Sales Flow (PDF)

**GOAL** **As an Insulwise employee, you are more than a sales representative, you are a Home Performance Specialist. You are the expert in Building Science and your role is to consult with and educate the homeowner on all the areas of their home that are creating discomfort or high energy usage. T...

**GOAL** **As an Insulwise employee, you are more than a sales representative, you are a Home Performance Specialist. You are the expert in Building Science and your role is to consult with and educate the homeowner on all the areas of their home that are creating discomfort or high energy usage. The Insulwise sales approach is a consultative sale. It is a needs-based approach that focuses on solutions rather than just pushing a service.** The sale begins the moment you enter the door, NOT when you sit down with the customer at their table. A successful audit will have the customer sold before the table conversation.  During the audit, you build rapport, identify additional details about their concerns, repeat their concerns back to them to emphasize that you are \"hearing them,\" and explain how our solutions will solve their problems.  The audit process when done correctly \-\-- is a powerful demonstration of your ability to understand the homeowner\'s concerns, and then use insightful explanations of how building science happens within homes to produce the current result being experienced and then how Insulwise\'s unique processes solve those issues.   While explaining our solutions, it's important to be focused on how the homeowner reacts.  The moment you see the customer fade out or begin losing interest, you need to reassess and modify your approach.  If a customer has checked out and is not buying in, they will just go with someone they either \"like more\" or have a cheaper solution. Now you've been backed into a corner and reduced to nothing but a price tag. We need customers to focus on our value and solutions, not our price.  At this point you have got to check back in with them and ask them if they understand\...\"does it make sense to you how this would work?\"  This accomplishes 2 things.  1) It allows you to address a concern before it gets swept under the rug, or becomes a future objection and 2) Tells them they had better pay attention.  You are giving them your full attention \-\-- so they had better give you theirs.  It\'s like being a kid in a class where the teacher is known to call on kids randomly.  Everyone is on their toes.\ \ If you have done the audit correctly, the homeowner should be able to explain to their 12-year-old kid why their house is presently hot or cold, AND how your solutions will solve it.  At the audit\'s conclusion the homeowner should be thinking that they have been listened to and respected, that all of their concerns have been addressed in detail, that they have been educated (this part can be huge), that they understand not just the what, but the WHY of how our solutions will solve their problems, that they will be much more happy, comfortable, and at ease in their homes, and that this will be a brilliant investment for them (permanently lower utility bills while being much more comfortable).\ \ This last part is important.  You have FAILED the audit if when you sit down with them to go over the contract, they still have a bunch of questions about how the scopes you are recommending will solve their problems. **The following sales flow is an outline and not intended to be followed step by step if the situation does not warrant. Play the hand your dealt.** Sales Flow Goal: The overarching goal of the appointment is to help the customer solve their comfort and energy efficiency problems. Treat the home as if it were your own and be their home performance consultant rather than just "the insulation guy." PRE-APPOINTMENT GOAL: Gain an understanding of the home and what may be causing discomfort and energy inefficiency. - Review the notes in salesforce from when the prospective customer called in to set the appointment to gain an initial understanding of their needs. - Use the Allegheny County website and google earth to get a preview of the home. - As you walk up to the home, study the roof to see if there is ventilation (ridge, gable, soffit). (SALES TIP \#1) - Look for visual cues around the home to begin developing an understanding of the customer. (SALES TIP \#2) - Take note of how well they maintain their home. - Once in the driveway, log the homeowner's info in the Company Cam app and snap a photo of the front of the home. INTRODUCTION GOAL: 1.) Establish yourself as a professional. 2.) Obtain an understanding of the customer's needs. - Smile, introduce yourself, shake hands and thank them for inviting you into their home. (SALES TIP \#3*)* - Ask probing questions then BE QUITE AND LISTEN. For example: - How long have you lived in the home? - This may help you understand how serious they are about the project. Did they just move in? Or have they lived there for an extended period and are now fed up with the discomfort? - How does the home perform in the extreme heat of summer or cold of winter? - This should get you to the main issues they are having. - When was the home built? - You may or may not already know this from the Allegheny County website but this will give you a good idea of what type of insulation is already in the home, if any. - Do you have forced air or boiler system? - Almost all forced air systems prior to the 2000's have duct leakage that create uneven temps throughout the home. - Do you have A/C? - A frigid basement in the summer is a big indicator of duct leakage. - Do you run any additional space heaters or window units? - How many people live in the home? - Are there some rooms that are more difficult to heat/cool than others? - What are your thermostat settings? - What are your energy bills like in the summer and winter? - The answers to these questions will help you understand their needs/problem and begin to formulate a hypothesis on what the potential cause may be. Repeat their comfort issues back to them, state what you believe might be causing the issue and then invite them to start the investigation process with you. For example: - "When customers tell me that they have large temperature differences between the basement, 1^st^ floor and 2^nd^ floor in a 1970's colonial style home like yours, I often find there are a couple of contributing factors. Usually the attic is under-insulated, not air sealed and under-ventilated and in this style of home, a retrofit to that space tends to provide the largest opportunity for ROI (SALES TIP \#4). In addition to the attic, I often find that there is a significant amount of duct leakage which starves certain areas of the home of conditioned air. I'd like to explore both of those areas of the home if its ok with you." - "It sounds like you have multiple areas of your home that are contributing to your high energy costs and discomfort. These homes that were built in the early 1900's are beautiful, but they were never really built with energy efficiency in mind. I'd like to examine your home from the attic to the basement. My goal will be to point out all the areas that are contributing to your discomfort and then put together a plan to address how they can be fixed. This doesn't mean that you must do all these things, but at least you'll know what's causing your problems. (SALES TIP \#5) Does that sounds ok to you?" - "Cape cods are my favorite style of home, but they do tend to create some comfort issues due to the complexity of their structure. Your comfort issues on the 2^nd^ floor are very common for this type of home. A lot of my customers with cape cods tell me that when it's really hot or really cold outside, they feel a significant temperature difference when they get to the 4^th^ or 5^th^ step as they walk upstairs. The issue is most likely your attic and kneewall spaces. Let's take a look." AUDIT GOAL: Engage the homeowner!!! This stage of the appointment is critical to your success. Your goal is to have the homeowner at your side for the entire exploration and discovery process. It's not always possible, but as best you can, pull them up into the attic, show them what you are seeing with your thermal camara, show them air infiltration around the doors, windows and rim joist with your smoke pen, point out the dust streaks on the ductwork to show duct leakage. Begin with the area of the home that you feel is their primary source of discomfort OR the area they specifically called you out to investigate (SALES TIP \#6) - ATTIC - You must go in the attic and document! - Before you go into the attic, tell the homeowner what you are looking for (Sales Tip \#7). - Type and amount of insulation - Evidence of air sealing - Ventilation - Evidence of mold growth - Once in the attic, describe the type of insulation to the homeowner. Point out its benefits or flaws. Assess current r-value. - Is there existing attic flooring or a raised storage pad? If so, explain why that needs to be removed or at the very least, dense packed with cellulose. - Pull the existing insulation aside and show the homeowner a couple examples of air leaks and how the dust has stained the existing insulation material. Go over stack effect again. (Sales Tip \#8) - Are the bath fans vented? - Recessed lights? IC or non-IC? - Is there an HVAC system in the attic? - Is it gas or electric? - If gas, where is the condensation vented? - Flu pipe to the outside of the home = good - Condensate line = bad - Does it have a service platform, or access for the HVAC tech? (Sales Tip \#9) - WALLS - Use your thermal camera to show the homeowner what you are seeing (Sales Tip \#10) - Explain how an uninsulated wall allows heat transfer and convection currents causing discomfort and energy loss. - Physically describe how the dense pack process works: - Walk over to the wall and point to where the hole will be drilled. - Emphasize that only 1 hole is needed for dense packing and all other methods with multiple holes will allow for the insulation material to settle. - Describe/demonstrate the fill tube process. - Let the homeowner know that the holes will be patched but they have some work to do afterwards. - RIM JOIST - Use your thermal camera to show the homeowner what you are seeing. - Explain stack effect again and how the rim joists are usually the biggest source of air infiltration to anyone's home. - Explain how heat is also conducting out through the rim joist area as well. - Explain how a cold basement affects the first floor. (SALES TIP \#11) - DUCT LEAKAGE - Begin by citing the study done by the U.S. Department of Energy - Point out the visible dust streaks around the connection points or where supply runs are connected to the main trunkline. - Explain the comfort problems created in