I have always admired the military for how they do things. I mean, everything they do is according to how it has always been done. The way they talk, sit, and go about their daily routines. I guess tradition plays an important role in how they have developed military culture. If we have their discipline, this world would probably be a bit different.
In fact, most of their practices can be used in our daily routine. Remember Sun Tzu? His ideologies in his book are timeless pieces. In fact, his lessons can still be applied today. One of the more important lessons I have learned from his piece is on how we should treat and handle enemies. He has always believed that adversaries should be respected. One should go through great pains to learn and know his enemy - his strengths and his weaknesses. By understanding how an enemy thinks, one could prepare for his defense and offense
In the world of business, this lesson cannot be ignored.
The fastest way to hamstring your business is to ignore your competition. If you do not pay attention to them, they may orchestrate something to chomp away at your market share. In this game, it pays to know what the competition is brewing so you can make moves to either keep your existing clients or entice new ones. Here are a few ways for you to gather competitive intelligence to keep or expand your customer base:
Monitor their ads. Don’t just marvel at how beautiful or how enticing their ads are or how great the color printing; read between the lines. Ads have subliminal messages. Understand who they are targeting and what particular products or services they are trying to promote. Speculate on the timing of their ad. There are reasons for everything and you should try to put meaning to every word, color, print and text.
Be a customer. Pretend to be a customer and make it a point to make regular visits. Nothing beats first hand information. Inquire about what products or services are being offered and how they are being promoted. Check prices and get samples, brochures or flyers.
Move in their circles. This may be a bit difficult but once you have mastered this art, this is going to be very useful. If you become an acquaintance of people who are close or are associated with your competition, chances are you will be able to pick up some valuable information - a new product, timing of product launch, trade secrets, etc.
Someone said that information is power. I say, information is more powerful if you know how to use it. You just don’t stop at knowing what the competition is doing or what they are planning to do. You must be able to use this information to develop your strategies, your own attacks or counter attacks.
Yes, information is powerful but do you know what do with it?
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