Make Them Uncomfortable

Whether it’s formal or informal, most companies keep a file of competitive information. It’s often housed in the marketing group, and they use it to make product comparisons and to share it with the sales group.

That information is helpful, but when it comes to competitive strategy, there’s a more important piece you want to have about your opponent. It’s the salesperson’s behavior. What does the salesperson that you’re competing with like to do?

We want to know what their tendencies are. What’s their comfort zone? How do they like to work a sales opportunity? What do they do when they’re ahead or behind?

Some salespeople like to present early. Some like to work the technical side of the organization while others prefer focusing on the executives. Some like involving lots of their resources while others prefer to fly solo as much as possible.

So, how does knowing this information help you? It helps you devise a strategy to make them feel uncomfortable during the sales process.

Most of us perform better when we’re in our comfort zone. New things, different things make us uncomfortable. And when we’re uncomfortable in a competitive situation, we’re at a disadvantage.

We see it all the time in the sports world. In football, if your opponent likes to pass more than run, you load up on defensive backs, thereby negating their passing attack, daring them to run against your defense.

In Pickleball, if your opponent likes to run around their backhand to hit a forehand shot, you should hit more balls to their backhand side. You’re forcing them to either try to hit their backhand (which often leads to a weak return) or run around it to hit a forehand (which opens up more court for you for a passing shot).

After a few lost points, they know you’re attacking their weakness, and it starts weighing on their mind. They get a bit more nervous. The next time they see that shot, they may tighten up, or start to “press”, (hit a shot they’re not comfortable with nor good at). And they start playing much more defensively.

You’ve made them uncomfortable.

You can do the same thing in selling.

Like the rest of us, your opponent’s behavior is driven by habits and routine. We do the same things over and over, especially if they work most of the time. It’s safe to assume that when your opponent has had success with a behavior, they will repeat it and when they repeat it, it becomes more and more comfortable for them.

But when you force them to change their behavior, they get uncomfortable. Fear, uncertainty & doubt can start to creep in. And, when there’s discomfort in a sales situation, the other side will often make mistakes. They’ll lose their cool. They’ll try things they may not have tried.

Having studied our opponent, we can be more disruptive. We want them to do different things, to stretch, to react. We want them doing things that aren’t in their muscle memory. Chances are they’re not only going to be uncomfortable, they’re also not going to be as proficient at it either.

Make them react to you.

Here’s a simple example:

If you know they only have a handful of strong technical resources and you have more, suggest to your prospect extra steps to “prove” everything you’ve been talking about. Might it lengthen the sales process? Not necessarily. You can set it up in a short window of time. And, by doing that, the prospect may take less time on the back end deciding.

That especially happens if you can cause your opponent to object to the extra steps, try to delay, or fumble the steps. You now have turned them into column fodder, meaning they’re not going to win but the prospect keeps them around in order to meet the due diligence objective set by the board.

If you want to play with this, in the next couple of days come up with 2 or 3 ways you could make your #1 competitor feel uncomfortable in an upcoming sales cycle.  

Have a great weekend!

Bob

P.S. There are many more ways to make your opponent uncomfortable competing against you and you have access to them in my upcoming “What To Do Next” program. The whole focus of the program is competitive strategy. Send me an email [email protected] if you’re interested in learning more and how you can join with founder’s pricing.

P.P.S. If a colleague forwarded this email to you, head over to www.labarberagroupuniversity.com and sign up. It’s a weekly email, it’s free and it’s designed for those who sell technology-based solutions. We’d love to have you.