Is your company not making enough money? Are you not at the top of your industry? Want to know the best way to beat your
competition?
In this post, we’re going to explain how you can beat your
competition by following the rule of “copying plus one.”
Our Findings
The Rule of “Copying Plus One”
Too often in business, companies get caught focusing too much on
their own operations and not enough on what’s happening around them. By not monitoring external forces, businesses
fail to keep up with industry standards and customer expectations, leaving them
always a step behind.
Although businesses do need to monitor internal efficiency and
effectiveness, oftentimes the biggest routes to organizational success are found
externally. So, this when we bring in the
rule of “copying plus one”…
When we say “copying plus one,” this is what we mean: Do the same
things that the competition is doing, but do them better/differently, more of
them, or both—simple enough. Here’s an
example of doing what the competition is doing, but doing it better/differently:
- You’re “Company A” and you want to increase your sales of chicken
wings—a product that your customers like to buy in larger quantities (2 x 12
pieces; 24 per purchase).
- You find that a competitor—“Company B”—is getting a ton of sales
via their promotion of chicken wings at 24 for $20.00 (usually sold at $12.00
for 12 pieces).
- To increase sales and beat your competition, you offer chicken
wings at 12 for $9.98 with a free medium soft drink. This is not only a better deal than Company B’s
promotion, but it has minimal cost difference and also serves customers who
prefer smaller orders—i.e. it’s “copying plus one.”
Doing things better/different than the competition can be done in
many more ways, such as:
- offering a better/different loyalty program
- partnering with top organizations in other industries to improve
your services or general productivity
- securing a headline presentation time—instead of a regular time—at
a conference
- having a better booth location than a competitor at a trade show
- and many more!
Now, here’s an example of doing more of the same things that the
competition is doing:
- You’re “Company A” and are competing against “Company B” and
“Company C” for business.
- You currently have free backlinks to your website set up on
“Site A,” “Site B,” and “Site C.”
- You find that “Company B” has free backlinks on “Site A,” “Site
C,” “Site D,” and “Site E.”
- You find that “Company C” has free backlinks on “Site B,” “Site
D,” “Site F,” “Site G,” and “Site H.”
- You continue with backlinks on Sites A-C, while also copying
Company B and C by setting up new backlinks on Sites D-H. By doing this, you’ll have a total of eight
backlinks, while Company B and Company C will only have four and five,
respectively. So, you won’t just be
equal to Company B or C, but rather farther ahead because you copied them both—i.e.
“copying plus one.”
Just like “doing things better,” doing more of the same things
that the competition is doing can be applied to many other business activities
as well, such as:
- being on more social media platforms
- getting more “friends” or “followers” than the competition on
those social media platforms by adding all of their friends/followers to your
accounts
- sponsoring more community events
- participating in more business networking groups
- and the list goes on!
If you’re always “copying plus one” your competitors, the
opportunities to jump ahead of them are endless!
Final Thoughts
In the end, the primary point that we want to get across is that
you should always monitor the competition.
By doing so, you’ll have a better chance of finding areas where you can
improve your company as well as new opportunities to move ahead of the
competition.
Of course, because resources aren’t unlimited in business, you
can’t always do everything and more than the competition. But whenever you find something that is free,
requires minimal resources, or is different and interesting enough to pique a
customer’s interest, you should always jump on it. If you follow this advice, you’ll always find
yourself on top.
References
Just us!
Links to More Information
That’s it for this one!
Want to make a request for free research? Follow the
directions found on the left.
Have
a comment you'd like to pass on? E-mail feedback@ostrichcanada.ca