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Actual for You - Home Builders and Remodelers - How to Stop Losing Business to Lower-Priced Competition
I worked for years as a mortgage loan officer. During this time I worked with two very successful loan officers, however, their styles were polar opposite. These two guys were opposites to the point where they basically didn’t like each other, and spent most of the day avoiding one another.Here are their stories.The first loan officer whose work habits I am going to tell you about is Mike. Mike was a creature of habit. He was always the first one in the office every morning, where he would drink his cup of coffee and read his newspaper cover to cover.Mike never left the office, he never did cold calling at night like the rest of us, he never sent out mailers, in fact, Mike never did any thing except delive
And This is Where Selling on Features vs. Selling on Benefits Comes In...
Features vs. Benefits is one of the easiest ways to separate you from your competition and stop fighting on price. Unfortunately, most builders and renovators sell on features and, therefore, end up in 'price comparison hell.' Selling on benefits quickly eliminates competition from consideration, especially 'unprofessionals' (since they make it so easy for us to eliminate them, if everything is positioned properly).
Contents1. Federal Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA)2. Report by the Department of Justice3. Why The Concern?4. The Court's View5. Identifying Risk FactorsFederal Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA)Did you know that the Federal Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) requires employers who discover that an employee has threatened violence against managers, supervisors, or other employees may have to take certain preventive steps? OSHA's General Duty Clause requires employers to provide employees with places of employment that are free of hazards that may cause or result in death or serious physical injury. Have you heard of a Worksite Assessment or
Typically in this situation I'll talk about educating the prospect, to which the response is usually, "I don't have time to teach the prospect everything I know." (This is usually closely followed by, "Plus, I already educate my prospects.")
First, I agree. Second, you don't have to. Third, you can't afford not to.
Educating Your Prospects
When I discuss educating prospects, I'm not suggesting you have to provide years of knowledge, personal experience, and recent modern changes in the home building industry. First, you don't have that kind of time. Second, chances are the average home owner just doesn't care.
What I do mean is to educate the prospect so:
a) they understand what your price represents; and
b) they know what to look for, and look out for, so they can properly compare your quality of work to others.
A Recent Example
A friend recently bought a house and, as par for the course, was contacted by a handful of companies promising to deliver natural gas at lower, locked-in rates.
Now, I can't claim to verify the following information, it's just what he received when he asked his group of friends for advice. And it does illustrate the point.
According to one response, the rate quoted by some of these companies is lower because it doesn't include all the costs associated with delivering natural gas to his house.
That is, the rate they were quoting was the 'supply' charge. They would then compared this rate to their competition's rate, even though the rate they compared it to combined three different charges and, therefore, was always going to be more then theirs.
This would be like selling you a computer, and saying mine was $750 while comparing it against a competitor's $950 model -- but failing to mention the competitor's included a monitor and the other didn't. Not fair, right?
So, How Do You Use This Information to Stop Fighting on Price?
This is what I mean by 'educating the client'. Let them know what they're getting with your price vs. a potential competitors and help ensure they can, and are, comparing apples to apples.
Do you have to list all 1,001 differences that go into building or renovating a home? Of course not...in fact, if you capture the 10 - 15 biggies (and, sometimes, even less than that), most clients will assume the rest is taken care of (and it usually is).
And This is Where Selling on Features vs. Selling on Benefits Comes In...
Features vs. Benefits is one of the easiest ways to separate you from your competition and stop fighting on price. Unfortunately, most builders and renovators sell on features and, therefore, end up in 'price comparison hell.' Selling on benefits quickly eliminates competition from consideration, especially 'unprofessionals' (since they make it so easy for us to eliminate them, if everything is positioned properly).
Cold calling has to be one of the most feared aspects of every sales person's and business owner's day. With some important key tips, you can make cold calling painless and enjoyable and as easy as calling a friend.Here are 7 key ways to jump start your cold calls:1. Research Your MarketBefore you start your cold calls it's important that you be prepared so your prospect feels you really do understand their situation. Research the company you are calling, identify what issues they are having based on your other clients in their same industry and ask others in your company the main reasons why people buy your product or service.The better prepared you are about discussing you prospect's issues, the
When I discuss educating prospects, I'm not suggesting you have to provide years of knowledge, personal experience, and recent modern changes in the home building industry. First, you don't have that kind of time. Second, chances are the average home owner just doesn't care.
