Road trips are always fun. But what if you could take the “road” with you? If you think you know sales ridealongs, buckle up — because they just got a digital makeover.

The future of field sales coaching is virtual and uses AI to deliver smarter, faster performance notes and feedback for your reps. You can still ride shotgun with your team members but from the comfort of your office, home, or local coffee shop. Through virtual ridealongs, you can make every sales interaction an opportunity for growth — all without leaving your desk (or couch or weirdly expensive bean bag chair).

Pull up and discover sales ridealong basics, how ridealongs work, and why they’re important. Then, switch gears and learn three best practices for taking (and coaching) successful field sales calls.

What is a Sales Ridealong?

A sales ridealong is a practice in which a field sales manager joins a sales rep during a customer engagement or interaction, and observes and guides the rep with the goal of improving their sales process. 

Traditionally, sales ridealongs were done in person, face-to-face — but Rilla has modernized this concept by facilitating virtual ridealongs. Virtual ridealongs allow sales managers to coach reps remotely by utilizing AI to record and analyze rep conversations with customers. This not only boosts training efficiency, but opens the doors to new possibilities like long-distance coaching.

How Do Sales Ridealongs Work?

Before making the virtual jump, sales ridealongs typically involved a more senior salesperson or manager accompanying a rep — literally “riding along” in the car — to meet with existing or potential customers. This hands-on approach made it possible for the more senior sales professional to study the customer interaction and provide immediate feedback for the rep. 

The goal of sales ridealongs is to mentor the rep and increase their potential for sales. This is how the process works:

• Preparation: Before the ridealong, the manager and rep might discuss the day’s goals, client specifics (e.g., website, Facebook page, or Zillow profile), and any particular focus areas (e.g., financing, discounts or promos).
• Observation: During the customer interaction, the sales leader quietly watches and listens to the rep’s approach, communication with the customer, and inclusion of any relevant or timely information.
• Feedback: After each customer visit or at the end of the day, the manager or senior member can debrief with the rep during a coaching session. Effective feedback includes praise or acknowledgment of observed successes and constructive criticism about areas that need improvement. Managers may also suggest role-playing scenarios so reps can practice handling specific situations. Occasionally, sales managers will even take over the rep’s sale if they’re not able to close the deal. This helps to demonstrate to the rep how they can handle similar scenarios in the future.
• Development: Using the insights gained from the ridealong, managers can suggest ongoing education for their reps and tailor their training initiatives to reps’ individual needs.
• Follow-up: Managers may schedule subsequent ridealongs or meetings to review reps’ progress on their feedback and action items. This helps to ensure consistent improvement to their sales performance.

And now, with tools like Rilla, managers can turn this once-strictly-IRL event into a highly effective virtual coaching and mentoring process. The beauty of this is that it still fosters a supportive learning environment, and it can immediately address gaps in reps’ sales techniques.

Why are Sales Ridealongs Important?

Sales ridealongs are important because they help managers observe and enhance their reps’ sales techniques based on real-life customer conversations. It’s not coaching based on hypotheticals or “example” situations — it’s coaching rooted in genuine client interactions.

Benefits of ridealongs include:

• Contextual coaching: Managers can provide feedback and training about reps’ literal sales performances rather than imagined scenarios. 
• Immediate (potential) improvement: Although it’s up to reps to “walk the walk,” managers can provide instant feedback so nothing gets forgotten or slips through the cracks.
• Sales rep autonomy: Since managers simply observe and don’t overtake the sales process, they help reps develop confidence and trust in themselves, which are crucial components for growth and autonomy in closing deals.

Ridealongs help managers foster a proactive learning environment that provides the foundation and educational reinforcement sales reps need to perform their best. 

3 Best Practices for Sales Ridealongs

These days, sales coaching can be done from just about anywhere with a wifi connection. Tools like Rilla help managers up their reps’ game, instill confidence, and provide feedback without the pesky car sickness or exorbitant gas prices.

Discover three best practices for successful sales ridealongs and discover why “virtual” is the way of the future.

