Sales and Sales Management

In order to maximize the effectiveness of Residential Replacement Sales efforts for 2000, Sales Managers must understand and execute on the following premises

Philosophy

  1. GMs & Sales Managers must clearly communicate the appropriate sales philosophy.
    Strategy: Sales Managers should meet with all team members to communicate:

    1. We are in the business of Home Comfort, not merely the business of selling and maintaining furnaces and air conditioners.
    2. A sale is not final until the customer indicated their satisfaction upon the termination of our warranty.
    3. Selling the value of our services is something we do FOR our customers, not TO them.
    4. We believe in offering customers choices and making recommendations that we truly believe are in their best interest.
  2. All Comfort Advisors must follow a selling system that, when executed properly, will deliver predictable results. This system is trained in detail in the following Performance Enhancement Team workshops:
    1. For GMs & Sales Managers – “Residential Replacement Sales for Managers.”
    2. For Comfort Advisors – basic and advanced “Comfort Advisor training.”
    3. For Technicians – “Repair Vs. Replace.”

Teamwork

  1. All team members must understand how they play an integral role in getting customers happily involved in the systems we install.
    Strategy: GMs should meet with all team members to ensure they understand that replacement sales is a major component (often the greatest component) of our financial success. Doing a lot of work, and being a great person is not enough. We must ensure that the bulk of what we do, in some contributes to customer satisfaction and furthering our replacement sales efforts.
  2. Entire Service Centers must see themselves as one team, with common goals, especially in terms of replacement sales.
    Strategy: GMs should meet with installation & Sales managers to ensure they do not see themselves as separate departments but as two major components of the same system. PET recommends calling this one larger unit “Replacement Team”, and downplay the two internal sections of this larger team, Sales and Installation.
    Strategy: Compensation programs should highlight the team effort approach (in addition to rewarding individual performance).

Efficient use of time

1. Sales Managers must spend 80% of their time working on the 20% of activities that contribute most to their team’s success.
Strategy: Sales Managers should delegate non-leadership duties to others. Following are several activities the Sales Managers could delegate:
a) Track all leads to determine which marketing media’s are most effective (Sales Lead source Report)
b) Track every sales call to final resolution (Prospect Alert Form)
c) Happy Call every customer visited by a Comfort Advisor. (Prospect Alert Form)
d) File every Prospect Alert Form by Comfort Advisor each month
e) Track and post daily sales results by Comfort Advisor and Department. (Daily Residential Replacement Sales Report)
f) Compile information that compares month to date sales levels to projected goals (Daily Residential Replacement Sales Report)
g) Perform a gross margin analysis report for completed replacement jobs Separated by Comfort Advisor

A Sales Manager should spend 80% of his/her time on the following:
a) Establish monthly Sales goals for every member of the Sales Team
b) Break down the Sales goals into Daily Goals
c) Share individual goals with each player
d) Review Residential Replacement Report on a daily basis for the purposes of
1) Ensuring that the team is on track for hitting goals
2) Identifying potential barriers that may be in the way of their team’s goals
3) Remove those barriers
e) Review Gross Margin reports on a weekly basis
1) Identify barriers in the way of profitability
2) Remove those barriers
f) Review Sales Lead Source Report every other day to evaluate
1) Where the leads are coming from
2) How effective the team is at closing the leads generated by each lead source
3) If the results of each marketed campaign justify the money spent
4) Identify potential barriers
5) Remove those barriers
g) Ride with Comfort Advisors in the field and evaluate their ability to properly execute the Sales System
1) Identify any potential barriers preventing the Comfort Advisor from achieving their goals
2) Remove those Barriers
h) Identify area’s for improvement and work with each Comfort advisor on these area’s
1) Remove those Barriers
i) Recognize and praise Comfort Advisors in the area’s reflecting personal and professional growth and improvement
j) Conduct scheduled “workshops” to educate office personnel on the core values of the Company i.e.
1. The difference between the selling price and the value
2. The “value-added” difference that separate us from the competition
3. Clearly defining who our competition is
4. What we mean when we say, “the price reflects the value we offer our customers”
5. When we sell, we do it FOR the customer and not TO the customer
6. The “give me 5” concept and why every customer needs to know
7. What it means to have conviction
8. The Selling Process and why it’s important
k) Conduct workshops to develop the capabilities of the Service and Maintenance Departments in the area’s of
Lead Generation and Service Agreement Sales

