Make Trades Great Again
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Make Trades Great Again
Strategies to help close your next sales pitch
Looking to skyrocket your sales? We promise you that our latest episode of Make Trades Great Again will arm you with the strategies to do so! From the initial phone call to closing the deal, we're going all-in on what it takes to master sales in today's fast-paced business world. We spill the tea on how to attract customers, how to utilize face-to-face meetings to your advantage, and why understanding your customer's needs can be the difference between a sale and a missed opportunity.
How often do you find yourself in a tussle, recommending heating systems to your customers? Don't sweat it; we've been there! We're delving deep into how to present the right products. From giving your customers options, being well-versed with your products, to asking for the sale, we're covering it all. And yes, we're also looking into the tricky aspect of closing the sale and the payment options. We'll guide you on how to make that final push without being pushy, how to look presentable, and why you shouldn't underestimate the power of a good follow-up.
But what happens after the sale? That's where our discussion on handling equipment and inventory comes in. We tell you why ordering the right parts in advance is critical and how to handle those last-minute emergencies that everyone dreads. We also talk about why you should keep a diverse stock of parts, even those you don't need at the moment. Wrapping up, we discuss how you can stay organized and prepared, ensuring you have all the right tools and materials at hand, and why advanced planning is the bedrock of successful sales. So, tune into our episode and become the sales superstar you've always meant to be!
Send us your feedback or topic ideas over on our social channels!
Eric Aune @mechanicalhub
Andy Mickelson @mick_plumb
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321. We're on the air dude. How you doing Good to go? How are you Good to go? Hey everybody, welcome to the Make Trades Great Again podcast. If you're new here, I'm Eric, he's Andy. We today are gonna talk, andy, about some business stuff, because we get a lot of comments and a lot of requests talking business and I know some people are like business talk Maybe they don't own their own shop or whatever. But you know, you know, just gotta, you gotta give the people what they want. That's right.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, you gotta, they gotta have it. This, this, this topic that given the people what they want is is kind of what we're talking about today.
Speaker 1:It is, it is giving, yeah, no, no, kidding, yeah, you're right, this is what we're gonna talk about.
Speaker 1:So sales, sales from start to finish, kind of the steps of prospecting to closing the sale, and we're gonna keep this pretty basic.
Speaker 1:We're not gonna get into a lot of different techniques, because I think each one of these, each bullet point on our list of items to talk about today, could be multiple episodes if we wanted it to and there's better people to talk about that than you and I, I'm sure, right, probably We'll we need to tune into their episodes, talking about each one of these bullet points. Yeah, but we'll keep it basic. And so you and I were talking and we were thinking, you know, like, how can we, how can we go through this list? How can we help somebody out that's maybe starting out on their own, or maybe they've been on their own for, you know, a couple of years, maybe they started up during COVID and they're just kind of realizing like, look, sales, that's maybe not my strong suit, right? I know that's where I was at when I started out. It took me forever and I still struggle, because I well, I wouldn't say struggle, but I still have room for improvement, there's no doubt.
Speaker 2:Yeah, no doubt, definitely, definitely. I'm the same and I would say I struggled. You know, when I first started my business I was we've talked about this in the past and all the episodes or in the episodes before about how I did all this planning and you know when, you know plan ahead, for you know how business was going to work. But I can say one thing that I did not do, that I kind of wish I would have, was plan to do sales training. Because when I first started in business, that was probably if if I were going to list like a level of failures, it would be sales. Like in the beginning I sold so much work for either A the wrong price or B for the wrong reasons, or I did stuff that I shouldn't have. Yeah, I mean not like like I did it poorly and whatnot, but I did. I took on jobs that I should not have taken on.
Speaker 2:And I know that with yeah, we talked about that in the past and I know that I didn't make money on and that's part of this whole sales thing and, knowing there, I guess I would relate that to part of this and I'm going to I'm going to throughout this episode, I'm going to bump back on this confidence piece about being confident, and I'm going to relate to it because I think, as we start out, confidence in what you're selling is probably one of the number one sales tactics that most people don't have. You know, and we can relate to it a little bit, but I think it's a big part of how successful you are at selling something.
Speaker 1:Well, okay, yeah, I see what you're saying. Let's get into it though. Let's get right into it. So obviously you've got a prospect for those sales. So you've got to get out your name out there. You've got to get the calls coming in. And once you've got a customer on the phone whether they've called you, they've contacted you through email, something once your initial, your initial consultation with them has to be some. There has to be some qualifying with that, right.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so like somebody calls and asks you like, hey, what's the cost of this? Right, how much is the cost for this? And everybody knows that's like our least favorite kind of opening conversation. But it's an opportunity, right. And so I think a lot of times somebody, a new to running their business, doesn't fully embrace the idea that that that is an opportunity. You might just kind of recoil a little bit and like, oh my God, this person's just looking for a price. They're probably hiring somebody else to do their job, not me. But if you don't take and capitalize on that opportunity, you don't take advantage of the fact that you're talking with somebody, whether it's through an email or through phone number, you know, through phone conversation, then you're, you're not going to make the sale right, right, like. That customer is not going to hire you to do anything if you don't take them up on that. So at first, initial consult, I think is important.
