Your competition is out there right now selling to your prospects and customers. That's the bad news. The good news? They are all doing the same few things to try to win prospects' business.

By following these five simple steps, you can completely outsell your competition.

1. Time to stand out

Just saying that you're different doesn't make you so. It's time to start actually behaving differently from your competition.

Understand that your competitors are out there right now trying to persuasively pitch their products and services with enthusiasm. Your prospects expect this old-school selling tactic. So don't do it!

Instead, be truly distinct by being genuine and following the steps below.

2. Understand your prospects

Most salespeople spend the majority of their time in selling situations talking about how great their company, products and services are. This is the oldest trick in the book.

If you want to acquire new customers, while closing bigger sales and becoming a long-term strategic advisor to customers, then spend more time asking your prospects questions about their challenges and goals.

Think of it this way: Your customers aren't buying products or services from you — they're investing in solutions to their challenges in order to achieve specific outcomes.

3. Stop persuading

Most salespeople's pipelines are full of junk. This means the business they expect to close in the relatively near future is often not likely to close at all.

This is because many salespeople are trying to persuade prospects to do business with them. The problem with persuasion is that it assumes that every prospect is a good fit for what you have to offer. In reality, at least 50 percent of prospects are not a match.

By changing your mindset from "How do I persuade this prospect?" to "Is this prospect qualified for what I have to offer?" you will begin spending more time with only qualified prospects.

4. Value informs price

Salespeople often complain to me that they're getting beaten down on price. This happens for one simple reason: Prospects don't see real value in what the salespeople are selling.

When a conversation is all about price, it's a sign that you're not creating value in your sales conversation. How do you create value? Focus on what the prospect cares about: solving challenges and achieving outcomes.

5. Move up the food chain

We are all more comfortable selling to nondecision-makers. Selling to the higher levels in an organization takes most salespeople out of their comfort zones. But the problem with selling to nondecision-makers is that they can't tell you "yes." All they can do is tell you "no."

The most effective salespeople are selling at the highest reasonable levels within an organization. This could mean selling to presidents and CEOs or selling to VPs and directors — it all depends on who the best decision-maker is for what you sell.

In order to dominate the competition, you must adopt a totally different selling strategy. Follow these five steps to outsell and outperform your competitors.