8 secret roles of selling

Changes in the marketplace-jobs. businesses, products. and technology-have profoundly affected how people buy. Today's consumers of your services, expertise and products are different from those of years past. And they have an increasing number of choices. While at times the challenges may seem overwhelming, businesses who ignore these competitive threats do so at their own peril.

Successful businesses are discovering that competitive analysis-scrutinizing the other possible choices and pinpointing your competitive advantages-helps to win more sales and keep more customers. Think about the way a football coach prepares for a game. He analyzes game films of the opposing team-breaking down the team position by position, identifying strengths and weaknesses of the players, and comparing them with those of his own team. His analysis will help him predict what the competition will do before they actually do it.

How to Scout Your Opponents

In football, it's easy to identify your competition. This is not so simple to do in business where opponents don't have colored jerseys. However, there are several ways you can determine who you are up against. First, you can ask your prospects or others on the inside who have that information. Ask what other options they are considering. Street-smart salespeople and small business owners are especially good at collecting this information. Many clients will appreciate the interest and not object to your questions. If that is not an option, pay close attention to their concerns and objections, which may mirror what competitors have said about you and reveal where you need to strengthen your message.

Having identified your competition, the next step is to develop a strategy. Inform yourself:

Look at competitors' advertisements and sales brochures. Make a detailed list of the selling points of each opponent. How do they compare to your offerings?

Visit your competitors' web sites and see how they present themselves.

Talk to your customers-those who evaluated your competition but bought from you-to find out why you were selected.

When you have lost an opportunity, ask your contact why someone else was selected. You will learn some valuable information.

Talk to those who offer competing products and services. Interview any recent defectors from competitors.

List the most common objections you hear about your product or services and develop effective methods for addressing them.

Create a list of the advantages you believe your competitors would list about your offering. This list will help determine how your competitors position themselves with regard to you.

Call companies that bought from your competition and ask them what factors impacted their decision.

Find More Advantages by Analyzing Intangibles

Be sure not to limit your competitive analysis to looking strictly at features. Big decisions are often based on small differences, such as relationship and convenience issues. Look at the entire process of working with you from your prospect's point of view. Intangible qualities to assess would include:

1. Satisfaction with the process

2. Ease of communication, payment, ordering

3. Flexibility to meet emergencies and respond to changing needs

4. Quality of your product or service

5. Speed, accuracy and method of delivery

6. Ease of use of the results of your work or installation of your product

7. Education, learning and training issues

8. Adaptability of product, service to changing needs

9. Ease in getting questions answered; service responsiveness

10. Other intangibles

Viewed as a whole, these intangible factors describe the customer's entire process of working with you-what he or she can expect from your offering from the beginning of the sales process through ultimate use and evaluation.

Separately, each item represents an opportunity for you. Imagine that each of these factors is a position on a football team. First, identify the factors of greatest importance to your customer. Then, at each position, compare yourself to the competition and determine the potential advantages you have. Highlighting the areas in which your offering is superior should be the focus of your sales strategy. As you can see, conducting a competitive analysis of this type will help you develop a game plan that cannot be beat.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Kevin's ideas are the result of almost 25 years of corporate sales, sales management and training experience. A former sales executive with Lanier Worldwide, Kevin is the author of the highly acclaimed 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.

Copyright B U S Publishing Group, Inc. May 1999
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved