Increasing Sales

by speedier response

By Jeff Stokes

How many of you expect while in the drive-through at McDonalds to be told, Could you please pull forward and we will bring the food out to you?" The answer is none of you. But for several years, fast-food chains actually had a space reserved for you to sit in and they would run the food out to you.

Why don't you see this much anymore? Because consumers hated it. They didn't expect to pull forward and wait. They came to a fast food restaurant to get their food, well, fast.

When a contractor tells me he needs more sales, my first question is always."What is your current cycle time for your sales process?" After they tell me they don't make calls riding on a Harley (actually heard this one once), most admit they don't know.

If you want to increase sales, you must decrease your cycle time, As market leaders in all industries have proven, speed kills - other competition, that is.

While many factors affect sales, achieving speedier delivery of estimates is the best single way to increase sales. As a commercial contractor, I aimed for 48 hours turnaround from call to estimate. We consistently were under this number and over 40% of our bids averaged under 24 hours. This speedy delivery resulted in a much higher acceptance rate than when we didn't have a standard.

Here are slightly more than 10 guidelines to help you to turn estimates faster and increase sales.

1.Set a goal for cycle time. As simple as this sounds, the goal should be the driving factor in forcing better customer service, scheduling of estimates, job costing and estimating abilities.

2.Measure the goal on a weekly basis and post results. Talk about cycle time with staff and help them see how critical this is and how they can contribute.

3.Develop an estimating system that is user friendly for both the estimator and administrative assistants. On simpler jobs, estimators can measure the quantities and then hand the task over to an assistant to finish preparing the estimate, for example.

4.Assign someone in your office to group prospect appointments together and make an efficient route for estimators. Rely on phone or pager to reach estimators when another prospect in the same area of town calls in.

5. Know your costs for routine and simpler products and services you offer. You shouldn't have to perform a lengthy process for bid development on these items. This will require having a database with job costs, something small contractors often lack.

6. When dealing with residential or smaller jobs that can be estimated quickly, use a pre-printed contract form. Don't lose the opportunity to close a sale (especially true for residential work).

7. Engage today's technology. Equip your estimators with lap-tops and portable printers so the estimates on simpler jobs can be printed within minutes of developing the take-off numbers.

8. Fax or e-mail the proposal - you're contacting the client immediately. A formal contract might not be needed,

9. Have a courier in town hand deliver the contract. For larger projects; that require documentation that is too lengthy to be faxed, a $9 to $12 delivery fee is much less than an estimator driving across town. It also looks impressive.

10. Generate your estimates by computer. Developing all estimates by hand is at least 4O% slower and frankly is unprofessional in this day and age. Have pre-printed paragraphs and task descriptions that can be integrated or attached in your proposal.

11 Double check the correct spelling, address and title of the prospect. Don't allow your mail to wander around a large company or be undeliverable.

Knowing these rules isn't enough: You must commit to implementing as many as you can, Fast Cycle time reassures the client that you have effective systems and processes to meet his needs, and you will increase your sales and improve your image. Speed on!

Jeff Stokes is a principal of Pinnacle Performance Group, a national consulting and training firm that enables contractors to become more profitable. For personal assistance on how to increase your speed, e-mail to jeff@pinnac1e-performance.com or call 1-800-345-3098.