Spring has sprung and busy season is just around the corner. Just in time for movers’ phones to start ringing off the hook again, we wanted to share some advice on booking jobs and growing sales. To do so, we turned to Yuriy Margolin.
Yuriy is the CEO and owner of Moving Sales Professionals, which has been booking moves and providing customer service on behalf of its moving company clients since 2018. Prior to starting Moving Sales Professionals, Yuriy led sales for moving companies on both the east and west coasts. In all, he has more than 20 years of professional sales experience. To boot, he hosts the popular podcast, Let’s Talk Moving.
Read on to learn his top five tips, what he sees the fastest growing moving companies do that others don’t and how to get more five-star reviews.
What are the top 5 sales tips you’d share with moving companies?
Yuriy:
1. Follow up.
Follow-ups are the key as 90% of the jobs booked generally don’t come from first call closes.
2. Figure out your customer’s hot button.
What is the most important thing to them? Is it packing? Handling of a certain item? Something else?
3. Be yourself.
Be yourself, be positive, personable, patient and a great listener.
4. Qualify a “no.”
Just because a customer told you that they are already booked, doesn’t mean they are and, regardless, you already got a no, so you have nothing to lose by asking additional questions.
5. Be thorough and professional.
Remember to be thorough and professional throughout the process. Even if you don’t book that customer you are the voice of the company. Represent it well.
Based on your experience, what do the top-performing moving companies do differently than other moving companies?
Yuriy: They put processes in place in all facets of their business. That includes: sales and labor practices, customer service on the phone and on the job, inventory control, truck management and maintenance. They look at solutions that affect a company long term vs. short term (for example, money today vs. money down the road in terms of customer service and conflict resolution). They also create a company culture that allows them to keep good people and get rid of cancers in the workplace. Above all, they keep all those things consistent.
What can moving companies do in their sales process to ensure they get 5 star reviews on Google?
Yuriy: I have always taken pride in being professional, honest and thorough. I also preferred to overestimate rather than underestimate and told the customer that. I was strategic in my follow up process. Also, it’s ok to not book certain customers. Some people are not worth booking and will cost you more in the long run.
What is an example of something your team did at Moving Sales Professionals that saved or ensured a sale for one of your clients?
Yuriy: We had a situation where one of our clients, a moving company in Texas, contacted us on Friday to tell us that they couldn’t do a big job on Monday and wanted us to cancel it. This would have put the customer in a bad position and would have certainly resulted in a bad review. However, we had another client in Texas. We asked the first client if it was ok to try to price and do it through the other client to avoid a bad situation for the customer and bad review for the first client. We were given a go ahead.
I contacted the other company to check availability and if we could price it through them. Once that was done, I contacted the customer and told him that unfortunately company A couldn’t do his job, but that I had a solution in company B available to him. He ok’d me giving his information to company B and refunding deposit from company A. Then, one of my reps called from company B, completed the quote and booked him for a Tuesday for about $900 more. Company A didn’t get a bad review. Company B got a good job. The customer was happy and left a good review for company B.
Last question. What is one mistake you see moving companies making in their sales process and how can they fix it?
Yuriy: They give up too easily. They don’t follow up or follow up too much. While it’s good to be assertive and it’s ok to flirt with the line you never want to cross the line into the stalking realm. You fix this by being assertive vs. overly aggressive. You handle objections and provide a case for choosing your company. You follow up strategically.
To learn more from Yuriy Margolin, listen to his podcast. To learn more about Yuriy Margolin and Moving Sales Professionals, visit https://www.movingsalesprofessionals.com/.
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