Sales Advice Needed

Grumpy

Another thing with the consultive sales method is that your cancellations will be zero. ZERO cancellations. When I worked for home depot for a week or three before I could no longer stomach the idiocy... I was floored when the sales people bragged they "Only had 30% cancellations!" ONLY 30%?! That means 30% of my customers only signed to get me out of their house then exercised their 3 day right of refusal... which was put in place for a reason.

I do however advocate asking for the sale in one way or another, but without being pushy or overaly agressive. Mike's close is a good one and commonly I use something similiar. Rather than giving them a chance to say no, I prefer to give them a chance to say Yes or Yes. "I can put you down on the schedule a week from now or the following week if that works better for you."

I remember one old timer who was ready to sign before I even wrote the proposal or figured the price. I was half way through my presentation and he was holding an invisible pen making a motion like he was signing... I took the hint real quick and shut up and started writing. That was the easiest close I ever had. I don't know if he liked the color of my shirt or I was the only guy to show up on time, but he was ready to sign and I wasn't going to argue. The only other thing I asked was how to properly spell his name.

janrickey

This is called an assumptive close and yes it WORKS!!! It is easy to ask for those that are not comfortable (yet) with sales. You are assuming the sale, it's not pushy and there is no pressure.

The next thing you want to be prepared for is Overcoming Objections. Clients want to feel their objections are being listened to and take into account. It's important to address their concerns. I call it "the A.R.G." adress concerns-respond-gain agreement. When a client voices a concern, I say, "yes sir, I can certainly understand I am not the lowest estimate you have received and honestly that's okay". (address concerns) "With the info I have just covered with you in the proposal, you can surely see the quality the extra $$$ are affording you." (respond) "You mentioned to me earlier ... (and mirror something they have said to you about quality or their needs back to them) how excited you were to be getting this room addition and how long you have saved for it, wouldn't you agree that spending the extra $$$ will give you the quality you want for your $$." They usually will be shaking their heads yes with you, or maybe come at you with another objection that you A.R.G. again.
Then hit them with your assumptive close, "I have an opening in my schedule 7-2, how does that sound?"

Although I am new to construction, I have trained over 1,000 service/sales reps at SBC over the last (oh too many) years. Before I retired I was developing and delivering customer service/sales workshops for managers and reps.

Didn't mean to get so wordy, got a little bit of passion for this stuff Hope it helps!

__________________
When your work speaks for itself, don’t interrupt!

Jan

Mike Finley

LOL, I can't tell you the number of salesman I have known who would have kept on talking for another 20 minutes before they finally figured it out!

Tscarborough

Salespeople should listen, not talk as a rule, though they seldom do.

MEL

You can get great training materials that are industry specific from “Mastermind Training” and from “Dave Yoho”.

Sales training is essential if you want to make a profit.

dougchips

Are you a member of the Mastermind training program?

__________________
To get the best replacement windows, or sun rooms contact the replacement windows experts at FHI Vinyl Window Company.

vinylguy

yes, i am a member and thier modules are a great source of informationnot on just selling although theirs alot about that but on business practices to. very good and very helpful. because we all know most business failures come from lack of knowledge on running a business than they do on instalations! so i do recommend this program and do think its worth the time and investment. ( now maybe i can get phil to pay me for that advertisment!)

dirt diggler

Brent -


first thing I'd say is that you're NOT reaching your target clientele. It's hard to do that with the yellow pages and google.

second - nobody is gonna understand your "quality." You can tell them that you frame with 2x6s instead of 2x4s and they might be impressed.

but then they'll see the cost difference (knowing that 2 x4s will suffice) and suddenly you're "too expensive"


third - um ... i dunno hahaha im outta coffee - good luck!

ultimatetouch

I say just about the same thing. What about when they say, I have two more estimates coming in. I am now setting second appointments and being a bit more agressive.

__________________
Ultimatetouch
Illinois Remodeling Company, Kitchen Remodeling Chicago, Room Additions Illinois

MEL

Yes I am a member, they have a lot of good taining materials

Second Look

When you finish a job and the customer is still basking in the glow of their transformed home, ask for a little write up on the quality of your work. One paragraph should suffice.

Have a pen and paper handy, then later on you can type it up so there are 5 or 6 to a page. Handing a prospective customer a page or two, saying "here's what satisfied customers are saying about my work", can really make a difference.

You would be truly amazed at the nice things people come up with. They will sell your services using angles you would never think of yourself. It also comes across as more sincere when it comes from a third party.

Here's an example of something a customer said about me:

__________________
Second Look home improvement www.SecondLookHome.com
Handyman and Home Repair Specialist in Rhode Island
RI Licensed Lead Safe Remodeler/Renovator, RI Registered & Insured Contractor

dougchips

Well that makes at least 3 of us on this site.

__________________
To get the best replacement windows, or sun rooms contact the replacement windows experts at FHI Vinyl Window Company.