An HVAC contractor in Florida asked:

What’s the most important proccess to implement to increase our company’s in-home closing ratio?

EGIA faculty member James Leichter started the conversation by establishing a baseline closing rate with which a business owner should be satisfied.”If they’ve got a 65 percent sales closure rate, then they probably don’t need a lot of help,” said Leichter. “But anything below 65, then they probably need a little help.”

“The average person is going out and getting three proposals, and so if you’re closure rate is 33 percent than you’re terrible,” explained Leichter. “You can put three proposals in a hat and pull one out to get a 33 percent closure rate.”

“If you’re a little over that you’d be at 40 percent. So realistically you need to be above 50 percent to be effective.”

After establishing this baseline, Leichter reminded listeners that their sales close starts before they even open the sales conversation. “It’s the things that you did when you drove up, where did you park your vehicle, how did you walk up to the front of the house, did you walk through the yard? Walk through the flowers? Did you ring the doorbell or did you knock?”

Leichter then said many in the industry forget that its the little things that create a first impression of the company in a customer’s mind. “They’ll say that, ‘evevrything went really well except for the closing.’ Well things didn’t go really well or the closing would’ve been way more effective,” said Leichter.

Mr. James Leichter is a 25-year services industry innovator who delivers products and services to help businesses streamline operations and improve profit. He is a seasoned business owner who shares his experience and expertise through speaking engagements, authoring industry articles for magazines, and participate as a legal expert witness. As a successful HVAC business owner in the 1990’s, he quickly realized his passion was helping others succeed. He then founded Aptora to deliver the first enterprise software solution for the contracting industry called Total Office Manager. He delivers the trifecta combining public speaking, hands-on business leader, and industry innovator.

Our faculty members have also answered questions on other topics related to sales in the contracting world, including How to Use A Framework to Facilitate An Excellent Customer Experience and Compelling New Prospects and Existing Customers to Buy.

Hear more from our “Ask The Experts” faculty members on “Cracking The Code,” our weekly web series.

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