People ask me how they should go about comparing themselves against their competition.

 

Should we hand out those lists comparing features and benefits, illustrating item-by-item how our stuff stacks up against the stuff our competition sells?

 

Should we badmouth our competition, badmouth the people, badmouth the products, and services, and badmouth the company?

 

My quick answers are:

• I think badmouthing the competition is worse than a total waste of time…it is a backward step in the marketing and sales interaction
• I don’t see much merit in comparing head-to-head against the competition…these comparisons are better placed when in the hands of unbiased third parties [journalists and mavens]

Don’t Badmouth Competitors :

 

Buyers are assaulted over and over again with this. Often, it is more subtle than blatant. But, few sales people can totally refrain from taking shots at their competition. Some do it more than others. Almost all do it sooner or later. So, this is one area where sales people can differentiate themselves in a positive way. I will not get into arguments of a psychological nature...ie, that  negative messages breed negative thinking in buyers’ minds and that negativity blankets the interaction…etc. While that is likely true, I think the differentiation opportunity alone is good reason enough.

 

There are better ways than comparing head-to-head against Competitors:

 

If we ask our clients and probable future clients to confirm [that is, prove to us] the important factors and we then create accurate comparisons of the factors – ours versus our competitors’ – then perhaps this can be of some marketing/sales value. Regardless, there are at least 2 better ways to illustrate the advantages you enjoy over your competition.

 

They are:

• Become acknowledged as leading experts in your market sector…that is, employ a strategy of market pre-eminence [branding]
• Have independent 3rd-party mavens trumpet the strengths and values of the things you create and sell

While these things take time they yield huge future value.