What can you say about your competition…I mean really! You’re expected to know about them, what they offer and how they operate, but you really aren’t supposed to bring them up with customers. It can really be a bit confusing. So what do you do when a customer asks about them or worse bad-mouths your rival to you? Before you automatically jump in and share what you know about them or share any disparaging stories you’ve heard circulating about them, take a deep breath remember these thoughts:

Take the professional high-road – Running someone else down or pointing out their flaws never makes you look better. It only makes you look petty and reflects badly on you and your business. Instead, offer an unexpected compliment followed by how you accomplish the same thing. For instance: ‘They do a really good job for what they do, but what I love about the way we do it is…’

Talking smack about your competitors gives the impression that you don’t have anything positive to offer, so you’re just going to put them down instead. Remember how sick of that we all get every election season? We all complain how the candidates try to verbally rip each other apart when all we really want is for them to tell us what THEY will do! Your customers feel the same way.

Ask the right questions. When customers start comparing company A to company B what they are really doing is asking you to win them over. So jump in and do it! Start asking questions about what is most important to them in making this decision. Start matching up the features they say they are looking for with the benefits offered by your company.You’ll stop the comparison game in its tracks and help the customer make up their mind by giving them what they want.