The following is an excerpt from article which features an interview the the good folks at Plumbinginfo.com did with me (America’s Sales Coach Joe Crisara) in the fall of 2012. Author Sean Kavanaugh was researching sales systems for plumbers in attempt to help those struggling in this economy. He was searching for a true “customer focused” system that would benefit clients and contractors when he came across our material.
I invited Sean to audit the training and he actually attended the 6-day training program with 4 weeks of follow up coaching so he could see first hand how it worked in the field. Sean called me back several times to convey how the results were beyond his expectations.
After seeing these results and how it increased his revenue and also how clients were pleased with the process, he requested this interview and I decided to post it here so those who have visited us but needed more info about our services could understand the motives and science behind our program.
With the economy seemingly in an endless loop of futility and so many people in the contracting trades struggling, it is inevitable that we reached this point in time. That, is when a consumer has a problem with their HVAC, plumbing or electrical system but they are shocked at the prices at first glance and decide to tell the proud tradesman they want to either find someone who is cheaper or put the decision to move forward on hold.
One of my favorite techniques is called the “Turn-Around.” In short, this is a term that I use that means to get your prospect to reveal the logical and emotional reason they are wanting to buy your solution. In effect “turning around” the sales situation so that the buyer sells YOU on wanting to get the work done instead of you selling THEM. Many times buyers provide a false reason so they don’t reveal too much about their situation thinking that you may use it against them to close the deal.
How many times have you heard your prospect tell you that they have a “rule” or “policy” when they purchase? You know something like, “We have a rule, we never make a purchase on the first visit from a sales person.” Sometimes the rules that buyers have are dysfunctional and make little sense for you or them.
Also, the rules are often broken when they meet the right sales person with the right solution. So then the rules are only often enforced when they either don’t like the sales person or their solution.
We are using this as a caricature or “over-exaggeration” to point out some of the things that service techs do by accident. They may not even realize they are doing them until seeing how obvious it is in the film.
Things such as not having a solutions ready before you begin telling people the problems they have are subtle things that many may not notice even when they watch.
Other obvious things like allowing service techs to pick their own wardrobe or going out to the truck to figure things out can look like “amateur night” to the customer. You don’t think techs talk on the cell phone about personal business like “canasta night?” Go to a job with a few installers and you will be shocked at the personal business being conducted during normal working hours.
I do ride-a-longs and what I see is a fact of life and a day-to-day struggle to get techs to see how important it is to do good service. Maybe when they see what bad service looks like they will be sure not to commit these mistakes.
Have you ever felt drained after a heated conversation with your buyer, boss or colleague after trying to convince them that your point of view was the correct way of seeing things? That feeling of being drained is an indication that you were too attached to the outcome and that you lost your focus on trying to understand the other persons point of view.
It is easy to become emotionally involved in the outcome of your sales results, but is it really effective? In short, the answer is no. Sales should be emotional for the buyer but not for you the seller. If you try to hard to “sell” people on your way of thinking it comes off as desperate, pathetic and self-centered. As a sales professional you must retain your credibility and give your buyer the impression that you could live without the sale.
Almost anyone would assume that the typical clown that we have seen so often at the circus, would bring smiles and joy to all they visit. As it turns out, the odds are that an unchecked assumption like this one we make about clowns is a pretty good bet to be wrong. Research is actually showing that clowns may be more scary than comforting to a young child.
Think about the times you may have visited a children’s ward or maternity section at most any hospital. Whimsical drawings of fun things to make kids feel happy often decorate the wallpaper. Some of this decorated wallpaper depicts drawings or illustrations of circus clowns.
A Search For Truth
