Weekly Huddle - Creating Winning Retail Sales Channels 11.8.18

Alright guys, so what we're going to be talking about today is creating winning retail sales channels. And so this is a little bit different than what you may normally experience with retail. A lot of times in retail you're dealing with a company that hopefully generates some leads for you. You run out and do some appointments, you call it good. But there's more to it than that. And we have the ability to do some pretty cool things as salespeople. Because one of my mantras as a salesperson, the only person you can blame if you're not selling enough is you. Because there's always ways to generate more sales. If we use our brains just a little bit, we can do some pretty cool things. So let's get started. Well, hopefully get started. There we go. So the difference between a sales pipeline and a sales channel, a lot of people confuse those two terms. And so a sales pipeline is the process by which sales are made and the milestones throughout the process. So this step by step aspect of things, that's your pipeline. And you have a whole bunch of people in different groups. Whether it's a bunch of leads or a bunch of prospects, a bunch of opportunities, depending on the CRM that you use, they probably use some designations like that. If you're using a CRM. And so that's a sales pipeline. Now sales channel is just a little bit different. It's a way to bring products or services to market so they can be purchased. So it's actually selling. It is how you're going to sell. And you have a couple of different ways that you can do that. So one is a direct sales channel. This is a sales channel where you are directly selling to the customer. And so whether you're doing residential or commercial or any of those types of things, you have the ability to, to directly sell to somebody. So things like canvassing and telemarketing and sales calls that you might be doing, those are all direct sales channel. Like, I got a lead, I'm going to go run it. I have somebody, I knocked on their door and they said, yes, great, I'm going to go ahead and do that work. So that would be a direct sales channel. And what I'm going to focus on today a little bit more is the indirect sales channels. The thing that I think a lot of sales guys miss out on and don't concentrate enough on, especially when they have some spare time throughout the day. Instead of sitting there twiddling our thumbs and waiting for our next appointment, we could be working on a few things to drive more Business to us as either individual salespeople or if you're working on it as a team, you can do it as a group. So in this particular situation, someone else acts as your intermediary to sell your service. And so things like real estate brokers, new construction contractors, landscapers, other home services contractors. So maybe you're a roofer and you've got a buddy that's a painter. You might want to connect with that guy and use him as a sales channel. And in more of a way than just saying, hey, you're my buddy. Send me anybody you know that's got roofing needs. There's some ways to make this a little bit better than that. Home inspectors, guys that are doing home inspections, are a great sales channel. So each one of those would be a different sales channel that you would create a program for. And so the best way to do this and the way that I teach whenever I go out and I do some live events with contractors, I work with their sales teams is I make them take a piece of paper old school. You do it on your phone if you want, but make a list. Think of everybody you know. So you've got a buddy that owns a landscaping company, you got another buddy that owns a gutter company. And whatever it may be, you've got all these different buddies. And it doesn't just have to be other contractors. It could be, for example, cpa. A CPA has a lot of people that own homes, and maybe that CPA could offer something to them as a benefit because they're their client. And so those types of contacts work well as well, because they have a large group of contacts that they're associated with as well. Now, your aunt over in Toledo might not be the best sales channel unless she has a large group of people that she is administering to in some shape, form or fashion. So how to build a sales channel? So we've got these sales channels, We've got all different kinds of them. The first thing we do is we have to identify the type. Is it going to be a direct sales channel? So I'm going to be doing some canvassing and maybe I'm going to do this and maybe I'm going to go after. Oh, I think one of the better ones for me whenever we do retail is new construction contractors. I'm going to talk to you about how they can be valuable to you here in just a minute. And so that would be indirect. Develop the right incentives so early and often is greater than waiting. So if you can give them an incentive right now or close to immediately, they're going to be more likely to want to be involved in your program or involved with you as a relationship than they would be if they had to wait until you got some work and then you paid them off. So some of those programs, they're out there and they do work, but they're not necessarily quite as valuable as getting instant gratification. That's what most people are looking for when they're out there looking at building relationships and sharing leads with you. Who do you know? So there's that list. Create that list, go