Do You Tap Your Brakes?

On my way to drop the kids off at school today I saw a police car parked on the shoulder and automatically tapped my brakes. I almost always involuntarily tap my brakes when I see a police car on the road. This made me think - do I tap my brakes because I assume I must be speeding? Do I assume I must be doing something wrong just because I see a police car? Or does the police car just raise my awareness of my driving speed?

This happens in sales, too. We may be talking to a customer and just because they mention our competitor or make an objection we assume they don't want to buy from us. We assume we must have said something wrong in our sales presentation just because the competitor's name or product was mentioned. Actually, it should simply raise our awareness of why our product or service is better and how we can best help our customers.

One quick side note about my driving this morning. If I was speeding I wouldn't drive up to the police car and tell the policeman. Instead, I would casually slow down and hope he doesn't see me. Same thing with your customers. If they bring up your competition don't let the conversation be about what the competition can do. Instead, casually turn the conversation to what you and your product can do.