On-Q's Resident Training Guru,
Terry Kraft

On-Q’s own Director of Training and Marketing Communications, Terry Kraft, recently had an article published at cepro.com about the importance of a lifestyle-sales approach.  We sat down with Mrs. Kraft and asked her some additional questions about this article. 

WNAOQ:  You relate selling Home Systems to being a doctor and prescribing a solution.  Can you give us an example of how this might work in a real-life scenario? 

TK:  The more knowledge you have about the homebuyers and how they live in their home, the better your chances of getting the sale.  A doctor is successful in getting patients to take the treatment necessary to heal them because the doctor knows their medical history, asks questions to identify the problem, and uses their expertise to prescribe the best remedy.  This basic sales strategy, called Solution-based Selling, can also be used for selling Home Systems. 

Let’s say a Dealer sits down with two homebuyers: a married couple in their mid 30s with two teenagers.  The Dealer investigates and also discovers that the wife works from home and that they enjoy entertaining.  Well, right away we can identify some of the Home Systems solution categories that would help this family enhance their life experience in their home:  Multi-room Audio (for entertaining) with multi-source inputs (because the parents probably don’t want to listen to the same music their teenagers do!) and an Intercom system (with front-door camera so that the wife can work in her office and see who’s at the front door without getting up).  If you think about it, these are “problems,” right?  The homebuyers may not realize it, but if they don’t include these Home Systems solutions in their plans they won’t be maximizing the enjoyment they could have in their new home.  So, just like a doctor, the Dealer listens to his customer, identified the “problems” and then suggests the best solutions to solve the problem.  

WNAOQ:  Explain to our readers how this approach will help their bottom line.  

TK:  When your doctor listens to your symptoms when you’re sick, diagnoses your problem and prescribes treatment, you usually follow his or her recommendations.  Why do you do that?  Because you trust the doctor is an expert and, after listening to you, knows what’s best for you.  If a Dealer meets with a homebuyer and doesn’t know anything about them, their lifestyle or their values, and just starts trying to sell everything from security to central vac to multi-room audio to intercoms to basic structured wiring, how successful can you be?  First of all, too many choices are overwhelming to most people, especially if many of the choices don’t map up to their values.  Second, if the homebuyer doesn’t understand how each Home System purchase will make living in their home more enjoyable, convenient, etc., why would they spend their upgrade dollars on it?  By focusing on the options you offer that meet the values of your homebuyers and help solve their “problem,” your targeted approach will have a much better chance of being accepted, and that leads to increased sales effectiveness.!

WNAOQ:  What do you recommend our dealers do as the first step to using this solution-based approach? 

TK:  How much do you know about your homebuyers before you sit down with them?  Work with the builder to try to get more information ahead of time about the homebuyer so that you’re not starting off cold.  This way, you can focus on a list of options that will best suit their needs before you even meet them.  Once you do, take some time to get to know the homebuyers by asking lifestyle-related questions to help diagnose their “problem.” Don’t just launch into a sales pitch

You will be much more effective asking “Would you like to be able to hear and see who is at the front door without leaving your home office?” than “Do you want an intercom system?”  Once you have a good grasp of their lifestyle, values and “problems,” you’ll be able to present options that meet their needs and make Home Systems a very desirable upgrade option. 

If you have additional questions about this article, please email training@onqlegrand.com.