“Never miss a good opportunity to shut up.” – Will Rogers
There’s something you should know about me … I’m really a roofing salesman. I don’t just write about how to sell roofs for living. Everything I know, I learned by doing it.
Yesterday I found myself in an all too familiar situation. If you are like me, you will identify very well with this story …
My phone rang early in the morning while having breakfast with my wife. On the other line was a sweet lady from East Texas. She was very concerned about her mother’s mobile home located south of Fort Worth. The mobile home had a leak and I wasn’t sure what to do about it.
Luckily, his mother’s mobile home was around the corner from where I was having breakfast. I assured him that I would be there in an hour to check on his mother’s roof.
When I got to the mobile home park, I quickly found the correct lot number (it was the mobile home with the roof that looked like an elephant sitting in various places). I knocked on the door and was greeted by a beautiful and sweet grandmother. He invited me in and started talking …
We do not talk about the escape
Not! She didn’t want to talk about the leak in her roof that her daughter had urgently called me about just a few minutes ago.
He wanted to talk about his 95 year old father who had passed away 5 months ago. She lived with him in that same mobile home until the day of his death. She told me all about him … how he lived, how he died. He was a good man, hardworking and loved by all.
The most important thing is that the woman who told me about her father loved that man very much. That man was the most important thing in life for her. It was an honor to hear her tell me all about him. When he finished, I felt like I knew him too.
Never miss a good chance to shut up
You’ve been reading this story in hopes of finding out The secret to making prospects like you And I’m about to tell you, but first let me tell you how I almost blew it yesterday.
As my perspective approached the end of his story about his father, he finally started talking about the roof … well, a little. What he told me was that his dad had always taken care of the roof. It went up there and was epoxy washed to keep it from leaking, but it used to have a metal roof …
If you’re some kind of roofing salesman, that’s where you jump: “… I used to have a metal roof …”
That was my opening …
Time to jump right?
We all know the pros and cons of a metal roof. My instincts told me that I should jump in and talk about the downsides of having a metal roof. If you’re selling against a metal roof, you want to talk about how loud they are or the fact that you can’t get good cell phone reception under a metal roof. Isn’t that what you would do?
Right before I opened my big mouth, she said, “I always loved the way the rain sounded when it fell on that old metal roof. It was so comforting to hear the patter, the patter of the rain.”
Time of the big secret
Selling is not really a difficult job once you talk to your potential customer. You need momentum to make a sale. If they are not talking, you have no drive.
With a little training and self-control, you will learn to turn the impulse of a conversation into a contract almost every time. Also, you can’t drive something that doesn’t move. Keep this in mind the next time your prospect wants to talk about everything except the roof.
Finally, prospects are not stupid!
They know why you are there. They did not forget that you are there to sell them a new roof. What they are really doing while talking about everything under the sun except what you want to talk about is trying to figure out if you are the person they want to buy from.
The secret to making prospects like you is that you like what is important to your prospect.
Once your prospect decides that you value what they value (e.g. their kids, dog, hobby, home, car, job, a competent roofer, whatever!), You will feel a noticeable change in the atmosphere of your conversation. .
The body language of your prospects will change. They will look you in the eye. They will uncross their arms and look directly at you, revealing that they are now open to you. The time has come for you to skillfully steer the conversation toward your chosen destination (eg, contract).
How do you find out what they like?
Listen, stupid!