What is Competitive Space? And why is it so Powerful for Software Companies?

Simply put: Competitive Space makes your business more engaging and compelling for your ideal customer.? It is a uniquely designed strategic positioning service for software companies who want to stand out and be able to OutSmart and not outspend their competition — backed up by cognitive science, psychology and sector experience it will lift you up and enable a dramatic upturn in your business growth.

But, you’re probably going to want me to give you a clearer understanding of how exactly Competitive Space can increase the growth of your business.

Well, one thing I can tell you is that Competitive Space is NOT something you’ll have seen before. It’s not a templated solution or an oversimplified cookie-cutter formula we apply to each and every business we work with.

And it’s certainly not about ‘differentiating’ you from your competitors. In fact, it’s radically different from all of those things.

Here are the five disciplines of Competitive Space:

1. Strategic positioning
2. Cognitive science
3. Psychology
4. The art of storytelling
5. The power of visuals

Obviously, I can’t give you every single detail that goes into each discipline in this one article, but I can give you a basic overview:

1. Strategic positioning

This discipline of Competitive Space is about us helping to place your offer in a distinct position within your consumers’ minds. It’s also about positioning your brand relative to the competitors within your target market so you’re best placed to achieve your strategic goals.

To create a solid strategic position you need to understand what consumers are particularly interested in, what your product or service delivers and what position the existing brands in your sector occupy. Then it’s a case of finding a gap within the market that consumers will be interested in and that your company is capable of delivering.

That’s what we’ll do as part of our Competitive Space service, along with the input of some of your senior executives.

2. Cognitive science

Giving too much information early on to your prospects can easily overload their brain. So, using the latest research in cognitive science we’ll design the flow of information into a timeline that builds upon the previous info you’ve already given them.

Competitive Space is designed to present information the right way at the right time to the right person. And in a way so it’s easily retained, memorable, and easier to understand.

And this is based on crafting your communications into easily understood ‘chunks’ of powerful messages. These chunks lay down neural pathways in the minds of your audience.

As each layer of reinforcing communications is delivered, these neural pathways become stronger and the first to be recalled.

So, with the right strategic communications you’ll exclude your competition from the thoughts of your ideal prospects - how great does that sound?

3. Psychology?

We also use psychological triggers to target emotions in your prospects that will lead to more sales. As you probably know, 95% of all B2B purchase decisions are made based on emotion (according to Harvard Business School Professor Gerald Zaltman).

So, we can trigger your prospect’s subconscious without them even knowing it.

Nearly every single software company I come across makes the mistake of trying to persuade c-level executives to buy using solely factual information. Even if they don’t realise they’re doing it!

4. The art of storytelling

Storytelling has been with us since the Stone Age, and we’ve used it to communicate lessons ever since.?

We’re hardwired to listen to stories, and so a good story for your business will lay down neural pathways in the prospect’s brain which will increase sales. Also, when humans are told a story, they automatically become more receptive to receiving other information too.

And, depending on the power of the story, these stories may be remembered by your customers for forty or fifty years! You can imagine how that would be a massive benefit for your software business.

5. The power of visuals

Our sector is extremely poor at using visual images. And I think that’s partly because they don’t understand the power of using them.?

If you can use visuals correctly you’ll enhance and increase the retention of your company story.

Most companies use images only to fill a blank space, as a ‘prettifier’, or as something to fit the template.

But, these are the WRONG types of visuals to use.?

At OutSmart, we use visuals that strengthen your company story. Imagine you have a well-selected image that, when shown to someone, can instantly trigger a whole recall about who your company is and why you’re the best company on the market.

This is one of the core visuals we use at OutSmart:

It’s recognisable, memorable, and when heard in combination with our tagline, ‘OutSmart, not outspend’, you can instantly understand what we’re about.

But, to select the right image, you need to understand what attracts the eye, how the eye interprets visuals and the way the brain interacts with a visual image.?

That’s where OutSmart can come in with our unique blend of experience in the software industry, cognitive science, and photography spaces.

So, those are the five disciplines of Competitive Space. This is exactly how you can transform your software company into a world-beater, where you can OutSmart, not outspend your competition.

Thanks for reading.

All the best,

P.S. Want to know more? To download our Competitive Space pathway use the invite above. If any points in this article interest you, then you’ll enjoy our interactive multi-sensory pathway.