Eight out of 10 sales strategies (78 percent) are ineffective, according to the annual research report by Sales Benchmark Index, a sales and marketing consultancy. Leading the list of reasons why you might have the wrong sales strategy: It’s the same strategy that your competitors use.
“When a sales team has the same strategy as the competition, the sales experience becomes a commodity. When this happens, there is no longer the ability to differentiate on anything other than product or price. Unless the company is lucky enough to sell a product superior to others, an advantage that is likely to be short-lived, the pricing pressure will result in missing the number,” the report states.
Sales Benchmark Index’s Competitive Spy Tool includes a competitive SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats), plus 16 questions to help you differentiate yourself from competitors.
Reps often struggle to explain how you’re different from the competition. Knowing your market strengths will help them explain this better. By answering an important question like, “what market is the competition targeting?” you can begin to answer if you are the same or unique. If your key competitors are focused on manufacturing, can you serve that market better? Or, because they are so focused here, can you win in technology?
Other questions to ask:
• What are customers saying about us?
• What market segments are competitors targeting?
• What sales methodology is the competition using?
• What marketing strategies are the competition deploying?
It’s your job to give your team the tools for success. The best way to do this is to separate your strategy from the competition’s. If you don’t, it will come down to price.
You can download the Sales Benchmark Index annual research report or the Competitor Spy Tool at salesbenchmarkindex.com.
