Selling services effectively

When someone calls into your land surveying/engineering firm and asks for a price, is that what you give them and that's it? Well if this is all you can give, then it is no wonder that your company's sales may be less than spectacular!

The initial phone call for a quote is the first opportunity to start to build a relationship! When selling land surveying or engineering services, as a service provider, we have to determine what the needs of the potential client are and what circumstances might adhere to their particular situation. Tell the potential client that you will be happy to provide a quote for services, but in order to provide as accurate a quote as possible, some additional questions need to be asked. The potential client will be impressed that you care enough to spend some of your time to get pertinent information concerning their situation. Now, with your experience in your particular field, begin to ask questions that will help determine exactly what the potential client is needing. Armed with this added information about the potential clients situation, you are more easily able to formulate a plan of attack for the potential job and therefore you are able to more accurately provide a price quote for services. At the same time, you may be able to uncover potential for additional work relating to the clients current situation or future needs. Regardless, you have, A) taken the time to engage a potential client about their needs thereby laying the foundation for a relationship AND B) you are able to have a clearer understanding of the potential clients particular situation and you can provide a much more accurate price quote. Even if the client does not go with your bid, I guarantee that the potential client will not have anything negative to pass along about your company. A potential client is much more likely to appreciate the extra time that you took to understand their situation and then take that positive experience and pass it along to their friends and colleagues. As the old adage goes, good news spreads fast, but bad news spreads even faster and has negative repercussions.

Remember that selling services is about developing relationships. Take time to engage a potential client about their particular needs. You may not get every job this way, but you will begin to build a reputation of actually caring about your clients which will help develop relationships and that will go a long way to winning business in the future. Its all about the sales and if they are not available, then your job won't be either!