Evolution Framing Contractor Persona
Qualifying

In this sales playbook you'll find the basics for handling a prospective customer. This stage focuses on qualifying a prospect as a potential lead and opportunity. This playbook takes you through the basic process of what to know, do, say, ask and show in order to move the client through the sales process.

What to Know!

Contractors as prospects are most often concerned about the installation process and how difficult it might be for them. Ultimately, you want to reassure them that the Evolution product is like wood and even easier to install. It may take a build or two for their crew to grasp the few differences and it requires little in the way of extra tools and will have places where you will save time ultimately versus wood. Builders that integrate steel into their pipeline often end up switching over to this as their main go-to for deck builds. Reassuring this and telling them about their cost savings, pushing the material warranty, and how they won't have to deal with issues typical with wood.

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What to Do!

Boost their confidence in the product. Send follow up information like the YouTube Video links, and installation guide so they can see how simple it is. Be prepared for them to sometimes ask very detailed questions specific to how they build or prefer to build a deck.
Don’t be afraid to tell a contractor “I don’t know but let me find that out for you” they would rather you be honest.

Ultimately, realize that the contractor is a sales rep, so this is no different from instilling a dealer rep with confidence to sell the product. They will go to a homeowner and will need to feel confident enough to talk about and promote the product. You want them comfortable and excited

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What to Say!

You may meet your prospect face-to-face however its more likely that the initial conversation will be over a phone call unless the prospect is coming from dealer or distributor.

Key points to talk about:

• Let us help with the material list.

• This is where the market is heading.

• Larger spans with between posts which means less posts.

• Meets WUI code which is being adopted in most metropolitan areas.

• Be ahead of the curve and set yourself apart from the other deck builders in the area.

• Cost savings after first few installs. Install time should be significantly cut down compared to wood.

• No plaining boards and dealing with buckled joists.

• You can recycle your cut pieces after a job.

What to Ask

Ask the prospect about what brought them to be interested in the product, or about what they are looking to achieve. This will help establish the purpose or reason that they are looking at our solution, or it may help clarify if our solution is right for them. (Does our solution meet their need? Answering this can save both you and the prospect a lot of time)

Ask the prospect about their business. You can gather quite a bit of information and prepare yourself for later exchanges by letting the customer talk about their business.

How many decks do they build a year/season? (Determines the volume of product they need)
How long have they been building decks? (Determines level of experience, how established they are, and their learning curve)
Are they looking to grow their business? (This can help determine volume and also give you a later objection handling on quicker build times)
About what amount of time is spent per job? (Determines average number of jobs in a season can help with objection of price, you can build X amount more in a season with our product by saving Y amount of time per job.)
What is your average deck build size? (Determines potential volume of product needed, gets you prepared to answer standard ballpark pricing question.)
What is their region of operations? (Helps determine what type of distribution or who you might partner with as their local dealer)

What to Show!

During the prospect stage, most contractors are likely to be skeptical as steel may be something new for them. If the product aligns with there needs get them excited by sharing solid videos of product. You can also show some installation photos however you may want to do this in person or in a follow-up meeting depending on more detailed questions they may ask.