Why “Good, Better, Best” FAILS (and what to do instead)

Good, better, best roofing systems can cost you sales. They can destroy closing rates. They can pretty much guarantee that if you're not the cheapest company out there, you will not get the business. But you might be thinking, Adam, good, better, best or multiple roof system packages available to our customers. That's the best way to get people to choose the more expensive one. That's the best way to get people to increase how much they spend with you. Well, I'm not disagreeing with that. But what I am sharing with you are the real world mistakes. One massively critical mistake that I see still happening to this day by retail companies who are using a Good, Better best system. I learn about it when I'm training them in person. I've learned about it while I've been running events and speaking at events across the country. And I've had customers of mine email me their proposals and estimates. And the minute I spot these mistakes, I'm like, stop. If you don't make this change and you're not the cheapest contractor, which I hope you're not and you shouldn't be, you will not get the business. Your team's closing rate will suffer and you're losing deals left and right. And I want to make all that stop. And it's one really simple fix. I'm going to teach that to you in this video right now. Before we do a quick welcome or welcome back, Adam Bensman here, the roof strategist. And everything that I do is designed to help you and your team smash your income goal and give every customer an amazing experience. Welcome back. And if you're new here, hit the subscribe button right now so you don't miss an upload. And if you want more, by the way, if you're a retail roofing salesperson or you're running a team or you're a sales manager or manager, get you and your team inside our free training center right now. I've got a playlist in the pitch like a pro video training library specifically on retail with more videos coming up soon. And you can use the link in the description or text the word free to 303-22-26 7133. That's free to 303-222-7133. Now let's talk good, better best systems. But first we need to get on the same page and I'm going to take you through an experience so you can experience this for yourself. Humans by nature are comparison creatures. I'm going to repeat it. Humans by nature are Comparison creatures. Let me explain. Imagine you go out to two steakhouses on vacation on Friday night and Saturday night. And on Sunday morning, you're having breakfast with your spouse or significant other. You're talking about the amazing trip you had. And you look back and you talk about the nights and you're like, ah, that first restaurant, their service was out of this world. The second restaurant, the steak was so much better. The third restaurant, the sides were unbelievable and the drinks were amazing. The other restaurant, you know, the steak was good, but the service, the atmosphere, everything else was just a little subpar. And then you say, hey, honey, if we ever came back, let's go to that first steakhouse again. That, my friend, is comparison. Let's do another one. You get ice cream with two scoops. Do you have a favorite flavor? I do because I compare them. Next, comparison. You go and test drive two trucks back to back. What do you do? You compare them. Power. This one's more powerful. Comfort. That one's more comfortable. Ride quality. This one was a softer ride. Towing capacity. That one tows more interior finishes. I like this one more. What we do is compare. I have one more for you. You go to your favorite restaurant, if you're like me, you get the same thing most times because that's what's comfortable, that's what you know you like. And you say, that's my thing. I love it there. It's predictable. But then one day, you go to that restaurant, you're like, you know what? I always get this. I'm going to try something new. So the meal comes, you're sitting there, you're having your first few bites, Your spouse or significant other turns to you and says, honey, how is it? And your response, instead of saying, it's good or it's not great, is instantly into a comparison. It's not quite as good as what I normally get. Or this is so much better than what I normally get. It's going to be my new go to. All because of comparison. How crazy is that? We don't even think about it. We compare everything. That's just human nature. So how does this apply to roofing sales and good, better best systems? Just like this. This, my friends, is the phenomenon known as price anchoring. Humans are comparison creatures. Price anchoring is getting people to compare prices. So imagine I'm in the home and I'm not the cheapest contractor out there. I know I'm not going to be the cheapest. Imagine that I come in with my first estimate and it's good, better, best let's say estimate number one. And by the way, I recognize that these packages, one, they're going to likely have a name. Bronze, silver, gold, the cutesy name that matches your brand. Platinum, silver, bronze, whatever it is. Generally people don't say good, better, best. There's some sort of naming convention. Second thing is usually these estimates will be presented with your financing options alongside it. I'm leaving that out just to keep it simple for this video looking at the cash price. So Back to it, Mr. Homeowner, I'm going to share with you our three options with our good, better, best roofing system and our essentials roof is $18,000. And that homeowner turns to you and says 18,000. That's $2,000 more than the other estimate we already got. So now at this point they're comparing the 18,000 against the 16,000, which makes you already what? More expensive. Which means everything from here moving forward is going to be even more expensive. And if you go through, it is probably a complete waste of time. Let's have you experience it for yourself, Mr. Homeowner. We also have our silver package which is going to include upgraded colors, rich cap and warranty. And that one's 20,000. 