Home Improvement Sales Tips From 40 Years Selling in People's Homes

When I started out in the 1970s, selling gas central heating door to door, plenty of the houses I knocked on were still burning coal and logs. You'd sit there with the fire going and the coal scuttle by the hearth. I was young, I'd grown up with not a lot, and I loved that product. But loving the product doesn't close anything.

I had a coach back then, and he taught me how to close. That was the light bulb moment. If I could sell central heating, I could sell anything. Windows, conservatories, roofs, bathrooms. The product changes. The conversation doesn't.

That's the short answer, if you want my best home improvement sales tips after more than 40 years in people's living rooms. Stop selling the product. Find out why they want it done, in their words. Deal with the reasons they won't buy before you ever show a price. And keep your own head straight. Everything else hangs off those.

The product is the least interesting thing in the room

Most salespeople I listen to are what I call product sellers. "It's a steel-reinforced frame, it's got a tilt and turn, it's A-rated." All true. The customer doesn't care.

I think of it like a holiday. You sell the flight, the seats and the legroom and the little bag of pretzels. They're buying the destination. The warm room in January. The conservatory they can actually sit in in August. The grandkids round for Sunday dinner without everyone in their coats.

Good salespeople sell outcomes. The really good ones sell the transformation, the before and the after. "Tell me what you hate about it. Describe what winter's like in there." Let them tell you. I'm not interested in screws and sealant at that point. I'm interested in how it affects their family.

People only care about themselves

I say that with love. Nobody sat on that settee wants twenty minutes on when your company was founded or how many vans you've got. They want to know if you've understood their problem.

So every time you're about to tell them something, turn it round into a question. While you're talking about you, you're learning nothing. And you're not in control either, because the person asking the questions is the one steering.

One rep I coach normally sold between £120k and £185k a month. A few weeks into our coaching, using better "tell me" questions to find the customer's why, his July finished at a personal record of over £300k.

That's one person's result, not a promise. But it shows what changes when you stop talking and start asking.

You get one bite of the cherry now

This is the bit that's changed most. When I started, getting a second price was a faff. Ring round, wait in, make the tea again. So you could take your time, admire the fish tank, stroke the dog, and they'd still be there next week.

Now they can click a mouse and have three more companies booked by teatime. You get one proper go. That's why I'm so fussy about the start of an appointment. Big smile, take the cuppa if it's offered, have a quick chat. Then set out why you're there and what happens if you agree. That's the Frame, the first of my 7 Steps to Sales Mastery, and most reps skip straight past it.

What hasn't changed one bit is what people buy. They move away from pain faster than they move towards pleasure. They want the right company, a fix for the problem, and a price and timeframe they're happy with. It was true with coal fires and it's true with heat pumps.

Let them police you

I've done this one for years. Before I've even talked about the job, I'll say: "If I do a great job, will you give me a ten? And if I let you down, tell the world." Then I show them the reviews. I'm not hiding anything, and they can see that.

People expect a salesman to be defensive. When you invite them to hold you to account, the whole room changes. And when they tell me someone else is cheaper, I don't slate anyone. I just say check their reviews as well, and mine. Do your homework. Pay cheap, pay twice.

The ones who slip

This is the honest bit. Good salespeople go off the boil, and it's rarely because they forgot how to sell. It's the bad appointment yesterday, the office booking rubbish, the frustration they bring in through the front door. The customer feels it before you've opened your case.

When it happens, nobody needs a clever new close. They need the process back, and a mental reset before every call. Sit in the van for two minutes before you knock. Leave the last house in the last house.

Own your price

One last thing, because I see it every week. Reps who don't believe in their own price give it away the second the customer flinches. Knock a bit off, ring the office, knock a bit more off.

If you've found the why and dealt with the doubts, the price is just a number that fits. If you haven't, no discount will save it. Own your price or it will own you.

I still sell every job at my own conservatory roof business. And when one gets away, I go back and find the exact moment I lost it. You should be able to point to it. If you can't, you'll lose the next one the same way.

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