How to get your competition fired using the Wedge technique to gain new business

220 Pages·2005·1.95 MB·English

by  Randy Schwantz

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How toGet
Your
Competition
Fired
(without Saying Anything
Bad about Them)
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How toGet
Your
Competition
Fired
(without Saying Anything
Bad about Them)
Using The Wedge® to Increase Your Sales
Randy Schwantz
John Wiley & Sons,Inc.
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Copyright © 2005 by Randy Schwantz. All rights reserved.
Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey.
Published simultaneously in Canada.
The Wedge®, The Wedge®logo, and Selling Is a Contact Sport®are registered
trademarks of Schwantz and Associates, Inc.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or
transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying,
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Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: While the publisher and author have used
their best efforts in preparing this book, they make no representations or warranties
with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this book and
specifically disclaim any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular
purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales representatives or written
sales materials. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for your
situation. The publisher is not engaged in rendering professional services, and you
should consult with a professional where appropriate. Neither the publisher nor author
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:
Schwantz, Randy.
How to get your competition fired (without saying anything bad about them)
: using The Wedge to increase your sales / Randy Schwantz.
p. cm.
ISBN 0-471-70311-7 (cloth)
1. Selling. 2. Sales management. 3. Competition. I. Title.
HF5438.25.S3392 2005
658.85—dc22
2004017334
Printed in the United States of America.
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
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To Lori, one of the world’s greatest jugglers,
a champion of kids, horses, and basketball, my pillar,
the apple of my eye, my one and only.
I also want to dedicate this book to you, the
salesperson. The work you do in keeping the
wheels of commerce turning is indispensable.
My fondest wish is that this book will help you
achieve your own goals sooner and provide
excellent, proactive service to more clients.
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Contents
Preface ix
Introduction The #1 Obstacle to Most
New Business 1
PARTI The Strategy to Win 17
1 The Wedge 19
2 Finding Your Winning Difference 41
PARTII The Tactics That Work 65
3 The Wedge Sales Call 67
4 Discovering the Pain—The Problem Phase 79
5 Proposing a Remedy—The Solution Phase 107
6 Getting Your Competition Fired—
The Commitment Phase 121
PARTIII Changing the Way Selling Is Done 133
7 Individual Success 135
8 The Wedge Sales Culture 147
vii
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CONTENTS
9 For Buyers Only 183
10 For Current Providers Only 189
11 The Wedge Flight Plan: A Quick Review 193
References 201
Index 203
About the Author 209
viii
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Preface
Ihave more than 200 books on my bookshelf about selling.
They all say pretty much the same thing, that selling in-
volves two people—the seller and the buyer. They say if
the seller can build a relationship with the buyer, find out
what the buyer needs, then bring in what the buyer needs,
the seller will be rewarded.
The reality is that there are three people in the selling
interview—the buyer, the seller, and the unseen current
provider. Not only do you have to be great at building rela-
tionships, you’d better be great at busting the incumbent
relationship.
The biggest challenge with traditional selling meth-
ods is that they don’t have a strategy for dealing with the
third party, the incumbent. Unless you have a strategy for
driving a wedge between the buyer and the current
provider in order to get your competition fired, the chance
is very good that the incumbent will leverage the existing
relationship with the client (your prospect) to get a “last
look” and match your proposal. You’ve just been rolled.
So the question is, how do you Get Your Competition
Firedwithout saying anything bad about them? Read on. . . .
ix