Kick Your Own Ass
The Art Of Being Your Own Competition
Over time, as a company matures, it begins to look more and more like its competition. It makes model to model matchup products to the other companies doing business in its market space. It matches prices and features. It hits the same packaging and distribution marks. It advertises in the same media... does the same trade shows.
With a mature company in a mature industry I don't really have to spend much time looking at your competition. Instead, I can just look at you.
Think Like A Competitor
My mental approach when entering a new client relationship is to think like a competitor. The burning question in my mind as I am initially looking at your company is, basically, "If I was a competitor to these guys, what could I do to completely kick their ass?"
Apple Computer recently did this very thing by killing off its number one selling iPod mini product, and replacing it at the height of its sales curve with an all-new model, the iPod nano. Why kill a number one selling product?... Because, you have asked the above question, and you've found a clear answer. If you can figure out how to kick your own ass, then it means you are missing lots of sales and lots of profits by not doing it.
Always Be Looking Ahead
The moment you think of a killer new product and you begin rushing it to the marketplace, you need to also be thinking about how to kill that very product. Creating a hit product is not an excuse for a mental vacation. Instead, it's a call to action, based on the idea that you have a terrific advantage over your competitors: you have a head start on knocking off the new hit product you are about to launch.
The moment your competitors get a sniff of your market-crushing new hit product, believe me, they will be burning brain cells into the dark of night trying to figure out how to knock your proud new achievement down from its lofty sales perch. And, given a dash of cleverness, and the clues your own new product will give them about the direction of the market, there's a good chance one of them will accomplish their goal.
Again, you have a head start on dethroning your own soon to be released hit product. That head start, if used well, can be the edge you need to sustain a wave of new hit product launches extending years or decades into the future.
The way to, literally, always be one step ahead of your competition is to gain the initial one step advantage, and then never slow down. Never.
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