"I Want To Get Other Bids"
One of the more frustrating things to experience after doing a bang-up presentation is having your prospect say, "I'm 90% certain I'm going to go with you. I just need to get other bids." There are no reliable short responses to this objection. To overcome this objection, you'll have to be a professional salesman....
Muddying the Waters
I received a follow-up from a salesman, to whom we shall refer as Jason. He was featured in the story “Two Sides” in the March and April 2008 issues of Contracting Business. Jason’s problems are shared with HVAC salespeople, so I’ll share them with you and provide my recommendations....
Go for Quality, Not Quantity
My observation has been that most contractors want everyone in their market area to call them, and will hire just about anybody they can find who is willing to run those calls. This can — and usually does — result in accepting lower-quality service calls. Too many calls require you to lower your standards, and hire low quality technicians. This lowers the overall quality of your company. ...
The "Price Complaint"
At this point we've covered the steps to running a successful service call. You've established your own personal credibility, the need, the sense of urgency, explained your pricing, quoted more than the bare minimum, included a service agreement as part of the list of things that need to be done above the first subtotal of your "Paper Towel Close" and gone for your initial close. ...
The "Optional Close"
A sale is a series of small commitments made one at a time. One of the biggest problems salespeople make is providing a lot of information and options, while requiring the prospective customer to provide very little feedback....
Two Sides to Every Story, Part II: the prospect
Last month (CB Mar. 2008, pg. 76), I wrote about an e-mail I’d received from a salesman. Shortly after receiving his e-mail, his wife forwarded an e-mail to me she’d received from a prospect he couldn’t close, who happened to be the one the salesman complained about in his e-mail to me. This month, we’ll take a look at what his prospect had to say, and what we can learn from it. ...
Three Questions for HVAC Salespeople and Service Techs
What do people buy? You don't sell furnaces or air conditioners. You don't sell service. You don't sell the company. That leaves very little left to sell,...
Two Sides to Every Story, Part I: The Salesman
Last week, a salesman sent me an e-mail complaining about the difficulties of selling in his area. I was just warming into a response when the salesman’s wife forwarded me an e-mail she received, which contained negative feedback from one of the very prospects the salesman had written about. ...
Presenting the Price: The Setup
At this point in the call, the inspection is complete, you've gone out to your truck, decided what you want to do on this call, and written up your Paper Towel Close, as described in the last newsletter....
Presenting the Price on Service Calls: What to say, and how to say it
Presenting the Price on Service Calls Using the Standardized Price Manual and Getting the Service Agreement By Charlie Greer p class="style8" At this...
Open Response to Salespeople Complaints
I keep receiving the same letter with the same complaints, except they’re from different residential replacement salespeople. To keep from having to re-send the same letter to nearly every residential replacement salesman in the country, I’m going to publish it here once, then post a link to this article on my website....
Paper Towel Close Learn Tec Daddys Signature Move
Before you even worry about what to say when the customer tells you your price is too high, you need a way to present the price to the customer a way...
Quote More Than the Bare Minimum
In my previous article The "Complete Inspection" I talked about the necessity of doing a complete inspection when running sales and service calls. One of the benefits of doing the complete inspection is that you discover additional needs and problems and, consequently, additional tasks to recommend....
New Years Resolutions for Salespeople
This is a perfect time to resolve to get serious about increasing your sales. In terms of an hourly wage, you never make more money than you do while...
The "Complete Inspection"
This is the first article of a 12-part series designed to cover the steps to a successful service call. The steps are designed to: 1. Raise the dollar...
The Columbo Objection: Recovering the Lost Sale
Have you ever had a customer agree to a replacement, then call while your install crew was on the way to the job, and start negotiating with you? That happened to a friend of mine just the other day....
Lessons Learned at Comfortech Idol 2007
What can you learn from the superstars of HVAC sales? That’s what we set out to find with Comfortech Idol, a contest seeking the best HVAC salesperson at HVAC Comfortech. The contestants go through an interview process where they describe their sales process, then role-play closing the sale and overcoming objections. All of this takes place in front of a live audience. Contractors come to watch the competition to see how the top salespeople in their field do their jobs....
Goal Setting Essential for Success
There’s a story about a World War II German U-boat that contacted headquarters to inform them that they were lost. When asked by headquarters as to where they wanted to go, the U-boat responded, “We don’t know.” Headquarters replied, “Then you’re not lost!”...
Tec Daddy's Top 10 Rules For Closing
1. "Land them" on one system prior to closing. Make the final decision as simple as possible, which means don't make the prospects' final decision a compilation of a bunch of smaller decisions they haven't really made yet....
You Know You Should Use Questions, Don't You?
A salesperson's two best friends are: 1. Questions. 2. Silence. They're both equally good friends. The late Tom McCart used to say, "The questions are...
Selling Total Comfort Makes You Stand Out
After I replaced the air conditioner in my home, a guy called me out of the blue to ask me which model I chose. I bought what I considered, for various reasons, to be the best model that the manufacturer offered. It wasn't the most expensive, because I don't believe "the best" also has to be the most expensive. I also don't believe "the best" also means, "highest efficiency rating."...
That's Your Problem!
If you're delivering good service, that's your problem! If you actually know anything about HVAC, that's your second problem!...
Spring Into Action with Fallback Techniques
I've been writing about closing techniques this entire year so far, from Closing the Sale (, Jan. 2007, pg. 96) to The Paper Towel Close for Salespeople...
The Proposal Close
Last month I wrote that, once customers have your proposal, you're pretty much done and it's time for you to leave. By the same token, you're not really done until they've got your proposal....
The Paper Towel Close for Salespeople
Most of the HVAC salespeople I've spoken with and observed use the Proposal Close as their initial closing attempt. The Proposal Close is a close in which you use your proposal as your visual aid....
