Sales Talk : Competition Story

Fighting Competition!!!

Recently in one of my half yearly review meetings, I came across one of my team members that they are being disturbed unnecessarily by a competitor in most of the major enquiries they come across for the company we work for. The major issue here was that more than half of  employees working with this competitor are our ex-employees, and they have similar product with around 75 percent similar advantages like our products. The company, they work for, is not bad, although the activities on marketing needs a lot of questions.

Instead of merits on their products, the competition here was promoting products as " Similar to our Products" and using every negative marketing strategy you could think of. Most of the time, they work on the enquiries generated for our products and throw prices to somehow spoil or grab our orders. Result was always discouraging to our team members as they would loose out on margins on orders. To some extent, a couple of orders have also gone where the purchase guys had no option but to place an order on the low pricing.

Our team members even tried to help customers in understanding the features and prompting them on benefits when the competition had counter offered. However, some of these steps were fruitful and some were not.

As I knew many of our employees, rather our ex-employees, I decided to check how they respond to enquiries when they get. The ex-engineer in question here in this region, who is a regional Manager with this competitor, knew me as the others and I decided to check on their strategy. Since my team member had this ex-engineers mobile number, i decided to make a surprise call to him. ( He didnt had my number so could not have known that it was me)

Following conversation took place between us; ( Here I will mention him as a EX  and for the record.. he still uses the same number for this competitor when he was working with us)

Call got connected...

Me : Hello!!  Is it Ex?
Ex : Yes, who is it? ( Obviously he didnt recognise me)
Me :  I need a Hensel ( My company) Junction Box. Can you please help me?
Ex :  Yes sir, but I am not working with Hensel ( I was relieved to hear that he was truthful). I can give similar product from another German company.
Me : No, but I like Hensel and I need only that product.
Ex : Sir, my product is better than Hensel. It is also Polycarbonate ( Generally, we stress on the material properties and he used the same here with the competiton)
Me : No, But the temperature range is better with Hensel. I know your company doesnt has such a good rating. ( I wanted to test him on some features of our products)
Ex : No sir, We offer a range that can sustain upto 80 degrees Celcius.
Me : But Hensel is better, it is upto 120 degrees.
Ex : ( Confused) No sir. we offer Ambient temperature upto 80 deg. We have 130 degrees fire retardant.
Me : ( Trying to show as if Iam not convinced) What? What are you talking about? What is the temperature resistance? Iam asking temperature resistance and you are talking on flame retardant features..
Ex :  ( Confused again ) Sir, Ambient is 80 deg and glow wire test 130 deg
Me : ( Angry on him as Iam more technically sound as a customer) How can you say this? If you dont know correctly, you should say, I dont know sir and I will let you know. Do you know the meaning of Ambient?
Ex : ( This time he is more angry on me.. and remember Iam actually a customer to him ) Sir who gave you my number???
Me : Why? I have your name card with me? Iam new in this company but it seems when you were working in Hensel, you had visited us and given your visiting card. Why are you getting angry? In fact I need to now speak to someone superior in your company? ( I was a bit harsh this time)
Ex : Iam not angry but you are not understanding. ( Confused, and angry tone)
Me : Do you know what standard is referred for Flame / Fire retardant?  You dont know what is Ambient? How can you suggest me such a product when iam asking for something which i know and iam aware of.?         ( Loud Voice and Angry tone )
Ex : ( Angry again) I told you 130 degrees. you only called me and now why are you shouting.
Me : GIVE ME YOUR SUPERIORS NAME!! ( Real good angry tone this time)
Ex : Why should I give. Iam keeping the phone. If you dont want, you can hang up. ( He was about to disconnect the call this time)

The next instant, I introduced myself to him and told him to calm down. I told him who he was actually speaking to. Also laughed about this entire episode loudly so that he takes it in a lighter vein. But he was totally shaken.I told him how can he forget my voice. He replied that he really could not recognise me. I apologised him and told him that I got his number and remembered him as I came to know that he is able to take away some of our orders. He tried to tell me that he doesnt but confirmed that he tries quite hard. I jovially scolded him as an ex boss that he forgot everything that we trained him on. Simple features, he was not able to explain. After clearing a couple of doubts for him, I hung up.

All my team members were laughing on the entire telephonic conversation and they all took one point very nicely from this episode. They have concluded that next time, if they find such competitors ( Mainly followers of our success ),they will simply ask the customers to call them face to face and ask any technical questions on the product to both, us and them. They are confident that they can definitely have an upper edge always.

