Compete by being you

It's effortless and totally free

You may know the old story with the bear: when you take a friend for a walk in the woods, and a bear attacks, you don’t need to be faster than the bear, but – sadly –?only faster than your friend.

Only that by “friends” we now mean your competitors.

It’s fun to remember: your biggest competitive advantage as a freelancer or solopreneur is already built in, effortless and completely free – being you.

But to get there, I want to share a little cheat sheet on how I easily classify competitors in four groups.

Competitor cheat sheet

It helps to know your competitive landscape. Are you competing with

1. …the attitude “I don’t need this at all”? Say, you are a personal trainer, and your prospects don’t feel like sports at all. Or the ugly step-sister:
2. …“I can do it myself”? So they think they can figure it out themselves how to train right.
3. …a completely different solution? Maybe a fitness apps with a subscription model.
4. …with other providers like you? That would be other personal trainers.

Translation: either the customer

1. doesn’t feel the pain at all that you are trying to kill,
2. thinks it’s not worth spending money on,
3. has a better fix,
4. or a better provider for the same fix that you offer.

Identifying this can help you argue to the point.

However, one way to compete is often overlooked:

Your uniqueness is beyond words

Take a bit of clay in your hand and make a fist. No piece of clay in the world will ever look like the one in your hand.

Our uniqueness is in everything we do: our language and tone of voice, our sense of humor, the particularities of our passion, the structure and delivery of our work, the choice of colors and pictures on our landing pages.

Competing on price is expensive (and discounts are the most expensive marketing there is). Competing on value is always worth aiming for. But the most obvious advantage you have is working with people who

• like you,
• trust you,
• are easy to talk to and work with,
• have bought from you.

You will stand out even when your service doesn’t

Also, building personal relationships with customers sets you apart over time.

Think of your own life: maybe you have a trusted firewood supplied or car vendor. The difference is not necessarily in the product: pine timber is pine timber, and a Ford Mondeo is a Ford Mondeo.

However, as customers, we don’t like leaving a trusted partner because we don’t know if the next vendor will be equally reliable (and likable) – unless we are really disappointed of course.

So even if you are a personal trainer, and there are thousands of them, one way to stand out is to work with people who really connect with you.

So in summary, don’t be afraid of competing in a crowded market, doing something many others (seemingly) do, or doing it in a slightly different way. You will stand out purely by showing up.

Retention beats sales

By the way, typically it’s more expensive to acquire a new customer than to keep an existing one. Another reason why keeping customers close pays off.

Consider investing in retention: overdelivering, sharing interesting aritcles, birthday presents, nice gestures, good service or exclusive offers. If you mean it! Especially anything that improves the relations on a personal level, building trust, familiarity, and closeness is worth a thought.

Being not good at sales is your advantage

Based on my own (uncommon) journey, I'm encouraging indies and freelancers to sell their wonderful and innovative products - and to find their own method of selling. Not copy someone else's.

For example, if you are introverted, you probably have other strengths - expertise, listening skills and a sincere interest in the individual customer go a long way.

You can be extra credible by?not?being a salesperson. It's almost an unfair advantage. :-)

This is one of 24 free sales insights I'm sharing from my personal experience. If you liked it,?sign up to my newsletter?to get all 24 tips in one email when they are out.

All tips are taken from my book?Sales Without Shame. It's short (but funny).

And by the way, I'd love to hear from you! No strings attached. We all should meet more people, break the ice, exchange our stories. Send me a PM and let me know: what's your sales challenge?