Making the $30,000 Sale

Sales Byte®

Making the $30,000 Sale

As you can imagine, hearing about a $30,000 sale from one of my workshop graduates is a real thrill. And to hear about this several times in one week is really fun. It’s not complicated, actually, and the first and biggest step is a mental one. You start by being willing to work through any preconceptions that you may have that are blocking yourself from selling jobs for that amount of money. Try these simple steps:

Believe you will. Notice I said “will” not can. There’s a difference.

Begin every call without judgment about what a customer will or won’t invest in or how much money they might decide to spend.

Invest the time to discover your customer’s needs by surveying the home with them, taking measurements or taking pictures and videos of their problem. My current favorite is to use a GoPro® camera synced with a tablet so the customers, from the comfort of their living room, watch you discover what’s not designed or installed correctly in their attic or crawl space.

Have the courage to offer a complete solution to their problems. By complete I mean that your “best” of the choices you offer has no compromises, cuts no corners or skimps on quality in any way. This is the system that Warren Buffet or Bill Gates would love to have. In a reverse way of thinking, ask yourself, if you were the relatively uninformed buyer, if you would appreciate someone else respecting you enough to provide such a choice to you. I know what the answer will be.

Ask for the sale with confidence that your customers will want it, using the finance choice close. This seems so hard for many to do but it can be the natural conclusion to your sales process…asking them to pick a solution that seems right for them and their family, and to also choose which way they would like to invest. “So you have a double choice here. Which of these solutions makes sense to you, and which of the investment choices would you be most comfortable with?”

So how does this create the $30,000 sale? To begin, people who are inclined to give you the time to survey their home, who will appreciate you asking questions, listening and taking notes on what is important to them, are also inclined to consider the concept of “solving problems the right way” rather than just wanting a low-price bid. Their actual involvement in your sales process indicates they would like information. Through that education they become more likely to see the oft hidden value in proper system design, the best installation practices and doing business with a reputable contractor. Once informed, many will surprise you with the choice that they make. Don’t disappoint them by keeping the $30,000 choice a secret.

Good Selling!

Tom

I Already Know How to Sell Better Than I Do

About 30 years ago I heard a story that stuck with me, and you may find it as interesting and instructional as I have. This is how I remember it. It had to do with the terrible time farmers who had relocated from the Central U.S. to the much dryer and windier Midwest were having in the 1920’s. Farmers who had learned to plow land that was rich with topsoil had been used to first turning over large clumps of earth, and over-plowing again and again until a much finer soil condition was left, making it terrific for seeding and growing productive crops. That same technique used on the Midwest’s dryer soil left a layer of fine dirt. Without rain to hold it down any strong wind would simply blow it away, sometimes hundreds of miles before settling. Government experts were sent West to talk to the farmers and educate them about a different plowing technique which essentially left the large clumps for planting and were much more resistant to the wind’s effects. The experts were met with stubborn resistance from the farmers who, for generations, had done things the same way. As the story goes, an exasperated expert asked, “Don’t you want to know how to plow better?” The reply from one farmer was, “I already know how to plow better than I do.”

Think about that. How much resistance do you have to being open to changing what might already be producing acceptable results? Are you convinced you are at the top of your game so that you are “already better than you are”?

Time changes things. People change things. What you have learned about selling might have gotten you to the here and now but surely there is more that can be learned to create even greater success in the future.

Your sales career is something of true value that impacts everyone you sell to and everyone who depends on you to make the sale. Invest in yourself. Read a book, search for an online article, go to a workshop, do some role playing…keep learning and growing.

Learn how to sell better than you do!

To get started, check out the dozens of blogs on my web site, www.sellingtrust.com.

Good Selling!

Tom