CONTENTS
What is a lead worth?
A mindset to sell
Call structure
- Introduction
- Discovery
- Proposition
- Objection handling
- Closing
- Confirming
Nurturing
Call frequency and latency
Technology
Outsourcing
WHAT IS A LEAD WORTH?
If you convert 25% of leads into quotes and 35% of quotes into sales, a lead is worth 9% of your average sale value.
If your average sale value is £17,000, each lead is worth approximately £1500.
If you generate 17 leads a month, this adds up to over £300,000 each year. Treat each lead with same care you’d lavish on a solid gold coin… they’re worth the same!
Best in class performance is 37% and poor performance is <20%.
Monitor your performance- it can be improved, but first you must be abletomeasureit.
A MINDSET TO SELL
IDEAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE STATE OF MIND YOU SHOULD HAVE BEFORE PICKING UP THE PHONE: Positive
Howwillyouachievethatmindset:
Prepare for the call- read the notes, clear your mind of other tasks… give yourself a few minutes pre-call to achieve this.
Whatareyourobjectives?
To sell an appointment- or make progress to towards that goal
Managingrejection-Somewill,somewon’t- So,what’snext?
65% plus of the people you speak to won’t become an appointment… that’s ok- this is a number game.
We’ve all spent time playing on Rightmove or Autotrader- don’t worry about the people who are wasting time, enough people are interested to make your efforts very worthwhile.
CALL STRUCTURE
Greeting and introduction
Discovery
Proposition
Objection handling
Closing the appointment
Confirming the appointment
GREETINGS & INTRODUCTION
REMEMBER, THEY GAVE YOU THEIR CONTACT DETAILS. REMIND THE PROSPECT THAT THEY GAVE YOU THEIR DETAILS; THIS ISN’T A COLD CALL
Introduceyourself:
“I’m Lucy the owner of Lucy Buy Design. Thank you so much for getting in touch with us re your kitchen project.’
Neveraskquestionssuchas”didyoureceive/readthebrochure?”,or‘”isnowagoodtimetotalk?”
“So, how are your plans and thoughts progressing?”Or, “how may we be of assistance?”
Anopenquestiongetstheprospecttalking.Sure,somewillsay,“I’mjustbrowsing”,or, “sorry,I’mbusyrightnow,”butyou’llhaveanswersfortheseresponses.Theonesthat starttellingyoualittleoftheirprojectaretheonesyou’rereallyhuntingfor.Likeawolf withthescentofprey,it’stimetoswitchon.
So, the prospect is now talking about their thoughts and ideas - often in quite an unstructured way. You have one objective; to demonstrate your value and expertise to them. In order to do this you must proactively listen. Active listening is not just waiting for your turn to speak- it’s concentrating exclusively on what the person you are conversing with is saying to you.
Try not to interrupt them, but make notes and highlight any opportunities in those notes to add value when you respond. Read back through the list to demonstrate to the prospect you listened.
RYD I S C O V E
Your responses should be supportive and encouraging. Nobody wants to be told their ideas are unworkable etc, speak with an enthusiastic tone of voice.
Add value: provide solutions to their points, show some creative thinking. Perhaps you have some products that would fit the bill exactly, perhaps you realise they need first fix drawings to assist their builder so that they can use smooth extractor ducting which is more efficient and less noisy etc. Sell benefits not features.
Try to ascertain and focus on what is most important to the prospect. Where possible try to focus on what is most important to the prospect. Ask them what are the most important considerations focus on these points.
Speak emotively: A kitchen purchase isn’t just functional, it’s an emotive purchase. Talk in emotive terms; family, enjoyment, friends, environment etc.
PROPOSITION
REMEMBER YOUR OBJECTIVE IS TO SELL AN APPOINTMENT.
So, focus on the value this offers the prospect. It all starts with a design; a layout that can be dressed, appliances that can specified, a price that can be generated etc. If they majored on the need for price, make clear how you need a plan to produce a price. If they majored on a colour or material, make clear you havethemandtheyneedtotouchandfeelthem.
Tips:
Try to frame the need for an appointment contextually referencing the prospects value drivers you identified in the discovery. Did they mention something you have on display etc?
1. Talk in terms of ‘we’. “So what we need to do to make is start a work up some preliminary designs for you.” 2. At this stage, talk about design/ visualisations/ ‘start bringing this to life’ etc. Remember, many people really struggle to visualise unbuilt spaces.
3. Use social proof in conversation. “This is the part in our service most clients really value because we sit down and really take the time to understand your needs and finesse a design that is just right for you, its where you really get the value from a professional designer…” etc.
5.
