Reasons To Offer A New Percieved Closing Incentive

Ed the Roofer

Okay,

You did the best to your closing capabilities.

You are not a super-closer, but you want the job and usually, when you follow your systematic approach, without coming off robotically, the per-centages arrive at your typical closing ratio.

You will be persistent and continue to follow up to see if they have made up there mind yet.

They are still waiting on just a few dozen more estimates, (or just one), to come in. Or, even debating on whether or not they really need this additional expense right now. It will never get any cheaper, yet it is too much all at once right now, maybe.

Obviously, they have not been sold on either your exceptional level of quality, or your length of time in business, or your 1,000 satisfied customers nearby reference list, or your price, or something else.

Now, it is follow up time!

Letter sent out the next day, reminding them of the benefits of ***xx that your product would offer and also to thank them for there time and interest. It reminds them that a follow up call has already been pre-scheduled.

2-3 days later; Now, it is time to make that pre-scheduled follow up call or visit.

What reasoning or rationale do you now additionally provide to them, to now be comfortable with choosing your company, products and specifications that you have not already offered up?

Is it only going to be a re-hashing of what already transpired during the first face to face appointment and discussion of the same?

Or; Do you now have an additional opportunity to either add some additional perceived value to the scope of the agreement or the converse opportunity to provide a credible logic as to why you can now offer a discounted option, whereas it was not available upon your first meeting?

What are the thoughts on what offers can apply?

I am currently going through the beginning of the season blues, and the instantaneous decisions are becoming harder to come by, at least for right now. Economy, lots of out of work roofers, adjustable APR mortgage rates climbing, ..... Whatever! I don't give a darn why. I just want additional reasons for going in for another strike at the prospect for the Right deal to be agreed to.

What ideas can we all come up with to get the job before it gets completely away from us, besides just plain old persistence?

Ed

PressurePros

Ed, you and I are on different models. I HAVE to close on the spot or maybe follow up with one call. Beyond that, I risk spending too much time ($$) on one customer and it doesn't pay off. You have higher dollar jobs that maybe allow you a little more leeway.

I'm fairly certain you know how to close a sale and fire both barrells during your presentation and closing. A letter to follow up and then a follow up call/visit to benignly to ascertain if the customer has any questions or concerns is about as far as you can really chase a job without becoming a nuisance. I personally like persistence and will hiire a guy that wants my business. Some are skewered by it. By the same token, I don't want a guy calling me every day asking me if I have made a decision. Welcome to the fickle minds of the buying public.

Ed, one question because I am unfamiliar with your industry.
Whats your percentage of on-the-spot closes? I don't mean as a ratio of sales proposals but of those that you do close, how many sign right then and there?

__________________
Ken Fenner
Pressure Washing PA
Roof Cleaning Services PA

Ed the Roofer

Good question Ken,

I have never tallied up the distinction between a one appointment close and one that occurrs after a scheduled follow up. I will see from my closed jobs what the exact figure is going back about the most recent 30 jobs or so, and compile those figures.

The darn color choice gets in their way, without a yet workable argument that the choice to proceed is more important than the choice of a color or style. I can get any brand or color they want. I will be purchasing a visualization software to reduce this delaying tactic.

BTW, even though I am having a slow start to the season, the standard optimistic attitude remains. I liken it to knowing that I have an overall 52 % closing ratio, (Yes, I cherry pick the most valid leads of substance), that if I do not close 10 out of 10, then I must be due to close the next 10 qualified prospects.


I started this thread, because I typically do have an above average closing ratio and the average job cost for 2 years ago was $ 8,112.00 per job. My recent last years dollars per job sold will be highly skewed and weighted to the high end, because of several $ 30,000.00 + jobs I obtained in the fall of 2006, so I prefer the 2005 numbers for accurracy.

Other sales personal may need the information for the follow up methodology, instead of just routinely calling back several days and several weeks later, with a "Hi, remember me? Did you make a decision yet?", type of call.

I am a little surprised this following up topic has not recieved much more action yet. So, maybe I am in an unenviable position in comparison to the others, who are getting their closes immediately.

Ed

Mike Finley

Unless you are going to do some of the ridiculous "model homes" tactics or other things you and I both know that it is dollars that motivate customers on the fence.

Nothing really rocket science about what you are asking. If you are asking then you are saying you are ready to cut some profit in order to make the deal. So do it the old fashioned way, eliminate all the extraneous excuses, isolate the objection is to price, get a commitment with if I could, would you... make the deal.

DamionR

Ed...

When the customer says their getting 5, or 10 ,or 50 estimates....

"Say Mr. Prospect, that's a good idea. I bet your glad your wife didn't do that before she married ya, huh?"

Works every time - haha.


The follow-up you do with a prospect, should be based on the initial set-up you had with the prospect. What I mean is this...

What type of marketing was done to capture this prospect? If it's a non-relationship based source (yellow pages, shows, tc.) - you're follow-up approach should vary from one that was a referral, or past customer, etc. With relationship-based marketing - you can use position as a follow-up and closing tool.

