Sales Byte®

The Fourth Sales Step You Can’t Skip

Creating a BEST BETTER GOOD CHOICES Proposal at the kitchen table is next.

It surprises me, or more accurately, depresses me, that after all these years of showing how effective giving three system choices is, so many seasoned retail sales people still don’t do this. They show only one or two choices, or if three, show only the equipment without the very important enhancements and warranty upgrades included as a total system solution.

This works. To prove it, imagine I’m holding three different brands of bottled beer and I ask you to pick one. You would make your choice fairly quickly, depending on how thirsty you were. For most people, when given choices, we pick one, first by “deselecting” what we don’t want, eliminating them, to get to the one we do want. Not sure about this? Give it a try with someone and then ask if they were aware of saying “no…no…yes”.

At the kitchen table be prepared to show your customers three complete system choices. You can create preprinted forms, use a laptop with software or even a tablet connected to your favorite online proposal creator.

Three system choices, each with alternative finance amounts shown, will produce the best results for you and for your customers.

Just do it.

Other stories

Professional Best-Better-Good CHOICES® Worksheets in Minutes

By Mark Sims

Creating a customized Best-Better-Good proposal at the kitchen table can be a daunting task. With all that we have to do while in the client’s home there is no time to waste. TRUST PRO® online has a fully integrated sales module that specifically support’s the T.R.U.S.T.® selling principles Tom teaches, including needs assessment, client concerns and the development of a 3-choice, fully-priced proposal worksheet. 

This proposal development process is created by involving the client in the selection of the CHOICES®, thus improving their ownership, interest and desire.  Once the CHOICES® are selected in just a few minutes, they can be customized as required or requested (again with the client’s direct involvement), pulling the client towards a final decision to buy. The ease, and speed, of this process means that you have more time to help the clients learn about why they should by from you!

Customization includes a built-in Financing Calculator to allow you to easily work financing into the equation and an Energy Savings Calculator that shows monthly savings side-by-side with the monthly investment.

From the CHOICES® worksheet, it just takes a click to go to an individual detailed Proposal for final client review and just another click to a Contract for the client to sign!  All this is can be done from an iPad or other tablet.  Documents can be printed or you can go paperless – your choice!

All CHOICES® are created based on known costs and estimated task hours.  Once created, keeping costs and other information up-to-date is a breeze.  Learn more by going to the TRUST PRO® online website.

Mark Sims is President of Chameleon Management Solutions, Inc. and is the creator of TRUST PRO® online, the only fully functioning online HVAC contracting business management software.

Price Conditioning Using Car Payments

By David Piscitelli

The powerful influence of price conditioning is all around us.  When we see three choices of a type of product or service we’re interested in, the highest priced choice prepares us for the two below it. Let’s learn from the retailing experts and use what they know is effective.

When showing three system choices on the proposal our customers see the very best as both a choice AND it conditions them to the price for the other options.  If there is an $18,000 fully-loaded hybrid system, $12,000 does not seem too bad by comparison. 

The same holds true for the financing. One of my favorite techniques is to set an investment amount expectation before the presenting the proposal.  If you have a page in a company presentation that shows you offer financing, and mention that “many of our clients choose financing of some kind”, you have taken the first step.  Here’s one that’s even better.

The auto industry has set the stage for us.  When you shop for cars what do you see? You see $259, $329, $419, $528…monthly payments.  People expect to spend this amount, over generally 60 – 72 months, on a car.  When you mention that you have financing available, say, “Many of our clients choose financing of some kind, and one of the more popular choices is 4.99% over 60 months, kind of like a car payment”.  We don’t blink at a $249 car payment…many won’t hesitate on the same payment for a $20,000 HVAC system (1.25% GE Money payment factor).

Price-conditioning a new HVAC system as equal with a car payment…it works!

David Piscitelli is an in-home Retail Sales Professional for a Seattle-based residential heating and air conditioning contractor. He can be reached at david@sellingtrust.com.

Back to top