giving an estimate?
We have two different types of sales; customers who call for an estimate and customers in which we initiate the sale from service calls, canvassing, etc.
There are periods when we are hot and we close 90% of the sales we attempt to close and there are several weeks at a time when we embarrass ourselves and close less than 10%. Less than 5% of the customers who tell us they will call back ever call back and sign a contract. There was a period for over 20 years when about 70% to 80% of our customers would call us back, but that was when we were the cheapest copper repipe specialists for a hundred miles. Our work was great and our prices were so low I am still mad at myself today.
This thread is to share some ideas and to explore why so many people don't call back after you give a terrific estimate (bid). For days, I often wonder what these people do. I know they have a broken pipe, there home is flooded, I gave a terrific presentation, I gave the best price, many seem to have the money, and they don't call back. I am really amazed, frustrated, and want to find a way to increase the number of people who call back. I hate calling people back to ask if they made a decision. After I am finished with a presentation the customer is well-aware of need and urgency. We need to devise a system where the customer calls us back whether or not they choose us. We need a system where we can nudge the customer call us back so we get a 2nd shot at closing the sale rather than calling the customer back and making them think we are desperate.
When I give an estimate I always try to read the customer and try to see what they are thinking. I try to see their problems and needs through their eyes. From now on, when a customer tells me he (or she) is going to call me back I am going to immediately give the customer a survey form. I am going to make the customer aware that we are concerned about the reasons they did not make a decision and the form is going to ask the customer to tell why they did not choose my company, what they did about the scope of work they needed, and the reason they chose another company, if they did choose one. I am even thinking that every time I don't close a sale I will hand the customer $30 in cash to follow through with completing and mailing the form. I think this is going to have some powerful psychological values. This form is going to show the customer that we are seriously concerned about their decision-making whether it be favorable to us or not. At the same time, this form will open the customers eyes to the seriousness of the correct decision and guide them down the correct path (I think).
This form could serve many purposes. The customer may think the form is for our benefit while it actually starts with statements that explain that our company has offered the best value in the world and it is important for us to understand why the customer did not make a decision. I think the questions could help the customer make a favorable decision and have a method to its madness.
We talked how to call customers back in another thread a few days ago. This thread is a little different because we need to find better ways to get the customer to call us.
I think the reason why customers never call us back is huge and serious. The norm is to accept that we won't close a percent of our sales, but how can this be true when we honestly know we are the best choice, the best scope of work, the best price, and no other company's offer could be even close.
Think about this for a while. How many customers have you had who you have known for years. One day, you give this old customer a proposal for work you know they need and you never hear from some this customer for the rest of your life. What happens to these customers? You did nothing wrong and just disappear. You could speculate there was a customer service issue, or something else that is simple to explain, but that is probably the least likely reason many people never call you back again.
I think the reason many customers never call back is because we attempt to close a sale, we explaing everything in detail, we think we are selling the customer a solution to their problem, but the customer has many other problems that are not related to what we are selling, or we actually helped the customer create collateral problems. We leave the customer in a daze and they just had a memorable and unfavorable experience.
When selling, I think we need to look at the customer's problems that are surrounding and beyond what we are selling. This may be accomplished with a questionaire that asks the right questions and the questionaire must appear to be for the customer's benefit.
We have two different types of sales; customers who call for an estimate and customers in which we initiate the sale from service calls, canvassing, etc.
There are periods when we are hot and we close 90% of the sales we attempt to close and there are several weeks at a time when we embarrass ourselves and close less than 10%. Less than 5% of the customers who tell us they will call back ever call back and sign a contract. There was a period for over 20 years when about 70% to 80% of our customers would call us back, but that was when we were the cheapest copper repipe specialists for a hundred miles. Our work was great and our prices were so low I am still mad at myself today.
This thread is to share some ideas and to explore why so many people don't call back after you give a terrific estimate (bid). For days, I often wonder what these people do. I know they have a broken pipe, there home is flooded, I gave a terrific presentation, I gave the best price, many seem to have the money, and they don't call back. I am really amazed, frustrated, and want to find a way to increase the number of people who call back. I hate calling people back to ask if they made a decision. After I am finished with a presentation the customer is well-aware of need and urgency. We need to devise a system where the customer calls us back whether or not they choose us. We need a system where we can nudge the customer call us back so we get a 2nd shot at closing the sale rather than calling the customer back and making them think we are desperate.
When I give an estimate I always try to read the customer and try to see what they are thinking. I try to see their problems and needs through their eyes. From now on, when a customer tells me he (or she) is going to call me back I am going to immediately give the customer a survey form. I am going to make the customer aware that we are concerned about the reasons they did not make a decision and the form is going to ask the customer to tell why they did not choose my company, what they did about the scope of work they needed, and the reason they chose another company, if they did choose one. I am even thinking that every time I don't close a sale I will hand the customer $30 in cash to follow through with completing and mailing the form. I think this is going to have some powerful psychological values. This form is going to show the customer that we are seriously concerned about their decision-making whether it be favorable to us or not. At the same time, this form will open the customers eyes to the seriousness of the correct decision and guide them down the correct path (I think).
This form could serve many purposes. The customer may think the form is for our benefit while it actually starts with statements that explain that our company has offered the best value in the world and it is important for us to understand why the customer did not make a decision. I think the questions could help the customer make a favorable decision and have a method to its madness.
We talked how to call customers back in another thread a few days ago. This thread is a little different because we need to find better ways to get the customer to call us.
I think the reason why customers never call us back is huge and serious. The norm is to accept that we won't close a percent of our sales, but how can this be true when we honestly know we are the best choice, the best scope of work, the best price, and no other company's offer could be even close.
Think about this for a while. How many customers have you had who you have known for years. One day, you give this old customer a proposal for work you know they need and you never hear from some this customer for the rest of your life. What happens to these customers? You did nothing wrong and just disappear. You could speculate there was a customer service issue, or something else that is simple to explain, but that is probably the least likely reason many people never call you back again.
I think the reason many customers never call back is because we attempt to close a sale, we explaing everything in detail, we think we are selling the customer a solution to their problem, but the customer has many other problems that are not related to what we are selling, or we actually helped the customer create collateral problems. We leave the customer in a daze and they just had a memorable and unfavorable experience.
When selling, I think we need to look at the customer's problems that are surrounding and beyond what we are selling. This may be accomplished with a questionaire that asks the right questions and the questionaire must appear to be for the customer's benefit.