What does the competiton say?

We hear when competitor sales reps spread rumor and inuendo. But what are they doing and saying the rest of the time?

Dave Stein gives a great discovery strategy to learn what your competiton is doing. Review these questions and pick the ones that are relevant for you, the ones you are not asking now. He calls this your "competitor IQ". While Dave focuses on understanding broad competitor strategy, the point applies to the questions you ask to understand the competiton in your sales calls. How smart do you compete?

You may be wondering what's the benefit of talking about the competiton when you could be spending time discovering needs for your own product features and benefits. I can think of two ways to use this information:

• Understanding the context of your product features and benefits and how they compare to your competitors will help you understand your SWOT. You cannot know your strengths if you do not know your competiton's weaknesses.
• Know how your competition is presenting their product features and benefits. If competitors mainly sell against your price, or your service, you can counter directly with correct information, or offer additional product features and benefits to overcome these competitor-raised objections.

Know your competitors strategy as well as your own. What questions will you ask in your next sales calls?

Not just how you sound, but how you look

In face-to-face sales, we all know dress sends a signal to customers. It can help or hurt your credibility. Inside sales has been immune to this, till now. Josiane Feigon says start looking good from the waist up! With the purchase of Skype by Microsoft, we may see the beginning of new corporate sales applications that will  help you or hurt you.

Inside Sales people are aware that they must catch and hold their customer's attention. They know that is hard to do when you cannot see them and they cannot see you. Without visual presence, customers feel they can multi-task while on the phone. And they do. We all do. How many times did you check email during your last web meeting?

Adding visual contact to inside sales adds a new way to catch and hold attention. Imagine what you can do with gestures and props to improve communication. It's a whole new world.

If you could see your customer while on a phone sales call, what would you do?