If you run a business with service contracts, one of your main goals will be to sell them. Selling more service contracts will always be a priority; thus, you need to know the most effective strategies to achieve that. The following are some tips for different businesses and how they can get the green light from customers to begin and renew service contracts.
Understand the Benefits of Service Contracts
Understanding the benefits of a service contract is the key to selling more service contracts. It’s a simple concept, but sadly, some businesses forget to relay the information to their sales team. Every salesperson should know the key benefits of the services the company offers and the benefits of signing up for a contract for such services. These are some examples of service contract benefits:
Extend the Life of a Product
Service contracts can extend the life of a product. For example, an HVAC company can perform services that keep people’s heating or cooling systems working for a full 10 or 20 years. An automobile care service contract can also maximize the time the owner has with the vehicle.
Save Money
All consumers like to save money. Thus, you can get more people to sign up for a service contract if you tell them they will receive some type of money-saving benefit from doing so. Perhaps the service contract comes with discounts on certain services and products. That’s a good point to stress to someone considering signing up.
Receive Regular Maintenance
Another benefit of a service contract might be that the clients receive regular maintenance on whatever item they own. For example, someone who owns an expensive computer or electronic device may be interested in signing up for a service contract for that benefit.
The salespeople need to explain how the client will benefit by getting a service contract, which will cause them to persuade more people to reap those benefits.
Those are just a few benefits your sales team might need to relay to current and potential customers. You can increase the service contract numbers by thoroughly training each salesperson to present the benefits enticingly.
Give Your Customers Advanced Products Too
Everyone loves to get stuff early. Thus, giving customers advanced products is one of the best methods for selling more service contracts. Giving them advanced access to exciting new products will help your business in two ways. You’ll get feedback on any improvements you need to make from the people who received those early trials. You also might get some new customers because of the magic of word-of-mouth advertisements.
Those people who received free products will surely tell their friends and family members how kind your company was for connecting them with new and exciting products. Additionally, you might find loyal customers in the people who received those advanced products. They will know that you’re a company that is confident enough in your products and the ability to earn profits to them in front of the consumers ahead of time. If you’re an HVAC company, you may want to allow potential customers to try split AC systems, for example.
Meet Your Customers’ Most Pressing Needs
Be available to meet your customers’ most pressing needs if you’re concerned about selling more service contracts. Let them know that you have technicians available to offer air conditioning service in a timely manner. Offer things like 24-hour services so that your customers never have to worry about not being able to get help when trouble arises at inconvenient times.
Stress the importance of keeping up with the product’s maintenance and what can happen if they don’t. That way, they’ll be interested in getting service contracts. This tactic works best if you can show them in black and white how bad their losses will be if they do not consider a maintenance contract. You might be surprised by the positive responses you get using that method.
You may also consider allowing your customer service people to make ‘well’ calls. These calls are interval-based contacts to check on each client’s overall happiness and wellness. Going above and beyond to do such things makes your entire company seem much more personable. All such tactics will put you in better graces with your existing customers and set you up to get new clients.
Highlight the Advantages of Professional Services
You may also need to highlight the advantages of getting professional services so that the potential contract signers will be well aware of how they can benefit. One of the most important rules of sales is to create a need for something. To create a need for something, you must tell the prospect how he or she benefits from doing such a thing or getting such a service.
For example, a plumbing client needs to get licensed plumbing services instead of ‘handyman’ plumbing services. Licensed plumbers have gone through specific training and know how to do specialized work other plumbers can’t do.
The same rings true for stressing the importance of hiring certified automotive technicians. Certified technicians must have a number of years of experience in their field. They must also take tests on various automotive systems to receive their certification. You can have full confidence in either of those professionals’ work because you know they have gone through specialized training and received certifications and licensing through authoritative organizations.
You can also highlight tenure. The longer a company stays in business, the more solid potential customers can believe their services are. Therefore, doing something as simple as stating your tenure on your website can be helpful in boosting contracts as well.
Target B2B and B2C Audiences if Possible
Consider targeting a wider audience as a means of selling more service contracts. For example, don’t just limit your marketing and promotional efforts to business-to-customer prospects. Think about expanding those efforts to potential business-to-business clients. You never know what businesses might be able to use your services to position their company better. You might even be able to do cross-marketing agreements with such businesses, if nothing else. It’s worth looking into and could end up being very fruitful for you.
