Mike Logan, a marketing and sales coach, distills decades of experience selling and building pools down to a 194-page book called Rich Contractor Poor Contractor.
It’s a how-to guide he would have eagerly read when he began his decorated career in the pool/spa industry more than 40 years ago as a “greenhorn” salesman in Walnut Creek, Calif. The company he started with didn’t provide much training, leading Logan to seek outside counsel from Zig Ziglar, Joe Girad, Ben Gay III and Frank Bettger, among other masters of persuasion.
Mike Logan
“I bought every book that looked good to me on how to be a salesman,” says Logan, owner of Logan Pools in Brentwood, Calif.
By applying the principles gleaned from those volumes, he became the company’s top gun within months. “Pretty soon I was knockin’ ’em dead — much to the chagrin of the other salesmen,” Logan exclaims.
That led to a lifelong love of learning from legendary sales coaches. In fact, Logan once paid $400 to have breakfast with “Zig,” which he says was worth every penny.
In light of his new book, PSN asked the author, industry consultant and speaker to share his top three tips on how poor contractors can become rich contractors.
1. Be a trusted advisor, not a salesman. “Contractors aren’t looked favorably upon,” Logan cautions. “You’re there to help them make a good decision. You’re not there to make a commission.” Every sale is really a “fact-finding mission” whereby, you, the contractor, are trying to determine how to best meet your client’s needs. In other words, stop preaching from brochures and catalogs and just listen.
2. Be prepared to answer this question: Why should a customer buy from you and not your competition? Logan suggests that some serious soul-searching may be in order to find the one thing that makes you different from everyone else. To quote Jack Welch, the legendary CEO of General Electric: “If you don’t have a competitive advantage, don’t compete.”
3. Have a sales process. You may enjoy flying by the seat of your pants, but more discipline is needed, Logan says: “Too many salesmen wing it. You need to have a well-designed process that goes from ringing the doorbell through to the close and post-close.” You may even need to write a script and rehearse it like an actor. “You need actual words you’re going to use each and every time,” Logan offers.
Finally, here’s a bonus tip for pool companies: Have a sales manager. Logan conducted an informal poll and found that, out of 200 pool-building firms, 91% did not have a dedicated sales manager. “A good sales manager is going to take a mediocre sales team and make them great,” he says.
Ziglar couldn’t have said it better himself.
