Before you ask for the extended service plan sale, you need to be sure that you have given the customer all the information they need to make an informed buying decision. Knowing exactly what information and how much the customer needs can be tricky. To help you gain more insight into what your customer is thinking try doing a “trial close”. A trial close is a question or series of questions that help you to determine where the customer is in the sales process. Ask the customer questions like; “Do you have any concerns about purchasing the extended service plan?”, or “What would be holding you back from purchasing an extended service plan today?” You want to give the customer the opportunity to open up and tell you what they are thinking. The better you understand what your customers thought process is, the easier it will be to know what information the customer still needs to make an informed buying decision.
Deciding when to move toward asking for the extended service plan sale, or to the next step in the sales process, is much easier if you can recognize some common buying signals from your customers. A common buying signal is if the customer starts asking a lot of detailed questions about the service plan like; price, length of coverage, how to set up a service call, or if there is a service center located near them. If the customer asks for your opinion or another person’s opinion they are probably thinking about purchasing the extended service plan and just want confirmation. The buying signals may be non-verbal, like opening their posture, leaning forward, smiling or nodding in agreement. Let buying signals help you in determining when you should move to the next step in the sales process.
One of the most overlooked tools when it comes to presenting extended service plans to your customers is your own Service Department. Service technicians generally have a higher credibility level with consumers than say sales people and therefore customers are more likely to take recommendations from them. Service technicians can not only discuss potential service issues, but also quote potential repair costs to the customer. Sales people and service technicians should work together to show the customer the benefits of purchasing the extended service plan.
“Expectation” is defined as the degree of probability that something will happen. As a sales person your expectations play a key role in whether or not you will make a sale. You may have in-depth knowledge of the service contract features and benefits but if you are hesitant or insecure about whether you are going to get the sale, your customers will pick up on that. Your customers may start to feel hesitant and insecure about purchasing and to be honest they probably will not even know the reason why, it may be just a feeling they have. Your low expectations may be involuntarily influencing them. So next time you go to present the service contract to a customer expect to get the sale. Know it will happen. Tell yourself that this service contract is going to really help this customer if they have a service problem. While your presenting the service contract, if you believe you offer the best service contract on the market and that your customers would be crazy not to buy it, then your customers will believe it too.
I have seen sales people talk about service plans to their customers for 30 minutes or more, just rambling on and on. Selling service plans does not have to be a long ordeal, the better prepared you are the less time it will take. Know what service plan qualifying questions you are going to ask beforehand. Once you have identified the customer’s specific need for a service plan, be ready to talk about what solution the service plan offers. Understand beforehand the most common concerns people have about service plans and be ready to address those. Most of all practice your presentation. When business is slow practice your service plan presentation with another sales rep. If you can give the customer more pertinent information in less time, it’s a win-win situation for you and the customer.
Become a mystery shopper of your competitors service contracts, not only will you learn a lot about them, but you might learn how to improve selling your own service contracts in the process. Ask a lot of questions, see what they are doing right and what they may be doing wrong. If available make sure to get a copy of their service contract pricing, and terms & conditions before you leave. Know your competitors products better than they do. Next time a customer compares your service to theirs you’ll be better prepared.
A much overlooked but valuable perk of extended warranties is the transferability of the contract. In today’s world of eBay, Craigslist and Kijiji-based recycling if someone decides to sell their gently used product; the extended warranty can be easily transferred to the new owner. This can dramatically increase the value of the product at the time of re-sale, increase buyer/bidder confidence, increasing bids and offers on the product, and translate into those invaluable positive feedback ratings that some of these reseller sites use. With a transferable warranty you are getting a product you know you can rely on because the extended warranty protects you from failure and it boosts your future resale value which makes it a solid investment all around!
Having a positive attitude is a state of mind. It gets you through the slow days, when sales are few and far between. It helps you to keep pushing onto the next customer. It is essential when selling service plans. To help you keep a positive attitude in sales, make sure to surround yourself with people that are positive and give you positive encouragement. Don’t listen to people who say it cannot be done. Read and listen to positive books and tapes. To have a positive attitude you must study it and practice it everyday. Believe that you can do it.
Customer testimonials are great to use when your customer says that they have heard that service plans are not a good idea. Never bash your customer or where they are getting their information, but let them know that you believe in the service and you have many customers that have purchased a service plan and been very pleased. If you can build up a collection of customer stories, or even better customer testimonials through letters or email, about how the service plan helped them, these can be very useful in showing your customer the benefit of purchasing a service plan.
Value is not about price. Value is about the outcome; to the customer it’s about “what’s in it for them”. Benefits build value. How does the service plan help the customer, what value do the benefits give your customer? To build value you have to show the customer how they save money with this service plan. How they save time with this service plan. Use the benefits to build value, not the price.
