From The Heart Sales Training Blog

Many salespeople are struggling in the current economy to make sales while other salespeople are not only finding it easy to make sales, they are experiencing increased sales.

Why does one salesperson struggle to make sales, while another can increase sales?

One of the main reasons is the salespeople who are finding it easy to increase sales have found a way to differentiate themselves from the competition.

Let me share with you the three step process to setting yourself apart from everyone else who sells what you sell.

Do you keep up to date on what’s happening in your industry?

Do you know what the three major trends are in your industry? How will these changes impact your client’s needs and therefore your product and service? What are the causes of these trends? Why are they happening? And if they continue, how will your industry change in the next few years?

Knowing what’s going on in your industry shows that you are the expert and not just another sales person putting in their time hoping to collect a check for all their troubles.

Set up an account with Google Alerts. You can set up alerts for keywords pertaining to your particular industry, your competitors, yourself or anything else you want to keep an eye on. Then you can get notified daily on any articles or news stories pertaining to the specific topics, and stay on top of the latest developments in your industry.

I suggest you subscribe to every publication, both print and on line in your industry to keep up on the big picture. Also subscribe to on line newsletters that will keep you up to date. Look for current trends as well as future trends.

By knowing the direction your industry is headed you’ll be in a better position to advise your current and prospective clients on changes in the industry and how your product or service can help them which will ultimately lead to an increase in sales.

Do you know what your competition is doing?

Sit down with a pen and paper and work out the answers to these questions:

Who is your competition and what are they doing? I know you know who your competitors are. You’ve heard their names mentioned on the phone and in sales presentations. However, do you really know them? The products or services they offer, the prices they charge, the benefits they offer?

If you don’t, I suggest you get to know everything they do. Find out how they sell. Ask your clients if they’ve been contacted. Talk to prospects that bring up their names.

Find out all you can. It will give you some new ideas and insight into how you can beat them to the next sale.

When you understand your competition and the industry it’s easier for you to find ways to be unique, stand out from the crowd and increase sales.

What sets you apart from every other sales person in your industry? How are you and your company different? Do you specialize in a particular part of your market? Do you offer excellent customer service? Does your product or service come with a guarantee?

What new and different approach can you take from your competitors that will make you unique?

What is your USP (Unique Selling Proposition?)

How will prospects remember you or will you blend in with the other sales people and be forgotten?

Most sales people never think about being different. They only want to be good or maybe just average.

They want to show the prospect the six different ways they have learned to close the sale. Or dazzle them with their flip chart or even better their flash presentation done on their laptop.

Most sales people talk in terms of how long their company has been in existence, how they have quality service and a competitive price. All the companies sound the same so how does the prospect decide who to pick?

Whoever will negotiate the lowest price gets the sale because there’s no other difference between you and your competitors. There’s no value presented to help the prospect understand why you’re worth paying more for. If you don’t show them how you’re different then most likely the company with the lowest price wins the business.

Being different, special, unique in your client’s eyes is basic to your success and to increase sales. Today you need to have more than an advantage over your competition. You have to be seen as the only viable solution, strategy or opportunity for the problem your market is trying to solve.

Your task is to determine what problem your market is striving to solve and in a unique way present your product or service as the only solution.

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