With the election finally over, we can finally look at the strategies implemented by the "winning" sales meisters. Here's one technique the Bush people used to their advantage from the beginning of the campaign.
Tip #3: Define your competition before they define themselves.
Bush's spin meisters were all over John Kerry before he had a chance to define himself with the American public. In painstaking detail, they reviewed his government record looking for anything that could be used against him. What did they notice? As a Senator, he voted for some bills and against others - on the same issue.
From their perspective, why he did it was entirely irrelevant. The spin meisters needed a quick and easy way to convey this to the American public. After experimenting with various terms, "flip-flop" emerged as the clear winner. From that moment on, John Kerry was on the defensive. It didn't matter why he'd changed his mind. He was a "flip-flopper."
How can sellers use this same strategy without losing their soul?
First of all, sellers cannot naively assume they won't have competition. Rarely does a customer make decisions without checking out some options. So the key is to figure out how to define your competitors before they establish a position in your prospective client's mind.
My suggestion: Think generic.
In nearly all cases, you lose if you attack a competitor head on. Customers assume that your comments are self-serving and you're slamming them to get the sale. The best way to define your competitors is to generically identify potential flaws, issues or areas of deficiency. Perhaps the components they use in their products wear out faster than yours. Perhaps they're a really large firm and aren't flexible. Find the differentiators and figure out the difference they make to customers.
Then, when you're meeting with your the decision makers, plant the seeds that define your competition.
• If your product technology is better, you might say: "As you evaluate your options; make sure you look at the materials used to make these parts. There's a real difference in longevity between systems made out of "quarkles" versus those made of "meltons". Let me explain what it means and why it's imperative to have "quarkles" as the base material."
• If you're a flexible, customer-focused small firm, you might say: "There's a real difference in dealing with small firms like ours. I'm sure you've dealt with those big corporate giants who take forever to get back with you. Or, they tell you, 'it's our way or the highway.' When you work with our firm ..."
When your customer is actively looking to make a decision, defining the competition on your terms puts you light years ahead in the sales process.
Please note: I do NOT advocate the malicious, slimeball tactics used to destroy people in this past campaign. If you can't do this with integrity, you're selling your soul - and that's morally wrong.
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