Do you ever feel as if your small business may struggle to compete with larger companies when it comes to winning customers? It can sometimes seem daunting trying to make an impact faced by the vast budgets bigger companies have to throw at their marketing campaigns. No matter how enthusiastic you are about your business or how much passion you feel for your market, there are bound to be times when you feel less confident about your prospects. Of course, it isn’t easy to make your business successful, but there are a few ways in which you can stack the odds in your favour.
Quality
No matter what you are selling, whether you run an online bookshop or you’re a solicitor in the high street, you have to have the quality of product that makes you worth going to. It won’t matter how cheap you are, if you don’t have high standards where goods or services are concerned, you won’t get repeat custom, and your reputation will suffer. You need to ensure that everything that goes out of your door with your name on it is the best it can be, and that your customer’s expectations will be matched, or even better, exceeded. Quality is something to shout about, too – inform potential customers about the exceptional products or services you supply and show them why buying from you is their best option.
Marketing
The strategy you implement for your marketing efforts will depend to some extent on the niche you are in. For example, if you provide local plumbing service, your customer base will be people living in the local area. Therefore, local advertising will be your primary tool, because you will reach more potential customers in this way. If, however, you are selling hand-knitted jumpers online, your primary tool will be the Internet. It’s essential in this case to make sure you’re using the best SEO tools because, unless you are listed near the top of search engine results, people won’t find your website.
Price
Don’t automatically think that you have to be the cheapest to compete. While price can be important in some respects, it is not usually the overriding factor for customers when deciding what to buy. If you position yourself too low, it will give the impression that you either don’t have the quality or won’t be reliable enough to provide a good customer experience. This can be especially hard when you’re selling services rather than products. How much do you charge? Surely you should be charging less for an unknown new face in the sector? This is a common misconception because there is far more to buying choice than price. People want the assurance of quality and good service, and higher prices are more reflective of a sound, reliable, quality business than being as cheap as chips.
These are just a few ways of assessing what you are doing so you can compete with your more established rivals. Understanding what you can offer potential customers that is unique to other companies can help your business grow. If you can offer something unique, and market it well, you will be well on your way to success.
