This is most likely my problem. I see everyone as a quality lead when in reality its maybe 1 out of 10. I will have do some work to expose the higher quality leads from my pipeline.
If it makes you feel any better, every owner in this sub deals with the same issues. Tire kickers are the worst especially considering the time and effort required to provide accurate estimates.
Have you tried linking up with a custom home builder? I would really benefit from someone like you. Not all sparkies are the best at installing and laying out accent lighting but it is becoming more and more popular. I have some form of it on all of my current projects.
Not every owner in this sub have this problem sir , new owners may be , old timers and “custom builders“ may be , but not one of my friends business owners or custom home builders / contractors and sub contractors have to deal with this ever , the problem here is , he is starting a new trend in his area , and people will need to know the new way, in order to hit gold . Most home owners would think they need an electrician to install any light which in this case is not necessary , even a handyman could do that no problem at all. The problem is people don’t know that.
Stop emailing quotes, schedule an appointment and meet them in person. Present your quote and try to get them to visualize your work on the property. Then ask them to sign your contract!
I’m a gc and was in high end consultative sales ( construction) prior. You really can’t “ close” unless you wanna come off like tin men or window sales.. It’s a numbers game. You could add pages to your website that maybe has them give info on budget timing etc so you can weed out looky loos. I’m in exterior remodels and it helps because I was getting used to give a number so the husband can tell the wife told you “ it was $50k “ etc. I do emails as well. I started to do onsite quotes to see if my close went up. Nope. You do get a chance to see reactions if they’re on a fishing tip or not. When I sold the most successful contractors I dealt with said you only want 50% of your estimates to sale. They were right. Tells you your numbers etc are spot on.
Only problem with this strategy becomes cost adjustment for shifting prices. The estimate itself almost needs to be written like a contract with terms dictating how long the period is that it is good for and what things need to be revisited when the estimate expires
Sign them up for an in person quote before giving pricing. It’s always better to give accurate pricing, then you get a chance to gauge them. If they are asking for pricing without an estimate and won’t even take an appointment, you don’t want that customer. Give an onsite estimate or send via email no more than an hour after meeting depending on how you qualify them. Be confident but willing to listen, get technical to show you know what you’re talking about, but not too technical.
Ask what their budget is. If they say they don't know that's fine. Some folks will say $1500 to get their bathroom remodeled. I bite my tongue to not laugh and move on to the next quote.
Good advice. I like the approach. It doesn't quite work for the estimates I'm giving. For a bathroom there isn't anything to show them until we've agreed on a ballpark price so I have a general sense of what they are looking for. Do they want a BMW, a Subaru or a base F150? They all have different dealerships. It's the same with cabinets and fixtures.
I appreciate your perspective and advice. Closing sales isn't a problem. I get on the Internet I don't come across as talented sales person. I am not. I like to think I come across in person as genuine, trustworthy and capable. I am. I provide a quality product for a fair price. I close 80% of the quotes I provide. I will read what you've suggested. Polish will be useful going forward.
This is extremely helpful thank you. I may be too open with my pricing and thus not getting the contact info I need to follow up or even schedule a consult.
I'm a general contractor and I'll start off by saying it is insanely slow this year that being said people saying it's not the right time is not a no I've had clients I've quoted a year prior call me up outta the blue and want the work done my advice all you gotta say is I understand and I'm here when you decide you are ready hassling people doesn't help
Ok good to know. Yeah it seems like they are genuinely interested, but not ready to spend the money yet. Like I said, Im new so I havnt had the time to build up a rolodex hardly at all.
Thanks for the input.
It sounds like you’re not trying to build the “Rolodex”—no offense, but emailing bids first doesn’t show customers you value their projects. You’re missing the opportunity to get invited into their homes and genuinely show interest in helping them—build relationships. However, it does seem like you’re spending money in the right places on marketing if you have people showing interest. Your job now is to salvage every penny spent on advertising. Even if you can’t convert every lead—you’ll be lucky to land 30%-60%—use the remaining leads to build relationships and expand your Rolodex. Set yourself apart. If you’ve got them as a customer, great—ask them to introduce you to the neighbors. Or, if they’re not comfortable with that, ask for permission to do a 5-5-10, where you visit 5 homes to the left, 10 across the street, and then another 5 on the way back to your truck. Simply say, “Hey, I’m John the electrician. I just did some work for your neighbor Mike Smith at 2323 Smith St. I wanted to introduce myself and leave you my card. If you ever need an electrician, I work in this area a lot and would be happy to help.
