jamesfl

I building a sales presentation package for potential clients. This is a multi-page info packet with a plactic sleeve. After I greet the H.O. at the door I like to hand them this while I go up and measure. After I measure they recieve my written proposal and keep the packet. Any thoughts on what it should contain?

So far I have a cover letter about our company,etc, ins certificates, lic. info, copies of satisfied customer letters, warranty info. Any other ideas would be appreciated.

Thanks,

James

send_it_all

High quality photos of work you've done...not polaroids, but possibly taken by a pro photographer.

Grumpy

I have a presentation book, that they can not keep. The book walks them through the job step by step showing them each and every detail of what I plan to do on the average roof. It shows phots of every step of the job from the protection, the rotten wood, the ice shield, the shingle types and workers installing shingles, the ventilation the flashing. It has words on the pages explaining what they are seeing, but I paraphrase each presentation different for each customer based on what their needs are and based on how they have told me they want me to sell them.

The packet submitted to the customer will vary again based on their actual project. A state roofing license, often copies of isurance (but I show those during my presentation) various types of material brochures, perhaps a refrence list.

I try not to overwhelm the customer with too much. Some of my competitors literally have BOXES made up with their logos and probably someone at the office who prepares these boxes with samples and so forth. I've walked into customer's houses and they have had piles or stuff and really no idea what any of the stuff was, and all I walked in with was my presentation book and walked out with the sale.

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-Grumpy
Chicago Gutters Chicago Roofing

tekwrytr

Not overwhelming the customer is good advice. As someone who started contracting in the olden times when infrared lamps were used to demonstrate the reflectivity of white over colored shingles, and aspirin tablets casually dipped into a vial of coating (then minutes later dropped into a glass of water without dissolving) were used to prove the effectiveness of coatings, I have seen a LOT of different strategies used and abused.

The one I favor most is the easiest; work on developing rapport, trust, and expert authority. Once you reach that point, your clients should understand that your recommendations are based on what is good for them, not what you need them to do for your benefit. As in the client who has a couple of minor leaks, bullied into buying a re-roof because the contractor needs to keep his or her crews busy for a big project that starts in two weeks.

Using printed material as a substitute for selling is rarely a good idea. Using sales as a substitute for customer-centric service is even more rarely a good idea. The presupposition of "I know already you need a new roof, because you called me, and I'm a roofer" can lose more jobs than it gains.

The canned sales pitches used heavily in the 1980s and 1990s are obsolete. In 2007, clients want to hire people who will worry for them, make decisions for them, and, at the same time, consider the client's wants, needs, and best interests at every turn. What are generally called "experts."

Expert authority means that your advice is more valuable, and your recommendations are more acceptable, than that of others. Rather than a glossy package of sales literature, a few simple questions about what the client wants (how long they intend to stay in the building/house, whether or not they intend to sell in the next few years, whether or not they are interested in a "30 year roof" being better than a "20 year roof," and similar individual details) can go a long, long way in establishing the "sales estimator" as a customer-centric expert.
tekwrytr

Ed the Roofer

Earlier this year, I went hog wild with information in my pre-positioning package. It flopped miserably.

My closing ratio went down to 12 %.

Since June, I have scaled back on the diferrentiating documentation and just provide a helpful guide on how to choose a professional roofing contractor, a 10 point tip sheet on whay to look for to qualify their contractor, a list of what items will be included in their proposal when we come back for the 2nd appointment and a list of the most current 75 local customers with name-address-town-and style and color of the shingle installed along with 3 pages of customer testimonials.

That still seems like a lot, but I cut down frrom alot of additional BS self promoting literature.

Now, due to pr-qualifying the leads I am visiting and getting extensive questions answered via my secretary, my closing ratio is about 85 %. That higher ratio also reflects my efforts to solicit real time referrals who are currently in the market for a new roof.

Ed

Grumpy

I have a whole arsenol at my disposal but yes it is important not to overwhelm. Simply a brochure or two is usually good enough. However picking and choosing what brochure or flyer is based on the needs and wants of the customer, what I think will make the biggest impression... and having the rest is a great reason to follow up, "I thought you might find this interesting, so I am sending it to you. let me know if you have any questions."

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-Grumpy
Chicago Gutters Chicago Roofing

RooferJim

Can anyone tell me what the acronym KISS stands for ?

Ed the Roofer

Keep It Simple Stupid!

and other variations, not intended to be as demeaning.

Keep It Simple and Silly

Keep It Simple and Smile

etc...

Ed

pgriz

Keep It Simple, Stupid...

Grumpy

Paul! Where you been?

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-Grumpy
Chicago Gutters Chicago Roofing

pgriz

Hi Grumpy! Been working. After my visit to you last year, things got really unglued and the year ended up a financial disaster. To make sure that this did not repeat this year, I've been everywhere and doing everything. Things are now running a little bit more as they should, so I've got some time to pop in occasionally. The fact that we've also had long periods of rain-free weather also helps (OK, helps a lot...). However, you know how it goes. You get to move two steps forward, and then you gotta make a step back, a step sideways, another step back, another sideways, and maybe, just maybe one more forward.

I've also continued working on the system I showed you and we've got some more improvements that we came up with over the winter and tested them during installations this spring and summer. The feedback from my DIY customers has been very encouraging, so it looks like the product line is evolving in the right direction.

And how have you been doing?

Vinny

I would suggest you make any or all the info at that point about the prospect or about setting the stage for the proposal. For example you can have a set of specs from the Natl roofing asociation and this way when you present your proposal the prospet will know the spec requirments and how your proposal follows that guide line.

Any thing about you and your company could be in the proposal and should not be the primary focus of the presentation but the last part of it and only toot your horn loud if you need to. Make it about them and thier job.

My pre approach folder has a set of paving specs assembled from various national studies, a brochure from the Connecticut dept of consumer protection on how to pick a home improvemnt contractor, some paving info from a national organization and a check list of what they, the prospect should be looking for in any paving contractor they interview. At this point its all third party, varifiable info.

Then after the evaluation of the job is done and a proposal is presented, at that time we hit all the targets of that set the stage info we already handed out and the last things, just before price, is about us and how we qualify. then hopefully close.

Your cert of ins, your references, your qualification can all be there in the last piece of the proposal but not before that.

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Roccies Asphalt Paving
The Right Way Driveway Company
If you say you cant, your a loser. If you say you wont, your a quiter. Which one do you want to be?

tnt specialty

Good advice Tekwrytr!

That's pretty-much my MO....