Want to Sell Online? 3 Things Competitors Can Teach You

As it happens, the competition can be a source of valuable information to help you learn how to sell online.

So don’t fear them. Instead, find out what you can in order to achieve your own success.

And this is practical advice. As marketing expert Hitesh Bhasin puts it, “Fear squashes strength and analysis makes you more powerful.”

Here are three things competitors can teach you from the start:

PLAN to reach your target customer

There are many factors that go into planning a sales strategy to sell online. Arguably one of the most important is how to reach your target customer.

In most cases, your direct competition will be targeting the same customer. So what are they doing to reach out to them?

Simply put, by observing your competitor’s marketing campaigns you can learn if social media, direct advertising, or other types of marketing events have been successful for them—or not.

Then you can pick and choose the methods you think would work for you. Alternatively, instead of following the crowd you could branch out and try something new.

PREPARE for products and pricing

If you’re not sure what products to offer and are strapped for time, you can leverage insights from successful competitors to get ideas.

You can also discover a fair price to charge for products you sell online by seeing what your competitions’ customers are willing to pay for them.

Moreover, you can gain additional information about product turnover by tracking the products your competitors sell and how fast they are moving.

PERFORM optimal customer service

Observe how your competitors interact with their customers. That is, how do they keep them satisfied?

One way to find out is to make a purchase from your competitor and then gauge their response time and communications to you.

Another way is to read their customer reviews—which can often be quite revealing. That’s because disgruntled customers will likely make their complaints known while satisfied customers will communicate their gratitude.

It’s important to realize that when you sell online, or anywhere else for that matter, the goal is to build loyalty and long term customer relationships.

Generally speaking, learn what makes your competitors successful and then uniquely implement these things into your own business.

But, warns Bhasin, “don’t copy the competition, make your own stand by aggressively introducing your own blend of products and strategies.”

Let your competitors drive and motivate you. In the end, the information and tactics you glean are important strategic tools that you can adapt and use on your path to success.

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