Why Your Gross sales Crew Wants Competitor Product Coaching
Make competitive analysis a part of your training
Product training is a powerful tool in your sales promotion efforts. There are obvious benefits to having your teams update your listings. But what about training for what else is there? How important is the competitive analysis for your sales success?
Adding competitor product training to your promotion plans prepares your team to thrive in an ever-evolving market.
Product training gives your teams a competitive advantage
In product training, we generally focus on deep insight into the specifics of our products and services. Your sales reps improve their ability to talk about customer weaknesses, features, and benefits. It helps them offer better customer care and create a superior shopping experience.
Product training has a direct impact on creating long-term customer relationships and increasing employee loyalty. But did you know that training your sales professionals on other companies’ products also contributes to these results? Among other things, competitor product training gives your team a thorough understanding of what you offer and how to approach it in the marketplace.
Why you should consider competitor product training
Three quarters of companies say competitive intelligence is critical to their sales process. Competitive intelligence involves gathering information and analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of other key players in the industry. Your results will give you an idea of where you are in the market and help you plan your product’s future growth.
When you share this information with your sales reps, they can better understand your strengths and outperform competing offerings. Conducting product training for competitors in your company benefits your sales teams in several ways.
Show the big picture
Learning your industry competitors’ products is another way to familiarize yourself with your own products. Seeing how products like your customers are being addressed and used by customers can help you learn more about the potential of your own offerings.
Are you missing something in your sales approach that you see elsewhere? Or is there something you do that others couldn’t point out as an advantage?
External product knowledge gives your sales force a deeper understanding of the industry. The overall view puts your product in context. This increases your team’s confidence in the opportunity to present your solutions. They also get more insight into your customer needs so they can quickly identify and address concerns.
Clarify your unique selling proposition
Teaching the contrasts between your offerings and those of your competitors shows your employees what makes you stand out from the crowd. If there is a gap between your solutions and others, these can point out how your product fills it.
Using other products and services as a benchmark can help you determine what makes your business, product, or service unique. When your sales team understands what sets you apart, they can better focus on your benefits.
Stay up to date with the market trends
With the competitive analysis, you can see what is happening in your industry as a whole. You can determine exactly what solutions users are looking for, how they implement them, and how they spend their budgets.
When your sales teams have a better idea of what people want, they’ll see your products with new eyes. They know how to meet customers where they are and may even be able to spot new potential target markets.
In short, training your sales professionals on other products gives them a competitive edge. This improves their trust, which in turn increases their willingness and ability to make compelling arguments for your products and to support your customers.
How to conduct a competitive analysis
It is clear that understanding the market from more than one point of view is helpful. Adding competitor product knowledge to your sales training efforts is a business win. What should your training look like?
Regardless of the platform on which you conduct your sales training, certain topics should be the focus. Analyzing the following 5 areas creates a solid foundation for your competitor’s product training.
1. Direct competitors
Make sure you make it clear who your direct competitors are. Focus on those who are doing exactly what you are doing and compare apples to apples. If they don’t directly fit your product or service, chances are many of the benefits they advertise and their target market intelligence aren’t that useful. To get a clear picture of what is going on in the market, do not refer to contests that are only vaguely or partially related.
2. Range of products
Understand everything your competitors offer – all products in all variations. Knowing all of the competing products and services will help you compare your own product more thoroughly. Handle things like quality levels, functionality, and reliability. Knowing the reach of these products will help your sales reps find out more about the specific benefits of your product.
3. Prices and discounts
You should know what others are selling in your market and what they are offering at that price. Knowing how prices and deals differ from your own will help your teams bring them up when talking to customers. You can share reasons beyond the price to consider when deciding on a solution.
For example, do you offer similar features at the same or lower prices? If not, does your product have more or better features that make up for the cost? Are there benefits that are not so clear in advance but are significant to the overall experience? Make sure these are highlighted on a sales rep’s talking point list.
4. Target groups
Analyze the typical buyer profiles your competitors are selling to. If the audience is an exact match for your own, then you can talk about how to speak more directly to this group. If you find that a competitor is entering new demographics, investigate why. Think about how your product could serve that audience as well.
Also, pay attention to use cases. How and when do people use products like yours? What additional options could you have of setting up your own? What other needs could you serve?
When you learn more about target people, your teams can focus their efforts on current customers and reach untapped markets.
5. Marketing strategy
Provide an overview of how your competitors are talking about their products. Do they lead with one selling point or pain point over another? Do you design your solution using a specific language that will appeal to buyers? Knowing how others are approaching the market will help your reps speak to trends and general concerns. It can also show them ways to showcase your unique selling proposition.
Your teams will be better prepared to make your news stand out if they know that the news competitors are consistently sharing with the market.
Conclusion
Training your sales teams on other companies’ products will develop a deeper understanding of how to sell and support your own products. Adding competitor product training to your promotion efforts gives you an added benefit. When your employees understand who your competitors are and how they work, they can’t just compete on price.
As you create and implement your competitor’s product training, make sure to update it regularly. In a constantly changing market, it is important to conduct regular competitive research. Prepare your sales teams for success by making sure they always have the latest information.
TalentLMS
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