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Jim Hingst is a contributing writer for Sign Builder Illustrated magazine. 

The
technology shift from analog to digital, which began more than 40 years ago,
provided sign makers with many new business opportunities. Innovations in computerized
plotter-cutting and digital print technology initiated mass-produced graphics
and reduced production costs.

 

These
technological advances also lowered the barriers to entry, opening the flood gates
to a torrent of new competitors, such as commercial offset printers.

 

The
question for sign builders is how do you survive when your market becomes overcrowded
with competitors?

 

Acknowledge
Competitive Threats. The first bit of advice is never to ignore
potential threats. As famed basketball coach Pat Riley warned the choke results
when you either overestimate your abilities or underestimate your competitor’s
abilities.  His maxim applies both to
sports and to business. The point is if you ignore your competition, you could
lose your business before you know it.

 

Although
technology has leveled the playing field, your edge can be your customer
relationships. Your product knowledge of raw materials, such as using the right
vinyl films to meet the customer’s expectations, will help in understanding and
satisfying unmet customer’s needs.

 

To
this end, you and your sales people need to build detailed customer profiles. The
more you know about your business base, the stronger your customer relationships
become and the more difficult it is for competitors to drive a wedge between
you and your clients.

 

Protect
Your Customer Base.
As important as it is to sell new business, you need to devote much of your sales
and marketing efforts to protecting your existing customer base. The lifetime value
of your current customers is many times greater than the initial sale.

 

The
best way to protect your base is to provide outstanding customer service. To this
end you may initiate a program of calling each customer every four to six weeks.
The purpose of these calls is to:

 

•
Strengthen relationships with key customer personnel;

•
Detect any changes within the customer’s business;

•
Probe for new opportunities; and

•
Identify threats to the account.

 

Competitive
Research. Just as you should compile customer profiles, you should
construct dossiers on the competition. Your file should list the strengths and
weaknesses of your competitors. These dossiers should also detail their production
capabilities and shortcomings; experience in implementing graphics programs; weaknesses
in their financial standing; and their pricing strategy.

 

In
conducting competitive research on your rivals, your best sources for information are
your salespeople, your vendors, your network of business associates and your
customers. These sources can help you identify new competitors and rate how
your shop stacks up against the competition.

 

These
sources can also help you detect trends in your market. What’s more, the
information that you gather through your sources will help you recognize areas
in your business that need improvement. It will also help you realize what is truly
important to your customers and prospects.

 

Another
great source of business intelligence is to hire your competitors’ employees,
such as salespeople, managers and key production personnel. Former employees
know the strengths and weaknesses of their former employer. A top-notch
salesperson should know where the proverbial bodies are buried and should have
built relationships that they can bring to your shop. Moreover, a good hire
will know the competitor’s financial standing, business strategy and the new
markets they are targeting.

 

One of
the quickest ways to research a competitor is to review the content on their
website, their blog and their social media platforms. The information available
online will give you an overview of their products and services, and in many
cases, will provide you with a review of their equipment. Pictures and
descriptions of their programs may also reveal new opportunities. Reading online
reviews may expose a competitor’s weaknesses.

 

Sales
Tactics. In setting your company apart from theirs, the presentation
of your program should focus on your company strengths, rather than disparaging
the competition. If a competitor is struggling financially, you can subtly allude
to their weakness. A mere mention that your business has the history and financial
resources to stand behind your programs in the unlikely event of a failure, may
call into question another company’s wherewithal to correct problems.

 

Another
indirect technique to call attention to another’s weaknesses is to “damn with
faint praise”. In commenting on a competitor’s work, you might remark “it’s
amazing that that company is willing to tackle major fleet programs using a printer
designed to produce short-term posters”. This can plant the seeds of doubt in
the mind of the prospect.

 

Always
treat your competitors with respect. You never want to start a pissing contest.
Friendly competition is certainly preferable to creating a hated enemy.

