I talked with a comfort advisor today who finished October at $140,000. Nice. It gets better. September was $150,000 and August was $120,000. Fluke? Anomaly? Freak occurrence?

Not likely. So I asked.

This guy’s not the “hard closer” type although he does ask, and ask again. And he’s pretty good at objection handling. His overall closing rate just under 40% which is a solid but not off-the-charts number. And his first-call close rate, which means out of the jobs he does get, the percentage that are on the first call, is only 20%. That means that he sells 4-out-of-10 leads and that just less than one of those four buys on the first call. So his success can’t be because he’s using high-pressure tactics.

So what’s he doing?

These days, he say, it’s all in the numbers. He follows the basics by having a nice little “meet and greet” chat and then invites them to walk the house to take measurements. He asks a lot of questions and takes notes on what they say. Later, at the kitchen table, he writes up three “system” choices with the “best” on being the one that qualifies for the Federal Tax Credits and some local utility rebates. The “better” choice is a step down from that that does not qualify and the “good” is his best shot at being competitive with the price-shoppers.

You can probably guess what happens. When given three choices most people are inclined toward the middle one. However in this case the top choice, after credits and rebates are deducted, comes so close to the middle choice that for most people it’s a no-brainer to go with the best system.

He says that since he takes the time to write this out and explain it to customers he feels they appreciate it and it gives him an edge.

As I was talking to him on the phone he was on his way to check in on a job that was installed last week. Made me smile. This is a guy who sees the sale as the beginning of a long-term relationship, not just a means to a sale commission. But then that’s another story…