Closing Sales Without Asking Questions

pcplumber

I'm really surprised that I have not been banned. This only a tiny piece of a very powerful system for closing sales.

Everyone thinks that asking the customer questions closes more sale. Yes, you need to know what the customer wants and you need to ask questions before you close the sale. Never ask questions when closing the sale. Never ask even one smart question. You must have full control of what happens. Questions and bad answer creates many serious problems. When your close is finished the only word you want to hear are, "when can you start."

Questions create arguments. The answers you receive are seldom accurate, biased, objectionable, lies, and the answers have absolutely no influence on the close of the sale.

First question I have for you. Are you giving an 'estimate' or are you 'selling' a job. Giving an 'estimate' is when the customer calls you and asks for a specific service. 'Selling', is when you are doing a service call and you are closing a sale for something the customer needs, but did not request. An estimate becomes 'selling, when attempt closing the sale for more than the customer requested. Regardless, there is a slight difference and most contractors do not recognize the difference between estimating and selling. We turn our 'estimating' into 'selling' when giving all estimates.

This is what you need to overcome when closing every sale. My system overcomes every one of these hurdles without asking dumb questions.

chaos
fear
mistrust
bad timing
disbelief
failure to see value,
lack of need for immediate action.



As you read this post, look for where each of these hurdles are resolved.


When you know the right way to close a sale, you never have to ask questions beyond what the problem is, or in the case of remodeling and new construction, you need to ask many questions, regarding the scope of the work and how much they budgeted for the job, before you attempt to close the sale.

From this time forward, the customer has two important concerns; the problem and the solution. Additional money, beyond the customer's budget is not your concern. You heard what the customer told you, about money, but your job as a professional is to 'recommend' what the customer needs, not what he requested. The customer knows what he wants, but the customer does not always know what he needs.

When you have a tooth ache, like your customer, you can demand that the dentist fill the tooth because you are short on cash. The dentist is not going to fill the tooth when his experience tells him the tooth has to be removed. What will the dentist do if you still insist on filling the tooth. One of my employees died from the bacteria of a tooth that should have been removed.

You don't need to ask the customer one more question. You don't want to know anything about how the customer feels about other contractors. This information has no value and any questions create only arguments, confusion, and differences of opinions.

This is how you close more sales than any other contractor. You use a sleuth of tools that no other contractor uses. You equip yourself with weapons like you are starting WWIII. You use a system to present your sale that is precisely calculated, orchestrated, and implemented. You a system that is follows the customer predictable emotions, thoughts, and desires. You do not vary from this system, even when you feel positive you have the job 'in-the-bag' You do not skip any steps.

I will explain how to close up to 95% of all estimates and sales you attempt to close. I say, 'attempt' because there are many sales you will not want to close, for various reasons. First, lets say you are selling a new roof or a new water pipe system. The customer call you on the phone and asks for an estimate. You arrive, and ask the customer what he wants. He tells you that he wants a new roof, or a new water pipe system. The customer tells you that he is a 'hard-butt' and he does not want any more than he requested.

SHOW THE PROBLEM THREE TIMES

You say, "fine. Let me have a look at your roof, or plumbing system. You whip out a high-quality camera and you take 10 to 30 pictures of the roof. You take pictures of the old shingles, the valleys, nails protruding through old shingles, the face boards, flashings, chimney, etc.

If you are selling plumbing, you take pictures of the old water pipes, drain pipes sewer pipes, furnace, electric wires, valves, water heater, heat ducts, etc.

As you are taking the pictures, you connect the camera to the customer's television. If this is not convenient, you already have a tv in your vehicle. You show the customer the pictures on the tv screen. You point out where the last contractor put the nails in wrong and you are going to do them the right way. You show the customer everything that is bad and you do this for a very important reason. Even though the customer called you, the customer may not have been convinced he needs a new roof or plumbing. This is one reason nobody often gets a job. Also, this customer is realizing that he had better get someone like you because you are patient and really know your stuff. You are the first contractor, in his life, who was humble enough to educate him and you did not treat the customer like an idiot with your fancy words.

Okay, so you showed the problems on the television. This is not enough. You must remember that the customer is nowhere as knowledgeable as you. The customer's mind is wandering and he can remember only 10 to 30% of what you say. The customer can remember only 30% of the technical information. Before closing the sale, you must be absolutely positive that the customer has all the tools he needs to make an informed decision.

