So you have been talking with a prospect for the past few weeks. You have explained to them multiple times how great your product is and why they need it. You pick up the phone and make a call to the prospect expecting to move forward toward a close, only to find out that they have chosen a competitor over you. You know that your product is comparable if not better than your competitors in quality and price, so what happened?
More than likely, the sales rep of your competitor demonstrated greater value of his/her product than you did; they differentiated themselves from the rest of the pack, grabbing the attention of the prospect. Sales differentiation is key to success in sales and it all starts with how you position yourself from the rest of the pack.
While it’s important to make sure prospects know and understand the value of the product or service you are selling, differentiating yourself starts with how you sell yourself as a sales person. You need to show greater personal value as a salesperson as well as the superior value of your product to win over your prospects. To do this, you must have greater subject matter expertise, better creativity in devising solutions, and superior personal skills so that you present yourself and your product in the best light possible.
A prospective customer is not going to buy if they don’t trust the sales person, especially if they don’t nail the first few calls. You have to differentiate yourself right away or the prospect may lose interest. Read up on the prospects business and take the time to understand their need. Develop a plan of attack for how your solution will fill that need before you pick up the phone. Understand how your product differs from the competition beyond the simple differences that your prospect probably already knows.
Being well prepared before the initial outreach can really differentiate a “regular sales person” from “THE go-to sales person”. For more information, see Anthony Iannarino’s blog post: Differentiate: The Ability to Stand Out In a Crowd
