Selling swimming pools is the same as selling what you sell
Selling swimming pools is the same as selling what you sell
So, being an intelligent man I started my due diligence and learned everything about in-ground swimming pools.
I quickly learned most of the companies selling swimming pools in our area do not product train their representatives. I telephoned 11 different pool companies. I only found 5 companies I had enough faith in, that they knew their products and had good customer service, to allow them in my home.
Lesson # 1: Make sure the person the customer talks to on the telephone is a good representative for your business.
The first pool salesperson came with one pamphlet and a measuring tape. I told him where I wanted the pool and approximately the size I wanted. He measured and figured and told me the price, $57,000! I said, “For what?” He said, “The pool and spa.” I said, “What spa?” He said, “Everyone gets a spa when they put in an in ground pool.” I did not want a spa. He assumed it was one of my wants, needs and problems.
And that went on and on with each salesperson. I think everyone of them, except one, assumed they knew what I wanted and what my problem (need, want) was. Because they told me what I needed. Well it was actually what they wanted to sell.
I tried over and over again to explain to them that although I did have a need, (problem, want) that a pool would solve, the actual person they needed to satisfy with the different features they offered was not me. Only one of the salespeople, the one who got the sale, figured it out and solved my problem (need and want). My problem (need, want) I needed solved was: To make my wife happy.
Lesson # 2: Never assume you know what the customer’s problems (needs and wants) are.
As I said, only one salesperson solved my problem (need, want). He, unlike the others listened to me when I constantly told him my wife wants this and my wife wants that. He wrote every one of her wants and needs and problems down and then showed me how he would solve them for her. Which of course solved my only problem (need, want).
Lesson # 3: Listen to the customer.
While he was showing me how he would solve my wife’s needs and wants, he gave me choices of solutions to pick from.
Lesson # 4: Give the customer choices of solutions to pick from. When you give a customer a choice of products and services to buy from you it no longer is will they buy from you or from the competition. It becomes which choice will they buy from you.
My swimming pool salesperson did not stop selling to me after he left that evening. The next day he telephoned me to see if I had any questions. Two days later I received a thank you note. And two days after that I received via email a list of tips on how to properly maintain an in ground pool.
Lesson # 5: Follow up, Follow up, Follow up - Aggressive Action # 22*
The evening we signed the contract for construction to begin I heard the magic words from my salesperson.
Lesson # 6: Use the magic words – “Who do you know?” –Aggressive Action # 19*
Whenever I am looking for my wife I know I can find her at the pool. She is very happy and I have no problems, (needs or wants). I am very happy.
Selling swimming pools is the same as selling what you sell - To learn more about this author, visit Bob Janet's Website.
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About a month ago my wife said to me, “Bob, I think we should have a swimming pool.” Having been happily married to this woman for over 41 years I could read between the lines to see what she was really saying. It would be something like this. “Bob, I want a swimming pool. I want it now. A swimming pool will make me very happy and you know when I am very happy you are very happy.”
So, being an intelligent man I started my due diligence and learned everything about in-ground swimming pools.
I quickly learned most of the companies selling swimming pools in our area do not product train their representatives. I telephoned 11 different pool companies. I only found 5 companies I had enough faith in, that they knew their products and had good customer service, to allow them in my home.
Lesson # 1: Make sure the person the customer talks to on the telephone is a good representative for your business.
The first pool salesperson came with one pamphlet and a measuring tape. I told him where I wanted the pool and approximately the size I wanted. He measured and figured and told me the price, $57,000! I said, “For what?” He said, “The pool and spa.” I said, “What spa?” He said, “Everyone gets a spa when they put in an in ground pool.” I did not want a spa. He assumed it was one of my wants, needs and problems.
And that went on and on with each salesperson. I think everyone of them, except one, assumed they knew what I wanted and what my problem (need, want) was. Because they told me what I needed. Well it was actually what they wanted to sell.
I tried over and over again to explain to them that although I did have a need, (problem, want) that a pool would solve, the actual person they needed to satisfy with the different features they offered was not me. Only one of the salespeople, the one who got the sale, figured it out and solved my problem (need and want). My problem (need, want) I needed solved was: To make my wife happy.
Lesson # 2: Never assume you know what the customer’s problems (needs and wants) are.
As I said, only one salesperson solved my problem (need, want). He, unlike the others listened to me when I constantly told him my wife wants this and my wife wants that. He wrote every one of her wants and needs and problems down and then showed me how he would solve them for her. Which of course solved my only problem (need, want).
Lesson # 3: Listen to the customer.
While he was showing me how he would solve my wife’s needs and wants, he gave me choices of solutions to pick from.
Lesson # 4: Give the customer choices of solutions to pick from. When you give a customer a choice of products and services to buy from you it no longer is will they buy from you or from the competition. It becomes which choice will they buy from you.
My swimming pool salesperson did not stop selling to me after he left that evening. The next day he telephoned me to see if I had any questions. Two days later I received a thank you note. And two days after that I received via email a list of tips on how to properly maintain an in ground pool.
Lesson # 5: Follow up, Follow up, Follow up - Aggressive Action # 22*
The evening we signed the contract for construction to begin I heard the magic words from my salesperson.
Lesson # 6: Use the magic words – “Who do you know?” –Aggressive Action # 19*
Whenever I am looking for my wife I know I can find her at the pool. She is very happy and I have no problems, (needs or wants). I am very happy.
