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"Scout and Conquer" Your Competition

Sure- fire ways to win the war

By Paul Montelongo

It has been said, “Competition can raise your level of performance to new heights.” If you have ever played competitive sports, you know exactly what is meant by those words. In the construction industry, it is no different. If you want to succeed, you must raise your level of performance to a height greater than that of your competition. As in sports, you can gain the competitive edge with the Scout and Conquer method. Here are several sure-fire ways to win the war in the trenches, beat your competition, earn more profits and retain your clean reputation.

Scout Their Turf

Visiting the site of your competitor’s store, subdivision, development or model home is perfectly legitimate. Phantom shopping, as it is sometimes called, is an excellent way to view firsthand what your competition is offering. For example, an on-site visit by you to their model home will give you loads of info rmation. What new products are they offering? What added value services are presented to potential buyers? Which amenities do they promote to the buying public? How are they promoting these amenities and what is their real dollar value? What are the sensory stimulants they use to make a visitor feel comfortable? Pick up as many flyers and brochures as possible while visiting their site. Observe your first impression as you walk up to the site. Likely it will be the first impression of most visitors. There are so many details that you could notice. Take mental note of these and then immediately make written notes when you get back to your car.

Next, talk to their staff or marketing representative. What is your first impression? Is rapport built instantly? Likely, they will be trained to ask qualifying questions to see if you are a potential buyer. Mentally prepare an answer to explain your presence. There is no need to play your hand, but you can give an honest, “I am just looking at what is available” answer. Is your interaction with their representative pleasant? The way you feel in this situation is most likely the way a real buyer will feel. Also, notice the way the representative communicates with other visitors. Be as objective as possible. Look for the good things that your competition is doing so that you can do them better. Depending on your level of adventure, you may want to go into a more detailed conversation with the representative about their product. The objective here is to gain as much info rmation as possible without intruding on their valuable time.

Prepare Your Scouting Report

Now that you have the scouting info rmation, you must arrange it into a usable scouting report. Re-track the steps of your visit. Make written notes of the visual cues you noticed and the feeling you got as you walked through their product. Buying any sort of real estate or housing is a decision based mostly on emotion. Give yourself the edge by intensifying the emotion for your potential buyer. Use these notes to educate your sales staff. Your scouting report should have the step-by-step process of your phantom buying experience. With this info rmation, you can begin to prepare your own game plan. As you analyze each step of your phantom visit, determine how will you raise the level of your performance? How will you intensify the emotion created when potential buyers visit your site? What products or services will you emphasize to catch the attention of a buyer? Additional promotional material, more colorful graphics on your brochure, or a better explanation of your amenities may be needed. Will your staff need some outside sales and communication training to increase their rapport building skills?

Today’s buyer is very sophisticated. The intuitive questions you have about your own product or service is usually the same as that of a potential buyer. Make your employees and sales staff aware of what is required to conquer the competition. This should be done in a positive way by emphasizing what is good about your competition and how you intend to make your product better. By keeping this info rmation on the upbeat side, your staff will know how to overcome buyer objections with a positive answer rather than a lambasting of your competition.

Show Time

It is now “game time”. Since you have created systems for the improvement of your product or service, the process will go more smoothly. As you begin to execute your plan, notice what is working and what needs refinement. There must be a commitment to constant improvement. In case you haven’t figured it out yet, your competition is likely scouting you. It may require that you have a “secret play” in your book. Perhaps you have a supplementary incentive with your financing. You may, at random, give away an extra feature with your product just to keep your competition guessing. Or maybe, you choose not to give away anything for a while. This could cause your competition to be less flexible than usual, opening the door for you to lure more buyers with new incentives. You may need to create alliances with new vendors to have incentives to offer. You may need agreements from your trade contractors to add value to their service in order to pass it along to the consumer. There is any number of ways to perform at show time. By scouting your competition, you will come up with new ideas. It may seem cagey at times, but it is all done in the spirit of gaining the competitive edge.

Conquering your competition is fought one battle at a time. Each new product or service that you roll out may require a whole new scouting report. To Scout and Conquer requires diligence and creativity. Rest assured that your competition is scouting you. Just hope they haven’t read this article too.

Paul Montelongo is the author of 101 Power Strategies; Tools to Promote Yourself as the Contractor of Choice. Paul is a nationally recognized speaker and consultant to the construction industry. Visit Paul at www.ContractorOfChoice.com and register for a free E-mail newsletter to receive tips, strategies and concepts to help you grow your business and increase your profits. Paul has owned and operated his own multi-million dollar construction company for over 23 years.

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"Scout and Conquer" Your Competition

Sure- fire ways to win the war