1. Allow the Technician enough time to properly manage the service call

a. Develop Trust and Rapport – 10 minutes
1. Greet
2. Question
3. level of expectation
4. Gain permission
5. Optional Question
6. Time Commitment
7. Involvement
b. Perform the Evaluation – 30 minutes
(Give Me Five)
1. Is It Really Broke?
2. Can It Be Fixed?
3. How Much Will It Cost?
4. How Much Life Is Left?
5. Would a New One Be Better?
c. Prepare Options – 10 minutes
1. Repair Prices with and with-out maintenance agreement
2. Operating Cost Analysis Worksheets
d. Acquire Customer – 20 minutes
1. Explain Options
2. Review Cost of Ownership
3. Logical Leading Question
4. Set Lead or Explain Repair
5. Explain Repair with and with-out maintenance agreement
6. Tie Back to the total cost of ownership
7. Set Lead or Sell Maintenance Agreement (KEEP THE CUSTOMER)!
8. Proceed with new system option or repair

2. Encourage, Support and facilitate the management of service calls in a fashion to maximize lead generation and maintenance agreement acquisition results by properly qualifying the customer.

a. Customer Service Representative (Taking the call)
1. What seems to be the problem?
2. How often have you experienced problems with your system?
3. How old is your system?
4. When was the last time it was serviced?
5. Have you had it tuned up recently?
6. Have you checked yours?
Filters
Thermostat
Circuit Breakers
7. We have a service opening on ___ or ___ between ___ or ___
8. Which time would be more convenient for you?
9. Our Technician should be there between ___ and ___ the call will take 60 to 90 minutes, will we be ok on time?
10. We charge a ___ Diagnostic fee, For that fee, we will evaluate the system and let you know the repair price before we begin the repair.
11. Would payment by check, charge or cash be more convenient for you?
12. Thanks for calling, we will see you on ___ between ___ and ___.
b. Dispatcher (Selecting the proper technician for the call)
1. Determine the age of the equipment.
2. Identify which Technicians are more effective in providing options to the customer
3. Calls with equipment 10 years or older should be assigned to those Technicians who properly execute the “Give Me Five” process consistently.
4. De-brief the Technician after every call.
5. Track results
6. Post Results
c. After the call
1. Happy call every customer to ensure complete satisfaction.

L) Facilitate Weekly Sales meetings for purposes of
1. Recognizing top performers 10 min
2. Reviewing month to date results 10 min
3. Coaching Comfort Advisors with-in area’s of the Selling Process 20 min
4. Reviewing current and future marketing concepts 10 min
5. Motivating Comfort Advisors resulting in a high level of morale. 10 min

M) Plan, Develop, Review, Execute, Analyze and Modify programs designed to generate sales leads with-in the budgeted boundaries set forth by the General Manager in terms of marketing Dollars as a % of Sales.

Comfort Advisors must spend most of their time in homes making presentations.

Strategy: It must be understood that a Comfort Advisors job is to Close Sales. Any activity preventing Comfort Advisors from being in front of our Customers and Closing Sales or further development of their capability to close sales should be considered non-productive and a waste of a valuable resource. Bottom Line, If a Comfort Advisor is not in front of a customer, they’re not making the company any money.

Strategy: While in the home, the CA should spend his/her time effectively.

  1. Mentally Preparing to Win – 15 minutes
  2. The Warm-Up – 15 minutes
  3. The Questionnaire – 15 minutes
  4. The In-Home Analysis – 30 minutes
  5. The Presentation – 20 minutes
  6. Providing options and closing the Sales – 15 minutes
  7. Preparing the job for production – 20 minutes
  8. Review and analyze the call – 10 minutes

General managers and other internal managers must not detract the sales staff from their primary focus by burdening them with procedures that are not absolutely necessary.

