E204: How to Get Customers to Spend More Money on Your Services Even After Their Project Has Started (Sales Leadership)

In this episode, you will learn how to get customers to spend more money on your services even after their project has started. Welcome to Sales Growth Made Simple, the show helping 7 to 8 figure trade, construction, and industry sales and business leaders finally end the stress of inconsistent sales by simplifying your sales systems so your team can close more deals and grow faster. I'm your host, Ben Wright, and over the last 15 years, I've helped hundreds of trade and sales leaders grow their businesses, and generate over $200 million in additional revenue by simplifying their sales processes. Let's get started. There are many businesses that we have worked with locally and globally who are masters at increasing the amount of usage customers have of their services even after that initial project has started. Today we're going to unpack how variations can drastically increase your business, including a number of ways that you can ask for variations and increase the success you have in receiving those from your customers. So as we're rolling into today's episode, when I think about variations, I often have, have two types of feelings here. There's the variations that I feel that have been thrown onto me by a supplier who has potentially misled me. Either they've quoted a project low and they've started to roll variances in deliberately, and it's a deliberate strategy, versus variations that happen naturally as a project that creeps and grows and evolves as we're rolling it out. They are very different types of variations that you can have within your business. And I'll certainly really discourage you as a business to be going in to quote low and then raising customer spend through variations that I would say are perhaps deceitful is the wrong word, but certainly variations that come about from not fully disclosing to your customers what they're in for. It's not a way that I think conducting business should be done. I wouldn't use the word unethical, but I'd certainly say it's distasteful when we can be quoting a project and deliberately knowing that there are costs that the customer will have to bear once they roll into that project. So I'd like to be really clear that this episode is not about how we can quote low and then end up with a high-value spend on our project by the end of it. What this is about though is understanding how we can maximize the value that we deliver to our customers when we're on site to really generate a great post-project outcome for them and of course some growth in revenue for us. So let's have a look at the ways that I see businesses ask for variations really effectively so that for every dollar they're generating out of projects, they're able to really grow that scope to be not only more profitable but to generate some really strong value for their customers. So the 3 ways that I'd really encourage you as a business to think about variations as you're moving forward, and that's number 1, is when you're at that final meeting with your customer, the project's been signed off, you're preparing to move forward. That's the point in time that it's really important that you are highlighting potential problems that could arise with the project, potential variations that may happen. Now, some listening may say, well, you really should be doing this while you're going through the deal process rather than, you know, once you've had that contract signed and received. But for me, I don't see an issue doing it at either time. Time. And in fact, I think it's far more effective to do once the contract's signed and, you know, the customer has their trust in you, right? Because they're more likely to listen to you rather than to just defer to a potential supplier who's saying they won't happen, right? I.e., when you're going through the sales process and that trust isn't necessarily there, and you mentioned the potential for variations, I have seen so many customers go to a supplier who says those variations won't happen only to be hit with them later on anyway. So the number of times I've seen salespeople bring up variation potentials or out-of-scope issues too early that has cost them the deal, I cannot count. It has been hundreds and hundreds. However, I think when you do it at the time of your contract being signed, it's there, the paperwork's ready, you are engaged, you're agreeing to work with each other. That is a great time to really discuss variations, particularly if you're then able to have that conversation with your customer that says, hey, you know, if this is a problem, you can back out of the project now. I don't think I've ever seen a deal not move forward when variations or out-of-scope potential variations are discussed really proactively at the start of a project with a customer saying, whoa, whoa, whoa, I'm not up for this, I'm out. The very vast majority of the time that this happens, I see two things happen from customers. One, they go, hey, I don't like it, but I'm grateful you've brought it up now. What do we need to do to avoid the risk of these? And that's when as a business you get to say, okay, well, If we've got a variation here that might be a 35% cost increase on the project, what we could do is put a little bit more money now into resolving this. So if we're landscaping and we're worried about there being bedrock, right, you know, once we start to really dive deep into a project, what we can say is, you know what, let's spend a little bit more money on design. Let's have an alternate design ready now and we'll spot test a little bit of the soil to make sure that if we do hit bedrock, we can quickly pivot now. Before we've got the diggers in, before we've gone really deep and it's too late. Right? So we lay off a little bit of money now to potentially save us a whole lot down the track. That's a perfect example of where I see customers go, hey, I really appreciate you bringing this up with me now. Let's discuss our potential options around what we can do. That's number one. The second one is the customer goes, whoa, whoa, whoa, I'm really, I'm not, you know, I'm not liking what I'm hearing. So the first one's all about having a customer that's ready to work with us. The second one is a customer that says, hey, I'm not up for this. And that's the point in time where we have those variations that might occur that we can make design changes then and there. So if it's the bedrock issue, for example, we can simply adjust how we do that type of project, right? If it's needing to have some