Maybe you feel there are more types of leads in your specific trade, the important takeaway here is, that you need to give these leads a name, so you can start the discussion and develop tactics that work for each one. 

A Technical Lead is where a technician who was called to a home for a repair and believes a new appliance/system is a better option.

A Partnership lead is creating a business to a business relationship with a larger big-box retail store like Lowe’s, Home Depot, or Rona and when they get any technical inquiries, they cannot field themselves your Home Service company steps in to take the call. Whichever lead it is, you are sending a well-trained sales consultant to guide the client through your product offerings, essentially this is your company’s Sales Process that needs to be developed, documented, and continuously improved. 

In short, you are increasing your closing rate by having an effective sales process, a comprehensive Sales Policy Manual, a united sales team following up on every single lead until it goes nowhere, and a marketing strategy.

Researching Your Closing Rate 

What are your specific trades closing rates on each type of sales lead? A Trades Company mainly focuses on HVAC and we have set these rates:

• Technician leads at a 65% close rate while the expectation is 70%
• Marketed leads at a 35% close rate while the expectation is 55% 
• Partnership leads at a 45% close rate while the expectation is 40%

The Service Strategist puts the home service industry closing rate average at a meager 28%. There are regional factors in play so it is always recommended that you look into the specific closing rate for your region. You can do this by calling around to other companies and simply asking or trying to sit down with another business owner like yourself and talk shop. Since you can only arrive at an answer by collecting enough data points, it is beneficial to all parties involved to know what the average closing rate is in your industry.

Setting the Core Principles of A Closing Rate 

A Trades Company has three core principles that define our closing rate. We put these in place to constantly remind the sales consultant what works in the home and what does not. A Trades Company’s entire sales process and manual are built on these three principles. 

1. Take the time to build a lasting client relationship 
2. Always follow up with a customer even if no future sale is on the table 
3. Sales Consultant accountability in the sales process with follow-up and promises made

To grow you will need a higher closing rate, and to get a higher closing rate you need to first understand what should be measured. If you are not tracking something, then it is much hard to know when you have improved. Start tracking and working on a better sales process and the growth will come.