One example of reaching out to B2B is offering your siding contracting services. It’s not just homeowners who need siding. Some businesses also need siding, and some smaller companies even use large homes as their offices. Therefore, you never know what new business ventures you can initiate just by opening your reach a bit.
Start With a One-Time Service to Get Your Foot in the Door
If you are a new business entity, you may have to expand your service contracts by eating some of the costs. What we mean by ‘eating some of the costs’ is that you may have to offer free initial services as a means to selling more service contracts.
For example, let’s say you own a new pest extermination business. Some people may already have contracts with existing companies, or they may already have a specific business in mind. An exterminator might have to do door-to-door visits and offer them one free extermination service. It might be an inspection to let them know if they have any existing or potential problems. It could also be a full-blown treatment.
As mentioned, you will need to absorb the costs if you want to use this method. However, it can end up bringing you many service contracts and referrals. You might also garner some positive reviews from the people you serve, and those reviews might get you even more business.
Many businesses use this method to get themselves off the ground. In fact, every company had to use some technique to get the word out. The tactic will cost you some time and money, but so will paying advertisers and such.
Prioritize and Discuss Regulations and Compliance
Selling more service contracts can be simple if you focus on discussing regulations and compliance. For example, you might need to discuss elevator maintenance services with prominent hotel owners, hospitals, and like establishments. You can tell them about safety compliance and how essential it is that they stay on code by keeping elevators functioning as effectively as possible.
Using regulations and compliance to target restaurant businesses is also a good idea if you offer extermination services. Express to potential business clients the seriousness of having a pest problem and how vital it is that they get regular treatments to prevent such issues from occurring.
An out-of-hand pest problem can cause a restaurant to have negative reviews, bad publicity, and lawsuits if customers get sick because of the pests and their diseases. Not only that, but the Department of Health can also shut a business down if it gets wind of a troublesome pest problem.
Most companies will buy into doing anything that involves ensuring their customers are safe. You won’t be telling them anything that isn’t true if you use this approach. You will only be using a sure-shot sales pitch for your services that will bring results.
Offer Services That Are Tricky to DIY
A lot of people attempt to do particular work themselves nowadays. DIY is very popular because consumers see it as a way to save money. You combat that by using complex services as a method for selling more service contracts. For example, offer insulated glass installation if you own a glass company. Offer services such as transmission replacement and head gasket repair if you are in the automotive industry.
Additionally, you could offer services like laptop memory expansion or mobile phone screen repair. All these services are high on the difficulty level, making untrained customers less likely to attempt to do them themselves. You won’t just garner more customers and get new contracts using that method. You’ll also earn more money than usual when people come to you for those services. For example, one head gasket replacement can earn you $2,000 or more, and a mobile phone screen repair service can earn you several hundred dollars as well.
Make Connections With Other Local Businesses
Making connections with other businesses is an excellent process for selling more service contracts. You can do well if you can find a business in your field that isn’t a direct competitor. Then you can work hand-in-hand with that business to communicate with their customers about the exciting services you offer. You might even want to do a trade-off or cross-marketing techniques.
A great example of this tactic is getting hooked up with an automotive detailer or car wash company if you are an automotive repair company. People who go to the other company to have their cars cleaned can receive information about your products and services from some of the associates there. Likewise, you can direct some of your automotive repair clients to the detailer. Neither business competes with the other. Thus, it could be a win-win situation.
Another example is connecting with a company that provides demolition services if your company does home or office building construction. Many investors who need demolition services also need construction services, and vice versa. Thus, it wouldn’t hurt to locate such a company and see if you can cross-market with it. You may land many fruitful projects just by taking the extra time to connect with a similar establishment.
Target Niche Industries and Customers
Targeting niche industries and customers might be a way to get better at selling more service contracts. You can hall effect current devices and tailor your searches to find potential clients and partners in various specific niches. This method will allow you to reach a broader but more suitable audience.
Now you know a few good ways to boost the number of service contracts your business gets. Use the above-mentioned tips for selling more service contracts and communicate with your sales team to achieve the goal. Be patient, and everything should work out for your company. You should see improvements over the next few months if you use one or all of the tips mentioned in this text.