Red Ocean Strategies

1. Be the Value Creator, Not a Vendor

In Eat their Lunch, you will find that you are the value. Your conversation is valuable for your prospective clients. Let your competitors fail to win deals by pitching their solutions too early.

No one needs a vendor; they need a true value creator. You're not selling a product. You're de-risking a rare decision they need to get right on their first attempt.

2. Master the Competitive Talk Track

Red ocean selling means knowing how to handle “We’re already working with someone” and “You’re all the same.” Instead, you pivot to explaining the different models and their concessions, explaining how your model has only one concession: a few dollars more to avoid the concessions of other models

3. Sell the Problem Better Than Anyone

You need to be an expert on your client’s problems. Your competitors are likely to ask their contacts about their problems, while you know their problems better than any of your competitors. Whoever diagnoses best will win the client’s trust and their business

4. Build Trust with Velocity

In red oceans, sales reps win deals because they’re trusted, not because their offer is special. Build fast, deep trust with senior decision-makers using clarity, and the business acumen that your competitors lack. Speed + relevance + credibility = trust velocity.

5. Leverage Internal Politics to Your Advantage

Map the power dynamics. Who’s blocking? Who’s pushing hard? Who’s got budget? Win the internal game by building consensus with the right people, not just talking to the first contact.

6. Become an Embedded Strategic Partner

Use language and behavior that communicates you're already part of their future success. “Here’s what we’ll do in month 1, 3, and 6 once we’re working together… will ensure you will get the results you need. ”

7. Exploit the Incumbent’s Weaknesses

Every incumbent has a blind spot. It may be poor communication. It could be a lack of innovation. Complacency? Make the gap feel bigger by contrasting your involvement versus their neglect.

8. Outwork and Out Serve Everyone

Old-school but always undefeated. You win by being the most proactive, the most prepared, the one who shows up with answers, not slides. Discipline beats flash in commodity markets. Out-hustle. Out-help. Outlast.

9. Sell Risk Reduction

In commoditized environments, the buyer is more afraid of making the wrong decision than missing out on a better offer. Sell how you protect your clients through reliability, communication, and total transparency. Safety sells more than flash.

10. Create a “Why Now” Trigger

Without urgency, commodity deals drag on until there is no deal. Tie the pain or threat to a timeline: lost revenue, rising costs, changes, policy shifts, or internal deadlines. No urgency ends up in a no deal.

11. Inject Contrast Early

Use the first 5 minutes of the conversation to break the pattern with non-obvious insights. Everyone else is talking about features. You’re talking about what no one else is noticing and the real cost of the status quo.

Most vendors talk about capabilities. You start with what goes wrong after implementation…”

12. Own the Follow-Up Game

Most reps fail here. In red oceans, the deal often goes to the most consistent and professional follow-up. Use follow-ups that add value, not just “checking in.” Be the only rep they thank for following up that creates new value.

13. Build a Mini Case Study in Real Time

Don’t just tell them how you’ve helped someone like them by building the example live using their data, their language, and their problems. Play this out using your client’s scenario.

14. Use Strategic Scarcity

In red oceans, scarcity increases perceived value. Limit access to you, your solution, or your calendar. Position yourself as selective, not desperate for a deal. If this is true for you, you might share: We only take on a few new clients each quarter to ensure execution quality.”

15. Reverse the Comparison

When buyers compare you to your competitors, flip the frame. Don’t ask how you stack up—ask how they plan to avoid the exact problems they had with the last provider. By turning the frame around and reminding your client that they are likely to experience the same problems all over again

16. Weaponize Client Insight

Come to the client with intelligence the client doesn’t have—competitive insights, market data, or performance benchmarks. Make them smarter by talking to you. Because you are always talking to your clients, you can create value before the sale.

17. Build a Future-State Vision

Help your prospect see themselves in the solution, living with the new benefits, winning the internal game. Red ocean sales aren’t about features—they’re about strategic outcomes. Imagine your team at the end of Q2, already hitting goal, because you made this move today…”

18. Control the Frame

Don’t let the client control how the buying process goes. Define the buying journey, set expectations, and offer to guide them through it like an experienced expert.

Here’s what a successful decision process looks like—can I share what works best for the results you need?

19. Use Pre-Mortem Objection Handling

Before your contact raises objections, raise them yourself. Address them proactively and frame how you eliminate those risks. Here’s the part that usually gives clients pause—and here’s how we make sure that doesn’t happen.”

20. Close on Impact, Not Price

In price-sensitive, red ocean markets, closing is about quantifying the cost of inaction. Make your contact feel the pain of staying the same—not just the price of changing. What’s this problem costing you every month you don’t solve it?”