Are Competitors Affecting Your Customers?

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Bonus episode #85: In this engaging episode of The Finance Leader Podcast, we explore the intricate dynamics between competitor disruptions and customer traffic patterns. Social changes in a business’s environment can deliver unforeseen challenges and opportunities, making it vital for finance leaders to stay informed and prepared. Triggered by the closure of a popular retailer, we dissect how such events ripple through the ecosystem, affecting not only the shuttered business but also those operating nearby.

We take a closer look at actionable insights that finance leaders can employ to anticipate changes in traffic and adjust their strategies accordingly. We delve into metrics that should be monitored, such as year-over-year traffic data, customer behaviors, and the overall health of the business environment. This episode is designed to educate finance professionals on how to adopt a strategic mindset, remain vigilant, and adapt to external pressures effectively.

You'll learn how to analyze your customer traffic, refine your financial planning, and foster proactive measures that ensure resilience against competitive shifts. As the landscape continues to evolve, we urge our listeners to stay aligned in their financial strategies with the demands of their market. Join us, equip yourself with the insights shared in our discussion, and elevate your finance leadership skills.

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Episode Transcript

Stephen McLain (00:00):
Hi, this is Stephen McLain of the Finance
Leader Podcast.
This is bonus episode number 85.
I hope you are enjoying thepodcast and it is helping in
some way.
Even if there is one part thatyou can take away to help in
your professional career and inyour leadership development
journey, then I will call that asuccess for me.
I want to see you all grow inleadership and achieve your

(00:23):
goals.
I have very high expectationsfor those who are listening to
this podcast.
I wanted to reemphasize animportant financial analysis
component, so this week I amsharing a replay of episode
number 123, customer TrafficConsiderations During Competitor
Disruptions.
Now, what happens when acompetitor or a major player

(00:45):
does something different?
Does this affect your businesstoo?
Do you have to account for thischange in your modeling and
projections, and it does nothave to be a direct competitor.
I want to challenge you tothink differently and to look at
problem solving from adifferent perspective.
This is what great leadershipis all about challenging
established paradigms andassumptions so you can grow

(01:08):
value.
Please enjoy this encore.
Replay of episode number 123,customer Traffic Considerations
During Competitor Disruptions.
You can find more resources atfinanceleaderacademycom.
Enjoy the rest of your week andthank you for listening to the
Finance Leader Podcast, enjoy.
Does this affect the customertraffic to your business?

(01:49):
Also, when analyzing customertraffic, is it only important to
track your own traffic forchanges, or are there other
considerations?
Changes to customer traffic orother customer behaviors can and
will affect your traffic andyour revenue.
So be mindful and conduct yourfinancial planning and analysis.
Additionally, changes to yourcompetitors and other businesses

(02:09):
can do the same.
How can you prepare for changes?
Please enjoy the episode.
Welcome to the Finance LeaderPodcast, where leadership is
bigger than the numbers.
I am your host, Stephen McLain.
This is the podcast fordeveloping leaders in finance
and accounting.
Please consider following me onTwitter, facebook, instagram
and LinkedIn.
My usernames and the links arein this episode's show notes,

(02:33):
thank you.
This is episode number 123, andI will be talking about how
changes to a competitor or otherbusiness in your space can
affect changes to your businessand a few planning
considerations for your financeteams.
French General and PresidentCharles de Gaulle said you have
to be fast on your feet andadaptive, or else a strategy is

(02:53):
useless.
This week I want to brieflydiscuss an interesting situation
that happened where I live andhappens all the time.
All over, a major retailerclosed a local popular store
abruptly, not due to badbusiness, but due to the
building landlord wanting tobring in a different business
into that space.
It's a brick and mortarbusiness that is in a popular

(03:16):
shopping center filled withsmaller businesses and national
chain stores.
The business that closed hadthe most floor space in the
shopping center.
It's a large business and,again, it was very popular.
It brought in lots of traffic.
Now this had me thinking doesthis larger business bring in
traffic to the other businessesin the shopping center?
Well, of course it does.

(03:37):
It has to.
If you owned a business in thearea, what would you be thinking
and what would you do?
Maybe in the analysis you mayfind out it doesn't affect your
traffic and it's possible youmight find other amazing
insights to your customertraffic as it relates to this
now closed business.
If I'm a business owner in thatshopping center, what should I

(03:57):
be analyzing regarding trafficand other insights and what
should I be planning for?
Here are a couple things tothink about.
Are our customers the same inpurchasing patterns and
behaviors?
Are we competing orcomplementary in the offers we
have compared to the businessthat closed?
If our products werecomplementary, meaning that our
products and their products gotogether or are similar in

(04:20):
branding or functionality, thencan we add new products to our
lineup to meet a possible gap.
Here are some specific metricsto be analyzed.
Now we want to look atyear-over-year changes to daily
sales, year-over-year changes totypes of products sold.
Time of day, traffic changesand did your browsing,
non-buying traffic change?

(04:41):
Here's another importantquestion and issue to look at.
Did traffic seem to change forthe entire shopping center?
Is there less traffic overall,or did traffic stay the same but
those who are shopping at theclosed store?
Have they moved over to otherstores or another shopping
center?
For this analysis, you may haveto purchase an additional tool.

(05:02):
When analyzing traffic alongwith changes to our product
sales in a year-over-year basis,we can better optimize the
resources we have.
What if, in our analysis, thattraffic shifted from morning
hours to afternoon hours?
What would you do in youroperations to meet this change
in demand?
This is a reminder that we needto be analyzing our customer

(05:24):
traffic.
No matter what type of businesswe have or type of industry.
Traffic flows can change anytime, based on a number of
variables.
We need to be vigilant in ourplanning and financial analysis.
Take nothing for granted nocomplacency when we own a
business.

(05:45):
Now for action today.
Do you know what you would doif a major change happened in
your industry or nearestcompetitor, or even a business
that is close in vicinity, andthat this change affects traffic
to your business?
What is the plan?
Are you already planningcontingencies that this happens,
or should you start planningnow?
And, more importantly, whatbusiness can have this effect on
your business?
Do you know your space?
Please go to Finance LeaderAcademy for more resources.

(06:08):
I offer a self-paced onlinecourse called Advance your
Finance and Accounting Careerdeveloping a promotion strategy
that sets you apart.
You will also find several freeresources to help you.
Now, that's that sets you apart.
You will also find several freeresources to help you.
Now, that'sfinanceleaderacademycom.
Today I talked briefly about howchanges to a competitor or
other business in your space canaffect changes to your business

(06:29):
and a few planningconsiderations for your finance
teams.
This topic reminds me that weall need to be thinking
strategically about ourorganizations.
What external changes canaffect traffic to your
organization, how can you planfor it and what will you do when
it happens?
What analysis should you bedoing on an ongoing basis?
I hope you enjoyed the FinanceLeader Podcast.

(06:51):
I am focused on helping thiscommunity to become more
confident finance leaderscapable of transforming
organizations.
You can find this episodewherever you listen to podcasts.
If this episode helped youtoday, please share with a
colleague and leave a quickreview.
Until next time.
You can check out moreresources at
financeleadercademycom and signup for my weekly updates so you

(07:12):
don't miss an episode of thepodcast.
And now you'll lead your teamand I'll see you next time,
thank you.