I call this the Redundant Do Everything Three Times System. If a customer can remember only 30%, then you need to say and do everything three times to get to 90%. This sounds like a long process, but the entire sales takes only about 20 to 30 minutes. Hell, I'll even spend an hour if I have to.

Now you go to your vehicle and you get your 8 x 10 printer. You get your price book, contracts, pre-printed specification sheets, and you plug you printer in. You print a picture of a leaky water pipe or the nails protruding through the shingles. You don't say one word about the job to the customer. We always say something like, "don't worry, we are just printing these pictures so you have something to reference, and you are there is no charge for what you are doing. There are no obligations." This always relaxes the customer and we are buying time to make the customer warm, build familiarity, trust, etc.

Now, after the first picture is printed, we set the printer to print the second picture. This is critical as I will explain. As the second picture prints, we sit with the customer and say, "first, let me show you what you need." We show the customer the picture we printed. We put it in his hand. He is staring at it. This is the third time the customer sees his problems.As you speak with the customer it is critical that you keep printing and handing him pictures of the problems. This has a very strong influence on the close of the sale.

SHOW THE SOLUTION THREE TIMES

You pull out a piece of blank paper, or you have a pre-printed specification sheet. You draw diagrams and show the solution. This next step is very critical. You carry a three-ring folder with pictures of good ways to do plumbing or a roof and the book has pictures of the wrong ways. You go through this book and show the customer the right and wrong ways. Now you show the customer the solution the third time. You lay on the table, your pre-printed specification sheet or contract. We recommend pre-printed forms that have average prices pre-printed them and the forms have diagrams. You explain exactly what you are going to do the third time.

QUOTE THE PRICE USING THREE DIFFERENT MEDIAS

At this point the customer is absolutely positive about the problem and he is absolutely positive about the solution. You removed all doubt about the need and you removed all doubt about the solution. There is absolutely no reason that this customer would not use you, except the price.

This is how you get more money for your work and close more sales. You must convince the customer that your prices are commensurable with the services you are providing. Being less than another contractor is not a concern. Most contractors think price is important to the customer and they over-look the thought that the customer fears wasting his money more than he fears paying too much. You already removed the fear of wasting money because you made it clear that you are the best in the world.

All you have to do at this point is convince the customer that your price is commensurable. This is done by pre-printing the actual or average price on forms you show and give to the customer. These can be the prices you want. This how you do it. You say, "ohhhhh, and the price. Let me SHOW YOU here". You show the cusotmer the price on the pre-printed for. You show the customer the price in your price book. And for the third price, we reference that we have all our prices on our web site and every plumber in the world can see our prices. Our prices are reasonable or whatever you want to call them.

This is the end of our close. At this point, we usually give a discount off our book price. This makes both of you winners. We shut our mouth and wait for the customer to say, "when can you get started."

What happens when the customer does not buy? You do only one of two things. You say, let me show you this, and you start the entire sale from the beginning. This sounds dumb but it works almost every time. Many customers are not as bright as you. They want more time. They want to hear the sale again. This overcomes the hurdle of needing more time, for many reasons.

This is what we say when the customer wants to get more estimates.

"There are only three things that are important. The most important is how the work is done. You can see, with our pictures and specifications that we are giving you the best work. So, you know this is the best job you can get. I don't care what you pay for a job.

Second, the next most important thing is the price. It doesn't matter what you pay for this job. If the work is not done right, you wasted your money. You can see we use pre-printed forms with our prices, we use a price book, and we don't charge other customers different prices. Our book price is $15,000 and I discounted this job to $13,500. So, you know we are giving you a great price.

Third, most important, is who is going to do the job. We have been in business for 35 years and we are giving you the best guarantee in the industry. STOP!

Stop and say no more. The customer can't say, "yes" when you are talking.

What happens when the customer still won't say, "yes".

You start the sale over again. Don't try to get creative. Too much information confuses the customer. Just say the same thing over and over. Quality is more important that quantity.

Sales people don't sell. We don't push people. We only speak with the conviction that we want the customer do do what is right.

I have many more statements to close sales.

I always tell the customer that their money is not my problem. They usually laugh and then I tell them that my job is do to what is right and not take into consideration their financial status.

You must not afraid to tell the customer that you want the job.

"Yes, of course I want to do this job and I want to do it the right way. I would rather do this job than you get some other plumber. That is why my price is $20,000 and the other contractors are quoting $10,000. Let me show you something."

