Andy Murray is a world class tennis player. Grand Slam winner with career earnings in the $10’s of millions. However he (and virtually every male tennis player) cannot beat his main competitor Novak Djokovic.
The picture above isn’t from yesterday’s Australian Open final but from 2015! Same result. In fact Novak Djokovic has a 71% win rate against Murray.
What did the Champion say after the match?
“I must try harder. I’ll see you next year”. These must be chilling words to all of his opponents.
Is Djokovic fitter than his main challengers? I doubt it.
Does he have better rackets and kit? Unlikely.
While at the top of his game a few years ago, Djokovic asked Boris Becker to join his coaching team. The aim was simple: to improve and move to a higher level.
Hopefully your competitors aren’t in the Djokovic class but if they keep winning business from you, what can you do?
It’s essential that you analyse their every move. Not enough is done to gather intelligence on competition and it’s often a huge gap in the knowledge of a company.
New products, new recruits, new investments in technology or acquisitions?
SWOT analysis seems to have become unfashionable but it is still a powerful tool. What are the weaknesses of your competitor? Don’t just look at the situation today. What’s happening in the marketplace and how might that influence your competitor?
My motto is “be the best or buy the best“. You might not have the capabilities in-house to become a number 1 but they do exist and can he bought on board (like Boris) for a period of time, in order two make the small gains necessary to drive improvement.
A good living can be made by being the number 2 player in the world of tennis but if you aspire to be world champion the margins are very small. Every small gain that can be made has an additive effect and closes the gap.
Talk to us about how we can help get you to number 1!