Mack walks into your front office, and says he wants to rent a storage unit - but asks if you’re willing to price match the competitor down the street.
Their 10x10s are listed for $63, and he wants that price. Totally understandable, but you know that the competitor down the street is going to raise up the rate to $150/month in the first year, while yours is still gonna be the reasonable $95 you’re offering today.
How do you convince Mack that you’re really offering the better deal without cutting $32 off your rate? How do you talk about the competition without sounding petty or dishonest?
In this article, we’ll take some advice from Lee Creech of Northshore Pellissippi Storage on how to take care of your customers without having to badmouth your competition.
Lee joined us on a recent Gabfocus on customer service to give his advice on Exceptional Customer Service, and this was just one of the topics we covered!
In sales, it’s common wisdom that you shouldn’t talk bad about your competition. You’ll hear a lot of different reasons for this - you want to create a good environment, you don’t want competitors to badmouth you back, general ethics concerns - but the most convincing reason is that it tends to backfire.
Customers know that you have a strong personal stake in getting their business. They know you want the sale to go to you and not to the competition. That means you have an incentive to badmouth the competition, to lie, and to try and cheat them.
You won’t, of course. No business that intends to stay a business regularly cheats their customers (we could argue about the exceptions, but this blog has a 500 page limit).
Once word gets out, people will stop using a business that cheats, if they have other options.
Small businesses, like most self storage facilities, rely on customer good will to survive. Your business is very local, and you probably don’t have the money to match the national brands in marketing muscle.
Badmouthing the opposition has the potential to lose you the trust of your customers. You might recommend they get a bigger unit, or upgrade to climate control - but now they’re wondering if they really need it, or if you’re simply trying to make more money.
Why you shouldn’t badmouth the competition:
In most cases, your sales pitch shouldn’t address the competition much at all. You want to convince the customer that you’re a good choice, regardless of what the next facility down the road does.
Talk about your value, not their failures. If the customer has a problem and you can solve it, that’s your pitch.
If you can’t solve their problem, you should recommend someone who can! This is the inverse of badmouthing the competition. You show the customer that you really are looking out for them, not just trying to make money.
Don’t try to convince the customer to take upgrades they don’t want, and don’t be pushy. It’s better to have a happy customer that thinks well of your business than to have the extra $12 or whatever it would be per month.
How to avoid talking about the competition:
But what if the competition really is awful?
This is where it gets hard. Mack comes in and wants you to price-match a facility that you know isn’t going to do a good job for him.
If you tell him, “Mack, trust me, they suck,” he’s likely to think you’re only saying that to get his business. There are ways to try and communicate the danger without sounding like you’re trying to lock down a sale.
Lead with your value proposition, as always.
For example, “Well, when you rent with us, we’ve got a 12 month rate lock guarantee.”
This brings up the idea that maybe other folks don’t have that benefit without you needing to come out and tell him that they’re going to jack the rate up so fast the wheels come off.
Or maybe their rates are lower because they don’t have the same amenities! If that’s the case, lay it out clearly for the customer.
“Our units cost more because we have X, Y, and Z.”
Then give clear reasons why someone might want X, Y, or Z - with the caveat that if you don’t care about these benefits, you should definitely go to the competition!
You want the customer to know you’re not only here to make money. Give advice that’s correct, even if it’s not going to make you money that afternoon.
As a last resort, if you know you have a competitor that really does not fit Mack’s needs, recommend someone that you know will do a good job - someone who isn’t you.
Recommending a competitor you trust shows the customer you’re not just trying to get his money. Maybe the customer starts to trust your advice a little more - maybe he decides to rent with you anyways. And if he doesn’t, you’ve sent him somewhere that’ll take care of him.
Plus, if you’ve got a good relationship with that other facility, maybe they send someone back another day.
Every little interaction like this builds up your brand in the community. Maybe you don’t get the sale today - but if they go next door and don’t have a great time, they’ll remember that you treated them right.
If you don’t know what facilities to recommend, add a few local storage facilities to your local business outreach plan!
Obviously they’re not going to be as thrilled to send you referrals as the local donut place might be, but you can still introduce yourself, drop off some snacks, and talk about storage for a bit.
If you’re a member of your local storage association, you might have met them at a conference or event, too. These are great opportunities to network with people in your industry, which can be very helpful.
Looking for more ways to advance your marketing knowledge? Check out our helpful articles to keep your momentum and secure more leads!
