Have you run into the situation where you aren't competing with one of your known competitors, but instead, find that your customer is considering turning to an internal department to take over what you do? This happened to one of the clients I work with. The salespeople were meeting with the client when he told them he was thinking about shifting the work they did into an internal department. It can be disconcerting, and if you're not prepared, you can lose valuable time and miss the opportunity to keep the business. They were surprised and didn't quite know how to respond. The issue came up during our sales training program. It generated quite a lot of discussion about what they should do. You could miss the signals that this is coming in your account, but if you're prepared and act early enough and with the right ammunition, you can recover.
First of all, consider this a real possibility. If the customer just mentioned it in passing, once they have started thinking about it, it gets closer and closer to becoming irreversible. If the customer tells you that the decision has already been made, you're facing an uphill battle. Any less commitment on his or her part to the internal option at least gives you a fighting chance.
Secondly, put a framework around the situation. You need to compete with this situation, just as you would with an external competitor, but in different ways. Just as with an external competitor, you need to start by understanding the customer's motives for considering this switch. Is the customer under pressure from other departments to make the switch? What is the thinking behind this? Is the customer not that happy with your service, and he or she thinks it would be better handled by someone who has more of a vested interest in his or her success? Is the customer thinking that he or she will save money by doing this? The last issue is likely to be a key consideration. You will need to understand how they expect to realize these savings, have they quantified them, have they considered other factors, such as the learning curve, contingency plans, quality or reliability? You will need to get permission from the customer to ask some questions so you demonstrate how your service may actually save money and provide higher quality, reliability or other factors. You may want to say something such as, "I'm, of course, disappointed to hear that you are considering such a switch. I hope you will give me the opportunity to understand a little more about what is causing you to think about this, and give me the opportunity, if I can, to demonstrate how we can still provide what you are looking for. Would it be all right if I asked you some questions so I can get a better understanding of what your thinking is on this?"
You will need to have these questions "in your back pocket," should the circumstances arise. You don't want to have to reschedule another time to talk about it, because by then, it may be too late. Time is of the "essence." Once you understand the customer's motives, you're going to need to demonstrate the unique and special value that you and your company bring to the customer. If the customer isn't the decision maker, you'll need to speak with him or her or, if it's impossible, have the customer be the advocate for continuing with you and your company. Be prepared to make adjustments in the products or services you provide and if the customer has expressed any dissatisfaction with what you do, apologize, take responsibility to resolve the situation and then commit to making sure it won't happen again. Don't be too eager to make price concessions just to retain the business, but be open to negotiating a different arrangement if it appears to be reasonable and worthwhile.
Of course, the best way to avoid a situation like this from happening in the first place is to stay in such close contact with the customer and his or her company that you can anticipate even the possibility of this type of situation and work to prevent it from gathering momentum.
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jdesena@salesleaders.com, or visit salesleaders.com.
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