In Home Sales Question

buddy110

Why drive an hour for a unqualified one leg lead? Don't you have better things to do?
You know who your customers are, what their demographic is. The better you qualify them before you go visit them, the better your closing rate will be. Unless you just need the practice

Tom Struble

why waste their and your time if you don't qualify them somewhat first

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Tom

welterweight

no question about it.. i agree. just wondering if a line needs to be drawn..i think its a great idea though.

TileArt

You absolutely need to pre-qualify them to an extent before you agree to drive who knows how far to look at it. I just do it a bit differently with less perceived pressure.

First I LISTEN to why they are calling me. That's the first dead giveaway. Is it "our master shower is leaking and we need to re-do it and get it fixed" or is it "we have been thinking about tiling our master bath"? You can tell a hell of a lot by what they say and how they say it. If you're thinking about maybe talking about possibly tiling your shower - find someone else to convince yourself you can't afford it right now, my time is money you won't spend.

Now I know there are guys that will show up and end up selling them anyway, but they'll usually do it at a lower price and without all the bells and whistles I can get paid for when they are actually ready or they actually need it.

I don't ask them "where did you find me?" that's an intrusive question that has nothing at all to do with why they called you - that is a question about you, not about what you can do for your customer. I will ask them "Are you the one Mary gave my card to?" I don't even know a Mary. BUT, it does serve two purposes: it lets them know that you have customers that refer you and they will ALWAYS tell me where they found me - always.

I don't ask them if they are getting more estimates - that's none of my business from their point of view. I do ask them if anyone has looked at it yet to see if they need a plumber first, etc. Their answer gives me mine. If they tell me no at that point I have the job, period. If I don't end up with it then I've screwed up my presentation when I did show up. If they've had four contractors look at it and none of them said they needed a plumber, well, that wasn't the reasoning behind my question - they're tire kickers. I'm not gonna be the spare.

Have they seen my work? If they are calling me 99.9% of the time they have seen at least my website. Every piece of advertising, information, marketing, everything I do is designed to drive them there.

What stopped them from moving forward? I couldn't care less, if they've had four people look at it I won't be the fifth.

I do pre-qualify them to a point but I don't do it in what may be considered an intrusive way. It is, but they don't see it that way. Hell, you stated those questions to contractors and we thought they may be a bit too forward, what will your customer think?

As I've said, it works for me. Your way works for you that's great. I just try to keep all my statements about my customer and what they need or at least have them perceived as such. I get my information and it's all about them, nothing about me. They don't care about me they care about what I can do for them.

And the dance goes on.

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Roger Northern Colorado Tile and Stone Contractor
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buddy110

Nice shuffle with similar results.

I've always tracked my leads and asking them where they've heard of us gives me the data I need. 95% of the time they'll tell me more about their needs by thier answer.
Yea, our way may seem a little pussy, but I also close 45% of my appoinments with 0 cancellations. The man I have doing it is so good the customers rarely percieve it that way. The few that do are not the customer were chasing anyway.

davinci

alot of times we ask where they have heard of us they say the interenet.

buddy110

Can you share what E-advertising your utilizing? Google ad words? PPC?

davinci

yes,some on line advertising through yellow pages and a few others but nothing too expensive. i will get a call and they would say they are "looking for a free estimate for a roof or vinyl siding" and they found me through the internet. how could you pre qualify them? i saw a great video,wish i can remember it because you guys would like it(you tube). anyway,the video says you need to do anything to get in the house and its our job to create excitement or urgency. do any of you guys do this? what are some methods? could one of you basically tell share with us or give an idea what your sales presentation is like from when you first get inside a customers home? DO YOU ALWAYS BRING YOUR PRODUCT INSIDE OR DO YOU TALK FOR A WHILE THEN ASK TO GO TO YOUR TRUCK AND GET IT? I ask this because maybe coming inside someone's home with too much stuff in your hand can intimidate them?

pcplumber

I agree 100% with your refusal to ask intrusive questions.

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Exteriors123

This is surely a tough call, but I've definitely closed a few of these. The key is to find out about other companies coming as soon as possible. I will ask right away whether they have looked at products before, and whether they have set anything up already.

With this information, you should be able to kill the competition properly if you have enough information gathered. I know it's a little dirty to slaughter another company, but you can do it in a clean and professional way if you are careful about it. Generally just finding as much information about your competitors products and business practices are all you need, and you can always find their weakness'

Sell yourself and give them reasons not to buy from anyone else, and you may just get that deal.

buildsmart

Many times all it takes is one simple question. Most salespeople Do Not Ask directly for the order. Ask for a simple Yes or No. It's not rocket science its simple most people have a hard time saying no. Present your case well and ask for the order.

buildsmart

When they say they have 2 guys coming out that is just an out for them to disarm you. That is a buyer....they are afraid to say no....so they are making excuses because they already know if they are put into a position they may find it hard to say no....Ask for the order and do not let them disarm your presentation. Many salespeople at that point when they hear more guys are coming out will assume there is no way that there is a sale here and fold up. When you hear these type of objections stay on the ball and give it all you got...ask for the sale....What do you have to lose??

buildsmart

Never be afraid to bring all your guns to a gun fight. You are there to sell them products and thats it.....a customer deserves to see all the benefits of a product...Bring it all in and do not give any opportunity to distract the client by removing any urgency by going to the truck. It will cost you sales and in this market we cannot afford to lose them. Would you go out to the truck during an intense poker game while you leave your cards on the table?????

welterweight

that my friend is some excellent advice !

welterweight

if you have a window,you recommend bringing in the sample from the beginning?

buildsmart

Your there for one reason and one reason only. To sell them windows right?
Yes, bring it in... that is what they expect. Do not be lazy about your demo it will only cost you sales. You do not want to let your customer out of your sight or reach for one minute.

buildsmart

A one legger is a salesman's nightmare....However, are we really that busy where we cant spend the extra time to chase a sale??...I have written many one-leggers after the fact...When leads cost what they do which is way too much we must treat everyone the same...one legger or not its opportunity do not pass it up...It could mean an extra couple thousand at the end of the month. We are in tough times...chase everything you can...You can over qualify them so you dont waste your time..sure, but you could be missing out...So your closing rate is higher...oh well is your Sales volume higher...and at the end of the day that is all that matters...

