Evaluating International Competition

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Overcome Foreign Obstacles

Multiple Markets

Need Reinforcements

Evaluate Competition

International Competition Can Be Scary

Entering a market in which you are not totally familiar is risky! But planning and using experts to help can make your new venture profitable.

Competition means there's already a market

If you are a new entrant in a market, someone else has already spent time and effort to educate potential customers about the product idea you and your competitor are selling.

Competitive Analysis

Which is more important to a customer? More features or more benefits? Remember that when a customer buys any product they are more likely satisfying a "want" and maybe a "need". Can you clearly communicate what the differences are in your product? Too many companies try to sell products based on a list of features. If customers are unfamiliar with what the features will do, they will not understand the value of the feature. The customer needs to understand what the "benefit" is to them.

Features and Benefits

List each feature of your product and what the benefit to the customer is. Then determine if your competitor's product provides the same benefit in their product.

Clues that a Competitor makes public

Close examination of a competitors' product, marketing materials, sales promotions, and user manuals are good sources of information that your competitor thinks are important. And the features they leave out, give you an idea where the competition thinks their product lacks benefits for the customer. For example, when a competitor focuses their communication on pricing and discounts, it indicates the product may not have very competitive benefits for a buyer and spending a little more could provide the customer with more satisfaction.

Cable Television Example

"Cable" television may refer to television programming services delivered over a physical cable, or from a satellite signal.

Let's list some key features and benefits.

	Cable	Satellite
Internet Access	through cable	through phone DSL
Reliability of signal	underground or overhead cable	signal vulnerable to thick cloud cover and storms
Number of channels	require cable connections to providers	may be more easily available from satellites

The table above offers a very simple beginning how to list and compare the features of your product vs your competition.

When you discover features that your competitor has, then determine what the benefit is to the customer. Some typical "bells and whistles" may attract attention but may not satisfy your customer's "needs". But if the "bells and whistles" satisfy a customer "want", that is a feature you cannot ignore.