How To Sell At Will
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Mastering Home Improvement Selling Skills
Want to Make More Money Selling Home Improvements?
Over the past 35 years, I have been in more than 16,000 homes selling home improvements and have trained and managed literally thousands of salespeople. The skill you want to be at the top of your game; translation becoming a millionaire in this business is to learn to sell at will. I used to think that some people buy and others won’t and it was a numbers game or like a sales lotto. Boy was I wrong. In this post, I’ll show you what I do that has helped me to learn to sell at will.
Home Improvement Sales is Not a Numbers Game
Stop Believing the Lies That Sabotage Your Sales
The first thing is to stop the non-beliefs. Stop believing in the things that keep you from selling to everyone. A lot of these beliefs come from what the customers say or things you believe about certain types of customers. You believe that you won’t sell certain types of customers and by that, I include anything from nationalities, customers that won’t spend or can’t afford to pay the price you are asking, and customers that have certain buying patterns such as always having to get three estimates and never buying the first night.
You Are Prequalifying Without Realizing It
The common denominator is that these are perceptions that are not based on fact. The point is that you don’t believe everyone can be sold. These belief systems are really just excuses for why you fail or don’t make the money you deserve. Again, it’s not the customer it’s you. If you think about it all of these beliefs are a form of prequalifying the customer. I honestly believe with every fiber in my being that everyone can be sold I just can’t sell everyone yet. Hopefully, you don’t amplify these thoughts with what I feel is the biggest sign of a weak salesperson which is when they “nobody could have sold them”. Never say that. Are you the greatest salesperson that ever walked the face of the earth? I am good but I am sure there are people ten times better than me I refuse to justify failure with a comment like that.
Challenge Your Perceptions With Real Example
Think of those things you may believe in. Has that non-buyer ever violated any of those beliefs? Do you think the customer who says I don’t finance has never financed anything including cars and houses? Do you believe that the customer who says I always get three estimates has done that on every single purchase they have made in their life? Has that customer ever spent more than they wanted to spend or spent more on something that they thought it was going to be? Of course, they have.
Challenge Your Perceptions With Real Examples
So, when you start to think these things or when the customer says them and you believe it guess what happens? The self-fulfilling prophecy becomes true. So when it comes to your lead; a good rule of thumb is to not think anything you don’t want to be true. They say that someone is closed in every home. If the customer starts to say things like that and you believe them, you are closed. What is worse is when they don’t say anything, and you actually start to create these negative thoughts all by yourself.
Follow Every Step of the Sales Process
Why Skipping Steps Kills Sales
The second big skill you have to learn to get good enough to sell at will is that you have the ability to go through all the steps every time. If you aren’t going through every step every time you are leaving out things that will keep you from selling everyone. Unless your company sales presentation is horrible there is a reason for each step. You can’t skip any because when you do your chances of selling drop. Master salespeople never skip a step. When you are new and not strong enough to control the situation, you will skip or skim over steps. So, you have to be able to rapport and control anyone. I call it a skill but it’s a lot of things. The ability to be strong enough not to deviate from your steps. Whether they say “I don’t want a sales presentation” “I only have ten minutes” or “I don’t want to hear any of that I just want the price” If you can’t get past that or they cause you to change the order of how you go through things you aren’t doing your job and need to get better.
Stick to the Sequence
People don’t realize how the order of what you say is just as important as the step itself. For example, you may sell your company differently based on the customer. It may be quicker if they are a driver and longer if they are an analytical, but the point is that during that step you sell them on doing business with your company.
Tailor Your Delivery, But Don’t Break the Order
What is more important is that the step of selling your company is done at the same place in your presentation. The order of your selling steps is a big key. For example, you give the price last for a reason. First, you have to sell them and build value in what you offer after that you give them the price and they can see if it’s worth it. If you give them the price first they might not even want to hear about your product let alone let you build value in it. The steps in your system may vary in speed and detail but get good enough that you never skip anything or break the sequence.
Believe You Can Sell at Will
Mindset is Everything in Home Improvement Sales
We went over some things of what not to believe but now let's go over what you have to believe. The third thing to be able to sell at will is that you have to truly believe you can sell at will. It has nothing to do with the customers but it has everything to do with you. That you can sell 100% of everyone you see. That when you go in your heart you know your chances of making a sale are 100% I know some of you are thinking? How can you say that? Yes, the logic in me says that 100% closing may not be possible but to achieve greatness you have to believe it can be done and work on yourself to get there. Remember most limitations are based on your belief system. The upside is that even if you can’t sell 100% you will have a better chance of hitting 80% closing if you set your target at 100%. If you set your target at 50% you will never hit 80%. Regardless of what your closing is now you have to increase your skill set to increase your results.
