How to win your competitor’s customers?

At the end of the day if the product doesn’t sell then there is no meaning on invested efforts and time by your team.

If you are a sales person then you could relate it personally than any other professionals.

People say sales involve a lot of stress yes actually if we don’t take stress then rest of the company will be jobless so we need to work for ourselves and for others.

It’s not easy to sell any product in the market.

If you don’t add any value to your customer’s hard earned money then you can’t sustain in the business for a long term .This is the difference between startups and a common outlet.

A store owner simply buys and sell the product but startups or brands add some value to the product and sell it in the market.

If you are working in a well-known branded company then you need not worry about selling the product. Is it easy for you isn’t?

But the advent of digital Medias making everything branded. Established companies spent millions to create a brand then but now two to three posters on social media could make a brand .

Digital technologies not made and reduced the cost to create a brand it also opened the way for new players in your segment at reduced operation cost.

Your company’s dream is always want to be the market leader as your competitor’s.

Whenever they get this though before focusing on improving product quality or improving the service they call sales people and motivate them to increase the sale.

Being a sales executive you know how to react but you should stick to the target set by the company.

Without pulling few key customers from your competitors it’s tough to increase your market share. But how you are going to break the bond between your competitor and your prospect.

Related : Huge List of Free Marketing Tools for small business

Being a sales person I am writing down my very own experience on how to win your competitor’s customer.

We need to understand one thing clearly whether you are a market leader or not, your product is costlier or cheaper your deal doesn’t begin there, it’s all about interpersonal skills you possess you may contradict with my point but it’s the universal fact.

Continue reading … How to win competitor’s customer.

It takes some time to win your prospect as you know you cannot close the deal on the first day of the meeting but you can ignite in the first meeting.

Before you approach your prospect collect some basic data on the level of service your competitor is providing to your prospect and the quality of the product.

If his service is not up to the expectation then tell about your level of service with some appreciation letters from your existing client.

Don’t try to sell your product in the first meeting itself let it be an icebreaker.

Whenever you are going to meet your prospect always have one more person with you go as two because it gives them a feel your team is interested in this project and investing more time and resources to support him .

Explain your product features and service in the first meeting.

It’s good to have failure stories of your competitor’s with you maybe in the second or third meeting you can tell about failure stories on the lighter note.

Do you think if you tell the failure story they will become your customer? A big No.

That’s why I said , say it on the lighter note.

If you concentrate more on saying ill of your competitor then your prospect will think  you are trying to push your product not a solution to him so don’t overdo this.

Focus on your product and service.

Don’t give offers and discounts to convert your prospect if you are keeping this as a strategy to sell then if another company provides more offers and high discounts you will lose your customer.

I am not saying don’t provide offers but don’t have it as a strategy to attract new customers.

You need to build a relationship with your prospect.

Product cost doesn’t matter when you have a strong customer relationship that’s why I mentioned you need interpersonal skills.

If you want the customer you need to follow him continuously.

For example, maybe in your second meeting your prospect may tell,

”I will call you back definitely “.

But being a sales executive you know the real meaning of the sentence from your prospect but don’t stop there.

You need to follow him closely from then imagine him as your customer and starts following him you should be aware other competitors approaching him.

My industry is the highly competitive business but I enjoy doing this. My sales team has a good knowledge about their prospect and customer. We can say how close our competitors are trying to finish the deal.

But it’s all on our hand.

Follow prospects in person avoid cold calling, if you do call I can say it’s a 50-50 chance so avoid calling and meet them in person.

Maybe in your fourth or fifth meeting try to take your immediate boss with you. I am damn sure this time you move one step closer than before.

Understand his business and challenges he is facing in his industry help him to overcome this.

For example, if you are working in construction industry your client may be looking for steel at a competitive price though it’s not your business suggest him some good players at a competitive price ,it takes you one step closer.

Always don’t see clients as a buying machine, do some little services other than selling your product.

If you do well by word of mouth he will definitely suggest you to his business friends or in his next project.

After 100s of follow ups if you couldn’t get him away from the competitor, what do you do?
Here lies your skill don’t worry cool your efforts will never become waste.

Respect his decision and leave the place with positive note don’t show your frustration to him.

I heard this from some frustrated sales people

“You should have told this earlier or I spent so much time on you but everything is a waste or if I had known this before I would have followed some other prospects.

Avoid saying this, I know it’s hard to digest but move on .

Are you going to leave him here, No don’t do that don’t leave your prospect to follow him again.

But reduce the frequency and focus on other prospects.

Do you think your efforts are wasted ? NO

Before your first meet you were not in your prospect’s options but now you are in the second option so whenever your competitor fails in his service make it as a chance and approach him again .To know this you need to have an eye on your prospects.

Damn sure this time you will win the customer.

You will win

It’s always easy to win a customer but difficult to retain a customer in this competitive world.

Build a strong relationship with your customer then nobody breaks it even branded players.

You might have heard about this from your sales manager spend 80% time with prospects and 20% time with customers. But we cannot follow the same in this decade we need to give equal importance to prospects and customers to retain them.

You know about your customer better than me, devise a strategy for each individual customers to build a relationship.

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