Josh and Sarah had reached out to me to get a quote for a master bathroom remodel on the second floor of their South-Kansas City home. When I showed up, I was greeted by their 6-year-old son who was eager to talk about anything and everything that came to his mind, including, their white dog that hovered around the event, aptly named, Cloud.
I made multiple efforts to not be dismissive of the boy (or the dog’s) engagement at the moment, kneeling many times to entertain a disruption. To say the least, it was not an efficient meeting by any means. I spent well over an hour and a half on site for a quote that should have been closer to 45 min.
A week later, after delivering a preliminary price offering, I attended a final walkthrough of the space with Sarah. We chatted some more, mostly project details, and concluded that we had a good plan for the remodel. That’s when Sarah looked at me and said:
Look, you’re the most expensive contractor we’ve had out so far, but you’ve listened, and we believe you can actually do it.
That comment changed the way I think about “selling” forever…
Connection is King
If you aren’t having success closing in sales meetings, it’s time to shift your mindset.
What is it that your customer ultimately wants?
The answer to this question understandably gets buried beneath the spoken requests but there’s something more foundational that’s unspoken: peace of mind.
Peace of mind is (almost) always the most important thing in B2C (business to consumer) sales.
As a residential remodeling contractor, I have seen over and over again how approaching my customers with this in mind has helped me to close well over 40% for the last two years.
If you can learn to employ tactical empathy and identify the key leverage points in the communication framework, you will connect with customers more deeply and effectively, and naturally close more sales meetings. Beyond that, you’ll have the opportunity to turn your customer into your personal marketing team—doing the work of a missionary on behalf of your brand. (More to say on that later!)
The Traditional Sales-Mindset Needs to Go
Traditionally, the sales goal has been portrayed almost exclusively in terms of the cost of acquisition—the money that your customer pays you to get the thing that they want. By reducing the acquisition process to such a crude simplicity, our demeanors evolved into a trust-absent context that, by nature, fostered suspicion and therefore failed to care holistically for the relationship between consumer and provider. This approach emphasizes capitalizing on consumer needs rather than care and consultation.
The traditional sales approach is now on retreat which is evidenced by a celebrated correction in the market toward brand awareness and social accountability. This has driven the need for an increase in marketing spend for businesses to keep up with competitors who understand that the lifetime value of a customer depends on informational content and educational offerings alongside a polished and curated user experience.
The competition in this space is fierce because it requires you to have all of your ducks in a row—which is no small investment of time or money. All of the elements within the digital marketing and presence marketing spaces need to align and communicate the same message:
You can trust us,” and, “we do this all the time!
Your customer wants to know (without a doubt) that you’re the real deal and that their investment is safe—even if it costs them more to work with you than with someone else.
The good news here is that price is no longer the (perceived) main hurdle—peace of mind is—and that’s what you are ultimately selling as a contractor.
The worst-case scenario for your customer is spending something to get nothing, or less than nothing. You can find horror stories all over the internet of customers who decided to go with the less-established brand or the contractor that was “cheaper.” This rarely pays off. A contractor’s credibility can (in part) be measured by their appetite and aptitude for attending to the social cues represented in the digital marketing space.
A good contractor can always be found in the public-accountability spaces, and a bad contractor won’t be found there, at least not intentionally.
Assuming it’s true that your customers want peace of mind above anything else, then how do you shape your sales process to account for that need? Allow me to suggest some ideas from my own experience.
Social Proofing and Your Digital Trust Bank
Peace of mind is the result of you establishing (and maintaining) trust with the client. Much of that is (and should) be accomplished prior to your first meeting. You can build this trust preemptively with your client by leveraging the digital marketing ecosystem available to your company online. Social media is an indispensable way to build accountability with your clients.
1. Post on various branded social media platforms and your Google Business Profile 2–3 times per week
To tell your audience that you are relevant and accountable to the online community.
You can share progress pics from ongoing projects and office pics from team meetings and exercises, and above all…get reviews from your satisfied customers. The stats speak for themselves:
- 88% of customers read Google reviews to determine the status and quality of a local business before engaging with them
- 87% of customers engage with businesses that have a 3–4 star rating on Google
- 73% of consumers only trust reviews written in the last month
- 58% of customers say having a Google Business Profile increases physical visits
- Top-ranking businesses on Google have an average of 47 reviews
Lastly, think about this: Consumers are more likely to check reviews before hiring a service company than they are to check reviews for a healthcare provider! That’s saying something!
2. Blog at least 2 times per month
With the intent to share industry news, tips, and educational content.
