I had an interesting sales experience last weekend. It involves 12 contractors and my quest to remodel my pool and patio to something that is more enjoyable.
I am in the midst of doing the dreaded contractor thing to have my pool remodeled and some patios built, so far I have had 12 contractors come out the house to give me some estimates. All of these contractors (sales people) are really nice and want to be helpful.
(Of course they are, they want me to sign their contracts.)
The first four contractors arrived, glanced a look at my pool and surrounding area and then asked me, “What do you want to do sir?” I would obviously reply with well, we want to do X, Y, and Z with the pool, patio, etc. They would ask a few questions here and there to clarify some things and then they would launch into their dreaded “I am so Great Speech,” which made these meetings balloon out to 90 minutes. After that, they either sat down and try to put together a bid for me or they told me it would take a few days. Funny thing, they all said they were overwhelmed with work right now (yeah right).
The fifth contractor came to my house. I found myself not letting the contractor ask me what I wanted; as soon as they showed up I just started into my own dissertation about what I wanted and needed for the pool and patios. Amazingly, they listened, took notes, asked a few questions and maybe wrote up a bid or left and will send me the bid. This was great I had these meetings down to 20 minutes or so. I thought I had figured this game out, I have to say I was pretty proud of myself!
Everything changed when the last contractor showed up. I am quite glad he came, he changed my entire outlook on this project. Chris came walked in, we exchanged pleasantries with each other and I walked him out to the pool, I started into my normal routine that I was quite proud to have down by this point. Then he did it.
He actually interrupted me and asked me to share with him my vision for my entire backyard. I was quite stunned, I said, “Why does that matter?” I mean I only wanted my pool remodeled and some patios built. He overcame my objection by helping me see that what I plan to do with this section of the yard would likely dictate what I do with the rest of the acre I have yet to landscape.
Wow! Chris was actually going to take concern about my entire vision and not just the pool I want to remodel? There has to be a catch here, well there was and I am glad there was. Chris, my lovely wife Luanna and I spent two hours walking the backyard, he got us to open up to about what we really wanted to do, why we wanted, agreeing with us on some points, but respectfully disagreeing with us on other areas. It was great to have someone that was that interested, that knowledgeable spend the time with us to understand our true vision. You see when Chris asked the question of what our vision was we thought we knew, turns out we didn’t.
Two hours later, I gladly handed a check over to Chris to design our entire backyard for us, and oh yeah, he is going to give us a bid on our pool as well.
This is a great example of question-based selling and not trying to sell a product, but to sell a vision of what your buyer needs and wants. Chris was able to discover what the value was to my wife and I, and ultimately earned my business.
How do you sell, are you using value-based question selling?
P.S. You can now follow me on Twitter, I’m @ACRossAZ.
–Adam
[Image Credit: Bartek Kuzia on Flickr]
Interesting, but not novel view of selling. It is also an excellent technique to employ when going on an Interview.
Adam,
Excellent story, and one that illustrates why I think this should be tagged as an “E-Myth moment”. The others, regardless of whether they owned the company or just worked for the company, did nothing to differentiate themselves. Technically, I’m sure they could all have updated your pool/patio area just fine.
But only one had the insight to help you see how your short-term plan would affect the long-term plan.
Tell me – where did he fall in the bidding? Or did you not even bother with reading the others?
Barry, thank you for your comments, I agree these are not “novel” concepts, but it was refreshing to see someone using these techniques inherently in their selling process without even realizing it.
Rick, completely agree with you I should have titled this an E-Myth moment. We are sitting down this week to review the design and bid. I will keep this post updated with who we choose.
Adam,
Agree with you about why you went with Chris and not the others. To quote a similar experience, I was with an entrepreneur friend and She took me to a meeting as she wanted to get feedback on how she was doing.
Going into the discussion, she was pitching with a training company, for building their Online Marketing System. They spoke about their products, their current working style and other details. She asked them, what’s your vision for the company for the next three years, and what do you think you need to do get there. After they spoke about their vision, she took them through her proposal and got them to understand that what she was bringing on to the table was exactly their requirement.
By getting them to look at what they wanted to achieve, and pluging her solution at that moment, she got the deal.
I haven’t gone through the eMyth moment, but intend to go through some time soon.
you still with the company no posts since March I never see you on any of the promotional activites
you still with the company no posts since March I never see you on any of the promotional activites