Strategy: Comfort Advisors must spend 80% of their time working on the 20% of activities that contribute most to their team’s success. (Selling Prospects)

Strategy: Operational Systems should be put in place to ensure a smooth transition from the “sale” to the completed installation. There should be a “seamless operational flow” from the time the Comfort Advisor submits a replacement job to the assurance that the Service Department will respond promptly in the event of any technical challenges.

Non Sales Duties:

  1. Scheduling the replacement Crew
  2. Ensuring the crew will be there when promised
  3. Staging materials for the job
  4. Processing internal paperwork
  5. Updating customer files
  6. Resolving service-related challenges with the job
  7. Assuring the quality of the installation is to standard
  8. Ensuring the customer received everything they bought
  9. Answering technical questions about the system operation after job completion

Selling Value

  1. Sales Managers must understand the negative dynamics involved with selling price instead of value and be able to communicate those dynamics to their team in.
    Strategy: Train all GMs, Sales Mgrs., CAs & Tec’s on the Comfort Guarantee.

    1. 100% satisfaction guarantee”
    2. No-lemon guarantee
    3. 5-10 year parts and labor
    4. Preventative maintenance
    5. Certified and trained staff
    6. Honesty and Conviction
    7. How many of them are offered by our competitors?
    8. Everyone has a cost associated with the offering.

“THE PRICE” “REFLECTS” “THE VALUE” “WE DELIVER” “OUR CUSTOMERS”

  1. Sales Managers must be experts in communicating the concept of selling value instead of price and persuade all team members to have the same conviction.
  2. Comfort Advisors must effectively communicate the advantages we offer so customers perceive the total value of our services.
  3. All Team members must be intimately aware of our “Value Advantage”, be able to recite these, and continually educate our customers in this regard. They must be convinced that our value exceeds that of the competition.

Know Thyself

  1. While being involved in continual improvement initiatives, all team members must know our strengths, challenges, and current weaknesses.
  2. Sales Managers (& GMs) must be concerned with and tapped into the individual needs of each team member, and address each in an effort to keep the members motivated and free from negativity and distraction.

Know Thy Competition

  1. Sales Managers and Comfort Advisors must truly understand those who directly compete with us for customers, along with their strategies, strengths, weaknesses, and specific offerings.
  2. Sales Managers must understand and address the fact that indirect competitors exist in the marketplace – that is, companies that do not provide HVAC services, but sell products that compete with us for the consumers budget (furniture, carpeting, appliances, etc.)

Lead Generation

    1. Sales Managers must understand that a sales lead is never dead until a system has been installed.
      Strategy: Centers should permanently maintain records of all customer leads that do not result in a sale. Each year, these potential customers should be contacted to determine whether or not they have since had a system installed. This is simply a courtesy call “since our records indicate that your older system is likely costing you excessive utility bills because of lower efficiency. Have you had a chance to track your utility bills since we last spoke 12 months ago? If not, we offer this service free of charge to our community, and as always, there is no obligation. Would you like a professional Home Comfort Advisor to help you figure the excess you’ve been paying the utility company? I think you’ll be amazed by the amount of money you could be wasting.”
      Strategy: Technicians should use the “give me 5” principal every time it applies to a customer, to maximize lead generation and EPAs.
    2. Sales Managers must understand the dynamics involved in spending money to generate sales leads versus spending the time to develop the capabilities of their people to generate leads.
    3. Sales Managers must know when it’s time to stop spending money on marketing for replacement leads and be able to control cost and positively impact lead generation without spending more money.
    4. Sales managers must know when it’s time to invest a little more in marketing and ensure that the results of those marketed leads justify the money invested.
    5. Sales Managers must get results with no “excuses” and maintain a positive mental attitude.
    6. A Sales Manager must mirror the Conviction, Enthusiasm, Energy, and behaviors expected from a winning team. (Develop the ability to “Bounce Back”)