Getting eaten up by the competition?

Don’t let them make a meal of it.

It doesn’t take a wizard to see that companies of all sizes and in all industries are falling along the wayside in the current economic climate. Whether they’re selling directly to consumers or to business customers, companies are on the spot to focus and perform. If they falter, competitors will eat them up in a heartbeat. Here are a few recommendations from a marketing perspective that can help a company stay in the game.

• Take a Competitive Market Position: Determine a competitive positioning that differentiates you from your competitors and resonates with your target audiences. If you have something innovative or leading edge to market, all the better. Once determined, use that position frequently, consistently and across the board. Don’t change it from week to week or on a whim or you lose your marketplace identity.

• Have a Strategy: Use strategy to your advantage. Have a marketing strategy for your business overall and sub-strategies focused specifically on your buyers and other target audiences. Strategies can be as macro or as micro as you want them to be. They can include changes in pricing; products or services; communication and promotion to prospects, customers and other stakeholders; and/or distribution channels. Just have a strategy for marketing and follow it. Monitor it, evaluate results and revisit it if goals aren’t being met.

• Adjust Expectations: It is a tough economy and the sales cycle is a lot longer for most products. Closing takes longer so factor that timing into your projections.

Look for more tips in the next blog.