through everybody that might be in that type or know somebody else that might be in that type, and then turn it in. And this is the key. This is the most important part of this, is to make it a program. We've got to take this thing and say, all right, instead of just going out to my buddy that owns a landscaping company and say, hey, anybody you send me that need a fence installed, I will give you 200 bucks, whatever that is. Okay? There's a lot of that kind of stuff. And so a couple of things wrong with that. One is they have to wait. So somebody has to buy and they have to then pay us. And once they pay us, we pay you, and then you get rewarded. And it's also not something that's an actual program. It's like a one off. And I might remind the guy every once in a while, but it's not a real program. It doesn't benefit him in any way, it just benefits you. The other benefit could be that you send people to him and that works in a networking relationship. But this is a true sales channel. This is something that you want to turn into a constant thought process for whoever you're working with that every time they come in contact with somebody, they're saying, hey, you might want to talk to this guy because he does this and you're looking for that. And so you've got to give them some benefits. What's the benefits of being involved with you and building relationship with you and being a part of whatever your program may be for that particular sales channel? What kind of rewards? And so what kind of rewards would maybe their clients or their people that are being sent to you receive because they are with him? So because they're his client, they can come to you and get a discount, an upgrade, a longer warranty, whatever it may be? What are those rewards? And then problem that you saw, what is the problem that you're solving? So it could be just finding a quality contractor. It could be that you have a different way of installing something. It could be that they don't have a resource for that particular person. So there's a lot of different ways you can build out that program. And then you want to develop communication. So you don't want this to just be a one off. You go show it to them and say, hey, here's my really cool program. And that's all there is to it. You want to actually give them something a little bit more than that. Let me move myself over here so everybody can see me if they want to see me. Maybe you want it to be a little bit more than that. So maybe you have a monthly meeting with the people that are in your sales channels and you guys discuss business, create your own little networking group. Beyond the BNI type thing, I had two different ones of those that were fantastic which exchanged a bunch of leads. We helped each other grow our businesses. We learned from each other and it was super cool. Maybe you can go in and do a lunch and learn. So you go into whoever this channel is, let's say it's a real estate office that is sending you leads. Go in and do a lunch learner. Explain to them the importance of having a great whatever it is that you install done and why they might want to do it, how it can add value to a home and all the things that they want to hear so that they can tell their client, this is a great thing for you to do because it can help raise the value of your home, it can help save you money. Whatever it is that you sell, you have to tailor it to that and then a valuable newsletter. So this was a real key back in the day that was a newsletter like came in the mail, right? But nowadays we can do these things digitally. So we grab a list that we build through, building up these contacts. And don't just limit it to the people on your list, okay? Like the people you know, take that a step further and go out and obtain a list of whatever direct indirect sales channel you're looking for. And so if you're looking for. Let's use real estate brokers again. If you're looking for a bunch of real estate brokers, go get a list. You can buy a list of those, you can look them up online and create your own list. Walk in and go meet these people and talk to them about your program. You can build a very wide network very fast and it may not pay off instantly for you. But the more people you put into different sales channels throughout, the more likely you are to have a broad base of people sending you leads, thus increasing the number of leads that you receive from your entire sales channel program. And so this newsletter, nowadays we get people's emails, we can digitally do that. And that newsletter needs to be focused on who they are. So if they're real estate brokers, like how to set up a house right for sale, how to obtain more buyers, how to whatever it takes as far as a real estate broker, and you can go Google, like how to get more sales as a real estate broker and pull this cool little article and share it with them and put it in your newsletter, shoot a little video and add it to your newsletter. Digital media today you can do some really cool things with a newsletter. Now, you don't want to bug them too often, but you want to stay top of mind with them. So maybe once a month you send out a newsletter or even once a quarter. But it needs to be valuable to them. If it's you selling whatever it is that you do, they're going to instantly unsubscribe from you and not be a part of it. Where instead, if you're providing value to them and in the end you offer them something that that is of value with