HOW TO HANDLE THE COMPETITION – Matt Golimowski

Being the top dog in any business brings on competition and other copycats. As the saying goes, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. With NuVinAir, it’s no different. We are, after all, known as the Cadillac of healthy vehicle interiors. Now more than ever, we are all feeling the effects of our competition with Spiffy, Longhouse, Evolve, and more. So how do you handle when competition arises? 

First, know your competition, and never talk poorly about them. Simply state the benefits of NuVinAir vs. the drawback of the competing product. The advantages NuVinAir provides include safety, speed, support, effectiveness, job aids, training, and R&D.  You should also share what you have helped your clients accomplish with NuVinAir, such as improved efficiencies, reduced 3rd party expenses, improved CSI scores, and overall cost and time savings.

As I make my way through locations across the country, one thing is for sure; our clients agree that NuVinAir has the best, most effective product on the market. Yet they come back and say the competition isn’t as good, but it’s “good enough” based on the price savings. I have a couple of thoughts around that:

1. They are really saying that they are okay with an inferior product to Restore. In that case, we have Refresh. Combined with the patented Autonomous Cleaning™ Technology of the NuVinAir Cyclone, it is every bit as effective as the competition with a similar price point.

2. By Enterprise’s own study, Spiffy is 70% effective vs. NuVinAir’s 100% effectiveness. In addition, NuVinAir’s service and support are unparalleled. Do you want to risk 30% of your cars that have been treated coming back with a poor survey because the smell came back? That’s in addition to the vehicles with odors that weren’t identified and treated.

3. NuVinAir has proven to be effective in all climates. Colder weather conditions seem to hide odors or prevent them from being as strong come summertime. The success they are seeing today with the competition will likely not be the same when temperatures heat up.

4. If they are insistent on using the competition because price matters above all else, then tell them about your experiences with other products. “We have had other locations test products that they thought would work the same. In theory, they did. But without the science-backed technology that NuVinAir uses, their treatments and processes simply didn’t work as well, and they ended up switching back to NuVinAir. In reality, using a cheaper product that doesn’t work is just wasting money. I’m confident that we have the best, most effective products available and unrivaled support to go with it.”

Now I’d like to share an example from the field where we were able to win back a client and an example of being proactive in protecting an account:

• Doug Eaton of NuVinAir Southwest recently won back his Enterprise Sky Harbor Airport Account. Here’s what he had to say. “Weak management by Spiffy allowed me to win the account. Poor staffing and execution caused their SQI to go down, and Bill, my Sales Manager, and I were always there. Our service and support won them over even though our price was higher.”

• Brad Scott of NuVinAir CGR takes an above-and-beyond approach to support his accounts. While at RDU airport, he recently jumped in and helped an understaffed and undermanaged Avis location. They lost their airport manager to a promotion and have not replaced him yet. When I asked Brad why he would spend 2.5 hours working there, he said, “I jumped in to help. My hopes are if they feel supported down the road, they won’t push back because of price. They will view me as a supporting vendor or partner and not just a product.”

If you have a specific competitive situation arise and you tried the above tactics to no avail, please partner with Coach Marty and Matt to strategize on what may work for your situation. The Enterprise BOGO promotion was a critical test to properly position ourselves against the competition. We have other ideas that we are working on, and they just may work for you.

Losing an account over price to competition can be frustrating, especially when you know you have the superior product. But don’t let that get you down. Provide the best customer support you can, connect with NuVinAir Corporate partners, and position yourself for success.