“It is much easier to build upon character and traits that are already present.” — Pete Marchmont, VP of Sales at GatorGuard

Pete Marchmont, Vice President of Sales at GatorGuard, likes to work directly with individual sales reps on specific topics and interactions they face in the field. He says they often have an open mind to training and topics that more experienced reps may not be as receptive to. But he has training techniques ready for reps at all levels.

When it comes to home improvement and remodeling sales training — and as with most successful teams and organizations — culture comes from the top. Leadership is best expressed by example. And regardless of whether you’re showing new reps the ropes or are holding focused, specialized training for seasoned sales pros, there are tips and tools at your disposal that can benefit your entire business. 

With Pete’s help, we’ve put together a list of a few of our favorites. Discover remodeling and home improvement sales training tips and suggestions for tools that can help your team boost ticket sizes and close more deals.

Home Improvement Sales Training Tips

To find success in the home improvement sales industry, reps need training that focuses on sharpening their skills and enhancing their ability to close deals. Consider the following tips for new ways to help you build a stronger, more capable in-home sales team.

Push for Product Knowledge Mastery

Pete really emphasizes the need to “hammer home” product knowledge. And in an industry like home improvement and remodeling, you have to appreciate that choice of language. 

He says reps need to be experts in their craft. This “starts with complete confidence” and the “ability to answer any questions or concerns about the product they are representing.” And they need to express this confidence in a way that aligns with the customer’s needs.

Typically, the way to really get to know products and services is through doing and repetition. Talking about them, demonstrating them, going over product information in different settings — any type of “studying” takes time. And reps’ home improvement sales training is essentially studying for mastery of your company’s offerings.

Implement a Standardized Sales Process

Pete explains that the cornerstone of any sales training needs to be a “measurable process with defined steps.” This process is the standard by which to measure reps’ sales success.

Your sales process needs to be a step-by-step system that helps to ensure consistency and scalability during in-home selling scenarios. In fact, our research shows that following a structured sales process leads to 4x higher ticket sizes. This process looked like this: 

Although your definition of “success” will differ depending on business offerings, there are a few key performance indicators (KPIs) that can help most salespeople chart their growth:

• Sales close rate (conversion rate)
• Net sale per lead issued (NSLI)
• Sales script compliance
• Interactivity with customers

These metrics will provide reps with hard data about their progress and demonstrate to managers areas in which reps may need more work. 

Let Data Be Your Guide

Speaking of metrics, Pete says that data allows high-performing reps to “hone in on specific parts of their process and change." Data enables managers to refine their sales strategies and top reps to “master their weaknesses” and grow exponentially. 

And not only is it important to track KPIs and examine hard figures, but it’s also critical for reps to gather data on soft skills like empathy and active listening. “As humans, we allow our emotions and mental flow to impact our perspective,” Pete says. Using tools to track sales conversations eliminates subjectivity and provides “undeniable data to coach off of.”

Encourage Reps to Leverage Financing

Arthur Ashe once said, “Start where you are, use what you have, do what you can.” And in the world of home improvement and renovation, “what you have” is often a flexible solution for services for your customers.

Offering financing options to your home services customers can help sales reps close deals and increase ticket sizes. When field sales reps speak to customers about their financing options, it benefits everyone by:

• Making products and services more accessible to customers
• Instilling trust that reps have customers’ best interests in mind
• Boosting sales conversion rates
• Driving higher revenue per sale

It’s important to equip reps with sales techniques and training that allow them to present customers with financing options that effectively meet their needs. And the way to accomplish this is by practicing role-playing scenarios.

Plug the Power of Promotions

Along with financing options, your sales training program should also teach reps how to discuss promotions with customers during field sales encounters. Conversations about active business promotions have been shown to increase closing rates and significantly boost average ticket sizes in home services sales. 

When reps personalize promotions to fit customers’ behaviors and lifestyles, it can help them overcome price objections and create a sense of urgency — and this inspires quicker decision-making. Promotions are sometimes the key to nudging customers who are on the fence about making a large purchase for their home.

By monitoring real-time conversations between reps and customers using a virtual ride along platform, managers can track the effectiveness of promotion discussions and adjust their training accordingly.

Practice Role-Playing to Sharpen Reps’ (Soft) Skills

Pete explains that the ability to present information and engage with customers is only part of the rep’s job. He says that “training has to include adequate space for role-play and failure and learning to handle, overcome, and anticipate objections from prospects.”

And this is done, in large part, by using soft skills. Training on interpersonal skills like adaptability, emotional intelligence, and problem-solving is essential for providing reps with a solid sales foundation. Pete shares that managers need to have one-on-one interactions with reps where they can share, teach, and showcase the company’s mission so reps know the “why” behind the “what.” He says that “facetime between reps and managers is the most viable plan for affecting culture and the character of a rep,” — and this can be accomplished through sales ride alongs and role-playing with real-life customer interaction data.

Home Remodeling Sales Training Tools

For most sales teams, technology plays a key role in their success — even in a small tech stack, the right tools matter. The following are just a few home remodeling and home services training tools you can use to be the best sales coach possible.

Virtual Ride Along Platform

These days, in-person ride alongs are becoming a thing of the past. Most teams are transitioning to more nomadic sales training and coaching practices using digital sales tools like virtual ride along platforms. As Pete says, “Estimates, paperwork, communication, and training all take place on our iPads.”

A virtual ride along platform like Rilla can help managers track things like script compliance, which is the first skill Pete’s team works on with new reps — and the skill he monitors most with experienced reps. Before using Rilla, Pete says that coaching and follow-up were based on lagging measures (i.e., data from past actions instead of real-time data).

By reviewing reps’ sales conversations and tracking key language, managers can help reps make the most of their time in customers’ homes.

CRM Platform

Customer relationship management (CRM) platforms can help field sales reps maximize their efficiency and manage customer interactions effectively. CRM tools allow managers and reps to track sales activities and streamline training and follow-ups in a way that highlights customers’ needs. 

