Objections aren’t brought up by Boomers because we don’t want to buy. However, we know the more time and energy a sales consultant has invested, the more they don’t want to lose the sale. But we’re predictable - we’re so predictable that over 90 percent of Boomer objections can be neatly placed into four categories.

Boomers buy emotionally, but we won’t write the check until we validate our decision with value. We need to validate value. The more value you validate, the more we’ll buy from you. It’s just that simple. Here are the seven elements of often-overlooked value.

In this sixth article of an eight-part series on selling to Baby Boomers, the author notes that Boomers have always craved emotional stimulation, and Boomers get emotional about benefits, not the equipment that provides them.

This is the fifth article in an eight-part series on selling to Baby Boomers. Boomers grew up in an era of risk-taking. Being drafted for an unpopular war, civil rights protests, drug experimentation, free love, and the Nixon administration all carried unique risks. As Boomers grew older, risk reduction became an important part of everyday life.

Our grandparents may have been the first to demand customization when they started buying automobiles, but Boomers were the first to make it the foundation of a mega-consumption lifestyle.

When Baby Boomers buy any product, we instinctively believe it will perform its designed function. We assume our physical requirements will be met. What our subconscious minds are desperately seeking is people and products that will satisfy our emotional needs.

Years of positive experiences and expensive lessons affect everything Boomers buy, especially when it is something unfamiliar or complex like a replacement comfort system. Too many sincere salespeople lose sales because they don’t understand how the Boomer “rip-off prevention system” works.

The changing needs of the Baby Boomer generation offers our industry an opportunity to break the feast and famine cycles of weather-driven sales. When properly approached, a large percentage of Boomers will gladly replace their working HVAC systems in order to improve their homes and enhance their lives.

Imagine value as links on a chain connecting a railroad car full of gold bars (profits) to a powerful locomotive (sales). If any link in the chain is missing, your gold won’t move. If a link breaks during the journey, your gold is left behind. When selling comfort, success is determined by the strength you forge into every link of your “value chain.”

Smart HVAC is a concept that, simply put, deals with technical products and how they improve consumer comfort. Lifestyle selling, simply put, is a process proven to maximize smart HVAC sales in the residential sector. What’s lifestyle selling? Let me explain.