the home by duct leakage. - Cite the International Residential Building Code mandates all new duct systems pass a duct pressurization test. - Explain the Aeroseal process and cite the ROI study for our climate zone (SALES TIP \#12) - MOLD - Explain that mold is the symptom of a moisture issue and that moisture issues in an attic are created by lack of air sealing and poor ventilation. - Explain stack effect. - Explain that moist air is lighter than dry air -- that's why we have clouds in the sky and why your customer has moisture issues in the attic. POST AUDIT GOAL: Break from the customer to take measurements and create the proposal - As you finish your audit, ask the customer if they have any questions or concerns with what you have shown them (SALES TIP \#13) - Let them know that you need about 15-20 mins to take some measurements, pictures and create a proposal. - As you walk back through the home, create a checklist on your phone (iphone notes) of the projects, details and measurements. This will help you as you generate your proposal and keep a permanent record if you ever need to refer to the customer's data. Proposal Presentation GOAL: The goal of the proposal presentation is to present your strategy for solving the customer's problem, address any questions or concerns and obtain a commitment to next steps. (Sales Tip \#14) - Structure your proposal in order of what you feel will provide them with the best ROI. Remember, you are their home performance consultant, not an insulation sales guy. - As you present each solution, tell them the benefit of having the work completed i.e. dense packing the garage ceiling will make your bedroom floors warmer in the winter, or addressing the attic insulation will help keep the upper floors cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter. - Present total investment at the very end. If presented too early, the customer may stop listening to you and focus solely on the price. - When presenting the investment, listen closely to the customer's response. (Sales Tip \#15) - Once you obtain the customer's response to the investment, move immediately to explaining how many days the work will take, and when the project can be completed. This will take their mind off the cost of the project and help them visualize the work being completed. - Be sure to talk about our crew. Low turnover, building science training (all 3 crew chiefs have a certification in Building Science Principals through the BPI). - Discuss our sign out questionnaire, company cam after photos and video, the owner grades each job. All these contribute to a higher quality outcome for the homeowner. - Briefly walk through our warranty information. - Lastly, ask the customer what they think and then stop talking. (Sales Tip \#16) - If you obtain commitment - Thank the customer for choosing Insulwise, let them know that you are excited to work for them and reiterate how this work is going to solve their problem(s). - Ask for the deposit check. - Let them know that you will notify the office they are moving forward, and they can expect a call from our office manager within a week to schedule the installation. - Let them know that you will remain their main contact throughout the project and that they can call you any time with questions. - Send a follow up email with the proposal thanking them for their business and reiterate what you told them about scheduling. - If you do not obtain commitment - Try to determine their main concern. (Sales Tip \#17) - Let the customer know that you would like to stay in touch with them and ask them if it would be ok to follow up in 2-3 days. (Sales Tip \#18) - Thank them for their time, provide them with your business card and remind them that you will follow up at the agreed upon time. Email Proposal GOAL: This is a second opportunity to explain the Insulwise value proposition and differentiate us from the competitor. - Have a draft email saved that you could modify for each customer. - Use the email as an opportunity to thank them again for inviting you into their home, highlight some of the key points of the proposal and follow up on any un-answered questions from the initial meeting. - Always send links to the Insulwise website or youtube page relevant to the work being performed. (Sales Tip \#19) - Include a link to the google review page. - Remind them that you will be following up at the agreed upon time. Follow Up GOAL: STAY IN TOUCH WITH THE CUSTOMER and either move the sale forward or determine that it is a dead end. - Call, text or email. Example: Hello John. This is (name) from Insulwise. Thank you for inviting me to your home the other day. I wanted to know if you had a chance to review our proposal for insulating your attic. Do you have any questions for me, or thoughts about your next steps? Let me know. Thank you. - If customer does not respond: - Send another follow up text or email within the next day or two. - If you get 3 nonresponses send one final text or email. Example: - Hi John. This is (name) with Insulwise again. I've sent you a couple of messages about our proposal and haven't heard back from you. Are you still considering this project for your home? When you call them out for not responding to you, it usually motivates them to explain why they didn't get back to you. - If there is no response to this message, dump the customer and move on with your other opportunities.