Piranha Marketing, Inc., Used Under License by the Blue Collar Success Group

Transcription

1 1

2 Strategies For Your During The Sale Unit Always Make Your Client Feel Important...Pg. 3 Upserve Your Clients... Pgs. 4-5 Add More Services... Pg. 6 WOW Your Client. Pgs. 7-8 Be a Professional.. Pg. 9 Stop Giving Estimates & Start Giving Audits... Pgs A New Client Kit. Pg. 13 Confirm All Appointments... Pgs Be Down-To-Earth and Connect With Clients. Pg. 16 Let Them Choose Between You, You And You... Pgs Never Leave Them Empty-Handed.. Pg. 19 Videos. Pg. 20 Learn To Be Happy Being A Sales Superstar. Pgs Reschedule Next Appointment. Pgs

3 Always Make Your Client Feel Important This is very, very important. You should always, always, make every one of your clients feel like they are your most important client. It doesn t matter how big or small the job, make every client feel like they are number 1. A client who feels important will be a great client. She will: 1. Keep using you over and over again. 2. Never look for a different HVAC Contractor. 3. Refer you to lots of new clients. 4. Rarely complain about anything. If clients are thrilled with you, they ll let the little mistakes pass. They realize that no matter how good you are there are always some mess-ups. Clients who feel important are much less likely to hold anything against you. How do you make a client feel important? 1. Respond to their calls, questions, whatever immediately. Don t make people wait, answer their questions that day or at the latest the next day. 2. Always treat your clients with respect. 3. Always help them with their problem, even if it s something they should do themselves. They ll appreciate it very much and pay you back tenfold. 4. Remember that there is only one call per day for your client. You might have a booked solid day, but that client only has one call with you. Treat them like they are your only call of the day and they are your main priority. 5. Communication is key. Call them when you are on your way, and especially let them know if you are running a few minutes late. This shows that your respect them and their time. Never underestimate your client. If you treat every client like your most important client, you ll have more business than you can handle. 3

4 Upserve Your Clients By this I don t mean bait and switch advertising (telling them a low price and then hitting with a much higher price when you get there) or even just upselling. There s more to it. By upserving I mean selling your clients more stuff, but products and services that will truly enhance their lives. The first area you should go after is another service you offer. This practically doubles your profit for not that much more work. I ve learned that most HVAC Contractors hate selling. Don t think of it as selling; think of it as educating. Educate your clients so that they can decide for themselves what is best. Give them a preponderance of proof - tons and tons of proof. It s always better to have too much than not enough. Overwhelm them with the benefits of your services. If you do, most will buy. Don t rely on your techs to understand how to sell. Most people hate selling and it doesn t come naturally to them. They re afraid of it. Unless you put in a lot of time and effort to properly train your team members, they will do a poor job of it. This is why our Instant Meeting Maker video library is so great; you can train your techs so that sales and upserving become second nature to them. Some videos I recommend from the library regarding this topic are are: -Contrast Selling -Solution-Focused Service Sales -The Importance of a Sales Process -Needs vs. Wants -Win/Win -Creating Solution-Based Options Another impactful resource that we offer to help with training your techs to become better salespeople is Service Sales Success School Online. This walks them through our 12-Step sales call process, as well as client connection and finding the confidence to be a better salesperson. 4

5 Most technicians are confused by the difference between upserving and upselling. When they start to understand the value they are providing clients by giving them great options and then letting them choose, their sales will inevitably increase. When techs learn that asking better questions leads to offering better options, which results in improved sales, they realize that they aren t just upselling their clients, but upserving them. It s also helpful to remind your techs that You aren t your own client. They can do the repairs themselves; the clients can t. Just because they don t need a service agreement doesn t mean their clients don t. Always remind them not to make decisions for their clients; let the clients decide for themselves. Tell Your Clients About Your Other Services If you have any other services at all, make sure to tell your clients about them. You also need to leave them information to file in case of an emergency. Refrigerator or phone magnets are great for this. That way if there ever is an emergency they can find your number fast. It will also ensure that you get the business. If you have a service that your client can use right away, like air duct cleaning, etc., make an offer when you re there. Offer them a special deal if they get more than one service done at once. If they don t want to, give them something telling them more information about your services. Make sure it s direct response. Don t do a boring brochure or pamphlet. It should be a sales letter about your service. 5

