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ORLANDO, Fla. – Growing your business and being concerned about profits is not only important during the sale, but before and after as well, according to Marty Grunder, a speaker at one of the Bayer Environmental Science 2006 Annual Summit Series: Healthy Lawns, Healthy Business Events in Orlando, Fla., on Feb. 14.
Grunder, owner of the $3-million Grunder Landscaping Co., Miamisburg, Ohio, and an industry consultant, stressed to the more than 70 attendees that the little actions landscape contractors take during each area of the sale can make the biggest differences. “But, ultimately, before looking at these three crucial moments, a contractor must first have an excellent product or service and believe in that product in order to sell it,” Grunder stresses. “And a great reputation is the best salesperson of all.”
BEFORE THE SALE. “A salesperson who goes for the throat right away doesn’t always succeed,” Grunder says. “Understanding these basic principles about sales can help. The steps are easy – you just have to implement them and stick with it.”
Key items to remember about client interaction before the sale include:
- Be on time. “Be there when you said you would be there to meet with the client,” Grunder says. “You can’t be like the cable company and give a four-hour window – that’s not convenient for your customer.”
- Mail a confirmation letter. Once a contractor sets an appointment, Grunder says mailing a confirmation letter to confirm the time and topic is “a great way to share with the customer more reasons why they should hire you, whether it’s specific points about your business or information on the product you use.”
- Prepare a marketing packet. “When you put this together, think about a packet that would knock your socks off if you received it,” Grunder says.
- Do what you said you would do. “It’s important that you underpromise and overdeliver,” he says.
- Show enthusiasm. “People won’t buy from you if they don’t think you’re happy to be there,” Grunder explains. “People are so accustomed to bad service nowadays that when good service comes along it shocks them.”
- Be clean and organized.
- Listen and ask questions.
- Have some showmanship. “Have an angle,” Grunder urges, “whether it’s a clean appearance and trucks or a Volkswagen Bug painted with your company logo.”
- Share your expertise. “Brag about what you’ve done and accomplished,” he says.
- Be a friend. As Grunder stresses, “Friends buy from friends.”
- Hustle. “Be on the ball – speed kills the competition,” he says.
- Communicate verbally and nonverbally on why someone should do business with you. “Communicate your company’s strengths and weaknesses, your competitors’ weaknesses, and your clients’ desires, wants and needs,” Grunder says. “Also, think about what the client wants – for instance, in the case of wanting to hang a picture on the wall, the client don’t want a drill bit, they want a hole in the wall. With your service, maybe they want fire ants eliminated, so think about that when you’re selling your service to them.”
DURING THE SALE. While you are in the active process of selling, some of the tips above, such as being on time, doing what you said you would do, showing enthusiasm and communicating verbally and nonverbally why someone should do business with you are also important. In addition, these items are key:
- Do a quote on the spot. “Laptops are inexpensive to buy now – get one and take it on the job with you,” Grunder says. “You’d be amazed at how doing quotes in front of the customer can elevate your business.”
- Have some showmanship. Though this one was mentioned before the sale, Grunder says it can really be showcased during the sale, whether it’s by providing detailed quotes, conducting soil samples, measuring yards or showing the client a couple-minute DVD presentation on your laptop full of client testimonials. “You can get a half-way decent DVD produced for around $2,000,” he says.
- Ask questions.
- Ask for the business. “I was interested in buying some software and a representative from the company came down and did a great presentation, wanting to sell me about $65,000 worth of software,” Grunder shares. “But after he left, he never called me back to ask for the business. After you give a quote, you have to try again to ask for the business.”
- Follow up. “Ask the customer, ‘What can I do to make you sign this contract?’” Grunder says. “And sign your name with an exclamation point – it shows enthusiasm.”
- Thank the customer.
AFTER THE SALE. Again, keeping promises is the most vital step after a contractor has sold his or her services to a client, in addition to continually communicating verbally and nonverbally why someone should do business with you. Also:
- Offer more services.
- Follow up. “Find out how they liked the service you performed and use technology to communicate more,” Grunder says. “Ultimately, you must think of your sales and marketing tactics like the message in a favorite quote of mine by Dale Dauten: ‘Different isn’t always better but better is always different.’”