All businesses want to win in the competitive marketplace. They want to attract the right customers and be able to maintain loyalty with them, as well as succeed in their businesses.

Finding the right customers for a business can be hard sometimes, especially in this world where everything is moving fast. A business owner or company should be very observant and move with every trend to know where the world is and where it is headed.

Justine Racheal, a Kigali-based business leadership coach and the CEO of Mentor Africa says that the most important skill for any entrepreneur is- knowing how to sell.

Succeeding in today’s business environment requires us to understand that we are all in sales. Lawyer, accountant, doctor, engineer, counsellor, teacher, bus or cab driver, receptionist, administrator, corporate executive, entertainer, journalist, coach, cook, shipping clerk, a salesperson. Unfortunately, not everyone realises and acknowledges that we are all in the selling field regardless of position at the company/ business, she says.

She also adds that the deeper this concept is acknowledged, the easier and longer a business owner or any other person on the marketplace will sustainably stand the test of time and survive in today’s great competition as an entrepreneur.

Alice Mukankusi who has a crochet business says that winning at today’s marketplace requires being sharp, open-minded, and creative.

"If you sleep on your work, eventually other businesses will take your customers. If you feel like you are always right, you will fail to listen to what your clients need or what your targeted audience wants, and if you can’t look closely at what people like that is unique, you are likely to completely fail in the business area,” she says.

The business or job world, according to Mukankusi needs people who are sharp in regards with what they want; people who know how to chase and achieve. "And as a business owner, I learned this the hard way but today I am thankful I learned,” she says.

Ivan Izere a business consultant says it is also great as a business owner to think forward for the business, to plan for the future.

"Planning forward for the business is looking ahead like in 10 years to see if the services you are offering to the market will still be interesting to clients. In that manner, you need to always be observant to what is trending and this also means being dynamic,” he says.

Izere adds that one needs to adapt to change, introduce new things to the market, be innovative and introduce that thing that will bring a lot of clients and that will be sustainable.

How to survive today’s competitive marketplace

A lot of times as a business coach, you will hear comments like: "Competition is just too tough in this part of the country for this product, we are in the middle of a recession, people are price-oriented, people are just not buying domestic or foreign products, credit is so tight, the economy is just dead in the region, and ask themselves how to keep their businesses going and succeed while dealing with all these situations, says Racheal.

She however shares some of the ways of landing clients and how to stay in business in today’s marketplace:

Understand the sales process

There is always a debate on what is the most important part of selling? Is it how you close sales with customers? Have the right product? The way you present your product? Determining the specific wants or needs of prospects? 

The reality is, if you cannot handle all the phases of selling, you will not sell enough to stay in the market. However, regardless of how good you are at handling the above, you are out of business if you don’t have a prospect.

Satisfy real-time needs and wants

People/ customers don’t buy products or services; they will pay a premium for solutions to their real-time needs and wants. People want to be healthy, be part of a celebration, be comfortable, recognised, safe, and valued.

Create a unique brand. This can be personal or corporate.

A brand is a promise you make and is known for keeping to those you intend to influence or purchase with you. Over the years, I have known businesses and people with tremendous potential, but because of how they are perceived, looked at, valued, they never get a chance to grow.