How Time Affects Selling Home Improvements
The Importance of Time in a Home Improvement Sales Pitch
One of the first things I always look for when a rep struggles in home improvement sales is when they are in the home. It’s often a good indicator of what they are doing. This factor affects your sales and therefore your money a lot more than you would think. . By the way if you like these videos please subscribe or for more free training check out my home improvement sales blog listed below in the description. Are you aware of your time in the home? In this video, we will talk about why the length of time is important, ways to double-check it, and how to control it.
Why Time Matters in a Home Improvement Sales Pitch
The length of time is important because most sales presentations in the home have steps to build value. When you are in the home for too short an amount of time you can’t possibly be doing everything you need to build that value. Again this is for those of you who do the structured sales presentation not going in with a clipboard and leaving an estimate within 20 minutes. Typically if you are selling a lower-cost home improvement like HVAC you need to be at the money or price around the 1-hour mark and 1.5 hours after paperwork. Anything 10k and above requires you to be at the money for around 2 hours and after paperwork between 2-3 hours. Again this is based on a home improvement sale where you can give them the price the first visit and are in a position to close. Any less than that time framework and you can’t build enough value. There is no way you can build $20,000 worth of value in 1 hour. The other side of that is staying too long in the home. I have seen these 4 hour-plus marathons reps do and it’s crazy. One.. because it’s so long it can make it seem like a lot more information for the customer to decide on and can seem more confusing and involved than it is. “Well with everything we just discussed I can see there is a lot for me to think about and mull over”
And because buying is an emotional decision, not a logical one the emotions wear out after that period of time. You may write the order but a lot of times it’s because you just wore them out. Anytime you have presentations that long that buy.. the chance that it will cancel goes up exponentially. I still remember that when I first started I thought that if just spent longer in the home it seemed like it was easier to sell. At that time I didn’t realize that really what it was that the length of time allowed me to get better rapport with them and in some cases in retrospect I was just wearing them out. As you get better in your rapport skills you won’t need as long to get great rapport and then not to have to spend that much time doing your job.
How to Track Your Time in a Home Improvement Sales Pitch
When you are in your sales presentation you need to be aware of the time. That’s why it’s good to check your times in the home in at least two places. One is at a check point like if your presentation has a company story or product demonstration. Make it a habit to be aware of where you are there in terms of time. I knew that if I was still in the company story an hour in the home I was in trouble and needed to speed up the pace. I think the other place to check in general is the time you are delivering the price to make sure your overall sales presentation is in the right length.
Controlling the Sales Call Pace
Remember in most cases you control the pace of the sales call. The danger comes from either you or the customer talking too much. The you talking too much can be handled by just you being aware of the time. Then you can make the adjustments to your sales presentation in general and adjust as you are in the home if it's taking too long. When you are new it takes longer because you are fumbling through something you are learning. Bsing your way through something is always longer than once you know it.
How to Politely Regain Control
The other reason it can take longer is that sometimes if the customer is a talker you have to dance the line between being rude and letting them go all over the place…for example….” You know Mary I appreciate you telling me what you gave your kids for Christmas every year for the last 20 years it’s really interesting but if you don’t mind we have to stick to the point here because I’m afraid I’ll get distracted and end up wasting your time by being here all night. Will that be okay?” “Now after you get the job done and I come back to make sure you are happy we will have more time and you can tell me all about “
Granted there are times you can’t help it because as you know distractions can come in waves….you get started…then the phone rings…you let them answer than 10 minutes later the toilet overflows…..handled…then 10 minutes later the kids fall down and start screaming…you can’t help that and just need to deal with it as it happens …be laser-focused and fight your way to the end. There are some things you and the customer can control and some you can’t. For the non-controllable, you have to grin and bear it but for the controllable, you have to take control of it politely. If they can control it then politely I‘ve asked people to turn their phones off, stop watching the game, or have their oldest child play a game with their youngest so that you can get your job done. For example, one time I had somebody texting the whole time we were there, and finally I texted them “Could you please stop that for a while because this is taking a lot longer with that and I am afraid of taking too much time and being here all night. “ Their expression and “Was that you that just texted me this” were worth its weight in gold 😊That just goes along with making sure the customer shows you common courtesy and respect when you are in the home. That’s the subject of another video 😊
The Impact of a Streamlined Presentation
Another thing about having a sales presentation that’s too long is that your presentation gets diluted. If it takes one person 3 hours to get to the price and another 2 hours and they are both supposed to cover the same information which presentation will be more concentrated and therefore be more powerful and have more impact? The 2 hour one or the three-hour one if they both have the same info? Plus if you are taking 1.5 times or more than your co-worker who is getting paid more on an hourly basis? It’s important that you are constantly streamlining your sales presentation to eliminate the fat. Any statement you make that does not bring you closer to the sale with a specific purpose in mind is fat. What is more effective hitting them with a wet noodle 1000 times or one 5 well-placed punches with power? Excuse the analogy if you are nonviolent. If you like this type of information on controlling the situation please watch the video on selling with multiple people involved or the playlist on closing. Happy Selling!
