Not for the first time, I was recently asked to name my strongest competitor. I imagine the inquirer expected me to share a company name and then offer some \u201csalesy\u201d explanation of why I was the better choice. My answer was definitely NOT what they were expecting. My biggest competitor? I\u2019m keeping that to myself for now. But let\u2019s look at the competition we all face at one time or another.<\/p>\n
Direct Competitors.<\/strong> Companies\/people that offer something similar. These are the competitive choices a buyer has when considering your proposal. The MPS provider down the street. The local supply company. The contract stationer. The \u201cexpense recovery\u201d company that brings in the lowest \u201cprice points\u201d but rarely the lowest true cost. You get the picture. When we think about competition, direct competitors are often what come to mind first.<\/p>\n Attention and Focus.<\/strong> In most selling situations, there will be many things competing for the buyer\u2019s attention. Your contact on the big bank deal is finally realizing how mega the megabucks are that your nifty MPS program can deliver. They see the need. They believe you can deliver. Your contact even has the authority to sign an agreement\u2026 BUT they are also deeply involved in new regulation issues and undergoing a massive software conversion. You, the new regulation issues and the software conversion are all in a competition for the attention and focus of your buyer.<\/p>\n Skepticism.<\/strong> Chances are high that you have received an email offering to cut you in on millions of dollars IF you quickly send your bank information. You aren\u2019t buying into any of these scams. You know better. And friends, prospects are skeptical. Even when it comes to dealing with such a fine company as yours. They have learned to be. Promises were made, and promises were broken. Most five-year-olds know the difference between good and too good, and your buyer is probably shrewder than the average toddler. This is a tough area, because the buyer rarely comes right out and says, \u201cHey, nice story there, Scooter, but the bottom line is, I don\u2019t believe you.\u201d And if they don\u2019t believe you, if they don\u2019t believe you can do what you say you can do, or deliver the results you\u2019ve promised, they aren\u2019t going to risk their job on bringing you in. You wouldn\u2019t either.<\/p>\n Group Decision-Making Dynamics<\/strong>. There are all sorts of writings, trainings and insights into how complex B2B buying decisions are today. The common thread through all of them is that there are more and more people involved in getting the buy-button pressed. The decision makers and influencers are harder to reach, harder to gain consensus from and harder to get to make a commitment to move forward. Each of the stakeholders has competing things vying for their attention (see above). All of this is a major cause, not of a \u201cno sale,\u201d but a \u201cno decision.\u201d<\/p>\n Self.<\/strong> Before you dismiss this one too quickly, consider a few of the reasons that you may be your own biggest competitor. Your head may tell you that you can\u2019t really win. Your body may be worn past its ability to compete strongly. Your skill sets may not be at the level you need to compete at the top of the game. And even if you have those skills today, you better be building them all the time. Your other competitors certainly are.<\/p>\n That\u2019s a LOT of competition! So how do you beat every one of them every time? Check back next installment as we look at each. Ok, just kidding. There is no way I could cover everything in every one of those areas, even in a series of monthly installments delivered over years. Therefore, let\u2019s look at the best way to improve your odds.<\/p>\n Self:<\/strong> You as your own competitor can be broken down into three components:<\/p>\n Attention and Focus:<\/strong> Even the best ideas aren\u2019t implemented if something else is more important or urgent for the prospect. Do you know what else is on your buyer\u2019s plate? Do you know what other initiatives are competing for their attention? Do you know what their real constraints on implementation are? Have you asked?<\/p>\n Skepticism:<\/strong> If they don\u2019t trust you, your idea, your solution or your proposal, are they really going to buy? Are they even going to truly consider buying? Do you have evidence that you can strategically use to back your claims? Do you have people who will speak on your behalf? When people are faced with making a decision in an area where they haven\u2019t made decisions before, they look to other people with experience (whether they know them or not). When people venture out from their comfort zone, they look to the advice of just about anyone\u2026 anyone EXCEPT the salesperson (I know, YOU always sell as a \u201cconsultant\u201d\u2026 but unless they have experience with you, they don\u2019t know that \u2013 they are skeptical).<\/p>\n Group Decision-Making Dynamics:<\/strong> Say there is an average of five or more people involved in the decision process (or \u201cno decision\u201d process). How many of them are you engaged with? How many of them do you even know? For any product or service, there are certain roles within an organization that are likely to have some interest in the outcome. Do you have a list of the typical decision makers, influencers and other stakeholders? Do you create a list of the actual people during each sales opportunity?<\/p>\n Direct Competitors:<\/strong> I know, I know, you are entirely differentiated and the biggest, baddest mammer-jammer in the market (your marketing material says so!). But just for a moment, let\u2019s pretend that maybe you do have at least one worthy direct competitor. Who are they? What are their strengths and weaknesses? How have you fared against them in the past? In each specific deal, do you know who you are competing with? Why not? Do you have a game plan to separate yourself from the rest of the pack?