When people say they intend to get other bids does it mean that they always will?

In a word: no.

Here are some possible customer intentions and actual actions:

• Will absolutely get other bids and will not buy tonight

• Fully intend to get other bids; won’t buy tonight; but won’t get other bids

• Fully intend to get other bids but change their mind and buy tonight

You can’t really predict which of the above is the case. The best thing to do is acknowledge what they say and keep moving ahead with your selling process—including asking for the sale.

Think of your “persistence” as a process that has several probable outcomes. You will be rewarded sometimes with a “yes” on the first call, even though they initially said they were shopping. In some cases you will do such a good job that even though they may have sincerely intended to get other bids they rethink that after you leave and decide they have found the right solution in you and your company. And then there are those who make it an important part of their purchasing process to get other bids and there’s nothing stopping their decision to do so.

What are they really saying about their attitude on purchasing an HVACR system?

They could be saying they are cautious about buying anything from a contractor. They could be saying they don’t know as much as they want to know about HVACR. They could be saying they are looking for the lowest price possible. They could be saying they are creating a 100-column spreadsheet on all of the variables in choosing products and contractors and this is the beginning of a three-month process. They could be saying they generally don’t like sales people and they are hoping to find someone they can trust. You don’t know unless you ask.

What do most people dislike about the process of getting other bids that you can focus on?

Even those of us who are sales professionals don’t always enjoy our own buying experiences. It’s an inconvenience to set aside very limited at-home personal time. We don’t like having strangers in our homes. We’re tired at the end of the day. We have lots of other things to do. And the majority of us don’t want to spend a lot of time getting through the buying process. Yuk.

Letting go of your need to “control” the customer will help you. Most salespeople like the ideaof having control. Well, I have news for you, you don’t and you can’t. I know you’ve read books or have been to seminars where someone made a compelling case for being in control of the sales call, or being in control of the customer. And you may have learned techniques to help you establish a semblance of control (some would call it manipulation) so you can get the customer to sign the contract. A controlling approach to selling does get results, but I think there’s a better way.

Technically “control” is in the hands of the one who has the ability to say yes or no. In a selling situation, who has the ability to say yes or no? Only the customer can make that decision.

So if you don’t have control, what do you have? You have power. We will define power as having the capacity for influencing.

Is this question true or false? “When I’m talking I’m in control of what you are thinking.” I hope you said false. It has to be false because we can’t possibly know what someone else is thinking unless they tell us. In a lot of cases we don’t want to know what another is thinking!

Now answer this question, true or false, “When I am asking questions and listening I can influence what you’re thinking about.” True! In fact, when you read that question a moment ago, I was using my power to get you to consider your thoughts on my question. I couldn’t control your response but I could influence what you were thinking about. Power.

So, in selling, if you would like to influence the customer to think about what might be important in making a decision to purchase your product or services,
simply ask questions.

Using your power to handle “I’m getting other bids.”

I’d like you to have this context when your customer brings this up. Say to yourself, “Okay, the chances are only one out of three that they really will get other bids and they are one out of three that they will still buy tonight. Let’s see where they are really coming from.”

Next you are going to recall what most people don’t like about buying something they know little about from someone they may not completely trust. You will then ask questions that will uncover their discomfort about what they don’t like and try one last time to see if they will decide that you are the one to do business with. For an example of how the dialogue might go, visit our download center at www.hvacrbusiness.com/downloads.

Try this, my friends. It won’t work every time, but it will some of the time. I guarantee it!

Good Selling.

Tom Piscitelli is president of T.R.U.S.T.® Training and Consulting. For more information on how his System Selling In-Home Sales Call Training DVD, CD and Self-Study Workbook can help you sell more jobs at higher margins and higher prices go to www.sellingtrust.com

>> To pose a question to Tom, go to www.hvacrbusiness.com/forums