 

Crafting
Your Message. With an understanding of the competition,
you should emphasize what makes your shop unique. See
my article on unique selling proposition. In dealing with rival companies, your
experience, knowledge, range of offering and unique product solutions could be
your competitive edge.

 

Once you have identified
your product differentials, you need to build your messaging  strategy around your company’s
uniqueness. Crafting a storyline on what your can do for your customers and prospects
can allude to what your competitors are incapable of providing.  

 

This is a messaging strategy
that you need to employ in all of your business communications, including website
content, blog articles, social media postings and sales stories. By consistently
broadcasting your narrative in these various channels, your audience is more
likely to notice, read and remember your message. Remember that repetition
reinforces your narrative.

 

In
a face-to-face sales interview, ask probing questions in an effort to discover
any dissatisfaction with the incumbent supplier as well as any unmet customer
needs. In creating unique solutions to satisfy those needs, you will position your
company as a creative graphics provider as opposed to a shop that cranks out
uninspired cookie-cutter designs.  

 

Positioning
Your Business. Instead of positioning your shop as the low-cost
graphics provider, what should differentiate your shop is outstanding customer
service, creativity and high-quality workmanship.

 

Offering
unique solutions to your customer’s needs helps differentiate your company and
allows you to maintain your gross profit margin. On the other hand, simply quoting
on the same graphics package as your competitor relegates you to competing on
price. Neither you nor your competitor wins when you treat product offerings as
commodities and cut each other’s pricing.  

 

To
stand out from your competitors, emphasize what you do better than the other
guy. Your value-added benefit could be an offering of a full range of services
in design, manufacturing and installation.

 

Your
content marketing strategy can support your expertise in graphics production. Sharing
your industry knowledge on social media, blog postings, e-newsletters and direct
marketing communications help build confidence in your shop among your target
audience.

 

Form Alliances. Most
shops do not have the resources to provide every product and service in the
field of signage and large format corporate graphics. In fact, it’s usually
unwise to attempt to be all things to all people. Instead, do what you do best.
Nevertheless, you may want to satisfy a wider range of your customers’ needs
for graphics.

 

In order to offer
services beyond your capabilities, consider forming alliances with other shops.
 

 

Hit ’em
Where They Ain’t. In his campaign in New Guinea in WWII, General
Douglas MacArthur employed a strategy of attacking where the enemy was weakest,
instead of initiating a frontal assault against their strongholds. In his words,
he would “hit,’em where they ain’t”.

 

That’s
a good business strategy, too! Avoid markets in which competitors are strongest
and attack where competition is weakest. If a particular field, such as fleet
graphics is overcrowded, look for opportunities is other market segments, such
as floor graphics, in-plant safety signage or tradeshow signage and
graphics.   

 

In
looking for new opportunities, you may need to look no further than your
existing account base. If you are selling a customer fleet graphics, are you
missing opportunities to sell other applications?

 

Never
Give Up. Businesses fail for any number of reasons: poor
planning; failure to recognize and react to competitive threats; deficient management
of finances; insufficient response to changes in technology or the economy; poor
execution of business plans; and failure to measure your performance and adjust
your business tactics as needed.

 

In the
face of adversity, many entrepreneurs lose faith in their own abilities. Some people,
despite their creative talents, experience and knowledge, just give up and
close their shops. They give up on their dreams of being their own boss for the
security of a steady pay check.

 

In dealing
with overwhelming competition, what sets winners apart from losers is often
just determination. Early in Tyson Fury’s epic third fight with Deonty Wilder, he
was knocked down twice. Fury commented that everyone gets knocked down in life.
What sets the champion apart from his competitors is the determination to get
up off of the mat and continue the fight. Fury persevered and knocked out his
opponent in the 11^th round, successfully defending his heavyweight
boxing title.

 

With this in mind, remember the words of Calvin
Coolidge: “Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent
will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will
not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is
full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.
The slogan Press On! has solved and always will solve the problems of the human
race.”