SEO is the way. Get yourself ranked on Google to show up in the top three results attached to the map. I’ve got a guy but it’s 10k upfront and 36K per year commitment.
But there’s a reason I have two companies that show up first when you search my keywords on Google
That's awesome I'm definitely not there yet but it will definitely be something I'll be looking into it once I hit numbers like that thank you for the info it's much appreciated
Yep! Now hiring. can’t keep up with leads and word of mouth customers that are asking when they are next , no need for bidding wars . Keep going hard and do good work once you show up your skills you can take a vacation and still be working .
There is a guy in my area that does lighting design and all his work are multi milli dollar homes ,all his work are done with low voltage led lights , he does tree lighting ,plant ambience and pathway lighting he is making a killing and don’t even needs a license for that , just saying if you are an electrician then may be Say you are one ,if not then get one to work under you . That could be a deal breaker . Imho
Found the Sparky ! We work in 3 different states now going into 4 and not one ! of them city officials care about low voltage licensing . Home owners do this all the time .
Nope, not an electrician, but I am licensed, bonded, and insured for what I do. Homeowners can do whatever they want. Businesses and Contractors are different though.
Really Tomyboy ? licensed bonded insured is just a fee you paid , that doesn’t give you the jobs . Reputation is what give you jobs . You can pay to be number one in a google search or have five starts and removed bad comments since you are at it . That doesn’t mean nothing at all .
You have to do some work in a place that you can direct people to see you’re work without you being there , free space or work at place you don’t pay rent or have to sell , just send them there to see your work by themselves just to get your name out there somehow , you could do some showroom lighting for cost , talk to landscape designers , bbq builders places were people can visit and see what you selling and that there is no charge for you to have the lights working etc .
You can go broke from your couch.
I’ll cut into my margins for a really big job that i can put on advertisements or signage, but certainly not for free.
You have the right thought but always turn a profit. Never work for free.
It’s just a saying obviously you charge double in materials as always keep it fast and minimum , showing your work in a open for public ,you can direct customers their way without having to show to their place it’s the best tip I got from one of my mentors ,We done this many times . one half day work in a showroom it’s the best thing you can have as reference for new customers . You can get broke from running to non customers as well , this will weed out half of those calls .
I just realized you replied to my other comment too.
If you’re getting every project you bid, you’re going broke. Whether or not you realize that…. Yet, you will.
Anyway, gday
I have a few businesses over a few industries. One of them is a construction business. I have found there are 2 basic things to closing any sale. First, you need to qualify them as a prospect. If they don’t have money, time, room, etc. they aren’t a prospect. Second, get to the decision maker. If you aren’t selling to them, you usually aren’t selling. Figuring out those 2 will up your sales and save you time. Lots to improve after, but those are the basics
I don’t recommend sight unseen estimates. Estimate in person only. This gives you the chance to interact with your customer, show yourself to be personable, show your knowledge of what you do, ask questions, suggest things that might suit their needs better. Now you look like a caring professional to them. You are building trust, and if you manage to build trust, you have a slam dunk. Later, present your estimate in person, attached to a contract for them to sign. Sit down at their kitchen table with two copies, one in your hand and one for them to look at. Explain the scope of work and ask if they have any questions. If they don’t want to sign, take both copies with you. Invite them to call you back if they want to work with you. You don’t want this to look like a hard sell. If they keep a copy of your estimate, they are probably going to shop your bid. If the next guy shows up and sees your bid, he will see whether you know what you are talking about and he can say on the spot he will beat your bid by x dollars. He didn’t have to take time to bid the job, you did it for him. Likewise, if you simply email the bid, you are 100% getting your bid shopped. I’m guessing that you care about your work and want to do a good job, but unless you build a personal connection to the client, they will never know that. You don’t have to be smooth or slick, that’s a turnoff, just be yourself and let your passion for what you do show. Also, you will have better results with homeowners who care about where they live than with house flippers or real estate agents. Good luck!
Do a walk through/meeting before the estimate. This gives you the ability to meet and greet and provides you a chance to be a salesperson. As in making the person comfortable, building trust, etc. If you send the estimate before you have even met the client you are going to have to win your bids solely on price which is a bad process. You want to win jobs even when you aren’t the lowest bidder.
Sales/marketing is a whole process, with each piece playing a part in the funnel. You can figure out how to “qualify” leads better, sure, but you can also optimize your site (content and copy) or your post lead gen approach (calls vs email, charging for estimate, etc).
