How to Put Pressure on a Prospect
October 20, 2008 – 3:10 pmToday I received this great email question from a window cleaner out in Dublin:
“Hi Kevin,
I’ve ordered your book already and cant wait to get it, but I just have a quick question for you. I recently priced the window cleaning on a block of apartments, here in Dublin, for a property management company.
I e-mailed them the price and they e-mailed back saying that they were happy with it and said they would be in contact with me “tomorrow”, which was about two weeks ago!
I don’t want to seem desperate or pushy with them, but how do i go about contacting them to see if they want to go ahead with the work and if they are happy with the price etc? Do I simply call them or e-mail them? And if so, what do I say to “seal the deal”?
Cheers Kevin.
R______ W________”
Great question, isn’t it?
Well – what would YOU do?
Here’s part of what I suggested:
“Congrats, R_______.
When you said you ‘emailed’ them the price, what exactly was the message that you sent them?
I email estimates too, but I prepare them to be kind of ‘over-the-top’ intentionally. Generally, I send a one-page PDF estimate as an attachment, and also throw it onto my web server, so that I can give them a “live” link to the same estimate online. This approach always goes over well. Keep it in mind for your next estimate!
Back to your question:
“Good afternoon, Mr ________, this is R______ W______ calling from ____________ , here in Dublin (?). How are you?”
(allow for response)
“I figured things would be hectic on your end, so I had written myself a reminder note a couple of weeks ago, promising to give you a quick shout today to firm up a specific date for your apartment’s window cleaning service, like we promised.
How does next Tuesday, October the 28th, sound? Our crew will arrive around 8 am, and we should be completed everything by ____ pm.
Shall I schedule you in for 8am?”
(allow for response, and go from there!)
Subtle, firm, and friendly.Something like that should do the trick, and it doesn’t sounds needy or pushy, just professional.
Hope that helps!
Kevin”
Learning how to follow up on prospects is an important part of leveraging the maximum results from your estimate process. Sit straight up or even stand when you make the phone call, to project your voice with more authority and confidence, and don’t forget to smile when you talk. If appropriate, send an email follow up to the phone call, to remind them of what was discussed, or what you left them on their phone message, if they didn’t pick up.
And if you hear in their voice that they’re starting to waver a bit in their decision to hire you, ask them if something has come up that has made their decision to hire you a challenge now, and go from there.
Try not to assume that you know what the obstacle is, and instead listen carefully with the goal of fully understanding their unique problem, and then propose a solution that will address and solve it head-on.
I’ve made the mistake in the past of jumping in and blurting out a deep price discount, only to find out that they simply needed to reschedule because of family illness, and then I was stuck. I had thrown money down the drain for nothing.
So never assume. Listen carefully, instead, sympathize, and then offer your best solution to make their lives easier. After all, thats why they wanted to work with you in the first place, right?
Wanna learn more about how to effectively and lucratively market your window cleaning company?
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