6 Add More Services Adding more services is a way to increase your profits and create more sales opportunities. However, this is not right for everyone s situation. Whatever you do, don t just jump into adding another service if you aren t maximizing your current offerings. Having clarity of focus will really help you with this decision. For example, one of our largest clients does over $100 million per year, only doing plumbing and heating. They are clear about what works for them and they recognize the huge opportunity in this space. Conversely, there are companies with two trucks who have successfully added electrical to their plumbing/heating business. Whatever you decide, be intentional about who you are and the level of service you are providing. Make completely sure that your current offerings won t suffer by adding another service. Adding services can be extremely profitable, or it can kill your business because you lose focus on what really matters. There are also certain things to consider like having someone on call 24 hours a day, buying new equipment, or providing different training. There can be big upsides, however, because you already have an established client base, which allows you to piggy-back your new services on to existing proposals. The additional service doesn t have to be advertised to get new clients. Of course you can advertise it, but you could easily live on the clients you get from your regular services. This means that the extra service gets clients without the expense of advertising. That s why this can be very profitable; just be crystal clear about your capabilities. 6

7 WOW Your Client You want your client to be in awe after doing business with you. Does this sound hard? It may. But it s really easy. It s easy because most businesses do a lousy job. They don t even do what they are supposed to do. Of course they don t do anything extra. So it s easy for you to stand out! What can you do to WOW your clients? Several companies I know give their clients a free Memo board to go on their refrigerators. It has their company name and number on it. On the back there is maintenance information. Their clients feel special. The memo board only costs about $1.65. They give another gift that only costs a couple of dollars. Do you think their clients ever go anywhere else to get their service? They are loyal as can be, as long as the feel like they matter. 38.4% of their business is repeat business. That means they spent $3.65 to get a client and each time they come back it s cheaper and cheaper. This is brilliant. Not only do they get nearly 40% repeat business but they get 18.3% of their business from referrals! If you keep splitting that $3.65 by all the clients it generates, you ll realize why this is so powerful. Why Don t More Companies Do This? Most companies look at it as an expense. This is stupid. It is the cheapest and easiest way to get 7

8 repeat business and lots of reviews and referrals. But most don t look at the whole picture. They just look at the cost. This is ridiculous but you and I can really benefit from their shortsightedness! Here are some other ways to WOW your clients. Wear shoe covers in homes to protect the floors, and red carpet at the door. Give presentations on your ipad (or other digital notebook or laptop). Give a magnet, notebook, pen, etc. as a gift. Put a sticker on their water heater (with permission) with tips and your company info. Always present a clean and professional-looking appearance. Under promise and over deliver. Be consistent with what you do and say, from you marketing message to their service experience. Meeting expectations is dead. You need to exceed their expectations. Really listen to clients needs and wants. Jot notes during the discovery process and mirror back what they have told you. Ask questions for clarity. Always make them feel important and listened to. Use our 12-step sales process to ensure a positive, consistent experience each time a client uses your company. This process is explained in full detail in Service Sales Success School Online. Send a thank-you card for large jobs, referrals, etc. 8

9 Be a Professional What I mean by this is: 1. Have a clean truck. 2. Have everyone wear uniforms. Black pants with a clean logo t-shirt is fine. 3. Everyone should be well groomed. No 2-day stubble or straggly hair. The public is skeptical about HVAC Contractors. Let s face it; many in the industry don t have a very good reputation. The reason is because there are a lot of sleazy ones out there who rip people off. We must overcompensate for their bad reputation. Granted this is unfair, but it s the way it is. We ve all seen companies go to homes with dirty trucks. We ve seen technicians that aren t wearing proper uniforms in dirty jeans and an old ripped t-shirt. Their hair is a mess and hadn t shaved in about a week. You must look clean, neat and be organized. This earns people s trust and respect. It probably is no surprise to you that the tech mentioned above has dismal closing rates. No one wants someone looking like that to come in to their house for anything. Clean trucks are important. There are quite a few calls from people who see a clean truck in their neighborhood and need the service. Do you think they ll call if the truck had been dirty? Absolutely not. I m not saying you have to have a brand new truck but I am saying that your company needs to look good. It s understood and expected that the technical work will be done correctly, but your clients really judge the company and technician based on level of professionalism, how clean they leave the work area, appearance, and so forth. 9

