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.
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.
There are two realities when dealing with the dark side of business:
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.
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 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.