1. You Believe You Have Competition

Competition is a mindset. A lot of business owner’s make the mistake of speaking ill of their ‘competition’ or other businesses who offer the same or similar services as you to same or similar industries as you. A little competition is healthy. It forces you to continually make your product or service better – to expand your mind and offer something of true value. Find a value proposition that sets you apart from your so called competition so you are positioned as the only one who does what you do.

Instead of thinking of your competition as ‘competition’, think of ways you could collaborate and help each other both grow. Maybe you could focus on an area that is even more niche and set up a referral program. Maybe you can engage in different activities that benefit the community where you both live. Maybe you can bounce ideas off each other on how to handle certain situations. Whatever it is – take some time to brainstorm because there is always away to turn your competition into your best collaborating partner.

2. They Don’t Know You Exist

• No website
• No online or offline presence
• Don’t recognize your brand
• No word of mouth or other forms of advertising

Do you have a website? Do you have social media accounts and are you actively using them? Do you have presence within your online and offline community? How can you expect your ideal client to find you if you are nowhere to be found? Your website is a great place for your customers to contact you and research your credibility so if you have a website that is a fantastic start.

What is on your website? Are you getting contacted through your website? If not, here are a few pointers on what your website should have in order to do so:

• Post relevant information for your customers frequently
• Have a contact form easily available on every single page (your customers love convenience)
• Make sure the information on your website is written in a way that solves your customers’ problems
• Have Call-to-Actions easily accessible on every page (A call-to-action or CTA is a button that your customer can click on that gets them to do what you want them to do on your website. A couple examples would be “Contact Me”, “Let’s Talk”, “Hire Us”, “Shop Now”, and typically leads them to fill out a form so you can contact them, or leads them to buy something on your website.
• Make sure you have a Value Form. A Value Form is something of value that you offer in exchange for their email address so you can contact someone who is interested in working with you but may not be ready quite yet. This Value item can be something like a Free E-Book or Checklist
• Have a chatbot on your website. Your customers want real-time answers and solutions

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3. They Are Faster Than You and Follow Up

The buyer’s mindset today is very different than years past which has lead Marketing Strategies to take a turn towards more Inbound Campaigns. Your buyer is typically doing a ton of research before they buy from you or your competition. They are immune to traditional in your face, “Buy Right Now!” tactics. They in charge and they will buy when they want to buy from who they want to buy from – which is usually someone or a brand they know. Because they do all the research and shopping around themselves, take advantage of that opportunity when they reach out to you and ask you questions or for a quote. You will not be the only one they are asking so if you take longer to get back to them with an answer – that’s Strike 1! Strike 1 is enough to kill the deal.

Monitor your emails, phone calls, and messages. If you followed Step 2 and you have a Chatbot on your website – Congratulations. Now, make sure you answer those inquiries in a reasonable time. Reasonable time = as quickly as possible. If not, they will hire your competition before you even have a change to put in a bid.

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4. You Don’t Solve Their Problem

Well, maybe you do solve their problem but your customer doesn’t know it.  Think about how you are wording what you do to your clients. We don’t sell websites – we help business owners get ahead of their competition with custom built websites and growth marketing strategies that get them more sales. How can you rephrase what you do? If you are a dentist, you don’t work on teeth – you give kids a beautiful smile for life! Position yourself so they understand why they need you