You must be able to compete in your industry and in your market with competitors whose prices are sometimes 20 percent to 25 percent less then yours. Accept it — there will always be salespersons and organizations that can and will propose to do any service or provide any product for less than what you charge. Maybe they don’t have as much overhead as you do. Maybe they are using a different product selection or delivery system. The list can go on and on about what they may or may not have or use.
To win the sale, you must focus on your company, your products and your service. Nothing bothers me more than to hear sales people whining about how the competition is selling for less, forgetting that in the past they also have taken business away from those same competitors or others because of bad service or delivery. Usually, you’re able to take business away from your competition due to their broken promises, missed or late appointments, poor customer service or myriad other service-delivery issues.
Begin by understanding that we, as consumers, buy for many different reasons. Then, plan time to define specifically what your products or services do for customers and how you back them with guarantees or warranties. If your approach to what you offer is less than confident, your potential customers will be someone else’s in short order. Then, spend time with your prospects, more
productively by focusing on selling the features and benefits of your company and its people along with your products/services. Features are defined as distinctive aspects, qualities or characteristics of your company that you provide to your customer base. Benefits are what the client receives from buying those features. For example, a feature would be that your company is owner-operated. The benefit would be that the customer could contact the owner if he needed to. (You should also understand the features and benefits of your competition. This will help you
overcome the objections that your potential customers may have.)
If you are one to spout off about your features, then you probably don’t talk much about the benefits of what you offer. Remember this: If all of the talk in your presentations is about what you offer (the features), then envision a sign hanging around your potential customers’ necks saying, “So what?” not everyone buys on price. Think about it: Do you always buy on price? If everyone bought on price alone, there would be a lot more small cars on the road. We wouldn’t be trying to reduce the fuel addiction issues that our country has today. Just remember, there are buyers who will buy based on quality, value, prestige and customer service. If you take the time to ask the right questions, evaluate the opportunities and define what potential clients are looking for, then you can
match your company’s features and benefits to their needs.
