Face to Face Selling

Erik,

The laminated card with your before and after photos is not to be left with them. Either hand it or show it to them, but don’t leave it with them since that’s way too expensive. It is just to show them for three reasons: First, it gives them something to look at and makes casual conversation about it quite easy. Second, it shows them the difference between what they may have now and what they could have if they use your service – thus creating the desire where none existed before. Thirdly, it showcases your work and identifies you as a professional, which is who they want to deal with anyway.

But, as Joel suggested, leave them your flier.

Another suggestion would be to ask a customer, with a completed job, if you could leave a small sign in their yard for a couple of days. Something to the effect of: “My deck was professionally restored (or cleaned) by ERIK's DECK SERVICES – Please call 123-4567 for a no obligation estimate for yours."

This will be seen by their neighbors who may want to see the finished product – hence, more sales for you.

Painters and roofers, etc, do this sign in the yard thing. You see them all the time.

Lawrence

Either :
before & after pictures
demonstration
or a low key approach
casual conversation

all these tips could be the beginning of
a tips booklets....go for it!

I was just responding to an email from Michael, and I found myself telling him about what happened. I'll share it with the rest of you too, because well, I wish more people would share their real world personal experiences here and the least I can do is be as forthright.

Do I have $18,000 worth of business lined up?

No. (And I didn't expect it)

(And yes, I already tried a classified, which didn't work as well as it does wherever Don lives - zero responses)

Did I have a good time while getting some business? Amazingly, yes.

And I got some exercise walking up all those steep driveways. Wow, 3 or 4 of those were really doozies.

Here's what ended up happening. I went around with a bunch of hugh's flyers. My only intention was to drop these off and make small talk with anyone who was there.

I got practically dragged into 2 houses to give estimates. I got both jobs and maybe I'll get a few more calls.

I know. Only 2 jobs. Pathetic. You want 15.

Well, so do I. I'm working on it.

I had to call the day off early (shake, rattle, and roll car cruise).

By the time I was done, I had spent about 3 hours driving around.

Well, good luck to anyone else who wants to test the waters. It's super easy if you make it no pressure. Plus you don't have to worry about being slugged in the face (which is nice).

Did I mention how super easy it is? Because I should have.

I plan to take over all the deck business in the entire chicagoland area if I can find the right neighborhoods. (for the right price only, chicago is a little out of the way)

Cha Ching,

Erik Lukas

Oh, yeah, and SUCCESS!

>

You had a good time
You got exercise
You got dragged into two houses
You got both jobs
Two jobs in 3 hours
And you're likely to get referrals because
you'll do a good job
It was super easy
And you're going to make money...

I'd say you were successful!

Keep us posted on how the jobs...wow

> You had a good time
> You got exercise
> You got dragged into two houses
> You got both jobs
> Two jobs in 3 hours
> And you're likely to get referrals because
> you'll do a good job
> It was super easy
> And you're going to make money...

> I'd say you were successful!

> Keep us posted on how the jobs...wow

Sandy, you seem like a wonderful person! Thanks for being so encouraging!

And you summed it up perfectly!

And I just checked my answering machine and have a call from someone who wants me to come over and look his deck over!! That's 3!

Success,

Erik Lukas

Thanks Hugh! The book is getting ordered from Amazon (or maybe that new buy.com) this week!

And this is great!

> "picking cherries" vs. "pit polishing"

Hugh, this reply put a fire in my belly. It along with all the other posts and support helped me to go out there and do it yesterday.

And it went great. You'll see I used your flyer idea. And the call I just got (less than 24 hours) said something to the effect: "Hi, I'm calling for Erik. I got his note the other day about doing decks..."

All I'll say is that in 3 hours I got out maybe 25 flyers, talked with 5 people, got 2 jobs and um, enjoyed myself?

Thanks, Hugh,

Erik Lukas

You also might want to check out pages 115-117 of Dan Kennedy's "No B.S. Sales Success" Book. (Better yet, read the whole damn book).

On those pages, he tells of a real estate agent who uses "take away" selling as her main positioning strategy.

You could use similar techniques that she uses. For instance, as you do a few jobs, video tape some before-and-after sequences of your work along with your customers' comments about how good a job you do. Get as many as you can to fill up a tape.

Then, when someone wants a quote, just hand them the tape to watch in their VCR while you go out on the deck to measure it and look at it (or whatever you do to arrive at your estimate).

Then after you've done that and they've watched the tape, give them your estimate or "job quote". Most of the "selling" has been done for you from the video tape.

[Here's where the real estate agent in Kennedy's "No B.S. Sales" Book gets "ballsy" with the "take away", and something you might try] If they say the price is too high, then you can hand them a piece of paper with all the other deck renewal companies in the area and say something like:

"Here's a small list of other companies who do similar work. They don't do quite the same work as I do, but you might want to try 'em out."

If they don't have you do the work, then they will feel like they will be losing out because they've already seen all the good work and all the great things that people have said about you and your work (on the video). Plus, do you really think any other deck renewal company presents before-and-after work along with customer testimonials like you've just done?

---------------------------

I do something similar, yet not as dramatic.

I market special sporting equipment to home basketball goal owners. A lot of the sales I get is from passing out flyers in upscale neighborhoods (only to houses that already have b-ball goals).

I get a lot of sales because I include testimonials on the flyers as well as the fact that I'm the best alternative to what they'd have to do otherwise. After realizing that, they purchase from me.

I know that's not as "hard" a "take away" sale that I've suggested to you above, but it works just the same.

Bill

P.S. I have another story you might be interested in, called, "Al, the plumber". It's another story of how to set a prospect up for a sale with minimal resistance. If you'd like a copy, I'll email it to you (and anyone else who'd like a copy). Just email me at [email protected] (Make sure to remove the REMOVETHIS part). Just put "Al" in the subject field.

You must have a trusting demeanor...with
all the talk in the news about business
people coming into homes and ripping people
off and yet people are trusting you right
off the bat means you have a good aura about
you...this is just great Erik !

> Sandy, you seem like a wonderful person!
> Thanks for being so encouraging!

> And you summed it up perfectly!

> And I just checked my answering machine and
> have a call from someone who wants me to
> come over and look his deck over!! That's 3!

> Success,

> Erik Lukas