How to Kill Competition - Salesman's Expectations
“I want to kill the competition,” says Srinivas, a salesman who was attending my Value Selling program. His logic was simple. He wanted to get all the business. When probed further, he said that this can be achieved by lowering the price, thus capturing the 100% market.
“What happens if the competitor tries to do the same with you?” Srinivas had no answer.
This is a typical childish mindset whose maxims are:
1. I want everything or else nothing.
2. I want it now or never.
3. I want only this thing or else nothing.
“I want to kill the competition,” says Srinivas, a salesman who was attending my Value Selling program. His logic was simple. He wanted to get all the business. When probed further, he said that this can be achieved by lowering the price, thus capturing the 100% market.
“What happens if the competitor tries to do the same with you?” Srinivas had no answer.
This is a typical childish mindset whose maxims are:
1. I want everything or else nothing.
2. I want it now or never.
3. I want only this thing or else nothing.
In a highly competitive world this mindset is not only inappropriate but also indicates a low Emotional Quotient (EQ) One needs to accept that competition is an essential part of life and may be even beneficial.
“My competitors does more for me than my friends. My friends are too polite to point out my weakness, but my competitors go to great expense to advertise them. My competitors are efficient, diligent, attentive and would take my business away from me if they could. They keep me alert and make me search for ways to improve my business and services. If I had no competitors, I would be lazy, incompetent, and inattentive. I need the discipline they enforce upon me. I salute my competitors. They have been good to me. God Bless them all” (Surajjit Rayy, VP – Eagle Burgmann)
Secondly, you need to understand the difference between marketing and sales potential. Marketing potential is the total market size for all vendors in a specific market, whereas sales potential is the maximum market a company can capture if it were to deploy the maximum available resources. A sales target is what the company achieves with its available resources. However it is not feasible to eliminate competition totally. (for more details, refer chapter 10, Financial Basics every salesman should know, Contextual Selling )
Please note that with Mergers and Acquisitions (M & As) also called as an inorganic growth, companies try to eliminate competition. This trend is particularly visible in telecom and pharma sector. At a strategic level, eliminating competition may be a fact of life but in a salesman’s context it is an inappropriate mindset.( Source: Contextual Selling: A New Sales Paradigm for the 21st Century - Rajan Parulekar)
Does the Product Value Lie Inside your Product?
It is assumed that the value perception of a product lies in the product features, workmanship etc. which is proved otherwise in this example.
Recently I was conducting training programs for the Pan-India Sales Team of Bharat Fritz Werner (BFW). The topic was Effective Value Selling of Capital Equipments. BFW is a renowned manufacturer of Machining Centres, Special Purpose Machines, Turning Cenres, Lathes etc. Murali, one of the Sales Engineers who is an expert in lathes for the last 15 years; narrated an interesting example. While working for Batliboi, his previous company, he used to approach a company called Priyanka Enterprises in Coimbatore. Mr. Ulaganathan who used to make automobile components had upgraded from a normal lathe to a CNC lathe so as to cope with the increased volumes. A sales engineer from a CNC Turninng Company convinced him to go for one.
By his misfortune, the new machine failed to deliver as per his expectations and Ulaganathan was repenting for having invested Rs. 4 lakhs in the machine. He wrote it off and went back on the manual lathes. When Murali went there to explore new opportunities; he encoutered a hostile client who refused to believe what Murali had to say. However Murali persisted. Almost for six months he followed up with customer. At last looking at his sincerity and perseverance he placed a trial order for a CNC Turning Machine. Murali provided an exceptional service to the clinet.
Over a period of time the client went on buying 8 such machines from Batliboi through Murali. Being a SME he had to arrange for funds for this capex from Tamil Nadu Infrastructure Investment Corporation (TIIC) Mr. Ulaganathan was felicitated by TIIC for not only availing the loans, but also for being prompt in repayment of the same.. Mr. Ulaganathan in his acceptance speech attributed his success not only to Ms. Chitra of TIIC who was quite professional in disbursing the loans but also to Mr. Murali who ensured in his commitment in making the customer profitable by supplying good quality machines with exceptional service. Now Murali is with BFW and it is no wonder Mr. Ulaganathan does not mind shifitng his allegiance where Murali is working!
When products are simliar, who is the brand, the company or the salesman?
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