In the previous Tips of the Month (August and September 2021), we shared some ideas about creating a powerful competitive strategy - doing your homework on the competitive situation and assessing your strengths and weaknesses. Once these steps are done, you may be ready to develop your competitive strategy.

There are 4 well documented competitive strategies:


Head-to-head - Most people choose to engage in head-to-head competition, but the margin of difference is often too small for this strategy to be effective. Procurement practices lead us to this competitive strategy all too often, as the focus seems to shift to solutions and price as key considerations. Unique competitive advantages often get lost in this type of comparison.
Delay - Using this strategy means giving the customer a reason to delay their decision until conditions change in your favor, such as a new solution that is soon to be introduced.
Divide and Conquer - When using this strategy, a person tries to pit people and factions against each other. Aligning to key players with a significant degree of influence is key to making this strategy work.
Change the Ground Rules - Using this strategy means trying to change an element of the process to tilt the comparison in your favor. Changing the scope from price/product to value or getting in front of the decision maker while others work exclusively with procurement contacts, are examples.


A IMPAX strategy to consider is Setting Traps. This strategy entails leading the customer to consider criteria that minimize your weaknesses and emphasize your strengths.

Of course, these competitive strategies can and should be used together to create the optimal strategy - the one that best enhances your odds of winning.