A while back I spent some time on the phone with a woman who was launching a new retail chain. Overall, I think her concept is good, and if properly funded and the plan is well executed she’ll do well.
That is, unless she continues to focus most of her energies on what her competition is doing. I’m all for watching and knowing what a competitor is doing, but this woman’s strategy, like many retailers, is as much a result of what her competitor is doing as what she needs to do.
Instead of fretting about the competition and worrying about things you can’t control, I encourage you to find short and long-term opportunities within your own organization.
* What can you do going forward to elevate your customer’s experience?
* How can you WOW more customers today? Yes, it’s hard, but that’s why it has such a high payoff!
* How are you growing and developing every employee on a daily or weekly basis? Do your employees strive to be even better?
* What are you and other leaders within your company doing right now to motivate and inspire the staff to increase conversion and average sale, and deliver your extraordinary experience?
* Are you constantly looking for ways to make working at your store/business even more fun, interesting, and personally rewarding?
* What can you go do right now to make your store and/or windows even more visually appealing?
* What kind of events are you doing this summer to create incremental visits?
I guarantee that the majority of your competitors are not doing these things. As a matter of fact, if you’re doing these things they’re trying to figure out how to keep up with you.
Of course it’s good to know what your competitors are doing, but it’s even more important to know what you’re doing to be even better than you already are.
The best way to watch your competitors is in the rearview mirror!
So let me ask, who’s watching whom in your market?