For example... if the prospect is the neighbor of a past client who referred the prospect... you can use a take-away approach on your follow-up. They know you do quality work - they've seen it. You can explain that you're closing on 3 large projects and will be unavailable for any new clients for the next 3 months. If they want to use you - they have to make a decision so you can schedule them first before you start the large projects.

If you're marketing was non-relationship based... this approach is not as effective.


What we're the reasons this prospect gave me for not buying during the presentation? Your follow-up should hammer on these issues.


in the end - realize what everyone else is doing. First... a lot of contractors don't even follow-up. They've got the "I do good work - if they really want me they'll call" syndrome. You're follow-ups will steal more than a fair amount of work from these guys. The rest that do follow-up.. usually have the same weak approach. "This is Jim Bob with XYZ Contracting. I just wanted to follow-up and see if you were ready to sign a contract and give me money because I need work next week". Pathetic.


Enough philosophy. Here's how I handle follow-ups.

First - your follow-up should be set-up before you leave the first appointment. Make a plan, and get commitment that that is the plan.

For example... "OK Mr Prospect, you'll go ahead nad check my references and i'll send you a color palette so you can make a final decision on the colors you want. I'll follow-up with you on Wednesday at 6PM to make a final decision, and move forward from there. Does that sound fair?".

This committment will help you flush out BS follow-ups.... also it will bring out any objections they have that might not have came out.

On the follow-up call/visit... I reitterate what we previously agreed to, and go from there. For example.. "Hello Mr Prospect, this is Damion Rutherford with XYZ Company. You requested that I call back to you today at 6Pm to review your final color choices, and decide where we want to go from here. Do you have the color palette I gave you last week handy?".

Sometimes it works perfect, sometimes they haven't done anything and you have to schedule another follow-up. I'll let them slide once... but not on the second follow-up. At this point - I explain that I've lost interest in their project as they do not seem serious. Thye can call me if they want. This type of take-away will get rid of the junk who is wasting your time, and also make the serious person actually do something finally.


There are other things you can do if you have nothing to do for the follow-up - jsut waiting for them to make a decision. Price drops are good for this, but you need a legitimate reason for the price drop. One that has worked well for me in the past is "Mr Prospect, we're doing a job 3 streets over from where you are on the 25th of this month. If you can work with our schedule and start the project on the 26th... I can save you an additional $400 off of your estimate. Would that work good for you?"

Hope all of this helps!

__________________

- Free Contractor Marketing Tips & Performance-Based Lead Generation Services.

Ed the Roofer

Thanks for the "follow ups" to my initial post. It is always beneficial to be re-reminded of the proper procedures and even when you are doing everything per your system, sometimes things take a slide for a while.

I want to nip the slode in the bud, so thanks once again.
I have a new girl in the office, who I want to train on proper mailing follow up and pre-appoinment procedures to stimulate the higher interest in our companies dedication to higher standards and customer follow through.

I'm going to blow out some dust from my HD Springer for the first time this spring and go for a 3-4 hour MC ride and come back nice and refreshed.

See you all later.

Ed

floor instal

When I find myself in this position I will call the prospective customer and tell them that I just had a job we had scheduled for the week of (insert the time frame that you need or one that fits your prospects situation)get postponed because the material did not ship in time and we had to reschedule the job. If we could schedule your job during this period I would be willing to give you a discount of (whatever number you feel will work) to be able to fill in my schedule and keep my guys working. This tactic has worked several times for me. It not only is plaussible but gives them a sense of urgency since it is only offered for the one time frame and if they say no you have not given away anything in the future. It has deen my experience that if this does not work the price is probbably not the issue.

__________________
floorinstallation@cox.net

MattCoops

try hiring a salesperson
or finding one and training them

it may be your presentation

we make our presentation to lead to a sale
not to leave them with information

__________________
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

PressurePros

The only problem I foresee with the above apporach is the perceived strong arm tactic. A follow up call of this nature would be very easy for me to stall again. Working with someone using the above would make me feel pressured. Pressured = no sale. I understand Damion's point is to weed out those not serious but my feeling is, if they called me, they are serious and I am going to overcome objections and make the project work whether via financing or other. I'm also not going to let a customer make a decision on the phone.

How about approaching this from a different angle by factoring in this "decision time for color choice / I need to get more estimates" stall? By this I mean, make your first encounter with the customer education based. A "get-to-know you" meeting. . I would do this by not giving the customers any numbers. After they get to know and trust your expertise, let them know that the first step for you to provide a real world price is by knowing what type of materials, colors, add-on etc they want. Leave them appropriate literature and resources for them to step back and make an educated decision. You would leave this initial meeting with a definitve follow up appointment. You could incorporate a little push and create some intrigue by saying..