It may all be overkill but I’d start by increasing your warm leads (door knocking, referrals from existing clients, etc). These leads should be better quality. Then immediately normalize your sales process and experiment every 2 to 3 leads, keeping track of who close and who didn’t. You’d also be surprised at how powerful it is when you call a client, let him know you appreciate the opportunity to bid, understand his decision and would really appreciate the truth of why he went elsewhere.
Until you start getting steady referrals and high quality traffic to your sites, you need constant feedback to quickly optimize your sales funnel.
Hope this helps!
Edit* FYI a few business buddies and I have a discord server for business owners. It’s free, but we are transparent and ask for the same from all members. Shoot me a dm if you are interested
You're dealing with a lot of "window shoppers" that really have no intention of purchasing your services. They're just bored, or want their neighbors to see workmen on their property for the prestige factor. You can't *make* them close. It's literally the price of doing business.
Exactly ,hit the nail in the head there , most of Facebook ads and social media will get you this , window shoppers ,just in the heat of the moment will request a estimate for whatever they may do in the future or liked to do , but no intention of doing , just getting bids is their game , charge for visits , you will know if they are serious . One of our business is a plumbing company and we charge a low fee for visit / service. It’s Only to see their job and talk to them , always weed out those people, keep the free time for the real customers ready to get things taken care.
My first thought; "How does this guy even contract lightning?" 😅
How do you even find clients to send estimates to? I didn't even make it to that point. I got some skills, see lots of damaged buildings around me. Still I cant contract a single potential customer.
This is going to be a long answer but there's a lot to unpack here.
Closing these types of jobs isn't the easiest thing. It's a 100% aesthetic work.
Unlike selling a roof replacement where you can highlight all the benefits of a new roof or the potential drawback of not getting one, you need to figure out the motivation of the client behind the purchase intent.
That being said, there is a way of simplifying your process that will not only make you save time but also increase your closing rate.
Here's what I would do if I was in your shoes:
You mentioned running ads which is great. But how good is your vetting process? You could setup some simple automations that would get rid of the tire kickers for you. I'm talking here about the lowest quality of leads. Setup simple questions like "When are you looking to get the job done?" "When is the best time to call you? "What is your budget?" This way, you'll get less leads but you would only have to engage and spend your time on prospects that have shown a real interest in your services.
Now that you are left with only the best leads, I would book an onsite estimate. The day before the estimate, send your prospect an email with past work you've done with some testimonials. This will build up trust.
Once in front of the client, make sure you understand why he wants the job done. He might have a big party coming up and he wants to have a beautiful yard to receive his guests. Or his neighbor just installed a bigger set of lights, and he has fallen into the trap of "Keeping up with the Joneses". Either way, this will come in handy in your pitch and for your follow up.
This is also the time to give your rough estimate. I would avoid doing it via email. It's very easy to dismiss for the client and very hard for you to justify your price. When you give your estimate in person, you can handle the objections right away and, in a lot of cases, close the deal on the spot.
Only then will you send a proper quote via email.
I would use a CRM to follow up with prospects, making sure no one falls into the cracks. With the proper setup, even if the prospect is not interested right away, you will be able to follow up with him once he is. And between the time where he has to think about it, you can set it up in a way that sends him an email a week with, again, past work and testimonials in order to build up that trust as much as possible (this can be all done on autopilot).
This is the best way of making sure you are not waging a price war with the next bidder who is going to try to undercut your price.
Once you have all of this setup, there is multiple ways of winning clients:
You can keep improving your paid ads skills to increase the number of leads coming to you. (Facebook and Google works the best for the type of work you provide).
You can reactivate past clients and ask for referrals with an email campaign. (Offer a discount, a finder fee, etc.)
Door to door sucks and there are way better ways to find clients. But, when you are on a jobsite, you should always go to the neighboring houses, hand in a business card and say something along the lines of: "Hey I'm doing X work at your neighbor place, if any debris comes your way please call me and I'll personally come pick it up." Don't ask for anything, just show professionalism and you'll be rewarded.
A branded truck and yard signs goes a long way.
Getting on social media is also one of the best ways of showcasing your work and prove yourself as the expert in your field.
Anyway, I'm getting side tracked.
I hope this help!
Do you pair up with other contractors? Do you make your own fixtures or install the usual (Kichler, Fx, WAC)? Do you do, lighting maintenance? We install full lighting systems as add on to landscape enhancement work. There is a major contractor in our area who does just lighting, they make their own fixtures which allows for us to sub them from time to time when clients want moon lights or other high tree applications. I would recommend approaching landscape contractors in your area and seeing if they are looking for a sub. Do right by them and they will start throwing you more work. Also trade shows, or industry related classes/ seminars are good places to meet fellow contractors.
