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The Dreaded 1-Legged Deal Killer (Part 1)

January 23, 2025
The Dreaded 1-Legged Deal Killer (Part 1)

What do you do when you’ve spent 90 minutes with a homeowner, only to have the spouse show up at the end and undervalue everything you’ve built up?! It can be very frustrating to see all that hard work torn down in a matter of moments.

Peg-Leg Pete

A 1-legger or 1-legged deal is when only one decision maker is available during the call, when the house is owned by 2, for example. These 1-leggers are only okay if your company has rules about how to deal with them. In other words, is there a system in place with rules to follow? Is there a cutoff sale amount where you will only go on the call if both decision makers are present? What other rules might you have to avoid this common problem?

One of the most challenging parts of a sale is when you’ve shown the value in your product and installation, established trust and rapport, and then someone who wasn’t present for this comes along and takes all the wind out of the sail, knocking over your Jenga tower, so to speak. This can happen at the end of the sale during the kitchen table close. Or it can happen when someone says, “Just cut to the chase and tell me the price.”

Now, during a sales call, it’s a little bit easier because your Lead Coordinator will have gone through our training, where we teach them how to get both homeowners to be present.

You’re much more likely to see a 1-legger during a service call because one spouse is calling, saying the system’s not working and the other spouse is at work. That’s when a service call can potentially turn into a sales call, and normally, only one homeowner is there. That’s why you need to make sure you follow your company’s procedures here.

Don’t Gamble, Set Limits

One idea is to establish a threshold amount, say $1,000. If the repair will be more costly, or if you need to recommend a replacement, that’s when you might come back to follow up when both spouses are able to sign.

So what does that look like in the real world? Let’s say, for example, that the wife is the only spouse home during your service call.

Tech: Ma’am, I found a number of issues when I took a closer look at the whole system. Some of them are pretty serious issues, so I’d rather go back and talk to my service manager to come up with some options. I’d love to come back and present those to you and your husband, so we can get started right away if we find the solution that fits you best. I’d like you both involved in the design process too. Would you both be home tomorrow at 7pm for us to come back and present options?

Are We Seeing Other People?

Keep in mind that you may not be the first company they’ve called. So that’s another danger in presenting a number without both decision makers there to hear the value and your diagnosis. The wife may just be getting bids. And your competitor may have come in with a lot lower bid because their quote may only cover the immediate problem when your larger quote covers getting the system back in tip-top shape.

If a customer perceives you and another company are a commodity, in other words identical, then they may just be waiting to hear the lowest number it’ll take to get the system back on its feet quickly. I can’t stress that point enough. If you’ve been through our training, you’ll know how to deal with this and your bid will have a lot more value because of your technique.

So that’s something to consider. How much time, gasoline, and effort are you willing to invest in scheduling the service call, driving to the location, inspecting the system thoroughly, and giving a number when there’s only one decision-maker available? Your entire day could be wasted by a couple of these calls if there’s no sale at the end. The juice isn’t worth the squeeze.

Utopia

In a perfect world, we’d only go on calls with those who do business with us. But the problem is we don’t have a way of knowing if they’re serious about making a decision today. Some companies charge a service fee just to go out and do the inspection, and then if a sale is made, they’ll remove the service fee later in the signed contract. It’s a way to make sure at least some money is recuperated from the effort.

We’ll look into this more in the future with more situational examples. Have a great week.