In a highly competitive industry, businesses always face the challenge of differentiating themselves from their competition, may it be in terms of customer service solutions or product and service offers. At some point during your sales meetings, clients may ask you who your competitors are and why you re better than any of them. You can t avoid dealing with such situation. The worst response you can give is telling your clients that you have no competition.

Bashing your rivals, on the other hand, will place you in a bad light. Being unprepared for such questions can only turn your sales meeting into a disaster with you ending up with no sale. Knowing how to strategically discuss your edge over your rivals without sounding desperate can help you earn your clients trust and close the deal.

Make no room for trash talk

How you talk behind your competitors’ backs can be a reflection of how professional you are. If you’re able to say nasty things about your rivals without any hint of hesitation, your clients may wonder if you can do the same to them when they re not in front of you. As sales representatives, you carry the name of your brand. Whatever you do or say can impact the reputation of your company.

Throwing your competitors under the bus can also run the risk of them finding out about your dirty tricks. This can either boost the morale of your competition s employees or drag you into an unfavorable cycle of bashing and pulling each other down. The thing is, you can never point out another brand s imperfections without making yourself look silly.

Navigate the conversation to your advantage

When clients ask you about a competing brand, you can start by stating what you know is true about the company. Don’t overdo this part though. Keep it short to avoid dwelling on the subject too much. After doing this, focus on the areas that your organization does better. Your goal must be to make sure that the areas where you claim to be good at are the ones that truly matter to your audience. This way, you turn the question into an opportunity to prove why your brand is the right choice for them even if a strong competitor of yours is excelling in other areas.

At the end of the day, people will only do business with sales representatives that they like. This is why establishing rapport during sales meetings matters to your sales success. When a client tells you that another brand has a more reliable and affordable product, don’t rattle or storm out of the room. Just keep calm and remember that you have the chance to prove your brand s worth. If you confidently present your arguments without trash-talking your rivals, you can build on the rapport that you initially established and strengthen the connection with your audience.

Rather than focusing on which brand is better, you can introduce to your clients the topic of why your brand knows their needs and the corresponding solutions. Emphasizing that your vision is aligned with your prospects will make you their best option. Take advantage of what you know about your customers. When they realize that saying no to you can mean rejecting someone who knows them really well, they will have no reason to consider other options.