If you want your home service business to scale, then not only do you need a functional sales process, but a sales process that is efficient, scalable, automated (as much as you can), and easy to use.
You would also want to have a sales process that is attached to the system and not the person, this way should your sales manager ever decide to seek other opportunities, falls sick, or is otherwise unavailable, your business can still generate consistent sales.
Sales processes go beyond having a “Get A Quote” page on your website, for your plumbing, HVAC, or other services.
Make no mistake, being able to give instant quotes and have clients book an appointment quickly is a key component of your sales process but there are other systems you need to have in place to complement that.
For example, to have an efficient sales process you’ll need a way to:
- Nurture leads that are still undecided or not ready: For example, they got a quote or estimate via your website, but are yet to book an appointment, perhaps they are comparing your service with some of your competitors
- Manage customer relationship: You’ll want to have software (or CRM) that shows you all your client’s interactions (calls, emails, SMS, invoices, etc) in one place
- Follow up on invoices due soon, or past invoices
- Get referrals and reviews from past clients
- Remind clients of a service you offered in the past, and is due for a retouch or servicing
- Send quotes and estimates instantly (or as quickly as you can), follow up on quotes, and schedule appointments
A key part of an efficient sales process is automating as much as you can, as mentioned earlier. So let’s talk about sales automation.
What is Sales Automation?
Sales automation is a process that automates the repetitive tasks, activities, and documentation that your salespeople do on the day-to-day. Sales automation is all about taking the day-to-day processes that your sales reps traditionally handle and putting them on autopilot.
On the other side, too much sales automation makes your sales impersonal, robotic, and lazy. No customer is wowed by robotic and impersonal sales messages.
There is no removing the human component of sales, the goal here is simply to automate tasks and activities that are repetitive with little to no changes in between.
You can use tools such as your CRM, Jobber, ResponsiBid, and many more to automate sales processes such as:
- Creating contact records from your website visitors, social media messages, live chat, webinar attendees, scanned business cards, etc. in your CRM automatically
- Scheduling meetings and appointments at the best time for you or your sales rep, and the prospect, and the meeting details would be automatically logged in your CRM under that prospect’s contact records.
- Send personalized emails using email templates
- Send quotes and invoices in under one minute. All you need is to have the quote or invoice template set up in your CRM or in your sales tool (e.g ResponsiBid)
- Assign “If This then That” tasks to your sales rep to follow up with a client when a specific condition is met. For example, if after two weeks the client hasn’t paid the quote then your sales rep can call them to find out what their concerns are
- Prompt leads who filled out the contact form on your website to schedule a service with you via a series of emails, calls, and or SMS
- Set up an automated email, or SMS nudge sequence to prospects who filled out the “Get A Quote” form on your website but are yet to take the next step
- Have clients book a call with a specific member of your team based on their needs, time zones, job type, etc.
- Send emails and or SMS to the current or past clients requesting a referral, review, or testimonial
- Send notifications by email, slack, or SMS to sales reps or operations once a quote is paid and the client work is to be scheduled
Having such a process set up can make things much easier for your sales rep, and if these tools are integrated properly with your website, then your website will be a 24hr sales machine.
We’ve mentioned ResponsiBid several times in this article and that is for good reason, to have an efficient, automated, and scalable sales process, quotes cannot be done manually all the time. You’ll need a way to send quotes to prospects even when you’re off the clock, and that’s exactly what ResponsiBid does.
ResponsiBid does 3 things:
- Quote Instantly Online & In Person: It lets you give quotes instantly either online, by phone, or in the field through its bidding calculator. You’ll have to set up just right to give accurate quotes but once you do you’ll be able to give amazing quotes, estimates, or proposals instantly. If you’d like to see what ResponsiBid Instant quotes process feels like, you can test the online quoting version HERE.
- Automate Follow-Up & Scheduling: Once you’ve got a system that can send quotes whenever a potential client is interested in your service, you’ll need a seamless way to nurture them and a way for them to automatically schedule a service date based on your availability. Remember that we’re aiming for efficiency and scalability here so this is very important
- Drastically Increase Your Average Ticket: Even if you’re a plumbing service or a maid service, the odds are you offer more than one service. A maid service for example could offer services such as Carpet Cleaning, House Cleaning, Tile & Natural Stone Cleaning, and Upholstery Cleaning. To increase your average sales per customer you’ll want a way to show other services you offer when a client tries to book a service. ResponsiBid does this by automatically bundling your offerings to show customers the value of scheduling multiple services at once.
Combining ResponsiBid with your CRM is how you build an automated, efficient, and scalable sales process for your home service business.
Was this article helpful to you? If so, what stood out to you? And if not, what did we miss?
How Pink Callers Can Help
You’re already great at providing expert home services for your customers. That’s why you’re in business! But, while you’re out solving your customer’s problems, it can be easy to forgo other important parts of running a successful business, like responding to customer queries, scheduling appointments, collecting payments, and following up on leads. Whether it’s due to a shortage of skilled workers, or limited operating hours, Pink Callers can step in to help.
Pink Callers Customer Service Rockstars (CSRs) can man the scheduling and customer service front while you handle the more important stuff. You do what you do best while your CSR handle:
- Managing all forms of communication like phones, email, texts, and website leads
- Follow-up calls and callbacks
- Scheduling of estimate appointments and accepted work
- Quoting and sales over the phone
- Monitor your social media accounts and marketing outlets like Home Advisor, Angie’s List, Yelp, and more for potential incoming leads
- Collecting payments and completing work in your CRM daily
Reach out to us today to learn more about how our CSRs can help you grow your business, and stand out in the industry. Call us on (888) 325-7465 or fill out the Contact Form to find out how Pink Callers can help your Home Service Business.