Aaron J. Crowley

Crowley’s Granite Concepts

Not long after I went into business, a very seasoned businessman took me under his wing. I have often said that neither my business nor my marriage would have survived without his advice and his insistence that I follow it.

One of the many lessons he drummed into my head over those many years of getting up early for coffee was that I needed to stop measuring the performance of the business in dollars. 

He insisted that dollar signs were too emotional and that they cloud good judgment and decision-making.  Instead, he said that percentages were the best way to plan the future and the best way to evaluate past performance.

That advice has been proven to be true in every area of the business, from financial performance, to production output, to sales.

In this article, I want to step into the role of businessman/mentor and insist that you consider the “20 PERCENT RULE:”

For every one of the following proven sales practices you ignore, your sales drop by 20%.   

1. Qualify Prospects 

Simply quoting every job, large or small, commercial or residential, retail or contractor with no boundaries or consideration for who your target client is guarantees that your sales will be 20% lower.

2.  Schedule Face to Face Presentations

Attempting to convey value to clients exclusively via phone and email, because you believe a trip to the client’s home or job site is a waste of time will cost a fabricator at least 20% of his sales because it limits and even diminishes the ability to develop relationships, which many sales are built on.

3. Be On-time For Appointments and Quotes  

Sadly, very few clients expect contractors to show up on time and for good reason… many of them don’t. Those that don’t will experience 20% lower sales! In the contracting world, simply showing up on time for appointments and providing quick quotes is a cheap and easy way to exceed the client’s expectations, and get the sale.

4. Promptly Follow Up

How many times have you waited too long to follow up on a quote only to find out that they already have their new counters?  Sales people who delay the follow up call, asking if they received the quote, asking if they have questions, or asking for the sale, will again see at least another 20% of their potential sales slip through their fingers and into the hands of their competitors.

5. Ask For the Sale 

Often, the fear of losing the sale will prevent sales people from asking for it.  Many clients (about 20% of them) need a little nudge to help them finalize their decision.  To qualify a lead, schedule an appointment, provide a quote and follow up on it, and then fail to ask for the sale you have worked so hard to earn, is a shame.  And it’s a sure-fire way to reduce your sales by 20%.

The businessman who taught me the power of measuring by percentages was famous for his bluntness and to-the-point advice. I suspect that if he was writing the conclusion to this article, this is how he would end it.

Measuring sales in dollars is emotional. Measuring sales in percentages is effective.

Aaron Crowley is a stone shop owner, author, speaker, and inventor of stone safety products. Contact Aaron by email at aaron@fabricatorsfriend.com .