As we continue to hear more about the potential for a COVID-19 vaccine and therapeutics, I trust many of you are celebrating the idea of us getting back to “business as usual.”
Whether you’re a canvasser looking forward to knocking doors, or a salesperson who yearns to meet the prospect at their kitchen table, I can appreciate your desire for a small degree or normalcy. But before you throw away your virtual presentation technology, you must understand that the normalcy you crave may be very different from the new normal embraced by many of your customers. As much as you welcome the opportunity to meet your prospect in their home, you must come to terms with the fact that your wants and those of your prospects may be very different.
It’s my assertion that in the COVID-19 world, and even when the pandemic subsides — whenever that may be — roofing contractors must redefine their “business as usual” to provide a sales experience that exceeds the expectations of their prospects. Here are five facts we cannot ignore:
FACT #1: Remote Selling Will Not Recede After the Pandemic
The trend toward virtual contact with and support of customers was intensifying before the pandemic, and it will continue to intensify regardless of what happens with the virus. Remote selling will be the requested mode of professional selling for the foreseeable future and we must make sure we’re on the positive side of that trend.
FACT #2: Remote Selling Doesn’t Make it Harder to Sell
The vast majority of our customers tell us that remote selling has had little-to-no negative effect on their close rates. In fact, many of our customers have seen an increase in sales — based on the reduction of travel time by the sales person. In a pre-COVID world, salespeople were running three to four leads per day but the availability of videoconference has helped to boost that number to six or more.
FACT #3: Your Prospect is Now a Videoconferencing PRO
Most homeowners are now pros and see videoconferencing as an accepted form of communication. If you don’t propose this as your sales consultation default or feel comfortable leading a virtual sales discussion, you are, in all likelihood, putting yourself and your organization at a major professional disadvantage.
FACT #4: Virtual Sales People Must Follow a Sales Process
We shouldn’t shortchange the sales process just because it’s a virtual setting. With that said, it’s extremely important that salespeople create an emotionally-engaging experience that helps to position them as the contractor of choice. An excellent way to do this is with HOVER Connect. By inviting a homeowner to download the HOVER app, contractors can easily qualify and engage their leads. Once the homeowner submits the pictures of their home and they are processed, the contractor will receive the fully measured, customizable 3D model of the property. This motivates the prospect to want to take the next step and enables the contractor to be better prepared for their virtual consultation.
FACT #5: A Virtual Sales Consultation Requires Planning and Preparation
The ability to engage and keep the prospect’s focus is entirely a function of who is leading the meeting, how well it has been set up, and whether there is a practiced plan to execute the sales process.
For more than 10 years, roofing contractors have been the most inquired about business type at the Better Business Bureau. This demonstrated lack of trust in our industry requires contractor salespeople to provide a friendly sales experience that shatters the prospects’ expectations.
By focusing on the facts we just shared, you can redefine “business as usual” and position your organization for sustainable success.
