September 2008

Knowing your competitors

We all spend too little time understanding our competitors. Many times the first thing we hear about something your competitors are doing is when a member of staff or a customer tells us. You should have a system in place that regularly looks out for and collects information about what your competitors are doing.

This could include advertisements for special events or staff vacancies, workmen outside undertaking a refurbishment programme or a new menu on display in an external cabinet. All of this is useful information when you are planning ahead.

It does not mean you should worry or stress out about your competitors activity as that is no good for your health. Some examples are: you discover they have a weekend party booking for an automobile club then you could always offer to match the accommodation rate for their overflow; if you see a room refurbishment is taking place then they will not have so many rooms to sell and may be turning business away; or you see their new menu and it helps you sent your prices for your next menu review.

Knowing your competitors is a vital tool of marketing. So don’t ignore them, watch and learn from what is going on around you.

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