Desire is a craving to gratify an urgent need. However, when buying HVAC replacement equipment for the first time, most people view their need as little more than getting warm and cool air on demand. When you help increase a customer’s need to a want, they get involved. But when you help raise their want to desire, they buy.
The following 10 points can help you change a customer’s quest for a lowcost-minimum-solution to desire to own your total comfort system now:
Desire is created in the customerʼs mind
2,400 years ago Aristotle said it takes three things to move another person into action. First is logic. If logic alone was enough, no one would smoke, drink or speed. Next is emotions. Emotions control the psychological needs which we may not be consciously aware of. Elements like prestige, peace of mind and pleasure can effect emotions and can influence the subconscious into action. Aristotle’s last requirement is simply trust. Without trust, we won’t get the minds approval to buy.
Do your clients trust you…
How do you know….
Benefits create desire
According to Harold Whitehead, who wrote Principles of salesmanship in 1917, “The quickest method of transforming interest into desire is to show the customer just what the goods will do.” More benefits, more desire. To receive maximum benefits, you must sell more than equipment. You must sell a “system”. The customer gets more than twice the benefits when you add accessories, extended warranties and on-going maintenance to each equipment sale. Building desire with benefits is a two step process. First, determine the benefits the customer wants most by asking fact finding questions. Next, show how the customer gets the benefits they want, need and desire.
Help them discover their desire
We often do things because others do them (imitation). People become dissatisfied when they discover what they have (or are thinking about buying) is inadequate. Most people don’t want to be left out. If other people have it, why not me?
Most people don’t know what they are missing until you help them become aware of it. Help them discover the bedroom that’s always too cold, the power bill that’s too high or the allergies that can be reduced and you’re creating desire.
Visualization enhances desire
Why is the book better than the movie? Because you must create your own visual images. We have an innate ability to create in our minds visual images, feelings, and sounds. We think in pictures, not words.
To help the customer visualize their future enjoyment, appeal to as many instincts as possible. The more vividly you can picture the pleasure to be derived from your new system, the more desire you create. One powerful question that will aid in this process is, “What activities does your family enjoy in the home?” No matter what they enjoy in their home, a better comfort system can enhance the enjoyment of that activity. You’ll be able to hear your new CD player better. You’ll love the appearance of your new antique white registers. Your home will feel much more comfortable with consistent air flow. Desire increases and fear evaporates when customers see themselves enjoying the benefits of their new comfort system before they own it.
Help them enjoy future benefits
When people purchase a comfort system, they are making one of the most significant long-term decisions in a lifetime. This is important because humans are the only animals that can project into the future. Help your customer see themselves enjoying their new comfort system day-after-day, season-after-season, long into the future.
A new comfort system is one of the few things a person buys in a lifetime that produces cash flow. After the system is paid for, the money saved on energy goes into the customer’s pocket. If you find why people save their money (send children to college, vacation, cabin in the woods), explain how energy savings can help fund it. You’re doing more than selling an air conditioning system, you’re helping people fulfill their dreams.
Link experiences to boost desire
We buy the way we’ve bought before. Before we buy anything, we mentally evaluate the purchase based on all past experiences. When you link your total comfort system to what the customer already understands, you’ll be much more successful.
• An old furnace could be compared to a car that is either stopped or running at 80 miles per hour! Like a car, a variable speed fan changes its speed to match the current requirements.
• An improperly sized unit is like a pair of shoes that are too big or small.
• For customers who are thinking of repairing instead of replacing, compare repairing the old HVAC system to painting a house. When paint starts to peel, it doesn’t make sense to just scrape and paint the bad spots each time they appear. There comes a time to paint the whole house.
Determine the customer’s previous experience by asking questions. If you reveal a negative experience dealing with a remodeling contractor, turn the negative into a positive by explaining how your company goes out of the way to solve all the problems the customer mentioned.
Associate HVAC with pleasure
Advertisements show new cars speeding along a secluded scenic country road not stopped in gridlock traffic or the middle of a 10 car pile up. To enhance pleasure, read the sales literature, highlight pleasure producing words and spice your presentation with phrases like, “crisp clean air,” “quiet comfort,” “worry free warranty” and “our passion for quality.” Pleasure phrases help produce an emotional and receptive state of mind.
Find out what makes people happy and talk about it. A properly designed and installed comfort system can increase the enjoyment of everything we do indoors. Quieter operation enhances the enjoyment of watching the ball game. Understanding the customer’s job or hobbies can also be helpful. If a customer who enjoys fishing can’t decide whether to repair or replace their equipment, when the mono-filament line got old and started breaking, would they keep tieing it back together or replace the line?
Include desire motives in your presentation
Desire for gain
One of the strongest of all buying motives.”After the system is paid for, you’ll have up to $500 per year to put into your pocket.”
Feeling of importance (pride)
30 to 40 percent of your customers operate primarily out of ego. (Lexus instead of Yugo. “You deserve a break today.”) Let them know you have the best equipment and solution for their problem. “This is a system you can be proud of for years to come.”
Love of family
“Your grandchildren will love playing in the pollen free air in your home.”
Need
“Your new comfort system will give you the quiet operation, reliability and consistent temperature you’re looking for.”
Desire to reduce loss (fear)
Many times people buy to avoid the negative. Most people go to a health club to get in shape, not to look like Hulk Hogan. People may buy a comfort system to eliminate break downs and buy years of trouble-free operation. “With your new comfort system and our extended warranty, you won’t have to worry about a thing for 10 years.”
Make it visual — get them involved
An appeal to the eye creates more desire than an appeal to the ear. They may not know they want it until you show them. Don’t forget to use brochures and photographs to help people see it before they own it.
Get them involved. Research shows that people are much more easily persuaded when you’ve actively involved them and remain convinced for much longer. Test drives create more desire to buy cars than anything else an auto dealer can do. One way to get them involved is ask them to rank the top benefits you offer and hand them a small sample of the equipment or material you’ll be using, so they can feel the craftsmanship.
Check the level of desire
During your presentation, you can actually check the level of desire. Just ask “checking questions,” like, “How do you feel about that?” … “Do you think that will give you what you’re looking for?” … “Can you see how that will benefit you?” … “Would you like to hear more about the quiet operation?”
These questions allow the customer to stop and think about what is really important and allows you to build desire at every step in the sales process. The key to sales success today is to always work in the customer’s best interest and give them what they need, want and desire. When desire is high, people will buy.