CRMs also help sales teams:

• Update customer records easily
• Reduce errors and duplicate work
• Maintain alignment by working from a single source of truth (SSOT)
• Automate routine tasks
• Gain insights into sales performance
• Prioritize leads and lead-generation initiatives

With customer information at their fingertips, managers and reps can identify sales opportunities and close deals faster.

Sales Performance Dashboard

Sales performance dashboards offer real-time insights into KPIs like close rates and NSLI. And when managers use Rilla alongside their sales dashboard, they can also track factors like talk speed and script compliance to discover sales correlations.

For example, when Pete saw that his reps’ customer engagement and interaction scores were down, his managers were able to infer that their reps needed to slow down their conversations with customers. This led to increased sales. He says, “While we can’t measure the humanity of a rep or customer interaction, we do know that by slowing our reps down 10 to 15% over the past year, we have seen more positive engagement with the prospect.”

Sales performance dashboards help managers model desired behaviors, base their training in data, and make quick adjustments to sales strategies on-the-fly. 

Level Up Your Home Improvement Sales Training With Rilla

Home improvement and home renovation sales training is about more than just saying pretty words and using fancy programs. It’s about creating an atmosphere in which you’re building on the strengths your reps already display.

So whether you’re training brand new reps or helping seasoned pros refine their sales skills, fostering a company culture rooted in growth starts with those at the top, planting the seeds for success. And with the right mindset and tools — and a focus on personalized training — you can help your reps close more and larger deals and create better customer relationships.

Rilla can help you get started. Contact us to book a demo.

“When it comes down to making important decisions or decisions that you do not make often — and buying windows is a decision you don’t make often — I still think that human interaction and good conversations are what people are looking for.” These are the wise words of Eric Smithey, general manager of Pella products and a professional in the window industry since 1991.

We spoke with Eric about sales techniques reps can use to close more deals and how managers can help coach reps to use these techniques effectively. And we noticed a major throughline in Eric’s responses: understanding is key. Customers want to feel like reps really have their best interests at heart, so empathy is critical in the sales process. And once reps understand customers’ positions, they can put them at ease. He says customers just want to feel comfortable, and reps can create this type of environment in every sales interaction. 

Discover four window sales techniques reps can use to create comfortable environments for customers, develop customer trust, and improve their overall processes. 

1. Prioritize Trust

Trust is a concept that Eric says “has changed since Al Gore got the Internet going.” Thirty years ago, consumers only had so many (literally) “window shopping” resources at their disposal. They were essentially at the mercy of whatever home services businesses wanted to say about themselves — they didn’t have online reviews and social media to cross-reference a company, product, or service.

Now, customers have endless information in their pockets. They’re well-informed and allergic to being “sold” to. So Eric says the only way to really get through to customers is to build trust. And he says this is accomplished through three components: likeability, transparency, and reading the room.

Likeability

Eric says rep likeability is the most important factor of customer trust. He says customers need to feel like reps are people customers would “sit and chat with,” and if reps don’t have charisma, “everything else kind of falls apart after that.”

Transparency

You have to appreciate that transparency is a trust-building component of window sales. Customers don’t want to feel like they’re being toyed with. As Eric says, they don’t want to “feel like there’s any gamesmanship going on.” Reps need to be genuine, honest, and straightforward with their customers.

Reading the Room

It’s crucial that reps understand where a customer’s product and service knowledge lie. They need to assess that and then speak to them in a way that doesn’t “talk down” to them. Eric says that customers “don’t want you to come in and try to make your wares seem so over-the-top with industry jargon or terminology that feels fluffy.” 

Reps can focus on these components to create trusting customer relationships that ultimately add to the customer experience. And, as Eric explains, “A customer’s experience with you has a big influence on whether or not they want to do business with you.”

2. Elevate the Product in the Customer’s Mind

Ask any rep about the most common sales process objection point, and they’ll likely say that it’s price. And while this may be true, it’s often because customers just don’t understand the value they’re getting from your window products. 

Homeowners can only understand products and services to a certain degree without rep knowledge. They may think your window product or service should only cost them a couple hundred dollars — so then if a rep quotes them a couple thousand, they’re floored. And this shock often comes down to a lack of insight about the real value they’re receiving.

During the sales process, reps often miss the step of adequately building product value in the customer’s mind. Customers need to understand why it’s a good idea to invest in windows. Reps should work to reestablish the expected value, or the product’s worth, in customers’ minds. 

Product knowledge obviously plays a large role in explaining your offering’s worth to customers. Customers are savvier than ever, but reps still need to fill in product knowledge gaps in customers’ minds. And although customers are well-researched, they’re also often ill-informed. They have a lot of information, but it may not be good or accurate. So, reps not only need to educate customers, they need to re-educate them.

Bottom line, reps just need to know more. They need to know everything there is to know about their product, even if they may not “use” it in every field sales conversation. And when they’re able to speak to every aspect of your product’s value, customers’ “pain” over pricing will likely dissipate.

3. Understand the Difference Between Objections and Conditioned Responses

We’ve all done it — gone shopping seeking a specific item, but when a sales associate asks if they can help, we say we’re “just looking.” But we’re not “just looking.” We’re actually seeking out a breathable navy blue dress shirt. But we don’t want to be “sold to,” so we say we’re “just looking.” It’s not an actual “objection,” it’s just an out. It’s about being comfortable.

If a rep is in the field at a customer’s house and the customer says they want to “think about it,” that’s a conditioned response. Because if you asked them to describe what exactly they’re thinking about, it would be hard for them to define. So that’s what your reps can do: ask customers to define what part they’re thinking about. This is how they can get to a real objection.

A real objection would be something like an “information objection.” This is when customers are misinformed or have too much information. They’re overwhelmed with processing information, and they’re confused, so it’s hard for them to make a decision. This is something reps can actually work with by educating the customer with the correct information and building your product’s value in their minds. 

The key to overcoming customer objections, Eric says, is to empathetically ask questions and keep them talking about their feelings toward your product. Something like, “I totally understand. But if you don’t mind my asking, are there things we talked about or information I’ve given you that’s making you feel like you need more time?” This extends the conversation, which will start helping to peel back the layers of objection. Because once reps get to the real objection, they can be more strategic in their sales approach.

