How to compete against the market leader
Competing with the market leader is hard to do. However it is feasible.
Features
Competing with the market leader on features is an impossible mission as the product of the market leader has all the possible features.
So instead of a full featured product go for number of features that suit a specific market segment or allow for competing on price with less features.
Services
In most cases the market leader will only offer a standard service or no service at all.
You can compete by offering personalized services for implementation, deployment, training or support. This is where the market leader due to its’ size can’t compete.
Positioning
Find a way to position your product or solution differently.
This doesn’t need to be the features or service, but how you market your product or service. Take a different approach to the market for your marketing by not copying the market leader. Make sure you and your marketing stand out
Else with marketing similar to the market leader you won’t be noticed.
Holes
Investigate in order to find what is missing in the offering of the market leader or what market segment has been neglected.
What has been overlooked or neglected by the market leader should be your opportunity.
Taking these approaches you won’t directly compete with the market leader but you can win a market segment from them or access a market segment that hasn’t been exploited previously because it was too small, to low cost, too complex, too specialized for the market leader.
How do you compete with the market leader – or are you working for the market leader ?
