That's my whole point of phrasing it like that in this context. To point out that it isn't good practice to do something like that. I don't actually do that.
Well, that's good to know but, as long as you're talking about your competition, you aren't selling yourself. Sell yourself first and only, then your product - only - and then any other reason someone would have for doing business with you, not your competition. Forget the competition. As far as you're concerned, there are no other photographers being interviewed. Some prospective clients might take your words regarding the competition in a manner you do not intend. Some might not have seriously thought of someone else until you bring up the idea.
Sell yourself.
Learn to how to read how people take in information. There are many books written on the subject of selling to a personality type. Learn body language. How someone speaks, their choice of words, how they look up, down or right at you tells you how they want information fed back to them. How they sit or stand all reflects their personality type and you need to know what they are saying when they aren't consciously saying it. It's not being unfair to have knowledge of your client and their motivations in order to assist your client. Selling to your clients "needs and wants" as they have expressed them to you is what you do as a salesperson.
If you are uncomfortable selling yourself and your product, get a job on an assembly line. If you feel sales is a dirty business, get a job as a court stenographer. We all sell ourselves everyday of our life. Take a course in sales. Read a few books on sales. Be a professional.
I've spent decades in high end electronics sales and 95% of the people I've worked with were professional sales people who felt their job was to assist the client. So do your job by selling a benefit to the client and you'll be ahead of the game. But learn how to sell.
There's a process to sales that follows a simple plan of one after the other stages. If you skip one, then you've probably lost the sale because you aren't paying attention to the client.
Sales is largely listening. You are going to say mostly the same thing to every client day in and day out. Prepare your words in advance. Know how to say the same thing in different words. How to place your client's desires into your answers. You simply need to know what they say so you can respond in a manner appropriate to their wishes.
If someone says they've had a bad experience with another photographer, don't run down your competition even at the prompting of the client. You don't know what the other situation was, who was right and who was wrong, you only know how you intend to go about the upcoming situation. Stay with selling yourself and being attentive to what problems your clients claims to have had with another business person and explain how you will solve their previous problems.
IMO the two most important rules of sales are; 1) you can't close anything you don't open and, 2) you won't get anything you don't ask for. Ask for their business.
If you're that damned good, then you shouldn't have a problem with that. It's as they say, it's not bragging if you can back it up. If your product isn't what the client needs, you need to be up front but you also need determine whether they can be brought around to what you can provide. Or else, just walk away. If you truly cannot get enough enthusiasm for your product to sell it, then you need a different line of work. It's not selling ice to an eskimo, it's finding out what the client desires and knowing what you have in stock which would supply a fulfillment of that desire.
In between opening the sale and closing the sale there's a lot you need to pay attention to. The client is telling you what they want. Pay attention. Repeat words back to them so there is an agreement on what has been said as you understand the ideas and what your answers are to what has been said. Some times it's what you have and some times it's not. If it's not and you can't deliver the goods, don't tell the client you can. A single dissatisfied client will tell ten times the number of people about you vs a satisfied client.
If you feel your product and your work ethic can satisfy the client, then you need to present your ideas in a way that clicks with that specific client. That can be difficult if you are selling yourself to a couple where one is this personality type and the partner is another. Which is almost always the case, opposites do attract. But the basics of how people look, talk and handle information are what you must respond to. It's all available for study, you just need to put forth the effort to become a sales person proud of what they are selling.
But, how, in today's world, do you ever not have examples to show someone? That says you really don't think very much of your work.
A business person carries their cards with them to every event and non-event in their day. You don't gladhand people. But you, at the very least, have your cards - your advertising - with you. People will not remember your name or your business' name. Have a professional looking card and some examples you can show at all times. Even if it's just a web page someone can check at their leisure. One rule though is, once you have allowed a client to look elsewhere, your chances of getting that business have depreciated by at least half. So carry your sales tools with you - period!
If you sell cars or HVAC systems, OK, you don't carry those with you. But carrying photos is pretty easy today. If you don't have at least a few examples with you, that's like the used car salesperson who says, "Trust me, I can get you the car you want in no time." If you can't prove to the client that you can back up your words, most will go with the person who can.
Even if you're the superior photographer, most people won't give a flip about that. They aren't looking for the sort of things a photographer sees in a photo. So you need to listen to your clients and respond to what they say they want. Carry your card and don't be afraid or embarrassed to hand it out. And certainly don't think asking your satisfied clients for referrals is bad for business. Neither is asking other photographers for tips on doing good business. Just don't talk out of school.
Like Angie's List, people will do business with people who have satisfied their neighbors and friends and people they feel are like them in needs and wants. If you are proud of your work and you've satisfied the clients needs and desires, ask for a referral or, at the least, ask if someone would mind answering questions from a prospective client on your behalf. If you can't be comfortable selling to a satisfied client, then you do really need a different profession. If you feel you must, offer them a discount on their next job with you for every referral they give. Word of mouth is your best sales representative.
If you can't sell yourself, find someone who can and give them 50% of your fees. I don't know a lot of people who like to give away money so you'll learn to do your own selling or you'll be content working for 50% less.
Sales is a profession. Learn it and practice good sales techniques. Clients respond to honesty and they will respond to someone who is obviously listening to them rather than that prick who can't stop running down his competition.
And, if you lose a sale you thought you should have, remember it's simply a business deal. Walk away with no hard feelings.
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