Knowing the Enemy Brings You Closer to Success

Do you know the enemy? One of the biggest mistakes a car dealer can make is only worrying about his own dealership. Certainly that should take up the lion’s share of a dealer’s time and efforts, but ignorance of the other dealerships in his market is a huge mistake, and today’s blog examines the reasons why.

In his famous book “On the Art of War” (penned way back in the sixth century but still as timely as ever today), Sun Tzu said the following: If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.

While the car business isn’t life or death, the same principles do apply. If you need more specific ideas about why you should know your competition (a/k/a the enemy), consider these three points.

(1)    Your competition can help you figure out your niche. When you look at each of your competitors, it helps you figure out what segment of the marketplace they’re targeting. This will help know whether you should compete directly against them … or fill a niche in the market that is currently not filled.

(2)    When you learn from your competitor’s mistakes, you won’t make the same ones yourself. All it takes is a little research on your part (and a great automotive advertising agency like JKR Advertising & Marketing can help you even more) … and you can find out mistakes the other guys have made. Once you’ve done that, it will help you avoid the same pitfalls.

(3)    Conversely from #2, you can find out about your competitors’ successes, and emulate those. Just be sure you don’t copy them exactly, of course; we’re talking about strategies in general.

We’ll Help You Know the Enemy

When you know how your competitors are positioned in the market, you will know why people buy cars from your competitors – and why they don’t. Is it the brand; the price; the service; or something else? If you need additional help beyond what you’re able to find on your own, give Eric Tigner a call today at (321) 397-0777. For your efforts, we’ll give you a FREE Advertising Review. You’ll not only get feedback about your dealership from an automotive advertising giant; you’ll also discover a lot of things about your competition you probably don’t know (and can’t get without the help of an agency). Call us today and get things started!

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