Did a Competitor Undercut You?

It happens to the best of sales people, just the way it happened to Jennifer (not her real name.)  She made the telephone call, scheduled the appointment and everything seemed to go well.   She wrote a thank-you note after the first appointment and then made a follow-up telephone call to the client.  The client wanted a demo. The demo was a success. The client asked for a proposal.  Wow!   Time to celebrate.

But then something unexpected happened.  A competitor came in and offered the same type of product for a lower price.  The client bought from the competitor.

What happened?  How could this have been prevented?

The Missing Elements

First: It is critical to start – from the beginning – building trust and value – value, value and more value.

One definition of trust: “Firm reliance on the integrity, ability or character of a person or thing.”  Value is defined as “quality relative to price.” Quality includes all non-price attributes involved – both attributes of the product and associated customer service.

Value is a very important way of differentiating your company from competitors. The challenge is to convince prospects that they will be getting value that is greater than the price they are paying.  But how can you prove it?

How do you prove you can provide value when a competitor can provide the same products you sell?  That is when differentiation and building trust and value are critical.

The goal of the sales process is to close deals—isn’t it?   Not if you want to build trust. The focus of trust-based selling isn’t the transaction, but the relationship.

Five Ways to Build Trust

(1.) Create realistic client expectations.   Help the client to understand exactly what you will do for him or her. What will create extra charges? How and when will you be billing the client? Living up to the expectations you create helps your clients to take you at your word.

(2.) Help the client to understand the process. If s/he understands how you and your office works s/he can then know what to expect and when to expect it.

( 3.) Explain your plan and strategy.  Not only does the client need to understand your office procedure but also what the plan and strategy is for his/her particular case. This will help client to know what to expect and when to expect it. Trust comes when the client feels confident and comfortable with the plan and the strategy.

(4.) Never over promise. It is tempting to promise whatever the client requests without consulting a schedule or asking if it is doable. Over promising often causes broken agreements and thus broken trust.

(5.) Don’t allow interruptions at meetings. If you take interruptions during meetings with clients it makes them feel they are not important to you. (One sales rep who left her cell phone on during a meeting actually answered a call from another client during the meeting. Not a smart thing to do.) Eventually you erode the good will and trust that you had with them.

How can you prove you are trustworthy and provide value . . .

. . . especially if the client does not know you yet?  Testimonials written by real people at well-known businesses prove that your company can be trusted and that you provide real value faster than anything you can tell the prospect.  When you say something about yourself or your product, it’s not nearly as effective as when other people say it. When others say or write positive statements about you or your product, it’s proof. That is the essence of the testimonial. And it’s okay to prompt customers about what you want them to say – IF what you want them to say is the truth.

The principles of building trust starts with the knowledge that if we consistently behave with the best interests of the client and the relationship, we will get more than our share of sales because we are fulfilling the highest desire of a client—to find an expert who can be trusted.

Beware:   If this is not truly your attitude—that you really want to help people with the product or service you provide, be prepared to lose clients to your competitors.