Often times, businesses get plenty of phone calls and inquiries about their services, but end up having trouble closing the sale. If you’re in this position, don’t worry; you’re not alone! Sealing the deal is a common problem for all kinds of business owners.
For some strategies on how to close more sales, we went to one of the top account managers here at Prospect Genius for some insight. Below is the advice he shared:
Sales Advice from Morgan Pellitteri, PG Account Manager
When a prospective customer calls in with a question, it’s only natural to want to answer it. But, in many cases, it ends up being the company that asks the questions that earns the business.
How does that work? Well, how many times have you gotten a service call that plays out something like this:
Prospect: “How much do you charge?”
You: “X dollars.”
Prospect: “Okay. I will call you back.”
Once he or she is off the phone with you, the prospect is most likely going to call additional companies until they find a lower price, OR one of your competitors takes the time to ask about the client’s specific needs and deliver a customized solution. In many cases, that competitor’s prices don’t end up being lower than what you had quoted, but they manage to close the deal by working to meet the client’s particular needs.
To create the best opportunity to earn a prospect’s business, here’s an alternative to how that original conversation worked out. This approach gives the prospective client the experience that you’re attentive to their needs, listening to their problem, and committed to providing an effective solution.
Prospect: “How much do you charge?”
You: “I can see that price is important to you. In order to give you an accurate quote, I would really need to know more about what you are looking to achieve.”
In the majority of instances, the prospect is contacting you because they have a problem. Rather than diving right into explaining the benefits and features of your service/product, it’s important to diagnose the issue accurately before suggesting a solution.
How, you may ask? By asking questions like:
1) “How long has this problem been going on?”
2) “What have you done to try to fix it?”
3) “When do you need it fixed by?”
4) “Do you have a budget in mind to fix this problem?”
When you have gathered all the information you need, don’t just quote a price. Assume the sale by leading them toward making an appointment.
You: “It typically takes around X amount of time to do the work and we charge between $ ____ and ____. If you want, we can set up an appointment so that I can take a look at what you want done and give you the most accurate quote so that there are no surprises. Quite often without seeing the job, I would be doing a disservice by quoting you a price or a time frame that isn’t realistic, and that won’t benefit either of us. Does tomorrow work for you?”
Communication Is the Key
It’s true with any relationship, including customer/company relationships: Communication is the key! It takes a little more time and effort on your part, and you do need to listen and ask questions. However, it pays off, because if you can discover what it is the prospect needs, and what will satisfy them, you’re more likely to win their business. Let them know you care and you want to help them out, and you may even end up securing a repeat customer or referrals.
One Final Suggestion
This may sound like a no-brainer, but if you don’t answer your phone, you have almost no chance of securing a prospect’s business! If you’re having trouble making sure the phone gets picked up every time it rings, whether it’s because you’re out of the office or you can’t pick up at the work site, Prospect Genius can help!
Did you know that we offer free advanced call routing for all of our clients? This feature enables you to have your CallTrax™ number forward to more than one number.
You can configure it to forward to several different numbers in a round robin. So if you’re busy on the job, and don’t pick up on the first couple of rings, the call will forward to an employee or alternative number.
You can configure your CallTrax number to forward to different numbers depending on the time of day. For example, if you’re generally at the work site in the morning, you can set up calls to go to your office manager, and then switch the calls to your cell phone number when you’re available in the afternoons.
You can also set up extensions as needed. This is particularly handy when you offer more than one service, such as parts and repairs/installs.
For more information on setting up the advanced call routing feature for your business, or anything else we can help you with, don’t hesitate to give us a call.