10 Stop Giving Estimates & Start Giving Audits When someone calls up and asks for an estimate, we say that we don t give estimates we give Free Home Comfort Equipment Audit. Then we explain exactly what a Free Home Comfort Equipment Audit entails. This works beautifully. Prospects become much more interested and they place much more value on an Audit than they do on an estimate. I personally don t like the word estimate. Estimate implies that you aren t exactly sure how much it is going to be. It may be higher or it may be lower. A quote however is precise. This is exactly how much it will be for these services. Of course a quote to do the work you provide comes with the Free Home Comfort Equipment Audit but the prospect gets a lot more. Prospects that you give Free Home Comfort Equipment Audit to are much more likely first to become clients. And then they are much more likely to become repeat clients. After the audit they understand the importance of getting your service on a regular basis. A Home Comfort Equipment Audit is a simple procedure. You go in and analyze someone s equipment. Here s exactly what to do: 1. First cover all the problems your prospect s equipment has. Tell her whether or not problems can be fixed and how. 2. Calculate the wear age of your prospect s Heating & Cooling equipment. Her equipment may be 10 years old but only have a wear age of two years. However her equipment may be two years old but have a wear age of 10 years. Explain how long it will be before she will need to get new equipment and give her a prescription to make it last as long as possible. 10

11 This is not as hard as it sounds. You know your business. You can tell how the equipment gets treated by looking at it and by the information she fills out. Give her your best professional guesstimate as to how long it will last if she takes care of it the same way she has always been taking care of it. 3. Determine if her equipment is in good health. Healthy equipment is great for healthy wallets and for healthy people. Explain that her equipment s health can affect her and her family s health. Clean Air Reduces Indoor Air Pollution You ve heard the hype about indoor air being more polluted than outdoor air. Well, it s true. The main reason is because indoor air is trapped. Rarely does it get completely replaced. Outdoor air on the other hand gets blown away and new cleaner air replaces it. (Of course you knew that but explain it to your prospect!) 4. After analyzing her equipment, give her a complete written report of the condition. Tell her what the needs are. If her equipment needs any of the services you provide, if she chooses give her a quote of how much it would cost and how long it would take to do it. Normally you should give her this right at her house, don t have her wait days or weeks. You can create a real WOW factor (Strategy #55) during your Free Home Comfort Equipment Audit by creating a presentation on your ipad (or whatever digital notebook you prefer.) This presentation can contain all the information I just discussed, plus publish your guarantee, testimonials and even some impressive before and after photos of your work. Get creative include photos of your happy clients, with their permission of course. Whatever you do will be adding to the experience ; setting you miles ahead of your competition. As you can see by the trademark symbol the Home Comfort Equipment Audit is a process of presenting yourself and your services. It is a process that we have spent tens of thousands of dollars testing, retesting, creating, using and continually improving. This process works and has been proven by hundreds of professionals to be the most effective way to educate and present services to consumers in the most ethical and compelling way. If you start using it to the point where you 11

12 become very skilled at it you will reap huge rewards. I promise you without a doubt the implementation of this process alone will pay for your investment in my marketing strategies many times over. I ve also gone to great measures to legally protect this very powerful selling process. As a Member you have the rights to use this process and profit from it as long as you stay a current Member. The more you use this process, the more money you will make. You ll also find that your conversion rate will go up, your client satisfaction rate will improve. The understanding of the value of your services will increase; your complaints of your service and of your techs will go down. Your average sale will increase as much as 25% - 50% even 200% almost instantly and your repeat and referral business will improve. Not bad for implementing my Equipment Audit process. 12