What I do mean is to educate the prospect so:
a) they understand what your price represents; and
b) they know what to look for, and look out for, so they can properly compare your quality of work to others.
A Recent Example
A friend recently bought a house and, as par for the course, was contacted by a handful of companies promising to deliver natural gas at lower, locked-in rates.
Now, I can't claim to verify the following information, it's just what he received when he asked his group of friends for advice. And it does illustrate the point.
According to one response, the rate quoted by some of these companies is lower because it doesn't include all the costs associated with delivering natural gas to his house.
That is, the rate they were quoting was the 'supply' charge. They would then compared this rate to their competition's rate, even though the rate they compared it to combined three different charges and, therefore, was always going to be more then theirs.
This would be like selling you a computer, and saying mine was $750 while comparing it against a competitor's $950 model -- but failing to mention the competitor's included a monitor and the other didn't. Not fair, right?
So, How Do You Use This Information to Stop Fighting on Price?
This is what I mean by 'educating the client'. Let them know what they're getting with your price vs. a potential competitors and help ensure they can, and are, comparing apples to apples.
Do you have to list all 1,001 differences that go into building or renovating a home? Of course not...in fact, if you capture the 10 - 15 biggies (and, sometimes, even less than that), most clients will assume the rest is taken care of (and it usually is).
And This is Where Selling on Features vs. Selling on Benefits Comes In...
Features vs. Benefits is one of the easiest ways to separate you from your competition and stop fighting on price. Unfortunately, most builders and renovators sell on features and, therefore, end up in 'price comparison hell.' Selling on benefits quickly eliminates competition from consideration, especially 'unprofessionals' (since they make it so easy for us to eliminate them, if everything is positioned properly).
We are all very aware that the vast majority of companies prefer to promote from within, especially for the first levels of supervision/management. There are distinct advantages to doing so since the person knows the organization, product, etc. and provides a positive career path for the individual contributor.The downside is that very rarely is there any kind of supervision/management training until they reach their new level, if they receive any at all. (You can read my Leadership and the Harry Potter Syndrome article in regards on that subject.) So in effect, we roll the dice, and hope we picked someone that can be an effective leader.But what if we decided to offer Leadership training from the ground level?f companies promising to deliver natural gas at lower, locked-in rates.
Now, I can't claim to verify the following information, it's just what he received when he asked his group of friends for advice. And it does illustrate the point.
According to one response, the rate quoted by some of these companies is lower because it doesn't include all the costs associated with delivering natural gas to his house.
That is, the rate they were quoting was the 'supply' charge. They would then compared this rate to their competition's rate, even though the rate they compared it to combined three different charges and, therefore, was always going to be more then theirs.
This would be like selling you a computer, and saying mine was $750 while comparing it against a competitor's $950 model -- but failing to mention the competitor's included a monitor and the other didn't. Not fair, right?
So, How Do You Use This Information to Stop Fighting on Price?
This is what I mean by 'educating the client'. Let them know what they're getting with your price vs. a potential competitors and help ensure they can, and are, comparing apples to apples.
Do you have to list all 1,001 differences that go into building or renovating a home? Of course not...in fact, if you capture the 10 - 15 biggies (and, sometimes, even less than that), most clients will assume the rest is taken care of (and it usually is).
And This is Where Selling on Features vs. Selling on Benefits Comes In...
Features vs. Benefits is one of the easiest ways to separate you from your competition and stop fighting on price. Unfortunately, most builders and renovators sell on features and, therefore, end up in 'price comparison hell.' Selling on benefits quickly eliminates competition from consideration, especially 'unprofessionals' (since they make it so easy for us to eliminate them, if everything is positioned properly).