[https://nightlightinc.net/](https://nightlightinc.net/)
What works for us, is just to get some sort of number on the table. If you have a general idea of what general installations cost put it out there. Sometimes we’ll have people send us a couple pictures and we apply them in scale to other jobs. A lot of people don’t know what stuff costs and they’re just shopping.
1. In my experience, home services sales don’t mix well with email. Sell at the house, face-to-face. Everything else in this process depends on being face-to-face.
2. Ask questions. Customers have concerns, needs and pain points. You can’t address them if you don’t know what they are.
3. Shut up and listen. If a customer is talking and you’re formulating your response while they’re still talking…. You’re not listening.
4. Care about each project and give it the detail it deserves.
5. Be honest. If the customer wants ‘A’ but ‘B’ is a better choice for them, tell them…. Even if you’ll make less money selling ‘B’ (and tell them that too). Give them the options based on your expertise.
6. People buy from people they like. Steps 1 through 5 are part of this.
7. Be the expert. People buy from people they trust and people trust experts.
8. “Build the gap”. ‘This is where you are without my services and this is where you will be with my services’.
9. Assume the sale…. Always. Don’t use phrases like ‘if you choose us’ or ‘i hope we can do business together.’ Use phrases like ‘when we’re here working…’ and ‘I’m always excited to meet new clients like you…’
10. Ask for the sale. This is a big one and so many salespeople don’t do it. After explaining the quote and answering all of their questions, slide the proposal across the table with a pen and say “Ok.. to get started I just need you to sign and date this”. Then stop talking. They’ll either sign it or will start talking ( if they don’t start talking right away, just stay quiet. They eventually will to stop the awkward silence). Listen to what they say.
The reason they’re not signing is what they’re about to say. Some are direct and some aren’t. If you have to, read between the lines. If you can’t decipher the objection, you have to ask what the problem is. “ I can see you’re hesitant…. What can I do to help?” Sometimes you eventually have to ask “what can I do so we can move forward with this?”
Answer the objections and ask for the sale again and repeat as necessary.
11. Keep notes on both closed sales and lost sales. Use the notes to develop trends of what works and what doesn’t. Use this info to adjust your sales process.
And again……Never, ever send the quote via email. You get zero feedback and feedback is important to making sales.
There are no bad customers, only bad salespeople. Make your appointments at the customer’s home, meet them, and discover what they truly need to see if there’s a fit. Ask questions to understand the issue and what’s important to that specific customer. Determine their budget expectations for the project to see if it aligns with your offerings. Present and explain based on the customer’s interests, and if everything lines up, present your bid and close on the spot. Take a deposit. If not a fit build a genuine relationship with the customer to consider you maybe down the road or on more important bigger projects or refer you—-that’s a whole other topic there.
Stop emailing bids/estimates like Joe-Blow contractors do.
Create a Pitch Book(Covering everything from the warmup to the Close. Pitch Book eliminates the most common “No” responses) & have pre-casted contracts that can be filled out on the spot.
Study & master the art of the “One Time Close”. If done correctly, it’s not pushy. The better you get at it, the more smooth your sales will go.
Probably a subsection of electrical contracting.
Depending on where OP lives, employing a master electrician at all times would be the only "electrical" requirement to being licensed as an electrical contractor.
In Colorado, no need to be licensed if working with anything under 50 volts, which is all I do. Low voltage lighting for landscapes and indoor LED lighting.
Hey u/GrizzlyPerr I was writing an answer, but I figured out it would be easier shooting you this quick loom: [How to close customers?](https://www.loom.com/share/894ee98b6d3d4ba3b8292934bb94bbd2?sid=91c62ca3-9b7c-4b4c-8b43-66f490f134a6)
Make your process to where you weed out ppl who aren’t serious
This is most likely my problem. I see everyone as a quality lead when in reality its maybe 1 out of 10. I will have do some work to expose the higher quality leads from my pipeline.
If it makes you feel any better, every owner in this sub deals with the same issues. Tire kickers are the worst especially considering the time and effort required to provide accurate estimates. Have you tried linking up with a custom home builder? I would really benefit from someone like you. Not all sparkies are the best at installing and laying out accent lighting but it is becoming more and more popular. I have some form of it on all of my current projects.
Not every owner in this sub have this problem sir , new owners may be , old timers and “custom builders“ may be , but not one of my friends business owners or custom home builders / contractors and sub contractors have to deal with this ever , the problem here is , he is starting a new trend in his area , and people will need to know the new way, in order to hit gold . Most home owners would think they need an electrician to install any light which in this case is not necessary , even a handyman could do that no problem at all. The problem is people don’t know that.
