4 Sales Tactics You Can Use Instead of Trashtalking Competitors

Here are 4 ways you can sell yourself without trash-talking your competition
Recently, one of our prospects shared a screenshot showing how our competitor tries to compare themselves to us.
I was honestly speechless.
Instead of our competitor talking up their awesome features, they were:
- Flaunting their funding and speculating AiSDR will go out of business soon (I’d love to see their burn rate 😏 We have well over 60+ months of runway)
- Trash-talking our service
- Predicting our doom-and-gloom
I could spend the rest of this blog refuting each of the arguments while also pointing out the poor quality of their research.
But we’re not in high school anymore.
So here’s what I believe.
The way a company treats its competitors speaks volumes about its culture and values.
After all, competing for market share doesn’t make us mortal enemies.
Which is why I wanted to share 4 ways you can sell yourself without resorting to cheap trash-talking.
TLDR:
- The goal: Make a case why prospects should choose you over your competitors
- The tactic: Rely on value propositions, positive messaging, and honesty
- The result: Build long-term success
Tactic 1: Highlight your unique value proposition
Instead of pointing fingers at what you think your competitors are doing wrong, highlight what makes your business special.
If you’re not sure what unique ‘thing’ you can offer, ask yourself:
- What specific problems do you solve?
- What do you offer that others don’t?
- Why do leads and customers return or recommend you?
Some of AiSDR’s unique value propositions are 24/7 GTM engineering and customer success, one of the market’s most robust HubSpot integrations, and an AI agent capable of responding autonomously to leads (many AI SDR vendors stop once a lead replies).
When we speak with prospects during demos, we outline these strengths, saying “We have X” or “Our approach to Y helps you achieve Z”.
This type of positive messaging is much more powerful than criticizing competitors:
- You show confidence in your product and business
- Your customers understand exactly how you can help them
- You keep the conversation centered on how you can serve your customers better
- You maintain a professional reputation while building trust with potential clients who prefer straightforward, honest communication
Tactic 2: Create mutually beneficial relationships
Believe it or not, but your competitors don’t have to be your enemies.
In fact, working together and forging a mutually beneficial relationship can help both businesses grow.
It’s something we do every day.
No business can be perfect at everything, make everyone happy, or serve everyone’s needs.
In our case, when a potential customer needs something we don’t offer, we refer them to someone who does. And if we foster a good relationship with them, they’ll send customers our way when they’re in the same situation.
We do this all the time when a customer asks for AI cold calling and an AI SDR co-pilot. We don’t plan on offering AI calls anytime soon, so we refer them to companies like Nooks or TitanX.
And we’ve landed deals in return.
We’ve even seen the same occur with Lavender and Topo where we send prospects to one another because prospects want something we can’t do.
This arrangement creates a win-win situation: customers get what they need, we maintain integrity by being upfront, and we build positive business relationships.
Tactic 3: Educate instead of attack
When competition is fierce, it’s tempting to take the easy route and point out what you see as shortcomings with other companies.
But trash-talking is like taking a shortcut that leads to a dead end.
It feels good in the moment, but it can easily backfire in the long run. Especially if you exaggerate or lie about easily verifiable details.
So instead of criticizing competitors, it’s better to focus your energy and time on educating prospects and helping them understand what makes a good solution in your industry. By positioning yourself as a helpful expert rather than a critic, you build trust and credibility.
Here are some tactics for letting your work speak for itself through social proof:
- Sharing case studies that show real results by real companies
- Spotlighting testimonials from satisfied customers who can speak to your work
- Posting real reviews that give prospects a picture of what it’s like to work with you on sites like G2 or Capterra
- Creating reasonably objective side-by-side comparisons between your product and a competitor’s
This kind of social proof is far more convincing than any negative comment ever could be. Particularly when it’s so easy to just reach out to the competitor you’re taking cheap shots at.
Tactic 4: Get honest with yourself and your potential customers
Honesty isn’t just the best policy.
It’s also smart business.
When you’re transparent about what your product can and can’t do, you pave the way for lasting relationships.
Being upfront about your limitations might feel risky, but it’s far better than overselling and disappointing customers later, causing them to churn.
If you don’t have a specific feature yet, say so. If you haven’t seen success with a certain type of client, tell them.
You might lose some sales, but it prevents the much bigger problem of unhappy customers who churn quickly and leave damaging reviews. You’ll also gain something extremely valuable – a reputation for integrity.
Sometimes (and we’ve seen this happen in our case on many occasions) the same prospects you had to disqualify return later when your product better matches their needs. Or even better, they refer others who are a perfect fit for what you provide.
Result
Let’s be honest: If you don’t have solid competitors, you probably don’t have a real market for your product.
Without strong players pushing each other to innovate, we’d all be stuck with mediocre solutions.
And when your GTM strategy relies on disrespect or slinging trash at competitors, you’re sending a clear message about how you might treat everyone else.
Including your customers.