Sales Manuals, Courses and Organizations.....Any Experience And Opinions?

Ed the Roofer

I see organizations hawking their current versions of the Holy Grail of running a business or how to sell and "Leave Your Competition In The Dust" type titles.

So, has anyone here plucked down the $ 100.00 or $ 900.00 $ 5,000.00 dollars to subscribe or join any of these or to even just buy their magis sales formulas?

I am Not implying that their is no merit to them, just cutting through the advertising hype that most come with.

Okay, organizations like:

CCN, Certified Contractors Network
RSI, Roofers Success International
Any others?

Name the sales courses you have heard of, whether or not they were roofing specific or contractors in general.

I do recall reading through the, "How to Bid Higher Than Everyone Else and Still Get the Job" website and actually did get some good information from it, even from the free video on-line, but is it worth the dollars spent?

Offhand, I am going to guess that it wouldn't be a bad investment, but there is always some other expenses that come up to take priority.

What other courses and things have you either been tempted to, or actually bought into and were they worth it?

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

jamesfl

Ed I'm glad you asked.

I went to RSI training for roofing sales and in my opinion it was for a "babe in the woods" I just love the idea of smoke, mirrors, and deception. Not to mention trying to put a customer in a choke hold to sign a contract.

LEGAL NOTE!
Confidentiality agreement is in place. This is for the previous employer who threatened to sue me for speaking out about this on the internet.




JAMES

Ed the Roofer

Without divulging specifics of their training, what does the confidentiality agreement bind you from talking about?

Isn't most of the training and knowledge already public domain information?

I understand where you wouldn't be able to provide their copyrighted documents, but talking about sales systems and how to run a business is similar all throughout the world.

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

Grumpy

Once I figure out this business thing, probably 40 years from now when I ahve acheived all the goals I have set out to achieve, I too plan to setup my own little company providing information to contractors. The difference... it will be highly affordable, require no subscriptions or membership fees, and I won't broadcast it as a system that is the answer to all your prayers.

I think the flaw with most of these systems out there is that while they may offer good advice, alot are over priced. Like CCN for example. As best I can tell they have some valuable information, however the price tag is outrageous.


Just like you said Ed, there's always something more important to be paid first.

__________________
-Grumpy
Chicago Gutters Chicago Roofing

user182

Ed,

you must be asking that question for a reason, would you mind sharing what it is?

Ed the Roofer

Not anything specific, but every darned time you turn around, someone else wants to sell you the next proven miracle of success.

So, are any of them the Real Deal and MORE THAN Worth The Money???

Ed





I saw the coolest thing on some internet sales pitch site just a little while ago.

Read This. I nice piece of honesty for a change:





And then at the closing of the sales letter, where most sites offer a Tonight Only or Offer Ending Soon Sense Of Urgency to get you to decide quick and buy, he says:

__________________
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

I guess you would first have to decide if you want to be a salesman or a quote man. If all you want to do is “quote & hope” you don’t need any sales training.

The average close ratio is around 1 out of 3 for this industry. IF you are good at what you do and keep your promises you can be average without sales training. However if you want to be better than average it may require some effort, preparation and training on your part.

I’ve bought various training materials; audio, video, books & live training. I learn something from all of them.

If I learn even one small thing that helps me it’s worth it. When you add many small things together then you can start closing sales that you might not have been able close before.

Here’s a list of some that I recommend.

Dave Yoho & his son David Allan Yoho
Rodney Webb

user182

Are you selling any jobs these days?

How did last year work out compared to previous years?

user182

I joined Prosult for 1 year and dropped out. Prosult is a networking group for contractors run by Monroe Porter. I think they charged around $2500 per year to be a member and they wanted more for sales training.

I didn’t like the group mentality so I quit. I was the only contractor in my group using subs and they made me feel like a black sheep. It’s not like I’m unfamiliar with the”employee only” model; I did it that way for 14 years.

They also wanted me to get an office manager and that just didn’t work out for me. My wife helps me part time and she opposed the idea. I think it would have just increased my overhead and not my profit.

They were all marching in lockstep to everything dictated by Monroe. I’m not much of a conformist or a kiss-ass so I just didn’t fit in. They wanted me to act like I needed “the group” or I wouldn’t make it.

The mandatory annual conference was held in October and that didn’t make sense to me because October is always my busiest month.

jamesfl

My former employer, whom joined RSI 18 months ago, has been very slow as well. With todays "tough" economy, how can you justify the monthly cost?