The owners of small to medium construction firms must wear many hats and one of the most vital is that of sales manager. You must convince the home buyer that their trust in you is justified and that 
you will build the house of their dreams. It’s a tough job, especially with horror stories and reality shows that document bad construction jobs making people even more reticent to sign on the dotted line. Here are some tips no how to improve your closing rate so you spend less time pitching to clients and more time building homes in the coming year.
Upfront costs
One way to establish trust and reduce wasted time is to start with the cost or by determining what their budget is. Sure, that’s not a traditional way of doing things, but when you are upfront about the price, those clients who are not in your price range are easy to spot.
Being upfront about your prices shows that you believe that they are fair and are confident that your quality and workmanship speak for themselves.
Creating an itemized list showing the cost of every aspect is a great way to demonstrate how you come to your total and that you are organized, open and professional. The more detailed your itemized listing, the better. This shows the client that you have nothing to hide.
Precision, not pressure
When you offer detailed quotes and speak openly with clients about possible difficulties or time delays the build may face, you are building trust. Old-school methodology of trying to make the sale on the same day doesn’t sit well with millennials. When you start dropping your price or pressurizing them for the sale, you may find they back off. What they want is a proposal based on facts, time to weigh their options and to build a relationship with you.
Understand your value
Knowing what sets you apart from your competition and explaining that to your client is essential. Perhaps you provide exceptional workmanship and quality or you pride yourself on effective project management. Whatever your strong points are, ensure that those are what your sales pitch is focused on and not on price. If you are competing on pricing alone, you will be working with paper-thin profit margins. When this happens, most builders don’t want to adequately deal with callbacks or they will be losing money and this affects the quality of their service.
Reviews matter
The modern buyer does their homework. They will utilize the internet to research those companies who are quoting on the job and they want to read reviews your clients have written. Keep up to date with the conversations that are taking place about your company online. Ask your loyal customers to write reviews on building review sites like Angie’s list.