Know Your Competitors

In business, how well do you know your competition? 

When you look at some of the big players, eg Bunnings and Dan Murphy’s, they actively promote that if you can better their price on the same product they will match or better your price.

This means that they are actively measuring the price of competitors and at the same time getting customers to check the prices as well.

What are you doing in your business?  One of the biggest things I am being continually told by clients is they cannot increase price because they would not be competitive.  But when you question the client closer, quite often they really do not know what their competitors charge but rather assume that an increase in price will lead to a loss of business.

Unless you are actively checking your competitors pricing and strategies on a regular basis then you may well miss opportunities to increase your revenue. 

It is not only what price your competitors charge but how they charge.  Do they charge on an hourly basis or set fee; do they discount for different types of payment (cash v card); are there any additional things they do as part of their customer service at no cost to the customer.

Also check how easy does the competition make it to pay for the service/product they are offering.  The number of times I have not bought something that costs less than $5.00 because the store only accepts cash for sales under $5.00.  As today’s world rapidly becomes a cashless society, how feasible is it to have such a policy particularly if there is a shop nearby selling the same product and happy to accept card?

I often see a can or bottle of Coke on sale at significantly different prices at food shops within the same shopping centre.  Check it out next time you are in a shopping centre.  Are you likely to walk away from one shop because of the price of a coke particularly if you are buying food as well! 

So, before dismissing a price increase or a change to your customer service, do a bit of research on your competitors and on other business’s best practice to see if you can apply new strategies to your business to make it grow. Balanix Solutions works with many clients in many industries so if you would like some help in  growing your business please call us on 07 3264 4783.