Closing a “Favre-Type” Buyer

Helping Your Customer Decide

How To Close the Indecisive Buyer – We are excited to bring the Hour of Sales Power back to you again LIVE and unfiltered. Here are the facts about this exciting event…

WHEN: Thursday Night, August 26th at 8pm eastern – 5pm pacific time

HOW: You must reserve your spot by filling out the form below.

NOTE: This event is public and does not cost anything to watch, however you MUST reserve your spot by signing up to join us below.

The Hour Of Sales Power WATCH IT LIVE!

Name:

Email:

Company:

City and State:

Cell Phone Number – Remind me via text – (Not Required):

We respect your email privacy

Powered by AWeber email marketing

“Tired” Of Being The Boss

I know I may be dating myself but I remember an old Randy Newman song called “My Life” in which Randy in the song, speaking in the voice of Bruce Springsteen utters these words that still ring in my ears. He sang, “Randy, I’m tired of being the boss. Can you be the boss for awhile?”

Being the boss is difficult and especially so regarding managing sales people or front-line employees who have been given the chore of listening to customer problems that clients have and then selling the solutions.  Of course in the service world, problems are just opportunities to serve.

Over the years I have observed a few characteristics of the mediocre sales manager.  These people are definitely “tired” of being the boss and it shows through their ineffective styles of management which leads to poor results by their people.  Here we begin to explore why these managers are so tired.

Mediocre Managers Are Delusional

The most common mistake that poor managers make is to over-value their team. Vince Lombardi once said that winning a championship begins with the willingness to take a hard look at your team and find your weaknesses before your opponent does.  The same principle is true when trying to build a winning sales and service team.

Looking at the following simple management continuum you can begin to see the weaknesses of today’s managers. This process is timeless because it always works when you honor it. The fundamental cycle of successful management is disarmingly easy:

a. Finding the Right People

b. Train Them To WIn

c. Coach Them To Stay On Course

d. Hold Them Accountable

Many sales managers are deluded into thinking that they have the right people and rarely question it because they fall in love with their team.  They let the social pressure of friendship win over demanding results.  Accountability or lack of it, is usually a pathetic byproduct because most manage in fear of losing the mediocre performer rather than in coaching or removing them.

The Simplified People Test

Here is a simple test if you think you have the right people working for you.  Next time you walk by the under-performing employee ask yourself if they are worth your time to coach them.  If you look at that person and say to yourself, “I’ve tried everything, they will never change.” Then you have your answer.  Deep inside you know you have the wrong person. The next step is to take action to either coach or remove the employee and find another who will grab the opportunity to succeed.

However, if you think you as a manger may have fallen short in one of the area of education such as training or coaching, then by all means step in a help save the person before it is too late.

Last month, from my home in Templeton, Calif., I planned a wedding shower for my sister and future brother-in-law, who live in the Chicagoland area. As I started to make all the necessary phone calls to find a venue, caterer, flowers and so on, I quickly realized that even in a down economy, some companies just never get it when it comes to providing good service.  Had the word service become generic like Kleenex or Jell-O?

I called various  companies and explained  this was the first wedding shower I had ever planned for my one and only baby sister, that I wanted it to be very special and, well, perfect. Though I told them that I was 2,200 miles away, I was usually passed along to someone’s voicemail or told that I would get a call back.  Or my least favorite response was the suggestion to go online and download a form that I would need to fill out and fax back and then wait for an improbable response.

I was very skeptical at this point about getting reliable results, as you could probably imagine, and decided I would have to fly into Chicago and just put the entire thing together in person. I had become disgusted with the whole process until I came across Kathy, the owner of On Occasion, a caterer in Palatine, IL.  As I interviewed Kathy, I began to realize that she was a little different from all the rest.

She had started off the conversation by asking me some questions, and once she took me through her process, I began to realize that she might be more than just your usual caterer. So I thought I would test her service and ask her if she does anything like, oh, let’s say provide tablecloths?  She answered with an emphatic “yes.”  I then said, “How about plates and utensils?”  She nodded while saying, “Of course.”  I thought I’d throw her off with the next one.  I said, “Kathy, do you think you can handle the centerpieces?  I have a specific idea in mind using Vanda orchids that I saw in a Martha Stewart magazine.  Is that something you think you can handle if I forward you a picture?”

Kathy stopped writing and put her pen down and said, “Julie, I want you to think about the word caterer and then tell me what it means to you.”   Suddenly it all became so very clear.  Kathy must have seen the look on my face, and as she put her hand on my shoulder, she said,   “My sole job is to attend to your needs and wants so that you can give your one and only baby sister the very special and perfect wedding shower that you always dreamed of.”

