Home Business Center – Learn to Work at Home

Eliminating your competition is the easiest way to increase your chances of business success. And I don’t mean literally eliminate them, in the sense of doing something “bad” to them.

When I say eliminate, I mean … take them out of your prospect’s consideration set for your product or service category. Make it so your prospects ONLY think of your business, product or service when they are contemplating making a purchase. That way you get their business, instead of your competition making the sale.

What this means is if you sell widgets, you want your prospects to only think of your widgets when they are thinking of buying widgets. This is pretty easy to do if your business is not in a competitive industry.

But let’s suppose there are all kinds of businesses selling what you are selling, or filling the same consumer or business need you are filling.

How can you make sure your prospects ONLY think of you — and therefore only BUY from you — and not all those other companies?

Answer: By thoroughly understanding those competing businesses and then doing one of two things:

(1) Finding a position in the category you can own.

This will separate you from all the other businesses and will make you uniquely qualified in the eyes of your prospect to fill their need.

This usually requires finding a specific market niche you can focus on, or finding a specific product or service attribute or benefit, that is of value to your prospects, that none of your competitors can claim or are currently promoting.

This puts you in a class of your own and virtually eliminates the competition. No one does exactly what you do. Or in the quite the way you do it.

(2) By turning your competitors into “co-opitors.”

What the heck is a “co-opitor?” It is a competitor that you turn into a partner or a cooperator. Are there businesses or individuals with whom you could partner, with the idea of referring business to each other?

For example, a wellness coach could partner with a weight watchers clinic or a health club or a massage therapist. All of these practitioners are selling improved health and well being, but they can also be positioned as complementary services.

Or, let’s say you are a web site designer and you decide to focus primarily on working with small businesses (a market niche). You could create a partnership with another web site designer who has decided to focus on large corporations.

If you both agree to only take on business that fits your identified niche, and to refer business outside your niche to the partner, you both win.

You can partner with other businesses in your exact business in this manner, by identifying niches, by geographic area served, or by size or type of clients served.

And you can partner with businesses in different categories that fill a similar customer need by agreeing to work together to help each other get customers.

There is not a business out there that cannot effectively use one of these two strategies to significantly reduce their competition. So figure out which strategy fits your business best, and make it a priority to eliminate your competition this year.

If you’ve been in business very long, you’ve likely heard it all! You know, the irate customer who is going to sue you over the nineteen dollar product that they claim is bogus; the one that’s going to “shut your business down” because they conjure up in their minds that you might have breeched your privacy policy, or the one that takes complete advantage of your money-back guaranty. My favorite has to be the one that calls and screams vulgarities into the phone for apparently no reason.

It doesn’t happen often, but if you’re going to be in business, you will run across some nut cases from time to time. Some can be diffused, some can’t. That’s just the way things go in business.

There are some simple techniques for dealing with irate customers without burning yourself an ulcer over them and without telling them you hope they get cancer and die!

Here are some tips you may find useful…

1. Don’t take it personal

There is one thing that almost all nasty customers have in common. They try to attack you on a personal level. Name calling is not unusual. When you take it personal, you are likely to get into a yelling match with the customer which resolves nothing and only stands to make things worse. Try to diffuse the situation – kill the anger with kindness so to speak. If that doesn’t work, ask them to contact you again once they have calmed down and are willing to speak reasonably. Refuse to speak with a customer in an irate state. You don’t have to put up with abuse ever.

2. Don’t overdo the “customer is always right” concept

In customer service training you will always hear that the customer is always right. While that is true to some extent, sometimes they are just flat wrong. You should always try to accommodate a customer within reason, but do not allow that concept to go too far.

3. Realize it isn’t always your problem

Sometimes people just have a bad day and are looking for someone to take it out on. A hateful, ugly customer is often one of these people. If you listen to their ranting and raving, then respond kindly telling them you understand their frustration and you want to work with them to come to a resolution, you will often diffuse the anger and uncover the rational human being beneath it.

