If Your Competition Does It, Stop Doing It Right Away

What does your 30-second commercial sound like? Have you heard your competition’s 30-second commercial? Does it sound the same?

High quality products. Fast delivery times. The customer is #1.

Does it sound like a Dilbert mission statement? Lots of big words that don’t mean much and sound similar to the last guy who walked through the door?

Start with this.

If your competition does it, stop doing it right away!

(That’s Sandler Rule #35 from Sandler Rules: 49 Timeless Selling Principles and How to Apply Them)

Find out what your competition is saying and doing. If everyone in your industry is focused on price – stop talking about price. If your competitor focuses on delivery as their “differentiator,” stop focusing on delivery.

You don’t want to get caught up in a “me too” scenario.

Quality. Price. Service.

Typically, salespeople focus their messaging on one of three things:

1. Quality
2. Price
3. Service

If you do the same, you’re just getting lost in the crowd. Instead, focus on the problems you solve; talk about the customers you’ve helped; uncover and address the “pain” your prospect is dealing with.

Let’s pretend you’re a sales rep for Widget Company A.

If your key selling point is price or quality or service, and you say Widget Company A offers the best at one or more of those things, what happens when you leave that company and go to work for a competitor? Would you sound exactly the same walking into a prospect’s office – just with a different logo on your shirt?

Or do you have a specific solution that is the perfect fit for a particular type of customer?

In most industries, the assumption is that your prospect is talking with a salesperson (your competition) as often as you’re making calls in a week. That means he’s hearing the same thing from 5, 10, 50 or more people every single week.

Price. Quality. Service.

Price. Quality. Service.

Price. Quality. Service.

What happens when you stop doing the same thing?

In Sandler, it’s called a “pattern interrupt,” and it’s intended to break through the clutter. When a prospect asks, “Why should I choose Widget Company A instead of Widget Company B?” how will he react when you respond with, “Good question. But, I’m not sure you should choose us.”?

You’ve just turned things upside down. He’s used to hearing, “Well, because we’re committed to our customers and have the highest quality products and the fastest delivery times.” (Just like everyone else!)

But, instead, you have interrupted his pattern. You’ve made an impact by both responding differently AND “going negative” (by saying something that’s not in your best interest like “We might not be the right choice for you.”).

Try it on your next sales call.

Go ahead. Try this tactic on your next sales call. You’ll have to be prepared – so make sure you know what the competition’s (or your) typical responses are to your prospect’s questions, and practice your new response.

We’d love to hear how it goes. Give us a call at 330-929-9449 or shoot an email to therubygroup@sandler.com.

Thank you to Matt White for sharing. Matt is the owner of JoltCMS where he helps businesses help their customers.