Competitor Coupon Smack Down
You’ve poured a cup of coffee, opened the local paper and there it is, a coupon from a low-priced competitor offering a $10 bath, free add-ons, or a ten percent discount on a full service groom.
The immediate response is to go head-to-head by matching these offerings. In reality, this is the worst possible solution because this type of “knee-jerk” reaction just doesn’t work.
The truth is, the ability to compete with business challengers isn’t always about location, product mix, or enticing coupons. Creating a competitive edge requires a combination of successful strategies and attributes to bring about customer loyalty.
Along these lines, it goes without saying that you want to be the best in town but your customers need to experience that extraordinary service that only YOU can provide. Mom and Pops can offer some simple benefits that the big box stores simply cannot match. For instance, a small shop can assist customers by carrying large bags of food to the car. Grooming clients, particularly senior citizens, can be met in the parking lot and their dogs carried into the shop for them.
Keep in mind that a low-priced competitor can’t be the best and the cheapest at the same time. It’s important to build that foundation, almost like building a brand. Here are three foundation building long-term services that will set you apart:
Foundation Service #1:
Obviously, Splash and Dash is a big advantage and benefit. As a unique service, and because of the exclusive territory, this is one perk competitors simply cannot offer. By design, Splash and Dash customers are already visiting your establishment on a regular weekly basis. You know them and their pets by name. This type of familiarity is key to building a strong relationship.
Foundation Service #2:
Customers coming to your shop want a clean, safe facility. Every employer and shop owner professes the cleanest facility and best employees in town. Those qualities need to be in place at all times. And, without a doubt, I can go into any of these establishments and rip those claims apart.
Foundation Service #3:
Watch your staff, do they dote over clients’ dogs? Your clientele want their pets to be loved and adored. It’s important that the body language be there, your employees should get down on one knee to greet each dog. That’s a very warm feeling. It has to go beyond a “good morning”. We want our employees to convey an “oh you are beautiful and glad you are here” to customers and pets alike.
These are services that cannot be replaced with a coupon. Thus, your brand will soon be known as the store that always carries the food out to the car, the shop that will come out to the car and carry the pet in, or the shop that offers Splash and Dash for Dogs.
These distinctions will build the type of relationship that will make a customer think twice before jumping ship. They will protect you long term and make that $10 coupon your competitor is offering irrelevant.