* Offer up a schedule of proposed serv- ices with dates and pricing. Your organized clients — i.e. the "planners" — will appre- ciate this. Role playing will help here as well.
5. Stop selling from your wallet Ironically, many salespeople in the land-
scape business cannot afford to buy the same level of services they are selling — es- pecially at the higher end. Their household spending habits may make it uncomfortable for them to sell at higher prices and higher volumes.
Not only that, but they may have been raised in a household where money was not easily talked about, and so they may be un- comfortable talking about money. Therefore, your job is to get your staff feeling comfortable talking about money, and selling at price points higher than they are personally accustomed to. A couple of ways to do that: * Take them window shopping where
your clients shop, so they can understand how your clients spend. * Educate them on how your budget is
put together and your selling price is de- rived, so they can sell with confidence.
6. Use incentives Make selling fun in your company. There
are three levels of selling opportunities to re- ward:
* Give incentives for identifying needs
and bringing them back to your office for a salesperson to follow up on. * Give incentives for making a sale. * Give incentives for finding new clients — perhaps neighbors of your clients, or friends of your employees.
Selling is a sport that can involve every-
one, so make it fun. Incentives don't have to be large, just large enough to make it fun.
7. Don't call it selling Many people whose job is selling don't
actually like to think of themselves as sales- people. They would rather think of them- selves as service providers, experts and problem solvers. Moreover, many clients don't like to be
"sold" by overt salespeople. So get your staff on the same page as
your clients by coaching your staff to be- come customer-focused problem solvers, property consultants and idea generators. When selling is fun and it helps your cus- tomers, everyone wins.
LI
Jeffrey Scott, MBA, is a business consultant and author of The Referral Advantage and The Leader's Edge.At age 34, he took over and built his family's landscape business into a $10 million enterprise. He now consults with more than 50 landscape organizations throughout the United States. He has created a process for run- ning highly productive peer groups for landscape business owners who want to transform and prof- itably grow their business. To learn more, visit www.GetTheLeadersEdge.com.
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