A six-step plan for driving a wedge between the competition and the customer
For sales people, convincing a potential customer to choose them over the competition is no easy task, and especially when the competition already has the account. Finally, How to Get Your Competition Fired shows readers a proven system for breaking the relationship between the competition and the customer. Randy Schwantz’s method, The Wedge(r), includes a six-step plan that drives a “wedge” between the competition and the customer. He shows how to reveal the competition’s shortcomings without seeming to, letting prospects decide independently to dump their current provider, exclude other competitors and, finally, switch to the salesperson’s product or service. Offering real tactics, not just theory, this is the only sales strategy that really works to break the relationship between customers and the competition and bring in more business, faster than ever.
Randy Schwantz (Dallas, TX) is a leading authority and expert on the sales process. A highly successful sales professional, he is a nationally respected sales trainer, author, sales coach, consultant, and public speaker. Randy is President and CEO of The Wedge Group, whose clients include Fortune 500 companies as well as small businesses.
Excellent Lessons For Any Sales Professional In the course of my career I have read many sales books some good some bad. How to Get Your Competition Fired falls squarely into the good category. It is a book that I will read again and again. I found three core truths that I think are so often overlooked by sales professionals. First, in the world we live in today Features, Advantages and Benefits do not win the day. Even in the technology arena people by from people they like and who give them superior service. The second truth is even more fundamental yet also overlooked. You have to let the customer figure out they are unhappy. That is the strenght of the wedge. You are not tricking them with slick closing techniques or gimmicks you are enabling them to take a fresh look at the service they receive and judge it accordingly. Finally, the foundational principle of doing your homework and knowing your accounts. Randy brings in multiple sources for research and various areas to review when researching an account. As I…
Fluff overload I confess that I made a mistake buying this book at an airport on a whim without reading any reviews online. I’ve read several books on selling, and this one is the worst, mostly because it’s very diluted with filler material that adds no value but makes the book look sizeable.The idea of the book is create a ‘wedge’ between you and your competition by having a proactive sales / support strategy. While this idea sounds nice, at the end of the day this 224 page book’s only real content to “get your competition fired” is a set of six fill in the blank questions that you can, “apply to any sales opportunity”This book is fluff, plain & simple. Don’t waste your time.
Only for those who are intent on moving up. If you are practitioner of Commercial Property and Casualty Insurance or are in any way exposed to the sales side of it, this is a must-read book. I would go so far to say that if you are in any industry where in order to get new business, you must unseat an incumbent, this is a must-read book.Many books related to sales are highly complex thought exercises that have not been tested in the real world. Some of the nuance is appreciated because I have actually successfully performed at this job in the insurance business for the past 25+ years.Randy Schwantz’s comprehensive approach to dealing with the harsh realities of competition is most refreshing. Most specifically, I am impressed with how the Wedge technique deals directly with unseating the competition. Also notable are the questioning techniques and the methods by which Randy gets strategic information about both you and the incumbent into the discussion without being an attack dog. I have sporadically…