If you work in the professional trades, you know that are the days when the average customer didn’t know what they wanted are long gone. Prospective clients are more educated than ever now, with all of the information they need available online. They can find plans, designs, pictures of anything and everything and are prepared for what they want and how much they are willing to pay for it.
On top of this, competition has increased after the economic crash. People who found themselves out of work found new careers as self-proclaimed “high-end remodelers” or “landscape designers,” and they’re creeping in on your business.
You’re asking questions now. How do we avoid providing our expertise so they can find someone online to do it for less? How do we avoid playing the price checker for people who are not going to do business with us? How do we sound different than the “Chuck in a truck,” who just started his company a year ago and also claims to have great service and great quality? How do we prove we actually are different?
The game has changed. Several key components to ensure success today are:
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Setting expectations: The ‘hard sell’ doesn’t work anymore – and I can’t believe it ever did. Homeowners are smart, and they have caught on to the traditional closing moves. If you need closing moves to obtain new business you are doing something wrong. Sell well up front, and when you get to the close, you’ll only need to get a signature.
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Understanding your buyer: I’ve have heard countless stories of how a detailed homebuyer was talking to a big picture remodeler and vice versa. You will quickly be disqualified for the wrong reasons if you fail to adapt to the buyer. Read the situation and communicate with your prospects on their level, not yours.
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Competitive differences: If your company tells prospective clients you have the best quality, service and price, that’s fine. But guess what? Your competition is doing the same thing. You are failing to differentiate your company. You have to do more than talk – show prospects how you’re different.
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Failing to understand how to handle full schedules with potential customers: you can and will get disqualified quickly if asked this question and you are booked out. Failing to help people discover why it would be worth the wait will cause you to lose profitable work. Again, show your prospects why you’re the best choice for them, and they’ll be willing to wait a week.
If your company is still playing the same game with the same rules you will be left behind. There is pent-up demand from previous years and people are doing more work than ever. Are you getting what you deserve?