1. Extend Your Sales Coaching Reach Virtually

Although in-person practices can still be effective, you can extend your coaching reach by taking advantage of virtual ridealongs. This eliminates the need for physical travel — saving time and organizational budgets — and increases coaching opportunities. With virtual ridealongs, managers can provide real-time feedback that helps reps close deals, increase ticket sizes, and feel more confident in their abilities. And because of how time-consuming physical ridealongs can be, it’s often impossible to coach your whole sales team at scale. Virtual ridealongs allow you to coach every appointment, every time.

2. Tailor Coaching and Enhance Sales Strategies with the Help of AI

Virtual ridealong software can provide AI-driven insights about sales conversations that allow managers to customize their coaching to the individual rep. By analyzing interactions between reps and customers, and deep-diving into sales engagements, tools like Rilla help managers provide evidence-based feedback that lets reps take real action. This practice supports the setting and tracking of measurable goals, which allows sales teams to refine their strategies as needed.

3. Mind the Market’s Needs and Remain Relevant

When you use a tool like Rilla, you’re equipped with AI’s power to detect market changes — so you can quickly align your sales approach with economic and cultural demand. When you adapt your sales training based on the market’s conditions and your organization’s needs, you can ensure your feedback remains timely and relevant. AI-powered tools like Rilla help sales teams meet their target audience’s unique challenges and close deals more effectively.

Rilla is Your Best Sales Copilot

Embracing tools like Rilla means stepping into the future of sales coaching. And in this future, physical proximity is no longer a factor in whether or not a manager-rep feedback session is successful. Through AI analytics and insights, Rilla can turn every sales interaction into a data-driven teachable moment that helps your reps close deals and boost ticket sizes.

Once you’re ready to create new sales opportunities and accelerate your team’s growth, Rilla is with you in the passenger seat (metaphorically — you no longer need anyone there in-person, remember?). Contact us today to book a demo.

As the cost of living continues to eat away at consumers’ spending opportunities, discounts are still going strong. In fact, marketing spending on promotions is at the highest it's been in the last two decades. In the first quarter of 2023, sales promotions had the biggest increase of all organizational budget categories — growing 8.8% from the previous year (where it was trending negative at -4.4%).

All customers want a good deal, especially on large investments on their homes — but these deals are even more attractive to potential buyers now, given the economic landscape. Through a strategic conversation or two, your sales reps can share these deals with your clients and increase ticket sizes for your business. And using AI, Rilla can help track these conversations by recording, analyzing, and providing insights into every field sales meeting with customers.

Discover how effectively leveraging sales promotions can transform your reps’ sales results. And once they understand how promotions can boost your company’s bottom line, have them put our three tips to work to really get the job done.

The Effects of Offering Promotions in Sales Conversations

Promotions are a critical component of sales strategies, particularly in industries like home services, where purchase decisions are often significant. When reps integrate conversations about “promotions” into field sales meetings with customers, it can not only help close business more effectively but also increase average ticket sizes. 

To illustrate this point, let’s take a look at some data from a leading HVAC manufacturer.

Offering Home Services Promotions Impacts Close Rates by Over 1%

While promotions may not drastically increase the percentage of deals closed, they do foster an environment that’s conducive to closing because they solidify decisions for those already considering a purchase. Using Rilla Labs’ data breakdown of the HVAC manufacturer’s customers, it’s clear that conversations about “promotions” have at least some effect on home service close rates.

Close Rates: Home Service Conversations

• When a promotion was not mentioned: 0.459
• When a promotion was mentioned: 0.464
• % increase = 1.089%

Even though the increase is slight, the data indicates that promotions can subtly influence decision-making, nudging customers to seal the deal. And this effect is crucial in industries like home services where purchase decisions are sizable and require customer reassurance.

Offering Promotions Increases Average Ticket Sizes by More Than 92%

The impact of promotions on average ticket sizes is profound. When it’s time for your customers to “check out,” don’t think of promotions as just a tool to close a deal but a lever to pull to dramatically boost the value of each transaction. A well-timed mention of a promotion can really transform consumer spending behavior. And our HVAC manufacturer’s data from Rilla Labs backs this up:

Average Ticket Size: Home Service Conversations

• When a promotion was not mentioned: $2,413.59
• When a promotion was mentioned: $4,643.09
• % increase = 92.37%

When sales reps mentioned a “promotion” during conversations with home service customers, it nearly doubled the value of what customers spent. Nearly doubled — just by mentioning the right deal at the right time. This isn’t just good salespersonship; it’s a strategy that turns opportunities into impressive profits. 

