I’ve spent the last few years helping Flat-Rate Residential Plumbing, HVAC, & Electrical Service Contractors implement industry best practices and strategies to increase their sales, improve their customer service, promote customer loyalty and customer retention, and improve the overall efficiency and profitability of their businesses.
I’ve performed countless hours of sales coaching with service technicians in the field and even have my own set of personal experiences in the Plumbing and HVAC field having worked for a $4.5 million a year operation.
I’ve been able to take lot of the knowledge and experience I picked up from being in automotive sales and have translated that into best practices for sales in Flat-Rate Residential Plumbing, HVAC, & Electrical Service Contracting.
Now, I know what you might be thinking:
“Oh great, a sleazy car salesman training my technicians on how to make sales? No thank you!”
A lot of what you see and experience when you go to purchase a vehicle are BAD and UNETHICAL sales practices.
That’s NOT what I’m teaching in my sales coaching AT ALL.
In fact, having worked in automotive sales, I feel I’m particularly qualified to address the best and the worst sales practices that exist today and to train and coach technicians on what to do, what not to do, what works, and what doesn’t work in sales.
My focus in my sales coaching with service contractors is to help them implement the BEST and most ETHICAL sales practices.
Wants Vs. Needs – Good Vs. Bad Salesmanship
I’ve got dozens of examples of Good Vs. Bad Salesmanship I will be blogging about, but today’s lesson on one of the WORST and most UNETHICAL sales practices doesn’t actually come from automotive sales at all.
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Today’s lesson comes from an unknown life insurance agent (sales person) who cold called me just the other day.
First of all, I don’t normally answer cold calls, but this one came in from a local number and since I have a business, I decided to answer the call.
The insurance agent greeted me with the standard “Hello, how are you?” and so forth.
I knew it was a sales call at that very moment, but instead of hanging up I thought, “This might be interesting…” so I decided to hear him out on his pitch…
(Some of this may be paraphrased a bit, but the conversation essentially went down like this.)
Sales Person: “Do you have a family Mr. Long?”
Me: “Yes I do. A wife and a 3 year old son.”
Sales Person: “And how much life insurance coverage do you have now?”
Me: “I’ve got a couple of different policies. One is a whole life insurance plan and the other is a term life. Both total about $250,000 in coverage.
Sales Person: “Oh my…Mr. Long you NEED at least $1,000,000 in life insurance coverage for a family of 3.
Me: “I do?”
Sales Person: “Oh yes sir you need AT LEAST the $1,000,000 in coverage to protect your family. Let me take care of that for you…”
Me: “No, I’m not asking if I need the $1,000,000 in coverage, I’m asking if I NEED the $1,000,000 in coverage. Do you understand the difference?
Sales Person: “I’m not sure I do sir.
Me: “What I mean is, there are really only 4 things I actually NEED in life. Those things are: Food, Shelter, Oxygen, & Water. Literally everything else is a “want.”
Me: “What this sounds like to me is that YOU actually have a need or a want in your life that you NEED my business to be able to secure or acquire. Is that accurate?”
Sales Person: “Well…actually…yeah…I guess…”
Me: “Well thank you for your time and this sweet sales lesson, but I’m not interested. Have a great day!”**CLICK**
What does this mean for Residential Plumbing, HVAC, & Electrical Service Contractors?
The mechanical systems (the Plumbing system, the HVAC system, the Electrical system) have NEEDS, your customers have WANTS.
**Coming soon: “The Essence of Value Added Selling.” You can subscribe to receive our future blog posts here >
I know this may be somewhat difficult to accept but…
- NO! The customer doesn’t NEED you to restore water service to their home.
- NO! The customer doesn’t NEED you to fix that furnace in mid December.
- NO! The customer doesn’t NEED you to restore Electrical service to their home.
In FACT, the customer doesn’t need YOU at all…
- They could just as easily call one of your many competitors listed on Google, in the phone book, or recommended to them through Facebook, HomeAdvisor, Angie’s List, their Friend, Family, or Neighbor, etc.
- OR, they could torch the house and start all over. Just saying!
You have to make the customer WANT you and you have to make the customer want YOU.
Don’t make the mistake of telling the customer that they NEED you or that they NEED that new water heater, furnace, panel, etc.
Remember, “Telling isn’t selling.”
Instead, have a conversation with the homeowner about the mechanical condition and functionality of that water heater, furnace, panel, etc. and let them know what all their system would need to bring that piece of equipment or the system back up to normal, efficient operation.
Example:
“Hey Mrs. Jones, I finished inspecting and diagnosing your HVAC system today and I found a few deficiencies that I’d like to review with you and see how you’d like to proceed.
(Present sales options sheet)
“In order to bring your HVAC system back up to a normal and efficient operating condition, all of these deficiencies would need to be repaired and I’ve listed the total to do all of that for you.”
“I’ve also provided a quote on a replacement HVAC system for some comparative analysis.”
“Mrs. Jones, this is your home and it’s your decision how you’d like to invest in your home of course. How would you like to proceed?”
Here we have had a conversation with Mrs. Jones about the issue(s) with the equipment or the “system,” given her information on the total costs to repair and replace, let her know there’s no pressure to do either one, and simply asked her what kind of investment she would like to make in her home.
I cannot stress this enough. Do NOT TELL a customer what they need or what to do. Give them the information they need to make an informed decision and ask them how they would like to proceed.
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About The Author:
Patrick is a Husband, a Father, a Modern Entrepreneur, the Founder of BizPAL.org, and the Creator of BizPAL’s Automated Recruiting Program.
He holds certifications in Social Media Marketing, Facebook Advertising, Inbound Marketing, Business Automation, and more!
Fun Fact:
Patrick was born and raised in a predominantly Amish community in Northern Indiana.
Got questions about the Amish? Ask Patrick!
Patrick is the son of a Career Tradesman and is extremely passionate about helping the Contracting industry grow and advance.
He has over 10+ years of experience in Customer Service, B2C Sales, Social Media Marketing, Sales Training and Coaching, Business Consulting, etc.
He has spent the past 7+ years working with Service Contractors from coast to coast to increase their Sales, boost their Profits, increase Customer Satisfaction and Brand Loyalty, and improve their Operational efficiency by Building Creative Solutions and Implementing Innovative Ideas!
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