Lost

John@Reliable_10

financing? Many equipment companys offer it thru them. I also offered financing thru a local finance company for years, saved a few sales and also increased many.P.S. at the time I was only a one man show,but acted like Sears.

John S.

my first steam boiler installation...

to Sears. They'll be installing a Kenmore boiler. Customer said they liked my price, but Sears, of course, offered attractive financing. I'm no bank!

Can't win'em all, I guess.

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Mark Hunt

HEHEHE


I'd LOVE to see that install!!!!!!!

Those folks will be calling you next year. When Sears won't send anyone back to fix what their rocket scientist did, they'll call you.

Price to fix= Price to replace.


Mark H

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Bob W._3

Last I checked, Sears' "attractive financing" was a usurious 21% or so. Maybe they were talking about the monthly payments, which will go on longer than the boiler.

John S.

I sincerely hope...

they do a decent job. Very nice lady. They also offered her a 7 year labor warranty. HA HA, what does that cover, defective labor?

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Mark Hunt

I know


that you wish the consumer well John. So do I.

But that ain't gonna happen.

Price to fix= Price to install...System works.......which is of course................priceless.

Mark H

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Brian (Tankless)

Hate to see it John

Look up a little and to the right. That's probably what your LOST client did.

She ventured off the wall and called Sears. On a positive note, HH.com made a dime for the clickthru. I hope Sears calls Dan & thanks him for the refer-all.

Sears advertising shows up in an awful lot of threads here, Google makes sure they do.

Out of curiosity, who make sears boilers.

I also wonder how much she will eventually pay for the boiler over the period of financing.

Good luck John, you've got the right attitude.

Brian.

Adam_12

SEARS

Companies like Sears , Home Depot ,Lowes have no business stealing from Tradesmen.Companies like this devalue the wages that trades people can earn.They do not provide the level of service and skill that customers deserve.A customer gets a false impression of what the real costs are and a negative impression of the work that tradespeople do.If you want it done right have a certified Tradesmen do the work.

ScottMP

Its tough

we have to be BETTER SALESMAN !

We have to let the customer know what they will get for an install from US. We have to let them know that we have more knowledge and a system installed by us will give them better service and We will give them better service.

Still .... Its tough when the wallet drives the sale. I just lost a job to Keyspan. I've seen thier work.

Scott

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DanHolohan

Certified?

By whom?

bigugh_4

Scott!

Your so right! BETTER SALESMAN. Dishwashers, modesty stalls, hand rails, bathroom accessories,(tp holders, towel racks) just about everything the Dead Men sold has gone by the ways of someone who has the SALES & MAREKETING skills so many of us tradesmen do not. We'd do ourselves a super favor if we'd just take some time to learn basic sales and marketing skills. That is the difference between us and Dan, and Ellen. Between Donald Trump and you. Its not that they work harder, just smarter. There isn't a tradesman out there that could not use some training in salesmanship!

John Boyer

Sears, etc.

I agree with you Scott. We need to be better salesmen and better businessmen. We operate in a free market economy and our clients get to choose who they do business with. It is our job to show them why their hard earned money is better spent with tradesmen as opposed to big box retailers and utilities. I also have lost jobs to Sears and Home Depot. I don't begrudge them or blame them - they have a right to engage in business the same as us. What can we offer the customer that they can't? That is the message we must get across to our potential clients. -DF

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jerry scharf_3

Do like Dan Foley

John,

It sucks. Everyone will lose a sale now and then but some of them really stick in the claw.

But did you really make it clear that what you offered was different than what Sears offers. I love Dan Foley's idea of including a copy of "We Got STEAM Heat" with every proposal. Talk a bit about main venting and steam pressure, enough to plant the seed of what the contractor needs to know. Then see what happens when you go up against Sears. Is the customer's system costing them money by not being set up right? Is what needs to be done to tune up the entire system part of the proposal?

As for financing, it's almost impossible to imagine that Sears can give the customer near the rate that they can get for themselves with a second mortgage. Maybe build a relationship with a mortgage broker than can make it as easy for them as Sears would.

Then you have Sears not saving them money and taking too much money for the financing. The great differentiation is that you want an educated customer and they want a quick buck, i mean job.

jerry

Jeff Lawrence_25

In some states

Dan,

In my state there are licensing requirements. I have to have a license to purchase any kind of HVAC equipment.

It's not certified, but it's close.



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Bob W._3

"I love Dan Foley's idea of including a copy of "We Got STEAM Heat" with every proposal. Talk a bit about main venting and steam pressure, enough to plant the seed of what the contractor needs to know."

Good idea.

joel_19

financing

It stinks to loose a job you feel like well , like you lost . I miss some too but remember losing the sale may be the best thing that happens getting the sale and then loosing money on the job is much much worse . Trust me I know .

On another note though Financing makes the world go round . Many of our customers simply don't have the cash . This of course is not our fault . They have been enticed by this commercial system of things to keep up with the Jonses and get in way over thier heads . The current savings rate per familly in the U.S. is actually a negative number .

You simply must offer financing . i try to every time . I will also offer 6 months no interest no payments . Yes when the interest kicks in it's a killer , so what . It's not our job to set thier budget . if you don't finance them someone else will and it will probably be for something silly like a big TV or a vacation .At least with us they are getting something they trully need. Someone mentioned an equity line , smarter choice for many as the interest is low and tax dedeductable . However I find many home owners that have no equity , they already have used it all . The paper work is time consuming for an equity line . I can have them fill out a 1 page form in five minutes , then call it in and presto instant money . The best part is the bank pays you basically the minute your done no more chasing people for money . Everybody wins.

Sears is frequently the biggest seller of HVAC equip , where I am they typically are the highest price , doesn't matter . They don't sell the job they sell the monthly payment . We must do the same if we excpect to survive . We are in proces of getting hooked in with a bank that will do a fixed monthly payment for a set amount of years as that is attractive to some people who don't like revolving credit . The nice part is I can match up the credit terms via the sale price based upon payback time frames . So a boiler isn't xxxx it's say 200$ a month with a projected gas savings of say 100 per month . So 100 bucks gets you a shiny new boiler .

joel_19

cars

consider cars , when i walk into a dealer which has been pretty frequent the last few years buying vans and such There are wto questins the sales guys instantly ask . "are you buying today ?" and " What do you want your monthly payment to be ?"

The last time i asked , "well gee what can i buy that shiny new van for" I got "Pretty much whatever you want per month sir how much can you budget ? "

"No son how much does it actually cost in cash as in i write a check "

Instant dumbfounded exspression on salesmans face , why ?
Because Nobody pays cash !!. Alot of systems I sell cost as much as a car ! What's the difference , if we can't pay cash for the car what makes us think people can pay cash for a new HVAC system ?

Imagine a day when you are dumfounded (like the car guys) that someone wants to pay cash for a boiler it will be here sooner than you think .