How Do You Qualify A New Customer?

Carport King

I hope we can here from the old school to the new age way to answer this question.

Has time made a difference? Is there a difference? Is our industry any different than lets say selling a copier.

Either way you need to get your foot in the door.I hope that the old school guys can help this baby boomer make more sales.Thanks

Susan Betz

If you're a boomer, you ARE old school.

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Fences of Distinction, Ocala, FL
http://www.fencesofdistinction.com

marc

Here's how I QUALIFY a potential customer.

When they call me, I ask for their name, phone number, address, when would be the best time to see them and who referred us to them? THAT'S IT.
In my world if you call me, you're worth at least 1 visit.
The only reason to try to qualify is to dis-qualify.

I will ask all of the qualifying questions when I am face to face with them.

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Marc

Home Serve

So your approach is not to qualify until a face to face occurs. Then what would those questions be?
Thanks

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Missouri Remodeling Company with services for Replacement Windows Vinyl Siding and Entry Doors

Mike Finley

If you're willing to pay to have us come out, you qualify, if not the lead will usually tell you, they are just getting bids, just getting an idea... etc... all music to my ears. Two things I really like 1) is a lead telling you they aren't a very high quality lead and 2) is a lead agreeing to your estimate & design fees prior to the appointment. How awesome is it to show up for an estimate with that knowledge?

marc

I ask the basic questions...............

How long have you lived here?
Why did you move to the area?
What does your spouse do for work?
Do you work also?
What is your problem?
How long has it existed?
How long have you been thinking about this?
What made you call now?
Have you tried alternatives?
Did the alternatives work?
What products or services have you seen so far?
Did you like anything that you've seen so far?
Have you ever had home improvements done?
How was the experience?
What is your budget?
What will you do if we exceed your budget?
How would you like the contract broken up?
Will you be paying cash or do you need financing?
Would you like us to take care of the financing for you?
When would you like to get the project started?
Where would you like us to place the materials?
Where would you like us to place the dumpster?


Those are some of the questions I will ask and I will do it in a converasational way, but after I set a follow up visit I will always pull out the sheet and make sure I haven't missed anything.

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Marc

MGSProperties

The key word is that they called u from a refferal that is a very warm lead no need to qualify them as much on the phonse a a cold lead.

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Ed the Roofer

Every single call in is a customer.

Whether or not they wind up being MY customer or someone elses, depends on how I treat them from the get-go, compared to anyone else.

I prefer the better jobs, but I can take the cruddy ones too, but it all depends on if it is worth it to me.

If I am going hungry, some that may not have seeemed enticing at other times are well worth the follow through now.

Ed

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Carport King

So Mike are you charging for your estimate and design fees up front?

JCY

Make a little background check, like asking some personal indirect questions. That way, you would have an idea about the person your talking with.

JeffreyJin

Just call for primary questions,and meet if need,deal trial order then qualify each other.

HellisLikeNewrk

I decided to start charging for onsite visits. I turned off Service Magic because I was getting so many people who think their entire house can be insulated for $50. If they are getting multiple bids I will never be the cheapest because I do a lot of extra things to make people's homes / business energy efficient.

Right now I am participating in a State sponsored program where people can get rebates of up to 50% (capped at 5k) to cut their utility bills. You have to have a full energy audit in order to participate in the program. If they are unwilling to pay for an audit, I am not going to waste my time with them.

Gas is too expensive to chase down dozens of leads that will never go anywhere.

Stone Mountain

We constantly get calls for 10, 20, 50 feet of fence, or perhaps a 5x10 side deck.
Especially this time of year, it is simply not worth my while to do a small job, not to mention that my crews, who get paid by the job, wouldn't even start up their trucks to go.
Anyway, we politely tell the customer there is a minimum $3000 job. Of course we first ask the qualifying questions, such as how big, when, etc. If the job doesn't suit us, we don't go.

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Residential Deck Specialist: Vist our Website
www.fenceanddeck.ca

marc

I'm a big believer in the lifetime value of a customer. We will do the small jobs for this reason alone.
If we install a storm door for someone (approx. $700 job) we know that whenever someone mentions a contractor they will mention our name (Especially because they had 3 other guys tell them that they have a minimum job size) I love getting the calls for 2 windows because I've never seen a house with only 2 windows in it so I need to go see it just out of curiosity. If I do only install 2 windows, who do you think they will call when they need 2 more or want their siding done?
I fully understand that you can't make money on these small jobs...but you can make money on the referrals and additional work from past customers.
Just my 2 cents

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Marc

morganexteriors

I WOULD PERSONALLY THINK A POTENTIAL CUSTOMER SHOULD SIMPLY BE A HOMEOWNER WHO HAS A LEGITIMATE INTEREST IN DOING A PROJECT. WETHER OR NOT THEY HAVE THE FUNDS TO DO SO MAY BE AN ENTIRELY DIFFERENT STORY.

NH Remodeling Company With Services for Sunrooms Windows and Vinyl Siding

Hofmann

Assuming you have a dubious lead, is there any known ways of testing them further, maybe trying to get them to make a small financial commitment. I think I would lose too many leads if I tried to charge for quotes but if I had something to sell at the face to face like a home planning dvd/ checklist or something, it might help sort out time wasters, or maybe not. I think something like that could be invaluable as a mini sales commitment especially if it was offered as a discount off the final price.

I've just got my GC licence and additions and renovations are still a big job for me to quote so when I'm dubious about a client, I could save a lot of time and my subbies time by giving a rough estimate and seeing if they still want to go ahead. I've stuffed this up in the past though and am a bit gun shy about it. Does anyone do this?

genecarp

With a combination of my scary intellect and intuition

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Oldtime Closer

Here's an old school answer from an oldtime closer.Please keep in mind that over 90% of my jobs are financed..


If you love the price and you can afford the payments,i'm sure we can work something out today[or the day of the appt],right?..

Right there you will know what kind of customer you are dealing with,a buyer or a shopper or a cash customer shopper[which if you sell it's going to be for a smaller price.]

MattCoops

I'm with Mike Finley

The only way to truely qualify a construction lead is to let your lead know you charge for an estimate.

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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