1. They intend to buy.

It never ceases to amaze me how most salespeople and service techs expect not to make the sale. Why do you think they called you? They wanted it fixed.

So, why do so many service techs and salespeople expect not to succeed?

They feel the company is overpriced

They're broke themselves.

There is only one remedy for both of these conditions: sales training. You need to honestly believe that, for what you do, your company is the cheapest in town. The Sales Survival School teaches the how and why behind that belief system.

Also, more sales training means more sales, which means more money in service techs' and salespeople's pockets. When techs make more money themselves, they feel more comfortable with higher repair costs.

2. Your customers are more afraid of you than you are of them.

Service techs often see the customer as holding all the cards because they also hold the money. The reality is, all the money in the world won't help open a stopped drain or fire up a dead furnace. To get that done, you need knowledge and the willingness to do the work. That's where we come in. My drains run, so does my furnace. I don't need any service work done and when I do, I can fix it myself. Your customers can't. The truth is, we hold all the cards and our techs need to realize this. At this time, our customers need us more than we need them. Everyone says to make sure you thank the customer for their business. I have no problem with that, but really, they ought to be thanking us, shouldn't they?

Stop begging for the privilege of fixing your customers' problems. It doesn't look right and it's not appropriate anyway. Here's why: Every day more and more buildings go up, every one of them loaded with plumbing, heating and cooling equipment, all of which will eventually require service. In the mean time, existing equipment is breaking down faster than we can fix it and very few new people are getting into the business.

Sometimes it helps to view customers the same way you so spiders. Sure, they're ugly and scary, but very few of them are dangerous, and they're just as afraid of you as you are of them.

3. The biggest impediment to closing sales is your customers' lack of decision-making skills.

Your life, and the lives of your customers, is really nothing more than a result of the decisions you have made to date. Good decision making is the most important skill you can have. Yet, most of us have ever taken a course in decision making.

Most people fear commitment. Most people fear making the wrong decision. Therefore, one of the best things you can do in a selling situation is make your customers feel confident in their own decision making skills. That's why I say that a good closer is not someone who is good at hammering at people or talking them into the sale. A good closer helps people make decisions...because most people really do need help in that area!

Ever have a customer say, "It sounds good to me, but I have to talk it over with my son or daughter"? A response I've used to counter that statement is, "Your son or daughter is good at decision-making? Tell me, Mrs. Smith, who taught him or her how to make decisions? Wasn't it you?"

You've got to have some discretion when you use this technique because, although it hasn't happened to me yet, I can see how it could offend the overly sensitive type, but delivered correctly and to the right person, it makes the customer realize that they have the confidence and ability to make their own decisions.

4. It's harder for customers to say, "No!" than it is for them to say, "Yes!"

Remember, they called you out there to remedy their problems. They've got the problem and you've got the solution.

What do you think all these "assertiveness training" courses are all about? Who attends them? People who have trouble saying, "No," that's who! Have you noticed that there are no courses taught on how to say, "Yes!"? What's that tell you? So, stop expecting people (and making it easy for them) to say, "No!", and start expecting more "Yeses," and you'll get them.

5. They've got the money.

Again, why do you think they called you out there? They knew it was going to cost money!

What about that sweet old lady with the fifty-year old furniture? Does she have the money? Well, if it looks like you customer hasn't spent a dime in fifty years, the money's got to be someplace! It's probably in the mattress! How much money do you think she got when her husband passed away...$250,000? More? And, her house was probably paid off twenty years ago!

Believe me, if they've called a first-class company like yours, which probably has a reputation for both quality and high prices, they already know your price will be higher than that of a handyman, but they've got the money.

Despite this, we all hear, "I don't have the money," occasionally. That usually means you're doing too much (in their opinion) or that you're overcharging them. That's when you've got to know how to overcome the dreaded "price objection," which is what the Sales Survival School is all about.