The Simplest Roofing Sales Question That Gets a Yes

This is another true story. I was training a company. This was, gosh, somewhere pre-2020. Isn't that funny? Life is like pre-that and post-that. So this was a pre-2020 training. I'm training this company that's quite large, 2-day training, private training. They're teaching me their closing process, and I'm sitting there like, it was, I don't remember the exact number, it was around 11, ish tie-down questions that were asked prior to the close. I don't know about you, but I couldn't remember 11 things in a row. So again, the sales manager, I'm like, so how does the sales process work? And by the way, I was a sales manager. I get it, right? We're going to be real proud, Casey, right? Right. And we're going to be like, this is exactly what they say. And I'm like, not from you, from the team. So I'm like, team, how do we close deals here? What's the process? Sales manager is like, oh, we follow a really strict process. I'm like, you've taught a strict process. I want to know what's being used. There was not one person in a room with around— I don't remember if it was 25 or 50. It was a big sales team. Not one person. Not one person that had flown to corporate to go through training could recite the 11. What does that tell you? Too many questions. There's a lot of things. They're not doing it, too many questions, and I have a saying in sales and business, simple gets followed, followed gets results. Simple gets followed, followed gets results. It is much easier to add complexity once you've had mastery, but simple gets followed, followed gets results. Now, the mental barrier for many salespeople is they don't ask for the business because they're afraid of coming across a certain way. What they've been taught conflicts with their core identity of being a good person. And they're like, oh, I just want to connect with people and talk my way through it. And that's why people buy from me. But at the end of the day, it's like, is anyone— who in here has been— is married? Raise your hand if you're married. I am. Okay, so this is a good analogy. No one ends up married. Someone has to do something first. What is it? Propose. Propose, pop the question. So when we talked before about marketing is getting people excited to make a change, sales is getting them to commit to making the change, and then the fulfillment is supporting them through that change to get to the desired end state. You have to have the point where there's a commitment, and there needs to be structure to make that happen. So in the example I shared before, we talked about how in the lawyer example, when I was working for the law firm, if I don't address the price early, people have questions all the way through. But then if I don't address price and then the law firm asks for the business, do you think they're gonna get it? Yes or no? No. Nope. No. When there are remaining questions, people will not commit. And I would write that down. Like, that is a closing takeaway. If there are unanswered questions, people will not commit. If there are unanswered questions, people will not commit. So the only reason that closing becomes pushy is when you are not respectful of the homeowner. That's it. By the way, persistence and pushy are very different. Pushy is trying to force a decision. Persistent is trying to understand and educate. I have been persistent when I don't agree with someone I love, but I'm not pushy. The whole goal is to get into an agreement. I learned from my coach the best relationships have mutual agreements. Same thing, we lead our team, we have an agreement. on when we show up and how we show up and how we do what we say we're going to do. Which integrity as a culture, the model of integrity is doing what you say you're going to do. Period. And if you do what you say you're going to do, you're in integrity. But you cannot advertise yourself— I love all the roofing companies that say we have integrity because my guess is 8 out of 10, if not more, don't. And how I define that isn't about maybe being unethical, but it's the inability to do what you say you're going to do. How often do you hear the complaint? They promised me an estimate in 48 hours. I haven't heard from them in a week. Yeah, it's what you do, not what you say you're gonna do, is what John said, right? Or how many people have you heard? He told me he was gonna drop samples by tomorrow and he never showed up. That is acting out of integrity. Okay, so back to closing. My hypothesis number one, by the way, the sticker on that water bottle is what Cracked me up. I can't even put it in the microphone. Thank you. The number one prediction is that most people in this room are not actually asking for the business. It's a prediction, and if it resonates with you, you cannot. If you disagree, that's great. I'm glad. Number two, those that are oftentimes feel pushy, and it feels inauthentic because they're trying to like. There's, there's 1.5 million books on closing. And it's like, here's 28 ways to close a deal. I could give you 105 off the top of my head. But it's not about the phrase. It's about how it's delivered and when it's delivered. If you've read SPIN Selling by Neil Rackham, he did a robust study in the corporate world on closing data. And they found very little correlation to what someone said into winning the business. What they found is that people that asked for it would get it, but it had very little to do with what they said. It had more to do with everything that happened in the relationship leading up to that point. But because we're emotionally illogical people as sales pros, by the way, myself included, I mean, I'm in this camp, we'll get attached like, well, I said this, I won the deal. Therefore, if I use these— this magic phrase, it's going to win the business. But it really doesn't. It's the fact that you spent 95% of your time doing an excellent job in answering their questions, right? And identifying the problem and listening well, presenting the appropriate solution, selling like a doctor where you listen, understand the symptoms, get to the root cause, diagnose the problem, and then provide a prescription to that exact problem. That's what happens. Okay, so here's just a few different ways to close the deal. I'm sure, again, there's a few in this room that have heard this 100 times. But I know sometimes it's 101, but it'll stick. So first, no matter what, we got