Sales Scripts for Engaging with Competitors' Customers

A prospect tells you: "We’re also looking at [Competitor]." Most reps make one of two mistakes: - They panic and start discounting before the customer even asks. - They attack the competitor, thinking that will win trust. The best reps? They guide the conversation...without badmouthing or getting defensive. Here’s how we teach folks to do it at Sales Assembly: 1) Find the gap. Instead of “We’re better because…” ask: “What made you start looking in the first place? What’s missing today?” This gets them to focus on their pain, not a feature battle. 2) Understand their criteria. Instead of “Why are you considering them?” ask: “What’s most important to you in a solution?” You want them defining success in your playing field. 3) Focus on fit, not features. Instead of “We’re better at X,” ask: “What’s been standing out to you in each option so far?” If they highlight something critical you do better, that’s your opening. 4) Help them think ahead. Instead of “They don’t do [X] like we do,” say: “A lot of teams in your space have prioritized [X] because it impacts [Y]. How are you thinking about that?” This frames the conversation around outcomes - not a feature war. 5) Guide the decision process. Instead of “Who’s your front-runner?” ask: “What’s your process for narrowing down options?” If they don’t have a clear decision path, they’re likely to stall. 6) Make the decision feel easy. Instead of “How can we win this deal?” ask: “If you had to make a decision today, what would give you confidence?” This surfaces final concerns...so you can remove them. The goal isn’t to beat competitors. It’s to help buyers feel confident that choosing you is the right move.

This week, I was catching up with a VP of Sales, and we started talking about a call that went south. A junior sales rep on their team botched the deal by bad-mouthing the competition. Instead of building trust, they sounded defensive, and the prospect started questioning whether they were hiding something. A classic mistake—one that has cost countless deals. So... when your prospect brings up the competition, do you: ❌ Trash talk them? (No—makes you look insecure) ❌ Get defensive and over-explain why you’re better? Hint: this only erodes trust and makes you seem less confident in your own solution. Here’s the better way: ✅ Acknowledge & Give Credit Where It’s Due 👉 “Yeah, [Competitor] is a solid company. They do a great job with [their strength].” ✅ Show Where You Take It a Step Further 👉 “We also offer [XYZ functionality], allowing you to address [specific pain point or use case]. But where we take things a step further is [unique advantage], giving you a complete solution instead of just a partial solution.” ✅ Differentiate with Real Customer Outcomes (Match the Same Size & Industry for Credibility) 👉 “A B2B SaaS company doing $10M ARR recently switched from [Competitor] because they struggled with [pain point, e.g., inaccurate forecasting, clunky integrations]. After moving to us, they increased forecast accuracy by 40%, automated 70% of their reporting, and saved 10+ hours per rep every week—allowing their team to focus on closing more deals instead of fixing bad data.” ✅ Turn It Back to the Prospect 👉 “What’s most important to you when choosing a provider?” Never bad-mouth the competition. Focus on differentiation and let your happy customers do the talking. Control the narrative. Win the deal. #SaaS #Sales #Advisor

Some of your future best customers are using competitors today. Here's how to get them to come to you instead. Step 1: Conduct Buyer Research Interview at least 13 current or former competitor customers. Don’t overdo it with more interviews than you need, or you’ll risk diminishing returns. You'll book these quicker if you can incentivize $50 - $100 per interview. In the interview, figure out your buyers’ goals, pain points, and their experience with your competitor to see if you can identify strengths and weaknesses. Step 2: Craft Compelling Messaging Take what you learned from your buyer research and build a message that would make those buyers say, “I want that.” • Keep it simple • Speak their language • Don’t be self-centered (nobody cares about you) • Solve, don’t sell (i.e. explain how your product would make their life better or easier) OK, but how do you bring up the competitor? Lavender 💜 has a great cold email template that lays it out like this: • Acknowledge the competitor • Ask the recipient if they’re happy with it • Compliment the competitor • Highlight the competitor’s shortcomings • Open up a dialogue with a question related to the shortcomings Step 3: Choose Your Campaign Strategy Once you’ve figured out your messaging, it’s time to pick the channels to reach your audience. Map out the flow—when and how will you deliver your message? Some possibilities: Inbound: • Google Ad ➡️ Comparison Landing Page ➡️ Free Trial • Organic posts on LI ➡️ Competitive Webinar Registration ➡️ Dedicated Follow-Up • LinkedIn Ads ➡️ Long-Form Comparison Blog ➡️ Demo CTA Outbound: • Get a list of companies that your competitor shows on their site ➡️ reach out to them • Pull all closed lost opportunities from your CRM that mentioned the competitor ➡️ reach out to the companies if it’s been longer than 6 months to see how things are going Step 4: Offer Irresistible Incentives Switching to a different tool is hard. You’re essentially asking people to change processes, migrate their data, re-integrate with their tech stack, learn a new platform… so be sure to recognize this and account for it when you’re working a rip n’ replace opportunity. Unless your product is truly 10x better than the competitor being used, consider these additional incentives to make a switch to you a no-brainer: • Buyouts (ask for testimonials or case studies in return) • Free trainings (assure your prospect that their team will know how to use your product) • Free migration, implementation, and integrations to remove as much friction as possible TLDR: get creative and think outside the realm of discounts (although, those can help too). Step 5: Test, Measure, Evolve Challenge yourself and your team to put something together in under a month. See what happens. Iterate. Rip n’ replace campaigns are plays that most companies should learn to get good at!