In the world of home improvement contractors, turning a standard service call into a major project requires a strategic sales mindset. We analyzed the winning approach of Tim Dutchmont, a service tech and three-time “crown champion” from Dawson’s Electric and Air in Fuquay, North Carolina. Tim sold and installed an impressive $865,000 last year.
His technique focuses on building immediate rapport and shifting the conversation from a one-time repair to long-term system upgrades. His method provides a clear blueprint for any electrician, plumbing contractors, or hvac contractor aiming to boost their sales volume.
The Initial Approach: Trust and the Clean Slate
Tim’s preparation and initial conversation are designed to eliminate assumptions and build trust.
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Minimal Preparation: He keeps pre-call research simple, only checking the customer history to see if his company has been there before.
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The Clean Slate Mentality: Tim approaches every job as a “clean slate”. He understands that what the customer tells dispatch is often different from the real opportunity; for instance, a call for light fixtures can quickly evolve into a whole-home project for recess lights.
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Rapport Building: The first step is always to thank the customer for having the company out, and to thank repeat customers for choosing the electrical contractor again. This helps in successful contractor management services by setting a positive tone.
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Active Listening: After a brief reiteration of the call’s purpose to show he’s paying attention, he asks the open-ended question: “What are y’all looking to have done today?”.
The Diagnostic Shift: From ‘Safety’ to ‘System’
Tim’s critical sales insight is to avoid language that creates anxiety or sounds overly “salesy”.
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Dropping the ‘Safety’ Word: Tim avoids the word “safety” in his pitch because he finds it can sound too much like a scare tactic.
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Embracing ‘System Upgrades’: He reframes the conversation around “system” or “system upgrades”. He justifies a full inspection by stating that the entire system works together, and he needs to ensure it’s up to spec for himself and the family.
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Show and Tell: If the homeowner isn’t following him on the inspection, he takes plenty of pictures. He uses these photos for a “show and tell” presentation to educate the customer on potential issues and opportunities for improvement. This strategy is essential for all roofing contractors, roof contractor, metal roof contractors, and best roofing contractor teams to demonstrate required work.
Presenting Options: Taking the Order
Tim’s core philosophy when presenting is concise: “I just want to take an order. I don’t want to give an order“.
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Three Verbal Options: He advocates for presenting three verbal options rather than a single written estimate. He uses this to “plant seeds” for further business, like mentioning a mesh smoke detector system that requires annual battery replacement, a perfect segue into a membership or maintenance program.
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Price Conditioning: To prevent “sticker shock,” Tim practices price conditioning before writing anything down.
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The $3,000 Range: He stresses keeping the price range tight, ideally within $3,000. If the range is too broad, like $5,000$ to $10,000, the customer will hesitate and ask for clarification.
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Example: When discussing a new panel, he might say it will cost anywhere between $9,000 to $12,000 depending if you want some system upgrades
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Closing Strategies and Objection Handling
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Close the Initial Job First: If the call was for a small repair (e.g., installing a ceiling fan), Tim’s approach is to close that job first to build trust and value before presenting the larger, system upgrade options. This guarantees the customer is satisfied with the reason you came out.
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Redirecting Objections: When a customer mentions getting “other bids”, Tim redirects with an open-ended question to get the homeowner thinking. He turns the concern back to the value he’s already delivered:
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“What is your concern?”
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“Did I not build enough value to justify the price?”
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“Did I not build enough credibility within myself or within the company?”
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This method of using open-ended questions to combat confrontation is a hallmark of effective plumbing sales training and is key advice offered by any strong trades business coach or contractors coach. Watch the full podcast here.