Speaker 1:Let's kind of fast forward though. Let's say you've you've taken a call and you've scheduled a site visit. Okay, you know. So you're going to go out and you're this customer is looking for you. To what are we going to do? We're going to replace a furnace today. Is that what we're going to do? Sure, yeah, let's go furnace. Okay, customer calls you up, says I need a new furnace. It's 25 years old, whatever. And so you, you've scheduled the first available opening that they have in their schedule for you to meet them face to face. Because why do you do the face to face, andy? Why would you prefer that over the phone? Well, I, as you, would advise somebody new to this.
Speaker 2:Yep, I would say one for two, two, two particular reasons. And at first, one is how do we qualify that job, right? Like is it? Is it in fact a furnace replacement, or do they even have a furnace? Because if somebody said, hey, I want a new furnace, and you go, oh, here's my flat rate for a new furnace, right, and you know, you give them the. You know, oh, it's 11, 995. And it's going to include a B and C. And you, they say, perfect, let's put me on the schedule, and you close the deal and you get the payment and you'll show up at their house and they don't have a furnace, right, they don't have ductwork, they have electric baseboard, right, I mean yeah.
Speaker 1:so there's one good good. Yeah, that's one good reason, no doubt, no doubt.
Speaker 2:I mean, go see what you're working with. You know is the furnace in the neighbor's garage and they've got some flex duct across the yard, or is it a roof?
Speaker 1:Yeah, Right, yeah, Is it rooftop? You know I didn't, my mind didn't go there, but that's a great point and I appreciate that my mind was more thinking like getting in front of the customer allows them to see you know how serious you are. Yeah, Like you show up and I hope you showed up and hopefully clean clothes that aren't dripping with, you know, ABS or PVC, cement or something you know just gross, looking Right, and that you, you took the time to shower and look at least semi professional that day. Yep, You're not wearing a shirt that says, you know, like F the police on it or something you know like I don't know. I'm just saying I'm just saying I'm just coming, trying to come up with something stupid.
Speaker 1:But yeah, it gives you tonight, you know, the opportunity to show them that this isn't just some rando phone number that was called off of Google. Yeah, yeah, Clean the dash. Basically, yeah, it's, it's. It allows you to to bring whether or not you're a large company, and you know, or small. Most likely we're talking to people who are running small companies, but, you know, maybe you're the owner and maybe you're the one that answers the phone and maybe you're the one that works on the job. That's me, that's my company and I take a lot of pride in that and I think my customers, a lot of my customers, are hiring me because of that. Yeah, but if you're not in front of only talking to them on the phone, you're at a disadvantage. So getting that first consult in person I think is an is important as related to this conversation.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's where my brain went. You said you had two points, like you know, making sure that you knew exactly what they're talking about in the first place, like qualify them, right, right.
Speaker 2:Yeah, the second one would be going out and and getting an idea of what scale of of replacement they're looking for. You know, a lot of times you can get a customer that goes well, you know, let's just say in this, in the same example, you know we want a new furnace and you know, maybe, maybe we want AC as well. And so you go out to their house and you're saying you know how did the, how did the for your furnace heat last winter? You know how did this work. And you're standing there in their home and you're looking at it and you know well, built home, nice windows, nice siding. You know fresh roof. You know lawns up kept and you go okay, you know whatever things painted and maintained we've probably got. You know that. You know things are in order. If you show up and and it's you know, maybe a I don't even want to pick on it, but let's say it's borderline hoarder you know you've got stacks of magazines and stuff lined up along the walls and stuff blocking all the, all the vents and the ductwork. I mean those are things that you need to know about because before you put that furnace in you've got to make sure that the homeowner's well aware that we could put five furnaces in here and they're all going to work like trash, and it's partly because of the way you're trying to operate it. So those are things that I liked.
Speaker 2:I guess personally, and you probably do as well I like to identify those things upfront and they have that conversation on day one, because there's there's been a number of times where I've shown up to do that. You know, at lead phase, basically I'm in the customer's home or not? Lead phase, basically first appearance phase, and I'm there and I'm looking at it going. You don't need a new furnace. That's not the reason why your existing furnace doesn't work. Well. Let's work on this and maybe we've got some life left in this furnace. Maybe you should try that. But let's try these couple of things and I don't know. There's been a number of times I've walked out the door, not without a proposal. I haven't made a proposal and all I've proposed to them is change the way you're using what you have. Sure.
