Arkansas HVACR NewsMagazine March 2019

S tate, National, Chapter News Feature Story

satisfaction guarantees; etc. This is where the Closing of the Sale begins. 2. Determining Needs. “You can ask your way into more sales than you can talk your way into”. This is the most critical step in the Selling Process. It begins with preparing a Customer Needs Survey. Asking the potential buyer questions about the current status of comfort in their home and the objectives they want to achieve with a new system and writing their answers on the Survey form. In this process the customer will design their own system. More importantly the salesperson will create a powerful tool to close the sale. After customizing the system to the customer’s needs, the salesperson can lay the survey next to their proposal form and employ the Three Magic Words… “You Told Me”. This simple process and tool in itself will help increase sales, profit and closing rates. 3. Presenting the Proposal. This step becomes greatly simplified and more effective if you enter it equipped with the results of the Customer Needs step. Most HVAC dealers today employ the principle Good, Better and Best. Offering three options to the buyer. As a sales trainer for almost 30 years I buy into this concept. However, the way the process rolls out is vitally important. With the Customer Needs Survey as a tool, the most successful salespeople propose a system that best fits the customer’s needs. They only offer an option at the “point of objection”, when the customer asks for more options. For them the next

step is to “re-customize” the proposal as an option. 4. Obtaining Commitment. The natural follow up to the customer’s agreement that the salesperson’s proposal fills their needs. Asking for the commitment is the natural conclusion to the first four steps of the selling process. The customer expects to be asked to make a decision. 5. Follow up. The Selling Process is not complete until we assure the customer’s complete satisfaction with their interaction with our company. Remember this can be the start or continuation of a lifetime relationship. It is time for a customer satisfaction survey and some manner of showing the customer you appreciate their business. So, what about Overcoming Objections? It is not a part of this Five Step Selling Process. The most successful HVAC salespeople have found that approaching the selling process with the principle of helping the customer buy what is in their best interest; preparing the tool that facilitates the use of You Told Me; and asking for a commitment overcomes customer’s objections. Good Luck…and Good Selling (Bob Gee has trained over 25,000 HVAC salespeople on how to apply this 5-step Selling Process. Over 7,500 salespeople have completed his 3-day training session and earned the designation of Certified Comfort Consultant. Bob is a native of Little Rock where his consulting firm, Robert Gee & Associates is located.)