13 A New Client Kit What s a new client kit? A new client kit is a package of information you send to every new client. This package includes your thank you letter, information about your other services (Strategy #54), any of your client programs (Strategy #91 and Strategy #92) and your referral program (Strategy #80). This new client kit does many things for you: 1. It reinforces that your company is extraordinary. 2. It makes your client think that she is getting a lot more than just an HVAC contractor. 3. It helps create the WOW effect (Strategy #55). 4. It enables you to get more review and referrals (Strategy #80). 5. It enables you to get that client to use your other services. Here is an example of what to include in your new client kit: Thank-you letter (Strategy #73) Client Dinner (Strategy #93) Referral Program (Strategy #80) Virtual Lending Library (Strategy #94) Information and offer on any other services your company offers You might also want to include a gift card or Send Out Card for larger jobs or installs. You can customize the kit based on how much they are spending with you. The new client kit is a cheap and easy way to get more business from each client and to get more referrals. This is a moneymaker. 13

14 Confirm All Appointments Confirming all your appointments is very important. Let me explain why. Does this scenario sound familiar? You have four jobs scheduled for the day. You think today is going to be a good day. You need one after last week. You or your tech does the first job and it s a teeny, tiny house. Not what you expected, but that s OK, you think to yourself. You still have three jobs left. And then you get to the second job and no one is there. You (or your tech) call back to the office but the person can t be located. You ve been stood up. You (or worse, your tech) take a nice long lunch and go to the third job. It s only an $80.00 job and the woman complains about the price. So it s not a good day after all. Then to top it all off, the fourth job isn t there either. You call her at work and she says Oh sorry I completely forgot. I m not sure when I ll have time, I ll get back with you. Now you re really fed up. Who does she think she is? She has no respect for your time. You wonder if she ll ever call back. Probably not. That good day just went down the drain. Maybe things will turn around tomorrow. Some have had that happen so many times they became sick. I m sure you realize how much money this costs you. Between wasted hours (you still have to pay your tech) and wasted gas (some jobs are 45 minutes away), you ll figure out that when days like the above occur, you lose more money than you make. No More No Shows Out of my frustration, I developed a strategy to eliminate no-shows. This strategy may be 14

15 obvious, but less than 3% of all HVAC Contractors actually do it. It s easy: You call your appointment one day before your scheduled appointment. You just tell them you re calling to make sure that they remembered and that you would be there at whatever time. You will hear over and over again Gee I completely forgot, thanks for calling. If you implement this strategy, you will virtually eliminate no shows. I also suggest having the caller check the directions with the client to make sure they are clear. Getting lost and not finding the house is another big money waster. This kills two birds with one stone. What to do if you can t reach the clients: First call in the afternoon. If she can t be reached, then call in the evening between 5:30 and 7:30. If you still can t reach her, leave a voic message and/or send an if you have the clients address. (Samples are after this section.) Then, have a CSR or the technician call the client when they are on the way to the client s home. Confirming appointments also helps build trust and confidence in your clients. Since very few companies bother to confirm appointments, when one does people perceive that company as very efficient. Clients want to do business with successful companies that have got it together. If you run into an issue with the client not being at the home when you arrive, leave a note on the door with a fee for having to make the trip to their home. I would recommend anywhere from $25-$50 depending on your drive time and/or expenses. 15

16 Be Down-To-Earth and Connect With Clients The down-to-earth strategy greatly increases sales. People want to do business with other people. They don t want to do business with a big, huge business. Tell it like it is, and tell it simply. Don t ever exaggerate how good something is because sooner or later your client is going to find out the truth. Never promise more than you can deliver. Being down-to-earth lets people get to know you. When people get to know you, they develop trust. When they develop trust they are much more likely to keep using your services and refer others to you. You should always be down-to-earth. Be honest when you are face to face with your clients and in your sales letters. When someone uses your services, they should get to know you. Let them in on your personal side. When someone reads one of your sales letters, they should feel like they know you too. Talk to clients in their language, not using a bunch of technical jargon. Speak to them on their level and to their interests. We always recommend this strategy to technicians, also. They should try their best to open up with a client and share something about themselves. This could be about a hobby, their kids, travel, etc. It s even better if they see something in the client s home that triggers a conversation about a common interest. This greatly helps establish trust and rapport between the technician and client, coming from a place of authenticity. So, this approach is twofold: you should be down-to-earth with your marketing, as well as encouraging technicians to be down-to-earth in order to connect with clients. When this double connection is made, good things happen for your company. 16