Speaker 1:Well, I think what you're going to add is a little bit. Maybe the result of what I was going to say on this initial consultation is that you've got that initial in-person consultation. Gives you the opportunity to listen to their problems, ask them what they're looking for and then identify the situation. So that's basically what you're saying, and so I think that initial consult, that in-person meeting, is so important to gain all of that information and so not to put the cart in front of the horse here. But if you're not on site very hard to do that You're not going to get the kind of information you're talking about. It's going to be hard to recommend an alternative if you haven't even seen the situation in person. So, yeah, but the one thing I would like to highlight, though, to the young people new to this or just trying it for the first time, really on their own, depending on the success of this, your business, depending on it listen, listen to what people are talking about. I've heard people tell me so many times what they want, and I completely ignore them because I've decided personally what is right for them and I've skipped or glossed over some let's call them like red flags or some details that could have made me more money, right. That could have made the whole project more successful in the end. And it goes. I'll tie it into what you just said. It's just that upfront portion of the whole scenario.
Speaker 1:So if you're not listening, you won't hear your customer say something like I want this new furnace and it seems to cool pretty well, whatever. But gosh, in the winter time, man, we're waking up with nosebleeds, right. Well, I mean that doesn't necessarily mean you need a new furnace. Maybe we're past the. Do you need a furnace? You're 25 year old, sure, yes, you need a new one? Sure. But if I'm not listening to my customer tell me that they need, that they're having nosebleeds and all this stuff, then I'm not taking the opportunity to sell them a humidifier, right, and so I know it's very basic stuff here, but that's what we're talking about, the basics. And if you're not listening, you're losing out on opportunities, right, and look, we're in this to make money. This is our business, but we're also like, what our objective is is to help our customer. I'm not going to help my customer by not making money, so let's just keep that in perspective here. It's not about the making, the sale, it's about doing the job completely.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I generally take the approach of almost being like an investigator, not like I come in with my Dick Tracy, hat on and I don't even know what.
Speaker 1:Dick Tracy hat is but you know what?
Speaker 2:Yeah Right, I'm not dressed on the part, if you will, but you come in, you start asking a few questions and trying to understand how it is that they use their furnace. I mean, I've been on a number of projects where we've come in and they're like, yeah, we just don't like this. And they say, well, it doesn't heat that well, okay, well, where doesn't it heat that well, well, it's always cold. I mean, most of the house is cold, like. It just doesn't seem like it stays to temperature. Okay, well, what are you doing? Well, you know, our baby's room is back here in the off the hall and we run a space heater in the baby's room, right, okay. Well, why do you run a space heater in baby's room? Well, we want it to be warmer, okay. And so then you find out that the baby's room happens to be have a common wall with the thermostat and they keep the baby's room at 78 degrees, for whatever reason. And now, all of a sudden, the thermostat and they're like and this piece of crap thermostat, you know, it's always like two degrees warmer than the house is. You know, we've got a thermometer next to the couch and it's 64 degrees on the couch and it's 76 in the hallway, the couch next to the window, right, right, and you know, and so you get things like that. That I mean you can.
Speaker 2:You can ultimately, especially if, if you're in a demographic area where you have I'm going to we're kind of on the HVAC sky of the things If you have uneducated HVAC salesmen in your area that are just you know, show up in the sales truck and the sales guy walks in the door and goes you're going to get furnace A and you're going to get there's your three options and they're going to flat rate this thing and they're in and out the door and their their job is just sell, sell, sell, sell, sell, sell, sell. They're not going to identify that problem and you can make the sale at the same rate or at more, higher, at a higher rate than that person's going to sell, because you came in and listened to your the customer's problem. I mean, if you identify that early on those, that customer is automatically going to go. You know what this guy actually cares for.
Speaker 2:This gal or whatever this, this person, this company cares about what our end result is. And you've automatically, with almost no cost, instilled value in your sale already. You haven't even sold anything.
Speaker 1:I'd say that's true most of the time, yeah, not all the time. I think some people are going to just look at you as trying to sell them equipment Maybe they don't need, or they've been dealing with people they aren't impressed with and they just kind of group you in with that. But yeah, if you don't listen and you don't really investigate it, you can't make those observations and suggestions. That won't then put you in a better light for the customer. So I think the next step of this whole process, after you've met in person, you've listened to what they have to say, because it's very valuable information that they are going to give you for free. If you're not asking for it, then shame on you. That's on you. You're not going to make the sale or get that information from them, but that information is going to lead you to the next step and that's going to be proposing the equipment or the service, like you're saying already. So then, if you're not, if you don't know what they truly want, what they want in the end because we can provide them new equipment, that's fine. Just like my example everybody's got nosebleeds, so that tells me it's dry and they've got a humidity problem. Sure, how can we solve that? I can just give them a furnace and it's going to heat and it's going to cool and it's going to be great and everybody's going to be happy. They spent the money on what they and they got what they wanted, but they didn't get everything they wanted.
