By EsquireLife

February 11, 2018

How To Over Come your Competition

Every where you look you see the same items being sold.  But as creatures of nature we always want the best deal. Sometimes when we go too cheap you sacrifice quality over quantity. I remember about 9 years ago when the iPhone was out, you were only able to purchase it at AT&T or Apple store.  No one else could carry this phone.  One day I was watching TV and saw the commercial for Android on Verizon.  You remember the saying “Droid Can where IPhone can’t.”  All Verizon did was talk shit on how there new phone was going to be better than Apple.  Their commercials where futuristic and pretty cool, but they didn’t sell me.  They tried too hard.

I was a faithful Verizon customer for 9 years…  

The first Blackberry with a qwerty keyboard with the track ball in the center is what I had.  I forgot what that phone was called.  That phone made me extremely happy because that was when the phones first started to become smart phones.  But as you probably remember with the Blackberry, half the phone was the keyboard.

At that point Apple had just launched the iPhone and I was skeptical on the new technology of having all screen and no physical keyboard.  Like most, you don’t want to buy new technology when it first comes out.  So I didn’t purchase the first iPhone, I was waiting until the iPhone 2 came out.

The more research I did on the iPhone the more my Blackberry seemed ancient.  I finally made the decision to get the iPhone 2, but there was one problem.  Verizon didn’t carry it.  Verizon swore to me that they would never carry that phone because Blackberry and their new phone the Droid, was going to be way better than iPhone.  Then seeing the commercials about Verizon just bad mouthing the iPhone is when I finally made the decisions to switch.  But there was a reason why I switched to AT&T.

The Competition Offered Me Something my Provider didn’t offer.  

What’s so funny now is that after all that shit talking from Verizon about how they will never carry the iPhone, all they do now is sell iPhones.

Enough about cell phones carriers.  I wanted to prove a point on how if you sell something your competitor doesn’t sell, you will get their customers.  For example, We are faithful to certain brands, restaurants, companies etc.  But why do we have a broad selection where we shop?  Simply because companies only focus on certain items.  If you’re a business, don’t just focus on selling hamburgers.  You need to offer your customers more options.

If you’ve read my previous blogs I always tell you if you think small in your business you’re a Wantrepenur.  Selling a hamburger is easy, but you need to sell something your competitor doesn’t sell.  First, you want to start of with your main product and give your customers options that quick easy and cost effect.  Everyone sells Hamburgers, but why is your burger special?  It’s called UpSelling and Cross Selling.

Before you start bitching about on how good you make your burger and how you don’t want to start selling hotdogs.

Let’s perfect that Burger and make it better than your competition. 

A lot of so called business owners are so quick to lower their prices.  I want to start a Hamburger business and everyone else sells there burger for $3.95, so my dumb ass will sell mine for $3.55.   Wait, now the business across the street finds out that you’re selling for cheaper so they sell their burger for $3.25.  Oh shit, here we go, then you sell yours for $2.99 plus a side of fries for $3.05.  Meanwhile your dumb ass is not thinking about your cost and you go out of business.

Sell Quality over Quantity

Here’s a good example.  There are 2 watch companies.  One company is called Rolex and the other is called Invicta.  Invicta to me is very immature brand that copies the style of reputable watch companies like Rolex.  They sell quantity, “Well I can’t afford a Rolex so Invicta is my safe option.”  No you idiot you are just perpetrating so people think you have a Rolex.  Invicta has to sell far more watches to make what Rolex does on one watch.  You can also get discounts on them if you ask right, but at the end of the day it is not a Rolex.  Do you think Rolex is going to copy someone else?  Of course not, you need to sell your product as if you sell quality. But if you’re copying your competition like Invicta you will never be quality.

So let’s go back to that Hamburger.  Instead of lowering your price to compete with all the other burger joints.  Why not just offer a better product and charge a premium price and sell your customer on how your offer something that your competitor doesn’t.  Sell your UpSell.  What is your UpSell?

Cheese, Bacon, Vegetables, pickles etc. Maybe offer a special sauce that you make fresh that your competitor doesn’t offer.  Presentation, make that Burger look and feel delicious, because your use ingredient that are fresh.  I once went to a burger joint because they offered Peanut Butter on it.  What the F@#$.

Yes, Peanut Butter instead of mayo.  The damn line was out the door.  

Since we were talking about Apple products let me give you a personal example, how I bought from another company because my brand Apple did not offer.  I’m a huge Apple Fan, from the iPhone 2 – X I’ve had them all.  My personal computers, MacBook Pro, let me add that I’ve had for 8 years.  iMac, Airports to run my network, Apple Watch Apple TV’s.  You name it I have the Apple product.  Even my wife is a Apple supporter.  As much as I hate Samsung Phones because they’re Androids, guess what?  I have a fucking 55″ Samsung TV.

Why did I choose a product that is out of my comfort zone.  Samsung sold me on a product their competitor didn’t offer, a television.  Apple was so close to coming out with a TV and I would have been first in line to purchase it.  But Samsung saw Apples opening and killed that market and took that from them.  I’m still waiting for Apple to come out with one.  I know they have the technology but not sure why they don’t hit that realm.

Do you understand now how to Overcome your Competition?  A lot of your customers are faithful to a brand or a company.  But instead of trying to steal them from your competitors why not just offer them a better product or cross sell them, like Samsung did to me.

I’ve had 2 BMW 650i’s. Why didn’t I get a third one? Simply because at that time BMW only made a 6 series in a two door and now that my parents are getting older I couldn’t keep having them ride in a two seater, so I purchased a Tesla.

Of course I could of purchased a 5 Series or a 7. But I didn’t because I don’t like them. Sure enough 1 year later BMW comes out with the 650i Gran Coupe, a 4 door sedan. You bastards. But now that I went electric with my Tesla it’s actually changed my mind. Even my wife bought a Tesla.

Because a competitor sold something that the other competitor didn’t have I bought quality over quantity… Boom