by Lee Distad

Depending on who you ask, business in the residential AV channel are up and down. Believe it or not, some AV install dealers say business is good.

Yet at the same time, even in my own city, more AV install dealers have closed their doors in the past five years than in the previous ten, including some surprises — dealers whose businesses spanned decades.

They say a rising tide lifts all boats. In a booming economy, you can make a tidy living picking the low hanging fruit from the tree. Certainly in the years leading up to 2007 I saw a half dozen newbie AV install companies open their doors and say, “We’re integrators!”

Without exception they’re all gone now.

It’s as easy for salesmen to get lazy as it is for owners to not check their spending when times are good.

But when the market is soft, salespeople have to sharpen their skills, and have to do some actual work.

If you’re seeing fewer qualified prospects, then it’s not rocket science that you need to close more of them in order to sell as many or more projects than you did before.

We’re not talking corner used car lot closing, either. I’m talking about three crucial steps in the sales process that, amazingly, salespeople often forget to follow faithfully.

I know, because I’ve been just as guilty as anybody else of taking shortcuts.

Yet just like in sports, flawlessly and repeatedly executing the basics typically puts more points on the board than fancy lay-ups.

Go prospecting. “Hunters” are salespeople who have a knack for going out, cold calling and drumming up business. “Farmers” are salespeople who do better serving business that’s been put in front of them, whether it’s handling existing clients or dealing with people who walk in the door in a retail setting.

When business slows down, farmers need to learn to be hunters, even if it’s not their strength; sorry to have to break it to you.

Successful prospecting is its own column entirely, but in brief, do the following:

Make a list of who you’re going to approach; builders, designers, architects, retail stores, whoever. Then work that list from top to bottom. Don’t stop until you’ve knocked on every door. You’ll get more deals that way than leaning up against a counter in your showroom waiting for it to happen by accident.

Qualify like you mean it. Nothing is more important than qualifying prospective clients. Not just learning what they think they need, but also uncovering hidden needs, hot buttons that will lead to buying signal and sometimes even oblique signals that lead you off on a profitable tangent you hadn’t initially sensed early on in the discussion.

If there’s anything at all that I can feel justified in tooting my own horn about, it’s the fact that I really listen to what clients say, and find needs that they didn’t even know they had until I showed them something that they now can’t live without.

True stories: I’ve routinely found $20,000+ projects in customers who were casually asking about TV sizes. In one case a phone call looking for a $3,000 Bose unit turned into a $500,000 whole-home job.

I’m done bragging. The lesson here is look beyond appearances, and look for possibilities.

If you follow up, you’ll be one of the only salesperson who does. No one, no matter how good they think they are, closes every prospect on the first meeting. Salespeople need to be proactive, collect contact information from  their prospects and follow up diligently.

Mine your list of prospects regularly. If he says he’ll be back tomorrow, call him the day after. If they won’t be ready to make a decision for six months, call him back in three. Use your head, read the situation and take the time between now and then to build rapport, make sure that he knows you’re the one for the job, and be diligent about keeping your promises to follow up.

This almost never happens, by the way. When I’m shopping for a big-ticket item, and I’m not ready to buy, I always test salespeople by asking them to follow up with me. I’m not even leaving it up to them; I’m asking them to do it.

On average, four out of five salesmen don’t do it. Ever.

Who do you think ends up getting that business?

That’s right, the one who calls me back.

Lee Distad is a rAVe columnist and freelance writer covering topics from CE to global business and finance in both print and online. Reach him at lee@ravepubs.com