Never Knock the Competition

Recently I was party to a conversation about how competitive things have become in all industries, not just publishing. One person was bemoaning the fact that many of the companies he competes against talk about his products and services in less than flattering ways. He seemed puzzled and stunned that his competitors would sell this way.

He then asked me what I would do in response to various allegations and half-truths made by competitors. The first rule of any first rate company with quality products should be to never, but never, knock the competition. The temptation to do so is almost overpowering but competitive selling almost always boomerangs on the individuals who stoop to that sort of thing.

A friend of mine learned a valuable lesson early in his career when he visited a prospect and started to sell competitively against another company. He said he started right off by saying to the prospect who he had never met before all the reasons that the other company’s products were not up to the caliber of his company’s products. Mind you, he didn’t talk about his own company’s array of products and focused instead on the other organization’s line of products. His big mistake: the person who had made the decision to buy the other company’s products was the very person the sales person was calling on.

The prospect interrupted him and told him that that he was not impressed at all with his presentation because he already knew all about the other company and didn’t need to have him tell him about their products. He then went on to say that the next time he was able to call on him he would appreciate it if the sales person would please talk about his own company’s product line. He then asked the salesman to leave.

As a result of that meeting, it was some time before the salesman ever got to see that prospect again. My friend told me he was absolutely devastated by that meeting and that in the end it turned out to be the one of best lessons he ever learned in selling. It should be a cardinal rule for any sales person that when you knock a competitor you are giving them free publicity. If you don’t have enough exciting things to say about your own products and services, then you are wasting a client’s time when you call on them. They want to know what you have to sell, not what another company you don’t even work for has to sell.

We are professionals. We love what we do and enjoy our jobs. I have a cardinal rule which I learned many years ago and it is this: ”Never Knock The Competition.” In the long run, this approach always wins out and most of us are in the business for the long term and not a short run.

It’s a touch of class,

Chuck