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Originally Posted by Mr. Mike
I am a member on the painters network and a very active poster there, I will post about many of the new debates we are having there in time because it is all great stuff, but for now:
What are some close ratio percentages on one call close vs. the regular blue color drop off the price and hope they call back.
If the common percentage is only 30% close ratio of the drop off type, I assume the one call closers over all ratio would be around 60%
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My first comment is that a "drop-off", aka cross your fingers method, is inexcusable in selling. Of course that's not selling, it's "estimating" in a non-productive manner. Consider the horrible waste of capital in the form of sales leads, often generated by hard earned advertising dollars.
In the home improvement sector which includes painting, a very high conversion ratio is attainable in "one call". Ninety percent and even higher can be realized consistently, but the driving forces behind such successes are not common knowledge among salespeople in the remodeling industry. Sadly, many representatives are miscast, and would be hard-pressed to develop the necessary skills and understanding, even though they might have impressive knowledge of their specific building trade.They are good at what they do, but they are not good at selling.
In my opinion, the two factors that influence very high conversion rates in this arena are: the specific paths that lead to the appointments, and, mastery of in-home selling. The latter would include concentrated and serious study and awareness of the behavour, strengths, and weaknesses of the competition. Consumers want to buy with confidence, and the practice of simple fundamentals, like showing up at the appointed time, can instill such confidence.
To those who might be compelled to ask, by "specific paths", I'm referring to lead origins. In descending order of effectiveness, here are some examples:
- Unsolicited referrals by past customers represent an opportunity for a very high conversion rate. It would be fair to include repeat customers here.
- Leads from direct response marketing campaigns, that highlight Emotional Selling Propositions, can have a high rate if the in-the-home sales presentations are devised with continuity of (extended from) the campaign message itself.
- Leads from trade shows that are direct follow-ups to sales conversations that take place at the event can enjoy good conversion rates.
- Leads from trade shows that are followed up by telemarketers are less effective in producing successful conversion rates in the home.
- Straight telemarketing calls produce only poor to moderate success from the appointments they generate.
All of the above examples of lead origin would obviously manifest their respective potentials with mastery of face-to-face selling skills.
In studies I've made of the home improvement field, I have found a common link between the reputation of the contracting firm, and the quality of professional salespeople representing them.
