How to Get Your Competition Fired (Without Saying Anything Bad About Them): Using The Wedge to Increase Your Sales (Hardcover)

~ (Author) "This book is the result of more than 10,000 hours I have spent working with salespeople..." (more)
Key Phrases: Problem Phase, Giant National, Finding Your Winning Difference (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Traditional sales methods focus on the relationship between the salesperson and his or her prospect; the problem is that someone probably already has the account and the advantage of the last look. Schwantz, president and CEO of the Wedge Group, formulated a selling system that tackles the challenge of breaking the prospect's relationship with the current provider. He presents a series of questions that allow clients to reveal current dissatisfactions while you remain neutral. The goal is to prompt the prospect to come up with solutions and invite you to solve them, rather than the other way around. The Wedge addresses a delicate question, which is key to succeeding: If you really want me to be your new rep, how are you going to handle firing your old one? According to Schwantz, if you are confident that the prospect is willing to fire your competition, you've most likely won the account. Because it is a nonintuitive way of selling, implementing it will involve some discomfort at first. David Siegfried
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Review

Next time you sit down for a sales presentation with a new prospect, realize that a third party is looking over your shoulder: your competition. How can you get rid of them? Sales consultant Randy Schwantz provides an answer in How to Get Your Competition Fired (Without Saying Anything Bad About Them). Schwantz's sales process, which he dubs "The Wedge," promises to reliably unseat entrenched suppliers and make their customers yours. Starting with proposing an ideal picture your competition is unlikely to meet, Schwantz reveals a subtle yet simple process for getting prospects to practically demand to buy from you. (Entrepreneur Magazine, May 2005)

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (January 21, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471703117
• ISBN-13: 978-0471703112
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #193,967 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A MUST READ for Financial Advisors, May 14, 2005

By	Michael W. Peterson "Financial Planner" (Chambersburg, PA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is, by far, the most powerful book I've ever read on marketing - as it relates to my profession as a financial planner. However, I would think this book would easily translate for anyone in the service industry.

How to Get Your Competition Fired realizes and addresses a problem most books on marketing don't. That is the fact that in most cases; your prospect is already dealing with your competition. Many of the books on marketing I've read through the years neglect this one detail; but it's an important detail.

In my profession, almost all of my clients were dealing with another financial planner before working with me. After readign Randy's book, I've found it much easier to cast myself in a more favorable light, show prospects how I deliver better service with greater value, and then - most importantly - how to prepare them to leave their present advisor.

Many of you in the servie industry probably have run into the situation where you find a prospect who you can help. Your competition has not been providing very good service. The prospect tells you they are ready to come on board. Then, the next call you get is to tell you that they are staying with your competition.

If many of your prospective clients are currently dealing with your competition, you can't afford to miss reading this book!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Fluff overload, September 6, 2006

By	Matthew J. Adams (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I confess that I made a mistake buying this book at an airport on a whim without reading any reviews online. I've read several books on selling, and this one is the worst, mostly because it's very diluted with filler material that adds no value but makes the book look sizeable.

The idea of the book is create a 'wedge' between you and your competition by having a proactive sales / support strategy. While this idea sounds nice, at the end of the day this 224 page book's only real content to "get your competition fired" is a set of six fill in the blank questions that you can, "apply to any sales opportunity"

This book is fluff, plain & simple. Don't waste your time.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Teaches you to work smarter not harder without the cliche's, January 22, 2007

By	Christine Beckwith "Peter Beckwith" (Los Angeles CA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book blew open my old beliefs on selling with it's basic premise. Simple, but powerful. You are not just selling to your customer. You are also selling against the current provider. I had never considered the incumbant provider as part of my sales process. I had always thought of them as a nuisance that I hoped would go away. Not anymore.

In my experience, sales books like this one rarely deliver much of substance to the seasoned salesperson. They usually use catchy titles and then fill the pages with a lot of re-cycled fluff and hype. This book showed me in living color that there is another way of doing things that will increase my income and quality of life...if I open up my mind to it and give it a try. (BTW I have given it a try and it works.) The method suggested is backed up with statistics, examples, a pursuasive argument for questioning the old way of doing things and a road map to follow.

Another refreshing first for me when it comes to sales books....this one did not overpromise - Made very clear that sales is still sales. There's no magic bullett or get rich quick way to do it. The Wedge is better, it's not fool's gold.

Motivated me and gave me specific actions to take. I came away from the book knowing that I could put a plan based on this book into place for the coming year. I also felt well supported, knowing that I could contact The Wedge organization if I wanted more training or clarification of the process....but I didn't feel like the point of the book was to sell me on more training.

Bottom Line: There is enough here for the do it yourselfer and ample other resources available for those who want a more comprehensive understanding of the The Wedge method or want the kind of training that will really get you or your organization moving in a new, more profitable, direction fast.

Great Ending - I loved the note to the buyer at the end. Great perspective shift. Great way of disarming the buyer as "the enemy" which is how they must feel sometimes when dealing with sellers.

This book is an easy read. It's well written, motivates you by opening up your perspectives on selling in new ways, and stays away from wild promises and Used Car Saleman hype. It re-ignited my passion for selling and gave me solid advice for getting more productive as a salesperson. A great resource that I refer back to a lot. Again, rare for a sales book in my case.

I strongly recommend it to anyone who wants to get their numbers up.