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The Best Sales Close – What separates you from your competition?
By Jerry | November 11, 2010
There I was pitching my prospect. A great conversation. Lots of questions, I learned his business, his pain points.
I was able focus on the benefits of what I could do to alleviate those pain points. This was going very well.
Then the question came.
“Why should I choose you? I mean, what separates you from your competition?”
What a great question. Has a prospect asked you that question? Even if you’ve never been asked, ask it of yourself,
What separates me from my competition?
How would you answer? More importantly,
would your answer sway your prospect?
The question is a great question to be asked by a prospect. Examine the context.
They would only ask that question if they agreed your offering would solve their problem. They are ready to buy.
They ask that question only so they can justify going with you versus the competition.
Maybe they answer to a higher manager. If they walk in and say, “Ms. Manager, I recommend we go with A-Number 1 Company.” The first question Ms. Manager asks is “Why them?”
Or maybe you are dealing with an entrepreneur who has no boss. They still need the justification in their mind. If they talk with a spouse or other business associate, they may be asked, “Why did you choose them?”
See, the prospect needs the justification. The justification needs to be strong.
So again,
“What separates you from your competition?”
If ever there was a need for strong copy, verbal or written, this is it.
If you don’t know how to write a strong answer, then let’s start by seeing how others answer this question. By seeing many answers, you can teach yourself what is strong versus what is weak.
If the 80/20 rule works, then we should see 80 percent bad or weak answers to 20% strong answers.
And here’s how to do it. Google search.
Let’s search for the phrase “what separates me from my competition”. Use the quotes so you get the exact complete phrase. Also click on the “Cached” link at the end of the Google listing. It highlights the phrase so you can find it quickly on the page.
Going through the first few pages of Google results should help you find good answers versus weak answers. You can then model your answer after the good answers.
Our results from the search:
1. What I’ve found is that I have a passion for ideas. That’s what separates me from my competition. – Graphic designer.
2. I am a mortgage specialist, this is what separates me from my competition. – Loan officer
3. In my business what separates me from my competition is that you actually get my associates and me. – TV and Movie Production company
4. What separates me from my competition is that my agency is dedicated to serving the insurance needs of my customers by providing the complete lines of insurance products while focusing personal attention to individual family needs and developing long term relationships. – Insurance agent
5. What separates me from my competition? I have collected today’s most innovative marketing methods to help Agents produce more clients, spend fewer dollars and enjoy greater consistency of referrals. – Mortgage Broker
6. I will say my engines are priced more towards the racer and my tech service and phone conversations are second to none in the industry. I will not sell an engine to a customer if he does not purchase or have the proper equipment to make it work. That is what separates me from my competition. – Automotive engine builder
7. What separates me from my competition?: I want to build a standing relationship w/ my clients, to eventually become their one and only go-to person for their property improvement needs! – Home Improvement firm
8. What separates me from my competition? I have the experience, the music, the skills, and the preparation knowledge of all types of events! – Professional DJ services
9. Noticing the trends and being able to steer people in the direction they want to go is what separates me from my competition. – Real Estate Agent
10. My experience is what separates me from my competition. – Attorney
So of these 10 responses, which are the best, the strongest statement that will sway a prospect?
My personal opinion, is that #6 is the strongest. The Automotive Engine builder statement that “I will not sell an engine to a customer if he does not purchase or have the proper equipment to make it work” is strong and unique. The seller expects you be able to properly service and use his product, and he will not sell it to just anyone. There is no generic, boring, double talk. It is implied that you, the customer, are going to get a great engine that you will be able to service and use. The seller cares about his product and that the customer is smart enough to handle this product. Will another engine builder care enough to NOT sell an engine to someone who can’t service it?
The only other statement I like is number #5. It starts weak “I have collected today’s most innovative marketing methods …” (big word that anyone can use – “innovative”) but then it hits a home run with “to help Agents produce more clients, spend fewer dollars and enjoy greater consistency of referrals.” Ahh yes, results for my business.
Ok, so the 80/20 rule worked for me. Why didn’t I like the other 8? Is there a trend or common theme we can pick up on so that our statement is strong? Let’s examine the rest.
#1 – “I have a passion for ideas”. Well good for you graphic designer, but is that all that separates you from your competition? The others don’t have a passion for ideas? “Hey boss, I picked this person because they have a passion for ideas.” “Oh, you wanted a person who has a passion for working for our business and ideas?”
#2 – “I am a mortgage specialist”… I would hope a mortgage loan officer considered themselves a mortgage specialist. Again, if this is the biggest differentiator, then I’m not impressed, and neither would the prospect.
#3 – “…you actually get my associates and me.” Actually not too bad… for a start. Why does getting an associate or you matter as a TV production company? A little tweak and this becomes great.
#4 – “my agency is dedicated to serving the insurance needs of my customers by providing the complete lines of insurance products…zzzzzz.” Wow, that is straight from an academic textbook. You can’t get a more generic statement. This would separate this agency from all the other insurance agents only if the others have an incomplete line of products.
#7 – “I want to build a standing relationship w/ my clients, to eventually become their one and only go-to person for their property improvement needs!” I actually wanted to include this as good statement. It just misses the mark by being a little vague. All other agencies want the same. Again, with a little tweaking, this can be a winner.
#8 – “I have the experience, the music, the skills, and the preparation knowledge of all types of events!” I like the experience part. That is big with a prospect because they want someone who knows how to run the DJ part of the event. It just misses the personal part that will sell it to the prospect.
#9 – “Noticing the trends and being able to steer people in the direction they want to go…” No big differentiator here for a Real Estate Agent. Can you bring a little more to the table that makes you different from other real estate agents?
#10 – “My experience…” And now we know why attorneys are not in marketing. If your experience is what separates you from other attorneys, then I did not realize so many attorneys had no experience. To be fair, for an attorney, or doctor, or other professional, experience is a great differentiator. But you have to be specific. An attorney who represented 200 clients in divorces in the past 5 years separates themselves from the average ones who have represented 30 clients in the same 5 years.
Ok, so what trend do we see? It should be obvious after seeing these listed out this way.
The basic marketing taboo has afflicted the weaker 8 statements. They all talked about “I” more than what the prospect will benefit. It’s ok to use “I”, but how will that benefit the prospect? How is that different from the competition?
There is a strong benefit that the prospect can identify with in the good statements. They use few gibberish marketing words that put people to sleep. There is a statement that allows the prospect to say “This is why I chose this person.” And that statement is unique from what the competition is saying, and it tells the prospect how they will benefit.
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