Forum Moderators: buckworks
What do you think? Has anyone done this before?
I can get their IPs through a customer service email. And while it is very possible to access our site through a proxy, it will be quite difficult for all the customer service reps to go through training on how to access my website. :)
In reality, most people have lots of competitors and many people don't have statis IPs. And most industries have new competitors (and old competitors leaving) the arena all the time.
What if one of your competitors decides to start using AOL. Are you going to block all of AOL's IPs?
Also, if someone calls your competition asking them to match your price, they can always ask that person what your price is.
If you determine that it is worth the effort, you can make an admin page that allows you to easily add new Ip addresses to the ban list.
I mostly disagree with the common "hey what if there exists one competitor who is prepared to hack a mainframe in order to view your prices with a fifferent IP..." argumentation. Just realize that you are not covering 100% of your competitors.
Q1: How many $ is it worth to you if a potential buyer asks your competitor, but with no success due to your ban?
Q2: How often do you expect this to happen every month (on average)?
Q3: What is your monthly cost of maintaining this ban?
These number should show if it is worth the effort.
/Jesper
The manager charged out of the shop, yelling that pictures weren't allowed. (Verboten! LOL) I'm sure she was contemplating ripping the film from my camera, ala some third world country.
I snapped on my telephoto lens and clicked away from just down the mall. I also could have come back on a Sunday morning before stores opened and measured the stores every detail to the millimeter.
They will easily find ways around it
And, then they will start to speculate about your reason for doing it,perhaps you might then get an escalation of "unfriendly technologies"
I know many of my competitors are technically inept even though they are in the technology industry. Even if competitors have dynamic IPs, these IPs do not change unless the DHCP server recycles your IP from non-use. As far as I know, most people leave their DSL/Cable modems on. So, in practice, the dynamic IP does not change.
"We have a low price guarantee on all our products."-alexsien
Turn the tables on your competitors.
Put links on your home page to their site's (that open in a new window so your site stays on their dektop). Run some large promotional copy saying "Check pricing at Company X, Company Y and Company Z --- then call us last --- WE WILL BEAT THEIR LOWEST PRICE".
Offer and provide great servie and get known for that, (and maybe you won't even have to just sell on low price alone).
The idea of blocking them sounds like a futile effort. It would be a simple matter of any of them using their home computer, a mobile laptop connected via a WiFi hotspot, using a computer at a library, etc.. etc.. etc..to viewing your site
The only drawback to my approach is if you really can't sell at the lowest price.
"Price is what you pay. Value is what you get."
- Warren Buffet
What do you do when they just keep bouncing back and forth and your competitor just keep lowballing? If you have a low price guarantee do you price yourself right out of any profit margin, or do you opt out of any further game at some point? How do you know if in fact your competitor has undercut your price or if your savvy customer is "misinterpreting" things? I have spoken to people before which felt like a competitor feeling us out for our willingness to price match, it is worth it?
Keep 3 steps ahead and let them chase you!
i'd rather have the doubt in their minds...
