Follow A Proven Process That Will Allow You To Close At Least 20% Of Quotes That You Give

Once you have leads coming in consistently and have a clear way of qualifying them, the next obvious step is to provide an estimate and close them. 

But if you still don’t have a way to get consistent leads or a way to qualify them properly, check out our Playbooks on lead generation and qualification inside our resources page.

 Stages Of The Sales Process

Every sale is the same. I know it may not feel like it because people can be very different with one another in terms of how they interact with you, but the overall process will always be the same.

The only things that change is the level of trust a prospect has on you when you meet them for an estimate and the purchasing power a prospect may have.

This is because some people will have heard amazing things about you, seen your reviews and past projects and therefore it will feel much easier to close than if you meet someone for the first time who’s never heard about you, has not seen any of your previous projects or read your reviews (See our Lead Nurturing Playbook to learn how to make sure that 90% of your prospects already know about your previous projects, reviews, etc.)

For this reason you need to treat all sales meetings the exact same way to have some consistency. Either way all prospects wil need to be taken down a similar path. The only thing that may change is the final stage in the process which may need more objection handling and trust building.

 Setting Expectations & Building Rapport

In every sales situation you have to set expectations about how things will work. If you don’t people will have no idea how it works and will be left confused.

This is a simple thing to do. Whenever you meet up with a prospect say something like this:

“So the way these estimates work is I want to get a crystal clear understanding of what you are looking for and we can brainstorm ideas for materials that can fit well with your vision. Once we come up with a good idea that you’re happy with, I’ll take measurements of the areas we’ll be working on and get back to you with a formal quote within 48 hours.

After that if you have any questions I will happily answer them and if you’re ready we can put you on the schedule and get started. Does that work for you?”

This helps a lot because #1 they feel taken care of since you’re telling them that you want to clearly understand what they need and you’re building trust by showing them that you have consistent process, meaning that you do this a lot.

In terms of building rapport, this is something that you don’t want to force too much. Talk about things you could have in common, if they have a dog, compliment how nice it is and things like that.

 Understanding Their Needs

Once you’ve set the expectations and they’ve agreed to your frame, you want to go straight into understanding what they need. All you have to ask is “So tell me more about what you’re looking to do here. I saw on the form you filled out that you’re interested in X? Tell me more about that.”

And this will open up the door to all the details you need to know. On top of that you want to get some information about why they want to do those things. “Are you the type of person that loves to host parties? Or you’re looking for an area to enjoy privately with your family?”

Questions like these allow for more rapport building opportunities.

Ultimately, you want to care about them. If you don’t care you’ll always have a lower close rate than what you could actually achieve. Always remember that people are extremely good at smelling BS. So learn to genuinely care for your customers.

 Sharing Your Process & Projected Costs

Once you have a clear understanding of what they’re looking for, you want to go ahead and take your measurements. 

Once that’s done, go ahead and break down what you’d have to do in order to make their project happen.

Here are a few pointers when doing this:

• Be Brief & Clear – people don’t really care that much about the details, but giving them an idea of the work that is required will help them see why a project may cost what it costs. It will also help them visualize working with you.

• Provide a Clear Timeline – this helps them get an idea of how long it will take.

Once you’ve shared an overview of the process for completing the project, provide them with a potential estimate based off the measurements you just took. Always mention the higher-end of what you think it will cost. This is because if you say a price and then come back with a higher price, it will turn away the prospect because they were expecting something lower.

On the other hand, if you give them a higher price and come back with something lower, it will provide them with a feeling of relief and like they got some type of deal. This is called price-anchoring.

Gauge their reaction once you give them the price. If they object, ask them what their budget is and see if there’s something you can do for them.

There are 3 options here:

1. Financing – if possible, this is the first thing you should offer.

2. A slightly lower price – this price should be a bit higher than the lowest you’re willing to go.

3. A smaller scale project – this should be a project that would definitely fit within their budget but it would not include everything they want to complete.

This gives you 3 opportunities to close the sale which will ultimately increase your chances at getting another project on the schedule.

Now that you know how to sell properly, you need to pack your calendar with as many appointments as possible. Check out our “Winning Ads Playbook” so that you can learn how to pack your calendar using digital ads →