First Jump Different, Then Jump Higher
By Nexstar Training Manager Keith Mercurio

In this week’s video blog, Nexstar Sales Training Manager Keith Mercurio talks about the power of thinking and doing outside of the box to achieve better results. Be an innovator!  Click on the photo to play the video. To learn more about Nexstar’s results-driven training: http://www.nexstarnetwork.com/Pages/SureFireSystems.aspx.

Simple But Not Easy
By Jack Tester, Nexstar® Network President & CEO

In 2008, I was sitting next to a very successful contractor in a Nexstar manager training class discussing how to increase conversion rate and average sale. The material in the class was spot on. The business system for how to achieve success was laid out, clear as could be. The impact available from consistent technician training, business coaching and accountability was clearly evident. All the class attendees were nodding their heads in agreement. Everyone was planning to go home and implement what they were learning into their own strategic plan.

Toward the end of the training segment, this successful contractor leaned over and said that it was his training routine, company-wide accountability and personal involvement in this area that was, in his mind, the secret to their success.

He claimed his primary responsibility was to make sure important sales management activities were properly executed every day in his company. In his next breath, he closed by saying that sales management success (increasing conversion rate and average sale) was “simple but not easy” – a profound statement and one that has stuck with me.

“Simple but not easy…  Simple but not easy…”

What are those activities in your business that are simple but not easy for you to execute every day? Are you giving them the business systems and the training they need to perform those tasks? Does everyone in your business know what is expected from them every day and why they need to do it?

If your answer isn’t “yes” to all three of these then you have some work to do. It is simple work, but not easy work. Nexstar members work with their dedicated business coaches to establish their “recipe” for success. Once that is created, then it’s easier to just follow the recipe. To learn more visit www.nexstarnetwork.com or call 1-888-240-STAR (7827).

Bundling: The Art of Increasing Tickets & Close Rates

By Keith Mercurio, Nexstar® Network Training Manager

I work with so many contractors in the PHCE industries that work incredibly hard and put in excruciating hours to complete as many calls as they can in a day. These contractors have been “trained” by customers to only present the least expensive, lowest value option, which means that the only way to increase sales and profits is to fit as many calls into a single day as they can. As we all know, this is exhausting.

What I try to teach instead in my HVAC, Plumbing and electrical service technician training is that we first need to listen to our customers and then present a number of options at different values that each meet our customers’ needs. This technique is called bundling. Bundling is one of my favorite topics to talk about because it’s a genuine “art”. To learn how to present bundles requires a lot of training, time, AND faith because the shift in your thinking will be significant.

Bundling is critical to increase your close rates and your average tickets. It’s a complicated concept, but I feel it is so important that I have condensed it into three easy points to help introduce the process.

1. Reduce the Number of Value Decisions Needed by Customers

2. Create the Emotional Ownership for Customers

3. Make Your Medium Option Bigger

When you are ready to embrace the bundling concept, be assured it will take some creativity and some coaching from a peer or industry organization, such as Nexstar. You’ll have to decide how you can best bundle multiple tasks and assign one value to them based on your business plans and your market. But if you are looking for increased close rates and tickets – bundling is the business system you need to learn and implement now.

Learn more about my three steps to effective bundling in the April issue of HVACR Business. To learn more about training your technicians on the art of bundling and the right way to call on customers, visit www.nexstarnetwork.com or call 1-888-240-STAR (7827).

About the Author:

Keith Mercurio is the training manager for Nexstar® Network, training members on sales, customer service and motivation in the field. Before joining Nexstar, he worked within a Nexstar member company, first as a plumber, then developing an HVAC sales division that produced 3.7 million within the first two years, while incorporating many of the same techniques he teaches today.

N’Ts Are For Losers
By Nexstar Training Manager Keith Mercurio

In this week’s video blog, Nexstar Training Manager Keith Mercurio talks about the power of what we do inside our minds and how that translates to the outside world. He shows you how to find what you are looking for by changing your thinking and vocabulary. Stop using the N’Ts:  CaN’T, WoN’T, DoN’T, ShouldN’T, etc.  Click on the photo to play the video. To learn more about Nexstar’s results-driven training: http://www.nexstarnetwork.com/Pages/SureFireSystems.aspx.

“Translate The Jargon”
By Nexstar Master Trainer Dave Boduch

Nexstar Master Trainer Dave Boduch discusses technical jargon and how using words that your customers will understand will help you build trust and better relate to your customers. Click on the photo to play the video. To learn more about Nexstar’s results-driven training: http://www.nexstarnetwork.com/Pages/SureFireSystems.aspx.

The Importance of Training & Ride-Alongs
By Nexstar Sales Trainer Keith Mercurio

In this week’s video blog, Nexstar Sales Trainer Keith Mercurio shares a recent experience involving Service System training and a follow up ride-along. Click on the photo to play the video. To learn more about Nexstar’s results-driven training: http://www.nexstarnetwork.com/Pages/SureFireSystems.aspx.

“World of the Call Center-Insight for Technicians ”
By Nexstar Master Trainer Dave Boduch

Nexstar Master Trainer Dave Boduch gives technicians insight into understanding how a well-oiled call center works and how to use that to a technician’s advantage. Click on the photo to play the video. To learn more about Nexstar’s results-driven training: http://www.nexstarnetwork.com/Pages/SureFireSystems.aspx.

“What’s Your And?”
By Nexstar Sales Trainer Keith Mercurio

In this week’s video blog, Nexstar Sales Trainer Keith Mercurio invites you to create a new standard. What’s next? Stop looking back at what has been and start imagining what could be. Click on the photo to play the video. To learn more about Nexstar’s results-driven training: http://www.nexstarnetwork.com/Pages/SureFireSystems.aspx.

“Set Up Shop”
By Nexstar Sales Trainer Keith Mercurio

In this week’s video blog, Nexstar Sales Trainer Keith Mercurio re-defines “Set Up Shop”. You play the role of customer service rep, technician, designer and retailer. Change the mentality of how you enter a customer’s home. Click on the photo to play the video. To learn more about Nexstar’s results-driven training: http://www.nexstarnetwork.com/Pages/SureFireSystems.aspx.

“Role Play Video – Skill practicing a service call using Nexstar Service System 2.0″
By Nexstar Sales Trainer Keith Mercurio

In this week’s video blog, Nexstar Sales Trainer Keith Mercurio role plays a service call. He shows the steps outlined in Nexstar’s Service System 2.0 training. Click on the photo to play the video. To learn more about Nexstar’s results-driven training: http://www.nexstarnetwork.com/Pages/SureFireSystems.aspx.