure you can accommodate their needs. They’ll be talking about you to their friends and family and not your competition.
3) Focus Your Company Goals - to be the best in a market, you need to know what you are doing and how you're going to do it. Having a business and marketing plan that clearly states your goals and when you want to reach them - over the next quarter, year, and 5 years - will give you a course to follow. For example, you could plan to expand your business by adding a showroom within 2 years. Or you plan to increase your marketing budget by 10% in the next quarter. It will force you to make necessary changes to reach those goals. And keep track of your goals. It doesn't do any good to set a goal and not measure your results.
4) Market Your Specialty - if you've chosen to develop your niche specialty, don't forget to let people know about it. How you're different from your competition is what sets you apart and makes customers want to choose you. Put it on your website, business card, and yellow pages ad. Don't just tell people you're a plumber; tell them why you're the best plumber for the job.
5) Monitor Your Competition - your competitors will constantly be making changes. It's important you know what they're doing so that you can be prepared for it. If they're working on Saturdays, you'll work on Saturdays and Sundays. If they redesign their website, you add new functions to your site. One company brings in several new trucks and you can't afford to do the same? Make sure you let your prospective clients know that your company won't be spread "too thin" like some other company that-shall-remain-nameless.
6) Ask More Questions - your competitors talk on the phone with prospective clients and they hear about their needs, tell them approximately what time they'll show up, and that's it. If you make sure to ask questions, on the phone and in person, you'll be conveying that you are the expert. Many people think that by answering questions they'll prove they're an expert, but that's not always the case. When you ask questions, it means that you know the subject thoroughly enough to know what their answers will mean about the job. If I take my car to a mechanic, tell him the problem and he says, "Huh. Never heard of that. Okay, I'll take a look" - I'm worried. If he says "Did it go click-click or did it go bzz-bzz? And were you in gear or neutral?" - I've got the feeling that he knows my car, knows the problem, and can fix it. Which mechanic do you think I'd recommend?
7) Tell More Stories - you can share your skills, your specialty, and your plan with a prospective client. And you might win the bid to do the job. But when you tell stories, you'll turn your service into an idea. You've been on the job a long time and you've seen a lot of things. The best way to convey the remodeling or building project into an emotional need for your clients is to wrap it in an entertaining tale from your past experience. You can talk about how your last kitchen renovation transformed the clients' lives. It doesn't have to be a long story, just a few sentences about something that did or didn't work out on a past project. It focuses their attention on you, allows them to know the depth of your experience, and makes it more personal for them. And I bet your competition isn't doing it.
To stay ahead of your competition, register with ConstructionDeal.com for free, to see what remodeling, construction, or repair job leads are available in your neighborhood.
1) Discover Your Specialty - create a niche for your company that allows you to be a specialist in your category. If you are concrete contractor, perhaps you become the acid stained concrete specialist. Install flooring? Perhaps you are the Travertine or Bamboo Wood Flooring Installation master.
2) Do Your Research - Whether you can afford to make your business a specialty or not, talk to your current customers and find out what they are truly looking for from their service professionals. Find out what they want and make every effort to give it to them. If your customers want itemized billing statements or 24 Hour Service Calls at no extra charge, try to make sure you can accommodate their needs. They’ll be talking about you to their friends and family and not your competition.
3) Focus Your Company Goals - to be the best in a market, you need to know what you are doing and how you're going to do it. Having a business and marketing plan that clearly states your goals and when you want to reach them - over the next quarter, year, and 5 years - will give you a course to follow. For example, you could plan to expand your business by adding a showroom within 2 years. Or you plan to increase your marketing budget by 10% in the next quarter. It will force you to make necessary changes to reach those goals. And keep track of your goals. It doesn't do any good to set a goal and not measure your results.
4) Market Your Specialty - if you've chosen to develop your niche specialty, don't forget to let people know about it. How you're different from your competition is what sets you apart and makes customers want to choose you. Put it on your website, business card, and yellow pages ad. Don't just tell people you're a plumber; tell them why you're the best plumber for the job.
5) Monitor Your Competition - your competitors will constantly be making changes. It's important you know what they're doing so that you can be prepared for it. If they're working on Saturdays, you'll work on Saturdays and Sundays. If they redesign their website, you add new functions to your site. One company brings in several new trucks and you can't afford to do the same? Make sure you let your prospective clients know that your company won't be spread "too thin" like some other company that-shall-remain-nameless.
6) Ask More Questions - your competitors talk on the phone with prospective clients and they hear about their needs, tell them approximately what time they'll show up, and that's it. If you make sure to ask questions, on the phone and in person, you'll be conveying that you are the expert. Many people think that by answering questions they'll prove they're an expert, but that's not always the case. When you ask questions, it means that you know the subject thoroughly enough to know what their answers will mean about the job. If I take my car to a mechanic, tell him the problem and he says, "Huh. Never heard of that. Okay, I'll take a look" - I'm worried. If he says "Did it go click-click or did it go bzz-bzz? And were you in gear or neutral?" - I've got the feeling that he knows my car, knows the problem, and can fix it. Which mechanic do you think I'd recommend?
7) Tell More Stories - you can share your skills, your specialty, and your plan with a prospective client. And you might win the bid to do the job. But when you tell stories, you'll turn your service into an idea. You've been on the job a long time and you've seen a lot of things. The best way to convey the remodeling or building project into an emotional need for your clients is to wrap it in an entertaining tale from your past experience. You can talk about how your last kitchen renovation transformed the clients' lives. It doesn't have to be a long story, just a few sentences about something that did or didn't work out on a past project. It focuses their attention on you, allows them to know the depth of your experience, and makes it more personal for them. And I bet your competition isn't doing it.
To stay ahead of your competition, register with ConstructionDeal.com for free, to see what remodeling, construction, or repair job leads are available in your neighborhood.