Speaker 1:So this next portion of the process just after you've listened, after you've sat down with them, you know what you can offer them. Like you said, you could just. You know your example of the salespeople. There is a list of menu items. We can just put on a screening, but, like, this is what you need, okay. So, whatever your process is in person, I'm going to give you some suggestions. I would suggest, as soon as you have time to implement it into your business, get on some kind of software that allows you to present stuff to people.
Speaker 1:Yeah, while you're there, don't just say, oh, I can give you a furnace and it's this much. Yeah, all you've done is tell them a high number for something that you haven't shown them. Right, conversation in this process, this part of the process, is less successful than like presentation. Okay. So if you can propose them the equipment service with the features and benefits, that's what the next step of the process is, and I know that's probably where that's what I wasn't doing for years. I was not like. I was just saying well, I can put this, you know this furnace in and it's going to do what you want, and they just had to take me for my word. They still have to take you for your word if you're showing them the equipment on a screen or whatever, but if you show them what you're doing in that moment is so important, yeah, as you're showing them, you came prepared, you're serious about this and you're willing to do the work ahead of time so that you secure this project and you can do the work for them in real life.
Speaker 2:I think the big thing that I take away from that and I've had a handful, I mean, the last time we hired a roofer here, like five or six years ago, and had a couple of people come out and give us quotes and one guy's like oh huh, yep, you know $36,000. And I'm like, yeah, all right, well, he pulled that one right out of the air. And this guy, you know, showed up in his Honda Civic and you know, I don't know if he's even a roofer, right, anyway, not to bash on that, but one of the things that I see anytime someone's offered me something in a menu type structure like that. You know, hey, I've got this proposal, here's what we're going to do.
Speaker 2:Here's some pictures of it Is just like you just said. You're, you're prepared, you've done it before. Yeah, that's a huge thing. This is not the first time you've been to this rodeo. This is not the first time that you've ever seen this piece of equipment, and there's times where I've sold something like that and I've come to the door and I've never installed one, you know.
Speaker 1:But I've read my, I've done my homework and I've read about there has to be a first time for every thing anyway, but yeah, largely.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it shows your experience, some experience.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean. The reality is is, at most you've got two things going for you. Either you're lucky and your customer has been seeing your trucks around town forever, so they can only assume that you have done something to stay in business as long, or they were referred by a person that hired you to do something. And it's most likely in that scenario, if they were referred to you, to you by their friend or family or whatever it's, that you only did one thing for that person, so that's all they can really like factually assume, like you did one job ever before mine that I'm hoping to have you, you know. So like you do have to look at it that way. Just look, I hope by this point they've realized to that you are serious. But if you give them those that presentation, that iPad presentation, or maybe you come with some brochures like look, there's a lot of ways that people are impressed by you.
Speaker 1:Know, I do the digital thing, yep, because it works for me. I have an iPad in my van. I try to keep it charged enough so that at least when I show up to this kind of consultation I could say this is what I do, this is a recent job. Here's what it kind of looks like, just to you know, hey, this is what we're, we're shooting for, yep, and people, people understand that way more than just telling, look, there's a lot of times I'm talking about stuff where I try to keep it so non technical.
Speaker 1:When I'm talking to my customers, right, they still might not understand what I'm saying. No, they just look I want it to be warm, I don't want it to be cold. You know, look, all of that's great, but if you show them things that it becomes more real. So that's yeah, that's where I was going on, that I think the presentation is important. I think, just starting out, if you're new to this, if you're new to running your business, it's most likely, unless you've had experience doing sales for other companies, it's most likely where you're probably lacking is that point in time where you've established a you know conversation with them. You've said I know what you need and then you present it and you probably fall late. If you're like me for many years, you kind of just fall on your face right at that point in time, right?
Speaker 2:Yeah, yep, I think you definitely hit it there. So, on that note, how many options do you give them?
Speaker 1:Well, I'll be honest with you, it's not the same every time. Okay, I don't. So, how I typically do, the options are there's always a basic of what's needed right For the job. I mean, everybody should be able to agree on that. I think, even if you're really good at this, you can and you're still listening. I think you can agree that there is what is needed to accomplish their goal, and then there is probably an alternative to that is, I think in this order your basic furnace, let's worst down the furnace, we're not going to switch gears here. Your basic furnace and then your variable speed, you know modulating gas.
Speaker 2:Modulating gas. Okay, so you've got.
Speaker 1:You're still just putting in a furnace, that's all you're doing, yep, but you've got a. This is, this is your day and night and this is your. You know, I don't train modulating model. Sure, okay, I think those two kind of those are step one and two. So I think that's a good and a better. Yeah, and then a best I would say would be would be the modulating upgraded furnace and then adding in, my example, the humidifier. Okay, sure, so like, hey, look, this is kind of menu pricing. This is what I would recommend.
