I was having a conversation with one of my clients the other day that I need to tell you about.
She owns a retail store and that’s what I normally coach her about, however she has another business that she has started asking me questions about and this is the part I am exploding to tell you.
I am not going to tell you what she does, it’s a great niche and I know how people love to copy what other’s are doing. The niche does have a lot of competitors also. Now here is the interesting part. The product she sells is sold by her competition for around $400.00.
She sells the same thing for $800.00 and she sells a lot of them!
I have told my kids and my clients for years you have no competition and here is another case that proves my point.
Taking my advice she has asked her customers, “what was it that made you decide to buy from me?”
Their answer is always the same. They tell here that they have contacted her competitors by phone and by email and they never call back. My client always calls back or responds to emails almost instantly. She will take the time to answer any and all questions that her prospects may have. She will keep helping them as long as they ask.
Is it worth it?
You tell me, she’s making twice as much as her competition if they do make a sale. She closes just about every prospect that contacts her.
There really are four principles here.
- You don’t have any competition!
- Give outstanding service to everyone!
- People are looking for someone to give them advice and information before they make a purchase!
- You don’t have to be the low priced leader to sell something if you can add value!
Hopefully this gives you something to think about and I think it eliminates an excuses I hear all of the time.
“There’s too much competition” That’s just B.S.! So you can stop using that one.
You can get more sales and marketing tips for free from www.GSSAM.com
Now go sell something,
Blase
Hmm - No competition?
Two things:
1:
“I am not going to tell you what she does, it’s a great niche and I know how people love to copy what other’s are doing.”
If you told, and I copied, am I not in competition?
2:
“they never call back. ”
and if they did call back = competition.
So how can you claim no compeitition?
Hi David,
Welcome to the blog.
I hope you’re just trying to give me a hard time and
didn’t miss the point.
I don’t know about the UK, but customer service in the US
for the most part is a thing of the past.
So if you are willing to just do a little bit more
there is NO competition.
Here is an example.
I purchased a $397.00 physical product from a very
well known Internet marketer.
I paid $29.95 to have it shipped 2nd day.
I didn’t get the product for 14 days.
I left emails and voice mails to six different
people everyday for 8 days finally some one called me back.
When I got the product 3 parts of it were missing
and after almost two months they still haven’t been shipped.
A part of the package was audio CD’s the guy speaking is
Asian, you can’t understand everything he says so I requested
transcription PDF’s which they have. I still don’t have them.
There was also suppose to be some online sites that tied in
with the package. They don’t exist.
David, from what I am hearing and experiencing you really don’t
have any competition. Just show up and do wht you say you’re
going to do and you’ll lead the pack.
Take care,
Blase
Hi there,
I was mibbe 50% playing Devil’s Advocate - I get your point (I think) - which is that most ‘competition’ out there is atrocious, therefore you don’t need to worry about it, get your ass out there, produce good work and you’ll be fine?
That’s the message I took away anyway.
However (and this is the bit that is genuine and not just Devil’s Advocate). Say I decide to compete with that Internet marketer you had a poor experience with.
Great. I get your business because I improved the ‘relationship’ by providing better service or whatnot. However… say my neighbour does the same - voila! Competition
What I think you mean - is that because most ‘large’ companies are rubbish at customer service and don’t pay attention to the customer’s needs, there are niche’s in the market for more expensive, but better experiences that provide the same raw good, but make the experience so much better.
However, that only works for the first guy in that space. If 10 people create high customer service companies that provide quality work, then I can’t see how you can deny that they are in competition?
No?
David
Hi David,
Love the exchange of thought.
With the right sales and marketing
through out your business, you
really have no competition.
In your example in the last paragraph
you used the word “if”. That’s the
problem, “if”. Most business owners
don’t do what they need to do.
Just pick up a Yellow pages phone
book and look at the ads. You will have
to look hard to find one that is effective.
There are so many ways to be better it’s
mind boggling.
No go sell something,
Blase
Hi Blase,
Good post. I’m doing research on a niche I want to enter online and I found two competitors out there so I decided to check out how stiff the competition was. I bought their products and I contacted them with a question. The product is pretty much worthless an e-book full of links and one never he responded to my question. Needless to say I know I can do better product-wise and customer service wise, so I agree with your post. Just because their is someone else selling what you want to sell it doesn’t mean there isn’t room for you IF you can do it better.
Alan,
Thanks for your comments. Here is something you may want to try.
Contact your competition and ask them if they would like to do a joint venture with you.
Many of their customers are looking for more information on the same subject. It’s a win win for both of you.
Another thing you could do is make up a “great” special report that they could give to their customers as a bonus when they make a purchase.
You can give it away with links in it for your products. Or you could have them register their first name and email address to get the download.