Knowing everything about your target market doesn’t just mean understanding the prospects you are trying to reach. It’s also important to be aware of the competition you have and the things you need to do to analyze and strategize against them.
Start by keeping a keen eye out on what the other guy is doing. Monitoring your competition is as easy as watching their social media to find out what their customers are saying about them. Remember their Achilles’ heel can be used to your advantage if you read the information you’ll find on Twitter and Facebook properly. For example, adopting the corrected version of what’s lagging in their customer service for your business can increase your client base.
Differentiate yourself
Understanding how other businesses in your market operate helps you to differentiate yourself. In this online world where reputations are made and broken in a flash on social media, it’s more important than ever to identify your niche market and thrive in that space. Casting the net too wide might not net you any fish and narrowing down the products you offer makes it hard for competitors that offer a wide variety of goods and services.
Take Street Invoice for example. We saw that mobile invoicing on the go was a market segment for busy service people that wasn’t being served with what we had to offer and decided to own it. Our features allow you to do the things that need to be done quickly and easily and beyond giving you the ability to send out customized invoices in under a minute, Street Invoice has receivables that get sent out automatically based on aging.
Ask clients
Still, there’s always going to be some other company looking to take a slice of the pie and knowing how the competition got to where they are is invaluable in understanding how to get the edge on them. Don’t be afraid to ask your clients what they expect and want through social media and by phone or in person and then decide what you need to do to change your business model to 
stay on top.
Making the necessary adjustments is critical. If you’re losing market share and want to stop any hemorrhaging, you might even need to go so far as to adjust your prices to put the squeeze on the competition. Don’t forget or underestimate the power of word of mouth either. If you’d rather not lower your prices, adding additional customer service might make the difference on a more personal level with your clients.
Through any changes you make, remember to use all the latest innovations like the one we offer here at Street Invoice. With our industry leading invoicing app technology, you can always have your customer’s information right at your fingertips. Street Invoice even allows you to add contacts straight from your smartphone so there’s no time lost manually transferring information around.