Strategic mentions of promotions increases revenue per customer — which is vital in sectors like home services and remodeling that have relatively high customer acquisition costs (CAC).

3 Tips for Strategically Offering Promotions in Field Sales Conversations

If your reps want to successfully integrate promotions into sales conversations, it’s going to take more than simply announcing a discount. It has to be strategic but flow naturally with the conversation — and this can be a difficult tone to balance.

Following our actionable tips and best practices can help your sales reps present your promotions effectively and ensure that they resonate with customers. And, as we’ve seen, this can lead to higher sales conversions and bigger tickets.

1. Communicate Consistently

Effectively communicating promotions across your sales team isn’t just beneficial — it’s essential. The most direct way to ensure every team member is on the same page is through regular training, updates, and talks that refresh reps’ knowledge about company promotions. 

Consistent messaging means every potential customer receives the same information and options, and it enhances the likelihood of promotion uptake. A uniform approach to learning and talking about promotions with customers maximizes their impact while minimizing missed opportunities. This helps keep your sales strategy sharp and efficient.

2. Fight Objections With Offers

Promotions serve as a psychological incentive for customers who are hesitating due to price, so sales reps should be trained to introduce deals and offers as solutions to customers’ budget concerns. 

And by presenting a promotion as a limited-time offer, your sales reps can create a sense of urgency and leverage FOMO. This can make the deal seem more valuable, which encourages quicker decision-making and could be the deciding factor for customers who are still on the fence.

When your reps have conversations with customers that make higher-priced options more accessible through discounts or special financing terms, it can effectively counter price objections.

3. Adapt Promotions Based on Performance

In order to optimize your sales strategy, you need data. Sales managers should analyze how different promotions influence close rates and ticket sizes, and adapt their strategies accordingly. To do this, utilize sales data and virtual ride alongs to monitor the performance of promotions in real-time.

This type of proactive approach allows for strategy adjustments on-the-fly, which ensures that your organization’s marketing resources are allocated to the most impactful offers. It’s vital for you to keep a pulse on which deals and discounts resonate most with customers and drive sales, because then you can be more strategic with your deployment of promotional investments.

Get the Field Sales Conversation Insights You Need to Coach Your Reps

Leveraging sales promotions effectively is about more than just surviving the economic squeeze that today’s cost of living imposes — it’s about turning challenges into opportunities for both your home services customers and your business. And the best way to do this is by gaining insights into how these promotions are discussed during sales interactions. 

Equip your teams with the right strategies using Rilla. By tracking how promotions are being discussed with customers, Rilla turns every sales conversation into an opportunity for targeted coaching. And this means your promotions can remain beneficial to your bottom line. Check out our customer stories to learn how other companies have put Rilla to work for them. 

And when you’re ready to do the same, contact us to book a demo.

Society has always had a way of making its citizens feel like they need to “keep up”, e.g. “the good work”, “with the times”, And of course, “with the Joneses”.

It’s exhausting, expensive, and leaves little room for personal preference.

But having options — making choices for oneself — is as inherently American as those darn Joneses. And when it comes to customers making big-ticket investments on their homes, payment options are often the key to sales. 

There aren’t many purchases more significant than those you make for your home. And as inflation continues to rear its head in the economy, sales teams face the challenge of not just closing home service and home remodeling deals, but also upselling and increasing ticket totals. But Rilla can help by recording, analyzing, and providing visibility into every sales conversation through AI. 

Discover how leveraging financing in field sales conversations can better equip your field sales reps to boost close rates and ticket sales.

The Impact of Leveraging Financing in Sales Conversions

Giving prospects the option to finance can dramatically transform the dynamics of a sales interaction. By offering tailored payment plans, sales reps can not only meet their customers' immediate economic comfort levels but also open the door to bigger sales opportunities that may have been otherwise unreachable.