you, they'll be a lot more likely to listen to it. They'll be a lot more likely to stick with it. Like, they won't let it go. They'll keep reading it each time that you send it. So now you start to become the expert in your field. So if you're a roofer, you're their roofing expert that they can send people to, to do work with because they trust you to do the right thing for their valuable relationship and customer they have. And then last but not least, develop those relationships. Drop by and say hi. Just say, hey, man. Just was driving, thought I'd stop in and say howdy. Hadn't seen you in a while and just wanted to say hey and maybe bring something with you. Okay. Bring some donuts, some tacos, whatever it is that you want to bring. I say be unique there. Everybody brings donuts or everybody brings coffee. What could you do that's a little bit different? Invite to lunch or dinner. Say, hey man, I was thinking about you today and I'm going to go grab lunch over at so and so. You got time? Want to go have lunch with me? And even if they say no, they look at it as like, wow, that dude actually thinks about me and cares about me. So. And inviting to dinner. I like dinners. When I get them to bring their Wives, they're super valuable. And so I bring my wife, they bring their wife, and we get to know each other on a different level. Not just a business level, but a relationship level. And it's super cool to actually hang out and build friendships with these people because they can be extremely valuable to you, not only in business, but as a friendship, as somebody that you might lean on in the future. I know I've gone back to a lot of folks that were in my different sales channels, and I'm still friends with them to this day. I know about their kids, and I've watched their kids grow up and go to college and stuff like that. It's a valuable relationship. And then if you have a chance and you've got something going on, invite them to a special event. Maybe it's a barbecue or something that you're throwing at your office for all your people. Invite your sales channel key people as well. If you're going to a baseball game, you got an extra ticket. Invite them. Don't just wait for an extra ticket. Buy a ticket and invite them. Go to those types of things, involve them in your life, and they will become more valuable to you than you could ever imagine. So what it might look like. So I'm going to build a sales channel. This sales channel type is going to be a indirect sales channel. I'm going to be focused on new construction contractors in business longer than 15 years. Anybody got a. A reason why it might be more than 15 years? Anybody out there know why I might say that amount of time, and unfortunately, I cannot see your chat right now. Give me one second. Let's see if I can see that chat. I cannot see the chat. That's disappointing. See if I can. Oh, there we go. Attendees. Why can I not see the chat? That's disappointing. All right, I'm gonna have to figure that out. Oh, there it is. There's a chat. Three. There we go. Okay. Awesome. We did get it figured out. I found the chat. They are stable. They know more people and be more stable. And age of roof. Yes. Last one there, Nathan. Good job. That's the reason I'm looking for contractors in business longer than 15 years, because I'm a roofing contractor, and so I know people with that are 15 years and older would be the most likely to need a roof. So I'm going to go look for new construction contractors that have been in business for at least that long. I've got an incentive. I've got this hunting trip. So, hey, you send people to me and you Send this many people to me. I'm going to hook you up with this cool hunting trip and we're going to go to Montana and kill the biggest elk on the planet or whatever it may be that you're after and that you're into. And you know they are probably into because you've looked them up on LinkedIn and you saw kind of the things they're into and maybe check them out on Facebook. And so who do I know? And so I know a few people. I know Bill at Pulte Homes, I know Mark at Innovative Builders. I know Dave, he's a supplier, sales rep that he knows all these builders that have been in business for more than 15 years. So I am going to make an effort to contact with those folks. Okay, I'm gonna bring my chat over here so I can actually see it while we're talking. Alright, cool. So feel free to chat. I see people putting stuff on, on Facebook as well, so super cool. Andrew Martin, good to have you on here, buddy. Thanks for the nice comments. I appreciate it. And so who do I know? I know this person, this person, this person and maybe I know somebody that knows somebody. So like Dave knows somebody that might be a business for 15 years or longer. And so here's my program, the Builder Confidence Program. So I got this program, it's the Builder Confidence Program. Let me introduce you to it. If a buyer has an issue, you have this solution. So one of your buyers has an issue and they come back to you and say, hey, you know, I need my roof redone. Who should I do it with? And that type of stuff. We're your man. Okay. Added benefit awareness. So homes built more than 15 years ago, you could look like a great builder because we'll supply you with, with a mailer that you can mail out to all those homes, you know the addresses, mail it out to it and say, hey, we built your house 15 years ago. These are some of the things that you need to be thinking