As humans, our tendency is to speak poorly about people we don’t like. As professionals, we tend not to like competing businesses or organizations. The truth is, we should love them.
Why? Competition helps us grow. It makes us work harder and perform better. It also helps create better opportunities for us. Consider the following:
Studying your competition can help you choose your “pick me” strategy. You can identify what makes your company or offer unique and gives you a differentiating factor to market to your audience.
Knowing who your competition targets can help you create your own niche. Why fight over the same customers if you don’t have to?
Understanding your competition’s product lines or services can create new products or services for you. You might like something your competition’s doing but have your own ideas for making it better or doing it differently. You might simply have the expertise or resources to create a product or service that works great in conjunction with something your competitor offers.
Understanding what your competition’s doing not only helps you create a better marketing strategy, but it also gives you more perspective on what your target audience wants so that you can create better products and services for them.
So don’t bad-mouth your competitors. Be thankful for them. You’ll be better for it.