Have you asked yourself why your competitor is able to offer what your customers believe is the same thing as what you sell for less money?
Your customer is wondering this. They are wondering why you are more expensive and the competitor is less expensive.
Comparisons are simply not fair. I don’t say this as a little kid who is going to kick and scream and go home and cry to mom about how life is not fair.
No, I’m saying this because I’m looking at it this way: Why does the customer even think they can compare you with a competitor?
The answer to the question is simple. The customer can compare because you haven’t given them a reason to think differently.
You haven’t created in the mind of the customer the expectation of how you can deliver a better outcome.
Let’s not forget — product features will always be sold at a loss because there is always going to be somebody who can offer it cheaper.
Voila! There’s your reason why your competitor is cheaper than you because either you or your customer (or most likely both of you) are viewing what you’re selling as a product feature.
You have zero chance of being successful if you choose this path. The only option you have is to focus on the outcome the customer is expecting from what you have to sell.
How are you positioning what you sell?
Are you allowing the customer to determine the value proposition?
The only time a customer will truly be focused on the outcome is when they are looking at either significant pain or gain. If they aren’t on the verge of either pain or gain, they most likely will not be focused on the outcome.
This is your job as a salesperson to move the customer toward the outcome. Doing so allows you to now create in the mind of the customer why you’re different than your competitor.
The measurement of your success is when the customer sees a competitor of yours as being less money but chooses you.
They will choose you when they see the outcome you provide is better than the product feature the competitor has put on the table
Copyright 2014, Mark Hunter “The Sales Hunter.” Sales Motivation Blog. Mark Hunter is the author of High-Profit Selling: Win the Sale Without Compromising on Price.