about. Here's some of the contractors that could do great things for you. We help them build that type of thing. We put it all together for them, put it on their letterhead and help them send it out. Buyer is time to think about a new roof. So that's something that could be on that piece that goes out. Buyer gets a free roof analysis. And so that could be a part of my program. Hey, it's been 15 years. It's time to start getting a free roof analysis. And we have just the company for you. We've made an arrangement with them that normally this service is $249, but for our clients it's $149. It can be like that type of stuff where you start to create this cool little system that creates value to their customers. Or you could do a free one just it's a free roof analysis over 15 years old. It doesn't cost anything. Normally it costs $249. Buyers get our system. So let me tell you about our system and what we do and how we do it differently. I talked about that last week on the weekly huddle about proprietary systems and how you can do things different. But you could talk about your manufacturer system as well. And because you have this, you can now use this program, this builder confidence program, that whenever you are talking to a new home buyer, you can tell them, hey, look, we don't forget about you. We've been in business for 20 years already. We're already getting back to all of our customers that we built 15 years ago and letting them know, hey, these are the things that you should do. And when your home gets to be 15 years old, we're going to do the same thing with you. Or maybe 10 years old, maybe you take it to the nth degree and you include a bunch of other contracts. You make this as big and awesome as you want it to be. And so I got to create a new construction newsletter. I'm going to move my video over here to a space where we can see it. Everything alright, Cool. And so building confidence in new home buyers. And so maybe that's the name of the newsletter that we send. We've got different sections, so sales technique for them on how to sell homes, presenting to a buyer, how we present a new home to a buyer, add ons for profit. So adding on, you know, different components of a home that might be more profitable to them. We create an email list and then we create a mailing schedule, whether that be monthly or quarterly or maybe bi, yearly, biannual. So you only send it out twice a year, but you want to get on some type of schedule. I used my team to really help me with this. We really worked hard to say, okay, you've got this section, I've got that section. We have about four sections that we had a responsibility for. So it was a lot less work on each one of us instead of just one person doing the whole thing. And it worked out really well. Builder lunch learned like, so, hey, this is what we want to do. We want to come in, we're going to talk with you and your sales team and give you some things that will help you sell more houses and to help you understand our program. So all of your salespeople that are out there selling your homes for you can talk about it. So we go and do it once a quarter. New building products. So, hey, man, there's some new products that are out here. How to create more customers and then getting found through technology. So helping them do some marketing and stuff like that, as well as what you offer as your program. And then last but not least, we've got our relationships. So you see this Followed along that same path I showed previously. Take two to four builders to lunch each month. Okay, so that's all it is. Two to four of them a month. It's not a big number. Take one to two builders to dinner with their wives monthly. And then last, take one builder to an event each month. So the guy you really like, the guy you hit it off with, do something cool with them and go have some fun. You'll be shocked at how many new leads and new opportunities that you get. They're going to send out a letter for you and they're going to be really into doing it for you because you have done all this other stuff as well. And this looks like a lot of work. It really, the setup is getting it all set up is some work. But once you have it set up, it's just put it out, automate it. Not hard to do other than creating those new relationships. And so that's what a new construction sales channel might look like. Think about your day out watching or you're on Facebook. Why don't you just put a list of all the different groups? So I'll take storm restoration guys. I know this is about retail, but storm restoration guys, insurance agents, like, and be specific, like independent insurance agents would be a great sales channel. Retail guys, the guys doing landscaping their houses once a week, man, they can really do some fantastic things for you. And you can do some fantastic things for them. Fencing companies, they have nothing to do with my roofing company, so. But they are working with homeowners that if you're putting up a new fence, it means your house is off, right? You have this old fence, you're doing a new fence, your house is older. It's been about the same amount of time that it takes for you to replace a roof. So they're really ideal, these fencing companies, glass repair companies, H Vac and plumbers are rock stars because they get called out for what people think are leaks from whatever with their business. H Vac or plumbing, but really it's a roof leak. And they find it and they notice it and they're