In the highly professional and business world that you are in, you are constantly called upon to hone your professional skills and attitude. All too often, there is a mismatch between what job you seek and what you ultimately get. In other cases, it is the problem of losing interest and shuffling many jobs to ‘land’ up with the right one.With the increasingly complex business environment and the highly competitive atmosphere, have brought in its wake, the absolute need for qualified workers for any business to succeed. A thorough understanding of the skill sets that you possess and the direction in which you want to deploy your skills and mental abilities can enlighten you in identifying the most appropriate and desi
This would be like selling you a computer, and saying mine was $750 while comparing it against a competitor's $950 model -- but failing to mention the competitor's included a monitor and the other didn't. Not fair, right?
So, How Do You Use This Information to Stop Fighting on Price?
This is what I mean by 'educating the client'. Let them know what they're getting with your price vs. a potential competitors and help ensure they can, and are, comparing apples to apples.
Do you have to list all 1,001 differences that go into building or renovating a home? Of course not...in fact, if you capture the 10 - 15 biggies (and, sometimes, even less than that), most clients will assume the rest is taken care of (and it usually is).
And This is Where Selling on Features vs. Selling on Benefits Comes In...
Features vs. Benefits is one of the easiest ways to separate you from your competition and stop fighting on price. Unfortunately, most builders and renovators sell on features and, therefore, end up in 'price comparison hell.' Selling on benefits quickly eliminates competition from consideration, especially 'unprofessionals' (since they make it so easy for us to eliminate them, if everything is positioned properly).
I have never been a fan of Paris Hilton.I see her parading around in her odd-looking clothing choices, leading her loyal following of giddy anorexic schoolgirls around by their noses, and I think, "Skank."I saw Paris condescend to the working class farmers of America, and I didn't like it at all. So I decided not to watch her show.But I will say one thing about Paris. She's got branding down to a science.First she gets folks talking with that sex tape of hers. Nice hook, Paris.Then she buddies up with Nicole Richie for the spoiled rich girl's crash course in Reality 101.Then she starts saying this one phrase, all the time, "That's hot." She says it any time she can't think of anything
And This is Where Selling on Features vs. Selling on Benefits Comes In...
Features vs. Benefits is one of the easiest ways to separate you from your competition and stop fighting on price. Unfortunately, most builders and renovators sell on features and, therefore, end up in 'price comparison hell.' Selling on benefits quickly eliminates competition from consideration, especially 'unprofessionals' (since they make it so easy for us to eliminate them, if everything is positioned properly).
Remember above, when I said chances are home owners don't care? What they (and 99% of all humans purchasing something) don't care about is the process. What they do care about is the results.
Do you care how a phone works...or do you care if your business phone went dead for even one hour? Do you care how HTTP Internet protocol works...or do you care if your website went down for even one day?
See...it's not the process most people care about (although some may be curious about it after the fact) -- it's the result!
So, don't tell your prospects you use "the finest quality building materials" (and who isn't going to say that to get the business) or "the best workers" (and, again, who doesn't say that) -- tell them what matters...the results. For example:
. we build our rooms perfectly square (feature) so your furniture doesn't look wonky, or your built-in pieces will actually fit properly without additional, and expensive, work (benefit)
. we prime both sides of natural siding (feature) so it lasts longer (benefit) than builders that don't (extra points: mention how much longer)
. we allow wood flooring to acclimatize before installation (feature), to eliminate gaps, splitting and checking (benefit)...other builders / renovators that don't do this risk your floor being unsightly and uneven withing 6 to 12 months!
Your Advantage? Effectively Eliminate a Large Portion of Your Competition!
As mentioned above...if you list a number of areas where you add quality and value to your prospects, and you do it by focusing on the end-result -- the benefits, not the features, you'll rocket above your competition in two ways:
1) the lower-quality, 'price-fighting' competition can't fight you on price now, since you've exposed what the client will miss if they go for the cheaper price; and
2) if your other competition isn't doing this, guess who comes out on top? Even among other professional builders / renovators, if they're selling on features and you're selling on benefits, you'll close the lion's share of the work!
Will people still go for the lower-priced builder? Yes. There will always be someone who'd rather get it cheap rather than get it good. But...if you effectively educate your client -- show them the benefits of your extra quality, extra value and (yes) extra price, you'll be happy to let the price-shoppers go (and the headaches that usually come with them), and keep the quality-buyers.
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