CastleIsland

Associate Account Director

How to approach the topic of competition in your deals

I've been in sales for a while, but I've always been curious about how other folks approach the topic of competition when speaking with prospects. I made a poll. Feel free to comment as well. Let's learn from each other.

How do you approach the topic of competitors with your prospects?

Attached poll

I ask them directly I don't ask, but I assume they are talking to all of our top competitors I build up trust with them so that they feel comfortable telling me directly Who cares? I've conveyed our value

*Voting in this poll no longer yields commission.

🏅 Competition

28 comments

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CoorsKing

WR Officer

Retired King of the Coors Knights

I will always ask directly. I would be doing myself and the prospect a disservice if I ignore any competitive pressures.

“what do you use today?”
”who else are you evaluating?”
”do any of the stakeholders have strong preferences or relationships?”

UrAssIsSaaS

Arsonist

SaaS Eater

I feel like you're pretty soft as a salesperson if you aren't asking about competition. Its super ignorant to think your prospect is only thinking about you and you're just shooting yourself in the foot if you're not brining this up early.

CoorsKing

WR Officer

Retired King of the Coors Knights

It also can hurt your prospect if they are going to bat for you, and you don’t show up prepared.

UrAssIsSaaS

Arsonist

SaaS Eater

Yup 100%

jefe

Arsonist

🍁

LOVE the last question @CoorsKing

CastleIsland

Tycoon

Associate Account Director

I definitely like that approach, and when woven into a natural conversation/dialogue it doesn't seem as direct or potentially off putting.

FromaBlankPerspective

Politicker

District Manager

That stakeholders question is easy to miss, but super important. Great add.

UrAssIsSaaS

Arsonist

SaaS Eater

In my world its impossible not to talk about competition because there is an incumbent that most prospects use in our industry. So a major part of discovery is asking what they like and dont like about their current provider so I understand how to pitch our platform accordingly.

CastleIsland

Tycoon

Associate Account Director

That's a good point. The incumbent is usually the "path of least resistance" competition.

FamilyTruckster

Politicker

Exec Director, Major Accounts

Ask them everything. Odds are they will sing.

SaaSam

Politicker

Account Executive

Totally voted wrong. Wanted to go with first option. It's really a big part of my sales process as there are few competitors in my space and you have to already be using one of us so it comes down to a comparison every single time. Usually a cost comparison.

CastleIsland

Tycoon

Associate Account Director

Its okay, I am sure @GeneralCorpwill not dock you any commission points for clicking the wrong button! But yes I agree with that approach for sure. When it is a niche market, its good to know all the players inside and out, and ask about them early and often.

CuriousFox

WR Officer

🦊

Ask directly if you want to know the truth.

FattySnacks

Politicker

Senior Account Executive

I go up against competitors in every single deal so I just ask. Then again I’m pretty direct in everything I do so who knows if it hurts or helps.

Diablo

Politicker

Sr. AE

Asking directly helps, however, I like to tell them the reason I am asking to understand if they are evaluating the right ones as per the needs that they just explained to me.

Sunbunny31

Politicker

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

Well, I clicked on #3, but #1 applies as well. I'd like to have built up trust so that I get not only the competition, but why they're in consideration, and as we go, how we are measuring up, as well as the criteria for evalution.

However, if I'm just getting started with a new logo/customer, I'm going to ask every darned question I can to better understand their POV and also what I'm up against.

CastleIsland

Tycoon

Associate Account Director

I am definitely most aligned with #3 myself. I think when you've gained trust and credibility, all of these other tough questions or areas of information to extract become much easier. It is a conversation and less of an interrogation.

Sunbunny31

Politicker

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

I agree, but then again, I value honesty and transparency in my customers as well, so being up front with them as to any questions is also something I'll do. I'll let them know it's so that I better understand their business, and we can provide differentiators along the way if we know what else they're looking at.

jefe

Arsonist

🍁

Absolutely nothing wrong with being direct.

Too many buyers think salesfolks are full of BS

WomenWantMeFishFearMe

Politicker

I don't shit on competitors, that's a tactic of the scared and insecure. Rather I ask about competitors and display my own value and allow the customer to compare

JustGonnaSendIt

Politicker

Burn Towns, Get Money

I use a Brian Burns approach here. Easy question:

"What alternatives are you considering?"

This helps uncover answers such as:
- Well, we already have X
- We're also talking to others
- We may try to do this internally
- We may not do this project this year

All of the possible answers to this question gain you more information and open the door to further discovery conversation.

CastleIsland

Tycoon

Associate Account Director

I'm a huge fan of Brian burns, and that is a great way to phrase it.

IYNFYL

Politicker

Enterprise SaaS AE

Yeah I ask if they have seen other options, many companies especially in SaaS have it where they have to compare 3 companies for a RFP so it will be discussed at one point.

Justatitle

Big Shot

Account Executive

"Who else are you looking at" If they won't tell you they've likely already made their decision and it's not you.

FromaBlankPerspective

Politicker

District Manager

Combination of the top three? I prep for the meeting assuming they are in talks with our competition so I can plant some land mines along the way, build trust and credibility through the first meeting or two and then ask directly if it hasn’t come up already.

dwightyouignorantsale

Politicker

Account Executive

Do as much research beforehand to see if you can find who you are using and bring that up. Otherwise always ask. Some prospects may get weird when asked about who else they are evaluating, but from my experience, they will usually be open about their current setup.

newsalesguy14

Politicker

Account Executive

My approach:

Before demo:
"Anyone else you're evaluating so I can make comparisons for you?"

And/or

Before pricing:
"Before we dive in, have you looked at any other platforms to solve this?"

Whenever the answer is yes
-How did you like them?
-Have you seen pricing from them yet?
-What did that pricing look like?
-Are you leaning any direction as of now?

MR.StretchISR

Politicker

ISR

99.9% due to confusion because of all the blue and white logos

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CastleIsland

How to approach the topic of competition in your deals

How do you approach the topic of competitors with your prospects?

28 comments

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