like, hey, this is a roof problem. You're have to call a roofer. Well, hey, guess what? I've got a roofer that you can call and he's great. He does a really good job. So think about what your different channels are and what you might put out there as far as, hey, I want to go talk to these guys. I remember when I built, my first list is like eight things long. Then I really came back to it and thought a little bit more and I started thinking about every possible business entity out there and going, hey, can that person benefit from this? Can this person benefit? I mean, I have like auto repair shops, you know, body shops. I have mechanics. And you think, man, they don't really relate to us, but they do. They're dealing with your customer every day. Build a program for them, put it in place, make them look better to their customers, and then provide great quality service and follow up with your promises of this program that you built. So are there. Well, before we get to questions, here's a little summary. What channel fits you? Okay, so not everybody likes everybody. You know, maybe working with landscapers isn't your ticket, but who is? Okay, who are the people that fit your specific wants and needs? Like, I know what he does very well and I want to work with that guy. Or maybe it's a great relationship. So think about the channels and what might fit you. And especially as a contractor, like some contractors, if you're a roofer, a different, you know, we have different sales channels than maybe a concrete guy or a landscaper. Who do you already know exactly? Like, you need to really think about that. Thanks, Nathan, for the input there. Who do you know? And start putting those channels together there. Think outside the box. Don't just get stuck on the things that I say and suggest here. Those are good suggestions. But every day I'm always trying to focus on that. There's a reason it's behind my head right here, that think outside the box thing. It constantly reminds me like, hey, how could I do something just a little bit different, a little bit unique? You think about it, this is unique, this is different. It's something they're going to hear for the first time. You don't have other contractors going out and doing this, so they're going to be willing to listen as long as you provide some good value. Design your program. Create a strategy to introduce that program and how you're going to go about convincing people to be a part of it, implement it and be consistent. Don't give up. If after the first week you don't have a bunch of people in there, you're going to get better at it, just like you got better at sales. And keep being persistent. If something's not working, work to improve that little piece. Don't throw the whole thing away, you know, don't throw the baby out with the bathwater. Consistency equals key. It is like if you're consistent with it, you stick to it. I can remember I built a commercial retail sales channel and I was very focused on property management companies. I built a whole entire program and system. I knew exactly what I was going to do. I started putting it out there and it wasn't cheap, it was fairly expensive. It cost me some money. It took eight months until I got my first job from it. That first job was $1.2 million. So it was worth it. And the funny thing was, after that job, I started getting more and more and more and more. And finally in 2008, I ended up selling $23.7 million by myself in commercial because of that program I had installed in 2004. So they do pay off. They pay off really well over the long run. These sales channels, depending on the ones that you build. So add one when you perfect one. So just do one. Don't get like a billion different programs and start working on it. Gets very overwhelming. Get the one that's ideal for you, fits your company, fits your contracting business and say, I'm gonna go after this one. And you work on it, refine it, get it better, make the program better, improve your media stuff that you put out about it until you got it perfected. Hey, that's a well oiled machine. It's running. I'm getting leads. Okay, time for a new one. What's another sales channel that we can get to work on now? If you're owner or manager, any of those type of things with your contracting business, encourage guys to do different ones across the board and they can each perfect a whole bunch. And they do it exponentially faster because you got several people working on it. Once each one's perfected, you can start to implement for all of the people at the same time. So add one when you perfect one. So that's kind of our weekly huddle this week. Does anybody have any questions? Whether you're on Facebook or you're here, how much time should you expect before you start to realize leads on this? Great question. It depends on what you're after. Okay, so for example, you after big commercial and stuff like that, that can get to be quite a bit more. I'll make my picture here a little bit bigger for you guys. So that could get to be quite a bit more. Longer period of time. And really, the bigger the ticket, the item, the longer it takes. The more red tape that's involved in that purchase, the longer it takes. And so real estate type channels can pay off right away. They can really pay off right away. Don't forget, don't do things for free without receiving something in return. When it comes to real estate folks, not that you real estate people are bad, just you like us to do