Here are the variables that will affect every sales campaign you care to implement:

Location
Timing
Your product or service
The competition
Branding and Trust

Location - location, location, an expression full of clichés with little need of explanation.
Timing - product launches depend on crucial timing be it economic, seasonal or demographic. It is no good launching a new product targeting teenagers when the demographics all point to the over sixties. Neither should you open a new retail park during the onset of the worse retail recession in 60 years.
Product or Service - if it s a new product in a new market then the risks compound. This is when you have to believe what your market research is telling you. Being first to market with a new product is not always a plus since early adopters may be willing to pay more for a product but you need deep pockets to reach them.
The competition - cannot be ignored you must assume direct competitors are not going to sit back and let you take their market share. Defining your competition is part of the discussion further on in this article.
Branding and Trust - A strong brand and company that has the trust of customers will defeat even a better product. Close to home for every computer user is the dominance of Microsoft. You will not have to Google for very long to discover large numbers of dissidents who hate Internet Explorer, Windows/Vista etc; they usually have a point but in the end, it doesn’t matter what they think because Word, Excel, and all the associated programs are too integrated with millions of peoples everyday lives.

Returning to your competitors for a moment, you may already think you know whom these are - your neighbours business or the likes of Tesco. In the case of Tesco’s own competitors we will assume they see Asda and Morrisons as their big threat. But hang on you could all be mistaken since probably the biggest competitor of all is your prospective customer?
How come? Well according to psychologists, when we make a decision to buy a certain product or shop regularly in a certain store we mentally commit to a solution for a particular problem. It is very hard for us to change our minds. Even when in the face of rational evidence to the contrary we will fight to justify the original decision. In other words “A man (or woman) convinced against their will is of the same opinion still”

Let’s pretend your favourite supermarket has been Tesco and then for whatever reason you try out a new store lets call it Aldi. After a few weeks, shopping you become convinced the prices are cheaper for many of the items you regularly buy; you now develop a brand loyalty to that store.
This new loyalty comes with a degree of commitment on your part since you now go to a different part of town and maybe had to convince a partner who shops with you to make the switch also. Occasionally you may return to Tesco after receiving their discount vouchers or because of their advertising special offers. But the shopping experience is just never the same - you don’t want it to be!
This same argument applies to all products and services for example you sell advertising. Your publisher is desperate for sales and you have been given a ‘smoking deal’ to win the business, only to discover from the prospective customer that they have decided to invest in direct marketing. How do you persuade them to change their mind?

In all probability, the customer has produced a thoughtful and detailed marketing plan. Then you come along with a proposition that if implemented, would take money from the marketing manager’s proposals and he would have to change his budget and admit his proposals were wrong. The changed proposal would mean more discussions with management and the admissions that direct marketing wasn’t the right solution but display advertising was.

How does this apply to selling? Getting a prospect to change what they are currently doing - even if you have a better offer - is difficult. A salespersons instinct is to try and convince the customer they will save money/ time if they switch and their product quality/reliability is even better. Yet despite this and even though its true and a no-brainer the harder the salesperson tries presenting indisputable facts and figures, the more strongly the reluctant customer digs in and will seek to justify and rationalize what they’re already doing.

Admitting that they made the wrong decision and the time and energy invested in the new supplier was wrong is a hard choice. Instead of warming to the salesperson, there is a new feeling of conflict, which grows in the search for rationalization. This is particularly true if the decision made has been broadcast widely to work colleagues, friends and neighbours and for this reason, the customer will be very reluctant to change their mind.

For all the reasons the salesperson has expounded the customer will do everything he can to justify his earlier decision; avoid more conflict and stick to the status quo.
So what do you do?
Well for a start is not a good idea to demonstrate that your product or services are better than the choice already made.

That may seem inconsistent. But our aim must be to help the customer achieve their goals, save money, make their life easier and to do this you must discover what it is they actually want.
By not trying to sell and learning about what the customer wants, you begin to see ways of helping them achieve it. Once you have the understanding you then show ways they can enhance what it is they already do. Example, if you are Tesco and have lost customers to say Aldi then how can you adds to their shopping experience without saying “you have made a bad decision.”

To begin with, see it from the customer’s perspective. They visited Aldi and enjoyed the product choice seeing items not available in your store - and the perception was it’s cheaper. Okay, that’s a fact so now remind them about something you can do and invite the to try it our. This could be Tesco’s own brand products …and here is a few discount vouchers have a nice day. Keep chipping away and staying in contact.

This way you accomplish two important things. First, you are helping the prospect maintain their sense of consistency, which will make you an ally. Second, by starting with this approach, you may make a small sale initially but you now have the door open once again to larger sales and the beginning of a long-term relationship. The strategy is to obtain a large purchase by starting with a small one. Almost any small sale will do, because the purpose of that small transaction is not profit. It is commitment. Further purchases, even much larger ones, will flow from the commitment.

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