Do you really know who your toughest competitor is?
They say, “Pride Goeth Before a Fall.” Well, in business, the statement that most often “goeth” before failure is, “I don’t have any competition.” I heard that statement just the other night.
I was exhibiting at the Greater Kansas City Small Business Candidates’ Expo (I’ve been nominated for Small Business of the Year for the fifth straight year) on Thursday evening, and a woman came up to my table and remarked on my book title: Sell Like You Mean It: Outselling Your Competitors by Understanding Your Customers. “I guess I don’t need that, because I don’t have any competitors,” she said. “Of course you do,” I replied. While she was momentarily taken aback, she went on to explain the uniqueness of her product. Her problem was obvious. She had confused uniqueness in her market spacewith lack of competition. The truth is that even uniqueness in your market space doesn’t help you with your toughest competitor – but I will.
Your toughest competition – in any business, with any set of customers – is the status quo. In other words, doing nothing. I asked the lady that approached my table if her product was mandated amongst her targeted customer base. “No, of course not,” she replied. I then explained that her toughest competition was for her customers to simply not buy her product; i.e. to do nothing. I then smiled and told her that my book might do her some good after all.
The status quo is the first bridge we all have to cross as salespeople, and most often the toughest. There’s a simple reason why: Sticking with the status quo requires nothing from your prospect, and entails no risk. This is also why the power to say “no” is virtually unlimited within most companies, but the power to say “yes” is closely held. “No” is perceived as an effortless and risk-free answer – even when it’s really not.
Although I’m representing the status quo as a single force, it can actually take three forms in your prospect’s mind:
The current service or product provider: If you’re selling a product that your customer is already buying from someone else, the current provider represents the status quo. Their desire is simple: They want to keep the business (the same business you’re trying to take away). To do so, they will be assuring your prospect that they are doing everything that is needed by the customer – and if not, they’re willing to add functions.
To win this sale, you have to do one of two things: Either prove (and by proving, I mean gain agreement from the prospect) that there are significant weaknesses and issues in the current program – or prove (ditto) that even though there aren’t significant weaknesses, that your offering has enough advantages over the current system to justify the work involved with change.
Internal Personnel: This comes up most often if you’re trying to sell outsourcing of a service that the prospect is currently handling themselves. One of the biggest fears of the decision maker is that internal employees will be displaced. This can be a very powerful force – do not underestimate it. Loyalty to internal employees can overcome significant potential advantages of outsourcing. Meanwhile, the internal personnel are working to persuade your decision maker that they can handle everything more efficiently and cheaper in-house.
Winning this sale takes some significant salesmanship. First, (as with the first example) you must demonstrate significant advantages to outsourcing. Second, you may even have to work to prevent internal job loss by helping your prospect find other – and better – uses for those employees. This is where a lot of salespeople will say, “Hey, that’s not my job!” No problem – then it’s not your sale.
Finally, the biggest and strongest component of the status quo is the Decision Maker’s Resistance to Change. This is a very human quality, and we all have it. How strong it is depends on the individual, and is something that you should be figuring out as the sale progresses. How married, mentally, is the decision maker to the current system? More importantly, was the decision maker the person who chose the current system, or did he/she inherit it? This can have big implications for your ability to sell. Essentially, the decision maker will be telling himself, “Everything is fine as is. Or if there are problems, they are not so significant as to require a new purchase.”
Winning this sale means overcoming this resistance to change by helping the customer live in the new and better world of your solution. Your questions and statements should focus on the advantages of your purchase, and be geared to showing your decision maker what his/her life would be like after the purchase. You should not, however, focus on making the current system seem like a bad decision; you’ll be insulting the decision maker.
Understanding that option #1 for your customer is simply to do nothing is key to being able to sell successfully, even when you are unique in your marketplace. The truth is that the only companies that have no competition are governments and tax agencies – other than that, we all compete. And if you’re not prepared to do so, you have a high chance of failure.