4. Work With Technology, Not Against It

Many people who work in industries in which AI use is becoming more prevalent have the same response — “I’m scared” — when asked what they think about the future of tech in their business. And Eric is no different.

“I spent 25 minutes on AI today through Rilla — asking questions about the experience of one of my customers in relation to their in-home demonstration. The answers that I got rolled up my 33 years of knowledge and experience in a matter of seconds.”

But tech solutions and AI are not here to replace managers and salespeople — they’re here to help them. AI allows managers and reps to gather and process information faster. But, AI cannot determine what they actually do with this knowledge. It’s up to managers and reps to determine how to use the information they’ve gathered to better serve customers. Eric says, “It’s going to be the human being on the other side who has to decide how I will work with that.”

When managers can use tools like virtual ride along software to analyze sales conversations and provide insights, they can use the time they saved to become better trainers. They can isolate problems and design solutions faster. They can visualize the relationship between what the reps said and the sales outcome. And then they can determine the actions that need to be taken to improve close rates and increase ticket sizes in future sales interactions.

Boost Transparency in Your Window Sales With Rilla

As mentioned, “price” is often cited as the main pain point in window field sales. But managers like Eric see this pain point from a different perspective. He says reps don’t always think they’re in control of how valuable a customer perceives your products to be, but he thinks they have 100% control. And this comes down to information — educating customers and saying the right things. 

And one way to make sure your reps are saying the right thing is with virtual ride along software like Rilla. AI-powered tools like Rilla make it possible for sales managers to coach their reps more effectively — whether it’s mastering script compliance, preemptively handling objections, or discussing customer options like financing to close more deals. Because, as Eric says, “selling is a perishable skill,” and the more consistent reps are in their processes, the better they will be in their execution.

When you’re ready to get started improving your window sales processes, contact us to book a demo.

There’s a reason we know it as the “art” of conversation — it’s a living work. It’s a dance. It’s a give-and-take between people. And it’s extremely important to successful sales calls and the in-home sales process where a rep’s opening line could potentially make or break the deal. Because, like art, successful sales conversations can be quite subjective.

Business doesn’t happen on the golf course or in the boardroom; business happens in sales conversations. Between nouns, adjectives, and verbs. And the best reps (and managers) know that sales success begins — and ends — with building trust.

With the right tools (like Rilla), sales managers can help reps turn customer insights into a sales strategy. And with the right techniques, reps can turn these strategies into sales conversations that close deals. Discover how through Rilla’s own data, and learn five keys (and three bonus tips) to productive sales conversations for any business.

1. Build Rapport and Trust Early On

The most important element in any relationship is trust. And the only way to build trust is with open communication and by developing a shared understanding of common goals. 

One way reps can get the trust ball rolling is by establishing rapport with sales prospects. This means icebreakers or small talk: planting the seeds of connection by discussing shared interests and common ground. Reps can then water these seeds by asking open-ended questions to find out more about potential buyers’ wants and needs. 

The optimal talk-listen ratio is 50/50 — that’s the sweet spot. See the evidence for yourself in our research below.

But of course, not all customer interactions are textbook examples. If reps can keep their talking percentage no higher than 65%, this will help them close more deals and increase ticket sizes.

The goal of optimizing the talking/listening ratio is to not only develop personal relationships with customers but also discover their current pain points with regard to your industry. Then, reps can tailor their communications to illustrate how they can help relieve prospects’ pain points with your products and services. 

One way to make sure reps are building rapport, leading with your value proposition, and addressing customer pain points effectively is with virtual ridealong software. Managers and sales leaders can review reps’ field sales conversations and analyze the tone, pacing, and topics that resonate with customers and potential clients. They can also determine if reps need to begin addressing customer pain points earlier in the conversation or if they need to establish more of a foundation prior to discussing specific issues. Reviewing sales professionals’ in-home conversations with customers can help you provide personalized coaching to build trust.

2. Ask the Right Questions Through Active Listening

Half of being a good speaker is being a good listener. If reps want to discover customers’ acute pain points, they need to ask the right questions. And the best way to figure out the right questions is by listening with purpose.

When reps listen carefully, they’re able to uncover deeper insights about a prospect’s needs. Imagine one of your sales reps speaking with a customer about upgrading their HVAC system. The customer says they’re interested in energy efficiency. Instead of jumping into product features, the rep asks open-ended follow-up questions and paraphrases the customer’s responses. 

This uncovers a deeper issue: The customer is concerned with energy bills during the summer. Now, the rep can tailor their sales pitch to focus on the cost-saving benefits of your system, not just energy efficiency.

The rep took advantage of two active listening techniques: asking follow-up questions and paraphrasing customers’ responses to clarify and confirm understanding. And our research shows that top-performing reps ask more open-ended questions. 

Here are two other techniques reps can add to their active listening repertoire: 

• Stay present: Focus fully on the customer without distractions to catch subtle cues.
• Practice non-verbal cues: Reps should nod, maintain eye contact, and mind their body language to convey openness and understanding.

Now, of course, these tactics may not work as effectively if you’re cold calling, so your reps would have to rely strictly on “verbal” elements in these settings. But in both remote and in-person sales scenarios, active listening and asking open-ended questions help reps develop a back-and-forth dialog that keeps customers engaged. 

Consider that average sales reps ask around five open-ended questions per customer interaction. Top sales reps ask around 25. So, the more your reps get to know your customers (and their pain points), the more easily they can provide solutions that meet your customers’ needs.

3. Stick to the Process

Successful teams come prepared for field sales meetings. They have a plan and a predefined structure in mind, and they often have a script that they follow during customer interactions. In fact, script compliance is the leading contributing factor to higher close rates and increased sales tickets.

A plan that includes a script ensures rep consistency. It guides more introverted reps through the conversation and keeps more extroverted reps from going off-track. It maps out reps’ time in customers’ homes and allows them to cover key points effectively. This structure eases reps’ anxiety about what to say next and gives them the confidence to answer customer questions and add value during each step of the sales process.

