Situational Intelligence Part Two: Selling Styles
Learn how to adapt your selling style to different customers in this second part of our Situational Intelligence series.
By Mike Moore
In part one of our Situational Intelligence series, I explained how listening to understand your customers and using demographic and geographic information to customize your sales conversations puts you on the path to more sales. Now we’ll take it a step farther and look at the decision-making styles of different personality types. Once you learn to spot these types, you can adapt your selling style to match your customers’ preferences and close more sales.
First, make enough time
A new HVAC system is a major purchase—one that most homeowners make only once or twice in their lives. You’ll want to provide time in your presentation for everyone to ask questions and consider the answers. Ask your customers for an hour to an hour-and-a-half meeting. If they can’t spare that much time, you’ll know in advance to tighten your presentation to suit their schedule.
Know who your customers are
There are many ways to sell the same equipment, depending on your customers’ decision-making style. For example, if the homeowner is a technical-minded person, they’ll probably be more interested in data about system performance before soft features such as family comfort. On the other hand, people who are primarily concerned with comfort will want to hear about convenience, temperature control and other comfort-related features, before the system specs.
Whichever information your customers want first, bear in mind that they have varied learning styles, too. Some are most comfortable looking at information online or reading brochures, while others prefer to talk and ask lots of questions. Be ready to adapt to different learning styles by bringing materials to your presentation that support visual, written and conversational learning.
Identify the real objections
During your presentation, listen to understand your customers. Ask open-ended questions about what they want and need from their next system. Listen for objections that aren’t real objections. Ask tactful questions and you can learn, for example, whether the customer’s real objection is the price of the system or the idea of spending that amount of money all at once. If it’s the latter, you can suggest your company’s financing options to remove the objection.
Get feedback after each sales call
When you’re a new selling technician or Comfort Advisor, make it a practice to review each sales call with a manager or more experienced coworker. By analyzing the call right away, you can gather immediate feedback, identify what worked, and spot areas where you can improve your presentation and earn more sales.
You can also ask for feedback from your customers. That not only gives you information you can use to improve your selling style, it also gives you another opportunity to address any customer concerns or questions.
One of the best ways to hone your customer communication and HVAC sales skills is through training. On average, students who complete our three-day Master $elling® course see a 10% boost in their sales.
New to HVAC sales? Use this one-hour online course, Preparing for Successful Sales, to give yourself a head start on a successful career.
Whether your customers are tech-oriented, love comfort, or just want the A/C to work, here are a few product suggestions that nearly sell themselves.