Speaker 1:Ultimately, if you're looking for, you know, to do this once and not have to revisit this for another 15 years or so. This is probably, this is what I would recommend. I don't use words like probably. This is like, this is definitely what I would recommend. And then, look, they've got options and I'm not going to assume their budget is going to allow for only the cheapest or would even go as far as the highest, but the prices don't change based on what my customer makes, right, so, like, there's a cost involved with each one of these things. So I do tend to do the good, better, best, yep, when it comes to a full heating system replacement, and that that best is typically where I've added on those revisions.
Speaker 2:I would agree. That's kind of the way I do it as well. Usually I try to. I have one or two models outside of sizing, of heating equipment that we like to use and I have dialed it down to that on the basis that those are things that I am very knowledgeable about. I know how they operate, I know how to start them up, I know how to repair them, yep, and I'm going to go back to this. I'm confident that they will fit the application and then they will work and I know how they're going to work. That's the other piece of that confidence thing is that if you were to go in and you're selling, you know, for me, if I were to go in and sell commercial kitchen equipment, I would not be very good at it because I don't have any. I mean, I know what it does, but I've never worked on or I've rarely worked.
Speaker 1:Yeah well, you're not going to find yourself in that scenario anyway. Right, You're not telling that?
Speaker 2:But I guess that's part of that confidence level is you'll come in, you'll sell, more educated, more knowledgeable to the customer. The customer is going to feel more comfortable saying I'm going to give you, you know, multiple tens of thousands of dollars for this thing If you can present to them that, hey, I'm comfortable with this, this is what I would put in my own home, or I'd put this in my mother's home or whatever you know. So those are. That's one place that I think that that is helpful. There you know to kind of have that?
Speaker 1:Yeah, absolutely. So you're a good, better best if? Yeah, generally For, like, larger projects. Look, I'm not doing that all the time. Somebody needs a water heater, yeah, and you want a tank or you want a tankless. That's kind of where I'm at. You know what I mean. Yeah, and sometimes it doesn't even make sense to suggest one or the other. Right, if it makes sense, I'm giving them an option for tankless. Put it that way, because I know in the end my customer is going to be happier. Yeah, it's just, you know the budget is going to dictate that, yep.
Speaker 1:So I guess the next step, after you've given them that option, you know you've given, you've presented what you're going to sell to them, whether it's a good, better best, or you're giving them some kind of alternatives, or you're just saying like, look, this is what you need. Maybe you've gotten from your customer and they've told you exactly like this, I would just want the least expensive thing. I'm moving in a year, yep, if that's what they're, you know, if they've drawn that line in the sand, I don't necessarily suggest you trying to move that line, to be honest with you. No, over the years I've, you know, I'll give them an option like look, I know you said you're moving, but this is a better piece of equipment than what you initially asked for. I'll give them that option. Yeah, they just say no if they want.
Speaker 1:I think, at that point, though, here's something that is missed and this is such basic sales training, and it took me forever and ever to to implement in and just seamlessly put place in the conversation is asking for the sale, right? I still, to this day, forget to do it. Yeah, if you don't ask them, they most likely aren't going to jump at the opportunity to say I'm going to hire you. So asking for the sale is what you're going to do immediately after you've presented their options, right, and these are literally things like would you like us to put place in order for this? Or, on a scale of one to 10, you know how confident are you and what we've? You know that we can solve your problem, or how important is this to you to take care of it in the next, you know, two weeks? Should we put you on the schedule or are there other questions I can answer? Or should we just move forward with, you know, putting together a contract?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I, I, oh, that's that you mentioned. One of my top ones in there is do you have any more questions? Yeah, what, what, what, how can I make you feel more comfortable about this? And I don't ask that because I don't want to come off as saying what, what is the, what is the thing that I have to do to get you to sign the line? Right, that's, I mean you don't want to get. I mean, some people want to be that pushy sales and it's super successful. Um, I'm, I'm not that direction, because I don't really appreciate that when I'm trying to buy something, but if, if, I can take that opportunity while I'm staying, especially while I'm standing there, and we're, you know, got the iPad open. It's on the counter. Here's my proposal. Um is do you have any questions? I mean, what, what kind of questions?
Speaker 2:What kind of things are you concerned about throughout this project? You know, and, and a lot of times, I'll get it, I'll get a customer, that'll go well, you know, we've got. You know my, my great aunt, is coming in August. Do you think we can get this done before August? Absolutely, yeah, let's, let's aim to get it done, or no? We, we can't, we, we can't, we're not going to have equipment here in time, so we need to be looking at after great aunt Myrtle leaves and you know whatever Um other things. That that I that are we commonly get from homeowners is how are you going to protect my home? Right, you're going to come in, you're going to work here for two or three days. How are you going to protect?
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think you're getting ahead, though I mean, we're still asking for the sale at this point. Now, at that point, you've made that sale.
