My original title for this article was “Destroy All Competitors!”. Every now and then, my nasty side comes out. Nobody ever said sales was “nice”. Nor have they said that it was fair. It’s dog eat dog and my competitor is what stands between this dog and MY bone. I don’t care if he thinks that this is HIS bone. Trust me, it’s only out on loan to him until I find the time to come by and pick it up.
I hate political correctness, I hate “participation awards, and I also hate the fact that salespeople are having to constantly apologize for being meat eaters. Ask any good salesperson if losing a deal is the one thing that they simply can’t stand to endure, and if they say no … you’ve got yourself an order-taker, not a sales pro.
When the sale is over, all is said and done, and the dust has cleared, I don’t want my competitor to be bruised and bloody. I want him to be disemboweled and demoralized to the point of never wanting to see my face or hear my name again. This is a part of the warrior code and selling is war. The really great thing is that you can, and should, do this without losing one ounce of your professional reputation. It might be war but, this does not mean that you play dirty. You play smart. You do it with a smile and you do it honorably.
I always told my sales reps that “there is no honor in being low bid”. I can train a monkey to submit low bids and he’ll do it all day long for a hell of a lot less than I pay you! Conversely, There is honor (and higher commissions) in getting your fair price and still earning that business. Of course, you must have a great product and the service to back that asking price up. Together these define the true, and overall value, of your offering. What happens to people who sell low? They don’t make any money, their company doesn’t make any money, everybody is out of a job, and the customer is left without support. Nobody wins.
However, and this might be the necessary nature of your business but, I would never even choose to compete for business based on price alone. Whether or not this will be the case for your business must be determined during the qualification process. At least, if you choose to bid, you are going into this with open eyes. If not, it is you who have not done their job.
As the competing salesperson, and particularly if he has a very good product, company, service, etc. and a rock-bottom pricing structure, and if he still loses the deal, where does that leave him? Looking in the mirror because he knows it was … him. Perfect! You have his number and he knows that equally well.
And, how does this make you feel? Perhaps a jolt of confidence? You bet! So, how do you go Rambo on your competitors without sacrificing your good name or your ethical behavior? It’s pretty simple. You get better at what you do. You up your game in all aspects of the selling profession. You dismember them by outperforming them.
You never worry about them. You worry about you and you act like they don’t even exist. You don’t mention, or even acknowledge, them. This prevents any possible perception of you being seen as disparaging the competition which is less than professional and is an extremely dangerous game to play and one that you will rarely win.
I would love to hear dissenting opinions on this topic! Or, if you now feel more comfortable in your furry skin, I’d love to hear about that too!
Craig M. Jamieson
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