When Competitors Are Stealing Your Business
This week’s show comes from an actual client (actually they all do, but this one in particular). They have a competitor in their market who is buying business–about a 30% cost difference.
We address some of the things they can do to prevent this.
Hey Guys, I understand completely. I sell printing and promotional products. EVERYBODY sells printing and promotional products, and most of them at cut-rate or lost leader pricing. I try to keep an open dialog with my customers so I know, or at least think I know, what they are thinking. Sometimes I get a call saying “I can get this for such-and-such over here.” I try to stall them for a minute while I comtemplate the options, and if it really is a good deal, I might tell them to go for it. However, I usually try to express my concerns about trouble areas they might be unaware of. Perhaps its a quality issue, or delivery, or color match, things I know that matter to them, but they are seeing, they are only focused on the price. I have had it go both ways, sometimes they ask more questions and decide not to go with the other program, sometimes go jump up and grab it. My best outcome in that case is when it doesn’t turn out like they wanted. They tend to be a better customer in the future. There is my “three-cents worth.”
Doug, Always good to hear from you. Three cents? You discount yourself. I agree with all those. Keep listening!