The starting point of most competitive analysis is a question: Who is your competition? That’s because most companies view their competition as another brand, product, or service. But smart leaders and organizations go broader.
Obsess Over Your Customers, Not Your Rivals
The starting point of most competitive analysis is this question: who is your competition? That’s because most companies view their competition as another brand, product, or service. But smart leaders think about competition as any and every obstacle your customers encounter along their journeys to solving the high-level, human problems your company exists to solve. Instead of propagandizing the war with another product or company reinvest your team’s time and effort to focus on your customers’ problems. First, rethink what you sell. To transcend one-time, transactional relationships with your customers, think about selling a transformation: a journey from a problematic status quo to the new levels and possibilities that will unfurl after the behavior change you help make happen. Then rethink your customers. They are not just the people who have purchased your product, or the people who follow you on Facebook. Your customers are all the people who grapple with the problems your business exists to solve. Then develop a deep understanding of where they get stuck on their journeys and figure out how to help them solve those problems.