significantly deep concrete pillars, right, to be able to put in a basketball court, for example, we might be able to cantilever, right? We might be able to use a ballast weight or something along those lines, right? But where we have customers who really openly say they're not up for those variations, we can handle it then and there. So it doesn't become an issue moving forward. But the most common outcome I see when a service provider brings up potential variations right before the project starts is that customers will generally work with them to avoid them, right? And they're happy to invest to avoid that happening. So that's number one, right? We bring up the variations that are potentially going to happen right then and right there. And of course, as they do happen throughout a project, the customer has been made aware of them. The emotional reaction doesn't happen because we've discussed them early. And that then becomes a great time for businesses to obviously drive revenue as long as you're driving value at the same time. The second one, and my favorite when it comes to variations, is when you're midway through a project and we'll stick with this landscaping example, right? And you are there, you are on site, you are talking to the customer and you see a really obvious opportunity just to extend out the scope, right? Where we spoke about a pergola example in last week's episode or sorry, on Wednesday's episode, right? You know, when we're building out that pergola, and we've set for a 3 by 3 meter pergola and we're out there and quite obvious, it's quite obvious to us that if we extended that by a little bit, it would drive a far bigger eating and dining area for the customer. And there's plenty of room to do it. And the cost isn't going to be significant for the customer. Then hey, let's have that discussion. Hey, what do you think if we extended this pergola? Is that going to make much of a change to you? And is that going to help your outdoor area? Can we then put the table in and the barbecue undercover? Can we then put the table in and some chairs to sit on? But when you're in the midst and you're in the throes of a project and things are moving forward and everyone's positive, that is a great time to be asking for scope extensions. I've seen this done hundreds and hundreds of times across projects. And the reason I like it is because we then have a bit of a visual anchor around how the project's rolling. Our customers can start to see what's coming off the line, what's coming off the production line, what's being built. And when that visual is matched with the written or the spoken from previously, that's when customers can really start to say, hey, actually, this is worth, this is valuable to me. I do really like what I'm seeing here. Yeah, let's go for it. So we're actually generating some really nice value for our customers and it stops potentially any future expansion right down the track, building an extension to the pergola, right? Or having to put an umbrella up to keep their barbecue dry when it's raining, whatever it may be, right? But focusing on at time of install, existing scope extensions, super, super powerful. The third one, when it comes to getting customers to spend more money on your services even after their project has started, is all about looking at new scope. So if we stick with that landscaping example, we've built out the pergola, but what might become really obvious is that sitting on that kitchen table, looking out from the pergola is we have a really ugly fence line. And it's quite an effective and easy installation to go and put in 6 or 8 plants along that fence line or paint that fence line, or we can see some of the neighbor's side and slightly extend that, put some lattice up on that fence line, whatever it may be. But when we're sitting in that pergola, we can start to see, you know, something that we can do that can really increase the enjoyment that someone's going to have of whatever that service is. Works really effectively in a commercial situation as well, right? We've just built out an office extension, right? And looking at that office extension, we can see that the lighting's not right, right? There's not enough natural light. Do we bang out a wall and put some windows in, right? Or the desk layout isn't quite right, right? Do we need to put in some more desks? Or the ceiling needs some painting, right? Whatever it may be. But whenever we are running a project and that project's been completed or close to being completed and we're actually using it, that is a great time to see the extensions that can happen from that. It's happened to me in almost every project I've ever done. I've done that project and then the creep started, right? And for me, once I see that project coming up, I can visualize exactly what it looks like and I'm generally really happy to consider those extensions, be it residential, be it business, because I'm starting to see that progress and I'm starting to see what life can look like for me. So there are the 3 ways that I would encourage you to think about how you can get customers to spend more money on your services even after their project has started. So it's all around variations. Number 1 is highlighting out of scope before the project starts, giving the customer an out, but making it really clear where these variations could happen so you can then work on minimizing them or when they do occur in the project, they're not new news to the customer. The second one is existing scope extensions. When you're midway through the project, some natural extensions of parts of the project that you're doing that will add more value to customers. And the third one here is all about growth in new scope. So these are bolt-ons, these are additions that might happen that you just couldn't necessarily see at the start of the project, but once it's completed or almost completed, you're able to do so. So they're the three key areas around growing money. My number one, Number one takeaway for you today is to please make sure that as you're thinking about this, you always have a hat on around generating customer value. Because when you generate value, that's when spend and variations, right, and partnerships with your business tend to happen. It's got to be that win-win situation, and that is by far the most effective way to get customers to spend more money on your services. Thanks for listening today. Very grateful. Look forward to seeing you next week. Please keep thinking about being 1% better each and every day. It does make all the difference. We'll see you on Monday. Bye for now.