to clear all the questions, no matter what you do. And the same applies, by the way, I'm going to go on one sidebar and I'll come back to that, I promise. For the sales systems in place that they'll call like the closeless close or whatever, right? We win business without ever asking for it. What they're doing is just assuming the sale and running the homeowner through it. And saying, all right, pick your color, pick your shingle, pick this, pick the install date. All right, we'll collect a deposit. So it's assumptive selling. But again, at the, at the core of it, even those systems that work, if those questions that we identified before aren't addressed in the presentation, that is a remaining question. And homeowners will start to feel like they're being pushed into a corner and be like, whoa, whoa, whoa, I don't know what's going on. I don't know, oops, you know, how long, as we wrote down before, how long the install will take. Or are there going to be any surprises financially? Therefore, I'm putting my guard up. I'm like a cornered cat and I'm not moving forward. So those are the things that we just need to be mindful of. Okay, these questions need to get answered. Now, so again, to clear the questions, simple question to ask, I'd write it down as, we covered a lot. Do you have any questions for me? It's rocket science, isn't it? How to get questions answered. Ask if people have questions. But what will happen is you'll say, do you have any questions for me? And people will say no. And I'm sure it's happened to each and every one of you. I know when I've been asked, do you have any questions? If it's not at the top of my mind, I'll say no. But now I'm gonna start thinking about 'em and then I'll come up with one in 30 seconds, which is why we have a follow-up question and we'll say, hey, I know we covered a lot. Does all this make sense? Yes. And by asking that essentially the same question again, it gives homeowners another chance to digest information and share any concerns. And then we can go into what I call the comfort close. And the comfort close is kind of like filet mignon. What does it take to make filet mignon taste good? Butter. Heat, right? Like nothing. Yeah, I know butter makes it taste better, right? A little fat. But my point is it's an ingredient that stands up on its own. A lot of other closing techniques are really more like tilapia. Like, no one, does anyone here crave tilapia on its own? No. It's like tilapia is good. I just went to this Cuban restaurant last night and they had tilapia. He's like, you gotta try tilapia tacos. I'm like, not really a big, like I don't seek tilapia out, but tilapia tastes good because it's a vessel for all the things that don't make it taste like itself, right? Now, other closing techniques require other ingredients. But I teach the comfort close as what I call the filet mignon close 'cause it just stands up on its own. So it just goes like this. Excellent, are you comfortable moving forward? Are you comfortable choosing me as your roofing hero? Are you comfortable getting your project on the books? If you're in a retail environment, are you more comfortable paying by check or taking advantage of our affordable payment option? Right, that's an options close, as some would say. You have this option or that option. But the key is when you did a great job, connecting empathetically with the homeowner, asking great questions, listening, and acting as a changemaker to help facilitate the change that they've wanted, which is solving whatever problems going on on the roof to get to the desired state, you have been the source of comfort and education. And all you're doing is what I call riding the comfort wave. Are you comfortable moving forward? And you'll notice that I'm not tying this to the buying decision. It's not, are you comfortable giving me your money? Right? It's, are you comfortable moving forward with me? The rest is assumed. And then we say, great, put down our paperwork, whatever it is we're using, if we're signing on a tablet or old school pen and paper, and we put a pen down and we shut up. So this is the comfort close. There's a whole ton, a slew of closing techniques. And for those in RSA, I've got an entire training. And by those, I mean each and every one of you, because that's everyone in this room. If you don't have your login for RSA, you'll get an invitation link. Once you accept it, you'll get logged in. You can download the app. You'll have access to all this at your fingertips. So sales friends, if you're, you know, in your truck and you had one of those days where you feel really beat up, you can just jump in and jump into my objections training or the closing training or anything like that right on the— right on your phone. Okay. If you're gold, you'll have access to all the training. If you're in a Platinum or Diamond, you'll have access to that plus the community and our training sessions and the Alliance Brain, which is our AI coach in your pocket. So there's the comfort close. So now your little assignment is to have a huddle with your team and just train on those 3 things. How are we opening our presentations with the questions that we ask, addressing the 5 most common objections Objectively, by the way, in the home— excuse me, in order, proactively objection handling in the home, and then wrapping it up with a structured closing process. And it really doesn't matter what it is you say, so long as you make sure all their questions are answered first. All it is, it's one meeting away and getting buy-in with the team. And a quick pro tip for managers and owners in here, The one thing, John Abernathy and I were discussing this recently, sometimes owners, our personalities are relatively abrasive. I learned this, by the way, where we come in and we're like, all right, we're doing it this way. But what the team has missed is all the context that led to that moment of why we're making the change. So do slow down when you introduce this, and when the team is bought in because they see how it's gonna help them make more money and have a better process and win more business in our very competitive world, they're bought in. So be patient and remember that they weren't in this room. Some have brought their teams, but before you just like kick down the door for a Monday morning meeting and being like, y'all suck, we're doing it all over again, get 'em on board to ride the change. Thank you.