17 Let Them Choose Between You, You, And You When you are selling, it is a big mistake to only have one offer. When you only have one offer, it often makes the consumer choose between you and your competition. You don t want this. How do you make them choose you? The first trick is to get them to choose between you, you, and you. Not between you and your competition. Can you see how this is more attractive? Of course they re going to choose you between you, you and you. The only question left is which option. I suggest having at least three options. You must have at least two. What are the options? 1. Lowest service. 2. Middle service. 3. Highest service. Once the prospect sees all the different options, most likely (90% of the time) she ll choose one of them. Make sure you mention that #2 is your most popular one. Most people will choose #2 - about 70%. The others will probably be split equally between 1 and 3. Three options are great. More than five will only confuse your prospect. I think three to five is the perfect number of choices. Of course, if they want part of one and part of another, you can easily do that special one for them. 17

18 On your options sheet you should have a lengthy description of the services included in that package, so they can see they are getting a lot for their money. Don t limit yourself to only these three basic options. If you have other services, you can easily add them in. This is where it s crucial for your technicians to be skilled at creating options sheets. If the presentation is off, it throws the entire sales process off. There should never be a question that the client will be doing business with you, they just need to figure out which of your options to choose. The presentation process is one of the most crucial components of our 12-Step Sales Process, which can be found in our Service Sales Success School Online product. We also have multiple Instant Meeting Maker training videos that will help your technicians with their presentation skills. Here are a few: -Perfect Options Sheet Creation -Six C s of Delivering Options -Creating Solution-Based Options -When and Why Techs Don t Offer Options -Presentation Killers -Simple Effective Presentations Consistently training your technicians regarding effective options delivery will ensure that you are getting the most from every call. You ve spent the marketing dollars to attract and retain that client; make sure your techs understand how to maximize every opportunity. 18

19 Never Leave Them Empty-Handed You should never leave a client empty-handed. Your techs shouldn t ever leave a client emptyhanded either. If you do, you are wasting an opportunity to make more money. You can easily give them information about your other services that they aren t using. Here is a partial list of things you can leave with your client: 1. Review and Referral Program 2. Why she should get your service at least every 12 months 3. Your maintenance plan 4. Indoor Air Quality 5. Your other services No matter what else you give your client, you should always give her your review and referral program information. You always want your clients to refer, so you should encourage them to do so. Have you ever heard of the saying The Squeaky Wheel Gets the Oil? Well, it s true. Ask and you shall receive. Since you don t get to see your clients very often, don t waste an opportunity to educate and sell. Leave them with plenty of goodies to read (or listen to or watch). This is a golden opportunity that 99% of HVAC Contractors miss. Join us in that 1%! 19

20 Videos Now, don t look at this strategy and think it s an easy replacement for training selling techniques, because it isn t. Some companies have their technicians show sales videos to clients because they think their techs aren t good salespeople and aren t good at connecting with clients. There is no such thing; there are only untrained technicians who don t understand the power of personal connection and sales skills. The only time technicians should be showing a short video to a client is to help simply explain a technical concept, like how air flows through a home or how a plumbing system is all tied together with supply, waste, and venting. The visual aspect of video or other images can be used to help a client understand something technically complicated, which is a good supplemental sales tool, but that s it. If the technician hasn t built trust and rapport with a client already, a video won t do much to help the process, but If the client already likes the tech, a video will help them get a visual for the work that is being done. Sometimes it even adds value to the amount of work that the tech will be doing with the repair or install. Think about this: you wouldn t go into an electronics store hoping for advice regarding the best TV to purchase for your specific needs and have the salesperson show you some video, would you? No, you would want that salesperson s expert advice to help assess your needs and pick the best option for you. Don t cut corners when it comes to training your techs. Your clients want an expert opinion regarding their exact situation, not a canned recording. Use our training resources to help create a strong sales process, incorporating technical videos only as supplemental tools in the sales process. 20

