The Art Of Closing The Deal

Tricor Brothers

say what you will about canvasing but so far i went out for 2 different afternoons this week and set 16 appointments for estimate. At that rate im looking at maybe 60 est. per month.

Ive Gone out to measure 3 so far. measured em up and left. i put together 3 estimates on 3 houses so far using ms excel. gave them their est in mail and some samples from abc. and told them id follow up with them.

Im not a low baller and price my work out as if ive been in the biz a few years. I sell/price to cover fixed/variable/operating cost.


heres where i need help. I know i could be doing something better. my gut says theres something lacking. (cough cough expierience) I feel like i should have been selling something at the time of measure, pointing something out describing cust service/value. something...

I hope that ed, roofman, vinylguy, wpc, mike or some of the other pros can throw me some advise ...

What can i do better at the time of measure and initial meeting?

What kind of probing questions aside from budget would be appropriate?

Any advise on closing the deal at the kitchen table? What kinds of questions and statements have worked for you?

Deliver est. then follow up with the sales meeting?

Any advise would be appreciated

Thank you all for your time and advise.

vinylguy

check out the post by wpc!
on the 10 step selling system

genecarp

for me, the informal approach has worked very well, you are going to a friends house to talk about work that needs to be done, if you are relaxed and comfortable, they will be. when it comes to contracts, this informal approach does not apply.

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Magic Hammer

Read a lot. Roofing and siding should be one close call.

The steps required to become an accomplished One-Call Closer are:
1. Only visit with prospects that want the benefits of your type of products and/or services. That means you must learn how to find them and make appointments with them.
2. Make mutual commitments to do business if you can meet each other’s Conditions of Satisfaction. That is the first close.
3. . Establish a deep Relationship of Mutual Trust and Respect during the first twenty minutes of meeting with them. That is entirely different from “building rapport.”
4. Be willing to disqualify (for now) any prospect that indicates that they will not buy immediately. Staying there and continuing the sales process virtually guarantees that you will not make the sale now- nor in the future.
5. Determine the exact buying intentions of the prospect, and get another commitment to do business, if you can meet each other’s Conditions of Satisfaction.
6. Determine exactly what the prospects Conditions of Satisfaction are and whether you can meet them.
7. Discuss every feature, benefit and detriment of your product or service with regard to how it will affect the prospect’s needs. Exposing all detriments will eliminate almost all objections and ensure the prospect’s trust.
8. Close on every point throughout the entire sales process.
This sales process can shorten sales cycles and increase closing rates. Salespeople that close most of their sales in one visit– even in complex, High Tech and Major Account selling– typically have the highest closing averages.

mdshunk

I think you're making a mistake by sending the estimate in the mail. You might as well throw it in the wastecan, if you ask me. I have no doubt that you can sell some that way, but you might be burning leads without realizing it. Is there anyway you can carry a laptop with you when you go to "measure up" and do the estimate on the spot? Either that, or schedule a time to personally deliver and review the estimate.

MattCoops

How do you SELL the job without presenting the numbers to the customer in a professional manner.
What if they have a question? What if they want to change something?
What if someone else explained things so much clearer and because you weren't there to back your company they're going with "the other guy"?

ALWAYS sit the customers down and present your numbers.

__________________
Matt with Cupan Custom Tile & Paint of Lowell, Massachusetts
Design and installation of ceramic tile and natural stone for floor, wall, and countertops
(978) 601-8774 | cupantile@gmail.com | view tile pictures and more

Tricor Brothers

To Magic Hammer, MD, matt and vinylguy, and others thank you for your posts.

Magic- I agree with you completely as to the one close call. and to adress number 4 on your bullet list, your right, i dont want to waste my time or theirs, "its either phuck or walk" but dont you think it would be appropriate or a waste of time to continue to keep that lead warm by sending them a quarterly mailer.

to both mdshunk matt and vinyl and magic thanks for the hot tips. i realy didnt feel that i was doing the right thing by sending the est. in the mail. and i realy dont want to start or keep any bad habbits.

MD- as for a laptop i do have a laptop that i can bring to the measure, but am concerned with going over the estimate to include my markup off of my pricelist from my supplier. Maybe i could put a pricelist together of my own to review. and that way i can sell each product and its bennefits while including my markup into their estimate. putting the estimate together infront of the customer is the way to go.

Problem is I feel that i should have both decision makers in front of me though at the time of est. which would be another one of my concerns about doing an estimate on the spot if both werent there at time of measure. any thoughts here?

i think i will sit with them at the table, give them a generic price with the "good" scenario and ask for budget i could flat out ask them if thats something they are going to be able to afford? (obviously a "nicer"/sugar coated way of doin it, or not) but it gets to nitty gritty of the whole deal and gives an exiting strategy or moving forward point to go on, to put together an estimate. (# 4 on magics post.) any thoughts or comments-?but i plan on bringing the laptop/paperandpen and pricelist to go over and create the estimate at the kitchen table.

