# Competition: every alternative, and the one that usually wins No read on competition — you can't differentiate against the unknown. Updated 10 Oct 2026 ## What counts as competition in MEDDPICC? 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. ## They said “we’re just looking.” How do I find out who else they’re talking to? Ask what happens if they do nothing, then ask who else they are looking at, including fixing it internally. People name alternatives more readily once the status quo is already on the list. ## What are trap-setting questions, and how do I write one? A trap-setting question gets the buyer to name, in their own words, a need your product meets and a rival’s usually doesn’t, before you’ve said what you do. Done well, it goes on working after the call: they take it into the next vendor’s demo and ask it for you. Start from one thing you do differently that this buyer would care about. Ask about the problem behind it, never the feature. A question about the problem lets them describe the need; a question about the feature tells them what you’re selling and earns a polite yes. A trap only holds on a real need. Aim one at something they don’t care about and the next vendor will talk it away in a sentence, and you’ll look like you were steering. An example, not from a call Say what sets you apart is that a new team is running in a week, where the usual setup takes a quarter. - “Who on your side has to be free to get this running, and for how long?” - “If it were live a month after you signed, what would that change this year?” - “When you see the other options, would you ask each one for the date you’d be live?” In a [Discovery Brief](https://www.saleswolf.com/artifacts/discovery-brief), SalesWolf drafts one or two of these from the differentiators in your company knowledge base. Those are the only source it has for them, so capture yours before you ask for a brief. Write down the trap you set on the competitor it’s aimed at, and that competitor reaches trap set. ## How do I compete against the status quo? Treat doing nothing as a competitor with strengths of its own, and find out what it costs them. Choosing the status quo needs no budget, no project and nobody’s name on a decision, which is why it wins so many deals. When a deal ends in “no decision”, that is the rival that beat you. Say its strengths out loud before you argue with them: nobody learns a new tool, nothing breaks in a migration, and nobody’s judgement is on the line. Then find the person on their side who is most comfortable with how things are. They are the status quo’s champion, and they are often in the meeting. Doing nothing stops being free when two things are on record, and both have to come from them: what the problem costs, and a date after which it costs more. For the first, [put a number on the cost of doing nothing](https://www.saleswolf.com/artifacts/first-meeting-deck#cost-of-doing-nothing); the second is their [compelling event](https://www.saleswolf.com/meddpicc/compelling-event). A deal with neither hasn’t been lost to anyone. It never had a reason to be decided. - “Who on your side would be happiest if nothing changed, and what would they say in the meeting?” - “What stopped this getting fixed the last time someone tried?” - “If you leave it for a year, who has to explain that, and to whom?” Put doing nothing on the deal as a competitor, and it’s marked as the status quo. It reaches named, positioned or trap set, the same as any other rival. ## 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. How deep, not how many ## Competition questions, from named to trap set 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 marks on the deal, by the same names and in the same order. What is written under each is the standard to hold a deal to. The product can only mark what is on record, so check its rung against this bar before you rely on it. 1. ### named You know who or what else is being considered, including the option of changing nothing. 1. “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. 2. “Who else are you looking at — including sorting it out internally?” Names the vendors and the do-it-yourself option in one question, without making it sound like a threat. 2. ### positioned You know where you win and lose against each alternative on the criteria the customer actually scores. SalesWolf can place you here from your own company knowledge; until the customer has said it, it is your read, not theirs. 1. “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. 2. “Where do you see us ahead today, and where are they?” Asks for the scorecard as they hold it now, both columns. 3. ### 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. 1. “When you look at them next, would you ask how they handle [the step you do best]?” Sets a trap: a question that keeps working in a meeting you are not in. 2. “Would it be fair to ask every vendor to prove it on your own data before you choose?” Makes proof on their data the standard every rival has to meet — worth proposing only when it is a test you pass. Done when · You can name every alternative they're weighing, including the status quo, and where you stand on each. [The questions for every letter, on one page.](https://www.saleswolf.com/meddpicc/questions) This page in plain text, with nothing to sign in to. Open it on a phone on the way into the call. [www.saleswolf.com/meddpicc/competition.md](https://www.saleswolf.com/meddpicc/competition.md) Sample deal · Halden Freight · Competition ## On a deal, it has a position. On this one, it is confirmed at named. ## Qualification Confirmed: Competition 1 competitor · 1 verified Gaps aren't failures. They're the next things worth learning. The chip from the deal cockpit in SalesWolf, once three calls and an email thread are in. [Work a deal](https://app.saleswolf.com/login) [See it on a sample deal](https://www.saleswolf.com/sample-deal) 14 days free, no card, no call.