MISTAKE #44: You don’t study the competition

What do you know about your competition?  As you’ve focused on getting your new product ready for market, how much attention have you paid to competitors?

You hopefully did a thorough Omni-assessment early on.  Right?

You’ve studied the category to identify and verify what opportunities exist that the competition is missing.

You’ve segmented and profiled prime prospect groups to make sure your product appeals directly to a need so it doesn’t get drowned out by all the noise the competition is already making.

You know what equities the competition owns and what factors are actually attracting an audience and influencing purchase decisions.

But when was the last time you really looked at the competition?  Have you been so consumed with internal decision-making that you’ve forgotten that the competition is a moving target?

STUDY HARDER

My heritage as a market researcher taught me early on to always respect every research subject.  Always approach interviews and interactions as a privilege to peer into someone’s life and learn more about what they do and why they do it.

I learned to sincerely listen to everything a respondent said, no matter how little it made sense or how much I disagreed with it. 

I’ve learned that people consistently act in their own best interests.  Few people intentionally make bad decisions.  The same is true for your competition.

Do you assume that everything your competition is doing is done because they believe it is in their best interest?  Or do you think and talk about your competition like they’re idiots?

The next time you do a competitive assessment (hopefully soon), approach your study assuming they know something you don’t.  Don’t stop once you see the obvious or superficial mistakes they’re making.  Keep digging and see if there is more than meets the eye.

Yes, you will likely reveal ignorance and mistakes that represent wonderful opportunities for your product.

But you’ll probably also realize that they are not total idiots.  Competitors probably have a lot more experience than you do and have probably had the opportunity to learn from a lot more mistakes they've had time to make. 

They probably have a lot of insight or knowledge that you lack.  And this may be pointing them to issues or opportunities you’re totally missing.  Or away from the exact opportunity, you're pursuing.

You might even realize that what appeared to be a simple checker game was actually a far more strategic chess match the competition has planned seven moves in advance.

Here are a few questions to ask yourself:

Why has the competition not entered the market segment you think is so obviously underserved?

What is really driving sales and loyalty to competitive products if they are so obviously far from perfect?

Why do competitors use the marketing tactics they do?  And not use others?

As these questions get answered, expect to be surprised with the new respect (and possibly concern) you’ll have for the competition.