Discover effective strategies to counter dishonest competitors and secure your dream clients with integrity.
The salesperson called me to ask what she should do about a competitor who told her client that her company doesn’t do what they claim to do. I asked her if her company actually does, and she confirmed they do. I asked if there was evidence she could provide. In this case, she had 19 documents she could have provided. Her client didn’t need the proof, noting, “We know you do what you say you do.”
An hour later, the competitor offered her client $7,500 to acquire their business. The decision-maker reported this to his company. This is a high moral quotient client, one who can’t be bought.
Dealing with Low Moral Quotient Competitors
Occasionally, you will have a “low moral quotient” competitor who will say things about your company that aren’t true. These low MQ sales reps believe that by talking badly about your company, they can displace you. But this isn’t how you go about displacing a competitor that owns your dream client.
Early in my time as a salesperson, one of my competitors told my client that my company couldn't make our payroll. The client called to tell me that the competitor had made this claim. I called the leader of the company and suggested that, since we both work in the same city, I would appreciate it if his reps refrained from making false claims. He became hostile.
Most of the time, you find your competitors trashing you because they cannot displace you from your dream clients. This tends to be a weak attempt because you have contacts who have experience with you and your company, while your competitor projects that they have no way to create more value for the client.
In another attempt to displace me from a dream client, a very sharp sales rep had found her way into the client. Her company was much larger than mine, with locations across the United States. If she removed me, she would acquire $3,000,000 in annual revenue. This would be a devastating loss. The client later said she was very impressive in the first meeting, but after that, you didn’t really want to work with her.
Strategies for Retaining High-Value Clients During RFPs
This same client’s corporate office decided to do an RFP. Because I could only serve one location, I wanted to keep this large client. I drove to Chicago to present my case for the company to retain us. There were eleven people around the giant conference table. We talked for a few minutes until one person said, “I don’t know why you are here. You said no to a number of things that everyone else agreed to.” I said, “There is no way we can have 100% of our temporary staff on time every day.” The contact said, “You couldn’t get a backup within 30 minutes of the start time.” I opened up my binder and showed them their actual performance. They were undermarket, and they would have to raise their starting wage to attract better talent.
The contact said, “Everyone else agreed to all of these requirements. You are the only person to refuse to agree to the requirements.” As she finished, the lawyer across the table stood up and said, “This is the first honest person to sit in this chair.” The main contact said they were keeping my company and asked me to tell them who they should use across the rest of the United States. I told them who to work with because they did good work.
In Eat Their Lunch: Winning Customers Away from Your Competition, I wrote that I never say anything bad about a competitor. A number of people suggested they trash their competitors. Instead, I would say nice things about them, like, “We know everyone in the city, they all do good work, and the only thing we disagree about is their model.” This approach opens up the possibility to use a triangulation strategy to criticize their model, comparing it to my model.
The person who has to try to remove you by saying things that aren’t true is too weak to take a client from you. If they were strong enough to beat you fair and square, they wouldn’t have to try to remove you with a lie.
The Truth at Any Cost: Building Trust and Integrity
In all cases, you are better off with the approach of “the truth at any cost,” even at the cost of your deal. You may lose deals by telling the truth. If you are a sales leader, take the time to make certain your sales force doesn’t say something that will lower their sales status in their clients’ estimation. If you are a salesperson, you should always tell the truth. Once you spill a lie, your contact will never trust you. Nor will your client prefer you when you trash your competitors.
Do good and professional work. Win because you can improve your client’s results, not by trying to tear down your competitor.
