“Concentrate your strengths against your competitor’s relative weaknesses.” Paul Gauguin

Your customer value proposition (CVP) needs to be benchmarked against your competitors. Prospects will always ask the question “Why should we choose you over them?”. As mentioned in earlier posts, ensure a distinctive advantage, tangible metrics and a proposition which is sustainable over a period of time. When formulating a CVP the competition must always be kept in mind. Irrespective of whether you have experienced success relatively quickly or whether it has taken a longer period of time, the tendency to become complacent  is always there. It is at these moments that we are at our weakest, and our vulnerabilities exposed.

When initially constructing your CVP, it is vital to do a sweep of all the local competition. This will enable you to:

1. Position yourself: It is important to position yourself correctly in relation to your strengths and the competition’s weakness. We are always looking to operate in that sweet spot where our competitors are at a disadvantage, and target customers are able to make a clear and easy choice about whom to choose and why.

2. Focus: There are areas, where our competitors have clearly developed strong competencies, which make it difficult for new entrants to penetrate. After a thorough analysis, the aim should be to collect all the vulnerabilities in the competition’s defense and amplify them. This is best done by focusing marketing and research efforts to ensure development in areas where the competition is at its weakest.

3. Understand trends: By continuously monitoring the competition, a keen insight into future trends in your industry is developed. This enables developing core expertise in those areas before the competition and can put you in a strong position to potentially disrupt the market. 

Once the analysis is complete, the wordings in your CVP should reflect the strengths of your organization in comparison to those of your competitors. With the constant changes taking place in our world today, do not lose sight of the competition, always remain vigilant about all potential and major changes.