Ive been reading the certainteed master aplicators test book and was wondering if anyone had any advise as to which other roofing/siding literature i should be studying besides other suppliers product handbooks?

Steve

MattCoops

Ever use Microsoft Access?

Great way to store a product inventory and create invoices.

A laptop on an estimate is a great tool.
You can have an application punch the numbers for you so you don't forget anything or make a math mistake.
Plus it saves time.

Depending on what you do, there are a variety of software out there that will show your customer what the project will look like, on screen. (My favorite being the 3D modeling product, Sketchup.)

You can even put together a presentation about your company or some details on specific jobs with Powerpoint or make a DVD.

It's just things to make you stand out, and my favorite, justify why you are priced higher than your competitors.

__________________
Matt with Cupan Custom Tile & Paint of Lowell, Massachusetts
Design and installation of ceramic tile and natural stone for floor, wall, and countertops
(978) 601-8774 | cupantile@gmail.com | view tile pictures and more

Boogga

It's all good if you cary your lapptop with you to do an on the spot quote. This really would only work for smaller jobs or single trades. Eg roofing, tiling in bathroom etc. I'm a builder and doing a quote on the spot with a laptop ain't easy. There are so many items to price and many quantities to work out. Best for me is come back to show the quote. My 10c.

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"It's better to die on your feet than to live on your knees"

Patrick

I price them all on the spot. Roofing Siding windows and seamless gutters. I have squarefoot pricing that I use as a guideline, add here for this and that, deduct for this and theres the price. I have put together check lists so im simply check the boxes that apply, and show the customer all the details. They are A) blown away to get an instant price, and B) blown away by the amount of detail presented to them on one sheet of paper. I sold a job to a husband and wife last week, and the wife said to me "I have no idea what you were just explaining to my husband, but you sound like you have every possible detail covered, I think we would be foolish not to have you do the job" Lately Ive also been hearing "we decided to go with you, even though you were more expensive than everyone else that bid on the job" NOW THATS the best compliment you can get!

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Originally Posted by Celtic
Like I said...I'm sure you are very good at what you do ~ whatever that is and where ever it happens.

vinylguy

yep! patrick hit it on the head

Ed the Roofer

I think I responded to your question in a similar topic already, but it doesn't hurt to repeat useful information.

Always have all of the deciding parties their for the presentation.

Never e-mail a quote, although some do, you can not answer questions and disqualify another contractors specs on a piece of paper.

Most contractors just drop off or mail an estimate.

Don't be like "Most" contractors.

I use previous job photos and am putting together a comprehensive photo album for a better tutorial of all of our procedures.

Do something different than anyone else will be doing and explain why it is necessarry.

Although a fast, on the spot estimate works for Patrick, I don't believe it is necessarry to do it that way, but be relatively quick about getting their proposal package done to meet with them so they know that they are important to you.

I use a "Consultive" approach, where I have nore advanced knowledge and actual proof of utilizing that skill on the previous real world jobs, which is more proper procedure wise than any other contractor I come up against.

I point out the company story and the dedication to quality and safety and cleanliness. I show them several awards and manufacturers certifications.

I show them our licence and insurance papers.

Then I show them their photos of their homes problems and start explaining why certain things occurred, by asking them if they know why certain things failed prematurely.

I have an 8 page proposal, but do not even use it until the very end. Everything we discussed wil be in writing so they know I knew what I was talking about and that I actualy listened to their concerns during either the phone call or the measurement phase.

I bring out product samples. i show the ones that I use and point out their advantageous features and then I show them the more commonly used ones and show them the negative aspects of those. If someone else is using an inferior product, they may now have been immediately disqualified.

I also recently took another members advice, and am asking when will they know when they have found their contractor for this improvement. Now, I know in the early stages one of their hot buttons.

Ask them, after each segment of the procedure if that is something that they would want included in their final scope of work.

Take written notes, so they know you are paying attention to them and their presumed unique concerns.

Ask them again and again throughout the interview and Q & A, if they would prefer the less functional but cheaper version of various alternative products or the more efficient and better product for their investment.

Point out the life cycle cost of a functional system that lasts the entire duration of the warranty period. Show the same life cycle cost on a cheaper roof system, that would only last one half of its proposed warranty period.

Break that down to a per month figure for each. Now, the better system which last longer, but costs more initially, actualy has saved them a substantial sum, than the inferior product, not even taking inflation into account.

Show them the ROI on home improvement values chart put out by one of the Remodeling magazines. Now, it isn't actually costing them anthing at al, since they have increased the value of their home.

Do they like that? Yes and yes and yes again.

Are they offering any buying signals during the presentation? If so.....Stop selling and ask for the sale. If we can do ***x by this particular date, is that agreeable to you and your wife?

Now, does my company fit all of your requirements? When would you like to get this project started? Our standard terms are, ***xx. Would you like to proceed with our normal agreement or is there any payment option plan you would like to discuss?

Ed

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stoner

It's great to see different oppinions and pov a I'm sure this helps a lot of Us. Thanks guys