By Victor Antonio, BSEE, MBA
Last week I discovered that a big puddle of water had accumulated in the corner of our garage. Tracing the watermarks, I saw that water was coming up through a crack in the cement floor.
I immediately phoned a company who had fixed one of my leaky underground pipes before. Within two hours I had a gentleman by the name of Mark stop by to see what was up. The conversation went something like this:
Mark: How did you find us?
Victor: Well, you did a job for me about a year ago and I was quite happy with it so I called you again.
Mark: Thank you. We sure do appreciate your continued business. Based on what I see, it looks like you have a water pipe that’s broken and will require some repair work.
Victor: How much is it going to cost?
Mark: Well, you have two options. Option one would be for me to dig up the pipe right here and replace it.
Victor: What will that cost?
Mark: I’ll estimated $2,800 to break the cement, dig, repair and lay cement again.
Victor: Ouch!
Mark: Option two would be to run a new pipe from the street to your house so that it doesn’t happen again. Since this is the second time this has happened, you may have a corroded pipe running from the street to your house. Which means this could happen again.
Victor: I think you may be right.
Mark: Let me measure the distance from the street and give you an estimate to run a new pipe.
Victor: Ok.
(Moments later Mark hands me an estimated with two columns, one of them crossed out.)
Mark: Your driveway is 150 feet and another 50 to reach the house. To run a new water pipe it would normally cost $6,200 (the column is crossed out), but because you’re an existing client, I’ve gone ahead and given you preferential pricing at $4,400.
(He then hands me the clipboard and pen for my signature)
Victor: Well maybe I’ll just repair this leaky section only.
Mark: You could do that. But let me ask you a question, ‘How much did it cost to repair the other pipeline a year ago?’
Victor: About $1,200.
Mark: Well, you could spend $2,800 and just repair this section, but what if you get another leak? You did say the pipes are over 20 years old.
(Mark then went silent)
Victor: How long is this going to take?
Mark: I can have a new temporary line up to the house in about an hour. And the whole job, which includes contacting the city to see where the gas lines are located before I dig a trench, could take 48 hours.
(Mark went silent again and he waited for my decision)
Victor: Alright. Let’s just do it. (I signed the agreement and handed it to him)
Anatomy of a Sale
Mark used several influence techniques on me to reduce my resistance. The first one was to thank me for my past business. We all like it when people appreciate what we’ve done in the past. That made me like him right off the bat. Second, the job they had done before was professional and timely. So he had credibility going for him. Third, by using the rule of contrast when showing me the two prices, one crossed out, lowered my resistance. It was as though he was saying, “You’re special, so therefore you get my special price.” Fourth, he exploited my fear of loss by reminding me of what might happen if I go with the quick fix of $2,800. And finally, he didn’t apply any pressure for me to accept his offer. He simply handed me the price estimate and went silent.
The funny thing is that, even though I knew what he was doing, I was still compelled by the forces of influence. In fact, when he showed me the crossed out higher price, inside my mind yelled ‘You’re being sold.’ Yet, as he was selling me, I was admiring his techniques and his approach.
There’s much to be learned from this simple story. For example, have you used the contrast principle of multiple prices? Did you know that when something is in writing (i.e. his estimate) it seems concrete and legitimate? Notice that he never bothered with the $2,800 estimate; he simply ignored it. He framed my selection to ‘his’ two options (i.e., $6,200 or $4,400 as opposed to $4,400 or $2,800). Also, have you used the fear of loss (i.e., opportunity cost or total cost of ownership) in your sales pitch to get clients to think of the long term cost of a short sighted decision?
I hope this example will stir some ideas on how to improve your closing percentage. I mean, it cost me $4,400 and you're getting it for FREE!
Take care...Victor