With due apologies to my ex-sales engineer and ex-managers, doing favors to competition, the above experience for me was quite entertaining and hence thought of sharing it here. I could only take one more important lesson, that if your roots are strong, ethics are in place, you need not worry about fighting competition. Leaders will always lead... others will follow!!

  

Sales Talk!

How to Overcome “Brush Off” Objections with the 1QQ Techniques
Written by Jim Domanski

Are you frustrated with prospects that shut you down and brush you off after you’ve finished your opening statement?

You know the type of objection I am talking about: you barely utter your name and the prospect says, “We’re happy with our present supplier,” or “I’m in a meeting,” or “I am busy right now,” or “Just send me something in the mail,” or any number of other brush offs. And just like that, the call is over.

But it doesn’t have to be that way. You can reduce the impact of brush off objections and speak to more decision makers if you apply a smart little technique called “1 Quick Question” (1QQ).

Brush Off Objections

As the name implies, a brush off objection is a reflexive objection that typically occurs at the beginning of a call. They occur because the prospect was not expecting your call and the automatic response is to toss out an objection. They do so out of the compelling need to protect themselves “from being sold” and out of the desire to get rid of you as soon as possible. Most tele-sales reps oblige them by lamely mumbling an apology and hanging up.

Sound familiar? Don’t be a victim.

How to Deal With the Brush Off

Three are three steps to dealing with the brush off objections.

Step #1: Empathize

When you hear a brush off your first step is to empathize with the client. Say something like, “I understand,” or “I appreciate that.” This does two things. First, it acknowledges the prospect’s objection. It shows you have listened to the remark and that you understand. Second, it buys you a second or two to collect your thoughts and respond.

Step #2: Ignore the Objection

Ignore what you hear. Don’t fall for the objection. It’s a mistruth. You know it’s a brush off and so does the prospect. Responding to the stated objection is therefore a waste of time. So don’t honor it with a retort. Ignore it.

Step #3: Ask “1 Quick Question”

Apply the 1 Quick Question (1QQ) technique. The 1QQ is simply a way to forge ahead with the call before the prospect hangs up. It is extremely easy to apply. Here are some examples to give you a feel for how it works:

Example #1:

Prospect: “I’m in a meeting right now!”

Rep: “I understand completely. Just one quick question before I go…”

Example #2:

Prospect: “I’m happy with our present supplier.”

Rep: “I’m happy to hear that. Jeff, one quick question if you don’t mind…”

Example #3:

Prospect: “We don’t need anything right now.”

Rep: “I appreciate that. Before I go one quick question.”

You can see the pattern. The rep empathizes but does not directly respond to the objection. Instead he uses the 1QQ technique. It works because the majority of prospects realize that they have been a bit dismissive and possibly rude. By politely asking ‘one quick question’, many prospects feel the need to soften up a bit and give you a quick answer before they terminate the call.

Now here’s the interesting thing. Depending on the nature of your question, one quick question often leads to two or three or more questions. Think of it as a wedge in the door. The better your question, the greater the opportunity to get your prospect to open up further.

How to Create Your 1QQ

The key to making the 1QQ work for you is your question. Your first step to developing 1QQ is to identify a pain, a problem or a predicament that the prospect typically experiences and that you can solve. You only have one shot at getting the wedge in the door so your question has to go directly to an issue that is significant to the average prospect.

Developing your 1QQ will take some time and thought but once you have it you’ll be able to use it with virtually every call. So think hard: what is the number one problem your clients experience?

For example, suppose you sell magazine subscriptions to educators that help the teachers plan their curriculum. The problem that many teachers experience is time and it takes to develop new, creative and effective class plans. Here’s one quick question that might work.

“Mr. Gunderson, one quick question before I go: do you find it frustrating and time consuming to prepare a daily curriculum for your classes?”

The second step is to have another question prepared. If possible, create a question that quantifies the problem. For instance, if Gunderson does find it frustrating and time consuming to prepare a daily curriculum your next question might be:

“If I may, roughly how much time do you spend preparing…say, on a daily basis?”

By doing so, the prospect begins to see the magnitude of their problem and may get curious enough to let you continue.

The third step is to pursue your line of questioning, identify the need and proceed as you normally would.

Summary

The 1QQ technique gives you an edge by helping to create an opportunity. While not every client will answer your one quick question some will and that’s the strength of the technique.

Self-Consicousness!!

