Building a Reference List That Closes Deals · 2014-04-26 · Building a Reference List That Closes...

Building a Reference List That

Closes Deals

Rebecca Switzer(c) Copyright 2014 - Roof Sales Mastery, LLC - All Rights Reserved

What is more compelling, a commercial on television for a restaurant or hearing a review about a restaurant directly from a friend or family member? It’s always the personal review that carries more weight than an advertisement or commercial. Friends and family are independent third parties, so their evaluation is perceived as more trustworthy and honest than an advertisement coming from the company promoting a restaurant, product, or movie. Likewise, hearing a per-sonal account directly from a past customer who has already had experience with you and your company is much more effective and compelling than an ad from the company promoting their services, because everyone claims to have the best customer service, to have been around the longest, or to have high quality workmanship.

Having a solid reference list is an invaluable tool you can use to support your positive reputation, create comfort, enforce trustworthiness, and even close deals. The best salesman in the world is no match for a past customer’s personal promotion. Having your customers close deals for you is even more effective than closing them yourself. Here’s exactly how to do it:

Select some of your favorite past customers. Every good salesperson develops close relation-ships with certain customers who become more like friends than clients. These are the people who you stop by to have a Coke with just because you’re in the neighborhood, the customer that invites you to stay for dinner because they genuinely enjoy your company, or the homeowner that always refers you to friends and family. These individuals are priceless assets in your busi-ness arsenal, because they are glad to refer and promote you to anyone who will listen because of how well you treated them and how much they like you as a person. Gather a list of at least 5-10 of these people, and call them to ask if they would be open to having their contact information made available to future prospects as a reference. Here’s how to ask:

You can stop by and ask, call and chat to discuss it, or send them an email. Here is an example:

Building a Reference List That Closes Deals

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“Hey Don, I have had such a great experience meeting and working with you and Brenda. You’ve been such a pleasure; I wish all my customers were like you two! Because I feel like we have such a great relationship, I was wondering if you’d be willing to do me a huge favor. I’m a big believer that personal references are much more powerful than any ad or com-mercial, and I would love to have future potential customers be able to speak directly with a few of my past customers to ask a question or two about the positive experience they’ve had working with me and my company. It would mean so much to me if you would be open to taking a call or two every now and again from other homeowners who want to ask a couple questions about working with me. Would you be okay with being on a reference list of my favorite clients?”

(c) Copyright 2014 - Roof Sales Mastery, LLC - All Rights Reserved

^ Satisfied customers that you have done a good job for are happy to help!

Don’t be afraid to add customers to the list who experienced issues along the way during con-struction. As long as you were prompt to tend to and fix any problems that popped up along the way, this can be a very valuable part of a reference. Customers don’t expect to be promised that everything will go 100% smoothly; they want to be promised that if something unexpected pops up, that you will take care of it. Hearing from another person that a speed bump in the process did arise and that you were quick to get it taken care of and made it right for them is actually very reassuring! Let these references know that they can be totally transparent about their personal experience with the project. Say, “Be honest and tell them exactly how it went for you. If there was a problem on the job, you can let them know how fast we fixed it!”

At a bare minimum, you should have a list of names, addresses, and phone numbers for future prospects to use to reach out to, but if you want to really wow them and have an even bigger im-pact with your reference list, kick it up a notch with these additions:

Photos. If your homeowner isn’t camera shy, ask them if you can take a picture of them and their spouse/family in front of their newly updated home. Being able to put a face to the name is even more effective on your reference list. Every now and again, you may have someone who may not feel comfortable having their picture taken. That’s okay! You should already be taking before and after pictures of projects you complete: use these on your reference list and include them with each respective homeowner.

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Suggest questions to ask. At the bottom of your list, suggest some questions for the callers to ask, and prepare your reference list for questions they are likely to get asked, such as:

1. Wereyousatisfiedwiththeoverallprocess?2. Areyouhappywiththeworkmanship?3. Wouldyouchoose(projectmanager/companyname)again?4. Did(projectmanager/companyname)followthroughontheirword?

Reviews. Askyourhomeownerswhattheywouldsayiftheyweretorecommendyouoryourcompanytoafriend,familymember,orneighbor–wouldtheybewillingtowritethatdowninasentenceortwotoputbelowtheirnameonyourreferencesheet?Keepanotebookandabold,darkpenwhereyourhomeownerscanwriteasmuchoraslittleastheywantabouttheirexperi-enceworkingwithyou.Youcanthenscanthesequickreviewsandaddthemtoyourreferencelist to pack more of a punch.


Here’s an example of a reference list sheet:

Newer to the position and don’t have many past customers? No problem. You can compile a list of coworkers’ past customers (with their permission) so that you can still provide references who have had work done by your company, even if not by you personally.


Reference List

Finding a quality contractor you can trust can be hard to come by these days. Let our customers do the talking for us by sharing their experiences with you to ensure we

are offering the highest quality service.

Adam & Amy Anderson123-456-7890123 Cherry Street

Ben Barton123-456-7891456 Apple Lane

Dan Donalds123-456-7890123 Berry Avenue

Ellen Erickson123-456-7890456 Pear Circle

Frances Frank123-456-7890789 Plum Trail

Carson Family 123-456-7890789 Peach Court

1. Did they do everything they said they would?

2. Did they clean up and leave everything the way they found it?

3. If you had to do it over again, would you use the same company?

kaizengroupTHE

In Pursuit of Adding Value.

f: 636.220.8344p: 314.358.8917 15825 Manchester Rd. Ste. 201

Ellisville, MO 63011


Have you racked up good reviews on a website like Yelp, Angie’s List, or Yellow Pages? Print this out and add it to the reference list. Showing high star ratings on consumer feedback sites, a good rating with the BBB, and other positive reviews from other places only adds credibility and is a great addition to your reference list:


Now that you have compiled your rock solid reference list, it’s time to put it to work. Here’s how to use your reference list to sell jobs and beat out the competition.

Have printouts of your reference list in your binder, and when you arrive to do an inspection, present it to the homeowner. Let them know that while you are up on the roof, they are more than welcome to give a few people from the list a call to ask them about their positive experience working with you and your company. Say,

At this point, your past customers do the selling for you. By the time your potential customers get done talking to your reference list, they are already feeling good about you and your company, feel reassured that you are a reliable person of integrity, and are ready to hear what you have to say. They are excited to work with you and view you in a positive light because they have a better feel for who you are and what your company represents.

Take the time to put together a solid, clean reference list. It will be an invaluable catalyst in build-ing your business, will boost your closing ratio significantly, and will set you apart from competi-tion who is not using a list. Having a powerful reference list makes you an easy choice, so don’t miss out on the benefits of using this instrumental tool.


How to Use Your Reference List to Close Deals

“Mrs. Jones, I’ve found that one of the most important things homeowners want to do ‘their homework’ on the people or companies they are going to work with. I believe the most honest and valuable reviews come directly from past customers themselves, so I have here a list of references I’ve helped out in the past. While I’m doing my inspection of your home, feel free to go inside and give these people a call! They are some of my favorite past customers, and have already expecting other homeowners to call and ask them a few questions about their positive experience working with me and my company. If you aren’t sure what to ask, here are a few good questions people usually like to ask. They’re all really nice and would love to talk to you!”


Building a Reference List That Closes Deals · 2014-04-26 · Building a Reference List That Closes...

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