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How to Steal Customers From Competitors
Why using someone's name is a cheat code in sales.
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Good Morning! Costco was just forced to recall 80,000 pounds of butter because they forgot to mention it contained milk on the label. So, if you’re having a bad day, remember… it could always be worse. You could’ve been the employee who forgot to put milk on the label. 😅
Stealing customers from competitors 🧠
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Tesla sales rep salary’s 👀
Sales jobs & a meme 😂
Steal Customers From Your Competitors
There’s only one thing that feels better than signing a new customer.
And that is… signing a new customer that you stole from a competitor.
But the truth is, stealing a customer from a competitor is much easier said than done.
Switching to a new solution when you already have something in place is a painful process. Data migration, implementation, training employees, etc.
It’s not a fun thing to do. So when companies can avoid switching, they will.
Unless you can sell them on why switching would make their lives much better and the positives of your product would outweigh all of the negatives of making the switch.
So today, we’re diving into how you can sell the switch and steal customers from your competition. 👇️
1. Figure Out Where They're At…
The first (and most important) step is to understand your prospect's current situation.
This means:
Which competitor they're currently using.
How long they've been with that competitor.
How satisfied they are with the current provider.
Their contract renewal date.
Why? Because timing is everything.
If a prospect just signed a five-year contract, your chances of switching are slim to none. But if they're approaching a renewal or experiencing pain points, you've found a great opportunity.
2. Personalize Your Pitch & Why You’re Better
Generic pitches won’t work. You need to be crystal clear about:
Exactly how you're better than their current solution
Specific ways your product will improve their workflow
Tangible benefits that go beyond basic feature comparisons
Don't just say you're better.
Prove it with data, case studies, and laser-focused value propositions. And make sure it calls out why you’re better than the others.
3. Make Saying "Yes" Ridiculously Easy
The more friction you can remove from the switch, the easier it becomes for someone to say ‘yes’.
A great example of this is Beehiiv (the software we’re using to send this email to you right now).
Their current campaign is pushing their competitor’s customers to make the switch to them, and making it feel like a no-brainer to do so. They’re offering a free for 6 months, free VIP migration, a dedicated onboarding specialist, and more.
In other words, they make it extremely easy (and appealing) for a customer to switch.
The goal is to make switching feel like you're doing them a favor, not creating more work.
Bonus: Pay up…
If you run a company or sales team and want to steal customers from competitors, you’ll need to incentivize your reps to do so.
This means higher commission rates or bonuses for stolen business.
These deals often take more time and energy than signing new clients who aren’t using a competitor. So if you want reps to focus on them, you need to align incentives.
As Charlie Mungar Famously said: ‘Show me the incentive and I'll show you the outcome’.
Have you ever stolen a customer from a competitor? |
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