← The Art of Sales with Art Sobczak
The Art of Sales with Art Sobczak
309 My Experience with a Painting Contractor's Mistake-Filled Sales Approach
00:19:53
Art breaks down a real-life sales experience with a local painting company and uncover the critical sales mistakes that cost them the job. From the first contact to the follow-up (or lack thereof), we’ll dissect what went wrong—and more...
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Art Sopcich
You are listening to the art of sales. Everyone sells every day. And this is your source for conversational real world sales and prospecting methods that you are comfortable using and that get results you'll help people buy instead of pushing them into being sold. Here's your host, Art Sopcich. So we have two guest bedrooms that need some cosmetic updating, which means painting the walls a lighter col and replacing the only carpet remaining in our house with hardwood flooring. So we're starting with the painting. And as fate would have it, in my mailbox I saw a bright pink flyer that I've received every month for as long as I can remember, but always ignored and threw it in the trash before it even entered the house. So this was from a painter. It was very simple, typed and looks like photocopied one page, a letter from the owner of the company talking about his residential interior and exterior services and how he was different from the big companies that used a lot of contractors and he was offering a discount for first time customers. Now I'm always a little leery of those since they can quote whatever they want, right, and then offer their discount off of that. And I know that some companies do that, such as the one that I got from a air conditioner company a few months ago. Anyway, so I checked out the guy's reviews online. Seemed pretty good. His website was very basic. Actually, it looked like it came with a domain from GoDaddy. No big deal. So I called and I spoke with a pleasant actual human being who took my details for the appointment. And then she asked if anyone else would be making the decision regarding the painting. Well, I jokingly said that don't wives always make the final decision? Well, she didn't think that was as funny as I did, but then asked, well, will she be able to be there when the owner came for the estimate? And I said yeah, I guess she would. So now, of course, I analyze every situation that I'm in. Looking at the sales dynamics at work. I look at them from a couple of different perspectives, both as a consumer, like any buyer would, and as a sales scientist, picking apart the process, the psychology and, and the dynamics at work. From a consumer perspective, this interaction seemed salesy to me. Whenever someone asks, will the spouse be there? Or we require that the spouse be there, that reeks of a slimy timeshare presentation technique. You probably experienced that. Now, from a sales scientist perspective, okay, I get why they ask. They're qualifying and they want to be sure they're not wasting their time. However, I Would handle the initial interaction a bit differently and first focus on the why behind the request and very importantly, if it is definitely something that the homeowner is going to do and when. I've actually put together processes like these for organizations and trained people on this, so I'd suggest that they engage the prospect in more of a conversation naturally and ask something like, oh, so are you remodeling? And then after I me the prospect would have said, yeah, kind of we're just looking to update cosmetically, you know, not knocking down walls or putting in new fixtures. She could have asked a fun any special event or guest coming in where you need it by you done by a certain date. So that would uncover the urgency and the timing. If there was any and if there was an actual decision that the job was indeed going to be done by someone, then I would have said, well, yeah, we do have a couple separate groups of guests coming in mid to late March. And that would have given her an indication of the time frame which she could have then confirmed along with the intent that we were definitely going to have it done. And we're just collecting quotes. She could have been confirmed that further salesy conversational way with something like, I imagine you want it done by then or sooner since you're also having flooring done. Now of course, that would require listening carefully and using the information instead of just processing a call like so many people do. Now let's look at how to avoid the timeshare sleazy question of will the other decision maker be there? So to do this in the flow of conversation, you know, the way normal people normally talk. She could have asked, oh, are you handling this all yourself or do. Do you have help there at home? Of course, I would have said that my wife would pretty much be running the show as to what color we picked. Then of course that could have led into if we had color in mind, and then her saying that the owner could bring samples for her to look at. Okay, so I've already talked about several sales lessons in the all important first contact with the prospect and we haven't even gotten to my main points yet. So let's fast forward. So the owner shows up on time, very friendly yet professional. So we walk him over to the rooms. Hey, nothing too difficult. Hey, these are basic square guest bedrooms with their own bathrooms. I mean, we could do the painting ourselves but have better uses for our time. And really the risk to reward for me of being up 12ft on a ladder is a very good trade off at this point. In my life anyway. So each bedroom has a sliding glass door to the outside. And because they get south and west sun most of the day here in Arizona, there are fulllength blinds that are rarely opened. And I might add, these rooms are used maybe 15 days total during the year, if that. So as the guy is examining the rooms without asking about how they're used or how often he starts going into upsell mode, he points out that one sliding door to the outside had some paint peeling. Well, that was a surprise to me. I had to look closely near the floor to even see it. So he said he'd want to paint those too. And oh, to really do it adequately, he'd need to remove the doors, which would take more time of course. Also because of the color chip sample that we had picked out but weren't necessarily completely attached to, he said that, well, we'd need to paint the ceilings because the beige color that we picked out on the paint chip, well that would clash with the existing beige ceiling color. I guess a professional could spot that from a paint chip and comparing it to a 12 foot ceiling ceiling. Really? Now I was getting a little bit annoyed at this point with his upselling since he wasn't asking any questions. So without him asking, I told him that those patio doors probably had been opened twice in the past 10 years and the blinds rarely are opened and that I could touch up the tiny spots where the paint cracks since no one's going to see that anyway. And I told him that, well, hey, we could change the tone of the color that we pick since we wouldn't have that awful clashing. And I'm sure our guests would probably complain about that clashing if they looked up at those 12 foot ceilings while in bed and it was dark. I mean, I couldn't hold my sarcasm