When reps follow their plan to the letter, they can quadruple their success — script-compliant sales teams produce ticket sizes four times higher than teams that don’t follow a script. And when teams stick to a process, it’s easier to analyze their performance and pinpoint areas for improvement. 

Just make sure your reps are still flexible enough to pick up on customer cues. It’s important for reps to hit all the main sales points, but it’s equally important for them to not be so rigid that they overlook a customer’s bid for engagement.

4. Personalize Approaches With Data

Reps should use any potential customer or current customer data they have at their disposal to personalize their pitches. This means referencing past sales conversations, mutual connections, social media, and any information in your customer relationship management (CRM) system that helps reps get “in” with sales prospects.

Say your window sales rep is going out to speak with a customer in their home. Before the interaction, your rep looks at the customer’s data and researches the specific neighborhood in which the customer lives. Because of the historical nature of the houses there — and the typical forecast — the rep learns homes in that neighborhood often face high energy bills in the winter. So, during the customer conversation, the rep personalizes their approach by referencing local weather patterns and explaining how your windows can help them reduce heating costs by up to 20%.

Your sales reps’ goal should be to make customers feel seen and understood. Again, it’s about building trust. Customer conversations need to feel relevant, meaningful, and “human.” And the more your salespeople can discover about their customers beforehand, the better you can coach them to tailor these insights to meet customer needs (and close deals). Because the most successful sales training always comes back to data.

5. Boost Sales Opportunities With Strategic Follow-ups

Sales follow-ups should be continuations of the conversations reps had with customers in their homes — not just generic templates or “check-ins.” Instead of just taking customers’ “temperatures,” reps should dive deeper into customers’ pain points and offer solutions to previously discussed objections. 

Your reps’ follow-ups should provide value and address any customer concerns that weren’t covered during the initial sales interaction. These discussions should be timely and maintain the rapport they built during the face-to-face appointment — and this means more active listening. When executed strategically, follow-ups are opportunities to turn conversations into closed deals.

For example, let’s say your salesperson speaks to a plumbing customer who has concerns about installation time. The homeowner is worried that a lengthy water heater upgrade process will take up too much time and be too much of a burden on their household. So when your rep follows up after the in-home interaction, you can coach them to include a step-by-step overview and timeline of the upgrade process. This helps to address customers’ pain points and provides an “agenda” that the customer can refer back to as needed.

Another way managers can help reps optimize their follow-ups is by referencing data. They can coach reps using data that has been shown to convert similar leads within their sales funnel and tailor their messaging to align with this data. 

Bonus Tips for Successful Sales Conversations

Check out a few extra tips to help your reps have the best sales conversations of their careers.

• Bonus tip #1: Save price for the end. It takes time to build up product value with customers, especially when it comes to major purchases for homeowners, so reps should wait as long as possible to talk pricing. Our research shows that the longer reps wait, the better the outcome — without diminishing returns. For the best results, reps should wait more than four minutes to mention price.
• Bonus tip #2: Use promotions strategically. When reps effectively leverage sales promotions, they can significantly increase a deal’s overall value. Our research shows that when sales reps from a major HVAC manufacturer mentioned a promotion during a customer interaction, ticket sizes increased by more than 92%.
• Bonus tip #3: Don’t forget financing. Leveraging financing is key to empowering homeowners to find the best possible solution for their needs. When financing options are available to customers, they’re a lot more likely to consider significant home renovation and home services investments. Financing options mean customers can often afford twice what they normally would without these options. Mentioning financing also increases close rates by an average of nearly 3%.

These are just three extra ways your reps can set themselves up for sales conversation success and build trust with customers.

The Ultimate Sales Conversations are Made With Rilla

Regardless of your sales team’s product or service, you can help your reps have more effective sales conversations using Rilla’s virtual ride along software and AI analytics. With Rilla, managers like you can analyze reps’ sales conversations in real time and provide timely coaching and feedback to improve their performance. 

With Rilla’s data-backed insights, managers can provide reps with actionable tips for boosting ticket sizes and closing deals. And combined with trust-building tactics like establishing rapport — and engagement strategies like active listening — managers can use this data to help reps personalize their messaging and craft intelligent follow-ups with customers. This not only strengthens your brand in your customers’ minds, but also drives revenue for your business.

Ready to get started helping your reps have more successful sales conversations? Contact us to book a demo today.

Success in the HVAC industry (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning) isn’t just about your reps knowing your product (although it is about that, too). It’s about how reps present your products and services, engage homeowners, and leverage every sales interaction to build trust and value. 

‍

Michael Hirsh, a seasoned pro in HVAC sales strategies at Rescue Air, understands this balancing act better than most. With years of experience under his belt, he knows that mastering the sales process means being prepared for anything that may come up in the field. This ranges from making a clear first impression to engaging customers effectively to handling objections with tact.

Michael’s insights offer a strategic guide for HVAC system sales managers and teams seeking to stand out in a competitive market. He highlights the importance of leveraging technology to streamline sales conversations and tailoring each interaction to focus on the customer experience. Discover five Michael-approved key best practices and HVAC sales tips that are designed to help your HVAC business team close more deals and build lasting customer relationships.

1. Be Mindful of First Impressions

Will Rogers once said, “You never get a second chance to make a good first impression.” And in the world of HVAC sales training, impressions mean a lot. 

Michael says reps need to know how to “build value and be truly different from others.” This starts with a positive initial interaction with a customer during the HVAC sales process. 

These days, customers are more informed than ever, so reps need to come to the sales conversation “making sure [they’re] better prepared for the appointment than the homeowner.” They certainly need to know more than the average person with an internet connection. That means thinking like an HVAC technician while also knowing their company, their product, any promotions, financing options, and the competition. 

To make a well-rounded first impression, Michael says those in HVAC sales jobs should also look professional, smile, and maintain a clean vehicle.

