After the last week’s post about Invention Psychosis, I have been thinking about the importance of uniqueness in a product offering. When I was younger, I always thought that a product without competition would be every salesman's dream. It isn’t.
I have lately been selling advanced new technology. So new and advanced that the competition is difficult to define. It is a hard sell.
Instead of just naming the main competitors and then explaining why your product is better, you try to define the competition as fuzzy fragmented products, some older technologies, customers’ internal research and whatnot. Then you are faced with endless discussion about the benefits of your offering and how they could be quantified.
I have seen this all before. Ten years ago, I was selling early versions of mobile antivirus solutions. There were no mobile viruses and justifying an investment to a potential future technology proved difficult time after time. We were like insurance salesmen without a real threat. It is a lonely job.
If a start-up claims to have a commercially viable product that nobody else on the planet has thought of, I would advise them to think again.
The fact that someone else is trying to solve the same problem confirms your idea is good. When customers understand why they are buying, the sales process is straightforward and you don’t need to start with selling a problem. Comparisons with other solutions sharpen your story, keep product development alert and make the goals clear.
I recently talked to a friend of mine who sells cars. Their sales are decreasing, they have low margins and no flexibility in their business models, and they are facing tough competitors from all over the world.
I would love that for a change.
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