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I assume that you pay attention to what
your competitors are doing.
You might even have prepared a comprehensive grid that shows
every feature and function the competitors offer in their solution vs. every
feature and function you offer.
If it’s
something you show on your website, the idea is to show off: “My list is longer
than their list.” I have nothing against bragging per se. Hey if you’ve got it, flaunt it.
But sometimes this narrow focus on features and functions –
our list is longer than their list – isn’t helpful.
Customers care about more than features
Prospective customers are often paying more attention to
other things, like:
- Is this solution a good fit for my business?
- Does this vendor know anything about my business and my market?
- Do they understand the problem I’m trying to solve?
- Can I work with this vendor and trust them to help with a critical responsibility?
Your most effective
competitors are addressing these bigger concerns. They're talking about more than their features.
They make it crystal clear who their solution
is built for and what business problems it’s meant to solve. They convey a deep understanding of the
prospect’s challenges, and they establish themselves as a trustworthy partner.
Competitors will try to stick a label on you
In fact, if they’re really good at this, a competitor will
try to position you as falling short on these issues, or they’ll try to stick a
label on you. It may sound like this:
- “XYZ (your company) builds a good solution, but it’s really not built for companies like yours."
- “XYZ’s product was built by people with strong technology skills, but they don’t really understand this industry.”
- “XYZ is too small and doesn’t have the resources to meet your needs,” or “XYZ is too large to pay attention to your needs.”
Features matter less in SaaS
How a competitor positions you matters, especially in the
world of software-as-a-service (SaaS).
For one, the label they try to stick on you will probably
persist longer than any feature advantage or disadvantage. Remember that in the SaaS model, vendors can
be rolling out enhancements all the time, so holding on to a particular
feature advantage for any amount of time is tough.
But if competitors can label you “too small,” “too big,” “not
knowledgeable,” or “a bad fit,” that has more staying power, and you’ll find it’s
a tougher perception to shed.
Second, customers evaluating SaaS solutions are probably
paying special attention to you as a vendor.
After all, they’re buying into a long-term relationship. They need to trust that the vendor will
deliver as promised over the life of the subscription. If they don’t trust you – and if a competitor
is able to sow doubts – your feature set won’t really matter.
Getting beat… before your features get a chance
I do know the adage, “Pay attention to what they do, not
what they say,” and sometimes it makes sense. But when it comes to tracking your SaaS
competitors, it’s doesn’t.
If all you’re looking at is your feature set vs. their
feature set, you’re missing a lot. Your
competitors may have stuck an unfavorable label on you. Or they’ve build a more favorable perception
of themselves.
And you’re getting bounced out of consideration before the
prospect even sees your long list of features.