The One Real Key to Your Success 

Written by Mike Brooks 

Every so often I feel it’s my responsibility to remind you about the single most important determinate of success, happiness and well being. Like gravity itself, this law of being is constant; it is unchanging and completely dependable. Every person relies on and uses this principle, consciously or unconsciously, and it never fails to deliver the exact results according to your understanding of it. The rich, the poor, the successful, the struggling – all manner of men and women the planet over are using this law or principle of being, and it has been this way since the beginning of time. Right now, right here as you are reading this, you are using it, too.

The exciting thing about this principle is that as soon as you truly understand and begin using it constructively with belief and expectation, you can turn your life, circumstance, your income, health, or anything else completely around. This law can be summed up very simply:

“Everything in your life is an exact duplication of your consciousness.”

In other words, whatever images you hold in your mind, in your consciousness, will always be manifested outward as your experience. It is the simplest of truths that you cannot hold one belief and image in your mind and manifest another.

That’s why some sales reps (the top 20%) are, and always will be, more successful than others. That is how they believe themselves to be; it is how they see themselves, and they will always produce the exact results according to their belief. There’s a very easy way to prove that this is so. Ask yourself, “Isn’t it true that the results in your life, in every area, down to every detail, are an exact mirror of what you think about it all day long?”

If you’re honest, your answer is yes. Now the question may come into your mind, “Yeah, but the reason I’m thinking about it all day long is because that’s how it is for me. The circumstances are there (I’m not making enough money; don’t have the house/car/relationship I want, etc.) so of course that’s what I think about all the time.”

Let me ask you: “What if it was EXACTLY the other way around?” What if your thoughts actually caused you to take repetitive actions that actually CAUSED the unwanted situations in your life to recur?

If you’re willing to consider that your thinking and beliefs might actually be the cause – rather than the results – in your life, then you are ready to finally claim the spiritual power that is the one truth that rules all of existence – that everything in your life is an exact duplication of your current consciousness.

There are books written about this power of manifestation (some call it the Law of Attraction), and it is and always will be true. I think Dr. Robert Anthony said it best in his book, “Advanced Formula for Total Success”:

“Take all the money away from a person who is a millionaire – one who has the consciousness of a millionaire today – and within a short time he or she will be a millionaire again. Riches start from the mind, not your pocketbook, bank account or investment. The pocketbook, bank account and investments are the effects, not the cause. The cause is always an idea or belief. A person is not rich because they have money. They have money because they are rich in consciousness. They believe that they are rich.

Again, this is the reason that the rich will always get richer and the poor will always stay poor until they change their consciousness.”

This is why an astounding 90% of all lottery winners or people who inherit or win large sums of money end up broke and in debt – in other words, back to their original level of consciousness – in 3 years or less. This is a concrete and measurable example of this law in action.

So, what can do you do about it?

First, stop blaming other people, companies, competition or the economy for your current circumstances. They are not the cause; your current beliefs and repetitive thinking are and always will be the cause.

Second, make a commitment to begin treating the source – your consciousness. You can do this by picking up and reading daily, any of the books you currently own on the power of belief,law of attraction, consciousness conditioning, and begin reminding yourself of the truth, daily.

Third, begin changing these believes and your consciousness with whatever techniques you find work for you. There are many different ones to chose from: You can use affirmations, meditations, becoming aware of and changing your self-talk, hypnosis sessions, prayer, practicing gratitude, or any other practice that will develop and change your consciousness.

I hope some of what you’ve read here today resonates with the truth inside of you. If you have used your power before, then you know what I’m talking about. Make a decision that today is the day you begin believing in and creating the life you know is possible for you. Just remember: “If someone else can have the things in life that you want, then YOU can have it, too.”

And you will, as soon as you change in the images in your consciousness!!

Fighting Competition!!

How to Compete with Discounters

                                                                                                                                                                                        Written by Jeff Mowatt   

If you manage a small to medium-sized business, chances are you encounter pricing pressures from some version of a large discounter.  Large competitors may have more money to spend to attract new customers, more buying-power to undercut your prices, and more resources to outlast you in a price war.  If they’re from overseas, they may also have cheaper labour.  