2. Use Tech to Your Advantage

The hyper-aware nature of modern consumers also means they likely experience information overload. Brands and offerings blend together and it takes something special for businesses to stand out. Michael says reps can use technology to differentiate themselves from other HVAC companies with a well-branded website and tailored presentations. 

You and your reps can also consider the following HVAC marketing tactics:

• Ensure your website is mobile-friendly and all business information is accurate.
• Create content (e.g., blog articles, videos, case studies) that can help you stand out from competitors by attracting new customers and keeping existing customers coming back.
• Incorporate relevant keywords like “HVAC sales” and “HVAC service” throughout your website.
• Maintain active social media profiles on platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and X (Twitter) and respond quickly to customer inquiries through these channels. 

Michael says that a lot of reps are now using AI to auto-generate specific proposals or custom sales experiences and solutions based on customer needs and input. He believes AI presentation software is going to become more prevalent and effective in field sales. 

AI can also help your reps track and adjust their sales conversations in the field with virtual ridealong software. Using Rilla’s virtual ridealong platform, Michael discovered that one of his reps missed a big cross-selling opportunity with one of their customers. 

During this interaction, the customer said he “wished he had a good plumber on speed dial,” but the HVAC salesperson didn’t mention Rescue Air’s plumbing services. Once Michael went over the sales conversation, he was able to have the rep reach out and explain what their plumbing department could do to solve the customer’s problem.

3. Get Out Ahead of Objections

Michael explains that HVAC sales reps need to build rapport with customers and be “out in front” of their concerns or potential objections. He says one of the best ways to overcome these objections is to front-load the in-home conversation with positive business-specific information like customer reviews. 

Then, when the homeowner brings up a potential objection, you can respond by referring back to this info: “Remember, we have more than 3,000 reviews at 4.9 stars — do you think we would have this reputation if we (fill in customer objection)?”

4. Use Discretion When Educating Customers

As mentioned, customers are smart. They know when they’re being “sold” to. Michael says reps should assess their HVAC knowledge first and then educate them accordingly. “You have to tailor solutions to each individual customer’s needs and wants.”

Maybe they’ll have a customer who is a former HVAC contractor — they’re going to have an advanced understanding of HVAC equipment, so reps need to treat them differently than another type of professional or business owner. It’s important to respect your customers’ current understanding of your HVAC products and services. 

During in-person sales meetings, visual aids are extremely helpful for HVAC sales professionals when explaining different circumstances and clarifying complex information. Reps should also ask their customers questions and then share similar previous experiences and success stories. During this exchange of information, your reps can explain to your customers how your company helped people just like them.

5. Prioritize Personalization and Follow-up

Again, the name of the game is tailored customer experiences. Michael says, “You have to personalize communication and use multiple streams of communication.” And ensure your HVAC sales representatives reach out to customers through their preferred communication channels.

In a perfect world, your reps’ communication skills would inspire all one-call closes — but that’s not likely to happen often. So follow-up is critical. The first step is to make sure your customer has opted-in for a follow-up contact.

Next, when your reps reach out to customers, they need “a reason or something of value” to offer them, Michael says. Make sure your reps stay away from generic “hey, just checking in” conversations that leave customers no better than they were prior to the contact.

Take Control of Your HVAC Sales Performance

In field sales — and particularly HVAC sales — it’s critical to ensure that your reps are effectively engaging customers and addressing key questions throughout the sales process. When customers are required to make a significant home services or HVAC repair investment, they need to know they’re in good, capable hands.

Michael says you should be asking yourself, “Are [reps] setting the call up properly? Talking about the company? Educating when needed? Presenting the right options at the right time? How are they handling objections?” These were all questions that relied on human memory and the honor system until now.

‍

With Rilla’s virtual ridealong platform, you can make sure your reps are actively engaging customers — every time. When you’re ready to learn more about how Rilla can help your reps close more deals and boost their HVAC sales, check out our customer stories and then book a demo with us.

Silvia Nestares, Training Manager at My Plumber Plus, does over 450 virtual ridealongs a month. Here are her 6 main recommendations for technicians, to to build trust and secure the sale:

1. Let the Home Owner Monologue

• • Plumbing emergencies are about as stressful as it gets. So the way your reps communicate can turn a chaotic situation into a win-win. Teach them to listen, show empathy, and make customers feel like they’re being heard.
  • In our last article we broke down the trust-building benefits of increased time spent in the home and sales More time speaking with leads in-home leads to increased conversions.
  • Customer Story: At Rilla, we track a crucial metric: Longest Customer Story which measures the length of the homeowner’s longest monologue. Our AI found that this metric was the largest contributor to spending more time in the home.

2. Aim to Educate

• Keep it Simple: Let’s be real—plumbing systems are confusing. So, when explaining a plumbing problem to customers, keep it simple.
• Show, Don’t Tell: Diagrams, pricing tables, and delivering an engaging inspection all help the customer “get it” without feeling overwhelmed.
• Break down complexity: Silvia suggests simplifying plumbing sales by using these key techniques:
  • Visual aids: Show agenda cards, before-and-after photos, and plumbing system diagrams to clarify the service process.
  • Detailed estimates: Offer clear pricing and flexible financing options to empower customer decisions.
  • Technician credentials: Share plumber bios highlighting certifications and specialized training to showcase professionalism.
  • Safety information: Explain potential health risks (e.g., mold, contaminated water) and how professional services address them.
  • Show them ROI: Let reps throw in a fun fact about how fixing their pipes could save them a fortune and keep their water bills low. Win-win!

3. Present the Cure, Not the Quick Fix

• ROI Mindset: People in plumbing crises typically just want an immediate solution. Teach your team to sell more than just the quick fix. Show customers how preventative maintenance keeps their plumbing in check without fear of disaster.
• Silvia’s Solutions:
  • Invest in prevention: Explain how regular upkeep with a membership plan can extend the lifespan of their systems.
  • Energy efficiency: Speak to how certain upgrades (e.g., low-flow fixtures, energy-efficient water heaters) can reduce utility bills.
  • Avoiding future damage: Emphasize potential costs and damage that can be avoided by addressing plumbing issues early.