Introducing Financing Options Increases Close Rates by Nearly 3% on Average

When customers have financing options available — when they can spread out their payments for large purchases — they’re much more likely to consider these purchases. This makes higher-ticket items more attainable and increases the likelihood of your reps closing a deal. Let’s take a look at Rilla Labs’ data breakdown:

Close rates: home services customers

• When “financing” was not mentioned: 48.45%
• When “financing” was mentioned: 48.87%
• % increase = 0.42%

Close rates: home remodeling customers

• When “financing” was not mentioned: 16.35%
• When “financing” was mentioned: 21.68%
• % increase = 5.33%

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So when we consider all “home” customers together, the average increase when reps mentioned “financing” is 2.88%. This uplift, though subtle (especially for home services), can greatly impact overall sales volume over time.

Financing Also Increases Average Ticket Sizes by Up to 208%

The impact “financing” has on close rates is notable, but its effect on ticket size is even more substantial. Really substantial. Rilla Labs’ data illustrates how sales reps’ discussions about financing can transform a typical sales encounter into a high-value transaction:

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Average ticket sizes: home services customers

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• When “financing” was not mentioned: $2,375.38
• When “financing” was mentioned: $4,544.56
• % increase = 91.32%

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Average ticket sizes: home remodeling customers

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• When “financing” was not mentioned: $4,712.04
• When “financing” was mentioned: $14,558.66
• % increase = 208.97%

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When “financing” is mentioned in home remodeling conversations between sales reps and customers, the average ticket size increases by more than threefold.

Now that you know the what, let’s talk about the how.

Best Practices for Introducing Financing in Field Sales Conversations

Successfully integrating “financing” into sales strategies requires more than just the availability of options. Your reps need a plan for how to approach and implement this type of communication with customers. 

Your reps need to do more than just offer financing options — they need to weave it into the fabric of their sales conversations. And if they do so successfully, they can maximize both customer satisfaction and sales performance.

Here are some best practices for making “financing” a natural — and successful — part of sales conversations.

Clearly Communicate the Benefits

The key to getting customers on board with home service and home renovation deals is effectively communicating the benefits of financing. Your sales reps need to be well-versed in the financial plans your company offers, and they should emphasize how these plans can make customer purchases manageable. Reps should aim for transparency in their communication about your plans’ terms and benefits, as it will build trust and help ease any customer concerns about affordability.

Make It a Seamless Part of the Conversation

Great sales conversations shouldn’t feel like, well, sales conversations. Your reps should always aim to integrate “financing” naturally into customer conversations to prevent them from feeling like awkward add-ons or afterthoughts. Make sure your reps are introducing financing options as a “standard” part of the customer needs discussion so it feels organic rather than a forced or last-minute offer.

Address Objections Proactively

Not every customer will be open and receptive to talking about the details of their finances, so reps should be prepared to handle these types of objections. Money is a sensitive subject, so some customers may have concerns about debt that they’d rather not speak to your team members about. 

Customers may also be unclear on the terms of financing, so your reps need to be prepared to clarify these succinctly and respectfully. You may want to consider specific soft-skills training so reps feel comfortable and confident explaining — empathetically — how financing can be a smart financial strategy.

Leverage Success Stories and Testimonials

The best way to learn new information is often through observing others, and customer testimonials and success stories can serve as these “teachers.” By incorporating positive customer feedback, your reps can highlight the benefits of financing without needing to make a “hard sell.”

Reps should share real-world examples of how financing has helped previous customers afford the home services and renovations they desire — this builds credibility and trust. These narratives should focus on positive outcomes like enhanced home value, improved living conditions, and the financial peace of mind that payment plans can provide. 

By illustrating how former customers have successfully navigated their own home-related purchases, reps can help current customers visualize their own home success. This provides customers with comfort when making large purchase decisions and can be a motivating factor for those who are still on the fence.

Set Your Reps Up for Success in the Field (Without Ridealongs)

In a world where keeping up with the Joneses can often shape and dictate consumer behavior, offering financing options becomes not just a strategy but a necessary component of your reps’ sales pitches. And with Rilla, your sales reps can do this with ease without a manager in the (literal) passenger seat.

Society has moved beyond conformity and into the era of individual choice, so the approach to selling big-ticket products and services should evolve in kind. Financing isn’t just about making sales possible — it’s about empowering customers to choose the plans that suit their specific needs and financial situations. 

Rilla aims to be at the forefront of this evolution by turning every sales conversation into an opportunity to deliver customized home-investment (and other business) solutions that not only satisfy customers but also close deals for reps. So, when you’re ready to learn more about how Rilla can boost business and drive ticket sizes, check out our customer stories and then contact us to book a demo.