Then you start the sale over. You put a bottle of Advils out your pocket and tell the customer to take a few. You are not leaving until the need, solution, and price is clear. You are not leaving until you hear those words magic words you came to hear. You are not going to leave and take a chance that some clown takes away this job and rips the customer by not giving the customer what they need. You must have a very strong conviction that the customer is making a huge mistake when they contract with someone else. Any other way, and you can't be relentless and speak with conviction.

I have 83 more pages to go. I wrote this entire thing, tonight and did not cut nor paste any of this. Sometimes, it takes a while to swallow what I am saying. Don't let the bashers influence your decision to look into this little essay a little further. These are not ideas. This is a part of the system we use to close sales.

Remember that we did not ask the customer questions. The customer could not ask questions because we did not give him a change. At the end, only when we are finished, we give the customer the chance to say, "yes" or he can ask questions.

I will try not to feel compelled to reply to basher posts nor to any other negative posts. I hope other members agree that bashers are disrespecting all other members by taking away our valuable time where we can be writing constructive posts.

Thank you for reading this far. I hope this information will help some contractors to improve their business and have a much greener Christmas.

Jack

ProWallGuy

I'd like to see the Cliff Notes version please.

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Digital Murals Installation

Brock

You sound like the guy that keeps his foot in the doorway until they sign. I like it. It's got me thinking about hiring another guerrila salesman.

Brock

Why would you be banned? If they were going to ban anyone it would be me. Everyone would agree that I am the most hated on here by far and they still let me post my dribble.

Ed the Roofer

I like pretty much all of what was stated, but have one suggestion as a replacement and one question about why.

Instead of the customers or your television, they now have those wonderful Digital Photo Frames for between $ 100.00 to $ 250.00 and they can already be utilized as a replacement for your photo album and you can set up different folders in them to show off different aspects of previous jobs.

Secondly, it seems to me the price change from your "Book" price of $ 15,000 to $ 13,500 is a transparent attempt to presume the price is already discounted.

Maybe it works psychologically, but what rational do you use to justify an immediate 10 % drop?

If it is a one time while you are there offer to save on recurring visits, it can be made sense of logically, but what other justifications do you use to counter act the perceived pricing deception on the part of the home owner?

Ed

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pcplumber

This is a subject few agree upon.

I explain it in only one of the following ways. The prices in our price book and on pre-printed forms are the MAXIMUM price we charge for an average job. The prices are also a 'Sticker Price' so-to-speak. The prices are also our Suggested Retail Price so-to-speak.

Like prices for everything, people seldom pay the sticker price nor the Suggested Retail Price. We (the contractor) can discount the price for several valid reasons. Your house is a little smaller, closer, easier, you gave me other business, senior discount, etc.

There are several more valid reasons for discounts. For me, it makes more sense to have a price book with higher prices that can be lowered, rather than print lower prices and increase them on the job site because of other conditions.

Here is a closing statement. Many times, I quote a price, get approval to do the work, and actually give a discount after the customer agrees to the prices. This is because, sometimes after getting a job signed, even I thnk the price is too high.

Jack

ChrWright

SIDE NOTE: I'll preface this by making it clear I am attacking your argument/idea and NOT you personally. Certain individuals as of late seem to have a problem distinguishing the difference.



I actually like the tail end of your close a lot. I understand the principle of ASSUMING the sale--but what you've described only explains a little of the background and positioning that goes into making that approach successful. I'm hoping some of the lack of clarity in your post is just passion--and not obfuscation.

Your definition of what selling is fits a certain situation--but selling is much more than that and must be adapted to fit the market, product, service, etc. I'm frustrated as of late when "experts" pop up proclaiming their ideas as the gospel, to be shoe-horned into everyone's business model.

Questions create rapport. Questions demonstrate your desire to understand your client's needs. Why fear them?

Generalizations are where you lose credibility--whether you're trying to sell windows, a bathroom, or yourself as an expert...

As to your lead comment: you don't get banned for bad ideas... but you'll certainly get called out on them.


So you go through all of that effort to justify you and your price, close the sale, and then pay them for hiring you. WOW.

__________________

Christopher Wright, CR: President @ WrightWorks, LLC/President @ Central Indiana NARI, Named to the 2010 REMODELING Big50
www.WrightWorks.net - Facebook - Twitter - Carmel Remodeling
Indianapolis Kitchen Remodeling Contractor - You Can Get There From Here

Mike Finley

Keep in mind that like a lot of gurus, there system is a system.