20,000. That's $4,000 more than the other estimate. Well, if you want the Cadillac of roofs with the lifetime warranty and never have to worry about it again and it's even transferable if you sell your home, that one is 24,000. 24,000. That one. By the way, if I mess that math up, correct me, I think I already did. Math was not my strong suit. Friends, same math class four years in a row. That one is $6,000 more than the 16. Oh, wow, I'm sorry. No more than that. I didn't mess it up. We're at $8,000. $8,000 more than their $16,000 estimate. So now if I'm not the cheapest person, they're anchoring their comparison against the 16 grand. My lowest is already more expensive. Then it goes more expensive from there. That homeowner think they're comfortable? No, they're freaking out the whole time because they're comparing it now. What if that same exact customer, knowing that they had an estimate for 16,000. By the way, Sheena always tells me, Adam, never do math on the fly. You're going to screw it up. And she's so right. Alright, imagine now we go into the homeowner. Same estimate they got for 16,000. Mr. Homeowner, our Cadillac of roofs is $24,000. Geez, that's expensive. Don't worry, Mr. Homeowner, we got another option for you. Our best roof. Excuse me. Our better roofing system. Very similar, but we're going to peel back just a few things. Is $20,000. What? Oh shoot. That's still $4,000 more than my other estimate. Well, we have our essentials package, Mr. Homeowner. Great roof will last a lifetime for you. Still protected by our seven year labor warranty, that roof is only $18,000. Now as you presented the value, you showed what you are going to offer and provide. You've itemized that estimate. You've done a great job in the presentation. You are now only $2,000 more. But they have anchored against and compared everything against the bigger number first, which makes this one seem a a whole lot cheaper. Do you see how experiencing that for yourself, the nature of comparison means that we're always going to compare any future prices against the largest one. The same would apply on financing terms. There you have it. Good, better, best. I don't like the way it sounds because in my opinion it should be best, better, good. But I do want to leave you with just one or two more things. Should you be using good, better, best. I'm going to guess that question might come up. Is this something that I would say everyone should do? The answer is no. Am I against it? Absolutely not. But I also know that some markets it works really well with. It's because most of the companies are offering that and in other markets they don't. And some companies just don't like having this system. I personally enjoy it. Especially if you have specialty products or premium warranties and premium colors and premium shingles you can sell Class 4 shingles. I don't want to sell out of my own pocket. I always want to give folks an option. That's just my opinion. But I do work with folks who are doing wildly well and they lead with one roofing system at their absolute best price, which is not the cheapest. And they're doing incredibly well. In fact, they're one of the largest retail companies in the Pacific Northwest. So is there a right or wrong? The answer is no. It has to align with your values, create the experience you want with your customers. Be able to be providing packages you can fulfill upon and work in your market. So test them. But the other thing that I want to share with you is that it's okay to not have good, better, best, just best and good, just two options. Why less decisions. There's nothing wrong with having people choose this or that because giving them those paths make it really easy and it's something that I've played with and today which my opinions change through continual testing and observation. I would go with two why I really like this or that. Plus if someone chooses that lower option then there's nothing to keep you from offering those add ons to increase that cart value like upgraded ridge cap, premium colors, impact resistant shingles, extended warranties and underlayment after you get the yes on the lower package. So there's my summary on good, better, best and how when done wrong, we're price anchoring against the lowest price making everything seem more expensive. And if this is more expensive than competitors out of the gate, you my friend are out of luck because you're already more expensive and they're anchored against the cheaper one and it goes up. But versus doing it the opposite way where we're always going to anchor in the most expensive and work backwards. There you have it. Price anchoring for Roofing Sales. Now just because this video is about to wrap up does not mean your and my time has to. So if you're not in our free training center yet, get in there, click the link in the description or text the word free to 303-222-7133. And if you're someone who's selling retail roofs, you want to get better in the home. You need a process to follow and you want to learn how to run a proper presentation to ask for the business and then leave the house with a mitt full of referrals and a customer who's prepped to write you a five star review. Well, I can teach you all that and more as I have with thousands of roofing sales folks just like you. And that's available inside our training center. There's links in the description that I'd be happy to tour you around on a demo and you can text the word demo to 303-222-7133. Just go ahead and pick a time and our team will walk you through it so you can see and decide for yourself if it will in fact help you close even more sales and within the next 30 days. And if it doesn't, I'll buy it back from you. We got a 30 day money back guarantee. Hey thanks for joining me on this video and I will see you on the next one.