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Do you ask potential customer to call you back before deciding?

3K views 18 replies 7 participants last post by  RacerX780 
#1 ·
Went out on Tuesday to give a guy an estimate... I don't recall him stating that he was having another company come out to bid, but something he said made me believe he was.... I can't remember exactly what it was.. but anyway.. I called him back today and he said he was going with the other company because their price was "considerably less" then mine. :blink:

It wasn't a huge job, but I would have liked to have gotten it.

Anyway, does anyone ask homeowners to give you a call before deciding to see if you'd be willing to match the price of the other company?? (But not worded like that)

I generally don't match prices. My prices are fair for the work I do, and the products I use. I'm not the most expensive out there, but I'm not the cheapest either.

I will admit my selling skills need to be improved... I just don't know how to sell in a fashion that takes price out of being an issue. Especailly when you're not the last person to give a quote.

I've love to hire a sales person that is crazy good, but I don't have enough work to support one. So I'm left doing this myself.

Any suggestions??


Thanks!!!


STEve
 
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#2 ·
Try to qualify the best you can over the phone -

When are you looking to begin ?
What type of prices are you being quoted ?
What is important to you ?


At appointment -


" When would you like to start ? "


Don't get me wrong, I have been at plenty of appointments and I didnt get that job, but that number is very low to the jobs I did get.



Qualify, qualify, qualify
 
#5 ·
At appointment -

" When would you like to start ? "
That's the question I asked that he alluded to the fact he was getting other bids. Which I've never really asked before, but I saw the suggestion here, so I asked. :)


I have had salesmen use that line on me, and I dunno about you, but it leaves me kinda thinking... well, just give me your best price now- you are sign-posting me that you can go cheaper, why are you not giving me your best now, do I not deserve it?
Agreed.... which is why I haven't used it previously.

And if you are consistently involved in competitive situations, start defining and redefining what makes you, your product, your service, your proposition... UNIQUE- ask yourself the question, why should customers buy from you and not the other guy, would you buy from you?
.
.
.

That's all there is to it. At least to get started.
The customer did ask what makes my product better then others... and I thought I gave pretty good reasons, both with regards to the film I use, and why he should use me to do the work.

I guess I wasn't convincing enough, or the other company was more convincing.

I'm almost tempted to call a company or two and have them come out to my house so I can see how they do their presentations.....

Thanks for all the suggestions... :thumbup:
 
#3 ·
Our MagicPool friend is correct... ya need to learn to qualify Steve

Anyway, does anyone ask homeowners to give you a call before deciding to see if you'd be willing to match the price of the other company?? (But not worded like that)
Never. It kinda gives a bad vibe to the customer. I have had salesmen use that line on me, and I dunno about you, but it leaves me kinda thinking... well, just give me your best price now- you are sign-posting me that you can go cheaper, why are you not giving me your best now, do I not deserve it?

I generally don't match prices. My prices are fair for the work I do, and the products I use. I'm not the most expensive out there, but I'm not the cheapest either.
Tell your customer (not us) that your prices are fair, and ask when they want the job done... they'll be quick enough to tell you if they are not ready yet

I will admit my selling skills need to be improved... I just don't know how to sell in a fashion that takes price out of being an issue. Especailly when you're not the last person to give a quote.
First person, last person... middle person- it don't matter. Just have a nice presentation and build the value- think value, not price... and ask your customer to think in the same way. DO folks really want the best price? - or when we say we want the best price- do we not mean we want the best value?

If I were in your position, I would build a presentation, your presentation should kinda be like a story, practice on your wife, kids, neighbors, anyone... and keep practicing. Build your story, don't rush into it when you arrive at your customer meeting, ease you way in...

Start your sales meetings by chatting generally, ask your customer how he found you, how long has he been thinking about getting this job done, why not just change out all his windows for some beautiful new Pellas, ha! (yes they are expensive, that's where our products come into play... how much do you know about the benefits of windows tinting Mr Customer?) what does he/she do for a living? how long have they lived here? this is a busy business and office neighborhood, has the buyer noticed how many other offices in the area are using window tinting? - now if things work out between us Mr Customer, if you love the products and the pricing is acceptable, when are you hoping to have the work done?

Just chat... just be yourself- don't worry, be happy! and build your story, make your product presentation interesting, smile, have fun, ask questions, ask the same questions again using different words, stress what is important and inform the customer about what is not, make every appointment better than the last, make sure you have your order forms and contracts to hand

And if you are consistently involved in competitive situations, start defining and redefining what makes you, your product, your service, your proposition... UNIQUE- ask yourself the question, why should customers buy from you and not the other guy, would you buy from you?