21 Learn To Be Happy Being A Sales Superstar Don t hate selling. We sell every day of our lives. Not just at work but at home. You sell your spouse on all sorts of things - going out to dinner where you want to go, travel, etc. Everyone sells every day of their lives. Maybe you never thought of it that way, but it s true. Your spouse may be harder to sell than any of your clients! But you aren t afraid of doing it. You aren t shy. So why would you be with your clients? You do it with your spouse, friends and team members because you want it your way. It s the same things with clients. (Of course, you can t insist with them!) Don t confuse selling with pressuring. No one wants to be pressured. They hate it. Never pressure your clients - that s a good way to lose them! You sell by educating. For example, don t just say Do you want this? Your response most likely will be How much is it? or What is it followed by How much is it? What you should say is We offer [service or product] which does... and explain exactly what it does and why it s important. Then you get ready to close the sale. Explain the different options (Strategy #61) and ask Which do you want? 21

22 There is a huge difference here. In the first part the client feels like they are being given something that is totally optional and just costs more money. In the second part, the client realizes what it is, why they need it, and then were asked which option they wanted to go with. Do you see the difference? I hope so, because it means doubling your average job and therefore doubling your profits! Many technicians and salespeople get nervous during the presentation and closing part of a sales call because that s when objections happen. Here s the key: handle possible objections before they come up. That way you ve covered all your bases by educating, not by pressuring. If our 12-Step Sales Process (which can be found in Service Sales Success School Online) has been executed effectively, there will be minimal objections to deal with. Here are a few Instant Meeting Maker training videos on the subject, too: -4 Types of Objections -Power of Because -The Importance of a Sales Process -5 Tips to Improve Sales, Service, and Reviews -Purpose Behind Selling -Expert Status as a Technician 22

23 Reschedule Next Appointment For every maintenance job you do, you should reschedule the next appointment in 6 or 12 months. You leave too much to chance if you expect the client to call you back in 2 months to reschedule. Some people fight this, but it works if you make it work. I know an HVAC guy who thinks it is ridiculous to have someone schedule so far in advance. So when he asks them to, his clients perceive his attitude and say no. I also know HVAC guys who do this and it works like a charm. You can easily double your business by doing this one technique. Here s how you do it: When the job is completed, you (or your tech) take the owner through the house and see if she is happy with the work you ve done. If she is, then explain to her how important it is to have service regularly. Explain to your client that you normally schedule appointments a few months in advance. Tell her that she can reschedule her next appointment today for 6 to 12 months from now. Explain that you will call a week before the appointment to remind her. If she needs to reschedule then, that s fine. Make sure you explain there is no obligation. Tell her that she can cancel the appointment at any time if something else comes up. Each market and system has different maintenance needs, so you will need to explain to the client what those are for their specific situation. This is truly no different than scheduling dentist or doctor appointments a few months in advance; the equipment needs maintenance just like people do! This technique is simply amazing. It creates lots of profit for you. 23

24 You can profit from this technique in many ways: 1. You will get a lot more repeat business. Since you don t leave it up to the client to remember who you are and to call in to schedule an appointment in 6 to 12 months, you get many more clients coming back. 2. You keep the procrastinators in line. These are the people who want the service, but then take months to call you. People get busy, distracted, etc. Over five years, you will have serviced them one to four more times than you normally would have. If every client does this, think how much more you ll be making and how much better you will be taking care of your clients and their equipment. This technique is easy. You can start today. You should start seeing the profits roll in within 6 to 12 months. Don t forget to give a reminder call or even a text message letting your client know that you will be coming to service the equipment. A sample script for the reminder letter is at the end of this section. You can use it as-is or modify it. (Especially if you are texting it.) I also recommend calling one day in advance to remind the client of the appointment. If you are using this technique, you need to do this. 24

25 Dear [client], Hello. This is [your name] with [company name]. I just wanted to remind you of our upcoming appointment. We scheduled this a few months ago and I just wanted to make sure you remembered. You scheduled us to [identify service]: [Fill in date and time] If for some reason you cannot make this appointment, please call our office at [your number] to reschedule. I m sure you re looking forward to clean, healthy home and air. Sincerely, [Your name] <<<Modify this script as needed to fit your business>>> 25