HVAC Sales Tips: Approaching Follow-Up Calls

An HVAC Contractor in Iowa asked:

Are there any HVAC sales tips that you can recommend to maximize follow-up calls?

EGIA faculty member Weldon Long began his answer by backing up to the beginning of the sales procees.

“one of the things that’s really important early on is doing what we call an intention statement,” said Long. “‘Mr. and Mrs. Homeowner, if I design the right system for you tonight, within your budget, is there any reason you couldn’t let me know today whether or not we’re a good fit?'”

Long reasons that the most important thing is making sure that the homeowner is the one who can make a decision that day, and that both a “yes” or a “no” answer is fine for a single sales call.

“The only answer I’m really worried about is the ‘I don’t know, let me think about it and I’ll call you next Tuesday,'” said Long.

Long also says that there are many reasons that a homeowner may give for not being able to make a decision, but that all of those answers should queue the sales representative to instead end the appointment because there is no opportunity to close. Instead, Long says, schedule a follow-up while still face-to-face with the customer, making sure that all decisionmakers will be present at that follow-up.

“Then when I come back, I’m going to give the meat of my presentation, why I’m such a great company and present pricing options and that type of thing,” said Long.

Long also said that many of the successful follow-up models that he has seen featured someone else making the follow-up call instead of the original sales person. Instead, it would be ideally be someone else in the office with the power to give discounts or a special offer in order to close the sale.

Weldon Long is a renowned sales expert and New York Times bestselling author. He has has been featured on numerous national and regional television programs, including Fox News Network, First Business Network and Chicago’s own WGN.

Our faculty members have also answered questions on other topics related to sales in the contracting world, including Customer Objections Over Price and Who is Answering the Phone.

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

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