1. Your competitor's pricing and terms are better than yours.
Are you listening closely enough? Understand the buying criteria, and then do something serious about it. What can you control? Perhaps you don't want to lower your price, than how can you make your terms so attractive that price no longer matters?
2. The competition has a strong existing relationship.
This will often be the case on large key accounts. Develop a strategy early in the sales cycle on how you plan to deal with this. Often I like to suggest we are not looking to displace the client's existing successful programs but rather, offering to complement and leverage them with services they are not currently using. Sometimes getting started somewhere allows you to begin working with the client and building the relationship and track record you desire. Sometimes you are looking to displace a vendor and this tactic simply will not work for your situation. If this is the case you need a well thought out plan of how you plan to overcome the relationship trump card. The bottom line is people do business with people they trust.
3. Your competition has a strong brand equity and reputation.
If your company is unknown within your prospective client's network of influencers what do you plan to do about becoming a known and trusted advisor?
4. The competition offers a superior product or service.
Is your client paying for services they don't need? Do they really use all the bells and whistles of this product? How can you customize your offering to be more on target with what the client really needs? Can you right price your offering?
5. The level of service and support offered by your competition is better than yours.
If this is not something you can change, how do you plan to neutralize your competitions advantage here? Can you offer a more important feature the competition can't? Can you offer a support service that makes their advantage useless?
6. When your competition's product solution is perceived as a better offering.
You need to know exactly why and have a plan to overcome this perception.
7. You do not have a strong ROI business case with your client. Find this out early on in the sales process. Perhaps you should not be working together.
8. The competition's business references are stronger than yours.
If you know early on that you will be required to follow an RFQ or RFP process with your client, then you should be asking questions early on to prepare your references to be remarkable.
9. You are not listening to your prospective client.
Have you ever heard the term happy ears? This is when we hear only what we want to hear. Listen closely and allow yourself is hear the client's real concerns. Exactly how do you plan to help them and how do you plan to overcome objections. If you dismiss your client concerns and never address them, chances are your prospective client will dismiss your offer also.
If you're looking for fresh ideas on large account selling you might also enjoy our Key Account Kit Marketing Guide.
Building strong relationships with clients takes work. Going after what you want with hustle and intensity is a mindset for winning. Your passion is what makes work feel like play and brings joy to fighting the good fight in the marketplace!
Recently I downloaded a report from The Bridge Group, Inc. "2009 Lead Generation Metrics & Compensation Report for Technology Companies." The topic was of interest to me for a number of reasons. First, we are growing our sales force and thinking about structure and process best suited for our clients. Secondly, we have a large percentage of technology clients who use our services at Imaginar Gifts.
The Bridge Group surveyed over 125 technology companies on inside sales implementations and assembled some very interesting findings in their report which I believe will still be relevant in 2010.
A few key Marketing Takeaways from The Bridge Group report:
1. On average 45% of outbound calls placed by the sales staff are in response to a marketing lead.
2. On average 17% of leads convert to qualified opportunities.
3. On average it takes seven touches from sales and marketing to convert a "suspect" to a prospective client.
"Vanilla/one -size- fits all marketing is dead. Marketing to buyer personas is the wave of the future."
Personally, I believe that future is here now and what we will see more of in 2010 is organizations becoming more sophisticated in persona marketing. A great example of persona marketing success is Amazon.com in the business to consumer market. They frequently recommend books I might like and expect soon they will be recommending books I might like for others I purchase for.
If you are developing or refining your marketing messaging to become more personal for your prospective buyers you might enjoy reading our "Key Account Kit Marketing Guide". This paper speaks to developing a content strategy using drip marketing and kits for client education that is customized to your campaign. This is not B2C marketing to the masses, but rather B2B marketing to the select and invited.
Target decision makers on large key accounts are bombarded with cold calls and emails and have become skilled at tuning them out. They are more interested in thought leadership messaging that helps them achieve better results for their own organizations. If your organization is hunting whales the same way you netted fish you are working too hard. The hand-shake between marketing and sales departments is becoming vital to not only success but survival.
We confess we are not like most marketing agencies or promotional product suppliers. Our services at Imaginar Gifts are often the bridge between marketing and sales. We look to assist you with important relationships and campaign fulfillment services that enhance your reach and offer personal messaging to the selected and invited key accounts on your list.
For a complimentary consultation on enhancing your marketing message and brand with Imaginar Gifts fulfillment services email us at contactus@imaginargifts.com
We source over 700,000 products for logo branding but can show you a new twist on persona marketing fulfillment. We save you time and enhance campaigns for effectiveness when personal messaging is important.