Fix ANY Closing Problem Using This Simple Framework — Fast

I'm going to teach you three different ways to fix any closing problem. And I know what it's like that when you're in sales, especially in a leadership role, if you're not closing as high as you should be or if your team should be, we start thinking that we need to go reinvent the wheel and get the team trained up and learn a whole new system. And it's almost like we have to throw a grenade into everything that we knew and rebuild something better so we can close even more sales. But the good news is it doesn't need to happen that way. I. I mean it. Little tiny changes can help fix most closing problems. And that's what I'll be teaching you in today's video. By having this mindset shift and having a new way in a fresh way of looking at your sales performance is going to help you make little mini wins really easy. That all stack up to make a massive difference at the end of the year for your sales and your income. I'm so excited to jump into this video. My name is Adam Bensman. Welcome or welcome back. Now let's get started. All right, first things first, Owner's manager special shout out to you. I know that you have a tendency to want to go revamp the whole system and find the next sales training or whatever it is, but it doesn't need to necessarily happen for you to have quick wins in terms of increasing your close rate. And what we're going to apply here is the concept of constraint theory. Now, I'm going to explain this in a story, and then we're going to apply it to you and your sales. And I'll teach you each of these three ways to fix your closing problem. Now let's talk about constraint theory. I learned this from a gentleman named Dr. Alan Barnard, and he's the world's leading decision scientist, and he got hired by one of the world's largest book publishers. These guys were doing nearly a billion dollars a year, and they had a big goal of doubling their business. Now imagine if you're doing a billion dollars a year, like doubling at that size, that's a monumental task. I don't know, some might even say it's impossible. And that's what the book publishing leadership team felt. They said there's no way, because for us to double our sales, we need to double our book publishing deals, we need to double printing and distribution. Then of course, we need to double sales. And that's a lot of lifts and a lot of moving pieces. So Dr. Alan Barnard comes in and he applies constraint theory, which is identifying what is the one constraint that's holding me back from hitting the next goal. And with constraint theory, the idea is we pinpoint just the one thing that the one thing that can unlock the hugest potential and we fix that first. And then it's a series of ongoing improvements and sales is a never ending art. So here's what he did. Dr. Barnard gets brought in and he says, hey, help us double sales. And of course it's this monumental lift. And he just asks the publishing company, what is your net profit in a company that large? The net profit was 10%. And he says, so just raise your prices 10% because an additional 10% on your prices doubled the profit. Guess what? The company did, they doubled their profits in 12 months by applying constraint theory and thinking outside the box. And that's what I'll be teaching you in this video. So let's get into the first of the three ways to fix nearly any closing problem. And then I want you, as you're paying attention to let me know which one you're going to focus on. Alright, so let's start. Sales is like telling a story. It's a conversation that's like a story. And what I mean it's like a story is there's a beginning, there's a middle, and in the end, the first place we're going to look at fixing is what happens in the beginning. Now for many salespeople, new and seasoned, they were taught to just like get in the home and build some rapport and then present and what they're doing is applying like a one size fits all solution to everybody. But what ends up happening is the homeowner, they're just feeling like they're being sold and they get bored and blind because they're just being pitched. So in the beginning, the number one fix for you is the discovery. Asking questions. If we don't know the two things that we need to identify for this particular homeowner, which is the problem with the roof and then the homeowner's main problem or concern, we cannot sell a solution. It's mind blowing, isn't it? It's almost like if I was a doctor and you came into my office like, hey, I have a new antibiotic and a new antihistamine and an antiviral and a new painkiller. Welcome. Like that's not how it works. When you go to the doctor, they diagnose the problem to then prescribe a solution. But for many salespeople, they're not diagnosing the problem. So your first fix is to diagnose two things. Number one is the problem with the roof, and the number two is the problem or concern that the customer has about moving forward. And once you identify both of those through asking the right questions, like, where are you at in the process? How many estimates have you received? What's most important to you when selecting a contractor? Or my favorite, how will you evaluate which contractor