Here’s the situation: You get an introductory conversation with a great prospect, someone that fits your target profile to a T.
Not long into the conversation, however, the prospect says, “We already work with one of your competitors to do this.”
What do you do next?
If you’re like most professional service providers, you politely say, “Thanks for your time. I understand, and it was nice meeting you.” And you move on to the next prospect, marking this one as a “no” because they’re not going to buy right away.
Stop right there.
If you are walking away from prospects because they’re already working with a competitor, you are missing out on excellent sales opportunities.
As a matter of fact, in RainToday’s How Clients Buy Professional Services research we looked at the likelihood of buyers to switch service providers in relation to how satisfied they are with their current provider. We found that unless a buyer is “very satisfied,” rating the current service provider as a 5 out of 5 on the satisfaction scale, they are likely to be open to switching service providers.
Unless buyers are "very satisfied" with your competitor, they are likely to consider switching providers.
Furthermore, only 48% of buyers said they are indeed “very satisfied.” That means that in 52% of these situations, there’s a real opportunity to unseat the incumbent provider and win the business.
Unseating a Competitor
It’s a good sign when a prospect says they’re already working with a competitor because it means they have the need, they see the value, and they outsource this type of work. All that’s left is to convince them that you are the one for the job.
What can you do to start building the relationship and plant the seed to make a switch? Here are a few ways to respond:
1. “Wow that’s great. You know, I don’t hear that very often. I’m curious, what do you think makes the relationship work so well?”
This is a relatively non-salesy, non-threatening way to get key insight into the client relationship. It gets the prospect talking. And based on what they say, you can probe further and uncover areas where there may be issues with the current provider or holes in the current service set that you can fill.
2. “It sounds like things are pretty good. What do you want to have happen that’s not happening now?”
By asking that question you get the prospect thinking about change, thinking about areas where the current provider may not be meeting expectations. It also gets them thinking about what it might be like if they did switch.
3. “What topics do you cover in your monthly meetings with your current provider?”
In most cases, the answer to that question is going to be, “We don’t have monthly meetings.” This gives you an opportunity to demonstrate how working with you is different. For example, you might say something like, “Oh I didn’t realize that. Here’s what we tend to cover in the monthly meetings we have with clients.”
4. “It’s great to hear that things are going well. While I am not too familiar with their process, I do know it’s always worthwhile to have a second set of eyes to look over the documents. The next time you have something like this, I’d be happy to give it a quick review to see if we’d approach it any differently. If nothing else, you’ll get a different perspective and we may even be able to find you some additional savings.”
Make the prospect an offer he can’t refuse. When you offer to be a second set of eyes on a project it helps deepen the relationship and allows them to experience firsthand your service and expertise.
The idea is to start building the relationship because eventually 52% of these prospects are going to look to switch providers. By building the relationship early, you give yourself the inside track and you’ll be the first one they turn to when they decide it’s time to switch.
So, the next time a prospect says, “Jeez, we already work with someone on this.” Don’t give up. Instead, work to build the relationship. When you do, over the long term you’ll win your fair share of the 52% of buyers who’d consider switching.
