MEDDPICC · C · position 8 of eight
Competition
Competition includes every alternative the customer is weighing, and the one that wins most often is doing nothing. A competitor you have merely named is not one you have positioned against, and positioning is not the same as having set a trap — a question the customer will now ask your rival, in your absence, that you know the answer to and they do not.
How it actually gets missed
Reps ask who else is in the deal once, get a name, and stop. They then position against the vendor rather than against the status quo, which is the alternative actually winning — and they never plant anything that keeps working after the call ends.
No read on competition — you can't differentiate against the unknown.
How deep, not how many
Competition has three rungs, and where a deal sits on them is the difference between a dimension you have answered and one you have qualified. These are the rungs SalesWolf actually scores — the same ladder the product reads, not a scale invented for this page.
- named
- You know who or what else is being considered, including the option of changing nothing.
- positioned
- You know where you win and lose against each alternative on the criteria the customer actually scores.
- trap set
- The customer is carrying a question into their evaluation of the alternative that favours you and that you did not have to be present to ask. This is the rung that works when you are not in the room.
Done when · You can name every alternative they're weighing, including the status quo, and where you stand on each.
What to ask
“What happens if you do nothing for another two quarters?”
Puts the real competitor — the status quo — on the table where it can be argued with.
“What do you like about the way they do it?”
Gets an honest read on the rival’s strength, which a defensive question never will.
“When you look at them next, would you ask how they handle the reconciliation step?”
Sets a trap: a question that keeps working in a meeting you are not in.