Show people that your product is better than others similar to it


Most of us are a little bit afraid of our competitors. All too often, they come more than and eat our lunch - we lose customers to them, and if we keep on losing clients to them, we lose our business. What's easily forgotten, though, is that they're most likely just as afraid of us as we are of them. Following all, we have a better product, better customer relationships, and we are all-round nicer individuals.

So why not be up front about it with our customers? We do not have to run our competitors down, in fact that is usually counterproductive simply because people really feel sorry for the underdog, but there is nothing wrong with telling individuals what our competitors have on provide - after all, it is hardly a state secret.

When Judy Kearney was director of sales and marketing at Holiday Inn, the company lost a large corporate consumer to a rival hotel chain. Kearney attempted persuasion, but to no avail - the lost customer was pleased using the new chain.

However, the decision-makers had been not the individuals who stayed in the hotels - the guests had been really salespeople, engineers and executives on business trips. Kearney asked them if they were pleased with the new hotel chain, and discovered that they preferred Holiday Inn.

Kearney suggested to the management that they survey their staff themselves and find out if they had been happy. She pointed out that unhappy employees are unproductive employees: the business management carried out the survey and found (to their surprise) that employees preferred Vacation Inn.

This was still not sufficient. The decision-makers agreed to go to Holiday Inn and see the improvements for themselves, but nonetheless insisted on seeing the competition as well: this is exactly where Kearney showed a touch of genius, plus a penchant for risk-taking.

She arranged a tour of Holiday Inn's personal hotel, but also agreed to line up all the other visits on the exact same day, even volunteering to drive them about towards the competitors' hotels.

The customers had been overwhelmed by this, and gave Kearney the contract - apart from Vacation Inn scoring well against its rivals, the reality that Kearney showed such faith in her personal product that she was ready to help them see the competing products was convincing, to say the least.

Don't ever criticize your competitors - it looks like a lack of confidence in your own product. Let individuals make their own decisions, but be ready to guide them just a little. Go out of your way to be helpful. This builds trust, and a sense of obligation. Make certain you really ARE better than the competitors on the factors the customer values most.

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This article was sent to us by: Leah Rogers at 01202011

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