Common practice would make you believe that you should NEVER talk about your competitor.
Yeah, why would you make your prospect think about an alternative?
That’s true. Quick impulsive buying should be made easy, and prospects should be streamlined into customers.
However, when it comes to B2B marketing, people are offered choice and tend to make more rational decisions. Your prospects will make their own research.
- “We have no direct competitor” means your service is so stupid nobody ever thought of providing it. Or some tried and are not here any more. If your service is worth it, then people will want to compete with you.
- “Well, I think there’s XX that’s been around for years. But they suck.” Come on, if they suck, they would not have been around for years.
Market your competitors and be upfront about it when asked.
XX is a respectable company, and the service they provide is interesting. Truly they serve a huge market – that’s the same as ours. We think we are better than them at YYYY, and offer greater value for money. That mostly come because we developped R&D specifically for customers like you… and further more, we offer the flexibility of a small company.
Competitors success can help you make a case for your business.
Their argumentation can help convert a prospect into a customer, and making comparisons with your products can make them YOUR customer.