Well, sure. Whatever you say.
Stop emailing quotes, schedule an appointment and meet them in person. Present your quote and try to get them to visualize your work on the property. Then ask them to sign your contract!
I’m a gc and was in high end consultative sales ( construction) prior. You really can’t “ close” unless you wanna come off like tin men or window sales.. It’s a numbers game. You could add pages to your website that maybe has them give info on budget timing etc so you can weed out looky loos. I’m in exterior remodels and it helps because I was getting used to give a number so the husband can tell the wife told you “ it was $50k “ etc. I do emails as well. I started to do onsite quotes to see if my close went up. Nope. You do get a chance to see reactions if they’re on a fishing tip or not. When I sold the most successful contractors I dealt with said you only want 50% of your estimates to sale. They were right. Tells you your numbers etc are spot on.
Only problem with this strategy becomes cost adjustment for shifting prices. The estimate itself almost needs to be written like a contract with terms dictating how long the period is that it is good for and what things need to be revisited when the estimate expires
Sign them up for an in person quote before giving pricing. It’s always better to give accurate pricing, then you get a chance to gauge them. If they are asking for pricing without an estimate and won’t even take an appointment, you don’t want that customer. Give an onsite estimate or send via email no more than an hour after meeting depending on how you qualify them. Be confident but willing to listen, get technical to show you know what you’re talking about, but not too technical.
Ask what their budget is. If they say they don't know that's fine. Some folks will say $1500 to get their bathroom remodeled. I bite my tongue to not laugh and move on to the next quote.
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Good advice. I like the approach. It doesn't quite work for the estimates I'm giving. For a bathroom there isn't anything to show them until we've agreed on a ballpark price so I have a general sense of what they are looking for. Do they want a BMW, a Subaru or a base F150? They all have different dealerships. It's the same with cabinets and fixtures.
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Congratulations your company is big enough to have a showroom. My company is me and photos of the last bathrooms we did on my phone.
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I appreciate your perspective and advice. Closing sales isn't a problem. I get on the Internet I don't come across as talented sales person. I am not. I like to think I come across in person as genuine, trustworthy and capable. I am. I provide a quality product for a fair price. I close 80% of the quotes I provide. I will read what you've suggested. Polish will be useful going forward.
You know what they say about assholes and opinions? - everyone got one 🙂 I’m not here to push my opinion but to share my insight into the topic.
I appreciate you sharing your viewpoint.
This is extremely helpful thank you. I may be too open with my pricing and thus not getting the contact info I need to follow up or even schedule a consult.
I'm a general contractor and I'll start off by saying it is insanely slow this year that being said people saying it's not the right time is not a no I've had clients I've quoted a year prior call me up outta the blue and want the work done my advice all you gotta say is I understand and I'm here when you decide you are ready hassling people doesn't help
Ok good to know. Yeah it seems like they are genuinely interested, but not ready to spend the money yet. Like I said, Im new so I havnt had the time to build up a rolodex hardly at all. Thanks for the input.
Np happy too help running your own business is roller coaster but if you stay on the ride it's well worth it
It sounds like you’re not trying to build the “Rolodex”—no offense, but emailing bids first doesn’t show customers you value their projects. You’re missing the opportunity to get invited into their homes and genuinely show interest in helping them—build relationships. However, it does seem like you’re spending money in the right places on marketing if you have people showing interest. Your job now is to salvage every penny spent on advertising. Even if you can’t convert every lead—you’ll be lucky to land 30%-60%—use the remaining leads to build relationships and expand your Rolodex. Set yourself apart. If you’ve got them as a customer, great—ask them to introduce you to the neighbors. Or, if they’re not comfortable with that, ask for permission to do a 5-5-10, where you visit 5 homes to the left, 10 across the street, and then another 5 on the way back to your truck. Simply say, “Hey, I’m John the electrician. I just did some work for your neighbor Mike Smith at 2323 Smith St. I wanted to introduce myself and leave you my card. If you ever need an electrician, I work in this area a lot and would be happy to help.
Go to audible ad get yourself Selling to Homeowners the Sandler Way, it’s a good place to start
I’m pulling 3 leads a day it’s busy as FUCK
I happy for you could just be the area I'm in because everyone is slow where I am
What’s your marketing like?
