Competitors are always trying to eat away at your market share – especially when you are really good at what you do.
Have we dealt with FALSE IdeaPros complaints? Yes, our competitors have tried but get flagged as illegitimate complaints. Cease and desists orders can deter competitors from using your business name in blatant market share stealing ad campaigns or false reviews.
Cold Hard Fact: Competitors will put up a fight when they see you succeed.
They will eventually take notice and launch attacks to win back THEIR market share. Some companies stoop so low as to hire companies and individuals to defame your company and ensure you don’t take any more of their clients.
When Competitors Bring out the Boxing Gloves
Business owners can view this strategy as jealousy and insecurity about their own business. As much as we don’t want this to happen to our own business, many business people are targets of these unethical tactics. Individuals can hide behind their computer screen spewing negative rates and comments using fake accounts, profiles and use software that can damage your bottom line.
If you’ve ever been the subject of such unethical practices, you’ll know it’s not easy for your leads to trust in your product, app, or service. You have to work just as hard to nurture them to become paying customers until the matters are cleared up.
The Dark Side of Business
There are two realities when dealing with the dark side of business:
- Ignore it and it might go away. If you don’t address it, you risk people thinking it’s true.
- Address the “bull” in the room (the B.S.) when needed.
When Your Reputation is at Stake
If your online reputation is at risk, handle it delicately and persistently until the issues are long gone.
The #1 way to guard against market stealing attacks is to capture good feedback whenever you can. Most consumers won’t take the time to provide POSITIVE feedback, but they will go out of their way to COMPLAIN when things don’t go right. Encourage happy customers to write a quick note or do a video testimonial. This will ensure that damaging comments (legitimate or not) aren’t as impactful.
Helpful Tips after an Unjustified Attack
- Get active on social media
Use all the current social media platforms. Be sure to add regular positive marketing content to your marketing plan. Post content and great looking images as often as possible during optimal times when your audience is most active online. - Check that your info is correct online
Check your personal name, business name, and other relevant info is correct on local listings. It’s possible for people to suggest that your data isn’t correct on platforms like Google My Business. You have to keep your eye on it to make sure the information is overridden if someone maliciously suggests a change. - Create great video content
Video content (i.e. Facebook) receives 8 billion video views per day. Those users spend 3x longer watching live videos than pre-recorded videos. Sixty-second value-packed, educational videos get more views on social media and engages 90% more people. Be sure to create valuable and engaging content for YouTube, Facebook, Vimeo, Instagram, and other video service providers. - Understand the basics of search engine optimization for your website
Research important keywords that your clients may search for once a month. If you aren’t coming up for those keywords then you need to. Start planning some content around those keywords to add to your blog increase your SEO (Search Engine Optimization) ranking. - Plan on how to respond to people questioning negative content
Be prepared to talk about what your leads discover about you and your business online. Everyone on your team should know what the process is when responding to others about negative feedback. It is possible to discuss negativity with an open and honest approach that will instill confidence and help people feel comfortable buying with you. Practice with your sales team on how to properly respond until you feel you have a confident and positive way to reply. - Listen to the conversations online
Google has a tool called Google Alert. It will notify you of all mentions of your name or your business name or any other alerts deemed important to know about. Agorapulse and Hootesuite are two additional great alternative social listening tools.
The Best Way To Protect Your Reputation
Create a habit of researching your own name and your business’s name online. Stay on top of how you’re perceived and what’s being said about you.
Be wise about what you post online as a professional. Always show the best etiquette and remember you should be the person that you want your clients need or want to see about you.
Add these reputation rescue tips to your Marketing Plan, Policies & Procedures Manual, and Standard Operating Procedures to safeguard your business’ reputation.
The Goal
The goal is to use the light against the darkness, even if it seems that sometimes the “Bad Guys” are out to get you. If they’ve managed to get a foothold and hurt your image, remember to respond by adding ten times the amount of content. The ideas and tools we supplied here should help you get ahead and you’ll be able to avoid the unscrupulous actors.
Hopefully, you never have to deal with a situation like this.
Competitors can be brutal. IdeaPros is a Super Venture Partner™ helps partners navigate the complex challenges you go through as an entrepreneur like aggressive competitors. We have resources, experience, and tools to help you succeed at this step or any step in the entrepreneurial journey.
We partner with entrepreneurs at any stage and who are ready to invest in the success of their idea. Apply for an interview and let’s explore partnering together.