This month, I’d like to talk about the elephant in the room … or the mouse in the corner, depending on your perspective. Two months ago, The Home Depot (THD) agreed to purchase SRS Distribution, one of the largest roofing and siding dealers in the U.S. The price was an astounding $18.25 billion, making the deal the largest acquisition since … um … ever!
There are several ways of looking at the deal. First, it’s possible that the addition of new capital resources and technology will strengthen the effectiveness of the wholesaler. Perhaps the footprint of THD will give contractors easier access to pickups and deliveries. Perhaps the professional sales force of SRS will introduce better business-to-business capabilities for an organization traditionally focused on the consumer.
Mostly, my response is, “Meh. Nothing much has happened.” The sales profession is one-on-one coverage. It’s as simple as that. Your competition isn’t the other company; it’s the other salesperson.
In fact, sometimes the other salesperson is the one sitting across the desk from you at your branch. Countless times in my career, I’ve heard from salespeople who discovered that they gave a price to a disgruntled contractor who shopped the price and received a better one from the salesperson’s co-worker.
Countless other times, salespeople have been told their price is as much as 10% too high compared to a competing supplier. Rather than verify the metric, the reactive salesperson is quick to take that information back to the branch with the plea for better pricing. Instead of seeking details and verification of the discrepancy, they presume that the competing organization is simply “more competitive.”
I’ve never worried all that much about competing supplier organizations, although I’ve always tried to know which salespeople are calling on my prospects and customers. I’ve never studied what they do, although I listen carefully to the comments of prospects and customers to discover weakness or strengths they reference; these comments are a great opportunity to capitalize.
Most certainly, I never, ever denigrate a competitor, for many reasons. Most notably, it’s an insult to the prospect by implying they’re making a bad buying decision. It also is a sign of weakness that a salesperson, criticizing or fearing a competitor, is revealing insecurities about their own performance.
The best salespeople are leaders, not chasers. They recognize that selling is not zone coverage where a team of people are prospecting together. Acquisition of new customers is a one-on-one challenge where two salespeople, likely with near identical resources, must illustrate why their offer is the better one. In the modern age, this means providing resources, advice, and support that enables the buyer to gain a competitive market advantage.
My 2018 articles for LBM Journal (search: “Concierge” on our website at LBMjournal.com) promote a new role for salespeople in the 2020s and beyond. It’s not enough to simply peddle products and expect to gain a competitive advantage. The products you sell are available at a multitude of locations in your market. You can also bet that the difference between your buying price and your competitors is close to nil. Therefore, your competitive advantage can only be one thing: You!
The real competition you face is obsolescence. As the industry evolves, expect more technology to replace the need for transactional assistance from a salesperson. There is no industry immune to ecommerce and simplified transactional relationships. To thrive in the future of the sales profession, your competition isn’t the big company across the street–i.e., the elephant in the room. It’s the competing salesperson at the job site or in the offices of your prospects and customers–i.e., the mouse in the corner. Sales success is one-on-one coverage. The bad news is that it’s up to you whether you will outshine the competition. The good news is the same! It’s up to you whether you will outshine the competition.