Speaker 2:Well, but? But I think that's something that people are concerned about before they've committed to the sale.
Speaker 1:I got you I got you, you know, make sense.
Speaker 2:Especially if if you're not cleanly presented or you're well presented. Did you put booties on when you first walked up to the door that? I can't tell you how many times I've walked into, walked up to somebody's door. In this hand is a pair of booties and in this hand is my iPad, my tape measures on my belt and my flashlights in my pocket and my phones on silent. That's like step up to the door, let's step up to the plate. We're ready to go to bed. But yeah, I do. But you know what you, when you walk into somebody's house and you put the booties on as you're stepping across the threshold, though, that customer already knows that you mean business when it comes to keeping, taking care of their floors and their home, and that is a big for some people is a big sigh of relief. When you know this I mean work in surface you'll walk into somebody's house and there's a row of shoes 12 feet long.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that means you take your shoes off. You better take your shoes off. You don't even ask at that. You see them there, you take them off. If you don't, you might say well, they are clean. This is my first job, I know they're clean. Like you could say to your customer hey, would you mind if I leave my shoes on? I know we're just going into the basement or something.
Speaker 2:I've been in two customers' homes now over the years. One of them was an Asian guy, no shoes in the house. You wore slippers in the house and he always had a pair of slippers for me to wear. And I come in, take my shoes off and wear his slippers and that was a little bit weird. That's the same guy.
Speaker 1:He has me a pair of crocs. Yep, now I just show up with my hey dudes, yeah, yeah. So I think those things go into closing the sale Absolutely. I think asking for the sale comes in a lot of different. There's a lot of different ways to ask for a sale, though there really are.
Speaker 1:I think I think, if you know, just asking direct questions may seem a little salesy to some people to like, and you brought it up Like I get it. I think I'm a straight to the point kind of guy. Without being sleazy about it, I do say things like so are you ready to move forward with this? And the reason I say it that way, and I say it as polite as I can. I don't want to sound like a. You know you're wasting my time, but I'm also trying to not to waste their time. Here's where I go with this. Here's why I bring it up.
Speaker 1:I can give a whole list of how to ask for sale if you want. I have notes on my screen right now. I can read through some of them, and maybe we should before we move on to the next step, but I can tell you why I think it's important to ask for that sale and, to be upfront, in my opinion, I think it moves things along, and I'm very I'm I am certainly one to Talk way too much if I'm not direct and straight to the point. Does that make sense? Yeah, totally, I think. I think it's.
Speaker 1:It's it's just in the interest of Not spending in 45 minutes about talking and talking about stuff that we've kind of already talked about, like we know what's next. What's what's next? Are you willing to make a decision today or do you need time to think about it? That's one way to to To approach that. Asking for the sale yeah, the time frame, time frame when do you anticipate making a final decision? Right, like, are you just interviewing me and then are you gonna talk with a couple other cost contractors? That's a great question to ask people. Yeah, if you're getting, if you got the idea that you know, maybe they weren't a referral, they found you on Google and this is a big project you should assume that they're probably gonna talk to at least one other.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I'd like alternative contractor, right?
Speaker 1:You know, like, if it's a business just like, is this impacting your productivity? Are your, are your employees on company? Do we need to get this taken care of? Asap, things like that, I think, asking for the sale? I could go on and on on how to do that, but I think it's super important. Like I've said, I Think let's keep this going. We got, we're getting a little long, but I think we're close. I think we're close. Okay, I think this is could be a two-parter. What do you think?
Speaker 2:I, I think it, I think it could be. I mean I think we could, we could split this thing at any point, but I Think it kind of goes along with the, the sale, I mean moving it along. Yeah, no.
Speaker 1:Hey, you know, are you ready to make a decision on this, andy Right, but you know, I mean does is is there two parts of this?
Speaker 2:You know, you've come up, you've presented, you've you've pitched, you made your pitch and you're at the, at the point of closing the sale. What happens after that?
Speaker 1:I think what happens after that is Immediately. This is this is a note, a note I've taken directly out of your playbook, right? You have taught me this early on, and Just pointing out for me to realize I lack on this. I don't anymore, right, but out of your playbook. Andy, I'm gonna credit you and so many other people, of course, go over payment. That's the next step. If they, if they are agreeing to the, to the project, they're gonna hire you to do it. Let's just assume that's where we're at. Let's not belabor that anymore. We've asked for a sale. They're gonna give it to us. I think exactly. Or the very next thing you talk about is how you take payment. A lot of times your customers bring that up right away.
Speaker 2:They might yeah, they very well could asked right out of the gate, but yeah, I think it's so. It's so important to do that, because now there's no gray area.
Speaker 1:At all like you. This might change things too for you and you don't want to find out when you've got equipment on the way and things like that. That. Like, oh shoot, I just assumed you took, you know, american Express Sky Lows card, and maybe you don't. For what I don't know. You know what I mean. Like, I just assume that you know I pay for everything with my credit card. Boy, I would love to not take credit cards for my work because it cost me money, but I'm definitely gonna build it into my price so I don't move the sale.
