A discussion about sales, sales tips and advice, and about those who land the deal

Yes, it is. 

I'm talking about Progressive Auto Insurance.  Their television commercials ask you to go to Progressive.com and let them compare their rate that they can offer you along with their competitor's offers.  In their commercial, they're up front in saying that about 30% of the time, another auto insurance company's rates will be lower.

What's their sales strategy, and what can you learn from it?...

...Their strategy appears to be fairly straight-forward: Honesty.  Transparency.  Service oriented.  When you think about it, their's is a fairly bold way of doing it...most big insurance company execs wouldn't want to take the chance of losing a customer to another competitor.

But that's what they're doing.  And I think its a smart way to sell, frankly.  You spend time at Progressive.com, they give you all the information in one place, and they tell you how their rates compare with their competition.  In effect, they're saying "OK, we give...we're going to give you all the freakin' information you could ever want since we know that you're shopping strictly based on price and then see what you do."

So what do most customers do?  I'll bet they give Progressive their business.  They've dealt with you fairly, given you a convenient source of information, and have probably exceeded your expectations by selling softly.  I think it's brilliant (no offense to Geico and their gecko).

So what's the lesson for sales professionals?

Transparency counts.  So does convenience, and so does information.  What would your customers do if you listed your prices alongside your competition's, even if their's were less expensive? 

Progressive is enjoying a huge spike in business thanks to their commericials, and the way they're treating customers once the log onto the website.  It's amazing how customers like us respond when we're treated like adults, and dealt with honestly.