I’ve seen remodeling company owners do some extraordinary things in an effort to be more successful. Take Norm Lecuyer, owner of Just Basements and Home, in Ottawa, Canada, who was looking to improve his sales skills.
Norm decided to take advantage of the free YouTube videos from Sandler Sales Systems’ 49 Rules. The videos feature someone talking about the rule and how one might integrate it into one’s approach to sales. Each video is quite short, maybe two minutes.
Norm watched one rule a day. Then he did something that made it an even more powerful experience for him: He emailed fellow members of his Remodelers Advantage roundtable, called the Vesta group, laying out the insight he had gained and his own personal challenges bringing the advice to life.
Here is one of the emails Norm sent.
Vestadigitators....
Sandler Rule #2—Don’t Spill Your Candy in the Lobby
Concept: Don't give away all your information for free. You are not an unpaid consultant. If you are talking, your customer can't ... and you need them to talk so you can LISTEN. Customers want your knowledge and expertise and they want it for free. You and the knowledge you have is valuable to your customer ... use it, but use it at the right time, in the right amount and to YOUR advantage.
Key Skill: Turn the question around...." That's a very interesting question, why do you ask?"
[What Norm Does]: The Norm loves to spill the candy. Basement this and Basement that … blah, blah, blah … look at me, look what I can do. He must have been ignored as a child. In my market I am THE authority on basement renovation, and I should get people to pay for that and not give it away. I have been working on this with phrases like..."We will work that out during our thorough planning and design phase."
I have also noticed that I am way better at listening at the kitchen table or in the living room than in the space that is being renovated. This is one of my greatest weaknesses in sales and I pledge to reduce the candy carnage in the next few sales meeting!!!
Watch the Video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vfyt3p43EQw
Ciao for now.
It was fascinating reading Norm’s emails over the course of him doing this exercise. And he inspired others in his group to go a bit beyond their respective comfort zone.
If you are not in a peer group, find at least one other person who does what you do and who you respect. If you are struggling with sales, the exercise Norm did would be a good one to share with your partner. And reap the rewards of making yourself better by making your efforts public, at least with one other person.
After all, isn’t it easier to make needed improvements if you have a partner, an accountability partner, helping you in the journey?
Not sure? Just give it a try.