Talkin' Paint Podcast #5 - You Suck At Selling

(00:00) Welcome to Talking Paint the podcast supporting the auto detailing and autofilm Industry my name is Gabe Fletcher owner operator of Ceramic Pro Pottstown and founder of the industry marketing and Consulting agency Detailing Growth. Let’s talk about why you suck at selling and your mindset around selling is broken I recently saw a social media post the difference between you doubling your monthly sales and staying stagnant is one little tweak in your sales process this post got me thinking about the sales process and how the small

(00:36) things sometimes make a big difference I hear all the time from detailers and Shop owners my close rate is over 50% or you bring the leads I’ll close them but then they come up with excuses like that guy wasn’t qualified or they were too cheap this is strictly a cop out they expect each person to be a laydown you think you’re the best salesperson around but the harsh truth is that your close rate is subpar and you’re still stuck in your old ways maybe it’s laziness or a lack of understanding about today’s

(01:14) buyer but whatever the reason it’s time to start looking for better strategies and tactics when it comes to selling this takes more than just answering the phone and offering the best products and a price relationships matter your potential customers need incentives to buy from you not just a fancy shop you need to have an entire system let me explain why sometimes it takes people a minute to see the value that’s why investing in your educational content and automatic follow-up marketing is the biggest

(01:52) oversight that you will make in 2023 the buyer isn’t always ready to convert but they can with some gentle nudges that’s a big deal difference so take this advice ditch the excuses if people aren’t interested or that customer didn’t have enough money instead start building relationships and providing value potential clients will be more likely to trust you and choose your services over everyone else it won’t happen overnight but your close rate will eventually double are leads always the best of course

(02:25) not but I bet if you take a step back and stop thinking that you are the best salesperson in the world you’ll figure it out it’s not always about selling your most expensive service or even selling someone on the first touch Point what are you doing to nurture that client what are you doing to provide value what are you doing to separate yourself from the competition I’m sorry but being number one offering the best products and having a fancy shop isn’t going to be enough don’t give me wrong

(02:54) it helps but in today’s world the buyer is skeptical of anything you have to say sometimes times it can take months to convert a client if you don’t have a big picture follow-up plan in place you’re going to lose who is to say how many people have vehicles on order but we’re too busy to talk to you when they opted in I had a prospect that I spoke to a week ago he had a 2023 Corvette C8 he was a referral from another very happy client I sent him a full proposal we spoke on on the phone he asked for the

(03:32) weekend to think about it when I spoke to him on Friday I waited until the end of the day when he would be driving home I remember him mentioning traveling and he would be getting home late on Monday I had him on the hook for $10,000 in work I tried reaching him on that Monday no answer tried Tuesday again I gave him Wednesday and Thursday and hit him again that Friday nothing I let him have the following weekend and I hit him up this morning he spoke to me and told me he was uneasy with spending that amount of

(04:08) money I understood so we got him on the books for a slightly lower package at the end of the call he thanked me profusely for being patient I made sure he knew it was a no pressure situation and I put together a package that fit his budget and he was ecstatic about it this is just one example of how a small tweak in the sales process made all the difference when you take the time to nurture that relationship and provide value and not rush people off the phone you can often get that sale more easily than if you had pushed hard for it right

(04:45) away building relationships with customers is critical to success in this industry start building relationships and impacting the potential customer decision-making process I know you don’t want to waste time with every jackwagon and asking how much when your pricing is clearly stated on your website start providing the best damn experience from that initial text or phone call business will only get more competitive and it’s time to change your approach I don’t care if someone only sends you one word

(05:19) messages like price when you take the time to build relationships you’ll find that your potential customers are more likely to trust you more likely to value your service or product and more likely to become loyal to your business that means learning about them asking about what they do and where they are located find a reason to be personally connected again I’m not saying that every potential lead will become a customer but when you take the time to build relationships you’ll find that your close rate goes up and you’ll see the

(05:53) results in your monthly sales building relationships with clients so that understanding their needs needs and providing them with a custom solution is easier by taking the time to get to know your potential clients you identify the common interest you have and offer them a solution thank you so much for listening I’m sure that this episode sounded a little weird that’s because I used an AI voice cloning software let me know what you thought of it until next time keep pushing and be relentless in your pursuit of doing better