For many entrepreneurs, business is “war.” No matter what, you have to outsmart your rivals to win market share.
Unfortunately, this attitude causes a lot of problems. Many business owners believe that they have to be aggressive or borderline criminals to get ahead, leading to all sorts of problems for you.
That’s where this post comes into the picture. It explores some nasty competitive practices that you often see, followed by ways to counter them.
Price Undercutting
Price undercutting is one of the primary tactics business owners use to defeat the competition. The reasoning is that if they can squeeze you for long enough, you’ll exit the market, and then they can raise prices once you’re gone (since it is so expensive for you to get back in).
The way to avoid this approach is to focus on value and refuse to take part in price wars. If you can sell something that is slightly different from a rival, then companies are much more likely to choose you over other people.
One of the best ways to do this is with a personal brand. If you can market yourself as being the only version of you, that can be a powerful approach that works wonders.
Smear Campaigns
You will also sometimes encounter smear campaigns. Again, these can get nasty and exaggerate your flaws.
Worse still, many rivals will conduct these covertly through their media friends or other channels. Because of this, it can be challenging to know where the information is coming from or who’s to blame.
How you react will depend on the situation. If what’s been said is criminal, then you should take legal action immediately. The money you will receive can cover brand damage.
You should also stay composed and continue to act in an upright manner. If you have evidence that directly contradicts the claim, use that too.
Email Spoofing
Occasionally, you will get rivals trying to spoof your emails, sending clients messages that reflect poorly on you.
That’s why it is so critical to use an SPF record setup. This technology authenticates outgoing emails and prevents malicious actors from setting up fake emails pretending to be you.
These systems also boost email deliverability. More clients are likely to accept them, reducing them being marked as “spam.”
Poaching Customers And EmployeesPoaching customers and employees is another nasty tactic a lot of businesses use. Many see it as a way to profit from your hard work attracting everyone who interacts with your business.
Unfortunately, there isn’t much you can do about poaching legally, other than through contracts with employees. For example, you might get them to sign non-compete and non-disclosure agreements, meaning they won’t share your information with other companies, and must wait several years before they join them in the future.
The other way is to simply build loyalty to your employee and employer brand. For many customers and workers, it is simply too much work to switch away from you because you’re so reliable. That’s how you retain people in an ultra-competitive environment.
Guerrilla Attacks
Guerrilla attacks are something else that you might face. Small-scale moves, like surprise discounts or pop-up campaigns might take you off-guard and reduce your market share.
These actions are often hidden from your view, so you’ll need monitoring systems that can see them. You’ll also want to sign up for your rivals’ mailing lists so you can spy on what they’re doing and get a head’s up.
If you can adapt to a discount quickly, do so. If it looks like it is going viral, counter with a discount of your own.
If you can be proactive with your campaigns, that’s even better. This approach prevents rivals from viewing you as predictable.
Infiltration Sabotage
Finally, rivals will sometimes try to infiltrate and sabotage your operations. Many will attempt to learn more about what you do (your clients and strategies) and then use this information to undermine your work.
Sabotage is rarely physical. Most businesses and employees won’t go as far as committing crimes. However, if they can grab hold of your data, they will.
Fortunately, you can counter this through secure operational practices. Siloing everyone who joins your firm and ensuring that they can only access information or areas of the office on a need-to-know basis is critical.
You can also verify your interactions. For example, you can double-check high-volume orders (perhaps paid for fraudulently on stolen credit cards) before going to the expense of fulfilling them (and losing money).
