Buyers say that there is about a 70% overlap between what you offer and what your competition offers. Unfortunately, they don’t see enough differentiation between the solutions, or the difference isn’t something that is important to them, so they resort to getting bids, or putting out the dreaded RFP. It is very difficult to differentiate yourself or your company/product in either of those scenarios.
The seller that doesn’t know their clients' and prospects’ business needs and personal motives will find themselves spending a lot of time preparing these quotes. If they’re not the lowest price, they will more than likely lose the sale. This increases the cost of sales significantly when you factor in all the resources used in preparing the quotes or RFPs.
What if you pointed out an unconsidered need? Everyone else will be responding to the stated need, which tends to make what is being offered a commodity. What if you focused on what you can do that is different from the competition and that provides them with value that is important to them?