And systems are not flexible by their design. By their design they are created for a very specific set of cicumstances and deviation or a changing of those circumstances shows what is perceived as weakness of the system. But the argument should be made by the creater of the system, that the system is not weak, it is just being applied in circumstances that it is not designed to work well with. The proverbial round peg in a square hole.

His system looks like a good one for repairs, plumbing or electrical service work and small remodeling, window replacement, but it's obviously not going to work as well for more intense remodeling projects.

Floorwizard

I am going to have to agree on that.
Discounting at anytime in my opinion creates distrust in your pricing.
Plus I would fully agree that if someone agrees to an estimate, then they have bought you. Discounting further sounds like continuing the sale after it is over.

__________________
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"in 20 years you will regret more what you did not do than what you did"

BuilderOne

OMG!! I spit up my water!!!!

pcplumber

I really appreciate every reply. I agree with most of the arguments and I never received this high level of thought on the other forum.

From here, we can do a little constructive arguing. If nobody agrees, we don't need to get excited. All your points are valid.

I would like to elaborate a little more and then take a break.

We, in other forums, have been arguing about discounts for years. I believe that everyone give discounts. No price is ever firm. Many cultures (if that is the correct word) will not close a deal without arguing until they get a discount. One culture, from Europe (won't mention) appears to act violent when arguing and I heard this is the way they expect to act. With these people, you quote a price, haggle a little, give up a few bucks and you close the sale. Your statement about discounts are correct. I don't like to give discounts. Let's just call them variations in our book price for different circumstances, size, etc.

This premise of this system does work for very large jobs. You need to make a few modifications. I am a general building contractor. This is not my main gig, but I did build 227 townhouse, in Lancaster, in 1989. We (my company) did not use a television, nor a printer, but we made used spent several weeks developing tools to close the sale with the owner of the project. We used pictures of previous jobs like no other contractor. We showed used pictures to show different ways of doing just about everything. We had about 500 pages that explained different options and why each option was better or worse. We were like forensic scientist. I was the highest bidder and I got the job. Know why? Because this guy was a filthy rich Middle Easterner and he knew he was not going to have any problems with my company

This is a true story and I tell this to my customers, occasionally. This is a closing statement. I called 25 concrete companies to do some work at my office. Only two came to give an estimate. The first, was a 300 pound man, and the first question he asked was to use the restroom. We did not have a restroom because we were remodeling the building. I told him to go to a restaurant down the street. He left and never came back.

The second contractor arrived. He pulled out his transit and spent about 30 minutes writing notes and was drawing diagrams. He said he would get back with me in a few days. He did not back. When he arrived he places his diagrams and proposal on the table. I could not see his price. What I am guessing was about half way through his pitch, I told him to do the job. He asked if I wanted to know the price and I told him, "no", the price did not matter. The only thing important was to get the job done right, the first time, without problems. The job was $13,000. Since then, I had him do over $250,000 in work at other properties. I never ask for a price and I really don't care.

This is one difference between a customer and a client. This is the point I tell my customers. When you find a good contractor, stick with him. The additional money you pay is nothing compared to the money you can lose. the performance of the work is far more important than the price you pay. Good customers don't shop prices when they know their contractor is the best.

My last point. You get to the status of being the best contractor by having systems, procedures, policies, and guidelines for everything. Perhaps the system I described does not suit you, perfectly, but hopefully, it will inspire you to realize that some type of system is better than no system.

Lets tear this system up and add to it. For me it works beautifully. I will tell you how much we sell only in private, if you like. It is mucho fungolas.

Later, I will tell you exactly what cameras we use, about the printer, and I will post several pictures to show you how effective the proper use of pictures can be. We went through about 50 cameras and 20 printers until we found those that worked best. My camera can capture the hairs on a flee, in the dark, at about 40 feet (kinda a joke).Today, in 4 hours, we sold 4 major jobs. We do this almost every day.

I like the idea of the picture viewer. I'm going to check it out. Thank you.

Jack

BuilderOne

Build value. Break down through all the sentences and the theme seems to be build value, as value sells. Separate yourself from your competition and be unique( your pic viewer etc.) & build value. It's really simple sales techniques actually.