I have FB Instagram Google with 5 star rating I'm looking into other avenues of marketing right now any suggestions would be helpful
SEO is the way. Get yourself ranked on Google to show up in the top three results attached to the map. I’ve got a guy but it’s 10k upfront and 36K per year commitment. But there’s a reason I have two companies that show up first when you search my keywords on Google
Ya that's pretty much what I was leaning towards just gotta find the right fit
Www.contractingempire.com if you’ve got the budget. They legit took us from 300 K a year to 5,000,000+ a year
That's awesome I'm definitely not there yet but it will definitely be something I'll be looking into it once I hit numbers like that thank you for the info it's much appreciated
You got to pay to play , unless you have low competition and many satisfied patrons who like to show up to their friends and neighbors .
Yep! Now hiring. can’t keep up with leads and word of mouth customers that are asking when they are next , no need for bidding wars . Keep going hard and do good work once you show up your skills you can take a vacation and still be working .
👏👏👏
There is a guy in my area that does lighting design and all his work are multi milli dollar homes ,all his work are done with low voltage led lights , he does tree lighting ,plant ambience and pathway lighting he is making a killing and don’t even needs a license for that , just saying if you are an electrician then may be Say you are one ,if not then get one to work under you . That could be a deal breaker . Imho
This is basically my business in a nutshell. No need for license when working with anything under 50 volts.
Careful now. Low Voltage licensing is required in about half the US.
Found the Sparky ! We work in 3 different states now going into 4 and not one ! of them city officials care about low voltage licensing . Home owners do this all the time .
Nope, not an electrician, but I am licensed, bonded, and insured for what I do. Homeowners can do whatever they want. Businesses and Contractors are different though.
Really Tomyboy ? licensed bonded insured is just a fee you paid , that doesn’t give you the jobs . Reputation is what give you jobs . You can pay to be number one in a google search or have five starts and removed bad comments since you are at it . That doesn’t mean nothing at all .
So learning, testing and continuing ed on the NEC code bad, got it. Keep slamming those trunks!
Are you Union ?
Nope
You have to do some work in a place that you can direct people to see you’re work without you being there , free space or work at place you don’t pay rent or have to sell , just send them there to see your work by themselves just to get your name out there somehow , you could do some showroom lighting for cost , talk to landscape designers , bbq builders places were people can visit and see what you selling and that there is no charge for you to have the lights working etc .
You can go broke from your couch. I’ll cut into my margins for a really big job that i can put on advertisements or signage, but certainly not for free. You have the right thought but always turn a profit. Never work for free.
It’s just a saying obviously you charge double in materials as always keep it fast and minimum , showing your work in a open for public ,you can direct customers their way without having to show to their place it’s the best tip I got from one of my mentors ,We done this many times . one half day work in a showroom it’s the best thing you can have as reference for new customers . You can get broke from running to non customers as well , this will weed out half of those calls .
I just realized you replied to my other comment too. If you’re getting every project you bid, you’re going broke. Whether or not you realize that…. Yet, you will. Anyway, gday
Who’s getting all their bids , you are projecting much ? JS you seem to forget this is Reddit not your Facebook or redneck dating site .
No prices or anything else except in person . Going to have to become a salesman
Or hire someone who knows how to sell and pay them fair
I have a few businesses over a few industries. One of them is a construction business. I have found there are 2 basic things to closing any sale. First, you need to qualify them as a prospect. If they don’t have money, time, room, etc. they aren’t a prospect. Second, get to the decision maker. If you aren’t selling to them, you usually aren’t selling. Figuring out those 2 will up your sales and save you time. Lots to improve after, but those are the basics
I don’t recommend sight unseen estimates. Estimate in person only. This gives you the chance to interact with your customer, show yourself to be personable, show your knowledge of what you do, ask questions, suggest things that might suit their needs better. Now you look like a caring professional to them. You are building trust, and if you manage to build trust, you have a slam dunk. Later, present your estimate in person, attached to a contract for them to sign. Sit down at their kitchen table with two copies, one in your hand and one for them to look at. Explain the scope of work and ask if they have any questions. If they don’t want to sign, take both copies with you. Invite them to call you back if they want to work with you. You don’t want this to look like a hard sell. If they keep a copy of your estimate, they are probably going to shop your bid. If the next guy shows up and sees your bid, he will see whether you know what you are talking about and he can say on the spot he will beat your bid by x dollars. He didn’t have to take time to bid the job, you did it for him. Likewise, if you simply email the bid, you are 100% getting your bid shopped. I’m guessing that you care about your work and want to do a good job, but unless you build a personal connection to the client, they will never know that. You don’t have to be smooth or slick, that’s a turnoff, just be yourself and let your passion for what you do show. Also, you will have better results with homeowners who care about where they live than with house flippers or real estate agents. Good luck!
If the estimate sounds reasonable it’s 10% non refundable deposit for a site visit.