"Mr and Mrs Johnson we are in high demand this time of year. I'd love to bring you onboard as a customer but I also don't want to pressure you into making any kind of decision right now. How about we leave it at this.. I'll give you a call tommorow morning so you can give me an idea of what shingle choices and add-ons you are interested in and I will draw up your proposal. We can meet back here tommorow night and if you guys have any other questions or concerns, we can review them together."

The only risk to this is someone being a better closer than you are. You have done the educating, then Joe Salesman can come along and close them. That's why you have to keep a little pressure on and keep your meetings closely spaced. This is also why I asked what your one-meeting closing ratio was. You have to know your numbers to decide whether this is a good gamble.

Make the customer feel like they are participating in the process, make them feel you are qualified to handle the job, and price will be only (statisticaly speaking) a factor in 20% of the decisions. This means every high priced guy out there has an 80% chance of closing every single sale if done right.

In my opinion there is never a reason to drop your pants on price once an estimate has been given to a customer. My prices are my prices. I'll cater to you a bit, give you above and beyond service but that costs XYZ. Besides, like I mentioned, price is only the true objection 20% of the time. Thinking a customer didn't hire you because they wanted to save another $500 is only going to be right one out of five times. How do you know how much to give away?

__________________
Ken Fenner
Pressure Washing PA
Roof Cleaning Services PA

PeteHalsted

For the can't make a color/shingle decession crowd, how about a double close. First close gets you a down payment (based on price range of shingle choices you've given them) and them on the schedule, second close (decide color/shingle/final price) has to happen X days before the scheduled date, to allow time for material purchases etc.

In otherwords lock in the customer, then lock in the specifics.

realpurty2

If you've presented all your information in the initial meeting and letter... , it's time to listen not talk. Call them up and make yourself available for any questions or concerns they have.

Maybe offer to verbally go through the construction process. This also gives you yet another opportunity to highlight your ethics and skills. It doesn't matter how you get them talking, the goal is to find out what is holding them back from signing, address the concern and overcome it if possible.

If their major block is pricing, explain the value again and leave it at that. Without sounding sarcastic, either they have the money or they don't. You definately don't want to waste any more time on them at this point if they fall in "the simply don't have the funds" catagory. Hesitant to spend it can be overcome, but not enough money can't be no matter how good your sales process is.

__________________
Woman in a Man's World.

marc

This all great. You need to bring it back to choosing the right contractor. Are the customers choosing a color or are they choosing to do business with you. Sell them on you........NOT a color.
Ask more questions. Say can I put the price aside for a minute and ask you a few questions? What do you think of me as your project manager? Do you think I have enough experience that when the project was complete you would be happy?
YES.
Are you sure? I mean is there someone else you would prefer to do this project, Maybe a friend or relitive?
NO.
Great. What do you think of my company? I told you that my crews are specialists, meaning they only do roofs. They don't do decks, siding, kitchen cabinets, etc?
Oh, ED we think your company would do a great job. We've seen our neigbors roofs and they look great.
SUPER! What do you think of the specifications? Do you agree with everything or should we take something out? Maybe you don't want a 30 year shingle? Maybe you don't think your roof needs to be stripped?
NO Ed we like everything.
GREAT What do you think about the investment amount? Are you OK with $8,400.00?

If they say YES to all of these questions you should already have a signature and deposit in your hand. If the ONLY objection is we need to pick a color. Ask them if the think they are looking at their contractor. When they say yes, ask them to sign the contract and give you a deposit. In the color choice write TO BE DETERMINED by ______________. If they won't do this, they have not been honest with you and/or they don't trust you.

Start Over and start building trust

__________________
Marc

Ed the Roofer

As always, it is quite reassuring to see the positive rhetoric spun out once again for a very slight variance on a commonly posed question.

I personally need to re-validate the steps in our closing system, and even though similar questions have many times already been asked and answered many times in the past, it is always refreshing to review past posters current versions of saying how to do something, or even to hear from one of our forums newer members chiming in with support, encouragement, and advise from their perspective.

This week, I have quite a few follow ups to do, plus a batch of currently measured jobs and I will reaffirm my system with the advise given.

Ed

POOLMANinCT

thats exactly what i do w/ liner patterns, cant make up your mind? np,
we'll get you on "the board" w/ sf, give them a few days prior to technical measuring...

__________________
......Less with the jaw & More with the paw.....

dirt diggler

I agree here as well

I tell them they have "X" amount of days to decide on stuff like that

Thewoodman

I have landed a few jobs by calling back a few days after giving a price.

I don't like to pressure to much so I tell them I am just calling to see if they want me to put them on the work schedule or if there are any questions that they may have. Then I shut up a let them answer.

I have had a couple of customers tell me my price was higher than other bids they have had. I then ask them who the bidders were. If it is someone that I now does good work, I tell them that that company will do a good job for them.

This kinda throws them off. At that point I explain why I think my company would do a better job. But I reiterate that if they go with the other company they will still get a good job.

Maybe this is counter productive, But I believe that if you slam your competition it only makes you look bad.

Mark

__________________
Never let the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game.
www.wasatchvalley.com