new customer sales

The Why (and How) of Using Your Residential Caller’s Name.

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KickStart: Call your prospect by name to emphasize a key point. 

post it note with residential caller name

Ever feel like you’re on a never-ending episode of “The Price is Right”? You know, with “price shoppers” bombarding you with the dreaded, “Uhhhh, I’m just calling around… what’s your rate for this service?” Ugh! I feel your pain!😥

However, quite a few of these so-called “price shoppers” will start out with their name as in, “Hi, this is Sally Smith, and I’m just calling around checking prices…” Now a Post-It note will become your best friend!

That’s right, grab your pen, jot down the caller’s name and use it “selectively” in your conversation. Why? Because behavioral psychologists have discovered that…

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Homeowner Cheerleaders: The Emotional Benefits

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KickStart: Homeowner Customer Cheerleaders provide a huge emotional ROI to all involved in a Home Services business.

Your business should be about much more than pure, naked gree… I mean profits! Instead…

Your residential services company should build a close emotional bond (dare I say even “love”?)😲 between you, your employees AND your clients.

Reflections: For me, I LOVED💖 creating “something of value”, a residential services company that (most of the time!)🙄 ran like a well-oiled machine. But my true focus was on “values”.

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Don’t Hate on “Home Service Price Shoppers”!

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KickStart: Recognize the long term consequences of not focusing on every service caller!

disgusted with service price callers

“Aargh, another ‘how much do you charge’ caller!” (Screamed as I slammed down the phone!) “I hate price shoppers!” 😡

Steve’s True Confessions Time: This “I hate price shoppers!” outburst was an ongoing complaint from my office staff for many years.

However, I finally realized my company needed to…

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Home Services “Estimates” versus “Pre-Inspections”- which is better?

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KickStart: “Words are important. If you cannot say what you mean, you will never mean what you say.” George Bernard Shaw

Yep, in business the words we use with prospects (and clients) can have big consequences going forward. For example…

I see many Home Service Businesses offering “free estimates”. Me? I disliked this word “estimate” so much I banned it in my own residential services company!😡 Here’s why…

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How to Dig Deeper Before Choosing your “Lead Response Option”

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KickStart: Tactfully use Valid Business Questions to sort home service prospects into different Response Options.

Question: “Do you want to work for every homeowner that calls your Home Services Business?”🤔

Answer: “No way, Steve! After all, some callers live too far away, other prospects want services we don’t provide and some homeowners simply can’t afford us!”

Well answered and a good analysis! And yet… how much time do you waste with prospects that simply aren’t good potential customers? (Even worse is scheduling an onsite pre-inspection that is a complete waste of time!)😲

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Why (and How) to Not Be on Your Phone 24-7!

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painful business phone callKickStart: Develop remote workers to answer your service business lines when you (or your office staff) aren’t available. Read on to review the four simple steps to “git ‘er done”…

I’ve been (unjustly) accused of being a bit OCD in my Home Services business!🙄 And yes, too often I was guilty as charged when it came to me personally answering incoming calls on my business line(s)… 24-7!

Steve’s Embarrassing Confession: Even after we were grossing almost $2,000,000.00+ yearly I STILL was answering my business lines… even at home 24-7! In fact, (GULP!😲) I STILL kept on doing this AFTER I sold our company. That’s when my dear wife Sioux blew up! (Hopefully she won’t get mad again reading this- 30 years later!)😡

Sure, you should focus on your business phone. After all, every missed/mishandled call can literally cost you many 1,000’s of dollars in downstream income. But eventually I realized that not every call needed to be answered by me (or any business owner) personally! Instead…

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FOCUS on Service Prospects Incoming Phone Calls!

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KickStart: Stop treating your business phone as a distraction. Instead, obsess over each and every service inquiry! 

nervous home service proWhen your business phone rings do you: A) ecstatically scream with delight?👍💪💖 B) fall into an anxiety attack?😬 or C) collapse in panicked dread?😨 For all you “B” and “C” folks, let’s move you into the delighted “A” category with a ringing phone!

First, reflect on the HUGE stakes with this caller. I know, you’re thinking, “Ummmm, Steve, I thought you were going to cheer me up. I’m even more freaked out now!” My reply?

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“PMOT’s” for a Confused Homeowner

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KickStart: Pre-orient a confused new residential client on what will you’ll be doing in their home. (#2 in an “intermittent series”- Click HERE for #1.)

Ella Fitzgerald stamp“Bewitched, bothered and BEWILDERED?”  Folks, it’s not just Ella way back in 1956 that was ““Bewitched, bothered and BEWILDERED”! As a new homeowner nervously awaits your company to service their home they too are “bewildered”! (And very, very CONFUSED!) Think about it…

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Marketing Services to the Neighbors- Part II

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KickStart: Send a brightly colored envelope “pre-orienting’ close-by home owners that you’ll be “in the area”. (Include a list of your services.)

residential service marketing headachesMarketing your residential services is tough! After all, home owners are bombarded with a dizzying deluge of advertising and (GRRRR!) low-price offers!😡 But WAIT!

You have an exclusive, ‘virgin marketing territory’ when you or your on-site workers make a friendly, ‘heads-up’ visit to the neighbors when beginning each job. Or even better, in conjunction with your personal visits…

‘Pre-orient’ the neighbors that you’ll be “in the area” BEFORE your scheduled work. Simply…

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