Closing Tips – Part 2 – Concession in Action

The next thing to remember in closing is that people are going to say “No” two or three times before they say “Yes.” It’s just human nature.

We are all familiar with this conversation:

Child: Can I have a cookie?
Parent: No.
Child: Can I have a cookie?
Parent: No.
Child: Can I have a cookie?
Parent: No.
Child: Can I pleeeeease have a cookie?
Parent: Okay, eat the damn cookie.

When people ask us something two or three times, we tend to eventually say yes. So how do we leverage that in our closing? Well, number one, you have to present multiple options.

In the end, you’ll at least need to take care of the basic repair that they called you about. But to become more successful, giving them multiple options is what you’ll find they respond to the best.

The Mac Daddy

Along with the most basic option, you have to present a mid-tier recommendation of taking care of half of the problems that you discovered while you were investigating their original issue they called for. And then you’ve got to have the Mac Daddy solution, which takes care of their initial problem and fixes every issue you discovered, like the perfect solution.
You have to have those, and I prefer to have five choices ready, by the way.

Now we use a program called The New Flat Rate. I highly recommend it. When you put all your findings in there, it automatically spits out five different recommendations from the basic repair up to the Mac Daddy repair. Five of them! Why is that important?

Well, because of the concession principle. You see, we get down to the kitchen table, we’re going to say, “Here’s what I found,” and show them all the problems you found.

And then you’re going to say, “Here’s some recommendations,” and specifically tie every recommendation to every problem, basically outlining the Mac Daddy solution first.

When talking to the homeowner, you’ll drive the conversation. “Because you said (this), I’m going to recommend (that).” “Because you said you were worried about lightning, I can install surge protection.” You go through them one at a time, and your first ask will be for the Mac Daddy solution.

Don’t Leave the Cojones Behind

And you have to have the cojones to do this. You cannot be afraid of that high price. If you’re afraid of that high price, that’s in your head. The truth is, the only difference between $25,000 and $2,500 is the shape of your mouth when the air comes across your vocal cords.

You can’t be afraid to ask for the big money. Now, keep in mind, I fully expect them to say no to my first ask. The reason I’m showing this $25,000 solution is because they usually will say no, but they will at least know the ceiling offer. Why do I get excited if they say no? Because I know that makes them more likely to say yes when I offer something less expensive.

That’s the research. That’s human nature. That’s what the studies show. So, I’m going to go through and ask for the order starting with the Mac Daddy solution, and then the next most expensive solution and so forth. “Mr. Homeowner, the investment option here would be $17,000,” whatever it is. “Would you like me to start the paperwork?”

Persistence and Patience

You have to specifically ask for the order. “Would you like me to start the paperwork?” Or, “Can I get you an install date?” Or, “Will you trust me with these recommendations?”

You have to ask with the full expectation that they’re going to say no. And the second they say no, you know what you need to hear in your mind instead? You need to hear, “Not yet.” That’s what they’re really saying, “Not yet.”

And when they say no to the big one, say, “Well, no, I understand it’s a lot of money, but what we could do is we could postpone these couple of fixes and maybe just do these right here. And these four repairs bring it down to only $13,000.” I fully expect them to say no again. “$13,000? Hell, no. Have you lost your mind? I just want the outlet working.” “No, I get it. I get it. That’s a significant investment.”

“Why don’t we postpone these two repairs/upgrades and let’s just focus on doing these three right here? And as you can see, the investment option for that is only $7,500.” Research says they become more likely now to say yes to the $7,500 because they said no to the $13,000 bid, the $17,000 bid, and the $25,000 Mac Daddy.

This is why it’s critically important that A, you have multiple options. I like having five. And they need to be high-end options. You need to recommend everything in the kitchen sink, not because they’re going to buy it, but because you want them to say no to it. Because if they say no to it, they become more likely at some point to say yes to something later on. And by the way, you’ll sometimes have customers saying yes to the Mac Daddy solution, because one type of customer simply wants the best and the peace of mind that goes with higher quality.

So those are very important principles you have to remember if you want to be successful at the kitchen table and increase your average ticket, sell more solutions, and obviously earn greater commissions. And, oh, by the way, you’re making the homeowner’s life better.