Hard sell, soft sell, pros and cons...

[Beth]

Everyone on here has had something of value to contribute. It's good to learn about the different ways people are working successfully. You never know when this advice will come in handy.

I started another thread, so that we can share some more functional, how do we keep the business running on the inside, type info.

Beth

 

[Mike Hughes]

Cody........I have never read something so difficult to comprehend in all my life..........tone down the graphics, dude! I almost edited it myself.......

 

[Bob]

NICE POST, maybe the best i've read

 

[Beth]

Bringing this back up to the top. For those who are new and have not found it, there is some good reading here.

Spoke to a customer today who recently decided to go with us. Our competition's bid was 800 for the deck, ours was 1,700. Quite a difference.

Consultative sales works. Be the most expensive, educate the customers, and present your company with a professional image.

No kidding, it works!
Beth

 

[Dan Flynn]

I agree 100%

 

[sprayandclean]

Most Expensive

Beth,
My sentiments also. Other than making more money for the job, if you bid high and get the job, you now have enough pay to take your time and make it absolutely right, and go back for free customer service...

After I sell a 'high end' deck job (my record so far is;competitor's bid $420.00, my winning bid $1890) I always return to check on things and touch up within one week, then I return in about a month and check again.

I am the most expensive in my area and I can not keep up with the work load.

Food for thought.

Bates McLain
Spray and Clean / ________ Deck Care
(Now if would only quit raining)

 

[Tim Lynch]

Originally posted by Beth
present your company with a professional image.

Beth

Nice re-read thanks for bring it to the top.

One thing I have logged is the jobs gained by bidding decks after a job towards the end of the day vs bidding a job in the morning or weekends.

Bidding after a job once and a great while.
Bidding in morning and weekends allmost a sure bet.
I allways wear white coveralls not dirty and not to clean, and white collar shirts.

My slogan in the yellow pages gets results from customers alone.

" I do more than show up at bid time and pay day! I Do it all! "

That line alone gets me work before I even meet the customer, I am told many times how they like the slogan.

Also one thing that helped me in Biz was working at the largest locally owned hardware store for 13 years, customer service training never goes away. I tell my Son if he wants to go into the biz he should work for the man for a few years in retail sales no commisions. No school can teach you true customer service and respect for the customer.

 

[kjacques21]

A good sales person;
build rapor,
identify the type of personality of the buyer and relate to them in their terms.
Ask great questions and uncover what the most importsnt needs their clients have.
Provide a solution thats meets their needs/do not product dump or spend all your time convincing and telling them all the thing you can do...Most of the time they are really not all that interested.
Have memorize answers to all objections and return to asking again for the business.
Make it easy to do business with you.
Ask for money and lots of it.
Not be afraid or worn out by rejection.
Do not take things personally.
Do not be afraid of being pushy.
Provide a great product and service if you cant find something else to do.
Have 100% confidence in your product
work hard...

It's ok if you do not want to be "A HARD SELL" person.
However, in my experience, I have found those that abhor a push or hard sell approach to be people who just dont like the sales process and don'y understand it. They want people to say yes and see automatically how great their service is...This does happen, but not all that often.
We live in a competitive world. There are all sorts of people ready to eat your lunch. I can not tell you how often I see on this board scorn for newbies undercutting the market and stealing your business...Which is it? you dont need to sell and you have all the business you need and competition doesnt matter? Or do you faced increased competition and it is harder to grow your business. As fsar as low ballers I dont care what business you are in there is always someone out their who will be less expensive than you (even if you are the lowballer)
Which is why lowballing as a strategy is bad because if thats what you based your business on you better always be cheap.
That being said Price does matter you should be THE BEST VALUE
whic can mean cheapest but usually means that you have a fair price somewhere in the middle but you get either better quality or more product for your money.
Great business owners, people, sales people worry and focus on what they can control , their habits, practices and product. They react to competition strategize against and find a way to win.

Maybe you have a business that is mostly refferal based or repeat bussiness, great stuff! But for most of us we want our business to grow we want to make more money and to do that you need NEW BUSINESS.

Heres a question, how many of you have new business goals? Such as I want 8 new clients a month? Do you know what it takes in marketing, sales calls, Direct mail or any other biz driver to accomplish that.?

Solid sales is more than technique it is a system and it starts with understanding your sales cycle and how excaclty a new piece of business is generated....Ahhh but I digress...Sales is important to me and it should be to you if you want to grow your business.
Sooooo do not discount the effect of solid sales systems and practices....

Sorry for the rant an disorganized one at that but I feel better now

As a "newbie" any other newbies want to call and chat please do!
Or any veterans want to call and tell me "what for" thats OK also!

Ken
Deck@adelphia.net
843-816-6287