How to Talk About Your Competitors (Without Throwing Them Under the Bus)

As Cathy, a CEO friend of mine likes to say, "Business is a rugby match, not a tea party." It gets a bit exhausting always being the 'nice guy' in a not-so-nice world. Now, before the politically-correct police seize my digital poison pen, let me explain a little bit further...

A client of mine is in a very competitive bid process in which part of their challenge is to differentiating themselves from their competitors -- in a way that is not about price. The problem is, they're so good at doing what they do that everyone else jumped on the bandwagon.

So how can they call out their competitors as the uninspired bottom-feeders they really are (without actually sending them to the bottom with those cement shoes...)?

I don't advocate running them down -- that's hardly the professional high road. And you can't point out their flaws without making yourself look petty. So what's a company to do? You can use a number of techniques and one of my favorites is framing.

In framing, you define your prospect's market conditions in a specific way and then illustrate why in their current condition, you are their best solution. You also explain why your competitors would be a great solution -- if only your prospect were in a different set of circumstances. One of the keys to this approach is to compliment your competitors. I know, I know, it seems counterintuitive. But here's what you do: Place them as the best solution... in a very tiny set of conditions... which your prospect does not fit.

Pretty smart, huh? Here are a few framing language models to consider:
Evolution - Describe the industry, market, customer base over a period of time and show what changes have happened. In this model, you can talk about the world of the '90s, the '00s and now. By describing the the changes, you can define your competitors' advantages as addressing a world that no longer exists.

Revolution - Technology, regulation, off-shore competitors and other circumstances revolutionize businesses. Placing your competitors as great pre-revolution solutions is a good way to pigeonhole their value and emphasize yours.

Devolution - The world has gotten smaller -- language like "Competition locally required this..., competition nationally requires that..., international competition demands something altogether." The language of these conversation follows this direction: "Understanding your market as it was until (6 months or a year ago, whatever fits), I completely understand the choices you have made. As a matter of fact, I think under those circumstances, you probably made the best choice at that time. Under the current conditions, I can see why you are exploring new options. Our specialty is helping companies like yours who are in this exact set of circumstances."

Basically, you're killing them with kindness and compliments.

I don't have the monopoly on facing down competitors -- what are some of your favorite techniques?

Flickr photo courtesy of jinthai/CC 2.0