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  <body>&lt;p&gt;The successful business in your market continues to take advantage of opportunities to seize more of your potential customers and a larger portion of those customers&amp;rsquo; wallets. They are watching their profits grow while having more time to enjoy life&amp;rsquo;s bounty. Meanwhile, your business struggles to maintain cash-flow to keep afloat. Why?&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;There are two basic reasons&lt;/strong&gt;. First, they are doing many of the right things, in the right way, at the right time. Second, you are &lt;em&gt;not&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Every day that they press their advantage and you continue to just do what you have been doing, you lose money and precious momentum. They become stronger and you become weaker. It just gets harder to maintain your business. You may stay afloat. Or you may go under and end up working for them. The good news is that you choose!&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;You can turn things around&lt;/strong&gt; if you start doing the right things in the right way at the right time for your business.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Here are the things your competitors are doing to get customers that could be yours:&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;ol&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;They choose the best prospects for      their business&lt;/strong&gt;. Clever entrepreneurs go after the people who will make      the best customers over time and cut out the bad customers. For most      companies, 20% of their customers cause 80% of the problems. Smart      business owners send their bad customers to the competition and win over      the good customers from them. This may be the biggest challenge for a      small business owner who is struggling. You don&amp;rsquo;t want to lose that      income. But, you are better off without them &amp;ndash; replacing them with      customers who are more profitable. When your adversary does that, he is      able to devote more time and resources to getting a bigger piece of the      pie.&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;They understand who their best      customers are and what they really want.&lt;/strong&gt; A top competitor knows that      their best customer appreciates value over cost, makes good decisions and      has the ability and willingness to pay promptly. They create a very      specific target profile that includes demographic and psychographic data. Your      rivals do their research and ask lots of questions. Then, they see the      world from the customer perspective and respond to that in marketing &amp;amp;      sales, product &amp;amp; service and customer satisfaction.&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;They build a powerful image.&lt;/strong&gt; The      most successful enterprises use their target profile to generate an icon      that matches their markets&amp;rsquo; desires. They use media tools to gain      awareness and establish their expertise in the marketplace. Leaders influence      people who influence their prospects. You continually construct a robust      presence in their community.&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;They communicate effectively through      several channels&lt;/strong&gt;. The real players in your market either know how to      leverage their communications or hire someone who does. Are you using      contemporary techniques online &amp;ndash; digital press releases, bogs, social      networking, article marketing, search engine optimization, electronic      presentations, audio clips, video marketing, pay-per-click advertising and      others advanced methods? The best also test, evaluate and adapt quickly.&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;They invest and reinvest in their      business.&lt;/strong&gt; A good business leader understands the difference between      expenses and investments. They minimize expenses and maximize investments.      Successful companies continually devote more resources in the right      efforts to produce the greatest returns. &lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;They leverage their strengths &amp;amp;      hire their weaknesses.&lt;/strong&gt; A wise business person recognizes what they do      best and devotes themselves to that function. A plumber installs &amp;amp;      fixes pipes. A surgeon operates. They utilize and develop their area of      expertise and pay another professional to keep their books, cater their      party or market their business.&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ol&gt;
&lt;p&gt;These are the fundamental principles that your competitor uses to dominate your market. &lt;em&gt;They recognize the value in gaining a competitive advantage in the marketplace.&lt;/em&gt; And, they are using their advantage to gain customers &amp;ndash; customers that have been, or could be, yours. What are you going to do about? Start fighting for your business today by developing an action plan for progress!&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;</body>
  <created-at type="datetime">2009-10-26T19:28:43Z</created-at>
  <deleted-at type="datetime" nil="true"></deleted-at>
  <featured-at type="datetime">2009-10-30T03:17:13Z</featured-at>
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  <permalink>six-reasons-why-your-competition-is-getting-your-customers</permalink>
  <posts-count type="integer">0</posts-count>
  <published-at type="datetime">2009-10-29T22:16:49Z</published-at>
  <reviewed-at type="datetime">2009-10-30T03:17:13Z</reviewed-at>
  <submitted-at type="datetime" nil="true"></submitted-at>
  <summary>Have you cornered your market yet? If not, it's because your competitors are winning deals. Here are the things your competitors are doing to get customers that could be yours:</summary>
  <title>Six Reasons Why Your Competition is Getting Your Customers</title>
  <topics-count type="integer">1</topics-count>
  <updated-at type="datetime">2009-10-30T03:17:13Z</updated-at>
</article>
