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Advertising, Sales and Marketing
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Competitive Selling
Skills Is your industry becoming more competitive? Are your prospects taking a closer look at what your competitors have to offer? Selling in today's marketplace reminds me of that line from ABC's Wide World of Sports: "The thrill of victory and the agony of defeat." For the salesperson in the arena, it's winner take all. There are no rewards for second place. This trend of intensifying competition makes selling more interesting -- but also much more difficult than it once was. You can't assume you'll remain successful simply by doing the same things that used to work for you. In the new millennium, good selling isn't going to be enough to make you a success. If you want to stop losing sales to competition and make more money -- and we all do -- then you've got to sharpen your competitive selling skills. Here are four of the most common reasons why competitive sales opportunities are lost -- and specifically what you can do to win more often. These are the mistakes to avoid if you want to give your competitors fits. 1. Your competitor understands the
prospect's needs better than you do Between you and me, Sun Tzu had it easy. In 500 BC, all he had to do was learn about himself and his enemy. In 21st century selling, it's not enough to know about yourself and the competition. You also have to know about the customers' needs. When you know the specific ways in which you're different from your competition -- AND you know your customers' needs -- you'll know which differences are going to be the most important to your customer. And that knowledge is what will put your name on the scoreboard. One simple strategy for understanding your customer's needs better than your competition is to resist the natural temptation to talk about yourself, and instead, keep the conversation focused on your customer's needs. If your customer asks you about your product or service -- as they often do - answer their question, then redirect the conversation back to your customer's needs. A good rule of thumb is to identify at least eight customer buying criteria before you start talking about your product or service.
2. Can't reach the key decision-maker The first salesperson to identify and win over the Power Broker almost always wins the sale. To identify the Power Broker, ask your contact questions such as, "How will your organization make the decision on this? Who else will you need to talk to? Whose budget is at stake here? Who's going to be the key decision-maker on this?" Power Brokers derive their power because they have credibility with superiors, perhaps as a recognized expert. They tend to be strong-willed individuals who are goal-oriented and possess good communication skills -- just like salespeople. The Power Broker is an effective internal salesperson who you want championing your cause. 3. The salesperson overlooks
seemingly minor differences between his/her solution and the competition 4. No game plan to beat the
competition I'm not suggesting you make fewer sales calls. What I am saying is that you need to put more thought into each call you make. Think like a coach thinks, and make a game plan to win. What's your understanding of your prospect's buying criteria? Which of those criteria represent a competitive edge for you? Which represent a competitive disadvantage? Who is positioned most favorably at this time -- you or your competition? How can you influence the customer's buying criteria -- or modify your offering in such as way as to create a better match between what you have and what your customer needs? Your effectiveness in competitive selling situations will be largely determined by the questions you ask yourself before each sales call. In sports, when two teams are evenly matched, the winner will be the team that executes its plays the best -- the team that makes the fewest mistakes. To win more competitive sales opportunities, you must do the same. Kevin Davis delivers dynamic seminars on consultative sales and sales management/leadership skills. His ideas are the result of almost 25 years of corporate sales, sales management and training experience. A former executive with Lanier Worldwide, Kevin is the author of the award-winning book, Getting Into Your Customer's Head. For additional information, call 1-888-545-SELL, or visit the Kevin Davis Selling Systems web site at www.customershead.com.
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Disclaimer
The information compiled on this site is Copyright 1999-2012 by Attard Communications, Inc. and by the individual authors. |
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