3 Sales Strategies

user182

There are 3 strategies that you can choose from to guide your approach to sales.

• Price
• Pressure
• Personalized service

Price: You could try to win sales based on having a low price.

Pressure: You could employ some type of high pressure tactics to get people to sign the contract

Personalized service: Or you could offer prospects personalized service. You can invest more in helping them to get the exact solution that is right for them and they will appreciate the value that you add.

Which approach makes most sense to you?

I choose to offer personalized service. Therefore I need to be aware of anything and I mean ANYTHING that will lead to further commoditization of this industry and avoid it.

Anything that you do that presents your service as a commodity means that you will have to compete on price.

If you consider “bidding” as an activity that you want to engage in then you are competing on price.

An organization that offers personalized service doesn’t “bid”. It does a needs assessment to uncover issues that are important to the prospect besides price.

It develops a dialogue with the prospect to explore the opportunity to work together on the solution to problems. It involves communication with people, face to face communication, rapport building and decision making. It does all of that and much more.

Why would you knowingly want to engage in activity that is designed to make you compete on price? There could only be one reason; you have designed your company to be a low priced provider. There are no other reasons that make sense.

That’s why you are wasting your resources to pay a marketing organization that is geared toward commoditizing your industry.

Slyfox

I always saw it as all three playing off of one another, with number 3 being the one of most importance, thus the clincher in the sale.

You start off with [3] what 'you' have to offer,
throw in a little of [2] a few horror stories of premature failed roofs and the importance of proper installment of materials, ventilation and underlayments,
toss out a [1] cost of materials,
than fall back on [3] with this is what we can do for you too make sure you get both a full and properly installed roofing system that will last.

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Grumpy

I want to add one more, which really isn't sales at all but a strategy alot of guys employ. Throwing a ton of crap at the wall and seeing what sticks. I know of one company providing their guys 10+ leads per day. They measure and figure the proposal real quick and give it to the secretaries to type who are putting out about 140 proposals in the mail each day. This company runs about 10 crews per day, well they did back when I was doing their scheduling I assume it's still in the same range now too.

Their closing ratio is crap but they do charge a pretty good rate for their work and are keeping alot of guys busy. When I was there, there were numerous sales reps earning over $100k per year and most of them were above the $75k mark. I call them sales reps, but the company policy is NOT to meet the customer unless the customer insists.

The point to this post is that I don't agree that bidding is always competing on price, though in most situations it is. I am a "sorta-seller" as defined by CertainTeed. That's a cross between personalized service, and bidding. Low price has absolutely nothing to do with it...

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-Grumpy
Chicago Gutters Chicago Roofing

Ed the Roofer

Jack,

That doesn't seem like your writing style. If so, very well thought out for a topic based on the 3 parameters defined, which I expect of you.

The topic for discussion is definitely something that you discuss very tangibly, but just the formatting of this piece seems like it may have been acquired from some sales guru type newsletter.

But, if it is from some other source, you should give credit and a link to the source.

Ed

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Just Wait A Minute, I Will Be Right Back With A Link For That.
http://www.rightwayroofingcompany.com/ www.rightwayroofingcompany.com
Roof Estimates, Roof Repairs, Roofers, Roof Leak Help, Elgin, Carpentersville, East Dundee, West Dundee, Sleepy Hollow, Algonquin, South Elgin, Huntley, Lake In The Hills, Illinois

user182

Ed, its stuff I've learned from various sources, mainly from listening to audio CD’s while I drive, and also from live Sandler sales training.

These thoughts were elaborated on by David Allen Yoho; He has an audio CD called “Negotiating Higher Prices in Competitive markets”.

Someday I’ll give you a list of Books and audio books that I recommend.

Slyfox

Your threads are always worth reading Jack, just like Ed's.

Is my assumption/opinion that it's all 3 methods playing off each other with one simply over powering the others acceptable?

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Ed the Roofer

I am on his e-mail list, but the stuff he sends out has not been worth it yet, except for his Guide To Replacemernt Windows e-book, just for some general knowledge and tips.

Ed

__________________
Just Wait A Minute, I Will Be Right Back With A Link For That.
http://www.rightwayroofingcompany.com/ www.rightwayroofingcompany.com
Roof Estimates, Roof Repairs, Roofers, Roof Leak Help, Elgin, Carpentersville, East Dundee, West Dundee, Sleepy Hollow, Algonquin, South Elgin, Huntley, Lake In The Hills, Illinois

user182

If you decide to compete on price that will affect decisions that you make in other aspects of your business.

It will influence what you pay your installers for example; it will influence your specifications for how the job will be done and other things.

In true selling/marketing you want the price to be detached from the product or service. You want the prospect to buy based on how they feel about the experience.

It’s not about the thing you are selling; it’s about how they feel about you, your company, your products and services.

You don’t want the prospect to focus on a direct link between the product/service and the price. If they maintain that focus then they will decide to go with the lowest priced contractor.

You can steer them toward deciding based on personalized service by offering better service than the run of the mill contractor, but it has to be service that creates value in their mind.

Not every prospect is going to appreciate a more professional level of service. However you can try to market in neighborhoods that are more affluent and more educated and you will minimize that problem.

There are some easy things you can do to create more value. You can do an attic inspection compared to other contractors that don’t. Suppose you do and you find a bathroom fan that is not connected to a vent and mildew in the attic.
Suppose you are the only contractor to tell them how to get proper airflow to avoid mildew.

That’s just one example of being different. You could also do other work that needs to be done so that the customer can take advantage of one stop shopping. You could add insulation or do chimney repairs or something like that. Your competitors may not even notice that they need these things. You can take a camera with you and show them pictures of why they need these other items.

You can take more time and educate the prospect and that creates value.

If you create a lot more value than your competition the prospect will not object to paying you more money.

user182

Is the information you provide more valuable that the morning newspaper?

Some contractors are contemplating on how they can deliver quotes on a mass scale by outsourcing the measuring.

I guess you could prepare quotes, roll them up and put a rubber band around them, pack them into a saddle bag, place the saddle bag on a bike and pay some kid to ride around and drop them off lie he is dropping off the morning paper.

If you want to deliver quotes like it’s no more important than the morning paper you are placing yourself in a position of getting jobs only because you have a low price.

Do you provide expert advice and evaluation to your prospects?

Do you have a quality control system in place to guarantee that the customer gets what you promised?

If you do why would you want to place your self on the same level as a paper boy?

user182

I don’t like to use pressure but that does not mean I am afraid to ask for a yes or no decision.

The main point here is that the customer will have a reason for choosing you that stands out as the main reason.

If you specialize in low price roofing then you don’t need a lot of selling skills, you only have to keep quoting low prices.

If you charge higher prices and deliver higher quality then you have to have a way to persuade the prospect to pay you more.

That’s where personalized service comes in. You are offering personalized service before, during and after the job is completed.