Learn How To Build A Competitive Edge To Win MORE Deals!
Many reps think that the presence of a competitor will make it easier to get their prospects to buy something. However, many still commit competitive cardinal sins in sales by just listing off differences without building an advantage.
When you are trying to close a sale, it is important that your prospects know what makes your company different. You want them to be able to make an informed decision and not get tricked by the competition.
Hiring a coach to teach your salespeople how and when to position themselves against competitors can help you have a competitive edge and win more deals.
It’s important to build competitive advantages in order to stay ahead of the game.
Need Help Automating Your Sales Prospecting Process?
LeadFuze gives you all the data you need to find ideal leads, including full contact information.
Go through a variety of filters to zero in on the leads you want to reach. This is crazy specific, but you could find all the people that match the following:
- A company in the Financial Services or Banking industry
- Who have more than 10 employees
- That spend money on Adwords
- Who use Hubspot
- Who currently have job openings for marketing help
- With the role of HR Manager
- That has only been in this role for less than 1 year
1. Do Your Homework
The first clue is to see who they know and what connections they have.
Do any of your key customers or partners have a competing product?
Have you noticed your prospect connecting to someone who works at a competitor? Following them on social media or leaving comments about their evaluation in an online forum?
When you see that an employer is connected to a competitor, research how your company and theirs are different. Then be ready when the sales cycle starts by identifying needs only your product can solve and stories of customers who have chosen yours over their competitors’. That, everyone, is how you make a competitive edge.
2. Qualification and Discovery is a Perfect Competitive Edge
You want to find out who they’re evaluating and what their process is for evaluation.
Competitive Edge Clue #2: They’re asking about the features your competitors offer that you don’t. That means they’ve already spoken to one of them.
Prospects need to be able to articulate their needs in order for you, the salesperson, to help them.
If you want to get the attention of your prospects, demonstrate that you have a good understanding of their needs by telling them about other customers who share similar problems. If they are already partners with one company in particular, be tactful and ask for more information.
Determine what their needs are and stick to them when you’re determining your product. If they only want the cheapest option, then ask yourself if it’s worth trying to sell something that won’t be used.
Keep an eye out for these red flags that might mean you’re losing to the competition.
List of questions to ask potential customers in order to understand their needs and distinguish them from competitors.
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3. Identify a Coach and a Champion
If the buyers are engaging with you individually, then that is a clue to watch out for in order to have a competitive edge.
You will need to find a champion and coach if you want your idea to be accepted. Your champion is the person who supports your idea, while the coach gives feedback after meetings.
You want to build rapport and gain trust with as many people in the company as possible, find out who is a good fit for your positions. When you think you have found these people, engage one-on-one with them to see what they are looking for individually if this project succeeds. Map out relationships at work including those that can influence decisions or might be pulling for other companies.
If the prospect decides they want to go with a competitor and you’re not sure whether or not it’s winnable, share your concerns with them. A true coach will provide tips on how to get their team behind this deal.
4. Set the Evaluation Plan
After discovery, send an email summarizing the prospect’s goals and needs. The evaluation will be based on your competitor’s inability to meet these requirements due to a lack of experience or resources.
You can’t just check a box on an RFP list; you have to show what you’re qualified for.
When testing certain features, it’s important to have the right data volume. It can be hard to do this on your own so you’ll need a customized evaluation plan.
To help with sales, I created a spreadsheet that covers all of my competitors.
5. Demonstration
The key to a good demo is tying everything back to the decision criteria of your prospect and setting traps for their competitor. Even if you have a weak product, it’s possible with great demos.
Don’t bad-mouth the competition. When you’re speaking with your prospects, start by summarizing their needs and how your company can meet those needs.
Now it’s time to take the next step and find out if they found what they were looking for.
A demo script that points out the competitive differentiators of a product against its competitors.
6. Proof of Concept
Use the plan you created in step 4. Show them what your solution will be able to do for them and how it will meet their needs.
The key is to get the prospect’s hands on your product and make it a reality for them. You need to show that your competition falls short in comparison.
A checklist for a trial or proof of concept (POC) is an easy way to make sure you don’t forget any important information during the process.
7. Negotiation
When the price is the primary reason for a competitive loss, it’s not always because you didn’t do your research. You should be confident that if they say this as their reasoning after doing due diligence on them, then there has to be another motivation behind why they chose someone else.
Determine if your product is worth the cost. If it isn’t, then you might need to find a new way of selling or something else entirely.
The ROI calculator is a great tool for salespeople to help them understand the costs and benefits of different marketing strategies.
To have a competitive edge, be paranoid at every stage. Ask yourself and your prospect why you might lose the deal, then position how you can meet their needs better than anyone else. Don’t stop proving that what you have is valuable until they are satisfied with it.
Need Help Automating Your Sales Prospecting Process?
LeadFuze gives you all the data you need to find ideal leads, including full contact information.
Go through a variety of filters to zero in on the leads you want to reach. This is crazy specific, but you could find all the people that match the following:
- A company in the Financial Services or Banking industry
- Who have more than 10 employees
- That spend money on Adwords
- Who use Hubspot
- Who currently have job openings for marketing help
- With the role of HR Manager
- That has only been in this role for less than 1 year