Let's talk competition !

If a prospect you're talking to brings up one of your competitors, how do you normally chose to handle it ?


Do you point out your competitors flaws if the opportunity presents itself or do you prefer not to use that strategy ?


Let's discuss

How do you usually handle talking about competitors ?

Attached poll
*Voting in this poll no longer yields commission.
๐Ÿ‘‘ Sales Strategy
๐Ÿ“ฃ Demos
๐Ÿ“ˆ Closing
24
DaveFromCollege
Notorious Answer
9
Account Executive
I almost always compliment but mention key differences that position us better given the prospect's situation.
Dealsonwheels
Opinionated
3
Technical Sales Executive
Same here - we try and plant what we call landmines - things we do that they don't, that the prospect can easily find on their own with a little proddingย 
DaveFromCollege
Notorious Answer
1
Account Executive
Landmines! That's the term that was escaping me as I wrote that comment hahaย 
Battlecards with info like that are essential
SalesGal
Politicker
1
Account Executive
That's a smart strategy
SalesPharaoh
Big Shot
1
Senior Account Executive
Never hurts
Incognito
WR Officer
1
Master of Disaster
@DaveFromCollegeย wins the best objection handling award for this one
Ace
Arsonist
0
CEO
Best way to do it!
GlenRoss
Politicker
4
Account Executive
I like complimenting competitors for things that are true but wonโ€™t affect the deal. It comes off defensive if you start talking down about competitorsย 
SalesGal
Politicker
0
Account Executive
Agreed
Blackwargreymon
Politicker
2
MDR
I like complimenting competitors for things that are true but wonโ€™t affect the deal. It comes off defensive if you start talking down about competitorsย 
Trinity
WR Officer
1
BusDev
I compliment the competitors then move on. Then I would get into a customer story on why a company switched to my solution without naming the competitor(s) and highlight the differentiation.
SalesPharaoh
Big Shot
0
Senior Account Executive
If you highlight key difference on why you are more relvant and valuable to them
SpiderHam
Opinionated
1
Manager, Sales Development
everyone here saying compliment is right- why talk down on your competitors at all? your buyers have google they can look up pros and cons of your solution vs your competitor. Just be honest about what they do vs what you do.
SiliconBBQ
Politicker
1
The Metal Rooster
subtle art of throwing shade, no need to talk down about them but pointing out value add differentiators when done well is a way to box out the comp
fuzzy
Notable Contributor
1
CMO (Chief Meme Officer)
I donโ€™t talk down, I just talk about how weโ€™re betterย 
sales7
Politicker
1
Commercial Product Enablement
I use it as an opportunity for discovery, and then also finding out what it was about the competitor they liked... best to play ignorant and ask questions so then I know what they took from the competitor and how to win against them.
SalesGal
Politicker
0
Account Executive
Makes sense. The more information you have, the easier to close.ย 
Clashingsoulsspell
Politicker
1
ISR
I actually compliment my competitors
Chep
WR Officer
0
Bitcoin Adoption Specialist
Love that complimenting competitors is the top answer. Think about it like this. If a dude in a Chevy pick up truck rolls up to the Ford dealership and the first thing he hears is you came to the right place so you don't have to drive that P.O.S Chevy anymore what do you think the Prospect immediately thinks? I can guarantee you it's not I need a Ford๐Ÿ˜‚๐Ÿค
SalesGal
Politicker
1
Account Executive
For sure. Bashing a competitor can come off super defensive. In my opinion, if your product/service really is better, you shouldn't need to put down the competitor's product/service in order to land a sale.ย ย 
SaaSKicker1000
Politicker
0
AE II
For me itโ€™s pointing out our strengths and weakenesses, as well as the competitors.

a few times Iโ€™ve been on intro calls and itโ€™s wound up being that we are not the best fit and I wind up reccomending they reach out to competitors because of their situation / intended use case / etc.
SalesGal
Politicker
0
Account Executive
Same. There's no use signing up a customer to your service if you know you won't be the right fit. That's just a headache for later.ย 
paddy
WR Officer
0
Director of Business Development
I don't think it's bad to point out your competitors flaws so long as you are actually an expert in the field.
SalesGal
Politicker
0
Account Executive
At the company I'm currently at we are the field industry leaders and one thing I like to do is point out reasons why I'm the expert without specifically mentioning the competitor. For example, phrase it as : "We are the only company that provides X Y Z". The result is the same but the spin is a little more positive.ย 
Machine
Politicker
0
Enterprise AE
We play the high road and point out strong differentiators and areas they may want to double click intoย 
stanrym
Valued Contributor
0
CEO
complimenting someone shows your superiority and that you care more about the customer. in the end you don't want to close bad customers.
Smithy
Politicker
0
Director of Sales
Just try to be honest about competitors and how we compareย 
SheWOLF
Opinionated
0
TC Sales
Brand, Brand and BRANNNNDD why am I the best. That is all I focus on. Idc about the other dogs, here is why I'm the best.ย 
gsmagnet
Valued Contributor
0
Founder
I follow: "Be diplomatic"
AlexT
Politicker
0
Account Executive
I position ourselves as different and point out the key benefits. I then proceed to suggest questions to ask any providers to the prospect so they uncover for themselves our competitor's weaknesses.ย 
Wolfof7thStreet
Valued Contributor
0
AE
I am in an incredibly competitive industry selling a product with about 80% of market share being held by top 5 companies and we are roughly #6 in the space. We definitely take a lot of jabs at the competition at a cost or feature basis as it is the only way to make progress against a really embedded product that is a direct substitute for ours (though more expensive and less performant)
MR.StretchISR
Politicker
0
ISR
I compliment the competitors then move on. Then I would get into a customer story on why a company switched to my solution without naming the competitor(s) and highlight the differentiation.
Mr.Floaty
Politicker
0
BDR
Awareness that my strengths (balcony) can also be my weakness (basement).
Cyberjarre
Politicker
0
BDR
Thanks for sharing. My husband did that one and got some very detailed results. Iโ€™ve been considering doing it for that reason.
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