Selling swimming pools is the same as selling what you sell - To learn more about this author, visit Bob Janet's Website.
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Dave KurlanDave Kurlan is the founder and CEO of Objective Management Group, Inc., the industry leader in sales assessments and sales force evaluations, and the CEO of David Kurlan & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in sales force development. Dave has been a top rated speaker at Inc. Magazine's Conference on Growing the Company, the Sales & Marketing Management Conference and the Gazelles Sales & Marketing Summit. He has been featured on radio and TV, including World Business Review with General Norman Schwarzkopf, in Inc. Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine and Incentive Magazine. He is the author of Mindless Selling and Baseline Selling – How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball. He created and wrote STAR, a proprietary recruiting process for hiring great salespeople, and he writes Understanding the Sales Force, a popular business Blog and is a contributing author to The Death of 20th Century Selling and 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2. - Visit Dave Kurlan's Website |
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Linda RichardsonLinda Richardson is the Founder and Executive Chairwoman of Richardson, a global sales training and performance improvement company. As a recognized leader in the industry, she has won the coveted Stevie Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sales Excellence and she was identified by Training Industry, Inc. as one of the “Top 20 Most Influential Training Professionals.” Ms. Richardson is credited with the movement to Consultative Selling and is the author of ten books on selling and sales management, including Sales Coaching — Making the Great Leap from Sales Manager to Sales Coach, and Stop Telling, Start Selling. She teaches sales and management at the Wharton Graduate School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton Executive Development Center. Linda is a frequent speaker at industry and client conferences, has been published extensively in industry and training journals, and has been featured in numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Nation’s Business, Selling Power, Success, and The Conference Board Magazine. Learn more about Richardson's sales training and performance improvement solutions at http://www.richardson.com web - Visit Linda Richardson's Website |
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George LudwigGeorge Ludwig is a recognized authority on sales strategy and peak performance psychology. An international speaker, trainer, and corporate consultant, he helps clients like Johnson & Johnson, Abbott Laboratories, Northwestern Mutual, CIGNA, and numerous others improve sales force effectiveness and performance. Though it's George's strategies and processes that help corporations increase productivity and performance, it's his tremendous energy and dynamism that spark the transformation. Again and again, clients remark on his amazing ability to unleash human capacity and inspire men and women to break out of their comfort zones. The result is a whole new type of salesperson. His customized presentations teach achievers to make stunning advances in their lives. From helping salespeople realize cherished dreams to helping corporations exponentially accelerate revenue streams, George Ludwig leaves audiences and individuals empowered, emboldened, and clamoring for more. George is the best-selling author of Power Selling: Seven Strategies for Cracking the Sales Code and Wise Moves: 60 Quick Tips to Improve Your Position in Life & Business. - Visit George Ludwig's Website |
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John PowerJohn Power, founder of Biltmore Franchise Consulting, has extensive experience developing and marketing franchises and business opportunities. He has been in and around franchising for over twenty years. From 1980 through 1990 he conceptualized, organized, and developed the American Video Association. He grew AVA to 2,000 national members, before selling the company it 1990. It was later merged into another home video marketing company. From 2000 to 2005 he worked as a contract marketing and human resources consultant to several local and national companies. In 2005 Mr. Power began working as a franchise development consultant on a full-time basis. Since that time he has helped more than three dozen companies initiate and develop their franchising program. He notes that there are many companies interested in developing a franchise program, and who need his specialized assistance. Mr. Power is a “hands-on” franchise consultant. He said, “I am the ‘nuts and bolts’ person who tends to the details for my clients.” Mr. Power holds a B.S. degree with a major in Marketing. See: www.biltmorefranchise.com You may contact Mr. Power at: jpower@biltmorefranchise.co - Visit John Power's Website |
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Staging DivaDebra Gould, aka The Staging Diva®, is President of Six Elements Inc., an internationally recognized home staging company. Inspired by many requests from aspiring home stagers wanting to start similar businesses, Gould created the Staging Diva Home Staging Business Training Program. Gould has trained over 1000 Staging Diva Graduates worldwide to start staging businesses. Buying decorating and selling six of her own homes in four years lead to an interest in real estate staging which she turned into a career with the launch of sixelements.com in 2002. Since then she has staged hundreds of homes in addition to teaching home staging training. Gould is the author of several home staging resources including a series of popular ebooks made up of a Design Guide, Color Guide and Portfolio Guide. For more information about Debra Gould visit stagingdiva.com. - Visit Staging Diva's Website |
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Jay Kubassek(Jay's Full Bio: EvanCarmichael.com/jaykubassek) In five years, Canadian-born entrepreneur Jay Kubassek went from selling mufflers at a Midas franchise to revolutionizing Internet marketing with the 2004 launch of CarbonCopyPRO, a online marketing education company, now worth over $20 million with customers in over 160 countries.
As an independent film producer, his upstart film fund Aliquot Films is currently producing a films with Spike Lee and Abel Fererra (starring Ethan Hawke and Dennis Hopper.)
Jay's entrepreneurial spirit is irrepressible. He’s the owner of five companies, a professional speaker and trainer, international real estate developer/investor, extreme sport enthusiast and emerging philanthropist. Jay resides in NYC with his wife Jamie, son Milo and dog Cooper. Visit Jay's official website: www.JayKubassek.com - Visit Jay Kubassek's Website |
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