Should sellers directly address competitors in a competitive deal, or leave them unmentioned?

Sean Murray · Jan 24, 2024

Competitive selling works, but sellers should never belittle or throw mud at competitors

Speaking ill of competitors rarely works — if you roll around in the mud with pigs you just get dirty

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Kim Graves · Jun 27, 2025

Reps should never disparage competitors; the right posture is 'customer obsessed, competitor aware' — know their products, stay factual, and return to discovery about what the buyer values

Trashing competitors is bad form; a factual conversation plus discovery questions about what the buyer likes and what it helps them do is more effective

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Harry Stebbings · May 11, 2026

In a competitive sales process you should never knock the competition — sell yourself instead.

Bashing competitors doesn't come across well.

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Patrick Forquer · May 11, 2026

Pre-empting the competitor by telling the buyer exactly what the counter-pitch will be ('the 8 Mile talk track') is an effective late-stage sales tactic

Legora has a reliable point of view on what the competitor will do, and it usually plays out that way, so naming it first keeps them ahead of it

23:53 Pre empt and name the competitors counter pitch