It's so rewarding to be positive!

Every business model offers you many choices. How do you build your business - reflects your vision and choice. Sometimes, it may be easier to follow short cuts to increase sales and earn profits but in the long run, creating a positive brand is probably the only feasible option.

This belief of ours got validated again this year. At PT Universe, we follow certain practices and keep on observing trends of the market. One such observation threw light on some interesting facts.

This is related with PT Education. We have always tried to build up the brand around many positive features such as updated course ware, dedicated faculty, technology driven process engine, the spirit of Kar Ke Dikhayenge!, online doubt solving service etc. It is our policy never to comment about our competitors. When any enquiry asks about any competitor, we never talk negative. We just say, "We can only tell you about our offering. We are very sure that it will help you."

At different locations we face different competitors. One such local player put up very strong competition in at least two of our locations. Their strategy was simple. They tried to create anti PT market. Their entire game plan was negative. They tried to convert our every positive into negative. They spread rumours against us. Whenever any student visited them for counselling, their first sentence would be, "PT people are great marketers. They just zap you. Their entire focus is on convincing you to join them. If you go to meet them, they will definitely convince you." Sometimes they would say, "PT people are inhuman. If you are late by one minute, they would not allow you in the classroom." On one such occasion, their CEO told in the classroom, "PT people know some black magic!"

One very specific feature of teaching field is that many of the prospects are young boys and girls. A very high level of maturity may not always be expected from them. It is not impossible for crafty players to make use of this in their favour. It happened in this case also. With the passage of time, this competitor of ours started gaining some ground. Although they could never match our strengths and quality of delivery, they were able to capture nearly 30% of the market share in a duopoly market. The loss of market share was not very painful considering the continuous increase of market size. Still it was hurting our geometric growth targets.

Watching this negativity gaining some ground had been very disheartening. Some moments of introspection and policy review did occur, but ultimately we were able to stick to our policy of creating our brand by showcasing our positives only. On the other hand, our local competitor also stuck to his game plan and earned some quick profits by irrigating this anti PT constituency.

This year we saw entry of some new players in these two particular locations. And lo! In no time, this local competitor of ours lost nearly all of his business! And these new competitors hardly had any effect on us! When we analysed the situation, our faith and belief in creating a positive brand became stronger. We came to know that getting business by showing negatives of the competitors never helps in the long run. If player Y develops anti X market, it is not a pro Y market. And hence, entry of player Z will immediately hurt player Y, but not player X.

Yes! Ethical policies do make great business sense! It's always better to create Brand Equity by showcasing the positives! Some things never change and they should never change either.

Let us retain our positivity - in all circumstances!