Slaying Goliath

Facing a perennial powerhouse in your market is tough. Here's how to "sweep the leg."

One of my companies is expanding into a market with an established industry "Goliath."

You know what I mean: They've been around for a long time, have secured a nice chunk of the TAM (Total Addressable Market), and in every way are "bigger and more successful than us" in the geography we're looking to expand into.

So what's our play? How do we "slay Goliath?" Here's a blueprint you can use to battle and eventually defeat a Goliath in your market:

Focus on Things That Don't Scale

When building business momentum, it's easy to dismiss tactics that "don't scale."

"I could do X, but in a few years, there's no way I can continue to do that when we grow to X!"

I advise you not to worry about this.

When facing a Goliath, you must scratch, claw, and grapple through the bar fight. This means doing even the most minor, "unscalable" things to generate momentum.

The issue of whether to continue to do this or that thing when you reach scale is a problem for a different day, and a good problem at that.

The takeaway here: consider inefficient marketing and sales strategies that will get you going. Don't forego anything that creates the next building block. Many of these items center around human connection and other one-on-one touchpoints with your market. A phone call from the business owner. A handwritten card to a past customer. A customer appreciation event, even for a handful of people. Over time, these small things add up. Don't discount them.

Rally Your Team Against a Shared Enemy

A great byproduct of battling a Goliath is that the opposition becomes a "shared enemy." Soon, your team will come to you with ideas to use against them. Your team will make mention of the Goliath and how you can be better and different. They may even conduct reconnaissance against Goliath and return with field reports.

All of these things foster a healthy "us against them" mentality. Humans love a shared enemy. Ever wonder why humans have never, in recorded history, NOT had an ongoing war somewhere in the world?

Use this human nature to stoke the fires of competition and direct it towards getting bigger, faster, and stronger than Goliath.

Emphasize Your Unique Abilities

Think through the things that you do well that Goliath falls short on. The larger a company gets, the more cracks can develop in its foundation. Identify and exploit these cracks to the furthest extent possible.

Here's an example of our situation:

The Goliath we face has grown quite large, and it's clear (via our observations and those of Goliath's past customers with whom we've spoken) that their sales team and process are pretty underwhelming. So what do we do in response? In Goliath's market especially, we ensure that EVERY sales interaction with potential customers is top-notch. That's one thing at which we can excel. We hope these interactions are remarkable enough to be shared among potential customers in this community, and the flywheel effect will ensue.

What if You Are the Goliath?

But what if you are the Goliath? How does this apply to you? How can you defend against the Davids?

The key here is never allowing your growth to outpace the things that got you to your current level. If growth compromises quality, service, staffing, or customer experience, slow down until your systems and people catch up.

Otherwise, you may wake up one day to find a stone embedded in your forehead and some teenage warrior about to chop off your head.

Thanks for reading this post. I appreciate you. In return, all I ask is that you please share this with those you know who may be interested.

Things I’ve Enjoyed Lately: Four Thousand Weeks by Oliver Burkman is the most unique "time management" book I've ever read. Why? Because it's an argument for the futility of managing one's time. To read a few pages of this book each night is like applying a salve to the wound of urgency. If you're wired like me (a combination of type-A and frenetic energy that makes us always feel like "we're behind"), this book is for you. It's quite brilliant.