4. Don’t fall for fear invoking bluffs

In customer service some business people tend to do anything to avoid the potential harm of a threat even if it means losing money or giving in to irrational demands. When you are threatened, consider the validity of the threat. Do you really think someone is going to pay thousands of dollars in attorney fees to sue you over a low dollar transaction? Likely not. Again, do what you can to accommodate within reason but don’t give in to unsubstantiated threats.

5. Be prepared to decide whether or not a customer relationship is worth salvaging

You’ve heard it said that one happy customer tells one person about your business while an unhappy customer will tell 10 or more. Undoubtedly, word of mouth can be the best or the worst exposure for your business. This is the very basis of the “the customer is always right” concept. Of course it is best to salvage a customer relationship if you can, but again, do so within reason.

Got a difficult problem in your job search?

Say, a lack of networking contacts? Or trouble answering interview questions?

Well, you’ve got company. Problems in a job search are as common as mosquitoes in July.

But … have you ever written your problem down on a piece of paper?

I’ll bet you haven’t.

Because, when you write problems down, you take an immediate, huge leap towards solving them. Think about it: Every great invention or solution, from the atomic bomb to the Xbox, was first worked out on paper.

Why not solve your employment problems the same way?

Here’s a three-step method that will help you do it …

1) Start by asking the right questions
Most folks put themselves behind the eight ball in their job search by asking questions that are depressing and demotivating.

Questions like, Why won’t anyone give me a job? or How do I network when I don’t know anyone?

Ack. Pass the happy pills.

Instead, start asking questions that motivate and inspire you.

Better questions to ask are:

* How could I give people a reason to call me with job leads?
* How did my 10 closest friends find their current jobs? How could I brainstorm with them and use their methods in my job hunt?
* What worked in my last job search? The job search before? How could I do that again?

Important: Ask questions that you yourself can solve. Never depend on the government, your school, parents, family — anyone else — to do this for you. Because, once you give up responsibility for solving problems with your job search (or anything else), you become a prisoner of outside forces.

When you ask the right questions, however, you’re halfway to the answer. So write down at least five empowering questions about your job search, right now.

Then, you’re ready for step two …

2) Brainstorm at least 20 possible answers
After you write down five good questions, circle the one question that looks most promising. You’re going to use it to get hired faster.

Let’s say you write the following question down atop a clean sheet of paper:

How could I give people a reason to call me with job leads?

Write a number 1 below it. Write a possible answer next to that number. Then move on to number 2, 3 . and don’t stop until you have at least 20 answers to your question.

Not 15 or 19, but 20 answers — or more.

There’s a reason for this: Left to its own devices, your brain will pull a Homer Simpson after two minutes and try to talk you into going out for donuts or beer. Brains hate to think. Like bench pressing, thinking is strenuous work, no matter how good it may be for you.

But don’t let your head off the hook. Don’t stop until you get 20 possible solutions. Brainstorm as if your career depended on the outcome. Because it does.

Now. Most of your 20 answers won’t be very good — that’s OK. Your best answer may come right after the most hare-brained. By forcing yourself to write out 20 answers, you’re flushing the creative pipes while going deep into your subconscious mind to dredge up a winner.

Don’t knock it until you try it!

3) Take action on one solution today
Choose the most promising from your list of 20 answers. Then, get started — today — to make it happen. No excuses.

Let’s say the most actionable of your solutions is to throw a networking party where you can meet friends, family and acquaintances, and let them know about your job search.

Now. What do you need to do to make this party happen?

Well, you have to make the guest list, send invitations, get the food, etc. So write down all the sub-goals necessary for the party to be a success. Check each sub-goal off your list as you complete it. Before you know it, your networking party will be a reality.

After that, take the next most-promising solution from your list of 20 and make that one happen. Repeat until hired.

Here’s why these 3 steps work when it comes to solving problems — clear thinking plus continuous action equals results.

If you’re struggling to find a job, write down clear, empowering questions of your situation. Then, brainstorm at least 20 possible solutions and take action on the best one today. When you do, you’ll be that much closer to getting the job you really want, faster.

Now, go out and make your own luck!