Needless to say, all the anxiety that had started to build up in my neck and shoulders in recent  weeks had now dissipated as though I had taken  a few sips of an apple martini while sitting at the bar waiting for my table at Ruth’s Chris Steak House.  I could now take a deep, long breath and stop worrying, knowing that everything is going to be just fabulous in Kathy’s more-than-capable hands.  It didn’t matter that Kathy wasn’t the cheapest caterer out there or that her shop was small with only a few employees or that she was located two towns away. What mattered is that she took the time to understand my needs, which were to have someone take care of everything for me. Kathy would provide the service, so that I could also enjoy the party.

If you look at the word “service,” or serve, you will find that there are many definitions.  So I would like to offer one up of my own.  Serve: To gratify the wants and needs of your customers without them having to lift a finger, make unnecessary phone calls, download forms or fill out contact sheets.  The most your customer should have to do for you is provide payment.  The rest is up to you and your team of people.

Maybe we should change the title of Customer Service to Customer Caterer.

Watch this funny video on  “Confessions of A Boiler Room Junkie” by Gwendolyn Bounds of the Wall Street Journal. Then read her article on how more and more consumers are doing “mechanical makeovers” when it comes to their residential heating and cooling home improvement needs by clicking on the link below the image.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704862404575350720302248474.html?KEYWORDS=In+the+new+dream+home

This is a video of some our ContractorSelling.com members sharing their stories about the greatest challenges facing service contractors today. Watch this fascinating segment of how keeping an open mind can change your life.

Watch this funny video about a sales manager who is trying to describe the most important aspects of selling his service. Although it is hilarious. I think many sales managers can find some of themselves here.

Are These Skills Really “Soft?”

One of the things that has always made me crazy is the labeling of sales and customer service as a so called “soft” skill. If sales and service are soft then why is it so hard to get your team to put them into practice?  I often wonder, “Who was the dunderhead, that coined this term?”

My best guess is that it is probably someone who has a very strong technical skill-set that has failed to develop equally strong customer skills. This person (Probably a guy) then trying to justify this weakness, downplays the importance of customers by labeling this uber-important skill as “soft” which implies that it is not very important.

Selling Skills Are Essential

The essential skills of selling your services at a profitable price while providing service that exceeds that price is very rare indeed. In fact, many careers, companies and customers have been lost due to the inability to implement them. Far from soft, they are very powerful and can indeed change the lives of employees, customers and companies.

In fact, when you think about it, your “Hard” (technical) skills will whither away fast if you fail to sell or create value in your service. After all, if you can’t convince a customer they should purchase from you, then you will not do the work. This means that all of our tech and product knowledge never gets put into action. Eventually you will lose your skills due to atrophy.

Do You Diagnose People?

What we are talking about here is the ability of your team to diagnose a customer and their family so that your technical solutions can be “on-code” with these buyers. It really amounts to our willingness to listen to our customers words and feelings in a way that helps us find the perfect solution for them. This creates a higher value for the service they provide.

Conversely those who are great at the technical part of their jobs but can’t communicate the value of the service they are about to do, will find themselves struggling to find work. Think of all the families of those employees who are suffering because of this.

The Happy Loser

These “happy losers” are stuck in a rut, going about their lame but persistent business of trying not to go broke. No doubt they will blame, the economy, the president, employees, vendors or anybody else but themselves for their failure. I call them “happy losers” because they are fine with mediocrity or failure as long as other contractors they know are failing too. Basically, they understood the work but they do not know how to provide service or know how to sell that service. That is their legacy.

Essential Skills Used By Very Few

On the other hand there are a small but growing group of service contractors who are working to master these essential skills. Their employees are working year round. They are earning hundreds of thousands of dollars a year, while the “company-next-door” continues to struggle not knowing these “soft” skills.

In summary, one must be crazy to not see the importance of these so called “soft” skills. It is the difference between a life wasted, families broken and financial struggle OR a legacy of value, quality family togetherness and living the life you have always imagined. This is “soft?” This is easy? Let’s stop with the “soft” label and let everyone know how essential this skill is to become a true success.

Addition by Subtraction

I recently spent a rainy Saturday afternoon watching a show called “Hoarding: Buried Alive.”  I really didn’t have time to sit and watch TV but I couldn’t stop watching.  Once I was able to get a peak into what looked like your everyday average person’s home I found I needed to see more, like watching a train wreck. 

The show takes you inside not only the home of an extreme hoarder but also their mind.  They give you a peak at their compulsions to accumulate and store large quantities of what most of us would call junk, but to them are prized possessions. Although I have never been inside someone’s home as extreme as these, I have been to many contractor offices that I might nominate for the show.   It really got me to thinking about part four of our eight part series on how to do addition by subtraction and create more space to organize your contracting office.

