How to use knowledge of your competitors to your advantage

How do you use knowledge of your competitors to your advantage?First, knowing who your competitors are, and what they are offering, can help you to make your products, services and market stand out.

This will help explain how to analyze who your competitors are, how to research what they are doing and how to act on the information you gain.

What you need to know about your competitors

How do your competitors do business? Things to look for:

- What products or services they provide and how to market them to customers
- The prices they charge
- How they distribute and deliver
- The devices they employ to enhance customer loyalty and what back-up service they offer
- Their brand and design values
- Whether they innovate - business methods as well as products
- Their staff numbers and the caliber of staff that they attract
- How they use IT - for example, if they are technology savvy and offer a website and email
- Who owns the business and what sort of person they are
- Their annual report- if they're a public company
- Their media activities often displayed on the business website
How they treat their customers

Find out as much as possible about your competitors' customers, such as:

- Who they are
- What products or services different customers buy from them
- What do customers see as your competitors' strengths and weaknesses
- Whether there are any long-standing customers
- If they've had an influx of customers recently

What they are planning to do

Try to get a step ahead by investigating your competitors' business strategy, for example:

- What type of customers are they targeting
- What new products they're developing
- What financial resources they have

Once you have analyzed your competitor put the information into three categories:

- What can you learn from and do better
- What they are doing worse than you
- What they are doing the same as you

First, what can you learn from and do better? It could be anything from needing to improve on your customer service, assessing your prices, redesigning your marketing such as a website and possibly changing your supplier.

Try to learn from them without copying their ideas and strategies, but use it to find what works best for you.Now, can you do better and add more value at the same time?

Second, what are they doing worse than you? Focus on the gaps you've identified such as their product range or service, marketing or distribution, even the way they recruit and retain employees. However, do not let your strengths fall to the wayside. It is important to continue to improve on all if your efforts both good and bad.Remember, your competitor may be assessing you as well and may use some of your ideas.

Third, what are they doing the same as you?If you are both doing the same thing and you are not impressed with what they are doing, then perhaps you both need to do some changing.Analyze common areas until you have your ideas where you want them.Be aware that your competitor may also be planning on an improvement.

It is important learn all that you can in the business field about the business field.Taking business classes and courses will help you maintain a competitive edge needed to know how to analyze not only your competitors, but aspects of business as a whole.