So, Pro wall guy here are the Crib notes: Unique, build value , justify your price( investment) = separate yourself from the competition. There is one common theme usually in every sale though. The common theme is they need to like you. Sometimes being too pushy can be a turn off and you lose the customer. NO sale.
Isn't it important to ask questions, as they know you care & lead them down the right path. No one wants to know what you have to say until they know you care. asking questions leads them in the right direction doesn't it? I like your passion, but I don't agree with your thread title, " not asking questions" sorry, just my opinion.

rbsremodeling

I probably have the worst sales method ever. I actually try to talk the client out of the project after getting their input.

You want a kitchen??
why??
do you really need it??
Does it have to be this big??
are new appliances necessary?? etc

After all that if buyers remorse has not kicked in and they convince me they really want it built, we proceed.

__________________

ChrWright

Lots of new faces...with lots to add...

__________________

Christopher Wright, CR: President @ WrightWorks, LLC/President @ Central Indiana NARI, Named to the 2010 REMODELING Big50
www.WrightWorks.net - Facebook - Twitter - Carmel Remodeling
Indianapolis Kitchen Remodeling Contractor - You Can Get There From Here

pcplumber

http://bestlineplumbing.com/SamplePictures101408.htm Viewable samples

Download about 100 pictures to analyze and use.
http://www.box.net/shared/d7x5n0zsd1

You can download and uses these pictures. These are the pictures we use in our three-ring folder. These are the pictures we use to show the customer the right way and wrong way to do jobs.

These are links to some pictures we took to close sales. Try to imagine trying to convince the customer that they need services without these pictures. We did not install the forced air furnace. This was some other contractor.

Even though, 98% of our work is plumbing, heating, and water damage restoration, we also sell foundation wall repairs, area drains, sump pumps, and many other structural repairs. We use pictures for every type of service

We tried over 50 cameras. No camera worked well, except the one we use. Cameras with elecrtic (motorized) zooms last about one week. Most other cameras have lenses that are too small.The camera we use is the Sony DSC-F828. This camera has a huge lens, is 8 megapixels, a manual zoom, and it takes beautiful pictures. Sony does not sell this camera any more. The original cost was $995. We buy these cameras on Ebay for $500 to $600 and most of them look like they were never used. The camera has small two small design defects. The lens swivels on the base and eventually the body and lens separate. The pop-up flash electronic mechanisms always break. We solved these problems by sealing the swivel base with black silicone. We seal the flash, in the open position. So far, it looks like these camera are never going to die.

The best printer we found is the Cannon IP6700D. We went through about 20 printers. This one gives of the truest colors. We have been using the same printer in our truck for over two years and we use it up to 5 or 6 times every day.

You must print 8 x 10 pictures. Smaller pictures do not have the same effect. You must give the customer several pictures before and as you close the sale. Use quality (heavy) high-gloss photo paper. Don't be cheap and use brochure quality paper. Impressive pictures close more sales.

Leave the customer the pictures even when you do not close the sale. The customer may call for more estimates. Even though, you think you are helping the next contractor, often you will benefit from leaving the pictures. When you don't leave the pictures, the next contractor may paint a different picture. Now, you created an argument. The customer needs the pictures to re-comfirm everything and to get confirmation from relatives, even when you do close the sale.

The following is the list of hurdles we need to overcome to close a sale. If you can think of something that is missing, feel free to add to the list. If you can think of good ways to overcome each hurdle, lets hear is. If you would like to add to, or change the sales approach, feel free to tear it up.
chaos
fear
mistrust
bad timing
disbelief
failure to see value,
lack of need for immediate action.

I'm done! At last. I was up until 2 a.m. last night.



Hopefully, by now, you have downloaded the software. The software is the brains of the business, just like Hal was the brains of the space ship in 2001 Space Odyssey. True, there are thousands of other softwares on the market. But if you would like something that works, why look around. We can move onto the rest of the, free, software, when I know some members are consider testing it. Otherwise, why move forward with more software that is equally as important. More important that the software, is how you use it. Did I hear a phrase similar to that before? It is not how the software work. It is about what the software can achieve. How can it make you more money and make your business run like a well-oiled machine.

The software is what runs some of the best advertising campaigns you will ever see. I have a letter I send to my old customers that is so powerful, 80% of the customers I mail to respond. Hard to believe? This campaign will not work as well for all services, but the letters can be tweaked for some great results.


Don't forget this thread was about selling without asking questions.

Finally, ran out or words.

Jack