The “wrong” type of salesperson, who is closing 25% instead of 35%, is costing you 30 to 50 jobs a year! That’s $120,000 to $200,000 a year on 10 measly percentage points in closing ratio.

Choose salespeople wisely and match their skills to the job and their customers. The “match rate” shown is their acceptance and trust level by customers in our industry.

• The hard “closer” has only a 34% match rate with customers in our business. Why? Because installations require more time, more thought, and more understanding than the closer can muster. He also irritates as many as he sells.

• The “consultant” does much better. He takes his time and listens intently. He takes no risks of scaring prospects into a decision.

However, he’s pretty slow. His match rate is 64%. The only reason it’s not higher is that his professional air can occasionally be regarded as stiff, and not terribly relaxing for homeowners.

• The “display” seller does poorly. Why? His stand back and “there it is” approach, or his over-description of technical function wears poorly on prospects. They trust his initial knowledge, yet waver at giving up thousands of dollars for vaguely described benefits. He just gets a 10% match with customers.

• The “relationship” salesperson does the best in this industry. His style is to understand and relate to the customer. Trust-building, credibility-earning discourse is their specialty. The pressure is low, but the trust is usually so high that customers tend to exert his own buy signals because they “feel” comfortable.

Additionally, a long-time purchase like cooling and heating equipment must be tended to by a trustable, consistent, reliable type. Their match rate is an astounding 72%.

See how your current sales staff rates. If you identify any salespeople as “non relationship,” make immediate plans for training toward that goal.