Don't try and sell, just help folks to buy from ya! - put yourself in your customer's shoes and think about what motivates them, what gets them to the point of saying... ok Steve- let's do it! - is a check ok?

Minimize the customer's decision, it ain't life or death... it's just some real nice, high quality window tinting which will save money- not cost money, the value is in what the product does, not what it costs. Yes there are competitors, there are other guys out there who do similar, but nobody does what you do, nobody offers the same service, nobody can come close to offering the value that you do- even the guys who are half the price! - heck! you wanna do the job once and get it right first time, anyone can sell the customer cheap, but value is what will win the day, and you build that value by talking and chatting...

Quality

Scuze my ramble, hope some was of some benefit, and listen to Pool Guys from Florida who talk much sense!:001_tongue:
 
#4 ·
I will admit my selling skills need to be improved... I just don't know how to sell in a fashion that takes price out of being an issue. Especailly when you're not the last person to give a quote.

Any suggestions??

What are the advantages you have over your competitors other than pricing?

Write down 10 things that set you apart and those are the things to talk about. On the next sales call make a pledge you'll only talk about those things and nothing about pricing.

That's all there is to it. At least to get started.
 
#6 ·
First of all, eliminate the word "bid" from your vocabulary. You're not "bidding" for work, you presenting the best option and "proposing" to give them value. Bid = price in your mind AND the customers. It sets a tone of price, price, and price, only

Second I would not tell the customer you'll match a competitors price. Whether or not you realize it, that's exactly what your saying, no matter how you word it. It sends the absolute wrong message.

Third. Qualify, qualify, qualify the lead as Magic has told you

Last I would recommend you have some formal sales training if you can get away. If not read some Zig zigler or other sales books. There's a world of knowledge out there at your disposal. The jist of which is how to set yourself apart from ALL your competition.
 
#7 ·
First of all, eliminate the word "bid" from your vocabulary.
I never say bid to my clients... it's usually a quote for tinting. I just said bid here... or between friends or whatever.


Last I would recommend you have some formal sales training if you can get away. If not read some Zig zigler or other sales books. There's a world of knowledge out there at your disposal. The jist of which is how to set yourself apart from ALL your competition.
I would love to... Another tinter friend of mine took a course by Dale Carnegie which I would like to take.. just don't have the money for it at the moment. Hopefully in the fall.

If anyone has any suggestions on courses to check out, please let me know.


STEve
 
#13 ·
Hi Racer-

Just a thought....Are you implenting any type of "rehash" program?

I understand that you obviously wanted to get the job, but unfortunately another company got it based on price by the looks of things...

Do you have a "cool-off" period, where you might give it a couple days after your estimate....Call back the potential customer "out of courtesy", to see where things stand, so to speak?

In some case, after our reps have gone out to the customers house I'll personally call about a week later, and inform the homeowner that we had a manufacturer's meeting the previous week (obviously AFTER we were at their home) and for a limited time only, have manufacturer incentives available, that by applying one of these incentives towards their job getting done we could actually do the job at a much better price.

Again, this might not be for everyone, as I'm sure the comments might come "I give my best price on the visit"....

Well, for what it's worth---Last years total for sales in our small company were 1.3 million.---with about $90k in "rehash".

This year, it's only June, and we've beat last years TOTALS, and our rehash program has brought in $132k.

Either way, I'll wish you the best of luck!
 
#14 ·
Do you have a "cool-off" period, where you might give it a couple days after your estimate....Call back the potential customer "out of courtesy", to see where things stand, so to speak?

I do wait 3-5 days, depending on how the appointment went, and call them back to follow up on the estimate. I don't however offer them a lower price. The only time I will do that is if they are asking for a film that I don't normally stock and isn't priced the same way as other films... then I'll give them an est. based on my normal formula, and then go home and put it into excel and see if I can give a better price. (I'll also do this if the number of windows is rather large - like 700+ sq/ft of glass) I'll figure out exactly how much I'll need in materials, what my labor will be, and see if I can give a better price.....

Either way, I'll wish you the best of luck!
Thanks!

Did two other estimates.... called them both today to follow up. Just got voice mail. Tried back this afternoon - same.. so I left a msg. We'll see if they call back. The one I felt really good with and I hope I got it.. the other was for a commercial job and I didn't deal with the owner, just a manager who was passing on the info to him. So that I couldn't really get a feel either way.