a bunch of free stuff for you, and then you go sell the house without telling anybody that, hey, you could get this guy to do that work for you. And so it's gonna be different depending on the channel that you build some right away, some over time, just depending on what it is that you're actually out there selling. Like, for example, if I was a fencing guy, the things I would be focused on, like, this is just like throwing something. How I think about things like, okay, who needs a new fence? Well, people have been in houses for 15 years or 10 years and older people that build brand new houses need fences. People that have dogs or kids need fences. Where do I find those people? Where can I get a list? Oh, maybe the, maybe the pet adoption place will let us know, like, who's getting pets. Like, I would go talk to them. Like, I got a pet from the pet adoption place, maybe they'll be cool with me. And we can help people, we can help each other out here. And so build a program specifically for that. So that's how I think, hopefully you guys get the idea from this. And so it could pay off really immediately. If you were connected with fencing and you knew people were getting dogs, man, they need a fence pretty quickly. And maybe you do invisible fence. And so, man, that is really perfect. Like the pet adoption place, Humane Society, spca, whatever it is that you have in yours would be ideal channel. So how do you connect with them? And how do you get that to work out? How do you do something cool? Maybe volunteer some time to work at the shelter and they build a relationship with you. Man, that's really good. Maybe I should do that one. All right, so I see a bunch of people on here. They were talking about the different channels on Facebook. Melanie, welcome aboard. Pest service. Yep, Absolutely. Chimney Sweeps Home Inspectors. Those are really good. I really like those ideas. So those Are a bunch of different people that you could build sales channels with. Any other questions about anything we covered today, guys on the webinar, guys on Facebook, feel free to put them on and we will get them answered. If you are watching this later time and live right now, which you might well be, you can get a hold of me right here. That's my email address. You can email me. I answer them all throughout the week as quickly as I possibly can. If you want to share this today, please do so. Share this video, Share it to all your networks, Share it in your groups. Share away. That's what we're here to do, is to coach contractors to win. Tell people about our group, get them to join. So here's a question from Matt Morrison. How do you decide whether to keep trying a sales channel that isn't working out to stay consistent versus cutting your losses and moving on to another one? Great question. We talk about this in leadership whenever we're coaching on it, that you got to be very careful with pride. Is it that you're doing it because you feel like it's going to work and it's going to work whether it come hell or high water, and you're going to keep forcing the issue when it's not working? You got to determine when that point is. And it's different for every one of these sales. I mean, if I'm just not getting anything from it, I probably didn't execute well or I picked the wrong channel for who I am. Maybe I don't have a tight enough relationship with them. There's all kinds of things in this that can maybe not be perfect. And so I try to perfect each one of those pieces, but if I think I got it perfect and it's still not doing anything, I cut my losses, say, oh, well, I invested a bunch of money and I lost. That's part of being an entrepreneur, part of being a sales guy. Part of being who we are is we're not scared to take a risk. Take the risk, but don't take it to the point of it causing failure for you beyond improvement on that failure. As long as I'm failing forward and it's getting better each time I make an adjustment, keep doing it. But if it's not getting any better and it gets worse and worse and worse and you're just not getting anything from it, get rid of it. Great question. If you try one. Okay, so you asked that earlier and I missed it. Sorry about that. Great. Thank you for asking. Again. Tell people to follow us at contractor coach pro training room. Our group here, we're going to do this every single week and share with you guys. Follow us on Twitter. We're always putting stuff out. We've got a whole team working on that. And then you can check us out on Instagram @contractorcoachpro. And we're always putting silly, goofy pictures and some motivational stuff. We try to be beneficial to you guys. So that is what we're doing next week. We're gonna do practice makes the pro. We're gonna talk about practice and how to practice right. We're not talking about Allen Iverson, you know, with his practice. We're going to be talking about how to practice, do it right, be consistent with it. That'll help you become better at what you do as a sales rep out there in this contracting industry. So that's what we've got this week. Hopefully you guys enjoyed our weekly huddle. We had a blast. We enjoy doing this. Sorry about the technical difficulties at the beginning. We'll get it resolved and next week we will kick some tail with this. So thank you very much and look forward to seeing you guys. Same bat channel, same bat time next week. So get out there and help some homeowners. And we're going to continue to coach contractors to win.