By John Michel
Part of a plumbing professional’s mission is to provide products and services to improve customers' lives. However, many homeowners can’t make informed decisions because contractors don’t prioritize educating customers with complete, fair, and detailed communication.
An open communication exchange between contractors and customers includes information and benefits on new products, services, and technologies. When plumbing technicians are empowered to offer these products and services during service calls, everyone wins. Homeowners can choose the right solution from the full range of options. Technicians can act with confidence and support the growth of the company they work for. Owners know they’re maximizing home opportunities to drive revenue and profitability.
Unfortunately, many plumbing contractors and technicians fail to leverage accessory or supplemental sales opportunities. In the long run, the result is predictable. Customers feel frustrated, and owners wonder why they can’t reach the next level.
How do we equip plumbing technicians with skills to communicate all the options available to effectively homeowners? Ultimately, it comes down to training.
Training Prepares for Success
A common obstacle for technicians is that they aren’t familiar with what they’re selling. If they haven’t been adequately trained in how a product works, they may not feel qualified to recommend it. If they think homeowners might ask a question they can’t answer, they might assume it’s best to avoid the subject altogether. In the long run, that lack of familiarity can lead to skepticism. Simply because they don’t personally use a product, they may feel it doesn’t provide value to anyone. Technicians may come to regard certain products as unnecessary. Once that sets in, it can be tough to reverse.
Focused training can prepare technicians for successful exchanges to drive sales, enhance customer satisfaction, and generate growth and profitability. Everyone wins when technicians fully understand product features, benefits, and functionality and can effectively educate customers. Engaging with previously unfamiliar products may encourage technicians to explore new solutions for their homes, leading them to even greater success with supplemental sales and opening even more revenue opportunities.
Strategic Approach
Leveraging sales training to generate actual shared benefits requires a strategic approach:
- Don’t just ask technicians to sell. Help them become experts who can educate customers genuinely and guide them to a positive result.
- Weekly training sessions help technicians break sales down into smaller steps that can be easier to manage.
- Rehearsing educational communication practices and reviewing product technical specifications and customer benefits help technicians feel confident and empowered.
- Help team members support and assist each other. Work with dispatchers to prepare scripts to set technicians up to succeed.
- Set trackable revenue goals and consider seasonality and sales trends. And then stay on top of the data.
- Train your team to succeed. Demanding technicians sell more leads to burnout and turnover. Training them to serve and educate customers and equipping them with the tools and equipment to drive efficiency will streamline operations and help you meet your goals.
- Create and implement an effective accessory program with feedback from team members. Accessory sales are more than just a source of additional revenue. Accessories offer customers enhanced results. They help technicians establish credibility and build long-term relationships.
A thoughtful, consistent strategy for supplemental sales can enormously impact the bottom line. More importantly, it can have a transformative effect on company culture and customers' lives.
John Michel is a Lead Head Coach and Trainer with Business Development Resources (BDR), the premier business training and coaching provider to the home service industry. John has built a highly successful career in the HVAC, energy services, plumbing, and contracting-related fields, with extensive experience in the Residential and Commercial markets over the past 30 years. He understands the relationship between sales and the organizational structure required to support and manage growth while maximizing profitability effectively. Learn more about BDR at www.bdrco.com.