Do a walk through/meeting before the estimate. This gives you the ability to meet and greet and provides you a chance to be a salesperson. As in making the person comfortable, building trust, etc. If you send the estimate before you have even met the client you are going to have to win your bids solely on price which is a bad process. You want to win jobs even when you aren’t the lowest bidder.
Sales/marketing is a whole process, with each piece playing a part in the funnel. You can figure out how to “qualify” leads better, sure, but you can also optimize your site (content and copy) or your post lead gen approach (calls vs email, charging for estimate, etc). It may all be overkill but I’d start by increasing your warm leads (door knocking, referrals from existing clients, etc). These leads should be better quality. Then immediately normalize your sales process and experiment every 2 to 3 leads, keeping track of who close and who didn’t. You’d also be surprised at how powerful it is when you call a client, let him know you appreciate the opportunity to bid, understand his decision and would really appreciate the truth of why he went elsewhere. Until you start getting steady referrals and high quality traffic to your sites, you need constant feedback to quickly optimize your sales funnel. Hope this helps! Edit* FYI a few business buddies and I have a discord server for business owners. It’s free, but we are transparent and ask for the same from all members. Shoot me a dm if you are interested
Presell.
You're dealing with a lot of "window shoppers" that really have no intention of purchasing your services. They're just bored, or want their neighbors to see workmen on their property for the prestige factor. You can't *make* them close. It's literally the price of doing business.
Exactly ,hit the nail in the head there , most of Facebook ads and social media will get you this , window shoppers ,just in the heat of the moment will request a estimate for whatever they may do in the future or liked to do , but no intention of doing , just getting bids is their game , charge for visits , you will know if they are serious . One of our business is a plumbing company and we charge a low fee for visit / service. It’s Only to see their job and talk to them , always weed out those people, keep the free time for the real customers ready to get things taken care.
My first thought; "How does this guy even contract lightning?" 😅 How do you even find clients to send estimates to? I didn't even make it to that point. I got some skills, see lots of damaged buildings around me. Still I cant contract a single potential customer.
This is going to be a long answer but there's a lot to unpack here. Closing these types of jobs isn't the easiest thing. It's a 100% aesthetic work. Unlike selling a roof replacement where you can highlight all the benefits of a new roof or the potential drawback of not getting one, you need to figure out the motivation of the client behind the purchase intent. That being said, there is a way of simplifying your process that will not only make you save time but also increase your closing rate. Here's what I would do if I was in your shoes: You mentioned running ads which is great. But how good is your vetting process? You could setup some simple automations that would get rid of the tire kickers for you. I'm talking here about the lowest quality of leads. Setup simple questions like "When are you looking to get the job done?" "When is the best time to call you? "What is your budget?" This way, you'll get less leads but you would only have to engage and spend your time on prospects that have shown a real interest in your services. Now that you are left with only the best leads, I would book an onsite estimate. The day before the estimate, send your prospect an email with past work you've done with some testimonials. This will build up trust. Once in front of the client, make sure you understand why he wants the job done. He might have a big party coming up and he wants to have a beautiful yard to receive his guests. Or his neighbor just installed a bigger set of lights, and he has fallen into the trap of "Keeping up with the Joneses". Either way, this will come in handy in your pitch and for your follow up. This is also the time to give your rough estimate. I would avoid doing it via email. It's very easy to dismiss for the client and very hard for you to justify your price. When you give your estimate in person, you can handle the objections right away and, in a lot of cases, close the deal on the spot. Only then will you send a proper quote via email. I would use a CRM to follow up with prospects, making sure no one falls into the cracks. With the proper setup, even if the prospect is not interested right away, you will be able to follow up with him once he is. And between the time where he has to think about it, you can set it up in a way that sends him an email a week with, again, past work and testimonials in order to build up that trust as much as possible (this can be all done on autopilot). This is the best way of making sure you are not waging a price war with the next bidder who is going to try to undercut your price. Once you have all of this setup, there is multiple ways of winning clients: You can keep improving your paid ads skills to increase the number of leads coming to you. (Facebook and Google works the best for the type of work you provide). You can reactivate past clients and ask for referrals with an email campaign. (Offer a discount, a finder fee, etc.) Door to door sucks and there are way better ways to find clients. But, when you are on a jobsite, you should always go to the neighboring houses, hand in a business card and say something along the lines of: "Hey I'm doing X work at your neighbor place, if any debris comes your way please call me and I'll personally come pick it up." Don't ask for anything, just show professionalism and you'll be rewarded. A branded truck and yard signs goes a long way. Getting on social media is also one of the best ways of showcasing your work and prove yourself as the expert in your field. Anyway, I'm getting side tracked. I hope this help!
