A few weeks ago I was watching the 2008 World Series of Poker on ESPN. Please stop laughing. I know that event happened last year and yes I know who won but there wasn’t a ton of other things on and I like to watch poker on TV from a strategy standpoint. Most professional poker players would say that in order to be successful, you need to read the other players better than playing your cards. In essence, know the competition, know their tendencies, understand them . . . really understand them and you will probably beat them.
I paused for a minute or two and asked myself is the same true about all industries and specifically the market research industry. If you are a finalist for a piece of business:
- Do you know who the competition is?
- Do you know what your strengths are compared to them?
- Do you try and highlight their weaknesses?
To me it was interesting to think about and relate it to our company.
Yes in this economy, price is a deciding factor on lots of projects–more than many people would like to admit. But with that said, there has to be a number of projects where highlighting your strengths vs. the competition should come into play.
If that is the case what are you doing about it?
- Do you ask clients who else is in the bidding process?
- How much information do you know about the competition?
- Are you on their websites?
- Do you review their ads and marketing materials?
- Do you get their newsletters?
- Do you know their pricing strategy? (Okay, I’m pushing the envelope a little bit and know that most people WON’T admit that.)
I look forward to reading your comments.
I am sure that most people who are reading the blog have taken a call from someone who is looking for a reference. They would like a little insight on how talented the person was, would you rehire them, why did they leave, what were their strengths and weaknesses and plenty of other questions.
A few weeks ago I was speaking with my buddy KW and he said I have to see the movie The Hangover. He said it was absolutely hysterical and the funniest movie he has seen since Wedding Crashers. I must admit I had never heard of the movie but said that I was going to try and see the movie that weekend. 
As you read this posting, the year is half over. You have heard over and over how difficult and challenging the economy is and how that has affected all of our businesses.
Everyone has heard of July 4, Memorial Day, Christmas, New Year, but have you heard of Brag Day? Well, maybe not because I just invented it. Since this blog now regularly gets over 1,000 visitors per week, I thought I would give people a chance to explain what they do, what services they provide and who is a perfect client. All for the low, low cost of nothing! Use this as a nice and easy way to network. If you do this right it should lead to a few opportunities.
It has been almost 50 years ago that John F. Kennedy said, "Ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country."
As you know I try and read USA Today daily. For the past six months I have been cutting out full page advertisements that companies have placed in this newspaper. At this point, there must be 150 ads sitting on my desk (please read on–before you call me a packrat) and a few times a month, I will review them to see what words and messages companies are keying on during this challenging economic time. I went through them and listed twenty-two of them in alphabetical order:
One definition of the word mentor is "A wise and trusted counselor or teacher." For me that person tends to be a business person who has tremendous years of experience and is a little older. If you stop and think of all of your mentors: your parents, your professors, your boss perhaps, they tend to be a little older.
