This month’s ‘One More Thing? is directed at anyone in the HVAC industry who sells to homeowners. This includes salespeople, comfort advisors, service technicians, as well as owners and managers of HVAC companies who wear some or all of these hats.

In this article, I’ll share with you a secret that could make an immense difference in your closing rate, average sales ticket, and most importantly customer satisfaction.

The Secret

When you perform basic testing on every sales call and educate your customer along the way, they will likely know more about their system than any contractor that came before you, or any contractor after, should they get additional quotes.

When you educate your customer while testing their system, you teach them to effectively dismiss any competition who does not test and educate.

To do this successfully you must follow the three steps below, in sequence, on every sales call. It also works on a service call when quoting a new system.

STEP 1:

Once you establish an initial rapport with the customer, explain that your company does things differently. Describe how you’ve been trained to test their system to understand how it works so you can offer them the best possible solution.

Explain in laymen’s terms what static pressure is and how it affects airflow and their comfort. Keep it simple: use a chart that compares it to blood pressure. Then explain how you will install test ports at their equipment to measure it.

During this step, be sure to ask key questions related to their safety, comfort, health, and energy usage. When you think about it, when prompted with the right questions, there is no one who will know more about that home than your customer.

STEP 2:

Install static pressure test ports, perform basic testing, and interpret airflow. If at all possible, have your customer with you while you’re testing.

If the equipment is in a crawl space, attic, or on a rooftop, take pictures of the readings so you can share your findings with them.
A free, simple smart device app like AirMaxx Lite™ can help strengthen your credibility and visually show your customers the health of their system.

STEP 3:

Create options for improving the customer’s system when replacing the equipment. It’s up to your customer how much or how little they want done. At a minimum, you should include the work to allow the new equipment to operate reliably. This benefits both you and your customer.

Next, explain how your company doesn’t just promise quality, you will prove it by showing how their system performs after you complete the work. By now, you should have built up so much trust, the customer will know more about your company and it will be easy for them to believe you.

If you did these three steps properly you shouldn’t have to ask for the order. Most customers will see you as the obvious choice and ask when you can get started.

There will always be price shoppers out there, but most people are really value shoppers. No one inherently likes to be sold, but we like to buy. By offering to do more than just swap out an old piece of equipment, you give your customers an opportunity to buy a valuable solution that helps them improve their homes and their lives.

Need some help? NCI offers an online Performance-Based Selling class. This class takes you through the entire process and includes the materials you need to perform it properly from start to finish. Click this link: ncilink.com/PBS to learn more.