Excellent question…

There are three primary phases during which you should be concerned about competitor proofing yourself or your project.

In reality, these three phases encompass the period I refer to as ‘Forever’, which is the period during which any top performing sales racehorse will be looking for strategies for competitor proofing him or herself.

IMMEDIATE TERM:
Before the end of the sales call during which you and your prospect have co-developed and agreed (in principle) to the solution approach for his problem. You will rarely get the same opportunity to implement some key strategies once this initial meeting is adjourned;

NEAR-TERM:
Between the time the initial meeting is completed, and the time your prospect signs on the dotted line and becomes your customer;

LONG-TERM:
Between the time of first implementation of your solution and the re-order or contract renewal point.

You can learn more about my rapport building strategies at http://www.SalesRaceHorsesCards.com.

I have also included an overview of several other competitor-proofing strategies in my post at http://www.salesracehorses.com/blog/6-strategies-to-competitor-proof-your-offering/21/