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Top 10 Ways to Take Customers from Your Competition

Written by: Bob Janet

Article Overview: Your competition is the best place to find people already buying your products and service.

Top 10 Ways to Take Customers from Your Competition

There may have been a time when there was enough business to go around for everyone. But I know there isn’t now. The easiest people to sell your products and service to are people that are already buying what you sell. And the best place to find them is at your competition.

When I was in the truck tire sales business and wanted to find new customers I sat out in front of my competitions businesses and wrote down their truck tire customer’s names and telephone numbers. (Their names and telephone numbers are on their trucks.)

Once when my appliance business was slow I purchased a large amount of promotional pots and pans sets and advertised: Bring in your receipts from my competitors, I actually listed the competitors names, for your free deluxe set of pots and pans. Sure I had a cost for the pots and pans, but the gain in customers over the long term sure made that up quickly.

10 ways to take customers from your competition

1. Build a Relationship with their Customers.
It takes a bit of time, but when you build a better relationship with your competition’s customers than they have, by constantly providing them with information that improves their business and/or lives, you will eventually be the product and service provider they choose.
Relationships = Trust = Sales

2. Do your Homework.
Before you make your first cold call (by telephone or in person) to your competition’s customer, learn everything you can about the prospect’s industry, their business and them. Learn to talk their language and move at their pace, and learn how the competition is trying to solve their problems. Then find a better way to solve the customer’s problems. Remember the # 1 Rule in Selling is: The one who solves the customer’s problems the easiest for them will get the sale.


3. Shop your competition.
The best way to find out what your competition is doing is to ask them. Telephone them or go in person. Act like a customer. First of all, while they are talking to you they cannot be out selling. And, you will find out everything they tell a customer. Learn and use the good selling points and techniques, and learn and do not use their bad sales activities. You can even get them to send you all of their brochures, pamphlets, samples, etc. All you have to do is ask.

4. Contact their customers in different media.
Don’t go head-to-head in advertising and marketing. Market where the competition doesn’t.

5. Increase the frequency their customers hear from you.
The more familiar the customers become with you through your advertising and promotions, the faster you will establish a relationship with them. The squeaky wheel gets the grease.

6. Ask your customers for referrals.
If your customers are buying your products and services, their friends, colleagues and relatives are buying the same products and services from your competition.

7. Contact their customers directly.
Telephone them and/or meet with them in person.

8. Increase the offer.
Win the customer by simply increasing the value of the offer.

9. Thank their customers for considering you.
After you have lost a sale to the competition, thank the lost customer with a thank you note or small gift for considering you as a supplier. Your competition probably is not thanking them. You will have set yourself up for their next purchase.

10. Ask ,Ask, Ask.
You can never fail if all you do is ask for the sale.

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  Strategy to Understand your Competitor

Article Tags: appliance business, cold call, competitions, deluxe set, homework, pace, person act, pots and pans, receipts, relationship, relationships, sales business, service provider, telephone numbers, tire sales, truck tire, trucks, trust sales



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