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Understand your competitors
How to identify your competitors, find out more about them and then use this information to improve your business.
Use competitor research to improve your business
The ways you can improve your business using knowledge about your competitors.
What you need to know about your competitors
Examine how your competitors do business, what they offer and how they treat their customers.
How to do competitor research
How to research your competitors using the press, exhibitions, the internet and trade associations.
Who are your competitors?
Where to look for your competitors and how to identify them using sources such as business directories, advertising and press reports.
Learn about customers’ needs from competitors
How learning about a customer's current supplier can help you, if you identify why the customer buys from a rival supplier you can work out how to better them.
Ten things you need to know about your customers
Ten things you need to know about your customers to enable you to sell more products, more efficiently – consider who they are, what they do and why they buy.
What do you know about your customers?
Understanding your customers can help you improve your sales and marketing and offer them what they really want, ask questions like who, what, why and how.
What is your unique selling point?
Understand why customers need or want your product or service and your unique selling point (USP).
Ways to find out about your customers
Different methods of obtaining the information you require on your customers, their buying habits and preferences, such as CRM and business libraries.
Understand your customers' needs
Why understanding your customers' needs is crucial to the success of your business, no matter how good your offering is, customers must want it.
Segment your customers
Putting your customers into groups could help you understand and target their needs more effectively and identify the most and least profitable customers.
The eCommerce Directive and the UK
What you need to do now that the eCommerce Directive no longer applies to the UK.
Working with Northern Ireland Trading Standards Service
How Trading Standards can help your business comply with the law when a customer has lodged a complaint about your business or you need general advice.
Fair trading for businesses selling goods or services
An overview of the law relating to fair trading and how this may affect your business - including pricing and product description.
Marketing on a tight budget
How to get the most out of a small or limited marketing budget using cost-effective marketing methods such as Public Relations and online marketing.
Review and evaluate your current marketing spend
Factors you should consider when analysing your marketing budget such as last year’s customer spend figures and changes in the market.
How to attract, win and keep your customers
Advice on getting more business from your existing customers and on finding new customers to reach the most profitable groups.
How to stick to your marketing budget
Ideas for marketing objectives you could set for your business, and advice on keeping your aims on track to stay within your budget.
What is affiliate marketing?
What affiliate marketing is and how your business can set it up and benefit from the potential boost to website traffic and brand reach.