Chapter 14
Competitive Whiteboards
I hope [biggest competitor] does not find out about this until I sell our solutions to all of Texas. What a great secret weapon we have stumbled upon.
—New Hire Sales Rep, South Florida
There are two ways that whiteboarding is the competitive weapon: (1) The very fact that you are using a whiteboard, and not PowerPoint, will set you apart from your slide jockey competitors. But more importantly, (2) when you are whiteboarding your solution in front of your prospect, you can visually show the unique advantage your solution delivers compared to your competitors'. You can plant land mines or use silver bullets to de-fang your competition.
In this chapter we will explore several examples of whiteboard structures that deliver that knockout blow by making your unique differentiators crystal clear in a head-to-head comparison.
Bash or Be Bashed
When we work with our clients, we often hear, “We don't want to mention our competition by name in our whiteboards, it's not our style.” For the most part we agree. It's often better presentation etiquette to refer to competitors obliquely by saying “the other guys,” or “the leading vendor,” or “the incumbent vendor.” That way you don't appear to be bashing your competition.
However, there are many situations where the prospect will explicitly ask you how you stack up against a particular vendor, either because they are conducting a head-to-head evaluation for a new project, or because they are considering replacing their existing provider. Some salespeople take a more aggressive sales approach. They know their competitor is mounting a frontal assault and they want to meet them head-on.
A Note about Competitive Differentiators
You can choose from the competitive whiteboard templates described below based on your unique selling situation. But before you choose a template, you should first consider which and what kind of differentiators you will highlight in the whiteboard discussion. Part 4 goes into detail on this topic, so please refer to it before building out your competitive whiteboards.
Competitive Whiteboard Examples
There are two main types of Competitive Whiteboards:
1. Competitive Retrofit—These whiteboards simply add competitive visual elements to an existing whiteboard. Let's say you begin a meeting with your prospect using a Solution Whiteboard that does not include competitive information, but the prospect explicitly asks for a comparison. Or you learn through the discussion that another vendor is being strongly considered. You can make slight structural modifications and add visual elements within the framework of the original whiteboard. You might remove a component or make some layout and flow changes, but the overall look and feel of the original whiteboard stay the same.
2. Competitive Whiteboards—This is a whiteboard you design from the ground up to “go for the throat” and provide a direct comparison to a competing vendor.
Let's take a detailed look at some examples of these two types.
Example #1: Competitive Retrofit—The Buying Criteria Whiteboard
Let's look at an example of how we can take an existing Solution Whiteboard—The Buying Criteria Whiteboard—and add a very simple competitive element to it. The figure below shows how we have added space at the bottom to indicate that a particular competing vendor lacks your capability linked to each buying criteria. We also removed the “Problem Addressed” section, although if you have more space on the whiteboard or other drawing surface, feel free to leave that in.
ACTIVITY
Revisit the
Buying Criteria Solution Whiteboard example you prepared in Chapter 13, pick your biggest competitor, and, using the blank template opposite
Figure 14.1, add the competitive knocks or deficiencies at the bottom of the whiteboard.
Example #2: Competitive Retrofit—The Buying Criteria Whiteboard (Home Remodel)
The next example uses the same basic structure as the Buying Criteria Whiteboard, but it goes a step further in the retrofit by adding a detailed competitive comparison column and more unique solution capabilities. The focus is still on the three buying criteria where you hold the largest competitive advantage over the competitor or group of competitors. The result looks like the figure below.
Here are three important things to consider about this whiteboard:
1. It slightly “up-levels” the conversation toward the end by focusing in on the business risk that would result if your prospect were to select your competitor.
2. It adds room for more features and benefits for the purposes of the head-to-head comparison.
3. It still relies on customer proof and references to demonstrate the importance of the buying criteria and key capabilities.
ACTIVITY
Revisit the Buying Criteria Whiteboard example you prepared in Chapter 13, pick your biggest competitor, and, using the blank template opposite
Figure 14.2, retrofit the whiteboard to include the expanded set of competitive information.
Example #3: The Four-Quadrant Typical Approach Whiteboard
Let's look at a whiteboard designed from the ground up to showcase your advantages over your competitors. In this case, we avoid a frontal assault and go with a softer “typical approaches” angle. The term “typical approaches” is an oblique reference to competing vendors.
The vendors aren't explicitly named, but they are still relegated to the dustbin of old and tired approaches. Or you can replace “typical approaches” with a specific competitor name if you want to be explicit. “Typical approaches” could also refer to the status quo of making “no decision” and sticking with the current, broken approach.
Let's walk through the 11 steps of this whiteboard so that you can understand how it is constructed.
