The Audible-Ready Sales Podcast When Competition Comes Knocking
Dec 27, 2022
John Kaplan, a sales leader and practitioner who coaches sellers on winning competitive deals. He explains why competition is always present. He shares a calm probing approach when buyers mention rivals. He tells a real closing story about superficial preferences. He outlines decision criteria, stack-ranking, and creating concise champion decks with proof points.
AI Snips
Chapters
Transcript
Episode notes
Competition Means You're Close To A Decision
- Competition is inevitable and often indicates the buyer is nearing a decision.
- John Kaplan says even doing nothing is a competitor and buyer comparisons mean you are moving closer to being awarded the business.
Ask Why Before You React
- When a buyer raises a competitor benefit, stay calm and ask why it's important to them.
- John Kaplan recounts asking the CEO to explain why a blue versus green screen mattered and then returning to established decision criteria.
Blue Screen Nearly Lost A Major Deal
- John Kaplan tells a deal story where engineers objected because his product's GUI was blue not green.
- He preserved the sale by stacking the decision criteria and showing GUI color was lowest priority versus bi-directional associativity.