How to Get Your Competition Fired (Without Saying Anything Bad about Them): Using the Wedge to Increase Your Sales

by Randy Schwantz

A six-step plan for driving a wedge between the competition and the customerFor sales people, convincing a potential customer to choose them over the competition is no easy task, and especially when the competition already has the account. Finally, How to Get Your Competition Fired shows readers a proven system for breaking the relationship between the competition and the customer. Randy Schwantz's method, The Wedge(r), includes a six-step plan that drives a "wedge" between the competition and the customer. He shows how to reveal the competition's shortcomings without seeming to, letting prospects decide independently to dump their current provider, exclude other competitors and, finally, switch to the salesperson's product or service. Offering real tactics, not just theory, this is the only sales strategy that really works to break the relationship between customers and the competition and bring in more business, faster than ever.Randy Schwantz (Dallas, TX) is a leading authority and expert on the sales process. A highly successful sales professional, he is a nationally respected sales trainer, author, sales coach, consultant, and public speaker. Randy is President and CEO of The Wedge Group, whose clients include Fortune 500 companies as well as small businesses.

Genres: Business

224 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 7, 2005

Reviews

[Tim Johnson · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author has a truly regrettable name. The whole spiel is that semantics, the "wedge," can get you the sale. Book runs out of ideas in first few pages and then stretches it out to a suitable heft. Don't bother.

[Jim Lavis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quite some time has passed sense I read this book. It certainly wasn't a great book, by any means, but it had a few good points.

[Charles Francis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Randy Schwantz’s How to Get Your Competition Fired (Without Saying Anything Bad about Them) is a masterclass in competitive sales, offering a fresh, insightful approach to winning business by driving a wedge between prospective clients and their current service providers—without negative tactics.

As a former business development/sales executive, the book's core strategy of focusing on delivering proactive, exceptional service, highlighting your value over the incumbent's resonated with me. Schwantz emphasizes the importance of thorough homework before every prospective client meeting —understanding the client’s needs and the incumbent’s shortcomings is essential. Doing this puts you in a strong position to offer better solutions. Failing to do this is a non-starter if you want to unseat your competition.

The book is packed with actionable, ethical strategies, making it an essential read for sales professionals aiming to win through excellence rather than badmouthing the incumbent, which frankly doesn't work.

While ideal for experienced salespeople seeking advanced techniques, it also offers practical insights for those newer to the field. Written in 2005, while still relevant, the book could benefit from a more concise update with real-world case studies to show the effectiveness of these methods across industries.

Overall, I give it a solid 3 out of 4 stars—worth the read, with useful tools to deploy in competitive sales situations.

[Antonio Vargas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great idea on taking clients from competitors. Get a BOR signed! Brilliant.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

The "Wedge" sales tactic discussed in this book is about understanding that their is often a third party in any sales encounter; instead of just buyer and seller sitting at a table, there is the figurative and literal current supplier that the salesman must overcome. The tactics explained are simple enough, create a picture perfect solution, take it away to find out what's important which helps to create rapport that allows for the buyer to request business from the seller. From there the seller simply has but to discover services and products that the buyer needs and reinforce the needs to help seal the deal.