How to Compete and Keep Your Customers

May 15, 2008 · Filed Under Competition

While working as a temporary employee, I was assigned to work at the headquarters of a supermarket chain.

The executives talked about their stores, but they also discussed how to compete against new supermarket chains entering their regions. They were determined to guard their territories.

How do you protect your turf against competitors? Do you sit in silence while they set up camp? Most of all, do you know who they are, where they’re located, and how they try to make your customers defect?

If you invested in the How To book, you read about this topic in Chapter 10 and hopefully completed the competitive intelligence form. But what about the rest of you — how do you guard your territory against other gift basket sellers? Two methods are:

1. Match their grand opening incentive. Competitors add coupons offers to their advertisements. Tell your customers to cut out those coupons, and bring it to you for a free gift with purchase. Select an attractive item from your inventory as the gift.

2. Reward customers for snitching. Let clients know that they’ll receive a valuable gift each time they inform you about new area sellers who contact them by mail or other means.

It’s also important to understand who your competitors are and who they are not, a subject explained in this article.

Hiding or sulking when competitors come to town won’t sell one gift basket. Act like the supermarket chain executives. Prepare to protect your turf and serve your customers.