A pest-control sales trainer explains how door-to-door reps should diagnose a customer's bug problem the way a doctor diagnoses a patient. Ask when the ants first appeared, when the house was last treated, and other open-ended questions that make the homeowner feel the problem before you pitch a solution.
If you want to start getting better answers from your customers, you need to start asking better questions. I call this being the bug doctor. When you go to a doctor, they ask you things such as, how did you hurt your leg? When did it start? How does it feel? Similarly, in door-to-door sales, you need to become, in pest control sales, the bug doctor and ask questions to further diagnose the problem. But more than anything, get the problem to the forefront of the customer's mind. An example of this would be, yeah, so when did you start noticing those ants showing up inside your house? Or, when was the last time you guys had your house professionally treated? All these questions are either, you know, an open-ended question or an option question that helps further progress the sale and helps you understand the customer's needs. Key point here is, if you can't be a doctor that can uncover a problem, you can't be a doctor that can solve the problem. So ask better questions and ask the A Bug Doctor when you're on the door.
