Think It. Make It. Podcast Episode #014 – Why Do Competitors Do This?

Why do competitors do this? In all industries, a sales person will choose to concentrate on putting down a competitor’s product rather than focusing on what is good about their product. I have been on the receiving end of this type of a conversation more often then I would like. I have gone as far as to tell a salesperson to convince me why I should buy your product rather than convince me why I should not buy someone else’s.

Let me know your thoughts or experiences with this in the comments below.

8 thoughts on “Think It. Make It. Podcast Episode #014 – Why Do Competitors Do This?”

  1. I listened to this and totally agree. Focusing on the negative of your competitors just shows that you have nothing positive about your own product to focus on. It also shows the personality nature of the person, that they either feel threatened or are negative in nature.

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  2. Hi Erick, I have purchased a CNC mill and lathe in the past that had great marketing literature and a strong sales presence. I ended up being very unhappy with both machines due to performance limitations. In this particular case I didn’t hear any negative persuasive arguments from the sales team, but I had not taken sufficient time with the machines and just went on what seemed to be a strong reputation.

    I now own a CNC router that I am completely thrilled with. When I bought my router I used my engineering background to visually reverse engineer the system and the mechanicals to determine which one of the many on the market I should buy. I coupled my mechanical analysis with some phone calls to get a sense of the sales and customers service that was being offered. The end choice ended up being obvious to me, but I can certainly understand that some organizations/individuals get a little aggressive when they realize that their market share is being eroded by viable competition.

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  3. I listened and also agree. as a young man In the 1980 operated the large CNC machines that ran on tapes and metric numerals. to change a tolerance you flipped a + or – on the board. 39 years later I have a small x-carve ran by my laptop in a spare bedroom of my house. Why didn’t I buy your CNC machine. simple .. money and I wanted one badly, I had cash so I jumped in. I totally enjoy this machine and in the future, I plan to go bigger and buy a machine with .0001 tolerances. Thank you and the pod cast

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  4. Clearly the other company staff member does not understand German engineering, the drive for high quality, functionality, durability.
    I have always believed that a piece of equipment sells itself, period, and fully understand what one has to sell.
    I have watched various machines in operation and I always look for the above quantities to buy the best product I can. What I have seen here in this type of machine is awesome and I hope oneway to purchase one. And it is also what is behind the machine – backup, parts, quality improvement etc. Thanks for pod cast.

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  5. Erick, what happened to the podcast? I really like your stance on sales, I feel like you have great mindset for this. It’s rare to see someone that actually puts customers first and I feel that you do. I can’t afford one of your machines but still enjoy listening to your podcasts.

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    • I just finished recording a new episode today. I am going to do my best to start recording weekly again. – Sorry for the long lapse.

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  6. Erick, I have a background in Industrial metalworking NC/CNC programming, setup and machine operations starting in the early 70’s through the 90’s. I wanted to get back into CNC work as a hobby and possibly as a business. I recently bought a Stepcraft D.840 machine kit. It is now together and running, what a thrill it is to do this kind of work again! Why did I decide Stepcraft? Through many hours of researching with this thought in mind, “quality engineering, innovation, simplicity, MFG support with positive company/customer interaction”. German engineering was a huge part in my decision as was MFG positivism. Thanks!

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