Don't view your competitors as people peddling 'crappy tools' or 'junk', view them as expert sellers, business people. Learn from them, figure out what channels they're using to sell. Are they reaching out to CTOs via LinkedIn? Are they calling directly? Are they doing targeted ads in the right publications? Pursue those routes and get your numbers up - at the end of the day, sales is very much a numbers game. Reach out to 100, speak with 10, sell to 3.
Similarly to how often Business guys underestimate the difficulty in the work of the Technical guys, it's really important to have respect for how truly challenging the marketing and selling is.
EDIT: I know OP is asking for specific steps he/she can take, but my view is that the first step is to have the right perspective on the problem and have a healthy appreciation for the competition.