Don't you wish the competition would just "go away? "

By now, all the "there's plenty of room for everyone" and "competition is healthy" proponents have gone home, or they're broke, or both. So what's left is the fighting few. And they're fighting. Trust me: They're fighting! They're fighting for survival. They're fighting to stay alive.

Every business is busier fighting competition and price than they are answering the phone from interested prospects.

And they're all hoping for some miracle answer. Well, there is one. But it takes some understanding to get there. And after reading this short piece you will understand it. It's subtle and requires more work than you're doing now. The reward is that sales will become easier to come by if you pay attention to what is said here, and apply it in to your business.

Take a look at the options for dealing with the competition and you'll get a clearer picture. You all know the options: over, under, around and through—well almost.

Consider these:

1. Going around the competition.

Getting around the competition requires connections, inside information and stealth tactics. Not to mention a bit of masterful political play. Alright so it's manipulative. And borders on the sneaky. You have to "pull a crafty one" to get the business. Is that bad? Depends. To get the order, no. To get future orders is where the "depends" comes in. Depending on your "around" tactics, you may have gained a poor reputation.

2. Going under the competition.

Bad strategy. All bad. Undercut them by lowering your price? A one-time win where everyone loses. Low profits. Market deterioration. And the next-lowest price wins the same way? No. Not a good option.

3. Going through the competition.

Fighting has its place. And sometimes a fight will produce a win. Tenacity is great, but beating them down by talking trash is a losing proposition. Fighting them is a good philosophy. Sales is often a fight. But too often a fight for no reason. Some of the fight is based on the dreaded fear of loss, or desire to gain, rather than the less combative one preferred by the customer: desire to help. Tip: You may also go inside the competition. Learn all you can about their strengths and weaknesses. This is especially necessary for product and service sales.

4. Going over the competition.

This is the ideal way. It assumes that you take the high ground. Now don't get me wrong. It doesn't mean that you can sit back and wait. It means you have to rise above your competitors in a way that they have to respond or lose.

Here are a few ways over:

Seminars

Conferences

Trade Shows

E-zines and Newsletters

Referrals

Build value by building profit

Earn testimonials and use them to get over again. Others speaking on your behalf is better than any sales pitch against someone else.

If you invest the time and effort it takes to go over the competition, you will be rewarded beyond your wildest dreams, and sales will be easier and more fun. And once you reach a high level of over you will be qualified for the highest level.

5. Ignore the competition.

Sales and competition share the same adage: "It's not who you know, it's who knows you." Sounds a bit stuffy, but it's better to build your skills than to try to beat someone. Go for best, not beat. It's a better, cleaner win. Will you always win? No, but you will always feel that you should have. Have self-confidence to keep you ready for the next opportunity. Wake up the next day and go to work sharpening your skills.

This is not a simple solution. Rather you have been presented facts and philosophy and the chance to make your own decisions about how you want to handle the competition. Some of you reading this will think that the way over is foolish, idealistic or worse—unobtainable. That will only help the competition.

Dealing with the competition, over or ignore are the hardest ways—but they work. And the longer you go over them the more you can ignore them.

Yes, you want to beat the competition—it's instinctive. But a smarter path is to have them looking over their shoulders to see where you are. Let them hear your footsteps and beat them by being chosen or preferred.

When a prospect picks you over the competition, it's a day to celebrate and a day to discover why.

When you figure out why you were chosen—what works and what doesn't work—then all you have to do is repeat the process.

Wash, rinse, repeat. Wash, rinse, repeat. Wash, rinse... repeat.