Sales Approach Number 2
Selling Against Your Competition
Remember the story in Chapter 1 about the bear chasing two people? The object of the foot race, one person quickly determined, was not to outrun the bear but to outrun the other person. Selling against your competition is like that. Your product or service doesn't have to be the best in the world. It only has to meet the buyer's needs better than your competitors do.
Most products are a standardized commodity. The tube of toothpaste you buy from one store is exactly the same as that available at dozens of other nearby stores. To beat your competitors, the retailers' job may be to offer better service. They make shopping more convenient, are open longer hours, have helpful clerks standing by, are friendly and considerate, and use other service enticements to beat their competitors. Industrial salespeople do, too. They may provide additional services that their competitors don't. They offer spare parts, assistance with installation, toll-free technical help, free shipping — whatever it takes to beat the competition.
Service businesses, especially, need to sell hard against the competition. Their business is service. Salespeople must make sure that buyers and prospects clearly understand the benefits that the service business they represent offers. And they must make their service the best available to the buyer. Every business has competition for its buyers' dollars.
Who is your competitor? In this electronic age, any business that potentially can serve your buyer is your competitor. How can you compete against these businesses? You can't — unless you know who they are and what they offer. Get on their mailing lists, do online research, and ask your customers about your competitors. Think like a buyer to be a smarter seller.
Sales Approach Number 3 [...to be continued]
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