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If a  prospect cannot determine what makes a payroll service any better or different from everyone else, more often than not, they will base their decision to switch solely on price. And if you want to avoid looking like a ‘me-too’ payroll service and avoid the dreaded ‘quote and hope’ proposal process, I have listed three suggestions below to help you and your sales team become better at winning more payroll sales and referrals.

How To Gain A Competitive Advantage.

Tip #1. Narrow Your Sales Focus For Your Sales Team. By having a more specific market focus, your payroll service will have an immediate competitive advantage. Why? When you service a specific market, it becomes easier to stand out from the competition that only focuses on the masses.

By focusing on a specific industry, you will become an expert in that space. To help you accomplish this, I have listed below a number of suggestions. 

• Look at the markets that your payroll service is currently servicing and then ask yourself, "Which markets have unique needs that we're good at helping solve their payroll, HR, and timekeeping problems?
• Determine the profile of your niche by asking yourself these questions: What size companies are they? How many employees do they have? Are they in multiple locations that are in various states? Continue to ask this line of questioning.
• Look into buying a database that is based on the profiles listed above.
• Once you determine that this niche makes sense, develop a website landing page, printed collateral, sales scripts, etc., focusing on this niche.
• Get your clients (that you serve in this focus) to write testimonials for you. Use them often and early in the sales cycle.
• Start contacting this industry hard and fast. Send a preliminary e-mail and direct mail piece, and then make your "Oh, by the way, calls" to follow up. Use the testimonials you gathered.
• After 14- and 30-days, regroup with your sales team for a debriefing.

Tip #2. Become A Problem Solver For Your Clients. When you focus on a specific issue/challenge in a market, with time and the right marketing strategy, you will become a true partner for your clients. Here are some steps to take:

• Isolate the top three core problems/pain points that your payroll service solves in your industry focus.
• Train your salespeople on the pain points and how to position this information in the marketplace.
• Develop marketing messaging and collateral for these problems.  

Tip #3.  Become Results-Driven For Your Clients. The ability to deliver specific results is a compelling proposition in the marketplace. If you can factually say that your company can help deliver and/or achieve specific results, you will be noticed.

Executive Summary: When you position your payroll service with these strategies in place, you will have a more compelling story to tell. This in itself is a huge competitive advantage for any payroll service willing to take these extra steps.

About The Author:

Glenn Fallavollita is a highly acclaimed keynote speaker renowned for delivering invaluable sales and marketing advice to business owners and sales leaders, enabling them to win more payroll sales and produce more referrals from their database of clients and referral partners.

Additionally, Glenn is the president of SellMorePayroll.com and Drip Marketing, Inc. and has written 50+ whitepapers and three sales/self-marketing books, Supercharge Your Payroll Sales NOW!, Stop Whining AND Start Selling, and Drip Marketing: A Powerful New Marketing Strategy That Gets Prospects To Buy From You. He also writes blogs for LinkedIn and other national websites.

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