Own Your Losses Against Your Competitors

One of the unhealthier things we do in sales is to believe that our loss was due to the competitor having a better product or solution. The truth of the matter is that the loss is always due to being outsold.

The competitor has a better product or solution than we do.

There are people every day who buy inferior products and solutions. If only the superior product or solution was capable of resulting in new business, the evidence would be that the company producing them would eventually earn a monopoly. If you are honest, you know that you have won deals against better-financed competitors with better and more complete solutions than yours.

The competitor has a lower price for a product very similar to ours.

Every day, salespeople help their prospective clients understand the value they create that makes their product or solution worth paying more to obtain. If the lowest price is responsible for a win, then one would expect more people to always choose the lowest price. The truth of the matter is that a very small percentage of your dream clients make the decision to buy from one group over the other based on price alone.

There is nothing you can do about your competitor’s product or solution. They are not going to change what they are doing to make it easier for you to sell against them, no matter how nicely you ask. They are competing to win, just like you, and their product or solution is some part of that equation—even if it isn’t often the deciding factor itself.

There is nothing you can do about your competitor’s pricing. It’s likely that they are intentionally using a lower price to increase the consideration for their similar product or solution. Your competitor is not going to change their pricing structure to level the playing field for you. The reason their price is lower is often to make up for something lacking, mostly the lack of investment in producing results.

Here is the truth as I see it, and a belief system that will better serve you: A great salesperson will beat a competitor with a better product or a lower price through their excellent salesmanship. They will create greater value for the client through the process and their interactions, they will tailor the product or solution to the client specifically, collaborating with the client to build something they can easily support, and they will develop the relationship that creates a preference.