These days there seems to be more competition than ever, in addition, the competition seems to be more creative and relentless. Whether it’s the low-price ankle biters, or the large companies with huge marketing budgets, our competitors seem to be everywhere. That being said, we can still win and keep more than our share of the business. No, it may not be easy, but with the right approach it can be rather simple.
Six Ideas for Competing Effectively
1) Know your competitive advantage.
These days you have to build value and articulate what makes you different. Emphasize the things that make you, your company, and your product unique. How are these three better than what the competition has? Also, emphasize the qualities of the one thing your competition does not have: you! Demonstrate how you deliver more, how you’re better, and how you’re different, in a good way, from everyone else out there.
In addition, know your competition and their product as well as you know your own company and product. Know how they compete against you and how to defend yourself. The best way to do this is to look at your company and product through the competitor’s eyes with objectivity.
2) Sound differently than the competition.
You’ve probably been trained to do things just like everyone else in your industry. As a result, you may sound almost exactly the same as your competitors. It’s important to do things differently, ask different questions, and have a different approach than the competition. The best way to do this is to listen intently and really focus on each customer’s specific needs, wants, and desires. Show a strong concern and unique understanding of the issues the prospect faces.
3) Outwork the competition.
Make more phone calls, make more visits, network more often, and simply contact more people, ideally lots more, than your competition. The more people you talk to, the more business you will do. While relationships are important, sales is still a numbers game.
Don’t have a one-and-done approach: placing one phone call, mailing one letter, or stopping by one time and hoping that’s enough, it isn’t. People need to hear or see your name seven to twelve times before you start to gain mindshare. Set up a follow-up program where you reach out to people at least nine times over a four to five week period. For those you didn’t reach, give them six months off, then start the nine-step process again.
4) Out-service the competition.
Not only do you have to be willing to go the extra mile, you need to be willing to go a mile or two beyond that. Always make sure you give something extra, bend over backwards, and serve the customer, not only better, but far better than anyone else.
Keep in mind that you not only compete with other companies within your industry, you compete with every company your customer comes into contact with. If you have voicemail, your voicemail is compared to the voicemail of the phone company, cable company, retail outlet, and everyone else who has voicemail. Your customer service is compared with everyone else’s customer service. Your objective is to stand out from everyone that your customer or prospect interacts with.
If you are determined to go above and beyond, do more, work more, and go much further than anyone else is willing to go, you will stand out, you will be successful, and you will beat the competition almost every time.
5) Out-relationship the competition.
Once you get an account, make sure you keep it away from the competition. 97% of people do business with a particular company because they like and trust someone at that company. If people like and trust you and you treat them right, rarely will they ever jump ship, and if they ever do think about jumping ship, they will call you first.
Your goal is to have solid personal relationships with your customers. In the best case scenario, your customers will be your friends. Friends continue to do business with friends, and they send referrals too. Communicate often. Send cards, gifts, and other items and let the customer know you care and appreciate them. Get and share personal information to increase the depth of the relationship.
6) If you’re not number one, make sure you’re number two.
If someone is doing business with the competition, you want to make sure that you get the call if the competition ever makes a fatal mistake. If you are number three or four, you are a long way from any business with that person or company however, if you are number two, you are one rate increase, one bad customer service experience, or one of any other mistakes away from some potential business. Keep your name in front of them so you’re fresh in the prospect’s mind when number one eventually trips up, the nine-step process works well here.
Finally, do everything you can from a fair, legal, and ethical standpoint to win when you’re competing. You need to go to bed at night feeling good about yourself, knowing you gave it your best shot possible, and you did everything you could do to win fair and square.
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Have a sales question? E-mail John at johnchapin@completeselling.com John Chapin’s specialty is helping salespeople and sales teams double sales in 12 months. He is an award-winning sales speaker, trainer and coach, a number one sales rep in three industries, and the primary author of the gold-medal winning “Sales Encyclopedia”. In his 24 years of sales, customer service and management experience, he has thrived in some of the toughest markets and economies.
For permission to reprint, or to reach John, email him at johnchapin@completeselling.com.
