It goes without saying that competition can be rife, particularly when consumers have the opportunity to shop around. This can be even more difficult to conquer as a small business with less budget available. So, let’s take a look at some cost effective ways to get ahead of the competition.
Avoid Complacency with Motivation
Our first tip comes from a very unlikely source — Alice in Wonderland. Over the years, Lewis Carroll’s classic novel has inspired a wide range of different media — from TV and film adaptations, to online casino games. Fans of game shows can play Adventures Beyond Wonderland live online, which features live hosts enacting some of the main characters, alongside digital interactive avatars. The thematics here help to provide an authentic and immersive wonderland-themed casino experience. That said, it goes without saying that, traditionally, businesses aren’t quite considered to be as wacky as wonderland, but they sure can be as diverse and quirky. The novel teaches us to embrace our differences and run with them.
Further to this, one of the best lessons that we can take from the novel is to never stop running — “it takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place. If you want to get somewhere else, you must run at least twice as fast”. In today’s saturated business world, it is highly competitive, and it can take going at full force to keep you afloat. However, this doesn’t mean you should stop there. To get ahead of competitors we need to try doubly hard by motivating our teams to propel the business forward and ahead of the competition, through recognition, reward, and a positive workplace culture.
Look After Existing Customers
Studies have shown that it is more cost effective to retain customers than it is to win new ones. In fact, statistics reported by Forbes state that in SaaS industries, it can cost four to five times more to acquire new customers as opposed to retaining the ones you have. Whilst it can admittedly be easy to take your existing customer base for granted, with this in mind it is imperative to look after your existing customers.
Look at how you can improve the sales journey for these customers — could you send them reminders, provide discounts for repeat business, or set up a loyalty scheme? In turn, this can foster a sense of loyalty between the customer and your brand. Which brings us to our next tip…
Create Brand Ambassadors
Loyal customers are more likely to recommend brands to their friends and family, becoming ambassadors for your brand. This is called word of mouth advertising, which remains the most trusted form of advertising, even in the digital age. Business News Daily reports that 92% of people trust recommendations from friends and family over every other type of advertising when making a purchasing decision.
Here, consider how you could reward those who make recommendations as an incentive for them to do so. This could easily tie into your efforts to foster brand loyalty, making it a cost effective and efficient option for businesses of all sizes.
As you can see, you don’t always need a huge budget to get ahead of the competition. By not getting complacent and continuing to motivate your team, focussing on retaining your customers, and rewarding the behaviour of employees and loyal customers alike, this can go a long way towards giving you a competitive edge.
