Monday, January 29, 2007

Drive The Competition Crazy


More than a decade ago Guy Kawasaki wrote a book called "How To Drive Your Competition Crazy". It is a good book where he shares a lot of stories about his early days at Apple, when they were battling IBM, but the overall message of the book is better than the book itself.

Are You Driving The Competition Crazy with your actions?

Is your competition concerned about what you are doing?

Have you penetrated the soul of the competitor in the manner Moby Dick effected Captain Ahab?


Are you disrupting your industry and causing clients to look at your product or service in a new manner - creating new categories?


Are your employees actively networking in your business community so that anyone and everyone thinks "Wow, they are everywhere?".


Does your team know more about how your competition operates than know about themselves?"


If the answers to the above questions are "No" - Then why not? To be unnoticed by those in your industry probably means you are not being noticed by prospective clients. Being an average player in your industry will produce average results. However, if you want to stand out from the pack and have skyrocketing sales, you cannot just behave like everyone else. You must be unique, and you must operate in a way that "out-thinks" the competition everyday.

To "out-think" the competition means that you must consistently be reviewing what is happening in your industry. You must understand your strengths (and weaknesses), the competitor, and the consumer. Seeking advantages in products, services, marketing, PR, buzz, and branding has to be the assignment of every employee in your company. If your team does not know your goals of industry domination, then they cannot take the necessary steps to get you there.

You can only be stealth for so long. There comes a point when you have to go BIG, and when you do, you want to make sure that the competition can't sleep at night because you are doing amazing things that they cannot imagine doing. Be bold.

Have A Great Day.

thom
www.thomsinger.com

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