You know that your products and services are better than your competition. You’ve checked them out and done your homework. You’ve seen off many competitors and they’ve bitten the dust in your wake. So why on earth would customers still use them instead of you? Unbelievable, yeah?

Well, looking at it from the customer’s perspective, they obviously had a very good reason for choosing them in the first place. And it’s your job to find out those reasons so you can identify the best way to assist your customer in seeing the light and finally jumping ship to the safe harbours of being your partner!

And this is said only half tongue-in-cheek. If you know your customer would be better off with you rather than a competitor, you have to be able to convince them to convince themselves. Your sales talk about your new widget will fall on deaf ears unless you create a feeling of discomfort with their current situation first. When you are selling against competition, you need to know how your customer thinks.

So, find out what criteria your prospect uses in choosing their supplier. When you know what’s important, start exploring to what degree his expectations and needs are being met, based on those criteria.

Here are some example questions:

“How does your ideal situation compare with your current situation?”

“When you originally started working with ABC Ltd, what were your selection criteria? Have they changed over the time you’ve used them? What would you like to see in the future?”

“How would you rate your current relationship with them, from 0-10? What would have to happen for it to be a higher score?”

“In what ways could ABC Ltd align themselves more with your goals?”

These and similar questions will help you identify niches you could find that could be filled by your products and services. You’re getting the customer to see chinks in the armour that could be fixed by what you have to offer. And then they’ll be grateful you helped them save money, serve their customers better and become more profitable. Another satisfied customer!

Happy selling!

Sean

Sean McPheat
The UK’s #1 Authority On Modern Day Selling
MTD Sales Training

Have you downloaded my latest report “The Sales Person’s Crisis”? Over 10,000 sales pros have.

Click on the image below to find out why you’re very existence as a sales person is in doubt…

For those of you that have been on any of my 121 coaching or consulting programmes and have gotten to know the “Real Sean” (whatever that means!) then:

A. You know that I’m a big fan of the The Godfather films!

and

B. You also know that I am obsessive about knowing all there
is to know about the competition

Now these two points actually came together nicely when Michael Corleone (played by Al Pacino) said in the movie:

“Keep your friends close and your enemies even closer”

You see, you need to know everything there is to know about your competition. And I am VERY big on this.

My question to you is this:

What are you doing on a monthly basis to keep your enemies even closer?

Forget about sales techniques, tips and strategies for a moment and focus in on your competition.

Here are some areas that you SHOULD know. If I called you right now and asked you about these questions or areas you should be able to tell me the answers without hesitation.

Are you ready?

Now this is not an exhaustive list but it will give you an idea of what I mean by keeping the enemy close!

Here goes:

When was the last time that you stood in your own queues and mystery shopped your own company?

What is easy? What did you learn?

Who are your top 5 competitors?

When was the last time that you stood in their queues and mystery shopped them as a prospect?

Where are they based? How many staff do they have?
How much do they turnover? What’s their profits?

What products and services do they offer that are:
A. The same as yours
B. Different to yours

What are their key USP’s? Per company and per product and service?

How much do they cost? Are there any fluctuations in the prices they charge?

What do their proposals look like? What are their payment terms?

What was their speed of response for email enquiries? What did the email say? Did you get an email response to an email enquiry or did they call you?

Did you speak to a receptionist when you called them? Were you put through to the “sales department”?

When did you call your competition and say “I love your product but I also like ABC’s product too (where ABC is your company/product) Please can you tell me the differences between your company and theirs? (This gets you to know what the competition are saying to the same prospects you are
going after about you)

In summary:

You get the picture here! There are many other areas and questions to explore.

But you need to know the competition inside out (and don’t forget you need to do this type of thing with all of the information about your industry as a whole too! But I’ll leave that for another time)

There are many ways to do all of the above and I must admit I am a master at it! (So modest in my old age)

So, are you keeping your enemies close? Or are you so busy sorting your own house out that you are neglecting this very important area.

If you are, don’t beat yourself up about it but you need to start now. In a changing economy “your enemy” might be constantly changing what they are doing to stay ahead of the game – you need to know this and then go one better.

Action:
Get some base level knowledge about all of the areas above and then schedule in a couple of days each quarter to revisit your intelligence and go again.

Happy Selling!

Sean

Sean McPheat
MTD Sales Training

Telephone: 0800 849 6732

Click here for the MTD Sales Blog

Have you downloaded my latest report yet? “The Sales Person’s Crisis” has been downloaded by over 10,000 sales pros and entrepreneurs. Don’t miss this unique report that lifts the lid on modern day selling!

Click on the image below to find out why you’re very existence as a sales person is in doubt…