| CASE
STUDY: Tech visits a home with no heating on
a 18 year-old heat pump where the diagnosis
is a dead compressor. The tech gathered all
the necessary information to prepare a
quote. When the office called the customer
to schedule a follow-up visit to present the
tech’s findings and recommendations, the
customer did not want to set an appointment
and wanted the quote faxed or emailed. As it
turns out the customer already received a
quote from a competitor, and wanted to
comparison shop. How you can you stop this
from happening?
ANALYSIS:
Most techs that struggle with closing a sale
with an existing customer will tell their
manager the story and the end results.
Unfortunately, the coaching and training
that follows usually focuses on what to do
or say after the fact to course correct
based on the end result.
That
incorrectly does not solve the real problem
as the feedback may help address the issue,
but when the problem occurs again, and it
will, as the result is the symptom of a
larger problem.
What
should have happened, should have taken
place when the tech was in the home.
The
real problem is that the tech did not
instill confidence and work on
re-establishing and cementing the
relationship with the customer. Had he done
so, he would have set an appointment with a
Comfort Advisor and had the Comfort Advisor
dispatched while he was present to do a
handoff and maintain momentum.
The
ONLY reason a customer shops the
recommendation of the incumbent service
provider is because they don’t trust them.
Obviously, the customer either already had a
lack of trust from a previous experience or
this tech created it with their diagnosis,
price and/or lack of explanation, or some
other reason.
SOLUTION:
To solve this problem going forward, work on
techs building relationships and value in
the relationship. When the customer saw no
value or trust in the people or company, the
commodity of the repair or replacement
became the only distinguishing decision to
be made and in their mind and the only point
of differentiation was price since there was
no relationship in the customer’s mind.
In this case, I would have offered to have the owner or manager visit with them personally since it is such a large decision and you want them to feel comfortable with whatever choice they make. Given that they disclosed they had gotten another quote, I would have gone on to say that whatever choice they make they are stuck with for the next 20 years of their life or however long they stay in the home.
As such, you are happy to invest the time to advise them of all their choices so they can make an informed and intelligent decision for them, their family, their comfort, their home, and their bank account for the next 20 years. Tell them your greatest fear would be that they make a snap decision having not considered all the facts.
If the customer insists on fax or email, I would ask them when was the last time they invested $5000+ via the mail, fax or email and if they would feel comfortable making such a large decision blindly not having all the facts. If the customer says yes or still wants the quote faxed or emailed, then I would politely say that if it isn’t important enough for them to invest the time to make an educated decision then we are probably not the right company for them and bow out professionally.
If the customer trusts you or values the relationship then they will invest the time. If not, any more time invested is a waste and a ‘No sale’ waiting to happen more often than not.
You may question that mindset and say that if you don’t take your shot, you have no shot. While that very well may be true, the bigger issue is that when you try to serve and be all things to all people that you may wake one day to discover you are nothing to no one. Don’t make the mistake of spending valuable time with people that will ultimately not buy from you.
Work on the front-end (right end) of the problem, not the back-end (wrong end) of the problem and stop this from happening going forward.
Drew Cameron, president of HVAC Sellutions, the residential contracting industry’s premier marketing and sales support organization that works with contractors to implement effective lead generating marketing and build multi-million dollar profit-generating sales forces. Drew’s 33 years of experience in all facets of running a residential contracting business helps HVAC Sellutions serve contractors as “Revenue Resultants Driving Profit Performance.” Contact Drew at 1-888-621-7888 or drew@hvacsellutions.com or visit www.hvacsellutions.com
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