back at that point. Oh, then he did ask a question. So what's most important to you about getting painting done now from a sales perspective? Yeah, we do want to find out how someone's going to make their buying decision. So I respected that in theory, but from a buyer's viewpoint, in that context, it landed as salesy. This wasn't a complex enterprise level sale for software that would run a company, right? I mean really, I wanted paint on walls that are rarely even seen in daylight. So I answered honestly and I said, well, I'll tell you what's most important is that we get the walls painted. They look nice. And that also means there's only paint where there should be paint. And it's like These rooms are the showcase of the house. So while we respect and enjoy higher end things, we don't need a job at the artesian level. Well, that seemed to turn him off a bit. So I say the following here for reference. I live in Scottsdale, Arizona, and from his perspective, the neighborhood and looking around the house, again from his perspective, he probably, and I'm assuming here goes into estimates, thinking he can command premium prices for basic jobs because he perceives that people obviously have money and he probably can do that and if so, good for him. And when we had the main part of our house remodeled after a water incident a couple of years ago, we did go with a premium artesian finish on the walls, but we didn't need or want that here. Now with all of that said, I did not say I would not pay a competitive price. In fact, he did not ask if we had any other quotes, which we did, or if price was a main consideration. And the way it ended is that he pretty much said that he mostly works with people who want quality and he does a lot of high end houses in Scottsdale. And I kind of took that as a little bit of a, of a dig or insult, as if I didn't care about quality. And, and actually I found that kind of funny because I was thinking about his cheap photocopied flyer and stock website that certainly did not scream high end quality painter. And he also said he would get us a quote in, get this, 48 hours. That astounded me. Seriously. I mean, he didn't have to map out how he was going to do neurosurgery here. Seems to me like an established business would have an automated system built where he could punch in a few specs and spit out a quote on his iPad before he even left. Which by the way, if he had done that and if it was competitive, I would have given him the job on the spot. So you might be wondering what happened next. Well, I am too, because as I record this, it is now six days after he was here. Not 48 hours, but 144 hours, and still no quote. And I'm not optimistic I'm going to get one. So here's a guy who took at least an hour out of his day of doing premium painting to come to a home, talk to someone who is definitely going to have a job done, and then not even give himself a chance at getting the business, regardless of what he thinks about us. Hey, I have admittedly had situations where I didn't think someone could afford my services. That was my assumption, but I still treated them with respect and gave them the price anyway. And then I've had situations where they totally proved me wrong and taught me a lesson in the process about assuming because they bought on the spot. So there are at least seven sales lessons here that maybe you can apply to your own business and sales situations. Let's go through them. Number one Effective first contacts mean everything. Avoid sounding salesy or scripted, especially with decision maker qualification questions. Engage in natural conversation to uncover needs and timing and urgency without sounding like a timeshare pitch or like you're just processing a call. Number two Ask better questions up front instead of rigid qualifying questions where you're just going down a list like a survey. Use open ended customer focus questions and actively listen and then use their responses to guide the conversation again like normal people talk. Number three Avoid unnecessary upselling without context. So this means understanding someone's priorities before you suggest something else. Hey, upselling is great when it's helping someone so you you would like in this guy's case, they should have been asking about the usage and the importance of certain areas before assuming that they needed premium upgrades. Number four Know when to sell and when to just give a price. Hey, sometimes buyers simply need a straightforward solution, not an elaborate consultation. So recognize the difference between a complex sale and a basic request. Number five don't assume a customer's budget or willingness or ability to pay. So avoid prejudging customers based on anything you see. Their home, their name, their location or perceived wealth. Some buyers want the best, the latest, the greatest, the most premium. Others just need a job well done. Let them tell you what they value. Number six make the buying process simple. Provide a quote quickly, ideally on the spot or on that call. People today expect speed and convenience. Delaying a quote by a ridiculous 48 hours, or in my case indefinitely kills momentum and loses business. Number seven Always follow through. The old saying is the fortune's in the follow up. Hey, if you promise a quote in a certain amount of time, even 48 hours, deliver in 48 hours. How hard is this? Failing to follow up after an in person estimate or a discovery call is a total waste of time and it's a lost opportunity. Number eight Treat everybody you talk to as a high paying customer. Treat them with respect even if you suspect somebody won't buy or maybe they don't have the money to buy. Provide your best service and pricing. Hey, people might surprise you with their willingness to invest or they may refer you to others even if they don't buy and even if they don't buy today, they might become a customer at some point because they remember you and the impression that you made. We've all had those things happen, right? All right. So hopefully you can apply those lessons to your own business. All right. Hey, you know what time it is? The art of the sales. That's right. It's time for the quote of the day. Today's quote comes from my friend Jeffrey Gittamer. And Jeffrey says, make it easy for people to buy and they will. And that's a simple, easy quote, isn't it? It's so true. All right, hey, if you got value from this episode or any episode, I invite you to get more value. And you can get it all in one place. You can get it at my main site, which is Smart calling. Com. And there you're going to find more free resources right at the top. Towards the top on prospecting. There's a free template there on my Smart calling process. Fill in the blanks. Along with video training, I've got a free objections masterclass there for you as well. If you scroll down, you're going to see over or how to get access to over 300 back episodes of this podcast. And then also, this is new how to get on the waiting list for my new exclusive, unique coaching program for salespeople who really want to become the ultimate sales pro and achieve and earn at the highest level. So again, our main site. Go take a look at Smart calling. Com. Thank you so much for investing your valuable sales time with me today. Until next time, go out and make it your best sales day ever. I'm Art Sobchak.