Speaker 1:But talking about that upfront is so important, or just terms. Maybe you offer financing, maybe they need the L, maybe they need to look at financing opportunities. Yeah, um, a lot of service contractors, a lot of Contractors in our business are, you know, put it this way. I'll sum it up your competitors are offering financing. Let's just say it like it is, and whether you do that or not up to you. I'm not gonna say good, bad or indifferent, but if you're not having that discussion immediately in that first consultation, then you you're you know if your customer does need financing and you offer it, but you didn't let them know, yeah, they might go with the person who does offer it.
Speaker 1:So, yeah, yeah, absolutely. It's just important to go over that first Step. Once they've you've closed, it is to talk about how you're gonna build them right. Um, I think, what is what? What would be the next step immediately? You know, once you've agreed to payment or you've given them their options, they're probably gonna make their decision.
Speaker 2:Yeah, generally they will. I mean the only time, the times that I've seen when a customer has we've gotten to that point and the customer says, okay, I am. You know, I like what I'm hearing, we're good here, whatever, a Lot of times if they have multiple quotes already, mm-hmm, that's when I will see A customer go. Well, let me get back to you. Right, they're gonna come now, they're gonna take all their presentations and they're gonna stack them out on the table and they're gonna look at them and they're gonna hash it out with their spouse or Whatever, whatever the board is or you know whoever's in this decision-making process, and and and. At that point I I just say, hey, that's great, take your time, let me know when you're ready. You know I'd be happy to answer any questions I can get you. You know I'll send you some emails. It'll have some links to the equipment that we're proposing and this is what we're selling. You know, that's. That's generally my, my approach to it. I'm I could probably be it get a little bit pushier with that, I'm not.
Speaker 1:That's not how I run the nose. That sale, though, and they've decided like look, I just need to know how I'm gonna pay you. Wouldn't you say, though, that, in that scenario, are you trying to schedule it right then and there, yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, at that point I mean, if we've established, hey, we're gonna do, you know, this is our payment, let's say we're doing the furnace install, you know $18,000 for the furnace and the AC and we're gonna change this ductwork and all the options that we picked out, 50% up front if, if I feel like that's gonna cover all of my material, in some cases 50% doesn't. You know, bigger the project, we may get to a point where we've got less labor and more material. Those you know, hey, this is, this is a lot. You know, usually those were not closing on the countertop. You know, when we're talking 80,000, 100,000, 125,000 dollar project, I'm not standing at somebody's desk taking a $65,000 check on yeah, no, no, no.
Speaker 1:You know worse. You know our example. Yeah, homeowner furnace, that kind of yep.
Speaker 2:I, I at that point, it's cash checker card. However you want to do it, it's the same price. Either way, I'll take 50% up front and I got my card reader in my pocket. If you wanted to put it on, put it on the card, get the Delta miles.
Speaker 1:You. That's I say all the time I owe. That's that. People ask me like you take card? I'm like heck, yeah, dude, I like my miles. Why wouldn't I want you to have them too? Right? People say you know, they laugh at you and be like I know. That's why you're asking, look, that's. That's why you should ask yeah, you should take advantage of the. You know what's easy for you and that's why I'm trying to provide Yep to my customer.
Speaker 2:I encourage my homeowners to do that. You live by. The same motto of mine is you know what? While we can Take advantage of those reward miles, I can spend, or spend responsibly. But if you've got cash in the bank to do some of these projects, you know, maybe you got a retirement fund or something like that that you're pulling out of. Pay the card, use the card, put it on the card in three days. Pay off the card with an auto transfer. Done and done, get your miles. So there we go.
Speaker 1:You know I mean that's, you know we should as contractors, or you know anybody that accepts cards. We should get some kind of miles.
Speaker 2:We should. We should get some sort of miles like a kickback.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I'm telling you Good ideas. All right, dude, so we close the sale, we're scheduling. At that point, I'm gonna try to schedule. I will say this kind of, based on what you were saying, I I'm gonna try to close it right there. I promise you that. I know people will go Ooh, that sales eat. No, well, um, you know what sucks is when you don't get the sale. Yeah, you know what sucks is when you've spent an hour with them and you drove across town 40 minutes and, like, you know what sucks is when you you don't have a job scheduled for next week. Yep, and it's not at an all-cost kind of thing. It's literally, I'm trying to help people and I'm trying to do my job, and my job is to make that sale.
Speaker 1:So I don't want to leave with the Get back to me Convert. I don't. I hate that. That, to me, is my least favorite Um scenario.