1. Open with meeting objectives. You can add a case study or reference to pique the interest of your audience.
2. If necessary, confirm or discover business objectives, market opportunities, and near-term initiatives.
3. If necessary, share typical trends and challenges, and qualify.
4. Confirm prospect's current situation (existing business, broken business process, limitations). Challenges shared or discovered in #3 above can be documented here. This section may not be necessary.
5. Write “Typical Approaches” or competitor name.
6. List limitations with the typical or competitive approach, moving clockwise from the upper left. Tie back each limitation to the prospect's current situation and the trends and challenges above. This is effective because it clarifies how these limitations are meaningful to the prospect and represent business risk.
7. If necessary, speak briefly about your organization and key solution areas. This may include key facts and data points or a list of the various solution categories you provide. Basic information about your organization doesn't always have to be discussed at the beginning of the whiteboard discussion. In fact, these details often have more impact once you have earned the right to proceed through the discussion by establishing trusted advisor and thought leadership status earlier in the knowledge exchange.
8. Identify key solution capabilities and explain how they directly address each of the limitations of the typical or competing approaches. Tie back each capability to how your solution and its unique capabilities address the prospect's current situation, and how you will be able to uniquely help them meet their business objectives, grasp market opportunities, and complete their near-term initiatives.
9. Highlight a relevant case study or proof point as you discuss unique capabilities in each quadrant, preferably with measurable benefits.
10. Summarize with why your solution is superior to typical or competing approaches. By the way, this “Why us” section is a whiteboard component you can use in any whiteboard story.
11. Close with actionable next steps.
The above sequencing is very effective. There are also three alternate flows you can use with this whiteboard. You could:
1. Introduce your solution and all four quadrants of your key capabilities before talking about the typical approaches and limitations.
2. Introduce your key capabilities after each set of typical approach limitations.
3. Avoid the discussion of the prospect's current situation altogether, and instead address typical approach limitations and your key capabilities in whatever sequence makes sense.
When it comes to whiteboarding, you have ultimate flexibility in structure, flow, content, interaction, and all other ingredients. That rule does not change with respect to competitive whiteboards. Our goal is to get you thinking about how to structure any whiteboard story and dialogue.
ACTIVITY
Pick your biggest competitor and, using the blank template opposite
Figure 14.3, build the
Four-Quadrant Typical Approach Whiteboard per the above structure and flow. But this time, pick one of your largest target accounts and model the whiteboard design to align with their most pressing business objectives, opportunities, challenges, and current situation.
Example #4—The Cost/Risk to Value Whiteboard
Let's look at an example of a strategic-minded whiteboard that positions your company and solutions as more innovative and cutting edge.
This whiteboard shows your customer how they can achieve their business goals and seize market opportunities at much lower cost and risk than your competition. This is an especially effective whiteboard framework if you are competing against a vendor with a lower initial price point. Your objective is to show how the lower “teaser rate” is chicanery, and how the cost and risk to your prospect will grow dramatically without commensurate business value if they choose your competition.
Let's look at the 11 steps of this whiteboard's flow:
1. Open with meeting objectives. You can add a case study or reference to pique the interest of your audience.
2. If necessary, confirm and discover business objectives, market opportunities, and near-term initiatives.
3. If necessary, share typical trends and challenges, and qualify.
4. Draw “Business Value” on the X axis.
5. Draw “Cost/Risk” on the Y axis.
6. Draw the vertical red line. Although the competition may have a lower initial price, total cost of ownership (TCO) and overall business risk increase rapidly and result in limited business value. Make sure the points along this line specifically address the competitor's solution, product, or pricing gimmicks/limitations that support this argument.
7. Draw the arc representing your solution's lower longer term cost to deliver meaningful business value, and lower risk to implement, install, or deploy.
8. Specifically identify solution capabilities that support this assertion, backed up by customer case studies that demonstrate measurable business value related to that topic. Notice that you can position various elements of your solution or overall offerings as delivering increasing business value at modestly increasing cost. This is especially relevant if you have multiple versions of your solutions or products with increasing functionality, or add-ons to provide cross-sell and up-sell opportunities. Your objective is to position you as the vendor offering the most complete, low-risk, and advanced solution on the market.
9. Draw a line from the end of your solution arc up to the table with the business objectives to highlight that only you can get your prospect where they need to be; your competition will fall far short.
10. Summarize with why your solution is superior to typical approaches or a specific competitor's approach.
11. Close with actionable next steps.
Competitive whiteboards can be effective competitive weapons, but use them selectively and only if your prospect has agreed to—or better yet, asked to—have such a discussion.
ACTIVITY
Pick your biggest competitor and, using the blank template opposite
Figure 14.3, build the
Cost & Risk to Value Whiteboard per the above structure and flow. Pick one of your largest target accounts and model the whiteboard design to align with their key business objectives and market opportunities, and show how you can get them there faster and at lower cost.
