I can’t tell you enough how often I see estimates used as just a means of relaying your price to the customer. You know what kind of customers pick estimates that simply showcase a price? The kind that always picks the lowest price. Those are NOT the customers you want.
Your estimate is an opportunity to sell the customer on why they should pick you over the next guy, even if you’re set at a higher price point.
What is your customer thinking about when deciding on a service provider?
The best estimates and proposals get in front of these questions by demonstrating how you overcome them. And this is best achieved by embedding your estimate into full proposals so you can touch on all these topics.
These proposals give you an opportunity to include a lot of information that demonstrates to your customer that you’re the right choice. Including:
You may not believe it, but people care about the backstory of your company and the people who make it happen.
Customers glean insight from your backstory into whether they can trust and want to use your business. In particular, the following questions:
Example:
Knox Heating & Cooling was created in 1981 by Larry and Donna Richardson as a family-owned and operated company for more than 40 years. Passing down tradition of family values and exceptional service, Larry and Donna’s second generation joined the company in 2015 to carry on the family business.
With deep seated roots in family values, ethical practice, and giving back to the community, Knox Heating & Cooling stands behind our promise of excellent service at a fair price with 100% satisfaction guarantee.
Call us today and learn why Knox is the trusted name for all heating and cooling needs in the Dallas area.
www.knoxheatingcooling.com
(214) 719-4010
Great customer reviews have proven to have an enormous impact on the buyer’s decision. Not only do you need to make sure you actively get good reviews from your customers (FieldPulse has a feature that helps you get more views), but you need to make sure your good reviews are in front of your potential customers.
Not only should you get your good reviews in front of your customers, but you should cater the reviews you showcase to the type of work you’re selling. If you’re replacing an existing mini-split system, showcase reviews that talk about how great of an experience they had with you getting their mini-split system replaced.
Some review sites like Yelp have the ability to embed widgets using a link. An example below:
In my opinion, this is one of the areas I believe is most often done poorly or is missing completely. Most contractors do not properly showcase the work effort and expertise required to perform the job. Add in the fact that consumers often marginalize the skill and expertise needed to perform the job, and you’re left with a very low level of appreciation for the value received for the work, and more importantly, high quality work and service.
Many service business owners and contractors believe their work quality is their differentiation. That may be true, but how does the customer know this? And what does the difference in work quality mean for them? This is where most stumble.
If your differentiation is your work quality, you need to learn how to showcase that your work quality is superior to others. Depending on what you do, it can be extremely difficult to do in practice. Not only do customers often not know what quality work looks like, but it’s really hard to show to the customer.
So what can you do instead? Demonstrate your expertise and showcase the steps that go into making your work quality superior.
What do you do and what steps do you take to make sure your work is high quality? What steps do you take that your competitors may take shortcuts in? Walk your customers through your process and, most importantly, what you look out for based on your experience.
Customers love knowing that you know what issues to look out for and avoid. To many customers, quality work equates to no problems for them. This will earn you enormous trust in quality.
And let me tell you a secret… even simply explaining the most elementary steps in how you perform your work, even steps that literally everyone does, can build trust. Why?
Because the reality is that the average consumer knows very little about what you do.
Below is a basic example of the work description of installing a tankless water heater:
Example:
We were called to the site to investigate a hot water issue. We located a water heater tank that it is beyond the point of repair and requires replacement. The new tankless hot water unit is far more economical by only heating water when required and provides an endless stream of hot water.
The old storage tank will be isolated, disconnected, and removed. We will alter the water feeds and mount the new instantaneous unit on the wall. A new valve pack will be installed, and the water will be connected. The gas service will be modified from the old unit to accommodate the heater. The new unit will be tested and then commissioned. The site will be cleaned, and all trash will be removed.
Other areas you might want to address are:
If you’re using any product or material in the service you provide, it can be helpful to touch on why you chose those products you use to instill confidence in their quality.
Consumers often equate quality of the total job to the physical items being installed. If you sell a big brand name that’s well known such as Carrier, sometimes simply showcasing the brand can do the talking for you. But what if you sell a lesser known product like Comfortmaker? You probably know that they’re owned by the same company and many of the units come off the same line, but your customer does not. In this instance, it’s extremely important that you educate them on why you choose Comfortmaker, how they’re getting a superior value, and that you stand behind this product as the BEST choice for them.
While it’s critically important when the product is the primary element of your service (such as a new AC system, tankless water heater, garage door opener, etc.), it can still be valuable for smaller materials that are secondary to the service such as piping, valves, and switches. Consumers know that it’s often the small minor components that will fail and cause issues, so mentioning that you use quality parts can help instill confidence.
An example of how you may showcase a Fujitsu split system:
People love imagery.
While it depends on the type of service you sell, photos of your work can help instill confidence, mostly in two ways.
If your service has a visual element to it, then obviously you’re showcasing how nicely the work turned out. But what if you don’t have much of a visual element?
Showing photos of the work, and in particular, the same work as what you’re selling in your estimate, can help prove and reinforce your experience in doing that type of work. It’s another way of saying, “Look how many times I’ve done this same work. We’re experts.”
In the end, using your estimate to sell your service is all about instilling confidence in your customer that you have the knowledge, experience, and backing to perform their work well, provide a great customer experience, and will always make it right. The more information you can share that inspires that level of confidence, including educational information, great customer reviews, showcasing expertise, standing behind your products, and showcasing successful work, the much more likely you are to not only win the deal, but command higher margins and sell at a premium.
Learn how to easily implement sales best practices in your estimates and proposals with FieldPulse
