If your competition is doing it, STOP doing it right away!
Have you ever noticed how much easier people find it to talk about other people’s problems?
Human behavior sometimes prompts us to avoid conflict or tension because they tend to be uncomfortable.I hear sales professionals, owners, and managers talking all the time about how they are different.
They tell me all the ways that they are beyond what the competition is doing and how they simply are better. The major problem is that they sound EXACTLY like those that they are trying to compete with, OR they are “defending/justifying/explaining” in an effort to be “different.” The problem is that they usually end up sounding exactly like… you guessed it…the competition!
Sandler Rule #35 is excellent in its simplicity and on the surface, but difficult in execution.
One sales pro recently asked me, “How can we be different when what we have to do is prove that we are the best?”
Answer: STOP trying to prove that you are the best.
Look, when all the client hears is, “we’re the best, we’re the greatest, there’s nobody like us” then all they can really use to differentiate on is price. When that happens, we are nothing more than a commodity with little recourse but to drop our price to win against the competition… and nobody truly wins in that game.
Do the opposite! Doing the opposite means, for example, when you are faced with the question of what makes you better than XYZ company, the answer should not start with, “because we…”
Rule #35 would have it sound more like: “Well, I’m not sure that we are the best… what would you look for in choosing the best…?” This catches the prospect off guard (because they were expecting you to beat your chest while telling them why), catches their attention briefly and makes it about them, not you! THIS is the magical moment when you can truly get their attention, collect the necessary information in order to differentiate and present yourself as someone who solves problems like the one they have, versus talking about how great you are and what you do/don’t do.
Feel like you are getting caught up and sounding like the competition? Come visit, we know a thing or two about differentiation.
