#3 Thirsty on Thursday
What is your budget
Welcome back for our 3rd Thirsty on Thursday video. Last week I mentioned how to direct your clients to the product for their project. Today, Let’s talk about how you can simplify your workload by establishing a budget. Recently my wife and I talked about buying a new vehicle. We talked about how much we can afford. We searched on the web for a few ideas of deals around the area. We are wanting to do as much homework as possible before meeting with the dreaded car salesman. You all know what I’m talking about. When we meet the CAR SALESMAN, we will know how much we can afford and hopefully they can show us cars in that pricing. If he can give me a nice car within my pricing he closes the sale, if not we will go down the street.
Is this any different from your clients meeting with you for cabinets? No. Your client has done their homework, looked on the web, met with your competitors and know how much they can afford. And now they have to meet with you the “cabinet salesman”. Can you meet their expectations, wants, needs within what they can afford? Of course you can but only if the client and you know how much they can afford. The majority of homeowners will say I’m not sure of the budget or I have no idea. Most clients are afraid if they give you a budget you will return and give a price that matches that even though it could be a lot less. The reason for the budget is to make sure you are not wasting your precious time on their project when you have no chance of closing it and it assists you in what product to quote.
A great process to defeat their fear is to give them 3 options. This is a great time to utilize the comp-u-tool we spoke of. You answer roughly 10 questions and in 20 minutes you will have a good, better, best price for your client. Each option will be detailed and you can describe pros and cons of each option. If this is not a route you want to take then the simple way is to ask “Is there a budget for this project?” When they say I have no idea, you then say it looks like it could be a range of $10,000 – $25,000. Use numbers much higher than what the normal cost would be. They’ll look at you with jaws dropped and say oh my goodness! We thought it would cost around $6,000. Quickly you respond. Great we now have a budget of $6,000. You have now done 3 things. You have disrupted the normal car salesman platform by working with the client instead of showing them items that don’t fit their needs, you now have a budget to work with and you know if this project is even worth proceeding or if you should walk away. With this new budget you know which cabinet line to choose for the project to fit what they can afford. You have put yourself on the same side of the table with them as a team working together against the budget.
Being the true salesperson you are, you don’t want to just furnish the cabinets to fit their budget. You want to be a valued professional so they trust the information you share. Tell them they can get cheap, fast or high quality. Pick 1 you can’t have all three.…or you can have all 3 for a hefty price. They will be invested with you because you have brought them into the process to work with you. They can always find cheaper, but show them the value in your partnership with them.
So remember, your client has done their homework, met with other people and now they are in front of you. It is your sale to lose. Partner and Close it.