4. Be emotive. Talk about touch and feel, that’s there’s no substitute for holding samples next to each other etc.
OBJECTIVE HANDLING
I’ve not had a chance to look at the brochure yet I think your kitchens are too expensive
We’re not starting the project until…
We’re not sure if we’re going ahead yet
We’ve not exchanged on the property yet I was just browsing I can’t talk right now
We haven’t got a builder/ architect/ planning permission
All of the above are examples of the objections you may hear. All of these, if well managed, are not the end of the conversation. Your task is to think about optimum answers in advance so you can respond effectively whentheycomeup.
On time scales, the client may not know that from initial design to order finalisation can take 4-6 weeks, and then that the lead time might be 8 weeks, followed by a week to install, two weeks between templating and installing the worktop and a further ten days for glass splashbacks - a total of almost four months!
Time is often not their friend, help them understand this.
If someone says, “I’m very busy right now”, just reply, “sure, me too. Let me get my diary and we can see when works for us both to have a chat?” Your time matters too, say so and people will be more respectful of it.
NURTURING LEADS
ALWAYS AGREE A NEXT STEP (A DATE FOR A FURTHER CALL FOR EXAMPLE).
Beclever,forexampleask,“so,whenshallwetouchbaseagain?”Itsoundsless‘salesy’.
Record as much detail as you can from a call. Following up two weeks or months later, you’re unlikely to remember the contents of a call.
Use text. “Just a quick note to see if you need to start getting plans for your kitchen yet? Best regards, Lucy.”
“We’ve got a promotion starting ** would you like me to send you details?”
Send them a link to Cossentino app etc.
Ask them to set up a Pinterest board and share with you so you can start getting an idea of their tastes etc.
Send them a link to recent projects as you add them to your site.
The idea is to maintain a presence ‘front of mind’ so when the prospect progresses through the buying funnel and is ready to engage with potential suppliers you are in pole position.
CLOSE THE APPOINTMENT
Always ask. If you don’t ask, don’t get!
Once you’ve got the appointment, stop selling.
Ask them to send in any plans they have before hand, let them know you’ll spend sometime reviewing them before hand.
Ask how they will be travelling and be helpful with parking/ directions etc.
Let them know you’ll text them to confirm the day before.
Ask how many people are coming to the meeting
Thank them with a killer line, “Finally, I just want to say thank you for coming into see us and giving us a chance to compete for your business. We’re a local, family owned business and we depend on our local community for their support, so thank you very much.”
Makethemfeelwarmandfuzzyabouttheirchoicetoseeyou.
CONFIRM THE APPOINTMENT
If the appointment was booked more than a few days ago; call or text to confirm the day before.
Send the address and your contact details by text.
Ask them to let you know if they are running late.
Tell them how much you are looking forward to welcoming them.
Ask how they take their coffee!
FREQUENCY & LATENCY
THE SOONER THE BETTER. CALL A PROSPECT AS SOON AS YOU RECEIVE THE LEAD UP TO 7PM.
Years of data shows that a client called five times converts at 25% and a client called twice converts at 12%
Whenshouldyoucall?
As soon as the lead is received.
The following lunchtime or early evening.
The day following the previous call for three days.
Try on a Saturday mid morning if you’ve still not been able to make contact.
Then once per week for a month.
SOFTWARE CAN HELP
ALWAYS AGREE A NEXT STEP (A DATE FOR A FURTHER CALL FOR EXAMPLE).
Customer Relationship Management Software can help you manage and measure.
Texting platforms can help you easily send texts from templates and work with your CRM.
You can use apps like Canva to produce visual messages to get people attention.
You can use apps like Mailchimp to personalise emails to lots of prospects at a time and experiment with different content messages. Send people links to your social media accounts so you can continue to engage with them.
Larger retailers can use Advanced Marketing Automation platforms to see when prospects re-engage with you.
Leadmanagementisaskillandavaluableone.
Work at it by practicing your call technique, analyising the objections and conversations you have and reflecting on how you can improve.
Don’t just assign lead management to an administrator… it’s the tip of the spear for your business’ sales revenue. It should have your best people’s attention.
Incentivise any team member who is calling leads; offer them a bonus per appointment (£20 when an average appointment is worth £000’s).
Conduct monthly meetings to review performance and make sure no lead has fallen through the cracks…. How hard would you look for a lost £1,500.00?
OUTSOURCING
Can be a great, flexible job for working parents- just a few hours per week out-of-hours can net you 4-5 appointments per month. You must use appointment bonuses that are a substantial part of their overall earnings (50%). Look for people with sales experience. You can find appointment bookers on sites like www.peopleperhour.com
If you do, train them- they’ll be representing your business.