On competing with price discounters, my advice: “Don’t be better – be different.”  In other words, don’t even try to beat their prices.  Instead, be different in these three areas…

Target Different Customers

Don’t waste your time or money trying to attract bottom feeders.  These are customers whose only buying criteria is low price.  You might attract them with a sale or discount, but they’ll leave you to save a nickel.  Let your mega competitor have them.  The good news is most people do not buy strictly on low price.  If that we’re the case then everyone would live in the cheapest homes, drive the cheapest cars, wear the cheapest clothes, and only dine in fast food restaurants.  People typically buy on low price when they perceive no extra value.  That leads us to our next area to make your business different…

Supply Different Offerings

By definition, mega-suppliers appeal to the masses.  They supply stuff that average customers buy.  So don’t go there.  Instead, position your business a notch above.  Yours is the boutique experience that provides either different products, better quality, expert advice, or preferably all three.   Think about bicycles… you can buy them relatively cheaply at department stores, but serious cyclists shop at bike stores, or they order custom-made on-line.  Either way, they’re willing to pay more for quality.  That’s where small businesses do well and make more money.

Provide Different Service

Remember your goal is to target customers who are smart; more interested in quality and value than just buying whatever’s cheapest.  Contrary to popular opinion, smart customers no longer value information.  Before smart customers even contact your business, they’ve already collected information about you and your competitors.  They’ve given their smart phones a shake or searched Google.  It takes them less than a second for the search and the information is free.  Free is worthless.  That means that if your employees are merely providing information to potential customers they aren’t really creating any perceived value - at least not enough to warrant charging a premium.

The question, when it comes to service, is what are customers willing to pay a premium for?  It isn’t friendliness.  Nothing wrong with being friendly, but employees at your discounting competitor can also be friendly.  More to the point, your customers already have friends.  And they’re also free. 

What customers do value when it comes to service are three things: analysis, interpretation and advice.  They want a genuine expert who has analyzed the plethora of options that are available. They want that same person to interpret which of these options might be best suited to that customer’s unique needs.  And they want that expert to advise them on a few options.  This requires that your employees need to not only know your products and services; they also need to know which questions to ask customers to clarify their unique needs.  And they need to know how to position short-listed options in a way that helps customers make smarter, faster, decisions.  These are easy techniques and come with experience.  

When it comes to customer service, remember - this is business.  Customers don’t want a buddy.  They don’t want an informer.  They want a trusted advisor.  For this, customers will pay a premium.

Bottom line, managers and business owners would do well to worry less about beating their competitors’ prices, and focus more on becoming a category-of-one.

Burn Your Boat!!

Written by John Boe

I believe that the great NFL Hall of Fame coach, Vince Lombardi, had it right when he said, "The quality of a person's life is in direct proportion to their commitment to excellence, regardless of their chosen field of endeavor." Do you agree with Coach Lombardi, or are you the type of person who has difficulty staying focused and keeping commitments? Do you allow the negative influences of fear, anxiety, self-doubt and worry to dominate your thinking and sabotage your results? Sadly, most people fail to achieve their goals, not because they're lazy or lack self-motivation, but because they were never "fully committed" to succeed! I can't think of a single great achievement that has ever been attained without first a plan of action and then an unshakable commitment to its accomplishment. Walt Disney was arguably one of the most creative dreamers and determined men of the twentieth century. Walt understood the power of commitment and would frequently tell those around him, "When you believe in a thing, believe in it all the way, implicitly and unquestionably." The ancient Greek warriors were both feared and respected by their enemies. In battle, the Greeks established a well-deserved reputation for their unsurpassed bravery and unshakable commitment to victory. The key to their overwhelming success on the battlefield had far more to do with how the Greek commanders motivated the warriors than it did with issues of tactics or training. The Greeks were master motivators who understood how to use a "dramatic demonstration" to infuse a spirit of commitment into the heart of every warrior. Once the warriors had been offloaded from their boats onto their enemy's shore, the Greek commanders would shout out their first order…"burn the boats!" The sight of burning boats removed any notion of retreat from their hearts and any thoughts of surrender from their heads. Imagine the tremendous psychological impact on the soldiers as they watched their boats being set to the torch. As the boats turned to ash and slipped quietly out of sight into the water, each man understood there was no turning back and the only way home was through victory. In your sales career your battles are not fought with weapons on foreign shores, but within the confines of your own mind. A truly committed salesperson does not have the luxury or the time for the self-indulgence of negative thinking. The true underlying motivation for all success is a deep and unwavering commitment to the task at hand. The sales profession is a demanding and challenging career, but it is also personally rewarding and financially lucrative for those who are fully committed to becoming successful. If you are being pushed around mentally by thoughts of fear, anxiety, self-doubt and worry, it's time to "burn your boat" and become fully committed to your sales career! "Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative and creation, there is one elementary truth the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, and then providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one's favor all manner of unforeseen incidents, meetings and material assistance which no man could have dreamed would have come his way. Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. Begin it now." - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe