When
Your Client Mentions Your Competition
None of us sell
in a vacuum. Whenever you’re dealing with a prospect or an existing
client, you are always competing against someone else. While competition
can be internal, most of the time you are going head-to-head
against another company who thinks they can do what you do better,
faster and (sometimes) cheaper. Eventually, you’re going to face
the following scenario and you’ll need to know how to handle
it properly to sell
effectively:
The
Wrong Way
Sales Rep: “I was calling to follow
up on our discussion from last week on the air freight proposal
for next year.”
Customer: “Yes, well, I was curious
how your company compares to Condor Freight as I’ve been talking
with them, as well.”
Sales Rep: “Condor Freight!? I wouldn’t get near
them… they fly old beat-up 707s they bought from Air Angola in 1975
and I’ve heard their pilots tend to have drinking problems. The
cockpits have wet bars.”
The
Right Way
Sales Rep: “I wanted to discuss our
response to the RFP for industrial valves for the Duluth facility.”
Customer: “I’m glad you called because I also have
a response from LotsaFlow on their valves. They seem to have some
aggressive pricing.”
Sales Rep: “I can appreciate that you’re looking
at LotsaFlow, Pat. Yet, it is our company policy not to comment
on our competitors, either positively or negatively. What I would
be glad to do is tell you how our valves will enable your company
to…”
This is a great
strategy to employ as it keeps you from wallowing in the mud
as you try to knock down your competitor and lift up your company.
It also builds credibility
with your client as you show them that while you understand
another company is competing for the business, your focus is how
your product or service is the best. You set your company up as
the standard by not trying to live up to some other standard.
These situations
are tailor-made for benefit statements. When a customer brings up
a competitive
product or service, you can use FABs
to redirect the conversation and focus on the value of your products
and service. Bring
customers back into your fold by showing them “what’s in it
for them”. Your FABs can be specifically tailored to address issues
or concerns that may apply
to your competitors. In a sense, you can answer a client’s question
in a manner that allows you to focus on your products and still
maintain the high road.
Some examples of how FABs can be used
to get things back on track include:
Example
One
Client: “DataMetrics claims their
performance suite is a better fit since we can pick and choose the
options we want to deploy.”
Sales Rep: “I can’t really speak
to the quality of DataMetrics’ performance suite. I can tell
you that our suite of products utilize a common user interface and
functionality. This enables database administrators to learn one
system for performance
monitoring, tuning and automated
recovery. What this does is increase your team’s productivity
by providing a system that can be adopted quickly and more effectively.”
Example
Two
Client: “Staffem tells me they have
more available personnel than any other company in the state.”
Sales Rep: “Our company policy is to not talk either
positively or negatively about our competitors. I can tell you
that the personnel in our company average over 20 years of experience
in the industry. This provides you with access to extremely talented
individuals with ‘best of breed’ experience in multiple industries.
What this means to you is that your projects will managed with fewer
cost overruns, less mistakes and more accurate results.”
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