you'll trust to choose? Excuse me, which contractor you'll trust to work on your home? These are very simple questions to ask that allow you to pinpoint what's going on or even simply asking, what's the problem with your roof? Why did you call me out here today? Okay. And again, with the proper diagnosis for the person and the roof itself, the problem of the roof, you're then able to custom tailor without even thinking. You're just naturally going to start picking out the parts of your pitch that apply to the homeowner. And it creates this feeling, feeling like the sales presentation was built for them. But most importantly, it helps you build empathy and connection because you're listening. So there you have it. Fix number one is at the beginning, and the fix is asking questions. So I want to hear from you. Are you asking questions and doing a discovery up front? Yes or no? And if not, what did you learn from this that you can start applying right now? Okay, now let's move on to fix number two. And that happens in the middle of the presentation. Now, in the middle of the presentation, this is where most of us are going through our product, our service and how it works and all these things. And many of us hope and pray that if we do a good job, then the objections at the end won't come up. But what ends up happening is, as a homeowner has a question, they're not fully engaged. And if you don't believe me, I want, I want to bring you back to, let's say, middle school or high school. And if you're a roofer now, you probably struggled in school. That's why we're here, right? I was in the same math class three years in a row. And I remember, and I want you to bring yourself back to high school when your teacher was teaching you whatever it is that you need to learn. But you were confused. You did what you were taught and you raised your hand. I'm sitting here, right? Like, what? Now I want you to think from when you got confused to when the teacher called on you. Did you retain any of this and the answer is no, you likely did not because you were fixated on your question. Now, our homeowners are fixated on their questions too. And my guess is that you, in your market, whether it's storm or retail, how competitive your market is, you get likely the same one to three questions on almost every appointment. And those things are like, we want to wait and get more estimates, we're going to have to think about it. I'll talk to my wife. All of these things come up and instead of bringing them up at the end, your fix is to take all of the questions that you know you are going to get asked and you answer them in the middle during your presentation. Because a pro salesperson, they don't let objective come up, they bring them up first. And this might feel hard for some, it takes courage. But amateur salespeople hide from objections and pro salespeople air them out, and they air them out early. And what this does is it actually creates a deeper connection with the prospect because it shows that you know what you're doing. And number two, it puts them at ease because as they're having that question, instead of them getting agitated and concerned thinking about it, they're able to be like, oh, this guy knows what he's doing. So I might say, for example, hey, Mr. Homeowner, I understand that you and your wife are going to want to talk about it when you make a decision, right? So my purpose today is to understand your roof and your needs, show your options and help you make a decision, even if it's not with me. So what will likely happen is at the end you're going to say, well, we need to think about it and talk through things. But what's going to happen is you're talking through things without having someone there who's an expert to answer your questions. So throughout this process, I want you to drill me with questions. I'll be the question punching bag and that way you guys can make a decision together as a team. Alright? And again, this is one way of proactively overcoming the objections that come up in the middle. So your fix or your homework assignment is to write down the questions that you get the top one to three. Maybe if there's more, you can sprinkle them in and address them in the middle of your presentation. Because that way at the end, it doesn't come across as you trying to justify or dig yourself out of a hole. I don't know if you've ever said anything stupid. I have. And sometimes, like as you're saying, the words, you want to peel them back and then you're like digging yourself out of a hole. Well what happens if we wait till the end of the appointment? Then the homeowner will say an objection like hey, we got to think about it and we try to overcome it but then it seems like we are pushing a sale on them. And what happens whenever someone feels pushed psychologically? The phenomenon is called a reactant. In a reactant is a natural persuasion defense mechanism. It's like human beings natural missile defense practice. Like oh, warning, someone's trying to persuade, push or influence me. So they push back even more and all of that reactance goes away if we're able to just bring up those questions throughout the presentation. So that's fix number two. So are you