Sell
Against Your Company?
Put
Yourself In The Competition's Shoes
By
Ken Wax
Published
in VARBusiness
I've
got some fun in store for you this issue. You're going over
to work for your chief competitor and sell against your company.
Well, not exactly. Rather, you're going to pretend to be working
for the competition. At your next sales meeting, close the
door, and have the following scenario take place.
Pick
one of your better reps; he or she will play the role they
always do, representing your fine company. You get the fun
part, however; you become a rep for your competitor. The rest
of the salespeople in the room will play the role of a prospective
customer, or an existing one who is considering switching.
Get
ready for a fascinating event, one that rarely happens in
real life. Your company will go head-to-head against your
key competitor, which are both in this shootout to win the
business. It will open your eyes.
Think
about it,you never really see your competition in action.
You don't know what the prospect is hearing from them, just
as they don't know what you are presenting when you sell.
But the prospects and customers get both sides,although not
at the same time,and that's what drives their choice.
Trading
Places
This
exercise will first force you to put yourself in the shoes
of your competition. You'll have to spend some time analyzing
your (real) company's shortcomings. What? You can't find any?
Then you're not looking hard enough. Every company has them,
or at least has characteristics that can be portrayed as shortcomings.
Watch,and learn.
You
say you're the right size to give terrific customer attention
and responsiveness? I sell against you by saying you're too
small. Or suppose you think you're wonderful because you're
big, well-stocked and full of purchasing power or talents
that benefit your customers.
I say you're too darn big, and those wonderful resources create
needless costs or only go to the biggest customers. Maybe
you're selling the fact that you're the industry standard.
I say that's the lowest common denominator,smart
companies won't limit themselves to only be able to do things
that everyone else can. As you can see, your "pros"
can quickly be manipulated to become "cons."
You'll
soon realize, if you represent that competitor well, that
they will have a plausible case. There are some good reasons
a company should consider them. And when your rep counters,
you may see that it's not as compelling as you once felt it
was.
Another
thing you'll notice is how many of their claims sound the
same as yours. Which means, to the customer, zero differentiation.
So these areas should receive only a small bit of attention.
Instead, spend your precious time on your unique attributes.
And
the Oscar Goes To...
This
little exercise may help you get closer to successfully countering
the competition's attack. It can clearly point out that you
have to improve how you make your advantages come alive better
for that prospect.
A
good time to perfect this role-play is at a big sales meeting,
assuming it's conducted with unbiased facilitation. Reps get
even sharper, management reaps the results, and everyone pats
the meeting planner on the back.
Great
combination. Done right, it can work even in large groups
of several hundred reps.
Playing
your competitor clearly puts things in perspective. It may
show that your advantages aren't jumping out like they should.
I've seen two truths show up again and again, whether it's
been with start-ups or billion-dollar megacorporations.
First,
the prospect rarely cares as much about your stuff as you
do. And second, your marvelous claims have to somehow connect
up with that prospect's real-world hopes, fears, pains and
dreams.
So
how do customers see you as compared to your competitor? Not
as you see yourself. To find out, try walking a mile, or meeting,
in your competitor's shoes.
Ken
Wax is an internationally known writer and keynote speaker
based in Wellesley, Mass.
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