Both wanted the work done asap. The first had two other estimates.. the 2nd never said if they were getting other quotes. (The first said my prices were in the ballpark of the others, so hopefully my sales ability won out!)

Fun fun!!

-R
 
#15 ·
So... still haven't heard back from the home-owner.

What question(s) would have been good to ask during the estimate?

We were sitting down at the table... I was going over everything with the wife. Husband was not at home, which is normal for my biz. When we got to the prices, she said they were in line with the other quotes she got.

Looking back... I think I missed an opportunity.

I should have probed more.... The one thing I was thinking I should have asked was since the price was similar to the others, what factor would decide which company they decided to go with???

Would that have been good, or a better question or two??
 
#16 ·
Oh my, oh my! - racer man! - friend...

I am not sure how to put this... but the more you are posting on this... let me put it this way. If I was not working, having fun 25 hours-a-day doing what I do, or were I twenty-years younger... I would be throwing up a kick-a$$ lead generating window-tint website for your area as we speak, I would be placing a local add for a green-behind-the-ears salesguy to be published on Monday morning and I would be booking a local hotel to interview on Wednesday afternoon, I would use the same hotel on Friday for an morning's training, and in about one-weeks time you would not be speaking to me any more. D'ya hear me?

I am going to suggest that you are loosing more money than you believe, if you do not invest in some training now, and I really mean NOW! - someone is going to take the little business that you are currently generating and you are going to be left with nothing my friend

I am not trying to sound sensationalist, just being real

There are three elements to negotiating an agreement in construction, home-improvements and window-tinting, price is only one...

You agree a specification, ie; does the customer like your product, do they tell you that they would be happy with it in their home or office, is it what they are looking for? etc...

You agree a price, a budget, a payment plan, or whatever other, etc...

And you discuss timeframe, when do they want the job done? - how quickly do they need the job completed? and if the customer cannot answer this, you must TELL them the timeframe that would work for you, and ask them if this would work ok for them

So................ when a customer says to you, "ok Mr Racer, you rprices seem ok, much in line with what everyone else has quoted, what do you say? (rhetorical)

"Excellent Mrs Customer, please correct me if I misunderstand but it sounds to me like you love our product (pause, wait for a nod), and it is exactly what you are looking for (pause, wait for a nod), our pricing you agree is fair (pause, wait for a nod), so all that we need to chat about is when you are wanting the work completed (pause, wait for a nod)... would next week be ok for you?"

Anything along these lines... and you will move forward in leaps and bounds

But, this is only minor stuff Racer, please, please INVEST. Please spend a few dollars on some basic training, you know you need it. Heck! if was not busy with what I have on at the moment I would drive down to see you myself and spend half-a-day with ya! - is there nobody on these boards that is close-by, that could give you half-a-day? - even pay them, whatever it takes or you are going to be struggling until we put a man on Mars!
 
#19 ·
I am going to suggest that you are loosing more money than you believe, if you do not invest in some training now, and I really mean NOW! - someone is going to take the little business that you are currently generating and you are going to be left with nothing my friend
Heh.. tell me something I don't know. lol :(

Any interest?
I'm interested.


-R
 
#17 ·
Having had some sales experience before I got into the construction biz, I can say that the hardest thing for most folks in any sales setting is... ASKING FOR THE MONEY.

You can do a lot of things wrong in your sales presentation and still get the sale if you will just ASK for the money. Asking proves that you have confidence in your product and your service. If you never ask for the money, you send the sub-conscious signal that you don't believe enough in what you do.

Be bold!
 
#18 ·
Racer, I was thinking some about your situation

Try this out for size... it is just an idea, and it would be good to get a bit of feedback from anyone interested, or anyone who might want to contribute...

It occurs to me that we have a fair bunch of folks on this board based in the Northeast, a bunch elsewhere of course, but I am thinking only of the NE at the moment

Would anyone be interested in working towards us getting together (physically) and perhaps working a half-day sales training workshop between ourselves. I guess we would need to think about somewhere mid-point(ish) between those interested. We could all throw-in maybe $25 to pay for a room, tea, coffee etc., depends on how many and who might be interested I guess...

Take a hotel on or just off interstate X, all meet up on a Saturday, A Friday or whatever day is agreed, some could prepare a bit of presentation stuff in advance, we might all benefit from something like this- if there is the will

I would be happy enough to turn-up, how much travel? - well, south CT, NY border might be fine, any further and perhaps still possible

Why don't we ask who in the general area might be interested, chat about possibilities, and let us just see if such an idea would be feasible?

Any interest?
 
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