Girskis believes that using the technology has boosted sales effectiveness in several ways, including reducing the number of two-call appointments. “That opens up more [sales] time slots throughout the week,” a substantial cost-saver.
More subjectively, using this technology has a psychological effect, he asserts. Having whatever information you need at your fingertips makes you feel more organized. “You feel better about yourself,” he says, “and if you’re feeling good, you are going to be selling.” Prospects seeing the use of sophisticated technology may fear you’re high-priced, Girskis says, but when your pricing is close to that of other contractors, “your credibility goes up two notches.”
GOT YOUR LAPTOP? The laptop computer, whether connected to the Internet or not, is the workhorse that carries company resources and automation into the field for Dial One Window Replacement Specialists, in Anaheim, Calif. President Charlie Gindele worked with a developer for two years trying to create an automated solution to writing better job estimates in the field before the effort faltered. He hasn’t given up. “I was such a believer in [the concept] that when it didn’t pan out, I developed a big Excel spreadsheet to accomplish the same task,” Gindele says.
The spreadsheet contains everything a salesperson needs to write up a thorough, accurate, and professional proposal on the laptop that all Dial One Window Replacement Specialists sales reps are required to carry. (The company subsidizes the purchase; the salespeople own their own machines.) This information includes size and pricing information for all the company’s product lines, an electronic version of the company contract and associated forms, and a calculator function. The spreadsheet forces salespeople to “consider all the options,” Gindele says. The program makes it easy for sales reps to show homeowners multiple product choices without repetitive typing, and it significantly reduces the number of errors.
“When you’re punching a couple hundred pieces of data into a calculator, it is pretty easy to miss something or to transpose a number,” he says. “This eliminates all those mistakes.”
Dial One sales personnel also are required to carry a portable printer. “All our sales guys are able to print out a price quotation in the field that’s complex and professional-looking,” Gindele says.
These are just the beginning of the benefits. Salespeople must e-mail the company a copy of every proposal they make so that “we have a permanent record of it and we know exactly what was quoted,” Gindele says. When they close a sale, reps also e-mail the contract, price sheet, and all pricing details back to the office. Processing the job can begin immediately, “before the paper arrives in the office. And it is easier to check that things weren’t omitted. You don’t have to spend as much time crunching the numbers because you don’t have to verify the math and the spreadsheet automatically takes the appropriate discounts,” Gindele says.
WHERE AM I? It’s hard for any gadget to match that level of enhanced efficiency, but efficiency isn’t everything. Of all the gadgets that home improvement contractors carry, they probably love their GPS navigation units best.
“About half our salesmen have them in their cars, and all our techs have them,” Gindele says. “We don’t cover a large geographic area, but there are 3.1 million people in Orange County, and a lot of houses and a lot of streets that are hard to find. I’ll never be without it, because it makes my job so much easier,” he adds.
A GPS unit is simpler and safer to use than any map, agrees Joe Perri, sales rep for Stanek Windows in Cleveland. “I’m 44 now, and for the last few years it’s been hard to read a map while driving and figuring out where I’m going,” Perri says. GPS saves him a lot of time, “especially in winter, when you can’t even see the streets for the snow.” Even more important, however, “it eases my mind because I’m not worrying about where I’m going. Your stress level is a lot less,” he says.
In big ways and small, these gadgets and the technology they make so widely available are changing the way home improvement contractors do business, many say.
Today’s homeowners are accustomed to being surrounded by technology, Gindele points out. “You go in there with a pad and paper and handwritten forms and you look like you’re from the Dark Ages,” he says. “In our case, [this technology] has enhanced our professionalism and therefore instilled greater trust and confidence in the consumer. And if you can’t instill trust and confidence in the consumer, you probably aren’t going to make the sale.”
Girskis agrees. “This technology is changing everything. Time is money, and people are so impatient today. Customers must have an answer right away, and when you can feed their hunger, you’re going to make more money.” —Jay Holtzman is a freelance writer based in Jamestown, R.I.