How Do You Get Past: “We’re Happy with Our Existing Supplier!”
One of my clients has to work very hard to win business. They operate in a really competitive market place. One of the most common objections they come up against is “we’re happy with our existing supplier.”
It can be really tough to manage a Prospect’s expectations on this one. And quite right too! After all they’ve applied some considerate decision making to adopt the current choice. Everyone likes to make more good decisions than bad and if something’s working it’s a good decision.
It’s almost arrogant to try shifting them unless you have a really compelling case backed up with stacks of evidence -proof that will make them the hero of their organisation if they start the process to look at making the switch.
That’s likely to take a while, in which case why not leave the issue alone for the time being? Go round it and find a way to earn the trust and confidence of the Prospect. Establish something that the existing supplier doesn’t currently provide. Something which is easy for them to implement that you can easily provide. You’re effectively asking for a few crumbs initially. This gives you an opportunity to demonstrate your service level and develop the relationship. Plus to start to engage in conversations adding value to their business and giving them advice around areas the preferred supplier isn’t.
Soon they’ll start to unsettle from the status quo and think “why aren’t we getting this information from these others?” The opportunity may even present itself with the incumbent under-delivering or just simply not showing they care as much!
If you have some challenging opportunities this may be worth a shot!
Need more help? Contact me martyn@golddusttraining.co.uk
