Today’s clients are more aware of existing market offers than ever, which often means that it is they - not salespeople - who know more about what’s on the market. In such circumstances, monitoring the competition becomes one of the most important activities necessary to build an attractive offer.

6 steps of monitoring the competition

Though our day-to-day responsibilities mean we rarely manage to find time for such strategic activities, it’s difficult to think of activities more useful for building long-term client relationships. I’m not worried about someone who offers a 5% lower price. I’m concerned about someone who can offer a better customer experience - the words of Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, perfectly illustrate the point of monitoring the competition, and thus being up to speed with what advantages other companies offer to gain the attention, recognition, and loyalty of potential customers. What are the other reasons why monitoring the competition is important?

Keep your friends close, keep the competition closer

Monitoring the competition gives us first and foremost a point of reference. Looking more broadly - beyond our own activities - gives us the opportunity to compare and identify areas for improvement. This type of self-reflection, including recognising both good and bad behaviour, can be an element supporting not only skills development, but also a customer-oriented attitude. Monitoring the competition also gives us a chance to verify other companies’ good practices, and at the same time note the differences between their offer and ours. Such knowledge helps us build a competitive advantage, particularly when we offer a similar product at a similar price.

However, taking into account customer experience management, competition monitoring activities can be an excellent opportunity to “walk in the customer’s shoes” and thus draw conclusions that can contribute to both improving the sales process, reducing customer effort, and building loyalty.

6 steps to monitoring the competition

Properly organising our competition monitoring activities will help us correctly implement this process and give us confidence in drawing conclusions and implementing changes for further activities. Where should we start?

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