In last week’s blog post we discussed the way sales and marketing is received by this generation of homeowners. Their expectations and needs are different which means your approach to selling your work needs to be different.
Find out what your prospect knows.
Then: Home improvement sales representatives often went into sales meetings without any information on their prospect.
Now: Gathering as much information about the property, homeowner and neighborhood is imperative to have a successful sales visit.
Show them why they should work with you.
Then: All prospects were told the company story – whether they wanted to hear it or not.
Now: Homeowners have already done their research and know about your company and their story. Now the important factor is explaining why any of that is relevant to them and their project. Focus on being interesting.
Connect on a deeper level.
Then: Using visual clues like a trophy or picture within the home to lead the conversation comes off as disingenuous.
Now: Find out how much the customer knows about the product and your company and what information they need to make a decision.
Match the product to the need.
Then: Product features and benefits were a large portion of a sales presentation.
Now: You are selling yourself and your company’s work to the homeowner. Many prospects have already decided on the project and materials they’d like to use – you have to sell yourself as the installer.
Create a personal brand.
Then: You are selling a “know, like, and trust” factor, not the job. This is a long-used sales tactic.
Now: The difference now is that the homeowner cares about the reputation of the company. Presenting yourself cleanly, enthusiastically and providing the homeowners with the information they need to make a decision will benefit you the most.
Serve your prospects.
Then: Memorized sales closes were the read and butter for sales representatives.
Now: Asking for the business is still necessary but doing so in a way that lets the homeowner be confident that they have all the details needed to make a decision will give you a much higher rate of success.
Changing your mindset from being job and material focused to homeowner and information focused will allow you and your company to close more sales with prospects who need information, not to be sold.
Read more here.
