The Contractor S.A.L.E.S. Course

2. The ContractorS.A.L.E.S.Course Skills and Attitudes that Lead to Exceptional Selling

3. Why Sales Training? • Learn faster that by trial and error • Increase earnings for you and the company • Avoid looking like a “salesman”

4. Negative Attitudes About “Selling” The root word of “selling” is the Old English word ‘sel’ The definition of sel is: Cheat, trick, betray

5. People Don’t Want To Be A “Salesmen” Texas A&M Study for US Dept. Of Labor 3%of Students Plan to Be a Salesperson

6. Lots of People Become a “Salesmen” Over the past 25 years 48% of all graduating seniors “end up” in selling.

7. There are many things salespeople like about the job.

8. What People Like About Selling • Variety, sense of • accomplishment • Freedom • Recognition/ • awards • Travel/gifts • Perks (car, etc.) • Earnings • Training/learning • Transferable skill • Advancement track • Prestige of position

10. Two Major Tasks of Salespeople 1. Capture “Share Of Market” 2. Create “Share Of Mind”

11. #1 Reason salespeople don’t reach their full potential? They spend too much time with small accounts...they love you, always have time to see you...but can’t (or won’t) buy more than they do now

12. Calls are expensive-plan carefully The current average amortized cost to make one sales call is$420+ Go Where the Money Is!

13. It costs 5X more to create new business Develop a “Big 10” List

14. The Howdy Doody Run A C C B

15. The Production Run A C C B

16. The STAR Salesman A Office

17. The STAR Salesman A C Office

18. The STAR Salesman A B C Office

19. The STAR Salesman A B C C Office

20. The STAR Salesman A B C C Office

21. Establish a Call Frequency Plan • A Accounts--High Frequency • B’s Half of A’s • C’s Half of B’s • Treat “Big 10” accounts as if they were “A” or “B” accounts

22. Prospect customers narrow the field…to those they know and those who they are beginning to trust They Don’t Shop Every Yard When they call you, the “share of mind” vote is in!

23. Selling by the numbers Lots of research shows why some salespeople fly and others are average producers.

24. Business Customers

25. Decide what type of contractor best fits the services of your yard

27. Got a new idea or product? Go to the right contractors.

28. Page 4 There Will Be Lots of Remodeling Work • Sales of previously owned homes are slowly turning up again • Within the first year after purchase, most buyers do some remodeling • 1,400,000 major remodeling jobs in the next year will be done by pro’s • Kitchen and bath are most common… then windows, doors, siding, roofing

29. When prospects are on your “Big 10” list, pace yourself! Expect them to say, “I’m not interested.”

30. It takes 5.5 exposures to an idea to get customers curious • 7 contacts before orders are signed • 47% quit after one call, 22% after 2, 7% after 3, 5% after 4…18% get the order • Salespeople have about 117 minutes of face-to-face selling time per day • Lots of calls means lots of small orders with 16% less revenue, 1.5% lower profit

32. Don’t get sucker punched! • Doing a take off after the first call on a prospect is dumb • Providing an itemized list of materials (at no charge) is dumber • Providing an itemized list with itemized pricing is like personally handing jobs to competitors

33. Call Planning 1. Identify key accounts & establish a call frequency plan 2. Use account records to set targets and record progress 3. Schedule key calls--change your route, see new stuff

34. Call Planning 4. Bullet point (written) presentations for key accounts 5. Gather/organize visuals 6. Rehearse your presentation (mentally) as you drive between accounts

35. Call Notes Pay Big Returns Notes increase sales by 20%. Saves time for both you and customers.

36. Selling Then Vs Selling Now Then Now Plan/open Probe Present Questions Close (space represents relative time spent)

37. Buying Steps

38. Customer Opinions 79% Opening Statement Is Weak 85% Don’t Seem Interested 89% Don’t Know Their Product/service 93% Over-react to Price 96% Don’t Ask Me to Buy

39. The Decision To Buy is seldom spoken Even Though Customers Decide It Is Good to Go Ahead Only 20% Tell You

40. The English language has words that are spelled the same but have different meanings:CloseVs.Close (Cloze)

41. General Rules For Closing 1. Ask a question or make a statement calling for action. 2. SHUT UP! There is no pressure you can put on a client that remotely approaches silence.

43. Don’t trash your first impression by saying tired, worn out phrases others have used for years.

44. I was in the area and just wanted to stop by

45. I’d like a couple of minutes (or a few minutes) of your valuable time

46. If I could show that we can give you top quality products and great service at competitive prices, would you give me a try?

47. Set an Agenda 1. Be clear and honest about the purpose of the call.

48. Establish a time frame 2.Avoid slippery words like “a few minutes...a couple of minutes.” Be specific. On Cold Calls don’t ask for more than 10 minutes.

49. Create Interest 3. Give a meaningful reason to visit Avoid “everybody says it” phrases like“Show you we can give you competitive prices”... “Show you we can give great service”