Straight Story on Sales Thorough product knowledge is at the heart of the company’s structured selling system. “Salespeople have to be sharper than they used to be,” Pompilli says. “Homeowners want a professional presentation that shows exactly what’s going to happen, how it’s going to happen, and why they should go with you.”
To make sure they get that, Pompilli trains junior salespeople in a 10-step program he developed, drawing on input from well-known industry consultant Rick Grosso (see “With the Program”).
The system scripts the sale “from the minute they get to the door to the button-up,” Pompilli says.
Trainees first learn to sell Gutter Cap because “everything is written down and on videotape,” Pompilli explains. When they consistently sell $50,000 to $60,000 a month, he trains them on windows, then siding. Candidates get the straight story on home improvement sales from the start.
“We tell them: ‘You’re going to work nights. You’re going to work weekends. You’re going to drive all over the state. Now, does this sound like something you’re interested in?’” Thomas says.
In daily meetings, junior salespeople present and are critiqued and graded — and do it again and again until they get it right. Pompilli makes it clear that learning the system is a serious matter. “I’m very hard at the meetings,” he says.
Team Building The upside of sales discipline, of course, is the money it brings. Top performers make “well over $100,000 a year,” Pompilli says. What also makes their commitment to the process worthwhile is being part of a team with a common purpose that works hard and has fun.
“Last year we did shark fishing,” Pompilli says. “We chartered a rock ‘n’ roll bus, like The Who rides in, to go to New York for dinner — 32 of us. We do casino nights, contests, limo nights. We went to the Yankees-Red Sox game in a limo. We did a Rolex giveaway. We like to do team contests where we pick captains and they choose their teams.”
These incentives aren’t just for “ sales personnel. “Everyone in here is on some kind of bonus program except the bookkeeper,” Pompilli says. “We do a lot together. When we have a good month, we do something with the people, and it gets everyone on the team. It also gets the salesmen to know the installers, the marketing managers, and the bookkeeper,” he says. “Anybody who works here in any type of full-time position has been to my home for drinks or dinner or a party.”
One result of this team building is that Tri-State has very little turnover, in sales or elsewhere. Pompilli hasn’t had to advertise for a sales position in two years. Candidates knock on the door as referrals.