How to Compete with Large Companies
When you’re a small company bidding on a project, you sometimes find yourself up against the big players. It may seem hopeless when they have seemingly endless resources available to them, but many procurement teams look for ways to work with small businesses. There are ways to position your company to help you to win the larger projects even when a big company is competing against you.
Gather References & Case Studies
One of the biggest advantages large companies have is the ability to prove that they have done the work before. To mitigate this, start compiling references and developing case studies of your own. Have at least three but ideally five on hand for each of your key solution areas, and use these to show customers why your company is just as qualified as your biggest competitors.
Build Relationships
Sometimes you can bypass the competitive process altogether by forming relationships with potential customers. To do this, you will need a strong sales and marketing approach to both start attracting new customers to your company and to start reaching out to potential connections. For many buyers, it is safer to do business with someone they know rather than a stranger, even if that stranger is a larger, more well-known company.
Acquire Certifications
Many large companies list out the number of certifications they hold within their marketing materials. To show your company is just as competent, make sure you acquire those certifications as well. Sometimes you can find these on your competitors’ websites, and then you can develop a plan to make progress towards gaining those certifications.
As a small business, you may be qualified to become a certified small business, which can help you in many cases, especially if you serve the public sector.
Refine Go-to-Market Strategy
Your Go-to-market strategy is how you position your organization within a space. In establishing yours, account for your competitors’ approaches as well as common customer goals and challenges. With a solid strategy, you will know exactly why a customer should choose you over the competition -- and your marketing materials should help them to know that too.
Document Content
When you don’t have a large marketing team, there are many types of content that you don’t have on hand. One way to compete with larger companies is to develop your own content that shows why your company is the best choice. From proposal content to sales decks to case studies and white papers, create as much content as you can to ensure customers have enough information to learn why you are the best choice.