The Gloves are Off

Justin Witz

May 14, 2024

I recently purchased the new M4 iPad Pro at the local mall during a birthday weekend getaway with my son in Pittsburgh while visiting my grandmother. As we passed one store after another, my son asked me about store placement.

If you’re a parent like me, you want to answer these questions quickly because your mind is focused on navigating to your destination with haste, not leisure. Personally, when I’m focused, I want to get in and out, and unfortunately for my son, my state of mind at that moment was haste.

Son: Dad, does Louis Vuitton compete against Gucci?

Me: Yes, they do.

Son: Dad, does Lululemon compete against Alo?

Me: Yes, they do.

Son: Well then, why are they next to each other, and what makes them different? Why does someone pick one brand over another?

My mind went from mindless accommodation of providing short-witted answers to a pause. Mentally, I was shifting my mind to think about how best to respond to his question. You have to admire kids' curiosity!

My professional career has been split between serving in the United States Air Force and being the founder of a startup. One of the core challenges in growing a company is customer acquisition, otherwise known as, Product Market Fit (“PMF”). PMF is hard to achieve, something we’ve fortunately excelled at attaining, and one of many items is to understand the differences between yourself and your competition if any exist. I like to call this a Beauty Contest.

When I look at the sheer amount of Financial Advisors (hundreds of thousands) and Realtors (millions) that exist in America I think about the Buyer and how they are making a decision to distinguish the best person to move forward with. Simple questions run through my mind: Would you trust your financial advisor with your money, spending habits, and personal decision-making? Would you trust your realtor to show you the best homes you want to buy and negotiate with your best interests? No one wants to buy a car and have a friend walk in saying they got the same thing for $5k less. Even a dollar difference hurts to hear from someone, so how do you go about the best solution?

For my son, I explained to him how trust is king in this process. If you look at Louis Vuitton in the mall compared to competitors and watch which store people gravitate towards, it’s Louis Vuitton. Louis Vuitton built an empire as a global luxury brand champion because it built trust with consumers by creating a product with exceptional quality and service throughout the purchasing experience.

First and foremost, every potential client (prospect) evaluates by appearance first before functionality. This gives you the confidence the company is clearly winning in the category you’re chasing. Then, you focus on the people and product, likely, the most important two pillars of success for any company. Think about it, you trust your gut on the initial interaction and then you evaluate the product itself. This is where Louis Vuitton has won. The atmosphere of their stores isn’t just inviting, it’s spacious, you feel like you can breathe when you make 5-figure and higher purchases. The way they approach you, talk to you and even represent the product is top class. It’s why they continue to achieve billions of dollars in sales annually regardless of new competitors.

Speaking of the opportunity for competitors to enter the marketplace. It has always fascinated me that companies continue to halt innovation when they hit a specific size. Airlines are a great example. In today’s day and age, we all depend on travel to get from point A to point B and airplanes are the best way to travel. Yet, no matter the billions in bailouts from governments, the requirement to not reduce employee headcount, the desire for investing in our comfort, they continue to shrink seating sizes and experiences while still increasing the cost of tickets. It’s mind boggling and the reason why new competitors enter the space at lower margins and become overnight successes.

The UNDERDOG, that’s what I would call us and that’s when “ The Gloves Are Of f” regarding the mentality you need to have when you’re building a business. People pick companies because of Trust and then they depend on exceptional service to retain them. Building a company that becomes a category leader isn’t easy, something we’ve been able to attain for Catapult and it’s a reminder that this is an endurace race, something always has something bigger, better and more money, but how you retain, build and grow with your clients and employees is vital to the longevity of your business.