Selling against an Incumbent

You probably know who your competitors are. What their weaknesses are, what their strengths are; and how your product or service differs from theirs. In addition, you may be privy to how they sell against your product or service, know the representative, and how they will react in the sales process.

Inexperienced professionals will harp on features of their solution, advantages over the competitor, and the deficiencies of an inferior product or service. I can hear the wheels spinning now.

REALITY CHECK: For one reason or another, the company chose that solution. They saw enough benefit to invest in something that they thought would be advantageous to their business. If all we do is continually compare your product to theirs, you will become a commodity rather that having competitive edge. Further, we put ourselves on the playing field of the incumbent, which rarely will lead to a win.

When we are in a competitive situation we need to keep a few things in mind.
Respect the decision: Zig Ziglar used to talk about how we never criticize a previous buying decision, because it can make the customer feel like they made a wrong choice, and insult the buyer. Right or wrong; they made a decision and we must be respectful of it no matter how much we feel the customer was misinformed at the point of that conclusion. I promise, you will go nowhere fast with this approach.

Understand: An excellent way to distinguish ourselves is to relate to the buyer and get curious as to why they made the previous decision. Get clear on the reasoning process of why they chose the competitor, and what factors led to the decision.

Avoid Temptation: Resist the urge to repudiate each feature and tell the buyer how you are superior. Quell the desire to talk but listen and let them tell you what they think about the level of service they get with the competitor, how satisfied the product or service is to them, and the impact to their company. Rather, get them talking and keep them talking – and you listen, listen, listen. You have 2 ears and one mouth, listen way more than you talk. Trust me – it works! And one more thing; IF YOU CAN, mention the name of your competitor as little as possible, or not at all if you can get away with it. The more you compare, the more you will look alike.

Live above: Take the high road and refuse to get into a battle against the incumbent. Respect the previous decision and probe to find out what would improve or change about their current situation. Build your case upon what makes you superior without drawing parallels or comparisons based on features and benefits. Don’t stoop but rather elevate yourself and you product by talking about it as superior.

Be Tiger Woods: When analysts break down Tiger Woods golf swing, they rarely compare it another golfer because he is perfection the swing. Our product, service, or solution should be presented in the same fashion. We are bringing something superior to the table and we present it as such. Don’t be arrogant, but focus on what you do that makes you special, and different without comparing.

With this approach you will have better success in competitive selling situations and achieve higher closing ratios.

Good luck and “Light the Passion”