BDiamond

I just say, "Sure, no problem."

During my demo I explain a typical bid and estimate process.

"Davinci, if you hired me as a consultant and we got a bunch of guys to give you bids and estimate, one guy will tell you that window is around $600. So we say, "Thank you. Please stand over there because we have others coming.' The next guy will come and tell you that window is $1100. Now that's when people cring and start counting windows! So we say, 'Thank you. Please stand over by that guy.' Then another guy will come and tell you that window is almost $1500. So when when we put all the guys together you'll find bids and estimates ranging from $6000 to $15000! Now how in the heck are you supposed to make sense of that? Especially since all the winodws will look EXACTLY THE SAME!"

"So people go 'Why is that yahoo charging me $1000 more per window than that yahoo and the window looks exactly the same?'"

"So people take the low-end guy and kick him out cause they think he has a cheap window. They'll take they high-end guy and kick him out cause he thinks he's trying to rape them. And then where do we end up???????"

"THE MIDDLE GUY!! Just like Grandpa told you."

The reality is no one is trying to get over on you. The low-end guy is saying, 'stick a cheap window in. When it blows up who cares? It was $600. Buy a new one."

"The high-end guy is saying, 'This is an important investment and do it the best you can."

"And the middle guy is saying, 'I'll be in the kitchen making a sandwich cause when you're all done arguing you'll go with me anyway!'"

"The reality of it Davinci is that no one is trying to take advantage. It just depends on what YOU want for your home. That determines the grade of window you get. And that determines the investment to get it."

"When I work with someone they have to 1. Feel like my company is has a solid reputation, is well established, and is going to be there if they need them. 2. We have to get along. 3. They have to like the window. If they don't it won't matter if it's $10. 4. They have to feel the investment is reasonable and 5. It has to fit in their budget. Now if all 5 criteria were met you'd expect someone to work with you wouldn't you think?"

"For that same reason if I didn't meet that criteria I'd expect someone to NOT work with me....agreed?"

"So yeah. That can all be a pretty daunting process. My goal while we're all together is to see if I meet that criteria for you. If I can then I guess we'd form a partnership. If I can't then it'd be best for everyone to face the facts and decide we weren't meant to be. Just let me know before I go so you can look for a different solution and I can move on....fair enough?"

I've established price conditioning so bids aren't as important. He has a range now. He feels like He questions whether he'll be able to pick the GOOD window so he's intimidated by the process. I've established reasonable guidelines for why he should pick someone. And we've agreed if I meet those guidelines he'll pick me and if I didn't tell me NO before I leave.

Through the demo I have to establish 1. Company credentials 2. Trust 3. Quality in the product and installation 4. Value in the investment. 5. Make it affordable (not always a price thing).

I also show him 3rd party pricing surveys to validate my pricing statements which gives me. More credibility.

When I meet the criteria (which I will) and he still balks I'll remind him of our agreement and say, "since I know you wouldn't go back on your word I'm guessing I didn't meet 1 of the criteria....which one was it? Do you have faith in the company? We get along okay? (This is getting head nods and yes which help the buying process) Then it must be the darn money Davinci! Would you agree?"

Then you hash it out. If he still balks then I screwed up somewhere. Or you say, LWhich guy do you think the next guy will be? The $600 guy? Or maybe you like his product but not the guy! But I want you to be comfortable. I'll take the maybe as a no but I appreciate the opportunity."

Then you bail.

These are tough but this works well for me. Everyone knows the expectations if done casually.

BDiamond

I tend to not bring in a window until the very end. If I bring it in as soon as I ring the doorbell how do I know if they want to turn side-by-side double hungs into 1 double slider? I see and bring a double hung then I have to go back out and get a slider anyway.

Let's talk about needs, expectations, build some rapport and trust, find out what's neede and go get the product.

Buildsmart is right that keeping the emotion high is important. Remember people buy based on emotion. You ever have a demo where you show the price and ask for the sale and then they look at each other with the "well???" Look.....then no one says anything for a bit. Then the infamous, "We'll have to talk about it."

The reality is they do! They have to acknowledge to each other that it's okay to say yes. They have to decide his motorcycle and her aerobics classes can wait a year. Now it's LOGIC time.

People are hesitant to talk amount their finances and concerns with you sitting there. Go get the window. "Hey guys. Of course I want to show you the window. Why don't you talk amongst yourself without me gauking at you. I'm going to grab the window and if you like it and it's affordable great. If not then we'll all decide no go. I'll be right back."

So now they can discuss money and affordability. Then I come back and build a ton of excitement and desire for the product. If they decided the affordability is there they'll love the window and buy. If they thought the affordability isn't there they'll still emotionally want it when I'm done and they start coming up with ways to get something done.

Again, just a different take on it.

buddy110

Yes, we run them, much to my salesmen's chagrin. I was just trying to make a point.