Because the National Copier Company (NCC) has been in business for only five years, Brenda Smith is concerned that most of her competitors are older than she is. The prospective customers she has been calling on state they know they can count on her competitors, because they have a long track record. As NCC expands into new markets some of her prospects are not familiar with her company. One prospective customer, who works for one of the most prestigious and largest medical offices (30 doctors) in the area, told her he has been buying copiers from the same company for more than 25 years. He also told her his sales representative for the company has been calling on him for more than seven years, and he knows that when he calls on his copier supplier for advice he can count on him for a solid recommendation. Brenda realizes these are going to be tough accounts to crack.

Brenda does have an advantage because of the high quality of NCC products. In a recent trade publication, NCC's copiers tied for first in the industry on ratings of copier quality and dependability. NCC was also given a high rating for service. Brenda has had this information for two weeks now and has brought it up in conversations with her prospective customers without much success. To make matters worse, one of her competitors must have started rumours about NCC. In the past month, she has heard the following rumours:

• "NCC is going out of business because of financial troubles."
• "NCC has missed several delivery deadlines with customers."
• "NCC's copiers have a software glitch that cannot be corrected."
• "NCC has cut its service staff."

Brenda knows these rumours are not true, but prospects might believe them. At a recent sales meeting, Brenda's manager suggested that their competitors must be getting nervous about NCC's success, causing them to start such vicious rumours.

Brenda is sitting at her desk trying to figure out what to do next and she is not exactly sure how to proceed.

1. What do you recommend Brenda do to compete effectively against competitors that have a long and successful track record?
2. How should Brenda go about handling the rumour mill?