2 Ways to Outsell Your Fiercest Competitor!
Doyle Slayton | Feb 28, 2010 | Comments 14
If you are in a highly competitive industry, you are always going up against an arch rival that’s chasing after the same business opportunities. They are a formidable foe. Just like you, they are willing to work harder than anyone else, they crank out the phone calls, they are relentless about follow-up, and if it comes down to a price war… they will practically give it away just to beat you.
When you win, it’s pure joy, excitement, high fives for everyone! It also comes with a deep breath, a sense of relief, exhaustion, and the thought of, “I have to keep finding new ways to beat these guys!”
Here are two tips to keep you winning against your fiercest competitor…
1. What makes you different and why is that better?
The worst thing you can hear from a prospect is, “That looks very similar to (insert competitor’s name here),” or they might say, “Everyone says that about their company.” Those two statements burn me up! They serve as a reminder that we must get better!
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and if your presentation looks and sounds like everyone else, your chances of winning are well… just as good as everyone else.
You need to have an imaginary sign in front of you… with big bold letters scrolling through that says, “WHAT MAKES YOU DIFFERENT? WHAT MAKES YOU GREAT? WHAT MAKES YOU BETTER THAN EVERYONE ELSE?” Build that greatness into every presentation. Make it a part of your story and reinforce it by applying it to your prospect’s needs.
2. Create opportunity around your competitor’s weakness?
If your prospect says they are looking at other vendors. Ask them…
“Who are we up against?”
“How would you compare our product with theirs?
You can learn a lot about yourself and your competitors here. Listen closely. Some prospects will reveal more than others. Gain as much information as possible. Then, without sounding defensive, and without being classless about bashing the competition, you strategically make your case. I’ll share a couple of scenarios…
Let’s say you are going up against their current provider. You might say…
“How are they doing with… (insert competitor’s weakness)”
“That’s an important point of comparison. Based on (insert what’s most important to prospect on that issue). Here’s how we handle it…”
Let’s say you are going against your rival who, like you, is trying to win a new customer. You could say…
“How would you compare their product with ours?”
“We go up against them all the time. I recently brought on (insert accurate number of takeaways) of their former clients and they chose us because (insert important reasons that apply to your current prospects needs). That’s why I believe we are also the better option for you. In fact, I’ll get you some references, former (insert competitor here) clients that will tell you why they like our product better!”
There are a lot of people who think it’s a bad idea to engage in conversation about the competition. If you do it the right way, with class, you gain the advantage. Your quota, your job, and your livelihood all depend on the deals you win. There is no room to be timid. Be professionally aggressive and crush the competition!
Hello Doyle,
While it’s important to be aggressive in the pursuit of business (we all need to eat, right?), I’d try to avoid appearing
aggressive.
Aggressive types tend to intimidate others; their energy tends to be negative charged.
Stay focused, know your enemy, and use your charm… as aggressively as possible, of course.
Ivan
The key to your first point, the unique selling proposition is the idea between the “inside reality” and the outside perception.
These terms are used by Richard Harshaw in his book Monopolize Your Marketplace.” Most companies do a horrible job and revealing the true inside reality — the real value — of their offer.
There are two test questions one can ask that will help you eliminate weak messages:
1. Could the competition say it? In other words could the competition make the claim?
2. Would the prospect expect what you’re offering. Statements like “we fix it right the first time” are simply platitudes as who would be looking for a business that didn’t?
Most of the benefits used in sales calls fit the second category — obvious and pretty much meaningless. They fail to differentiate one from the competition.
To your second point, anytime you can ask the prospect to tell you where you are you are moving in the right direction. Most salespeople never ask this type of question at all.
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Interesting subject and i love this..
As rightly pointed out, showing aggression in front of a customer might backfire, as they do not like to be ‘felt’ cornored. We can be assertive and aggression just to fuel our fire and keep the discussion moving positively.
Also in today”S world customers like consultative selling. Understanding their pain points and then addressing those pain areas with your product will be a good approach and that’s where you make a cut. Most of the salespersons will highlight the benefits, talk great about their company, references, etc. but only a very few will ‘relate’ to what the customer wants. They position themselves as a person / product which will take away those pain areas (not to confuse with the product positioning) which the clients usually feel that their pain points a bit unique compared to the rest of the world.
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When companies or people are already buying from a competitor, how do you build their trust? It is not by being more agressive. Added value is sometimes not enough, because comfort and trust are the main factors for not switching to another service provider.
Nice artilce as ever Doyle, a real key to add weight to this is by asking for your 3 best USP’s. The same USP’s always come up, my question therefore is ‘Are they really Unique Selling Points’?
It’s therefore massively important to re-phrase, re-emphasise or change these to create genuine differences to what you are offerring against your competitor.
Ben
http://www.thesalespro.co.uk
I’d be sure to be VERY careful to preface any claims about the competition with “I dont like to talk negatively about my competitiors” and I’d be sure that while you compare yourself to your competitors you share SOMETHING positive about them. You never know how the information gets repeated, and you want to ALWAYS look like you are sharing valuable information and not just peeing all over your competition.
I like it all, Doyle, except “aggressive,” which to me means punching and MMA kicks and leg-locks.
I would respectfully suggest that you may perhaps have meant “assertive”?
HI-YAAAAAH!!! Take that! :<) Best – Hal
Doyle – good article – real-world. Was reluctant to leave a comment, although your blog topic plays into our sweet spot and area of expertise.
Authored the breakthrough book titled “Market Warfare: Leadership & Domination Over Competitors,” which is endorsed by Jay Conrad Levinson – the Father of Guerrilla Marketing and other Industry heavies.
This is not another book discussing Military Strategy, Battle History or theories/models – it is a practical guide that takes real-world, client programs and shows how these warfare approaches/techniques are put to practice to generate tangible results.
There are also training workshops – that reinforce doing the key things that you outline in your articles.
Appreciate the opportunity to input on this useful blog topic.
Good Hunting!
Hawkeye – Performance Marketing Group
Where Market Warfare is not an idle
chant, but a way of life
Hey Doyle,
Nice thinking and very useful tips.
And before you go on a crusade to crush your “enemy” I can remember that one of my good friends used to say that: “Keep your friends close and your enemies even closer”. So, another way to beat the competitors is to join them and to create with them something that was never existed before, for your customers.
Wow, I never new that, much appreciated.
OK – I’ll bite one more time on the subject that is covered in the above article – it happens to be in our blood.
Here are two links – one overviews the Competitive Positioning Workshop (CPW) and the other is a published article titled Competitive Replacement Program – An Untapped Golden Nugget.
http://www.pmgresults.com/ProductDes/CPW.pdf
http://ezinearticles.com/?Competitive-Replacement-Program—An-Untapped-Golden-Nugget&id=963190
Good Hunting!
Hawkeye
Performance Marketing Group
Author: Market Warfare: Leadership & Domination Over Competitors
A breakthrough book endorsed by Jay Conrad Levinson -
The Father of Guerrilla Marketing