New Lanchester Strategy: Volume 2 - Sales and Marketing Strategy for the Weak

My notes from New Lanchester Strategy: Sales and Marketing Strategy for the Weak...

If the weak do the same as the strong, the gap between them will never narrow
The weak must differentiate themselves from the strong as using the same strategies can only maintain the gap but never decrease it.

New Lanchester Strategy suggests using 3 or more differentiation types.  For example:

• Product performance and quality
• Branding and packaging
• Customer service
• Quantity and quality of sales calls
• Type and number of distribution channels

See also strategy canvas, disruptive innovation, etc.

Engage in local battles
The weak cannot afford to disperse their forces when competing against the strong.  Therefore they should focus on finding or engineering a "local battle" situation, that is, an isolated market segment.

New Lanchester Strategy segments by:

• geography
• size
• pricing
• use or purpose
• scale
• industry
• gender
• age
• income

The upcoming Lean Entrepreneur describes all of these segmentation approaches as proxies for segmenting by problem.

Engage in single combat
The strong have the least amount of advantage over the weak in one-on-one combat.  This is for a couple reasons:

1. It's easier to differentiate with only one competitor
2. Stronger opponents tend to become presumptuous, thus having dissatisfied customers that can be won over

If it is not possible to engage in single combat, target areas with few competitors.

Engage in close combat
The closer you get to a strong opponent, the harder it is for the opponent to exploit a strong position.

"Close combat" means staying close to customers:

1. Direct rather than indirect sales
2. Start at your home territory
3. Use personal touch

The track record of the weak are not as good as that of the strong so they need to forge personal relationships to develop fans and build trust.

One-point concentration
The weak must concentrate on a single point for any chance of winning.

There are different ways to select a region to concentrate on where you are more likely to win:

• You are already number 1 in the region and the gap between you and number 2 is large
• The region is where the competitor has a blind spot
• Distant from home base
• Small or niche markets

Diversionary operations
Diversionary operations are designed to confuse the competitor in order to:

• Upset the competitor's morale
• Disperse the competitor's strength

Strategies are not visible but tactics are... and strategies can be inferred by tactics.

Example diversionary operations:

• To trigger an emotional response, go after the competitor's home base:
• attack blind spots
• temporarily concentrate sales force
• hold an expo near their home office
• go after major clients
• pretend to launch a head-on attack
• Don't limit events to target regions or customer segments.  This will give the impression that you are engaging in wide-ranging battle rather than a concentrated attack.

Next: New Lanchester Strategy for the Strong