In this issue, we’ll look at some specific strategies for gaining a foothold in a crowded marketplace – even when your competitor seems to be entrenched as your prospect’s sole supplier.
Sarah Haynes was a top sales performer in her first position right out of college. In fact, she won every sales award there was to win in her first 3 years. She was so good that she was constantly being contacted by competitors, headhunters and other sales organizations outside of her industry for her sales expertise.
The product Sarah sold was a brand new, state-of-the-art software solution that addressed a serious issue facing many businesses. With such a new and innovative product, Sarah faced few real competitors. Her major challenge was a simple lack of awareness about her company and product. Sometimes a tough sale…but at least it was on an uncluttered battlefield.
After she was sales rep of the year in her 4th year she finally decided to take one of the many sales positions that had been coming her way for the past three years. The one she took offered 1/3 more salary and double the commission and bonus opportunity. What a deal!
Within 6 months, Sarah was not only failing to make any sales, she was also miserable. Within a year, she was fired from the new position. The reason for her failure was very clear – but not one that she could easily resolve.
What was it?
Her new job involved selling another high-tech, high-ticket product. After all, Sarah was smart enough to know that she wanted to stay in a similar industry. And beyond that, she figured that sales is sales – how different could the new job really be?
Her new product had been on the market for almost a decade and her new employer had developed an exciting new upgrade to the product that promised great things for both new and existing customers.
The problem for Sarah? She entered a crowded battlefield – a marketplace literally loaded with highly competitive products and crushing price demands. She now had to forget about a simple sale and start to dislodge competitors from accounts where they had been for as long as a decade.
The lesson here? While it may be true that sales is sales, you do need to understand that there are significant differences between the varied environments where you do the selling. That’s a painful lesson that Sarah learned too late.
In Sarah’s case, her problem was a lack of skill and understanding in two areas:
• Dislodging existing vendors
• Selling against price pressure
The truth is that these two realities are often intertwined. In fact, they are so interdependent that one without the other is virtually impossible.
Let’s take a look at some strategies that can help you dislodge a competitor who’s already well-established in an account you’re trying to enter.
First, here are the “dont's”:
Now, here are the things you should do:
It was too late for Sarah – she didn’t learn these strategies in time to succeed at her new job. She did find another job. But she decided to return to a marketplace that was less crowded and found a position that did not require dislodging current suppliers from existing accounts.
But she did learn a few valuable lessons:
What about your sales position? What does it require? Remember, while sales sometimes is sales, not all sales positions are created equally.
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