01608 644144
How To Deal With The Competition
As a sales person you will frequently come across the situation where you have called on one of your prospects who then tells you that he is buying from one of your competitors, and doesn’t want to change. How should the professional sales person react to this situation? The following five step approach as taught on our sales training courses can be tried:
Step 1: If the prospect does not offer any reasons for his objection, ask the customer why he is buying from your competitor: “In your opinion, in what respect is supplier XYZ better than us?” This will provide you with useful feedback about the customer’s priorities and requirements, and may also give you valuable information about new products or services, which your competitors have developed.
Step 2: If it is clear that the buyer has thought about the situation, and what he is saying does not contradict what you know to be the case, then compliment the customer: “You have good reasons for your decision and I respect that.” This reply is diplomatic and flatters the buyer. It also avoids the risk of the situation degenerating into a confrontation with the customer.
Step 3: Briefly set out for the customer the reasons why the supplier in question is better than your own company, but do so without “knocking the competition”. If the other supplier can offer a lower price, explain why this is possible. Similarly, if the company can offer a better delivery, explain the reasons why he can deliver quicker than you can. On sales training courses this step is often the hardest for sales people to do well. However, these comments will demonstrate that you know your business, and help to establish your credibility.
Step 4: Now go over from talking about your competitor’s strengths to describing your own strengths. Demonstrate to the customer that you are not inferior to the other supplier, simply different. After this, the customer is in a better position to weigh up two different offers against each other.
Step 5: Don’t pressurise the customer to place an order with you there and then particularly if there is no indication that he is ready to do so of his own accord. Be satisfied with what you have achieved in the discussion up to this point. It is by no means bad – you have gained an insight into the way the customer thinks and what he holds important, and this insight will help you to adapt your future line of argument.
In responding in this way, you will make the customer re-examine his own values and criteria. He may well have second thoughts about not using a second supplier.
The real strength of this five step approach is that it is calm, thoughtful and considerate of the customer’s opinions and feelings. It reflects experience and self-confidence – all hallmarks of the sales professional who knows the value of his products and services to his customers. Additional confidence and more professional selling techniques can be acquired from our sales training courses.
