Creating competitive advantage

Working strategies that define your differentiation value.

Following our conversation with Fiona Pascoe, Founder of 120Percent, on solving challenges that sales professionals face in the new normal, we now delve into what you can do to stay ahead of the game, close deals, retain clients, define your competitive advantage and triumph in the marketplace.

Many in the sales profession still struggle with achieving the skills and clarity necessary to shape a client’s view of their problem and the potential solutions that would lead them to choose you over your competitors.

While relying on a company’s reputation, products and services may provide some benefits to winning deals, these things do nothing to shape the prospective client’s understanding of their problem, what exactly they should do about it, or how they should go about changing.

To develop a competitive advantage in sales, Fiona explains the need to bring one’s value forward to solve the customer’s problem and make them feel what it would be like to work with you.

By differentiating on value rather than price, she tells us that the vision we create through storytelling can help get the customer’s buy-in.

“Stick to your value, put forward the compelling vision that gets them the results they need. People will always share things that make them feel deeply. That is how things go viral on social media.”

She also encourages everyone to keep doing what works: talking to customers, creating value, looking out for opportunities that you can bring to your customers. “Build on what keeps you steady and inspired,” she says.

Transparency and honesty can also help transform the results of your pitch, as Fiona highlights. By bringing the truth to your customers, she says that it becomes an invitation for customers to bring you the truth, too.

“Build trust and desire. Trust is talking about them. Desire is buying into the compelling vision that competitors can’t compete even with a lower price. Bring that compelling vision to your customer, solve their problems with your value, and you’ll be in good stand for 2021.”

Fiona is a Strategic Sales Growth Expert specialising in Customer Acquisition having held senior sales roles in global hotels, corporate events, event production & events agency. Through COVID she created 120Percent, to help businesses recover from COVID by Igniting their Sales Advantage!

You Claim Your Sales Advantage by coming to the table with 120% more VALUE than anyone else. VALUE is perceived as solving customers problems not selling Features and Benefits. Create a compelling VISION of the future for your customer and you will WIN!

Photo by GR Stocks on Unsplash

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