Okay, so maybe I need to lay off the double espresso just before bed, or maybe I need counseling. But, something has really been bothering me lately: doors. See, all your marketing efforts are “doors” into your business. The questions are: How many do you have, what shape are they in, and how easy and inviting are they to enter?

Some plumbing companies are content with a shabby door represented by an ill-designed Yellow Page ad; others have dozens of well-designed ones generating calls, referrals, and appointments in a steady stream.

SET YOURSELF UP FOR SUCCESS

But, it doesn’t matter how many doors you have if you don’t turn those who enter into sales. You let them in, close the deal, and lock them in as repeat customers. Fine and dandy, but two things can go wrong here. If you’re not closing the sale, you’re sending these costly prospects elsewhere. Secondly, if you’re not locking the door behind the closed sales, you’re leaving paying customers vulnerable to even more loss.

There are three parts to a sales visit: the presentation, proposal, and close. The presentation sets up the others and vastly improves your closing ratio, but it’s at the close that even great presenters get jittery. Let’s take ‘em in order.

1. The Presentation: This is when you gather the info you’ll need to close. This is generally done with a “Home Energy Survey.” (Do not ever call it an estimate.) The answers to specific upgrade and price questions are handled here. I advise you present a “Green Sheet” of your services, products, pricing disclosures, and guarantees on one sheet of paper. This credibility builder is something your competition is not doing (differentiation), or they use a slick brochure clearly designed by a manufacturer. Yawn. Hand the green sheet to each new customer or service call, saying, “These are just a few of the reasons we’re glad you chose us, and hopefully you will be, too.” Include a small gift bag with a pen, mints, a refrigerator magnet, a coupon for the next service call, and more. Total cost for green sheet and gift bag: $4. Cost of not using it: senseless.

For higher ticket upgrades, equip a presentation binder to allay fears and make comparisons to other products and even competitors. (Yes, I said competitors. This is the most effective way to overcome shopping and build your credibility.) Likewise, you’ll have testimonials, guarantees, installation photos, and more in this binder. You should also include all of these on your website, too. This gives your customers the ability to close themselves.

2. The Proposal: This is where you “reframe” the prospect’s exact answers and put them on your proposal form. Your form had better be like a sales script and not some generic form that only you can follow. Fill it with guarantees, benefits, and comfort statements.

Show two prices — one with an agreement and one without. For higher ticket upgrades, show the prospect a good-better-best approach to pricing for the higher ticket items.

Then you go right into…

3. The Close: If you’ve done your presentation properly, you eliminated the objections on “thinking about it,” “price is too high,” and “our air conditioner is fine,” so, the close is natural.

Closing is not an isolated step in the selling process. It’s the natural conclusion to what has already occurred. Still, it’s this last part that sends techs or designated salespeople into confusion.

WHAT TO SAY, WHAT NOT TO SAY

The language of sales is one in which complex thoughts are simplified. Vexing decisions are reduced to their obvious conclusions. Lack of clarity becomes crystal clear. This language contains words and phrases capable of stirring emotion, stifling indecision, conveying agreement, and convincing even the most adamant prospect. Words are powerful.

Be aware of the words you use. Be aware of the reactions you cause. Are they positive or negative? What facial expressions are reactions to your language?

Here are a few examples.

• Do not use the word “contract.” Use “agreement” or “proposal.” Contract is a traditional sales word that is seen as very formal or potentially destructive to the customer. The replacement word, agreement, involves the customer or another person. The customer feels better because he is agreeing with you. Proposal implies the consumer makes the ultimate decision.

• Do not say, “I need your signature here,” or “sign here.” Say, “Please OK this here,” or, “Please okay this and date it.” You want to make the consumer feel like he or she has power. It is, after all, his or her decision. The latter two phrases present the task simply and with much less formality. Signing is often associated with signing away something. Okaying is much more like agreeing.

• Do not say “buy” or “spend” when you can say “invest.” Buy and spend infer giving something up that may not come back. Invest implies a return. You can also refer to something as a good investment or getting a good return on this investment.

Your words can be like music when said pleasantly and with encouragement. When you close a sale, you have moved systematically toward that close in small, incremental steps that have gotten agreement or been acknowledged as OK with the prospect.

Publication date: 6/8/2015

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