When preparing for that first call, always be clear on how your prospect competes. Why? Because it helps you correctly position your solution – and rise above the noise of your own competitors.

How does your prospect go to market?
Does your prospect compete with product innovation? Customer service? Or operational effectiveness? Rarely do companies compete with all three.

My motives for shopping at service-superstar Nordstrom are satisfied much differently than when I shop at super-efficient Wal-Mart. Apple and Sony pull customers from Dell with product innovation. They do not aspire to offer the lowest price. Nor are they stellar service providers.

If you don't know which of these levers constitutes your prospect’s business advantage, ask. Or read its annual report. It's in there. Effective salespeople demonstrate knowledge of their prospect’s competitive levers to enhance their credibility and get on the same page as their prospect.

Pick up a rifle vs a shotgun
You can shoot your solution and wait for something to stick (in marketing, we call it shotgun) or reverse your approach (which marketers call rifle) by targeting your capabilities and services to the one or two things your prospect does well.

For example...
Consider two insurance firms. One says, "For a good deal, buy our products online." Another says, "If you need us, we're there." Much different leading messages and much different organizations.

The price leader has superior transaction processing and has made big investments in improving the productivity of its online user interface. In fact, it may have outsourced the face of its online store to an expensive expert like TandemSeven, who helps companies build hugely intuitive web-based interfaces that scream with productivity and make online shopping a breeze.

The other firm (that competes on customer service) invests in its brokers. Its sales force automation system significantly outperforms that of our online provider, and it offers far more personal touch and tailored insurance services (at a higher price). Its agents also have superior tools for producing highly customized insurance proposals in record time. One organization invests in customer touch points, the other in broker touch points - to boost the horsepower of their different competitive strategies.

Aligning your solution with the things that fuel your prospect’s business advantage makes you a better advisor and a better consultant.

Remove your own bias
One of my sales clients was hugely disappointed when he proposed an investment to improve customer intimacy at a prospect he had been trying to see for two years. It was shot down and he was hugely confused. After all, it's what he thought they needed to do to be more competitive. But it's not the competitive driver the CEO of his target prospect had selected. And in fact, he lost credibility by failing to acknowledge how his prospect not only competes -- but competes to win. Had he proposed a solution that encourages customer self-service, he would have gotten the ear of his CEO.

Focus on your prospect’s most prized assets
Another way to approach the alignment exercise: identify your prospect’s most prized assets. Is it their large customer base? Their large set of patents? Their supplier relationships? If you help improve (or protect) your prospect’s asset value -- you'll help preserve the things it needs to sustain business advantage.

Notice where Wal-Mart's IT priorities lie. Wal-Mart may be cheap, but not when it comes to making investments in its supplier network - which gives its vendors access to one of the best supplier transaction systems in the industry. Suppliers do business with Wal-Mart at a fraction of the cost of other retailers. The result? For Wal-Mart, a loyal supplier network, with low turnover, that is easier and cheaper to manage - and which grants the retail giant most favored pricing.

So, before you venture our on your next sales call, do some homework and validate your prospect’s competitive strengths and prized assets. It will help you position your solution in ways that bring music to your prospect’s ears.