Sales is a word which many people learn to dread. This fundamental element of a wide range of jobs isn’t easy, and will often put people far outside of their comfort zone, especially when their main job is something else entirely. As a HVAC company, you’ve probably experienced some of the issues this can cause, and need a way to turn the tide in your favour.
Even the most abrasive technicians can make great salespeople, as long as they’re willing to learn some techniques to make it easier. To give your business the opportunity to overcome the issues which sales can cause, this article will be exploring some tips which will teach you how to train your engineers to sell things. HVAC advertising isn’t rocket science, but it can still take a lot of work to push your team into the right position.
Product Knowledge
Understanding the product being sold is the single most crucial factor when it comes to being a successful salesperson. Your team needs to know your catalog in and out, along with having an idea of where the market is going to go in the future. It’s not enough to know how to install boilers, radiators, and air conditioning units; your technicians need to know what they can do.
This will make them feel more confident about pushing to make sales, while also making it possible for them to offer more suitable products to your customers. The people spending money with you will feel much better knowing that they are choosing the right options for them, and taking the time to go through this can help to build life-long customers.
You can teach your team about the products you sell with ease. You should have catalogs, websites, and other resources to look at, along with the packaging and instruction manuals which come with the items you sell. There are loads of websites out there which can help you to figure out where the market is going in the future, too.
Bust The Jargon
Using the right words can often be the difference between leaving someone feeling confused and frustrated or willing to buy something from you, and this makes it crucial that you teach your technicians to avoid jargon. This will ensure that your customers have a clear understanding of what they’re spending their money on.
Normal people don’t know much about HVAC systems, and they are unlikely to want to learn. Instead, they will expect your technicians to explain things to them in simple terms. You can teach your team the right phrases to use to appeal to as many customers as possible, preparing them for the day that someone doesn’t understand what they’re saying.
Rapport Building
People are far more likely to buy something from someone they feel they can trust, especially when it is going to impact their home. This makes it vital that your technicians work to build a strong rapport with your customers, ensuring that they feel comfortable talking to one another long before a sale takes place.
There are a number of ways to approach something like this, and each technician will have to develop their own routine. Some will make their customers laugh, while others will empathise with their problems, and they will always act like a friend. Rapport is so incredibly vital to sales that a lot of larger companies send their teams on training to learn exactly how to get the attention of different types of customers.
Upselling
It makes sense to look for more opportunities to make sales when you already have someone buying something from you. They already trust you, have demonstrated that they’re willing to spend money, and you already have an insight into the state of their HVAC system. This provides you with an excellent opportunity to upsell.
To achieve this successfully, your team is going to need to be very observant. If they are working on radiators and notice that the boiler in the home is in bad condition, they could offer to service it. When they are working on ventilation, but spot that the air conditioning unit needs a top up, they could offer to handle it there and then.
It can take a lot of confidence to jump on sales opportunities like this, though a lot of customers will be left feeling happier when you go down this route. As they’re already spending money, forking out a little bit more won’t feel like much, and they will be left happy knowing that their HVAC technician is looking out for them.
No Needless Sales
It can be easy to take advantage of your customers when they don’t really understand the products they’re buying. A lot of companies do this, though it isn’t good practice and can leave you struggling to make any sales at all in the end.
If one of your team members installed a new boiler with expensive features which will never be used, for example, someone could easily notice this, and would be right to look for a way to complain. Needless sales will often result in bad reviews, along with customers demanding their money back when they realise that they’ve been sold something they don’t need.
Confidence Sells
You can find a lot of articles around the web which talk about confidence in the world of sales. It can be easy to think that this element of sales isn’t important, though customers will often notice when someone isn’t confident in the items they’re trying to sell. Of course, it also helps for your technicians to be confident in themselves.
One of the best ways to make people feel more confident in the products they’re selling is by giving them a chance to use them. While you won’t be able to afford to give your expensive products away for free, you can certainly subsidise them, or at least provide demonstrations which they will have the chance to see.
It can be impossible to feel confident without the right kind of support around you. You should let your technicians know when they’ve done things well, ensuring that everyone on the team knows that they are great at their jobs. Even when no sales are made, your team should be praised when they make the effort and to make more money.
Targets & Pressure
Unfortunately, sales is quite an unpleasant job to have, and many people will only do it when they absolutely have to. Having targets in place can provide the right amount of pressure to push people to do better in this area. Of course, though, you can’t let this dominate their whole job.
Any targets you decide to hand out should be directly related to the performance of each individual. Not everyone will be able to have success, and giving people goals which are unachievable will only serve to hurt their motivation. If someone is able to make four sales in a month, you can set the bar at six, giving them something to reach for without making them feel like their failing.
Sales will always be crucial to your business, and you will need a constant stream of new purchases to keep your HVAC company alive. Thankfully, this is a market which just about everyone needs to buy into, with each and every property having some element of an HVAC system, and many having a lot more.
Of course, though, the presence of customers is rarely enough to make a sale on its own. Instead, your technicians need to do everything they can to sell your products, and teaching them how to achieve this goal can often be a challenge.