Why Nobody Buys From You When You Are the Right Choice [And What You Can Do About It]

Everyone knows the feeling.

Whether it’s a job interview, a competition, or a sale. You know that you’re the right person and that you can do the job, but for whatever reason, you just don’t get picked.

I see this in the home service industry all the time. There are companies that I know and that do good work, but they just aren’t closing on projects even though they’re clearly the right choice.

So, why is that?

Let’s take a look at why nobody is buying from you when you’re clearly the right choice and, more importantly, what you can do about it.

• Budget Expectations Were Unrealistic

  There’s nothing more frustrating than going through the entire process with a customer, only to find out before you make the sale that their budget expectations were way off the number that you’re offering.

  Although that’s partly their fault, a lot of that blame falls on you as well. If you aren’t open about your prices and don’t have them available anywhere, how could someone have an idea of what their project is going to cost?

  So, there are two good ways that you can keep this from happening.

  First, you should be pre-qualifying your leads over the phone before you go any further in the process. In your phone call, consider the following questions:

  • Is there a need? Unfortunately, not every prospect that gets in contact with you has an immediate need for your service. Sometimes, they’re simply curious about having a project done or are just calling around different companies to see what they have to say. Clear that up before you pursue them.
  • Do they have the budget? Even if the prospects show that they have a need for your service immediately, it doesn’t necessarily mean that they have the budget to work with your company on the project. It’s important for you to find how much money they’re willing to spend to see if that aligns with your company.
  • Is it the right time? Sometimes, people start making calls way in advance of when they actually want their project done. Generally, the farther out that they’re calling, the less likely it is that they’ll use your company.

  The second way to help people better understand your price range is to discuss your prices in the content that you put out. Since it’s difficult to have pricing options online due to every project being different, having prices in your content will give people a better idea of what to expect. If they see that a project less complex than theirs was more expensive than their budget, they’ll know that they likely can’t afford to use your company.

• You Aren’t Involving All Decision Makers

  One of the most common bargaining techniques (or excuses) that people like to use in the sales process is that they have to speak with their spouse or another decision maker before making their decision.

  So, you have to find a way around that.

  For me, I like to try to set up a time to come out for an estimate when both decision makers are available. I’ll ask the client for the best time to come when both people are there so that I don’t get the runaround.

  I’ve also known people who go with a harder close technique than I use that would refuse to meet with anyone if their spouse or the other decision maker couldn’t be present at the estimate.

  While that works for some people, I won’t just leave an estimate because the person’s spouse didn’t show up when they said that they would. Instead, I try to find a way to invite myself back out at a time when both decision makers will be available.

• They Haven’t Seen Proof of Your Service

  When someone is spending a couple of thousand dollars (or more), they want to ensure that they’re giving their money to someone that they can trust.

  If they haven’t seen any proof of your service, they aren’t going to trust you.

  The single best way to gain trust with your customers is to have several reviews of your service available online. If they’re online and your prospect hasn’t seen them, show them or tell them about your reviews.

  At the end of every project, you should be asking your client to review you.

  Second, show them pictures of your past projects. People want to see that you’ve worked successfully on projects similar to theirs, so it’s important that you can show them some professional photos.

• They Think They’ll Get Similar Service From a Lower Bidder

  People have been conditioned to always get at least three bids on their project.

  Usually, they’re looking for the best combination of price and value that they can find. Often, this means that they’ll go with a lower bidder than you because they think that they’ll get the same level of service that you provide.

  However, you can ask them who they’ve gotten bids from thus far.

  When you find out who those companies are, you can decide if you can compete with them. While sometimes you won’t be able to beat another company’s bid because they do provide good service, there will be plenty of times when you can dissect another company’s bid.

  If they have bad reviews online, you can show the customer your reviews against the other company’s reviews. Also, you can talk about how your service differs from your competitor.

• You’re Not Closing Properly

  Yes closing.  The sleazy word that is generally associated with salesman.  Lets get real though, if you aren’t closing you’re just playing consultant.  A low paid consultant.  I’ve seen many people do this time and time again.

  Now I don’t mean you need to play hard sell games, but you do need to effectively get signatures and deposits.  How do you do that with without the hard sell games?   You need to take down the customers barrier and then ask for the sale.

  Most contractors or amateur salesman scratch the final price out on paper, and then wait for the customers response.  From there they either try to fight upstream against objects, or shake hands, walkaway and hope for a call back later.  Both of those options are horribly ineffective.

  Once your customer gets hit with a price, the natural defense is to say “no”.  They don’t want to feel like they just gave in bought.  At that point you need to take down the barrier, and then come back to closing the deal.  I suggest reading more on my closing process here.

Conclusion

Not being able to make a sale when you know that you offer excellent service is extremely frustrating.

However, being able to make a sale is so much more than just providing excellent service.

There are several reasons as to why people may not be selecting your company, so it’s up to you to figure out the root of the problem.

What I shared are some of the most common mistakes that I see other companies make, but there are certainly others.

What are some of the ways that your company overcame slow sales? Let me know in the comments section