4. Handle Objections with Transparency

• Silvia says: “Handling objections and concerns effectively is crucial for converting calls and building trust with plumbing service customers”
• When customers say: “I need to think about it,” your team shouldn’t just nod and smile—they should engage. Show them the value in making a decision now. Reassure them that they’re making the smart move by getting it fixed before things get worse (and way more expensive).
• And when it comes to price? Compare a one-time fix to the endless pit of “band-aid” repairs. Show them the math behind investing in a long-term solution over quick fix with diminishing returns.

5. Learn the Process, Get in the Reps

• Getting in the Reps: Teach the ‘sales is a sport’ mindset. The best athletes reached the upper echelon of performance by getting in the reps— and your sales team will benefit by adopting a consistent process and sticking to it.
• Silvia’s 6 Step Sales Process:

1. Prepare: Conduct research on the customer, then physically and mentally prepare for the interaction.
2. Greet: Engage customers, ask them specific questions about their plumbing issue, and start building trust. This is where reps can also use their agenda card to explain the service process to customers.
3. Explore: Build trust with customers by asking lifestyle questions, listening, and taking notes about their concerns. This is also typically the step in which reps conduct a detailed needs assessment.
4. Present: Provide the customer with several personally tailored solutions that address their specific pain points and objections, and improve the quality of their life.
5. Execute: Technicians do the work and leave the area better than they found it.
6. Review the Work: Reps walk customers through the technician's work and request customers leave a good review.

6. Embrace Technology

• Tech Boosts Plumbing Sales Strategies: Digital tools revolutionize lead tracking, customer engagement, and success measurement for field reps.
• Rilla’s Virtual Ridealong: Provides real-time data, allowing reps to optimize their sales techniques on-the-fly.
• Key impacts:
  • Improved lead management: Streamlines processes, making it easier to identify, prioritize, and follow up with customers.
  • Better customer engagement: Reps can use email and text to provide timely info and updates.
  • Data-driven decisions: CRM systems help reps analyze customer data and adjust strategies based on metrics and KPIs.
  • Real-time coaching: Virtual ridealongs enable managers to give instant feedback and coach remotely.
  • Expanded reach: Plumbing companies can attract customers beyond local areas, and managers can coach from anywhere.
  • Continuous learning: Reps can learn from top performers and real-life scenarios to refine their sales tactics.

How Rilla Can Elevate Your Sales

Staying Competitive: If technicians want to stay competitive in plumbing, heating & air, and other home services sales fields, they need game film and high touch feedback

How Rilla Can Help: Rilla’s real-time coaching and data-driven insights can give your team a competitive edge out in the field.

Book a demo: Contact us to book a demo and start closing more plumbing deals.

In-person ridealongs aren’t always fun for field sales managers. They’re time-consuming, you could face scheduling conflicts, and they often pose logistical puzzles. Coaching in real time is important to your reps’ processes and sales success — but it’s not always convenient and it’s impossible to do constantly. Until now.

Virtual ridealongs are the future of field sales coaching. It’s important for managers to build trust with their reps and their teams, and coaching can help establish this. It shows reps that their managers are there for them — and shows managers that reps are learning and growing as coaching progresses.

More importantly, though, are the physical limitations posed by physical ridealongs. Consider the amount of training and investment that goes into marketing — only to be completely in the dark when your team goes into customers’ homes. With physical ridealongs, a manager may only be able to do 10 per week if that were their only focus. And if they have a team of five reps, each running four leads per day, that’s 100 leads per week. Physical ridealongs would only allow visibility into 10% of the leads you’re running. This is revenue left on the table due to rep training limitations.

Virtual ridealongs offer a flexible and efficient way for sales managers to coach every rep’s sales conversation. They are an AI-powered solution for one-on-one field sales coaching that can scale along with your business. Discover everything you need to know about sales virtual ridealongs and find out how you can put them to work for your field sales team.

What are Virtual Ridealongs in Sales?

Virtual ridealongs are modern sales coaching techniques in which managers monitor and coach reps remotely using technology like call recording, AI transcripts, and real-time analytics. Unlike traditional, in-person ridealongs, virtual ridealongs enable managers to provide input and feedback without being physically present. And because of this, they’re scalable for your team’s needs.

Technology allows virtual ridealongs to not only mimic the benefits of in-person ridealongs, but deliver increased effectiveness and scalability.. With AI on their side, managers can efficiently collect sales conversation data, develop insights, and improve reps’ overall performance in dispersed sales teams.

In-Person Ridealongs vs. Virtual Ridealongs

In-person ridealongs allow managers to spend quality time with reps, building rapport and developing trust. In traditional ridealongs, managers can observe reps’ body language and non-verbal cues with customers. Then, managers can coach reps on soft skills along with their sales scripts. 

In-person ridealongs, however, are bound by constraints like time, distance, and visibility. Plus, with dispersed teams, in-person ridealongs pose scheduling and coordination challenges; further, managers must be reliant on their (maybe-not-always-reliable) memory to provide feedback for reps. And, perhaps most importantly, physical ridealongs may not be the best representation of actual rep performance. Since they’re bound by limitations, reps may only experience physical ridealongs once or twice per month — and this could mean they’re on their best (or worst) behavior during these times. Virtual ridealongs remove all of these barriers.

Sales virtual ridealongs offer sales teams a lot of flexibility. With the right tool and technology, managers can record reps’ sales conversations with customers and use AI to track specific language and data. This allows managers to coach reps in real time rather than long after customer interactions are over. Plus, you can then store your recorded material in a library and use it for enhanced new-hire sales training.

Why are Virtual Ridealongs Important?

Virtual ridealongs are important because they enable most of the benefits of in-person ridealongs combined with the versatility of digital tools. They provide managers with real-life, real-time data so they can monitor and coach reps from anywhere. 

They’re also much faster — AI can immediately flag your reps’ problem areas. A physical ridealong may take you two hours to find out that your rep isn’t properly presenting financing options at the end of the sales conversation. AI can tell you that immediately and automatically direct you to the areas in which your reps needs coaching.

