Around 15 years ago I requested a vinyl siding quote for my home. If I’m taking the time to call around and schedule an hour out of my day to get a substantial quote, like vinyl siding, I’m in the market to buy. And normally, if I’ve got an hour to kill, I want to be at the lake on my boat or taking a cat nap. But, if I’m a serious buyer, I’ll make the call and take time out of my day. If not, I’m taking in some lake water.
Years ago when I was a car salesman, I liked to study statistics and the statistics on new car sales. I read that 6 out of 10 people who walked onto the car lot would purchase a car within the next 48 hours. The reasons for this are many but, first and foremost, it takes a lot of fortitude to walk into a place where you know someone is trying to sell you something. Most people are horribly averse to place themselves in that situation. This means, they are quite desperate to buy a car. So, you could say that consumers are almost always in the market to buy when they contact a car dealer. The same is true when they are in need of your services. So, what keeps so many consumers from making a purchase? Why do contractors get told no…even after a flawless presentation offering a premium product?
The young man that gave me the presentation for the new vinyl siding was excellent. In the end though, he failed to close me. No purchase. Why you might ask? He quoted me one price and one price only. That day, that one $16,000 quote was too much. He offered me no option to say yes. That particular salesman shot for the stars without a safety net.
Give your customer a way to do business when money is tight. Reasonable options do not short change the value of your work. Reasonable options are not taking a particular service and discounting it either.
I still believe that I would have much better siding if I had gone with him. But, he didn’t give me the option to do that. When I finally bought vinyl siding some months later, did I get the premium vinyl? No. I got what I could afford at the time. But, I made a purchase. There’s a difference between losing a sale and making a small profit. Those small profits will always make your end of year profits greater than the alternative…no profit. What we have learned at The New Flat Rate is that every offer we give must have at least 5 options. More importantly, that bottom option must be perceived as a great value. When they perceive that you have affordable options with good value, 8 out of 10 times they will move up and buy higher priced options. In the end, these are more profitable for you and give more value to them.
Always have a safety net when you give a proposal and your overall results will be profitable…small or large.
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