Blogs are free-content offerings. They accomplish two things for you:
- They build your online keyword cache (Google’s index of relevant keywords for your business)
- They encourage your customer to engage with you in a more generous space than that of a transaction
With a blog, you’re not asking for anything—you’re giving—you’re the contributor! This will pay off later when the customer eventually reaches out to ask for your services. You’ll have the equity saved to make significant asks from your brand’s bank of trust.
3. Establish clear and prompt communication behaviors
To nurture your customers into the brand.
Nurturing is a long-term play that always pays off—but you’ll have to stop reducing your customer to a wallet with legs in order to see this long-term value.
They may not buy from you today, but be patient and trust the process.
This is a wider realization that we can all relate to if you take a moment to think about it. In a market inundated with options and traditional sales tactics, the bombardment of requests wears us down. Our resting state becomes one of, “no thanks.” We begin to assume that everyone just wants us to buy—and that’s exhausting.
You can attend to this by calling back promptly and practicing a communication acronym I call
LiPiCoR:
Listen
Paraphrase
Clarify
Respond
…and do it over and over again. Just focus on helping and consulting—the sale will come when the pain point is great enough.
Remember, we’re after one thing that’s beneath the request for your service—peace of mind.
Closing the Deal in Person
The first impression is critical to how you stage your product or service.
Remember that you are selling an experience which includes several important elements that require your attention.
Presentation, if done correctly, can seal the deal for your discriminating client who has likely done their homework prior to letting you in the front door. Don’t underestimate what it has taken to get this far—you’re almost to the finish line!
Some of the most impactful elements to this moment are non-verbal.
Presentation and communication are largely contextualized in your tone, disposition, body language, branding, and gestures.
You are delivering peace of mind, and that’s going to now require you to be in-person when the customer perceives you to be online. You are there to bridge the gap and bring the whole picture together.
Your responsibility is to move your customer from impression to conviction—earning the right to influence their decision making.
What people read about you online, in your business profile, on your website, and through social media feeds sets the stage for you to close the deal well. All of that digital effort was paid for in real dollars.
You spent money to drive the traffic to your site.
You spent money to ensure that your site was optimized for conversion and a clear call to action.
You spent money to employ the right content and media tools to showcase your work.
All of that did its job if you got the call from a customer who has already warmed up to your brand.
With this in mind, pitch with confidence. Some of the heavy lifting has already been done.
But if you believe in your processes and systems, in your people and presentation, and ultimately in your product and services, the rest is repetition. Plug and play. Input to output.
Think about your presentation as a combination of warmth and competency.
Warmth is all about emotional intelligence and openness. Ask great questions:
- What is your vision for this space? How does it feel when we’re done?
- What are your top concerns for this process?
- Have you ever worked with a contractor before? What was your experience like?
- Can I answer any questions that you have?
I try to employ at least a few strictly-personal questions related to cues that I’ve picked up on since arriving. Kids toys on the ground, a picture of the homeowner in the mountains, the presence of an animal—all of these are critical elements to understanding who your customer is and what they value. Don’t dismiss them.
Relating to and through these items is actually what tells your customer that you are normal, human, and trustworthy. But here’s a warning—you can’t fake it. So don’t.
Competency is all about experience and leverage.
Don’t think of leverage in a pejorative sense. Leverage is you employing your experience within the context of your client’s stated needs.
You are the expert. If you’re not, why are you here?
Here’s the play—use words and phrases that retrieve trust and establish your authority and credibility:
- Thank you for trusting us with this investment!
- We’ve done this a thousand times.
- Our team is familiar with situations like this.
- We consider all of the variables that might affect your sense of comfort.
All of these phrases and keywords are tactical. They imply empathy and understanding. They suggest your expertise by proxy. Don’t dismiss them. Stack them naturally.
The whole message your customer will hear is that you are the right choice if what they want is peace of mind.
You’re Not Selling a Service, You’re Delivering Certainty
Delivering on your customer’s desire for peace of mind is not complicated, but it is intricate. Don’t assume it happens naturally.
Some contractors have half of the puzzle down. They present well online because they’ve spent the dollars to do so. Others don’t have the digital marketing momentum but they do have the in-person delivery.
Your goal is to be and sell the whole package.
I had a customer tell me once,
“You’re the most expensive contractor that we’ve had in here. But, I believe you can actually do it.”
That statement changed the way I sell forever.
I don’t want to be cheap. I want to deliver—and I can deliver.
I’m not for everyone. I don’t do cheap projects.
I deliver value and attendance at every turn.
Do you?