With virtual ride-alongs, managers can provide instant feedback to reps. This teaches reps the “right way” to handle sales interactions so they can immediately apply these skills to their next in-home customer meeting.

Sales virtual ridealongs also let managers:

• Identify reps’ strengths and areas for improvement
• Help reps develop skills faster
• Dig into analytics and make data-backed decisions
• Track reps’ performance over time
• Scale their coaching across teams and sales regions
• Save money over time due to reduced travel and logistics issues
• Improve training efficiency
• Double sales percentages

Virtual ridealongs have also been shown to improve close rates and boost average ticket sizes when implemented. 

How do Virtual Ridealongs Work?

In order to conduct a virtual ridealong, you'll need the tech to support it. Virtual ridealong software, like Rilla, can help.

Rilla records and transcribes sales conversations between reps and customers, allowing managers to monitor and coach remotely. Then, through AI, the tool analyzes these interactions and offers insights into key performance indicators (KPIs) and metrics like talk-to-listen ratio, adherence to sales scripts, and sentiment analysis.

Managers can review sales conversation insights and provide reps with specific, targeted feedback. They can also identify opportunities for coaching and track overall trends within reps’ performances. 

But before you begin using a tool like Rilla, make sure you talk to your reps about it and get their buy-in by framing it as the skill enhancement tool it is. Then you can use it with your teams and oversee multiple reps simultaneously without ever needing to get in the car.

How to Make the Most of Virtual Ridealongs

To make the most of virtual ridealongs, you need to have a strategy. Here are some steps you and your reps can follow to build out your strategy before you begin:

• Pre-customer preparation: Make sure you align your customer-specific and overall sales goals and expectations prior to the virtual ridealong.
• Customize your dashboard: Create a rep-specific dashboard to track their personal KPIs; this will help you pinpoint areas for improvement.
• Reinforce active listening: Emphasize the importance of eye contact, nodding and other non-verbal cues, and restating customer needs during the conversation.
• Post-conversation debrief: Develop a structured debrief to use with your rep after the ridealong. Determine the areas in which you’d like to offer specific feedback and provide actionable next steps.

Now that you have a plan of attack, make sure you’re also doing your part to support your reps:

• Steady scheduling: Put your reps on the calendar at regular intervals — consistency in coaching will lead to the best results.
• Customize coaching: The best input and feedback will align with hard figures; use data to customize your coaching sessions for individual reps.
• Set clear objectives: Define rep goals for each virtual ridealong session.

Managers’ primary goal for virtual ridealongs should be observation, not interference. Sales reps should be free to operate naturally during their customer interactions — this will help build a trusting relationship. The name of the game should be support, not micromanagement. 

Once you and your reps are ready for the ridealong, make sure you keep a few more things in mind:

• Improvement is a continuous process: Consistently refine your virtual ridealong practice based on customers’, reps’, and your own feedback.
• Use high-performers to teach others: Once you log enough sales conversations, use top reps’ interactions to help others learn the ropes or refine their skills.
• Don’t over-rely on technology: Explain to your reps that virtual ridealong technology is meant to complement, not replace, personal engagement and active participation during their sales sessions.
• Maintain reps’ motivation: Create and maintain positive feedback loops so reps consistently feel supported and receptive to coaching. 

Keep in mind that manager feedback should be provided as soon as the virtual ridealong is finished so reps still have the interaction fresh in their mind and can take immediate action on improvements.

Make the Switch to Virtual Ridealongs With Rilla

Virtual ridealongs offer a game-changing solution for field sales coaching. They combine the real-time benefits of traditional, in-person methods with the efficiency and scalability of modern technology. 

With virtual ridealongs, managers can provide immediate, data-driven coaching. This helps reps refine their skills and hit their sales targets more effectively. And Rilla is the go-to tool to help your team achieve these goals. 

Rilla’s features and easy integration into your existing workflows can turn your sales con-versations into sales proversations. (Sorry, we had to.) Sales management practices are constantly evolving — so now is the perfect time to discover what Rilla has to offer. When you’re ready to take your ridealongs into the modern era, contact us to book a demo.

The goal of successful sales coaching isn’t just to meet quotas and boost your bottom line — it’s also to continuously improve one's processes. And in the field of HVAC, windows, and other home services and remodeling sales, it’s important to really hone one’s home services field sales skills.

From setting SMART goals to leveraging technology, both managers and reps alike can dive into these 13 field sales coaching tips to get their wheels turning while they’re on the road.

1. Set SMART Goals and Develop Action Plans

Field sales managers should help their reps set SMART goals, which means each goal should be: 

• Specific
• Measurable
• Achievable
• Relevant
• Time-bound 

This method of goal-setting ensures that each objective is well-defined and aligns with your sales organization’s overall targets. Once set, managers should help reps develop step-by-step plans, including deadlines and metrics to evaluate success.

2. Work on Good Sales Skills Regularly

Reps can’t be successful in their positions unless they practice. To foster a culture of continuous improvement that helps reps boost performance, managers can:

• Establish a rep development plan: Identify key skills and competencies that each salesperson needs to improve, including negotiation, strategic planning, product knowledge, and customer engagement. Create a plan that details reps’ current proficiency levels, then outline the target areas reps need to improve.
• Help reps form beneficial habits: Work with reps to establish disciplined routines, practice, and provide feedback that helps them adjust any necessary behaviors. For example, if reps tend to rush through sales pitches, coach them to adopt a more deliberate pace and thorough messaging.
• Encourage personal responsibility: Motivate your sales professionals to take ownership of their own growth and self-improvement. People (including sales reps) are more likely to engage with processes they help design, so get them involved with the creation of their action plans.

3. Provide Consistent Sales Coaching and Feedback

Training and sales coaching are an investment in your business. And like any investment, it requires time and attention to yield positive results. 

Studies like the Ebbinghaus “curve of forgetting” suggest that people forget approximately 75% of information a day or two after learning it. People need to hear and read material several times before they can recall it. 

