MISTAKE #45: You don’t have healthy fear of the competition
“Pay attention to your enemies, for they are the first to discover your mistakes.”
Some of the best clients I work with are ones that fear their competition the most. They aren’t the ones that think the competition is clueless.
These clients realize that the competition is the enemy. They are dangerous. They will lie, cheat and steal to stop others from succeeding.
The competition will find your weakness and pounce on it. Or, if necessary, they will fabricate a perceived weakness and make sure everyone hears about it.
Many good product ideas have failed because they didn’t fear how the competition would respond. They expected everyone to play fair.
DON'T VIEW THE WORLD THROUGH ROSE-COLORED GLASSES
Is your company planning to offer a better product, maybe even at a lower price, and expect to quickly create a connection with new shoppers? Do you expect awareness and trial and loyalty to just happen because your product is so good?
But are you forgetting how jealous the competition gets? How fiercely they will defend their market share? Or how many ways the competition can disrupt their plans to build that new relationship?
The competition can use tactics like high-value coupons or bonus packs to pantry-load around your product launch, keeping traffic and sales away.
The competition can flood the internet with paid content or paid search that drowns out the organic voice you expected to have.
The competition can generate bad press or poor customer reviews that scare away potential buyers.
USE FEAR TO YOUR ADVANTAGE
If you aren’t scared of your competition, you’re in danger. The less you think about your competition, the more you are undermining your own product’s potential for success.
More specifically, the less you know about why you should be scared about the competition, the more likely you will be caught off-guard when they respond.
They are already in the market. They already have distribution and sales and shoppers and brand recognition. They did something right..probably a lot of things right…to get to this point. And they’re not going to give it up without a fight.