Stop Fearing Rejection (and Start Booking Predictable Route Work)
Tired of property managers blowing you off? Learn how to use a little cheeky humor to bypass the dreaded smoke screen objection and land maintenance contracts.
KickStart: Conquer your normal Fear of Rejection by laughingly replying with Steve’s “Hail Mary Question”!
I know. You are a Home Service Pro and proud of it. Me too! I’ve always LOVED the profits (and joys) of working with homeowners! 💖
And yet… for most of us the residential services we provide also fit perfectly into the commercial sector. Heck, I’ll take a business owner’s money all day long! In fact…
Let’s talk about the holy grail for a minute: regular, contract commercial accounts. Every home service pro tells me they fit perfectly into their residential focused business. They did for me too!
Why? Those two magic words: 1) regular and 2) contract! Magically, with commercial service agreements you will now have 1) predictable cash flow, and 2) routine work you can actually pre-schedule without tearing your hair out.
NOTE #1: I’m not suggesting you change your company’s residential focus. Instead, consider adding regular, commercial service agreements to smooth out the peaks and valleys of a home services business.
Looking back, in my residential services company commercial service agreements accounted for almost 30% of our total volume. But they let me sleep at night (and kept our techs busy) when homeowners’ calls slowed down.
In fact, while I would consider servicing a commercial establishment on a one-time basis that wasn’t our focus. What we wanted was the regular cash flow and predictable scheduling of a service agreement.
NOTE #2: Service agreements can work great with homeowners. And in future KickStarts I’ll do a deep dive on residential service agreements. But I’m feeling quirky today 😁 so let’s detour into commercial!
ProTIP #1: For both commercial and residential did you notice how I earlier sneakily changed the word “contract” into “service agreement”? Same thing legally but “service agreement” (SA) is a less threatening phrase and makes it easier to get a signature!
ProTIP #2: Instead of forcing the client into a set time period leave the SA “open ended” and continuing to run unless either party wants to change the terms. Numerous studies say your retention rate will be much higher!
All good? Nooooo! Here’s your challenge: Most residential work is initiated by the homeowner calling you. And yes, I’ve made a science of converting this lead into a booked job! 😁
However, with commercial you’ll likely have to git out there and actually walk through the intimidating door of a business. 😦
Sadly, I see so many talented residential entrepreneurs failing big time in landing these golden regular commercial SA’s. The culprit? Our old, pesky fear of rejection!
Steve’s Secret Sauce? Face up to this very normal rejection fear by expecting to be rejected! Seriously, ASSUME your prospect will say “no”!
There, that wasn’t so bad, was it? Once you take the sting out of the “no,” you can stay upbeat and keep pitching.
My favorite tactic? Keep a lighthearted sense of humor during those sales calls. 😃Let me give you a real-world example.
Often, you’ll hit a classic smokescreen objection. (These are common in residential too.) You know the drill—most facility managers can hire whoever they want, but if just don’t feel like chatting, they’ll blow you off with this old chestnut:
Manager: “Sorry, you have to be on our Preferred Vendor List.”
❔ Steve’s “Hail Mary Question”: Instead of slinking away with your tail between your legs, try adding a little cheeky humor with this You-Got-Nothing-To-Lose Question...
You: “I totally understand. Let me ask you though—do I have to be on your ‘Preferred List’ if I’m not actually a ‘vendor’?”
Manager (usually looking bewildered): “Huh?”
You (with a joking grin): “Well, last time I checked, a ‘vendor’ is someone who charges you for a product or service. Right? (Shrugging with outstretched hands.) 🤷
Manager (slowly): “Well, I guess that’s true…”
You: So, how about this? You pick out your biggest, most annoying maintenance headache, and we’ll tackle it for FREE!
And since we’re not charging you you’ll have a no-obligation chance to see if we deserve to be a Preferred Vendor. All I ask is that you come check out the results while we’re working.”
Manager: “Well, hey... what have I got to lose? Our back loading area does have some issues. Let me show you…” 👍👍
BINGO! You just broke through the smokescreen barrier! Congratulations! 🎈🎉🎊🪅 (Asking this “Hail Mary Question” landed me so many commercial S/A’s!)
Or when a property manager hits you with the “You gotta be in our network” routine, try this pivot:
“I completely understand. But I also know sometimes your preferred guys just can’t get out to you quickly enough. Or maybe you have a tricky property way out on the fringes of your territory. Just keep us in mind. Let me write my personal 24-7 cell number on the back of this card...”
Now, is this “funny stuff” going to work 100% of the time? Of course not. But it will break through the smoke screen some of the time.
And honestly, what have you got to lose? You’ve already invested the time, money, and effort to get in front of this prospect. Throw your Hail Mary!
And hey… don’t forget to have some FUN out there too!😎