A client asks "My company sells a
product that competes with a well-
known brand
name product from Company X, a much
larger
organization. The statistics on
the cost savings
realized by using our product as
opposed to Company
X's are inarguable, our product
performance is strong,
and our post-sale customer service
is excellent.
Despite the facts, we have a
frustratingly low close
rate wth prospects whose contract
with Company X is
expiring. What is going on?"
A lot of different things could be
going on here such as
upfront versus long-range cost
savings or the prestige
and track record of Company X versus
a lesser-known
organization. I am going to focus on
one in particular:
the hidden costs and difficulties of
switching vendors.
Many sales representatives spend a
great deal of time
discussing features and benefits as
well as the cost savings of their
particular product
or service with prospects - and they
should. What
they sometimes do not do, however,
is put the facts
and percentages aside at some point
and ask the
decision maker what the true
feelings are within the
organization about switching
vendors - irrespective of
anything else.
Sometimes having the less expensive
product gives
salespeople a false sense of
security.
During the interview process with
the decision maker
they should be asking such questions
as:
- How long have you used Company X?
- How do the users generally feel
about Company
X?
- What product were you using
prior to them?
- Was it a difficult transition?
- What would be involved in
switching from their
product to ours?
- Would there be any costs
associated with
changing?
- Who would oversee the change?
- Who in your organization will
not be in favor of
changing vendors?
- Do you know what their reasons
are?
- Would anyone feel they are
putting their job at risk
by switching from Company X?
- Who will be in favor of
switching?
- Why do they feel this way?
- What are the odds that you will
stay with your
current vendor?
Convincing sales representatives to
insert these
kinds of questions into their
interview process with the
prospective client can be one tough
sell. Most
salespeople are terrified to ask
questions like these.
The answers they get take them out
of their comfort
zone: discussing features,
benefits,
and cost
savings.
Those salespeople who do ask
these types of
questions will tell you that they
are crucial to helping
establish themselves as a partner
with the decision
maker. If they
don't get a prospect to
speak candidly about their current
provider, they may
lose the sale and never know why.
When a salesperson proves that they
are not afraid to
ask awkward or straightforward
questions, they
typically earn the respect of a
prospect. The prospect,
if they are the true decision maker,
typically shows
their respect by answering the
questions in a
straightforward manner. The
salesperson's ability to
bring all the facts to the forefront
increases, not
decreases, their chances of success.
