Remodeling sales can be broken down into a series of small decisions the homeowner must make, culminating (hopefully) in the signing of a contract with you. An important, and often overlooked, factor in getting through the requisite series of decisions from the homeowner, is whether the salesperson thinks that the next decision is an easy one.
If the homeowner has never made a decision to spend six figures on remodeling their home and the salesperson thinks spending six figures is a lot of money, it is highly unlikely that the salesperson will get the homeowner to decide to spend six figures on the first sales call.
On the other hand, if all the homeowner has to decide is whether to come to the company’s showroom to look at appliances, cabinets, and countertops after the first meeting in the home, then that is a decision that is extremely likely to happen because both the salesperson and the homeowner feel that is a reasonable decision to make.
Or instead, they might decide to retain a designer or sign an agreement for a smaller project. The key is that there is a logical and less risky choice that the homeowner will feel comfortable making. More importantly, the salesperson will be more comfortable asking for the decision.
The Design Build remodeling process is successful precisely for these reasons. But if you have a website with a page titled, “How we work with clients,” then you probably already have good steps identified. If you use an automated system for tracking, these steps are probably labeled as “stages.” Don’t use the default stages in your automated system. Create your own that map to how you work with clients and the incremental decisions they make on the way to purchasing from you.
It is the company’s responsibility (not the homeowner’s) to provide a safe and low-risk process to homeowners to reassure them that they are making the best choice.
Unfortunately, even the most rigorous processes can still be hijacked by an untrained salesperson. Are your salespeople able to succinctly explain your process and know when it’s time to make the next small decision?
I work with many remodelers that claim to use a Design Build process but are frequently chasing their tails with homeowners that have “just one more question.” The salesperson loses sight of the fact that the time to answer those questions about options and selections is not now; it’s after they have made a decision to design them.
Homeowners will rarely have a good process to buy 6 figure remodels, yet it is not uncommon for them to ask the salesperson to deviate from the remodeler’s process. Don’t fall prey to this! (Even my SalesEdge students do it from time to time.)
The salesperson must not go off process. Discipline is key.