Masonry Magazine July 1968 Page. 18
SMOOTH SELLING
by George N. Kahn, Marketing Consultant
© 1967 George N. Kahn
KEEPING AHEAD OF THE COMPETITION
I once asked a brilliantly successful salesman: "What's the toughest competition you've ever faced?" "Myself", he replied without hesitation.
This is a simple truth that many salesmen take years to learn. Some never learn it.
I am not urging you to forget about your competitors. This could be fatal. I am asking you to perfect yourself before you let yourself be panicked by the opposition. If you are a sound, thoughtful salesman, an expert in techniques and product knowledge, you will have little to fear from rivals.
If you are a first-rate man, there is no need to engage in jungle fighting with your competition. Many salesmen complain to their managers about being undersold. If you have other resources at your command there will be no need for this lament. The lowest price isn't some kind of god to which you must bow down. All business in this country does not revolve around the cheapest price. If it did, thousands of wholesale, retail and manufacturing establishments would have closed down long ago.
A good salesman can circumvent price spiraling; he can drop it to a secondary position in the presentation. The men who consistently lead the pack do not get bogged down in price games. These men have first of all mastered themselves and then have amassed a vast amount of information that will help the buyer. So consummate is their skill that price rarely enters into their sales talk.
Facing Competition
The first thing to realize about competition is that it will always be around. Each salesman should develop a healthy philosophy toward competition that will carry him through his entire selling career.
Secondly, there is nothing wrong or unfair about wooing away business from your competitor-if you do it in an above board manner.
When you start hitting below the belt, however, you do yourself and your company no good at all. To revile and drag down a competitor before a prospect only demeans you in the latter's eyes. If you have to fight competition during an interview do it intelligently. Deliver your key points and let the prospect compare for himself. Conduct yourself like a gentleman. Name calling and innuendo will destroy whatever goodwill you have built.
I once went into a store and asked for a particular brand of snow sled that I wanted to give my son.
The clerk said that he did not have that kind of sled and started to show me other brands. When he noticed my lack of interest, he began running down the sled I had sought; he termed it overpriced and said it was unworthy of its reputation.
"Just a minute", I interrupted. "You're talking about a product that's rated the best in its field. It's almost a household word. Thousands are bought each year. How can you justify your denigration of it?"
The man stammered and fumbled but could not give me a satisfactory answer. He had worked himself into a trap and could not get out.
Don't trap yourself by tearing down the other guy's product.
Know Your Competition
No salesman should spend much time talking about competing products before a buyer. Mention them only if the prospect brings up the matter and then discuss them just briefly.
However, you should know about the competition's product so you can make your presentation more effective.
I know many top producers who make a list of the competition's line, noting all of its characteristics. They study these carefully, comparing them with their own. Some keep a record on every product in the rival line with detailed facts on each. Some of these files are so sophisticated as to include the competitor's price, position, advertising and promotion effort, distribution, type of salesman and position in the industry.
Ring Your Own Bell
Although it is a good idea to protect yourself by knowing your competition, the major emphasis in your sales talk should be on your product. Ring the bell and bang the drum at every available opportunity for your firm and your line. You didn't seek the interview to discuss the competition. Your data on the competition is merely a reserve battery to bring up if needed. Think of it as a kind of insurance.
Here are some "don't" in reference to the competition.
1. Don't volunteer any facts or information on the competition. If it must be brought up, let the prospect bring it up.
2. Don't dwell for any length of time on the competition if the subject is discussed.
3. Don't try to build yourself up by running down the competition.
4. Don't spread malicious stories or rumors about competing salesmen. They might do the same for you some day.
5. Don't allow bad temper to color remarks about the opposition.
The Alibi
A final don't should be added here. Don't use the competition as a whipping boy for your poor performance. Some salesmen can hardly wait to complain to their supervisors about the competition's superior numbers, product, distribution, advertising, etc. Too often the salesman simply uses these factors as an alibi. In many cases they are not even true.
Before you run for help to your manager make sure that you are doing your very best.
To judge for yourself how you are handling the competition, try this little test. If you can answer "yes" to eight of eleven questions, you're ahead of your competition:
1. I always let the prospect bring up the matter of competition, if it is to be mentioned.
Yes No
2. I never run down or heap scorn on the competition's product.
Yes No
3. I never tell unflattering or disparaging stories about rival salesmen.
Yes No
4. I never use the competition as a cover-up for my own mistakes and bad judgment.
Yes No
5. I try to overpower and outgun the competition by self improvement.
Yes No
6. I have the facts on the competition if I need them.
Yes No
7. I don't permit myself to get trapped in price spirals with the competition.
Yes No
8. I'm always aware of the competition
Yes No
9. If I make a statement about the competition I know what I'm talking about.
Yes No
10. I use sources that provide me with information about the competition.
Yes No
11. I keep up-to-date files on the competition.
Yes No