Speaker 1:I don't want to leave, and here's why I say it when I leave, I will have made some kind of impression, but so will my competitors. Yeah, and usually it's the person who's standing in front of them at the moment who's gonna get the sale. Yeah, because, like, look how much you know, if I come in and I say the similar things and offer the same types of things as my competitor the last person that was there and, and, and for the same basic price. You know they're not super different why? You know they're gonna hire me or they're gonna hire them based off of something they liked or disliked about. Yeah, you know one or the other. If I'm standing there, I'm at an advantage. If I leave, I'm at a disadvantage. It's all yours to it. Yeah, so that's how I'm basing that. That's just my opinion. I think we move on. I think we've made the sale. We got a dude. We got to go back. We got our deposits. Now we got to go order some equipment, order equipment.
Speaker 2:That's what it is, that's, and you know what. This is one of those things and I all get sidetracked on this and lately this is something we've been doing, you know I've been getting is, in June and July I sold a boatload of equipment. I mean like crazy, crazy jobs that I hadn't haven't done in the past, kind of head down. Cheryl gave me a lot, made a lot of time in the schedule for me to go looking at work, yeah, and you know, and because the demand was there and we sold a lot of it, I mean a lot of way more than I've ever closed in the past, sure, and it was it's. It's been kind of cool to see that and we've been kind of firing on all cylinders here lately getting a lot of stuff done.
Speaker 2:I we could started doing the installs about the time that the second wave of Of projects was coming in and I didn't order parts and I I paid for it here two weeks ago because we had a big project and I ordered the boilers, I ordered the water heater and I think I ordered the pumps and I was like, oh, I got to go back and I got to get my fittings and my hydraulic separator and you know, I got to order all this other stuff and I just didn't. Yeah, and we showed up to install day and I'm and it was the night before Sunday night, we're starting Monday morning an hour south of town, or our east of town, you know, no parts stores at all, within a two-hour round trip, basically, and I'm like, oh crap, yeah, you weren't prepared, like what? Oh my god, how do they do this? You know, and I got three guys scheduled on this job for four days. Yeah, it's a big deal, it's a deal.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's done, probably in most circumstances weeks ahead of time. Yeah, yeah, I just did a emergency, let's call it Just for emphasis on how quick the turnaround was. Request, the request of the turnaround customer with a boiler system. Boiler also produced hot water to an indirect water heater. Just a residence Older couple, retired.
Speaker 1:Nobody I know loves taking cold showers and so Minus hot water is an inconvenience at the very least. Yeah, so basically I'm calling a Emergency because how soon can you get it done, kind of thing. And I find you know when you're in that situation Like well, there are gonna be things I don't have right and they hot, the answer to the how soon you can get it done usually hinges on those parts, not usually the whole piece of equipment. I can usually get the equipment, yeah it's. Do I have this? And if I don't, I need to order it and can I get it in literally the amount of time I need right same time the equipment shows up. So yeah, it's a challenge. I don't do a lot of inventory. I feel like I, like I think where you're going with your story is that you actually had a lot of stuff you needed surprisingly because you were Over-ordering or you know, things change sometimes on jobs. You end up with equipment or you know Materials that you don't necessarily just get rid of, that kind of thing, so you're able to get it done.
Speaker 1:My quick turnaround one day turnaround on this boiler was I had time in the schedule, which was nice, and and I had what I needed, minus, like Just some copper fittings, you know, basically that's all I had to add to my order. It was nice, surprising, you know. But also I did the same thing, different scale, yeah, but I went through my stuff and I'm like man, I got so much of this, I got so much like what? No, why do I have? Yeah, why do Andy explain to me why I have a dozen sets of three-quarter inch and probably a half dozen sets of one inch, and I say sets both sides, isolation, pump flanges, for God's sakes of like 40 to 60 bucks a pop. Why do at her? So what's that? 120 a set? Like, why do I have so many? Because I order and I don't need, yeah, then I order and I don't need, and then whatever I that was and that was the deal.
Speaker 2:Like I turn up in the shop and I'm like I think I've got some isoflanges on the shelf here somewhere. And I'm looking and I'm like I'm pretty sure there's some three-quarter. And we were out of three-quarter, everybody in town was out of three-quarter, yeah. And I'm like, oh, you gotta be freaking, kidding me. I need three-quarter inch isoflanges. And I'm digging around and I'm like, oh, I think there's actually. There's a box in the shop that we ordered for a job where we were gonna do all these pump flange isolation changeouts and then we ended up not doing it and I had the flanges and it was like, okay, whatever. And I'm digging on the shelf. I don't have a box of three-quarter. I had a case of inch and a quarter oh, my god, unopened and I'm like one of those is like 75 bucks a piece. Like, oh, there's a dozen of them.
Speaker 1:That's wow, wow, crazy, like I didn't even know I had them All. Right, dude, I gotta go order a furnace for this customer assault dude, go do it.
Speaker 2:Congratulations on the sale. Thanks, man, see you later. Have a good one.
