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Don’t Be Overconfident
You know that you are better than your competitor; you’re confident in your ability to create more value for your dream client. You know that your ideas are better.
You also know that your offering is better than your competitor’s. You’ve proven it time and time again by competitively displacing them. You know you have the right solution and that it will produce results.
Your competitor feels the very same way.
To win, you need to be confident. But you don’t want to be arrogant. Arrogance is dangerous; you don’t want to underestimate your competitor.
You know your relationships are strong. But don’t believe that you are the only one with strong relationships. Believe and behave as if your competitor has strong relationships of their own.
You have political backing of some key stakeholders. Believe and behave as if your competitor has the political backing of some key stakeholders too.
You have built consensus with some of the buying committee members. Maybe you have the one stakeholder that gives you of the majority you need. Expect that your competitor has the rest of the buying committee, and expect that they have the ability to flip a vote their direction.
Your pricing is higher than your competitor’s, and you believe that you have justified a higher price by proving beyond any reasonable doubt that your solutions produces the greatest return. Anticipate that your competitor has the ability to price their offering at a level that some stakeholders find compelling and that they are willing to reduce it in order to win the business.
You’ve done your homework. You’ve studied and you are prepared. Believe and behave as if your competitor is hungrier than you, that they want it more than you do, and that they’re working harder than you are. Don’t be overconfident.
Questions
How are confidence and arrogance different?
Why does confidence help and arrogance hurt your results?
How do you know you’re working harder and smarter than your competitor?
Why is important not to underestimate your competitor, especially in sales opportunities?