Residential Metal Roofing Executive Report

One Of The Biggest Mistakes You Can Make In Sales

Issue #158 | October 13, 2020 | Ethan Young

I hope this finds you and your business well. Before we get into this issue of the Executive Report, I want to remind you of our October Book Club for Contractors.

Starting in a few weeks, our president Todd Miller will be going through “The E-Myth Contractor” by best-selling author Michael Gerber. Learn how to make your business system-based and make it start working for you, with the convenience of online sessions. Todd will be going through the book step by step to help you understand the value these changes can bring to your company. If you’re interested, contact Todd for an invite to our free online Book Club.

Now, let me explain how failing to respond quickly to new leads is one of the biggest mistakes you can make in sales.

First, all of us are busy. Whether it’s making calls, writing emails, quoting jobs, installing roofs, or whatever takes up your time, we all have responsibilities. While these are vital to keeping the business running and money coming in, everything grinds to a halt without new leads.

Lightning-fast responses have only become more critical with your increased availability on social media. Using social media to engage with and respond to your customers can be powerful, but you need to commit to quick responses to interested customers. Facebook tracks your response rate and response time, allowing you to display a badge when you have a 90% response rate and 15 minute response time. Check yours under the Insights tab in your business Facebook account.

According to Vendasta.com, you lose out on qualifying 80% of your leads between 5 and 10 minutes after they contact you. Before 5 minutes is where you will find the most success, with many businesses aiming for less than that. One of our top contractors makes it a point to call every lead within 15 seconds! They waste no time getting back to their leads, showing their customers that they care.

Communicating well with your leads is also crucial, with many people calling or messaging via the Internet rather than opting for in-person visits.

The problem is, when businesses don’t respond quickly, people move on. With COVID-19 as a concern, fewer homeowners are setting appointments with unfamiliar contractors. People don’t have time to wait around for your reply, especially if it’s a canned message. Make a great first impression by being personal with your communication and responding right away. Test us out here!

Here’s a real example from a customer of another company. This customer recently filled out a form asking for a call from the contractor. The company sent this text 48 hours later.

Hi, we just received your inquiry about our product. Demand for this product is BLISTERING.

If you connected with someone from our team already just say “I’m good”. If you haven’t talked to someone yet… you can jump to the front of the line to get your questions answered or book your free estimate appointment by calling 555-555-5555.

See the problem with this situation? After waiting 500 times longer than the recommended length, the only communication didn’t move the conversation forward at all. Now the customer has to indicate interest again and hope they don’t get sent to voicemail or put on hold instead of being connected with a helpful salesperson ready to sell.

Don’t be like this company or this sales process. When leads come up, respond as quickly as possible and watch your sales grow.

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