When You Trash Your Competitors, You’re Really Trashing Your Customers

DAB Marketing
Aug 14
6 min read

Updated: Aug 14

When you trash YOUR competitiors, you're really trashing YOUR customers. -Dab Marketing

You want a shortcut to losing trust. Bash your competition.

You want a shortcut to building a brand people respect. Take the high road and make your customer the hero.

I learned one of the most valuable lessons in business early. When you trash a competitor, you are not just talking about them. You are talking about your customer’s past choices, current tools, and future options. If they bought from that competitor last year, you just called them wrong. If they are considering that competitor today, you just called them naive or worse... Either way, you made the conversation about your ego instead of their outcome.

This is the guide to doing it the right way. Let me give you an example of where I was taught this lesson first hand in sales. I was selling a customer and about to finish up when he mentioned another product that I also carried, he said "I'll head down the street and grab those there." I didn't want him going there, I got greedy, and he called me on it.

I said "That places sells garbage and they make their stuff so cheap, you don't want that junk." He stopped me in my tracks.

He said, “I didn't ask you if I should go there, I was telling you I'm going there... Are you saying I like to buy cheap garbage?"

I immediately started backpedaling. This customer stopped me in my tracks and said "I'm going to teach you a lesson today young man, I came here because you are the best, I know that, I have $3,000 worth of items I'm buying from you. I'm going down there to save some money, and I like their stuff too, I spend most of my money here. If you want, I can easily give them ALL of my business."

This guy was an executive at Google by the way for those wanting some real context.... INSERT FOOT IN MOUTH... This lesson opened my eyes forever to be cautious of saying bad things about my competition. In fact, it came back 10x for me when I owned my washing business and was doing a quote for a big paver sealing job. A customer asked me what I thought about my competitor, I kept my words positive and said, "I don't know much about them because we are so focused on what we do for our customers, I do know that we take extreme pride in our work and what we provide for our customers is a unique process."

She stopped me on the spot and said "Your hired, all he did was tell my why I shouldn’t hire you the entire time."

WIN

Why bashing backfires

It insults the buyer
People do not buy perfect. They buy progress. When you attack what they used or considered, you create shame, not momentum.
It shrinks your perceived value
Leaders educate. Insecure brands attack. The market can feel the difference.
It pulls you off your story
Every minute spent tearing down a rival is a minute not spent proving your edge with proof, clarity, and outcomes.
It creates legal and reputational risk
Negative claims invite screenshots, receipts, and headaches. Play offense with your own data and let the market decide.

The correct way

Position without poison

Speak to fit, not failure. Show who you are built for, what problems you solve best, and why that matters. When you do this well, the comparison happens automatically in the buyer’s mind without you swinging at anybody.

Educate the buyer

Teach the decision, not the takedown. Outline the criteria a smart buyer should use. When your product or service lines up with those criteria, you win without the drama.

Compare with clarity

Use apples to apples comparisons that are honest and specific. Features, process, service levels, total cost of ownership, risk. Put your advantages in plain view and let the customer self select.

Tell outcome stories

Show the before and after with customers like them. Real numbers. Real time saved. Real headaches removed. The fastest way to make a competitor irrelevant is to make your customer successful.

Honor the alternatives

Acknowledge where a competitor might be a better fit. Scarcity mindset says never do this. Abundance mindset says you earn trust by telling the truth. Buyers remember who respected them.

A simple comparison framework you can use today

Define the job to be done
What problem is the buyer actually trying to solve. Write it in their words.
List the must haves and nice to haves
Performance, speed, durability, service response, financing, training, integration. Keep it real world.
Map how each option serves those needs
Check marks are fine. Short notes are better. Stay factual.
Surface the hidden costs and risks
Downtime, consumables, maintenance, onboarding effort, warranty terms, resale value.
Close with your specific edge
Tie your strengths to their priorities. One sentence. No fluff.

Talk tracks that keep your brand clean

Use these lines when a prospect brings up a competitor or tries to bait you into a teardown.

• “They make good gear and they are a solid option for some use cases. Here is where we shine for teams like yours.”

• “Let’s look at the decision criteria together and see what fits your workflow best.”

• “If X is your top priority, their model could be a fit. If Y and Z matter more, here is why our customers choose us.”

• “I will never speak poorly of another brand. I will show you our numbers and connect you with customers who do what you do.”

For contractors and service businesses

Pressure washing, soft washing, window cleaning, paver sealing. Your buyer hears competitor noise daily. Cut through it with proof and process.

• Publish a buyer’s guide that explains materials, methods, pricing structures, and risks

• Show time on site, safety steps, water recovery, and post job inspection in a simple checklist

• Offer two or three clear packages with outcomes, not jargon

• Share short customer videos describing the initial problem, what you did, and the result after thirty days

Example talk track:

“We are not the cheapest. We are the team that protects your property, finishes on schedule, and leaves you with surfaces that stay clean longer. Here is our prep checklist and our follow up guarantee. Here are three jobs like yours with the timeline and cost per square foot.”

For manufacturers and suppliers

You sell outcomes at scale. Your customer is a business owner who bets payroll on your claims. Earn the bet.

• Publish spec verified performance data and life cycle cost comparisons

• Offer a trial or pilot with defined success metrics

• Document training time to proficiency and first service interval

• Show how your warranty, inventory position, and support response reduce downtime

Example talk track:

“Brand X is strong in entry level kits for light duty. If you need daily commercial use with fewer replacements, here is our five year total cost model and the two week ramp plan we use to get crews productive fast.”

When a competitor talks trash about you

Stay on message
Respond with data, references, and outcomes. Do not mirror their tone.
Elevate the conversation
Invite the prospect to a side by side demo with their criteria. Film it if appropriate. Share the results.
Protect the relationship
Thank the buyer for bringing it up. Reassure them that you will never speak poorly about their choices.