Displacement selling is what organic growth looks like when your market is not expanding. In print and packaging, that is the situation most leaders are dealing with. Volumes shift, buyers consolidate, and pricing pressure does not let up. If you want growth, you usually have to take it from someone else.
The problem is that many sales teams still run a “relationship and quote” playbook. That is not a strategy. It is hope with travel expenses. Displacement selling is more direct. You pick the accounts that can be won, you learn where the incumbent is weak, and you build an offer that makes change feel safer than staying put.
Pick fights you can win
Displacement selling starts before the first call. It starts with choosing targets where switching pain is real but tolerable, and where your operation can actually deliver a better outcome.
- Define the ideal switch account. Focus on buyers with recurring work, service complaints, quality drift, late deliveries, or frequent turnover at the supplier.
- Qualify operational fit early. If your plant cannot hit the required lead times, compliance needs, or SKU complexity, do not chase the work.
- Build a short target list. A tight list forces discipline, better account research, and cleaner weekly pipeline reviews.
Compete on the incumbent’s blind spots
You are not trying to “beat” the competitor in the abstract. You are trying to show the buyer a specific risk or cost they are already living with, then prove you can reduce it.
- Map the buyer’s friction. Ask where rework happens, where approvals stall, and where their internal team wastes time managing exceptions.
- Find the incumbent’s weak process. Common cracks include inconsistent color control, unstable scheduling, unclear change management, and sloppy communication.
- Lead with proof, not promises. Bring samples, controls, service-level metrics, and a clear transition plan with named owners on both sides.
- Price the total problem. If the buyer is paying for expedites, scrap, and downtime, your value case should quantify that, not just quote per piece.
Expand your footprint without breaking your team
Zero-sum markets punish firms that rely on one geography or one vertical. Displacement selling gets easier when you build more places to compete, and fewer reasons to discount.
- Add vertical depth. Packaging, healthcare, and regulated segments reward process control and documentation more than raw price.
- Go where your service travels. If you have reliable logistics and repeatable onboarding, adjacent regions can be reachable without opening a full facility.
- Align sales capacity to reality. New verticals require training, updated estimating, and tighter handoffs, not just new lead lists.
What the lowest-risk path looks like
As volatility persists, the lowest-risk path is to run displacement selling as a managed system, not a few heroic reps. Tie target selection to operational fit, document the competitor weaknesses you can consistently exploit, and build a repeatable transition plan that reduces switching fear for the buyer.
Ready to build a displacement selling plan?
CFR helps print and packaging leaders tighten sales strategy, align operations to what you sell, and decide where to expand by geography or vertical. If you want a clear plan and accountability around it, start here: https://connectingforresults.com/contact/