doing that now or do you need to start and what are the top objections you get? How can you overcome them throughout the process? Alright, now this brings us to fix number three is at the end. This is a two part fix. Okay now at the end of the appointment it is mind blowing how many people do not ask for the business or close the sale. And I get it, there's people here that are doing an assumptive sale and they say, I don't ask, I just say like if it's storm, great, so we're going to call your insurance company. So that is closing, I'll talk about that. Or if it's retail, they just go through. All right, so the next step is pick color. Next step is this. That assumptive selling and just walking someone through the process. It is an act of closing. But most people, and it's amazing how many times I've talked to a sales rep and you say what do you say to close a deal? And they're like I don't know, they don't have a process. There's no question that comes up to the top of their mind. There's like well I just, I do a good job and then I leave it to the homeowner. It's like no, no, the homeowner is not the guide. You are the guide. As the salesperson, your job is to take control and help in sales. Our job is to help someone make a buying decision. It may not be with us, but that's your job is to help them make a decision. So you are the guide. Not then you don't just guide them. And they'd be like alright now it's on you. Your job is to do the guiding. So at the end of the appointment, especially owners, managers listen up like Your team, are they actually asking for the business? Because that is one of the fastest, easiest fixes. If you change nothing else and just ask for the business, you will close more sales as opposed to leaving it up to someone. Either tell them what to do or ask them for their business. Now hang tight. I don't have space in this video to go through closing techniques. That'll be the next video I linked to at the end of this. So hang on. But that's number one, is just making sure you actually ask for the business. In the next video. I'll teach you my favorite process for that. But before you jump into it, I want to teach you the second phase. Because there are times in sales that you go to ask for the business or close the deal and no matter what you do, you don't close it. It's life. It happens. But what ends up happening here? Another fix again at the end is instead of the classic, hey, we'll call you if we're interested. And you give them the business card and leave and hope that they call you. You basically ran the ball all the way down the field. You're at the 99 yard line, all you need is a one yard run, it's a first down, you get in the end zone and you end up handing them the ball. Be like, okay, cool your ball now. So we need to stay in control to advance the sale. And what we do is Bamfam book a meeting from a meeting. So we set the follow up while we are in the house when we're going to come back to review everything. And this, my friend, ties back into what I shared about fixing the middle. Because if I open up like you heard me in the beginning, say, hey, Mr. Homeowner, my mission and purpose is to understand your roof and your needs, show you your options, and help you make a decision even if it's not with me. That comes into play at the end when they're like, we need to wait to get the third estimate. Great, Mr. Homeowner, completely understand. I appreciate your time. Listen, my job, as I shared in the beginning, was to understand your roof and your needs, show you your options and help you make a decision, even if it's not with me. So let's sit down together with all of your estimates. We're going to go through them line by line so you can understand them and make a decision that's best for you, even if it's not with me. Would you prefer to meet on Monday or Wednesday? That's just an example, by the way. Okay. So that's booking a meeting from a meeting. We make it about being relevant and helpful, not like, you need to meet with me so I can close you right now. For those that are freaking out, I'm telling you, this will be a little uncomfortable at first, but your closing rate will go up, I promise you, because you are in control and you have a commitment. And if a homeowner doesn't want to meet in person, that's okay. We are going to have a backup offer, and that's sticking to a scheduled phone call. Because by having a commitment from your homeowner, the likelihood of you engaging with them goes way up versus them being in control and either ghosting you or just, you know, well, ghosting you. All right, so my ask of you, are you or your team actually asking for the business? Yes or no? And then number two is, are they booking the meeting? The next meeting, from the meeting? And there you have it, my friends, the three ways that you can fix almost any closing problem without having to overhaul your system. By just focusing on your questions in the beginning, objections in the middle, and asking for the business at the end, and then getting your appointment set. And to keep this process going, I'm going to teach you how to close sales the easy way with my favorite closing technique in this very next video. We'll see you soon.