Why Don't You Own Your Market? (Part 2) - Adult B2B Marketing Tip

Why You Don't Own Your Market - Part 2

Most business owners don't even realize that complete market dominance is an option. They just figure there's always going to be competition in business. And they'reright - and wrong. Just ask Bill Gates if he has any competitors in operating software. Or ask our client from the auto repair shop we discussed yesterday if he has any competitors. The answer in both cases is yes. But if you think that anyone else has half a chance at cracking their empires...it ain't going to happen. They OWN their marketplaces. And so can you. So why don't you?

We've found that there are really only a few reasons why competition even exists in the first place. I mean, you would think in every category of products and services there would be one competitor that was so good and so aggressive that they would smother their competition. But it just doesn't happen very often.

The following is a short explanation of reasons why you might not own your marketplace, along with prescriptions to fix the problem. See if you can identify and remedy your situation. If so, there's no question that you'll beat your competitors for the majority of market share every time.

Reason #1: Somebody Else Has A Better Deal: I'm not talking about price here either. I mean there's a competitor who is offering more value to your prospects than you are and the prospects recognize that fact and don't buy from you. This sounds simple enough but I would contest that if you're not offering the best deal possible, you shouldn't expect to win.

Don't quit reading because this sounds so simple. This is the first reason (that a business doesn’t own their market) listed because it's the most basic and most widely ignored. Why do you think traditional sales training exists? It's designed for companies with sales mentalities that believe all competitors are equal and your only chance of landing any business is to out-sell, out-trick, out-technique, out-cold call, out-persist, and out-luck all of your competitors. I disagree in a most fundamental way.

Prescription #1: INNOVATE ALREADY! And don't say that innovation is too hard. Innovation means simply figuring out a way to offer more value than any of your competitors. There are literally thousands of ways to do this. But on a basic level, just ask yourself one simple question: If I were a customer of my business, ”John Smith,” what would compel me to buy from me instead of my competitors?

If you can't answer that question and aren't willing to work your guts out figuring out the answer, I think we’ve figured out why your market share is what it is. And remember we're looking for real, quantifiable, interesting, exciting, and compelling reasons for customers to buy. Not things like we've been in business for a zillion years. Not things that are pretty neat, but all of your competitors do also. Not things that your customers have come to expect from you or your industry as status quo. What is it? If you don't know what it is, YOU MUST INNOVATE. If you're stuck about how to do it, give us a call.

Reason #2 tomorrow.

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