Success Circle Call #3: Do You Think Of Your Service As A Commodity?
Listen to the recorded call (approximately 35 minutes):
If you don't want to sell your service as a commodity, that is, on price alone, you have to stop acting like it is a commodity. Salespeople complain all the time that customers are just interested in price. And yet, their actions perpetuate the commodity mentality.
As a salesperson, price is only the deciding factor when you allow it to be. When someone calls you and asks for your price, what do you do? If you immediately respond with the price, you'll only be compared on price. The only way to get out of the price wars is to create and demonstrate value. You can only do that when you know what's important to the prospect.
Many cleaning businesses throw away tons of advertising dollars, because they don't know how to respond to calls from interested prospects. When a prospect calls and says, “I saw your ad about cleaning service and I wanted to know how much it costs.” The immediate response is, “The cost is X.” To which the caller often responds with a thanks and a click.
Instead, the response needs to engage the other person and find out what's important to the prospect. For example, the salesperson could start off with a response like, “Our prices vary on that service depending on what exactly you want. I'd be happy to give you a better idea of price. To help me do that, could you tell me more about the tasks you want performed in your office…”
The same principle applies when salespeople call on a prospect and want to be allowed to provide a quote for an upcoming need. This happens frequently in many industries. Salespeople will call a prospect and ask for an opportunity to quote on the next service. Without taking the time to find out what's really important to the prospect and what extra value they can bring to the table, the salesperson and their management are setting themselves up to be in the commodity business.
To remove yourself from price wars with your competitors that just erode your margins, you need to act differently. You need to engage your prospect. You need to establish a relationship based on trust and understanding. That allows you to ask the right questions. Besides finding out what your prospect needs, your questions should dig below the surface to find out what's important to the prospect and why. Then the prospect's buying decision can be based on the value you offer, not whether you offer the lowest price.
Download the Execution Exercise
Do You Need Help with Growing and Running Your Cleaning Business?
The Janitorial Store is a private, members-only resource for those serious about starting, improving and growing a profitable cleaning business.
As 30 year veterans of the cleaning industry, we know that the business of cleaning can be incredibly challenging. The competition is fierce and the margins are low. It's a demanding business and it's tough to grow it and make it successful. Within the private members-only area, you'll find a huge selection of in-depth information that you won't find anywhere else on the Internet.
You can struggle or succeed. The decision is obvious... Join Today!
Visit our Store for Certification Training Programs
