How Does Your Company Stack Up?
A competitive analysis of first impressions can help position your company, products or services properly amongst the competition. Are you the high-quality/high-price provider? But when placed head-to-head with the competition, does your marketing communicate low-quality/low-cost provider? If so, develop a head-to-head competitive analysis. A basic spreadsheet is an ideal format. Keep the information short and topline. Compare logos, years in business, brand names, taglines, positioning statements, product and service offerings, special website features or tools, primary sales messages, corporate identities, markets served, geographic sales areas, recent important news and other criteria. To get a true prospective customer view, have someone outside the company provide their impressions of each criterion for each competitor. This exercise can help you refine sales messages, discover new opportunities and differentiate your company from the rest of the pack.