Ways of being competitive over the long term

HABIT FORMING AND EXPENSIVE ACTIONS FOR INCREASING SHARE / SALES

• Reducing price
• Giving discounts
• Giving premiums and gifts
• Promotion campaigns 

These are internecine ways and can neutralize each other and reduce industry profitability without benefiting anyone except of course the customers.

Lasting Marketing Strategies 

Being  first / follower / top-3 in a market segment. 

• You were there first. 
• You identified the segment as a long term bet displaced the competitors
• You created a segment which others did not know existed
• You caught the market in its early growth phase (when many others were not looking)
• You jumped on the right platform ahead of others
• You jumped in when many collaborators were looking for potential collaborators

• IMPACT
• helps in price comparison
• helps in being in the consideration set
• helps in getting a better price
• helps in cost efficient material acquisition
• helps in cost efficient customer acquisition
• helps in being helped by collaborators.

Being in a suitable / sunrise market (now or later) 

• large
• fast-growing
• profitable
• less competitive
• suited to develop your competencies

Inimitable and unique VP / GTM strategy 

• Locating an un-served or under-served need / market - for new launches
• Locating over-served need / market - for cost reduction
• Locating a weak competitor who can be overpowered
• Based on an unknown insight
• Based on a unique offering
• Based on customization not possible earlier
• Developing an access and contact which was not possible earlier
• Developing an engagement mechanism not possible earlier
• Developing a transaction mechanism not possible earlier
• Developing a batch size for purchasing, production, distribution, marketing not possible earlier
• Developing a delivery mechanism not possible earlier
• Developing a satisfaction mechanism not possible earlier
• Developing a market sensing mechanism not possible earlier
• Developing a customer acquisition mechanism not possible earlier
• Developing a fulfillment mechanism not possible earlier

Lasting Business Strategies 

Experience Curve of you & your partners

• Repeating batch / work improves operational efficiency and productivity
• Procurement costs come down as volumes increase 
• Vendors identify you as a key account - improved service / development
• Relationship with vendors becomes deeper and improves costs
• Defectives / Rejections reduce with experience 
• You can perform value engineering with volume improvement

Knowledge of market dynamics helps in

• better supply chain / inventory planning
• planning to service the market
• targeting customers 
• planning messaging
• planning promotions

Better Leveraging current resources / assets

• Current relationships : with customers and influencers and channel
• Current brands 
• Current locations and associated taxes, interest rates, labor, real estate costs
• Current patents, contracts, quotes, memberships, approvals, MOUs, tie-ups
• Current people and experience and costs 

Current position in the industry

• Bargaining power with customers 
• Bargaining power with suppliers
• Clout with the channel, with the vendors, with the unions, with the banks
• Importance in the industry bodies and clout with the government