Admitting You Have a Problem

I suspect that most of us hoard at least a little bit, collecting or holding on to items that are probably not necessary or useful.  For instance, I like to hang on to every piece of paper that comes my way for fear of possibly needing it down the line.  Many contracting companies tend to hold on to certain items they feel may come in useful in the future, taking up valuable real estate within their compound and setting a poor example for current and prospective employees.

I’ve seen all sorts of things like old computer monitors, keyboards, phone systems, cell phones, pagers,  letterhead and envelopes with old logos, expired marketing pieces, endless supplies of pens, markers, highlighters and sticky note pads and damaged parts and equipment that have been pulled out of customer’s homes with the good intention of “using it for future training purposes.”  This is just the beginning. I can not even tell you how much space is wasted by those of you in the HVAC industry storing sheet metal that you will never use.  I’ve seen contractors build garages and warehouses, purchase used trailers and rent an offsite storage facility when they’ve run out of room to store these items. Is it really worth it?

If you are not sure if this is you, you should probably seek further help. I won’t be able to help you with this one blog post.  For those of you who do realize that you have a problem letting go I have a few tips for you on how to start organizing your space so you can save time and money and reduce your stress and frustration levels.

Where Should You Start?

Start by determining which areas of your office you want to improve.  Maybe your problem is paper like mine, or a clutter problem from parts and equipment being returned to the shop.  Or maybe it’s just a lack of knowledge not knowing how to properly dispose of certain items like office equipment or getting rid of tools that no longer work. Once you’ve decided which areas you want to attack first you can start to develop a process to get organized and stay there.

Next, use a sorting system to figure out what stays and what goes.  This can be plastic bins or cardboard boxes. Or if you need something bigger maybe garbage cans or empty 55 gallon drums.  You can even lay down tarps or blankets to sort items on.   Now label each sorting area as follows: Stays, Garbage, Donate, and if you really need to, a Not Sure.  Although I learned that with the Not Sure bin you need to give yourself a time limit to make a decision.  Something like 48 hours so the items don’t end up just piling up again.

Once you have sorted through your first area and decided on the items you want to keep you need to decide where each item will go and label that space.  You might be wondering why you need to label the space.  I feel strongly that if this particular item that you are willing to give up valuable space on your shelves or in your office, and go through all the trouble of creating a system to keep from things getting cluttered again is not worth labeling, then it is probably not worth keeping.  With this said, it you have an item that you only purchase once a year or so and is taking up space on the shelf, you may want to rethink whether or not to keep that item and go a different route.

Maybe you have an old outdated dot matrix printer (I’ve seen it in many a contractor offices out there) and you keep the paper and ink cartridges stored in your warehouse  You may want to consider upgrading your printers.  Try purchasing the same models, or at least brands, so that you can keep things orderly.

Or let’s say you have a CSR who likes to use a particular style pen to write with while the techs in the field are using a custom logo company pen.  Well I say what’s good for one is good for all.  Unless there is some physical reason for needing the comfort grip 5000 with automatic refilling ink wells and a leather holster, I can’t imagine why everyone can’t use the same thing.  Next thing you know that CSR has left the company and now you need to upgrade to the 6000 model for the new CSR.

I can go on with example after example about how we purchase items that we don’t need and rarely use.  You can substitute pens with staplers, scissors, markers, highlighters, sticky notes, company tools, uniforms, phones systems, software, and so on.  If you are not willing to find a permanent space and label an item so it can be inventoried, then it is probably not worth keeping.

Develop Your System

Now that your area is neat and organized you need to develop a system for keeping it that way.  I like to walk myself through the situation.  Let’s say the problem is with UPS deliveries and boxes piling up around the front office.  You might want to start by thinking about who should really be accepting these items.  If you are getting deliveries for supplies or parts and have an inventory person or warehouse, then start by having all deliveries going to that person or place and not the front office.

Maybe you’re a small three man shop and you don’t have a person or warehouse, than think about whom and where it would be best to accept deliveries and start there.  Have that person sort through items as they come in immediately and put the itmes in their proper labeled place.  If that person has another job which takes precedence, then have them put them aside until the end of the day and take 15-30 minutes to sort and put each item away in its proper labeled space.  Make it part of their job description on their priority list.

Maybe your problem is not with boxes but with paperwork from the field piling up.  Start by taking yourself through your paperwork process.  Who should techs be turning in tickets and paperwork to and how often?  What should be included? Should it be paper clipped or stapled?  What type of check in process is there?  Do they just throw the tickets in the basket or is someone there to ask questions and give detailed information to?  After turning the paperwork in what’s the next step?  Does it go to accounting, dispatch, or customer service? What does each of these departments do with the paperwork? Is there a checks and balance system and how long before the paperwork is processed and put away?  All this and more will need to be considered for each problem area in order to keep things running smoothly and from piling up again.

