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You Only Need to Be a Little Better Than Your Competition

by feedtherightwolf
10 replies
I am listening to an audio book by Brian Tracy called "The Psychology of Selling" and I pick up a lot of good little gems from him.

The one that I liked today was the concept of "Winning Horse". What he said was that the horse that constantly comes in first is usually not 2 times better than all the other horses, it is not even 1.5 times better, or not even 1.25.

Usually it is just a tiny bit better. Sometimes by as little as a nose. Yet that winning horse earns 200-300% more than the second horse, and infinitely many than the last horses who come in only a few seconds later.

The point that he is making is that you don't have to be twice as good in selling to become profitable. You just have to continue to get a little bit better, and soon you will get the a little amount of extra push needed to leave your competition in the dust.

What do you guys think? Does this observation reflect your personal experience?
#competition #selling
  • Profile picture of the author Henry White
    In fact, you only have to be slightly ahead of the rest of your class or competition to stand out - yet that requires more courage than most people can muster.
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  • Profile picture of the author Terry Hatfield
    Reminds me of a joke.

    Two friends are hiking in the woods and they come across a bear. One of the friends sits down and takes his hiking boots off and puts his tennis shoes on.

    The other friend says what are you crazy? You can't run faster than a bear.

    The friend replies I don't have to run faster than a bear, I just have to run faster than you.

    So yes you only need to be a little better than your competition.
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    • Profile picture of the author Chri5123
      Originally Posted by Terry Hatfield View Post

      Reminds me of a joke.

      Two friends are hiking in the woods and they come across a bear. One of the friends sits down and takes his hiking boots off and puts his tennis shoes on.

      The other friend says what are you crazy? You can't run faster than a bear.

      The friend replies I don't have to run faster than a bear, I just have to run faster than you.

      So yes you only need to be a little better than your competition.
      Awesome!

      Haven't heard that one before - made me chuckle.

      Also I would even take it further and say that competetion should not be your primary focus.

      If there is a market use competetion to your advantage and find out what they are doing and then do it better.

      Chris
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      • Profile picture of the author ksmusselman
        I've been following this concept since I launched my business. I visited all of my competitors to see what they were doing, how they were doing it, what they were charging, what their sites looked like and decided okay, I can do better.

        And it's true! You only have be just a little bit better...use a little bit better keyword, price a little bit better, make things just a little bit better on your website, write a little bit better content, etc., etc.

        And it works. I don't "have" to be #1 on Google as long as I'm at least on the first page. People buying from me will bargain shop. It's what they do. So I only have to be "just a little bit" better to get the sale.

        Great topic!!

        Oh, and I just LOVE the "running faster than you" from the bear joke.
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  • Profile picture of the author JamesGw
    You only need to be a little bit better than your current competition, but that also means it's easier for other people to exceed you. If I can comfortable be 200% better than my next competitor, I'd prefer to be there. It means larger profits and a stronger stranglehold on the industry.
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    • Profile picture of the author ksmusselman
      Originally Posted by JamesGw View Post

      You only need to be a little bit better than your current competition, but that also means it's easier for other people to exceed you. If I can comfortable be 200% better than my next competitor, I'd prefer to be there. It means larger profits and a stronger stranglehold on the industry.
      This can be very true depending on your niche and/or your industry. For example, I'm in a pretty competitive industry - primarily wedding favors, targeting a pretty competitive niche - "cheap" wedding favors, specifically bookmarks. So while I do need to continuously be better than my competition, I still only have to be "just a little bit" better.

      My niche is also pretty subjective. Not everyone is going to like my particular designs as opposed to those of my competitors and I can't copy exactly what they do either. But I can still strive to do better than they are in other aspects.

      To do this, I have to maintain my website and daily monitor what my competitors are doing too so that if I see any of them moving up in rank or traffic, I can quickly move on my site to head them off.
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  • Profile picture of the author Neil Morgan
    If I can comfortable be 200% better than my next competitor, I'd prefer to be there. It means larger profits and a stronger stranglehold on the industry.
    Better still, be 100% better now and keep the other 100% for your next version for immediate launch when your competitors catch up.

    Cheers,

    Neil
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  • Profile picture of the author Andyhenry
    I actually don't see this in the same way.

    I don't think you need to be even a little better than your competition.

    What you're trying to do is get the position in your prospect/customer's head - not by being 'better' than the competition but by establishing yourself as no.1 in some position in their head.

    So for example if you make bread and your competition is the cheapest or best looking - you wouldn't try to be 'better' than them, you would just make your messaging more effective. So if you want to sell to vegarians you could say "suitable for vegetarians". It may be true for your competitors but if you're the only one saying it that makes you the best choice - not that you're actually doing anything different or your product is intrinsically better.

    So trying to be 'better' at the same stuff all of your competition is saying they do is often not the best way to get your customer to choose your offer.

    Andy
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    nothing to see here.

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    • Profile picture of the author myob
      You have to learn the rules of the game. And then you have to play better than anyone else.
      - Albert Einstein

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  • Profile picture of the author ladywriter
    Trying to outpace someone, even at a tiny percent, seems like a lot of work. You don't need to be better, you need to change the game.

    You do that by being different. If your "competitors" are all trying to compete on price, you concentrate on service. Or story. Etc. etc. etc.
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