Call Center Training: Overcoming the Quote Seeker

Roughly half of all sales lost over the phone are due to poor handling of people requesting a price quote.

Within the first few minutes of a service inquiry or request, the most common question that comes up is “How much?” The question almost always comes before there is time to build up and sell company value.

We are all interested in price and value, but what’s the use of knowing the price of something without also knowing its value? It’s like a salesman coming up to you trying to sell you a car, and before knowing what kind of car it is, you ask “how much?” The price will be meaningless without knowing the value of the car.

The key to overcoming the quote seeker is to bypass the question of price until after you have built up company and service value. There are many ways to do this.

Most people think that if they describe their problem to you over the phone, it would be no big deal for you to provide a ballpark figure of what it would cost to fix it. Just as you are qualifying your prospect, your prospect is also qualifying you, and one of the most important things in their qualification is price, whether you like it or not.

This is perfectly reasonable to expect as many businesses will provide pricing over the phone, but as we know in the home service industry, it is nearly impossible to accurately quote a job without diagnosing it first. This “problem” of theirs could be way simpler or much more complex than they realize. Customers calling for service aren’t always the best at identifying the root causes of their issue and it isn’t worth the risk of providing a quote over the phone only to hear complaints once that price has changed.

You know that it is in both of your best interests to have a trained professional take a look at the propblem prior to providing a quote, but how do you convince them of this?

First, we have to convince them how we can add value and solve their problem. We need to let them know that they have called the right place and that we can deliver the products and services they need and want. The best strategy to overcome the quote seeker is to teach your CSRs to be deft Value Builders.

Let the caller know what they can expect and what makes your company the best choice for them.

Call Center Training for Home Services

VitalStorm offers a service called Feedback that can teach your CSRs how to become skilled Value Builders for your home service business. We have listened to over 1 million calls for home services and we know what works and what doesn’t. Click here to read a case study where one call center’s booking percentage rose 21% to 70% in just one month after signing up for Vital Feedback.

Remember, the first point of contact between a customer and your company is most often a CSR. Make sure that they are equipped with the necessary tools to overcome the most challenging of called: the Quote Seeker.

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