Good article written by Jeff Wuorio who provides 5 ways to overcome issues in getting through and having a working relationship with that dream client you would love to have. He covers barriers like price, time, perceived value, and working with your competitor. In the past, I did some work with Michael Vickers, a business author and speaker who teaches companies on “How to Become Preferred” and outsell your competition. He suggests that when you call a client who is working with one of your competitors, ask for permission to be “No. 2″. What? Think about it. The client is already working with your competitor and if you start putting down the competition, you are pretty well telling the client they are stupid in the choice they made. Or, if you try to oversell them on your products and services, the client will likely tune you out because they are satisfied with their current supplier. So instead, ask for permission to be “No. 2″. Position yourself as the client’s second choice if for whatever reason they cannot get what they want from their current supplier or the relationship goes sour. A couple things happen when you do this: First, it diffuses the client’s natural defensive instinct and second, it’s distinctly memorable. Nobody asks to be No. 2 which gives you the opportunity to stand out amongst all the other competitors soliciting. You will likely find the client to be very agreeable. And once they have, nurture the relationship by providing them with regular white papers, articles, update, and accolades as it relates to them so as to keep yourself top-of-mind. You never know when their No.1 is ready be overthrown.

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