Your competition may not only come from going up against a competing product, or service. You may have a product that's one of a kind in your field of business, but it is not the only thing people are spending money on.

Your job is to get your prospect to spend their money on "your proposition" not something else. This could be your toughest competition yet.

Never go into battle without preparing yourself for the fight. As in any war you must analyze your foe and learn as much about them as possible. You'd be foolish to ignore your opposition, or to under-estimate them.

Pre-Approach:

The pre-approach phase of the selling process gives you the opportunity to make sure you have all your bases covered, so you can have a level playing field and all the right conditions for making the sale. Use this time to analyze yourself, your business setup, your selling methods, your products and your target market. It's not enough to just know who your competition is. You must know all about their goods because your prospect sure does.

Note all the strong points of your competitor's products as well as the weak points in comparison to your offer. Write them down. Give credit where credit is do. Capitalize on the strong points of your competitor's goods by making yours even better. Look at their weak points and try to figure out how to improve upon them.

Knowing your competitor's goods will help you avoid mistakes they may be making. You want to be able to meet, or beat your competition at every angle no matter which direction they come from. If your prospect mentions a great asset of your competitor's product, or service, you want to be able to go one better. Here's an example of what I mean:

Mrs. Smith: "I saw an ad by the Jone's Company in The Evening Telegraph. They're cleaning three rooms of carpet for $69."

Salesman: "Yes. Mr. Jone's Company is offering a great deal on carpet cleaning. In deed, you can have three rooms of carpeting cleaned for $69. Our company goes one better than that Mrs. Smith. We will clean three rooms of carpeting for $59.95 and throw in another room free."

"And when it comes to our guarantee we can't be beat. The Jone's Company offers a 50% refund within 30 days if you are not satisfied. We offer you a 100% refund within 30 days if you are not satisfied and all of our employees are licensed and bonded and have been with us for a minimum of 5 years."

Mrs. Smith: "That's the best offer I've received. How soon can you start?"

Salesman: "I can schedule you for today if you'd like Mrs. Smith."

The salesman met and beat every aspect of his competitor's proposition because they did their homework during the pre-approach phase of the selling process.

Now you are under no obligation to point out the good features of your competitor's goods, or service, but it will be an advantage for you in many ways if you've done your homework. It's your opportunity to show your confidence in your own products, or service and to convey your unique selling proposition.

Never bad-mouth your competitor's products, or service. Your prospect will see this as a character flaw on your part and may think of you as resentful and untrustworthy. If you feel the need to bad-mouth your competitor's goods, maybe you feel your products are inferior to theirs, or you lack confidence in yourself as a salesman who can deliver a real service to your customer.

In the above example the competition paved the way for the salesman. His competitor unknowingly left the door wide open. All the salesman had to do was walk in and make the sale.

Stay mindful of the fact that your competition may also be looking at you, so keep re-inventing yourself. Keep polishing your offer and keep a keen eye on your competitors.