Nailing the HVAC Sales Process: Philosophies Behind Offering Multiple Options

An HVAC contractor in Wyoming asked:

I did over $2 million in sales last year and have never really offered multiple options. What are the philosophies you can share about offering of good, better and best options?

EGIA faculty member Weldon Long opened the conversation by explaining that by not offering options during the HVAC sales process, you are limiting a customer’s choices to either what you are offering, or nothing at all. “A choice of one is a choice of none,” said Long.

“You’re not giving them options, you’re giving them ultimatums,” he continued. “But the fact that you’ve had some level of success suggests that you’re helping people discover what is the right choice for them.”

Alongside Long, Drew Cameron jumped in to explain that how detrimental it is for people to be unwilling to go outside the bounds of one’s own imagination, while complimenting the questioner for continuing to seek knowledge despite 15 years of prior experience. “If I just limit myself to what I know, what I think I know or what I encounter, that is very limiting.”

Cameron continued by referencing studies from Harvard and Notre Dame that concluded that by offering customers choices, they were more likely to close a deal of some size rather than no deal at all.

“Humans like to be given choices, they want to preserve their right to choose. They want to feel empowered and have the control to do so,” said Cameron.

Fellow CU faculty Gary Elekes also chimed in, explaining that at the end of the day, consumers can’t go with sales people to the storehouse and see all of their options during the HVAC sales process, so they need to be explained to them instead during the discovery process.

“While we can discover that, we are also superimposing our own personal biases on those no matter what,” said Elekes. “So, we try to structure our sales process to eliminate that bias as much as possible.”

Our faculty members have also answered questions on other topics related to sales in the contracting world, including Roleplaying the Sales Cycle and Increasing Your Closing Ratio.

Hear more from our “Ask The Experts” faculty members on “Cracking The Code,” our weekly web series.

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