Why you should compliment your competitors
I think it’s safe to say that we struggle with comparison, especially with one another. I struggle with this often, whether it’s with appearance, skills, or anything else. It’s easy to fall into the trap of “I’m not as good as her at this,” or “I wish I had her talents” or “her spirit” or whatever.
And let me tell you that comparison can definitely wear down on you after a while. Allow me to present to you the following idea, something I’ve learned over the past couple of years: compliment, not compete.
What do I mean by that?
It can be so difficult to resist, can’t it? After all, not only do you totally, truly and absolutely believe in what you sell, you also know what a fantastic job you do after the sale in providing extraordinary care for your client.
Add to that the fact that you know there are flaws in the products of your competitors and none of them take as good care of your clients as you do.
So, when your prospective client asks about your competitors, how do you keep from pointing out their flaws? You just do!
Different strategy
Actually, most salespeople have been correctly taught never to speak ill of their competition. Doing so will only make the salesperson look bad. Unfortunately (in my opinion), most salespeople have been taught not to say anything good about their competition, either.
I disagree with this counsel and have found just the opposite to be true in my selling career. Whenever I’m speaking with a prospect and they bring up my competitors, I go out of my way to say something nice about them. Why? Because I’m a nice person? No, not at all (although I do hope I’m also a nice person).
The reason is that by complimenting my competitors, I’m actually building myself in the mind of my prospect. If your prospect brings up the name of your competitor and you speak highly of them, what does that tell your prospect about you?
You are confident: You must have a lot of confidence to speak highly of those who are competing for your prospect’s business.
You are successful: If you are confident, you also must be successful. After all, unsuccessful people don’t have that type of confidence in themselves. The less confident a person is in their own product as well as in themselves, the more likely they are to resort to tearing others down.
You are safe:“Wow,” thinks your prospect (correctly, I might add), “If he/she speaks that well of their competition, I never have to worry about negative things being said about me or any of my staff.”
Obviously, if you know for sure that your competitor is up to no good, you can’t lie and speak well of them. If that is the case, find a way to say nothing at all.
But, that aside, if you can possibly say something nice, do so. It will only reflect well on you.
[Bob Burg Media & Marketing]
