4 Different Competitive Categories (and how to tell them apart)

I’ve seen a version of this post at least a dozen times…

And this is what I do every time I read it…

Let’s clear things up, because it’s a common but grossly simplified way of thinking about threats to your business. Status quo is one category of threat. But we also have direct, indirect, and adjacent competitors that we need to consider.

Each of these threats is different and requires a unique strategy!

For example, let’s pretend we work for Slack. Here’s how we might describe and break down each threat at a high level.

Status Quo:

• Examples: Traditional email systems like Outlook or Gmail

• Why: Many companies rely on traditional email for internal communication. Slack needs to convince them to adopt real-time messaging and collaboration tools instead of sticking with their existing email systems.

• Strategy: Highlight the benefits of real-time communication and collaboration over traditional email systems, and offer easy migration tools to make the switch simple.

Direct Competitors:

• Example: Microsoft Teams

• Why: Microsoft Teams offers similar features to Slack, such as messaging, video calls, and integrations with other apps. They compete directly on user experience, feature sets, pricing, and integrations.

• Strategy: Differentiate with unique features, better user experience, and competitive pricing to sway buyers evaluating both platforms. Sellers should be fully enabled to compete head-to-head here.

Indirect Competitors:

• Example: Zoom

• Why: Zoom is primarily a video conferencing tool, but it also offers chat and collaboration capabilities as secondary or supporting features. Slack competes indirectly with Zoom by offering some video conferencing capabilities but, like Zoom’s chat features, it’s not their main offering.

• Strategy: Position Slack’s focus on real-time messaging as the most effective central hub for collaboration vs. Zoom’s video-first approach. Highlight Huddles feature and Zoom integration to show support for video as a secondary use case, as well

Adjacent Competitors:

• Example: Atlassian (Jira/Confluence)

• Why: Atlassian's products like Jira (for project management) and Confluence (for team collaboration and documentation) serve related needs to Slack and could potentially compete more directly with them by adding or enhancing communication features.

• Strategy: Form strategic partnerships to integrate their services into Slack, providing a more seamless user experience. Meanwhile, innovate and add new native features that overlap with the most popular capabilities within those apps where possible.

Put it all together, and voila! You have a full view of your business’s competitive threats, and (roughly) what to do against each of them.

💚Andy