Practice Like a Pro
How does a professional athlete go from amateur circuits to winning the Olympics? They practice and practice and get better and better. Sales is the same thing. Belief is important but never forget that you have to be really good to sell at will. Put in the dues like an athlete by training and practicing. You will feel yourself getting stronger and better every day.
Competence Builds Confidence
Competence builds confidence and confidence builds any attitude of I can do it. Attitude and competence will lead to more sales. You can’t fake being good. To sell 100% you have to be really good. In this type of sales, every little thing counts. You can lose an order after being in someone’s home for 2 hours with one sentence. Your game has to be on that level that in 2 hours you don’t make any mistakes. Self-improvement will keep you more consistent. Consistency is greatness. Anyone can have a great month. Doing it over and over is the key to long-term success.
Get Into the Zone—Every Time
The Power of a Great Attitude
The fourth skill set of being able to sell at will is to be able to make sure you can consistently be in the right frame of mind. To me, this is a frame of mine where your attitude is great, and you are focused. I call it being in the zone. If you have been in this business for a while I am sure you have felt those moments where it seems so easy and everyone is buying. You are in the zone. How much money would you make if you were in the zone every time?
Recognize and Adjust Your Sales State
The first part of being in the zone is that your attitude is right. That’s why in this business you notice that new salespeople always sell. They don’t know what they are doing, know what they are selling, and aren’t yet expert closers but they sell. They are doing most of what we have discussed. They are going in expecting to sell and that it will be easy because they just got out of training and that’s what their sales manager told them. Their attitude is great because it’s new and they are having fun meeting people in their home. That’s because when they are new, they don’t have non-beliefs, they haven’t learned that these types of people never buy. They haven’t become jaded and think thoughts like “This is going to be a waste of my time.” So, learn to make sure that the attitude part of being in the zone is right.
Build a Winning Pre-Game Ritual
I am very aware of my attitude so if it’s off to me it’s like I’m only wearing one shoe. One thing that my experience has taught me is that I recognize when my attitude is not where it should be and I know the right fix or medicine for it. I know when I feel too aggressive that I need to tone it down so I don’t try too hard and come across as desperate. I do that by thinking before I go into the home that I really don’t care whether I make a sale or not. That I get paid just the same whether they buy or not. That I am just there to see what their problem is and try to help them solve it with my product. Most important of all I am going to have fun.
Or I may feel weak going into the home. You know where I actually would be glad if it was a no-show. Then I need to read or listen to motivational material such as Les Brown or Grant Cardone. Or I might need to do my affirmations or revisit my goals on why I am doing this to get me pumped up again. Maybe I just put on some good jams on Spotify. Whatever you do the point is to recognize if your attitude is poor and can fix it before you go in.
Stay Focused on the Customer
To have a good attitude consistently what helps me is that I can put myself into the right attitude or what Tony Robbins calls your state. I do this either by a pregame ritual (which may include listening to motivational stuff) or something I do before I go in the home that puts me in the right state of mind. Eventually, it got to the point that when I walked up to the house and the way I said Hiiii. Put me right there. It sounds weird but it works.
Ever notice that when Michael Jordan got off the bus going to a game he always had earbuds on listening to something? What he was listening to was a compilation of his greatest hits edited. “he shoots he scores and wins the game again with 1 second on the clock”. Now if he does things like that how you can think you’re too good to do that? The other part of being in the zone is that you are 100% focused on helping the customer and what you are doing.
Become a Rich, Unstoppable Force in Home Improvement Sales
When I am in the zone there could be an earthquake and I wouldn’t notice because I am 100% in the moment. Make sure you are in the zone so you are strong, positive, and focused on every single lead you run. You want to learn to be able to turn it on when you enter the home and turn it off when you are done. You can’t be up 24/7 or it will burn you out. Look at your attitude like a superpower but it can only be used for short bursts at a time.
So stop all of the non-beliefs, always follow the system, and don’t skip anything, believe you can sell anyone and learn to be in the zone consistently and you will become an unstoppable force. Correction, a rich unstoppable force.
Now if you want more of this please check out this blog on Are You Taking Responsibility? or any of my posts on closing home improvement sales. Happy Selling!
