Friday, August 28, 2009

INCREASE YOUR CLOSING % BY NOT TALKING ABOUT YOUR PRODUCT

Believe it or not…your customer really doesn’t care if you know everything there is to know about the product you are recommending. So you can tell your customer all about R-410a, TXV’s, copper coils, scroll compressors, etc… Guess what…so did the other three contractors who came to their home. What did you do to set yourself apart from the other contractors? Okay…you did a load, you sized their duct system, and you showed them your presentation book…so did a couple of the other guys. So when everything is equal, how will the customer compare you to the other sales reps? If you didn’t give them something different they will compare everyone based on the equipment and price on the four proposals they have and let’s be honest, the way things are going today you are probably 10 to 20% more than the lowest guy.

So what can you do to be different? What most people want is someone who cares about solving their problems, not someone who is going to teach them all about HVAC. When they sit down to compare the proposals they received who will stand out? The three guys who spent an hour talking about the box they plan to install or the one guy who spent an hour asking questions about their lifestyle, their home, and their comfort level, and offered up a solution to their individual needs which will make their life better?

It may sound strange but you need to stop selling and start making friends. People buy from people they like...and trust. A year from now the customer probably won’t be able to tell you the brand of equipment they installed or about the two-stage compressor in their unit or the variable speed fan coil. What they will do is tell all their friends about the guy who made their life better. Not how their bills are lower but how they can now afford having a "date night" again with their spouse. Not how the upstairs cools better but that they can finally sleep through the night and are not grouchy every morning because they had to sleep on the couch in the basement to keep cool. Stop selling boxes and start offering solutions.

5 comments:

  1. Selling anything must come from a position of trust. Are you someone who cares about becoming an extended part of their frienly orbit will always be the one who gets the contract. This is why people go shop for their groceries where they feel "at home" rather than the "big-box" store. Good article. Harold Stockton, CEO, Snow Leopard Productions

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  2. So you have solved there problem, you are the only one that has even suggested that they have hot spots and you can solve there air flow issues, now they take that information back to idiot's 1-2-3 and say, "what can you do for me now". You show them what needs to be done, and they shop you back to the company that only knows 6" ducts to all rooms except the living room and bath rooms which get 8" and 4" respectfully.

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  3. Yes it is true people like to do business with people they know, like and trust. People like freindly confidence. They want to be treated with respect and feel comfortable in your presents.

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  4. Great article. Takes you back to the fundamentals of building trust and rapport with your customers. As stated, customers typically educate themselves and therefore are looking for someone to take that knowledge and apply it to their lives in a personal and enguaging manner.

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