<\/p>\n In an informal poll, here is how salespeople rank the \u201ccompetition\u201d:<\/p>\n Per another informal poll, here are the ranking results of many post-mortem lost deal assessments:<\/p>\n Disclaimer: If you would like the actual stats of both informal polls, they aren\u2019t available because I made them up \u2013 based on three decades of competing, coaching, managing and hanging out on the field of battle. Oh, my strongest competitor? A guy named\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Not for the first time, I was recently asked to name my strongest competitor. I imagine the inquirer expected me to share a company name and then offer some \u201csalesy\u201d explanation of why I was the better choice. My answer was definitely NOT what they were expecting. My biggest competitor? I\u2019m keeping that to myself for now. But let\u2019s look at the competition we all face at one time or another. Direct Competitors. Companies\/people that offer something similar. These are the competitive choices a buyer has when considering your proposal. The MPS provider down the street. The local supply company. The contract stationer. The \u201cexpense recovery\u201d company that brings in the lowest \u201cprice points\u201d but rarely the lowest true cost. You get the picture. When we think about competition, direct competitors are often what come to mind first. Attention and Focus. In most selling situations, there will be many things competing for the buyer\u2019s attention. Your contact on the big bank deal is finally realizing how mega the megabucks are that your nifty MPS program can deliver. They see the need. They believe you can deliver. Your contact even has the authority to sign an agreement\u2026 BUT they are also deeply involved in new regulation issues and undergoing a massive software conversion. You, the new regulation issues and the software conversion are all in a competition for the attention and focus of your buyer. Skepticism. Chances are high that you have received an email offering to cut you in on millions of dollars IF you quickly send your bank information. You aren\u2019t buying into any of these scams. You know better. And friends, prospects are skeptical. Even when it comes to dealing with such a fine company as yours. They have learned to be. Promises were made, and promises were broken. Most five-year-olds know the difference between good and too good, and your buyer is probably shrewder than the average toddler. This is a tough area, because the buyer rarely comes right out and says, \u201cHey, nice story there, Scooter, but the bottom line is, I don\u2019t believe you.\u201d And if they don\u2019t believe you, if they don\u2019t believe you can do what you say you can do, or deliver the results you\u2019ve promised, they aren\u2019t going to risk their job on bringing you in. You wouldn\u2019t either. Group Decision-Making Dynamics. There are all sorts of writings, trainings and insights into how complex B2B buying decisions are today. The common thread through all of them is that there are more and more people involved in getting the buy-button pressed. The decision makers and influencers are harder to reach, harder to gain consensus from and harder to get to make a commitment to move forward. Each of the stakeholders has competing things vying for their attention (see above). All of this is a major cause, not of a \u201cno sale,\u201d but a \u201cno decision.\u201d Self. Before you dismiss this one too quickly, consider a few of the reasons that you may be your own biggest competitor. Your head may tell you that you can\u2019t really win. Your body may be worn past its ability to compete strongly. Your skill sets may not be at the level you need to compete at the top of the game. And even if you have those skills today, you better be building them all the time. Your other competitors certainly are. That\u2019s a LOT of competition! So how do you beat every one of them every time? Check back next installment as we look at each. Ok, just kidding. There is no way I could cover everything in every one of those areas, even in a series of monthly installments delivered over years. Therefore, let\u2019s look at the best way to improve your odds. Self: You as your own competitor can be broken down into three components: Mental: Do you really believe that you can win in general? What about the specific deal you are working on? Are there some beliefs holding you back? What do you need to believe to succeed? Physical: Like it or not, the state of your body and physical health absolutely will have an influence on your ability to put in the effort, the activities and the hours necessary to be victorious. What needs to change? What\u2019s your outcome and how will you get there? Skills: The biggest games aren\u2019t won by rookies. Sure, there is the occasional and exciting underdog victory that everybody talks about. But they talk about it because it\u2019s rare! Do you want to try to beat the odds (look at a casino, it isn\u2019t built on the winnings of gamblers) or do you want the odds stacked in your favor? What is your learning and training regimen? What does it look like now? What should it look like? Attention and Focus: Even the best ideas aren\u2019t implemented if something else is more important or urgent for the prospect. Do you know what else is on your buyer\u2019s plate? Do you know what other initiatives are competing for their attention? Do you know what their real constraints on implementation are? Have you asked? Skepticism: If they don\u2019t trust you, your idea, your solution or your proposal, are they really going to buy? Are they even going to truly consider buying? Do you have evidence that you can strategically use to back your claims? Do you have people who will speak on your behalf? When people are faced with making a decision in an area where they haven\u2019t made decisions before, they look to other people with experience (whether they know them or not). When people venture out from their comfort zone, they look to the advice of just about anyone\u2026 anyone EXCEPT the salesperson (I know, YOU always sell as a \u201cconsultant\u201d\u2026 but unless they have experience with you, they don\u2019t know that \u2013 they are skeptical). Group Decision-Making Dynamics: Say there is an average of five or more people involved in the decision process (or […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":70,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1866],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22774"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/70"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22774"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22774\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22775,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22774\/revisions\/22775"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22774"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22774"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22774"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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