5 ways to eliminate the competition

Sales is a zero-sum game: someone wins and someone else loses. The person who wins does so because he creates a preference, a bias, for his offering, which blocks out the competition.

The way you create a preference for your solution is by creating greater value. You want to drive a wedge between your customer and your competitors and create a strong bias toward your offering.

Here are the five things you need to create bias:

1. Trust

Greater trust creates a preference. Your dream client is worried about execution and risk. Trust is the timeless fundamental that alleviates the concerns that you might fail your client. It mitigates the concern that you might be self-oriented and interested only in creating the greatest benefit for you.

2. Understanding

You also create a preference through developing a deeper understanding of your dream client’s challenges. Understanding those challenges proves you care enough to learn about them and their business. It also demonstrates that you have business acumen and situational knowledge — the keys to developing the right solutions and ensuring they fit.

3. Vision

You create a bias by having ideas about what your client’s future will look like — or how it could look if she were to make the right decisions. This future-orientation positions you as more than just someone who sells a product or service. It establishes you as a trusted advisor, someone with the ability to help guide your client’s business into the future.