Without consistent check-ins, reinforcement, and real-world applications, reps may never fully cement the skills you’re imparting on them.

4. Practice Role-Playing Sales Training Scenarios

Role-playing in field sales training scenarios helps reps master their sales pitches, navigate customer objections, and handle difficult conversations. When managers work with reps to simulate real-world selling scenarios, it enhances the team’s practical applications of the lessons they’re learning.

Say, for example, a rep just dealt with a challenging sales conversation. As a manager, you can set up a live role-playing coaching session to go over the exact script the rep just used in the conversation and the issues the customer raised.

5. Use Metrics and Data to Your Advantage

Field sales needs to be a measurable process that has explicit steps and a repeatable approach. Only then your reps measure their successes and progress. Here are a few things to keep in mind:

• Define what success looks like: Establish key performance indicators (KPIs) like number of sales, average ticket or deal size, and revenue generated.
• Monitor team performance and adjust as needed: Metrics like conversion rates, customer engagement, and sales cycle length provide comprehensive insights that show managers the areas where reps are excelling — and where they need more support.
• Evaluate the effect of coaching: Look at pre- and post-coaching performance metrics to assess the impact of your support. If your reps aren’t improving over time, this indicates that your coaching plan needs to be tweaked.

Integrating data-driven performance metrics into your coaching strategy helps to ensure your efforts are grounded in real-world applications. 

6. Encourage Sales Teams to Learn Continuously

The world of field sales moves quickly — so if you want to stay ahead, you need to encourage and promote continuous learning among your reps. Consider the following:

• Create a learning culture: Make it public knowledge that your business values ongoing education as much as it values hitting sales targets. This means more than just providing onboarding and one-time training — it means offering development opportunities like workshops, seminars, and webinars. It also means leading by example.
• Lean on your team: Leverage the knowledge and skills of top sales performers within your team. During regular meetings or through scheduled presentations, ask these top performers to share their strategies for success.

7. Adapt to Sales Reps’ Specific Needs

When it comes to effective field sales coaching, there’s no one-size-fits-all approach. It’s important for managers to tailor coaching to reps’ individual needs, strengths, and challenges.

It all starts with personalized assessments of your reps using the previously listed metrics and your own observations. Once you understand their specific performance nuances, you can create a focused plan that targets their growth opportunities. For example, if a rep struggles to close deals despite a healthy pipeline, you may discover you need to work with them on their negotiation skills.

8. Foster Salespeople’s Autonomy

One critical component of effective sales coaching is instilling autonomy in reps — particularly in the field. Your team members need to have the confidence in themselves to make good decisions and manage their processes without hand-holding. Set clear expectations, give reps the sales enablement tools they need — then get out of the way. Give them the flexibility to decide how they approach sales conversations with clients.

When reps have the go-ahead to solve their own problems, make decisions, and take the initiative, they’re much more likely to develop the confidence they need to succeed in the field.

9. Focus on the Customer-Centric Benefits of Sales

At the end of the day, field sales is about meeting customer needs. So, your sales coaching process should focus on providing them with the solutions they desire. The most important aspect of customer retention and customer-centric sales is really understanding their needs. Train your reps to identify these by:

• Implementing a variety of coaching techniques (i.e., hard and soft skills) that cover the multifaceted nature of customer requirements.
• Using all data resources to their advantage — this includes customer relationship management (CRM) software — to identify unique customer needs and opportunities.
• Encouraging collaborative planning by getting customers involved in their process from the start.

As with most things in life, customer-centricity comes down to relationship-building and follow-up. And when reps demonstrate that they have their customers’ best interest in mind, they’re more likely to foster long-term connections.

10. Motivate Your Team with Recognition and Incentives

Once you understand what drives each member of your salesforce to excel, you can leverage that to boost their performance. For example, some of your reps may only strive for financial success. For them, using a monetary bonus will likely be the most motivating. Other reps may prefer public praise. So, for them, you can set aside a minute or two to speak to their achievements and win rates at your next organization-wide meeting. 

It’s important to design your incentives strategically. This means not only rewarding final “sales” results, but also rewarding the behaviors that led to these results.

11. Aim for Continuous Improvement in Sales Coaching Techniques

A player is only as good as their coach. Managers, like field sales reps, also need to strive for continuous improvement in their own techniques and skill sets. 

Managers provide reps with constructive feedback to make them better at their jobs — but reps can do the same for their bosses. Managers should regularly review and adjust their techniques based on reps’ insights and performance metrics. 

Soft skills are one area in which managers can consistently learn and grow alongside their teams. Factors like empathy, adaptability, and active listening are just as important for coaching effectiveness as they are for reps to demonstrate with customers.

12. Make Sales Coaching Tools Part of Your Team

Modern field sales teams will find it hard to succeed without technology on their side. And with tools like Rilla, managers can not only onboard reps with ease, but also provide ongoing training and performance assessments.

Rilla’s virtual ride-along capabilities allow managers to monitor sales interactions and provide instant feedback for field sales reps. Through AI analytics, Rilla tracks specific language and data so managers can discover exactly what reps discussed with in-home customers and how it impacted their performance.

Consider Rilla your assistant coach. You can have your reps review field sales conversations and engage with training program content and data that was captured on the platform.

13. Look to Future Initiatives (and Prepare!)

The field best sales leaders see AI and tech (tools like Rilla) becoming even more ubiquitous in their processes. 

Sales managers everywhere will soon be able to run reps through a variety of real-world in-home sales scenarios that help them sharpen their skills — resulting in better conversion rates and fewer missed opportunities.

If managers want to make sure their teams are at the forefront of their field, they need to make AI adoption a priority.

Coach Your Field Sales Reps Efficiently With Rilla

For field sales coaching programs, Rilla provides managers with data they can really use to teach reps the ropes and boost their confidence in the field. With AI conversation tracking between customers and reps, you can explain to your team exactly what they’re saying and doing that’s adding to your company’s bottom line — and things they could potentially improve.

And equipped with Rilla and these 13 tips, it’s easier than ever for managers to coach their reps to success in the field. Contact us today to book a demo.