Everything about selling intrigues me. No two people sell the same way. Every customer is unique. All calls reveal a different set of circumstances. If you like helping people and being rewarded for it, then a career in sales is a dream come true.
Something that has always puzzled me is why so many HVAC in-home sales professionals don’t like being a professional salesperson. Why do I say this? I can see the evidence of this in how they sell. For example, some of them:
- believe “price” is the most important factor
- will negotiate the price to close the sale
- make judgements about what the customer will want
- sell what they think the customer should buy
- don’t follow up if the customer doesn’t buy on the first call
The T.R.U.S.T.® sales process was established 20 years ago. It was the result of feedback from thousands of HVAC salespersons who told me what they didn’t like about other sales techniques and what they did practice on their sales calls that produced extraordinary results. In other words, this process came from people who liked selling.
The T.R.U.S.T.® acronym is easy to remember, and it describes both the principles and the sales process:
T = Tell the Truth
R = Relationship
U = Understand
S = Show Them Choices
T = Tell Them How
Tell the Truth
An obvious principle that some choose to ignore. This includes avoiding telling the customer the entire Truth. It’s easy, really, just tell it like it is, and don’t hold anything back.
Relationship
It took me a long time to realize that we have relationships with everything and everybody. The rules of effective relationships are well known. Of them, the one that guides us on sales calls is to see that serving them, providing extraordinary customer service, is the most effective way to quickly create a great relationship.
Understand
When you’re talking, you have no idea what the customer is thinking. It’s far better to build your knowledge about what the customer wants and needs by asking questions, taking notes and, by doing so, affirming that you have been listening, and that you care.
Show them Choices
Show at least three, better is four. How you create them is important, and how you present them is even more important. For instance, if what you say describes the equipment brand and how it works, you’re asking to be challenged about your price.
Tell Them How
The final one is about closing. Let’s say you run the perfect sales call and you know it. But after you present your choices, you say, “So, what do you think?”, and they say, “We need to think about it.”, and you say, “Okay, well, here’s my card and just give me a call when you’re ready.” They might call you, and they might not. There is a better way!
Our industry has seen a lot of changes over the past 20 years and there are certainly more to come. With all of that, the fundamentals of professional selling are the same. Someone once told he had been to every sales seminar by every HVAC sales trainer, and Selling with TRUST® was the most honest. He also characterized it as “Soft Sell with High Skill”. I couldn’t agree more!
This blog post begins a new series that will review all of the TRUST® sales fundamentals that have helped thousands of others create extraordinary sales success.
Here are some free videos that may be of interest. I hope you will take the time to check them out.
Lastly, if you are ready for a full, live sales training workshop, I will be conducting one in Seattle on December 13-16. This four-day program will include everything you need whether you are brand new to HVAC sales or a seasoned veteran. Invest four days with us and I guarantee you will discover an individual sale process that will increase your average sale and your close rate…and have fun doing it.
Just one more thing…
Announcing: Selling with TRUST® IAQ Edition
As you know, for the past 3 years I have been highly focused on helping bring SecureAire Air Purification technology to the residential HVAC contractor. This workshop will the first IAQ Edition, including the equivalent of a full day on all IAQ products, their technology and how to integrate IAQ solutions into every call and every sales proposal. Want some cool information now? Check out www.IAQFAQ.com
If you’d like information on the December workshop, you will find details here.
If you’re ready, just register for the workshop online, or call me… I’d love to chat. 425-985-4534.
Good Selling!
Tom