Competition is a tough animal. In creating products and services, it is becoming more and more critical to be able to differentiate yourself from the pack. Have you succeeded?

Remember, when customers have money to spend, they can look at your offering or at other companies that have similar offerings. You would be amazed at what you can discover by understanding your competition and their go-to-market strategies.

• Do you know who your direct and indirect competitors are?
• Do you really know how and why you are different?
• Does your branding and messaging demonstrate this in a simple, clean way?
• Why does industry pricing vary and why do customers buy from certain vendors?

I have done complete competitive profiling that ends up coming together like a puzzle as I find patterns in sales, partnerships, financing, marketing and news activities. And, I have done several "Voice-of-the-Customer" or "Voice-of-the-Prospect" surveys and reports that document data around vendor choices. By knowing your competition well, this type of data can drive product and company improvements to increase revenue.