2025 Is Competitive Displacement

The new hire asked me why we pursue companies that already have a supplier. He wondered aloud whether it would be easier to target companies that don’t have a supplier. I explained that the best prospective clients are already using a competitor because companies that don’t buy what we sell typically don’t need our services.

The new hire was looking for a way to make selling easier. He lasted only a few days cold calling companies before he became frustrated by hearing contacts tell him they already had a supplier.

You might wish for a virgin territory full of large, enterprise-level pursuits that have been waiting for you to reach out to them.

If that is your territory, I envy you. I have only known what we describe as competitive displacement—a euphemism (a polite or inoffensive word in place of an unpleasant or offensive one). Bluntly, what we do in sales each day is steal our competitors’ clients.

In the book Eat Their Lunch: Winning Customers Away from Your Competition, you will find the sales strategies that enable you to steal your competitors’ clients. If this seems aggressive, know that your competitors are working tirelessly to steal your clients, too. I didn’t create competitive displacement. It was here before I started selling, and it will remain with us in the future.

The years 2023 and 2024 were marked by a low-demand environment as government leaders forced $2 trillion into the economy, making inflation sticky. As we march into 2025, the economic outlook doesn’t appear any better. You and I will need to pursue our competitors’ clients if we want to reach our goals.

Step 1: Target Competitor Clients with High Revenue Potential

The first thing you must do is make a list of 60 companies that are already using your competitors, and rank them in order of highest revenue to lowest revenue. If you are going to sell, you are always better off pursuing large clients rather than smaller ones.

Don’t worry about getting the exact revenue figures for your competitor’s clients. Some may have higher revenue, while others may be lower than you estimated. Your goal is to call each of these 60 companies.

This approach works because the clients you pursue already know they need the services you provide. They’re spending money to solve the same problems you address. Your challenge is proving that your approach offers greater value or superior outcomes than what they are getting from their current supplier.

Step 2: Use Insight-Based Selling to Stand Out

You are going to need an insight-based approach that allows you to educate your prospects. Don’t worry about your competitors. You are here discovering these sales strategies, while most of your competitors are still using legacy approaches that bore their contacts to sleep.

Without proving that you are One-Up (the concept that you know things your clients don’t), you will struggle to demonstrate your value in the room where decision-makers make rare, strategic decisions they need to get right on the first attempt.

Being One-Up doesn’t mean bragging or being arrogant. It means positioning yourself as someone who can solve your client’s problems by teaching them things they didn’t know about their challenges, their industry, or their opportunities. This is how you create trust and differentiate yourself from competitors who are simply trying to win business by offering a lower price.

Step 3: Create a Strategic Prospecting Sequence

Without a seriously effective prospecting sequence, displacement will be a chore. You need to use an insight-based approach. The more insights you share, the more you will distinguish yourself from the incumbent.

The reason we use the number 60 is that it allows you to reach out to three companies every day, leaving you time for selling and taking care of your current clients. If you divide 60 by four weeks, you can call 15 companies each week. This cadence will enable you to reach out to all 60 companies every month.

Even if it takes time to do the work, eventually, you will start to gain traction with some of your dream clients. Don’t give up. Doing so opens the door for a competitor to reach out and claim what should rightfully be yours.

Dream clients require a commitment that exceeds what many salespeople are willing to give. This is why so few succeed in displacing entrenched competitors. It isn’t easy, but that’s precisely why it’s worth doing.

Conclusion

Selling is, and always will be, a competitive sport. You’re not in this to play it safe or wait for opportunities to land in your lap. You’re here to win. The most successful sales professionals understand that their greatest opportunities come not from unclaimed territory, but from competitors who are vulnerable to being outperformed.

The truth is, your competitors are always one phone call away from stealing your clients. What are you doing today to ensure that you’re not letting them win? More importantly, what are you doing to claim the clients they’ve taken for granted?

You don’t need to make selling easier. You need to make yourself better. Focus on creating value, building trust, and demonstrating that you can solve problems in ways no one else can. The rewards of competitive displacement don’t just come in the form of revenue—they come in knowing that you’ve earned your success by delivering more than anyone else could.

Now, go make that list of 60 companies, pick up the phone, and show them why you’re the better choice. Your future is waiting on the other side of their hesitation.