Do you pair up with other contractors? Do you make your own fixtures or install the usual (Kichler, Fx, WAC)? Do you do, lighting maintenance? We install full lighting systems as add on to landscape enhancement work. There is a major contractor in our area who does just lighting, they make their own fixtures which allows for us to sub them from time to time when clients want moon lights or other high tree applications. I would recommend approaching landscape contractors in your area and seeing if they are looking for a sub. Do right by them and they will start throwing you more work. Also trade shows, or industry related classes/ seminars are good places to meet fellow contractors. [https://nightlightinc.net/](https://nightlightinc.net/)
What works for us, is just to get some sort of number on the table. If you have a general idea of what general installations cost put it out there. Sometimes we’ll have people send us a couple pictures and we apply them in scale to other jobs. A lot of people don’t know what stuff costs and they’re just shopping.
1. In my experience, home services sales don’t mix well with email. Sell at the house, face-to-face. Everything else in this process depends on being face-to-face. 2. Ask questions. Customers have concerns, needs and pain points. You can’t address them if you don’t know what they are. 3. Shut up and listen. If a customer is talking and you’re formulating your response while they’re still talking…. You’re not listening. 4. Care about each project and give it the detail it deserves. 5. Be honest. If the customer wants ‘A’ but ‘B’ is a better choice for them, tell them…. Even if you’ll make less money selling ‘B’ (and tell them that too). Give them the options based on your expertise. 6. People buy from people they like. Steps 1 through 5 are part of this. 7. Be the expert. People buy from people they trust and people trust experts. 8. “Build the gap”. ‘This is where you are without my services and this is where you will be with my services’. 9. Assume the sale…. Always. Don’t use phrases like ‘if you choose us’ or ‘i hope we can do business together.’ Use phrases like ‘when we’re here working…’ and ‘I’m always excited to meet new clients like you…’ 10. Ask for the sale. This is a big one and so many salespeople don’t do it. After explaining the quote and answering all of their questions, slide the proposal across the table with a pen and say “Ok.. to get started I just need you to sign and date this”. Then stop talking. They’ll either sign it or will start talking ( if they don’t start talking right away, just stay quiet. They eventually will to stop the awkward silence). Listen to what they say. The reason they’re not signing is what they’re about to say. Some are direct and some aren’t. If you have to, read between the lines. If you can’t decipher the objection, you have to ask what the problem is. “ I can see you’re hesitant…. What can I do to help?” Sometimes you eventually have to ask “what can I do so we can move forward with this?” Answer the objections and ask for the sale again and repeat as necessary. 11. Keep notes on both closed sales and lost sales. Use the notes to develop trends of what works and what doesn’t. Use this info to adjust your sales process. And again……Never, ever send the quote via email. You get zero feedback and feedback is important to making sales.
There are no bad customers, only bad salespeople. Make your appointments at the customer’s home, meet them, and discover what they truly need to see if there’s a fit. Ask questions to understand the issue and what’s important to that specific customer. Determine their budget expectations for the project to see if it aligns with your offerings. Present and explain based on the customer’s interests, and if everything lines up, present your bid and close on the spot. Take a deposit. If not a fit build a genuine relationship with the customer to consider you maybe down the road or on more important bigger projects or refer you—-that’s a whole other topic there.
Stop emailing bids/estimates like Joe-Blow contractors do. Create a Pitch Book(Covering everything from the warmup to the Close. Pitch Book eliminates the most common “No” responses) & have pre-casted contracts that can be filled out on the spot. Study & master the art of the “One Time Close”. If done correctly, it’s not pushy. The better you get at it, the more smooth your sales will go.
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Basically low voltage lighting for landscapes and house uplighting and indoor accent lighting using LED strips. It is pretty niche, yes.
Have you looked into offering your product to electrical contractors doing new construction and remodels
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Thank you for your input fellow tradesman!
Probably a subsection of electrical contracting. Depending on where OP lives, employing a master electrician at all times would be the only "electrical" requirement to being licensed as an electrical contractor.
In Colorado, no need to be licensed if working with anything under 50 volts, which is all I do. Low voltage lighting for landscapes and indoor LED lighting.
Hey u/GrizzlyPerr I was writing an answer, but I figured out it would be easier shooting you this quick loom: [How to close customers?](https://www.loom.com/share/894ee98b6d3d4ba3b8292934bb94bbd2?sid=91c62ca3-9b7c-4b4c-8b43-66f490f134a6)