Document Your Process

Once you have the system figured out for keeping your contracting office neat and organized you need to document your system and keep it transparent.  If you want to keep your systems ongoing as you lose certain employees and gain new ones you need to keep your process out in the open where everyone can see.  When I say out in the open I mean “in your face” transparent with step by step instructions and pictures.

Think like a fast food restaurant where there is a sign saying “Line Starts Here.”  They usually also have a sign saying “Order Here” and “Pay Here” as if it were that difficult to figure out.  Then there are huge blown up menus right in front of your eyes with all your choices along with another huge sign marked “Drink Fountain-Free Refills.”   It’s hard to go wrong in a fast food restaurant.

Employees need the same thing when it comes to keeping your office organized.  They have already been trained for years by other businesses to look for the signs on how to do things.  Why not run with this concept?

Going Forward

De-cluttering your office with items you rarely or never use will give you more space for things better served, like maybe a training or lunch room for employees.  Who knows?  Maybe now you can have an office of your own instead of sharing with your manager or spouse.

Not only will your office look cleaner and neater, you will be able to attract and retain better employees who share the same values as you. These values extend throughout the field to technicians trucks and in customers homes. Remember the old phrase “monkey see monkey do?”  If your employees see that you respect your office then they will want to fit in by respecting it also.

Pride yourself on placing value on a simplified environment with fewer things and you will never have to go through the process of de-cluttering your office again.

It Doesn’t Cost Anything To Listen

I love this video of world famous entrepreneur Richard Branson because it illustrates a principle so simple yet so elusive to most business owners in the service contracting industry. The principle is the ability to listen to the ideas of others rather than making assumptions that you think you may already know everything you need to about being successful. Watch the video and contemplate your ability to listen to your employees, customers or others who may give you some clues to be more successful.

Don’t Be Stopped By Sales Terrorists

I received a call from a service contracting sales person named Fred about a situation he found himself in that really took his confidence down a notch. Fred is the top performer at his company and has achieved a 73% closing rate with a 55% gross margin on his jobs. By all measure of success he was a doing a great job.

Then he had a call where after presenting his customized solutions, his buyer lit the fuse on a sales-bomb and completely devastated Fred. The buyer listened to Fred’s presentation and during the course of Fred handling objections, the buyer said, “Fred, you sound like a used car salesman.”

Blind Sided By a Sales Terrorist

Now Fred had always focused his sales approach on creating respect, honor and trust and so that statement completely devastated him. In fact, not only did he not sell that job but he then went on a streak of 14 sales presentations on a row without selling a job. He called me asking what he could do to turn things around.

Confidence Blown Away

I asked Fred what did he think had changed after that call and he said that he was doing everything the same except he began to back off on asking for the job and handling objections during the course of his calls. When I asked him why, he said, “Joe, I think I just lost my confidence after that call where I was insulted by being called a slimy sales person.”

I asked him how often has someone told him that he acted like a “used car salesman” before. Fred answered, “Hmmmm I can’t recall ever being called that before. That’s what really got me.” I informed Fred that he was the victim of a sales terrorist. These are people that love to make sales people hurt. They think it’s part of negotiation.

Get Back On The Horse After Falling Off

I asked Fred, “Why are you allowing this one person out of the hundreds of calls you have done, to determine the value of you as a sales person?” he said, “Uh, I don’t know. Sounds kinda silly huh?”

Yes it is silly indeed. I got Fred to eventually realize that if he was going to fail that he should go down with all of the bullets out of his gun. To try everything he knew to close the sale if he really believed in his solutions. Over the next few weeks Fred returned to his normal strong closer status and sold 14 of the next 20 calls he did.

Don’t Be a Victim Of Sales Terror

Whenever you get feedback from a customer that is less than flattering, always ask your self if this is a trend that keeps repeating itself or if it is an isolated sales terrorist incident. Why put so much weight on the feedback of only one person?

What I mean is that if you have found a successful way of selling that is working for you where most of your buyers are telling you that you have done a great job, why change your approach based on the opinion of only one or two people?

Don’t Let Terrorists Win

Never let a sales terrorist bring your confidence down. Learn what works for you and keep doing it even if a few customers don’t like it. Celebrate your success and failure evenly and study the trends. After all, results don’t lie.

Look at yourself and the value you create for your customers by the positive results you get for them not only the few times you crash and burn. You’re a sales pro and you know the principles behind what works. Use those principles over and over to achieve the results you want.