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As an operator or owner, you’re always looking to identify what to work on that will grow the business the most.

What if the answer to supercharging your sales was in front of you the whole time?

In today’s report, we analyzed 38,470 appointments by Nexstar contractors that use Rilla in the Home Services industry. We wanted to find out why some Nexstar jobs closed at a much higher ticket size than others. 

Here’s what we discovered: It all comes down to script compliance.

You’re probably used to trying to get your team to follow your process, only to get gripes and push back.

“Does this really work?”

“I’ve been selling fine for 10 years without a process, I don’t need to follow this”

“Following this is going to make me robotic, there’s no way I’m going to connect with a home-owner like this”

Thankfully, the data is in.

The data shows script compliance is the leading factor contributing to a higher close rate and average sale. If you want to quadruple your ticket size, your team must adhere to the process.

The best part about this growth hack? You already have all the leads and appointments set, you just need to execute to stop leaving revenue on the table.

But, as always, don’t just take our word for it: Let’s dive into the numbers. 

The Data on Nexstar Script Compliance 

At Rilla, we’ve seen a common pattern for companies across the board: technicians and comfort advisors with higher script compliance tend to have higher performance. 

‍For this report, we discovered that higher compliance with the Nexstar process is correlated with higher close rates and average sales.

We looked at jobs from 46 Nexstar companies from the last month where the technician was measured against the Nexstar service system on Rilla. Overall, Nexstar contractors have an average close rate of 39% and an average ticket size of $2,812. 

Nexstar Close Rates 

Conversations with the highest script compliance with the Nexstar process had a 53% higher close rate on average than those with the lowest compliance. When Nexstar contractors only stuck with 0-10% of the script, their close rate average was around 32%. While those who stuck to 90-100% of the script had an average close rate of 49%.  

Nexstar Ticket Size 

When it comes to ticket size, conversations with the highest script compliance had a $7,225 higher price on average than those with the lowest compliance. Nexstar contracts with 0-10% compliance had an average ticket size of $1,367. While those with 90-100% script compliance had an average ticket size of $8,592!  

Here’s the bottom line: Higher script compliance is key to increasing your close rate and ticket size.

The Challenges of Coaching Your Team to Follow the Script

Roleplaying and practicing the script with your reps will help them get comfortable with your sales process. But to really ensure that your team is following the script with customers, you need to be there. Ridealongs are the only way to know for sure what’s going on in the customer’s home. 

Plus, if you're doing physical ridealongs right now, you already know that the close rate of your team members is dramatically higher. Why? Because when you’re with them in person, they actually follow the script.

‍The ridealong's visibility and accountability make it one of the highest revenue-generating activities a business can conduct.

But how does that scale when you have a team of 10 or 20 that runs hundreds of leads a week? At that rate, physical ridealongs for every job are just not possible. At best, doing 10 ridealongs a week, you’re seeing less than 10% of the total leads that your team runs.

That’s where Rilla’s virtual ridealong software comes in. 

Start Tracking Script Compliance with Rilla 

Rilla enables companies to measure everything that happens during sales conversations at scale. Our mobile app records conversations between contractors and customers. Then, our AI transcribes and analyzes the audio, comparing it to your pre-loaded script and sales process to give it a final compliance score. 

Rilla’s scoring system holds your team accountable for sticking to the script. Plus, it gives you a tool for training and improving performance. 

Here’s how it works: 

1. Rilla assigns each conversation a script compliance score.
2. Managers and reps review and analyze the recordings, paying special attention to the lower-scoring conversations.  
3. Managers can create libraries of top-scoring audio recordings. 
4. Reps can then review and learn from those recordings.  
5. With all this data, reps and managers can make a plan for how to improve script compliance performance.

With a tool like Rilla, you no longer have to rely on physical ridealongs to monitor script compliance. Plus, Rilla tracks many more metrics that are key to increasing your sales, like talk ratio and longest customer story. With more data, you’ll have more information to drive your sales training and strategies. 

Start harnessing the power of data to boost your business with Rilla. Reach out to get started with a demo today! 

You’re a home improvement contractor who wants to track and improve your sales rep performance. 

Luckily for your business, physical ridealongs are no longer the only way to measure and evaluate performance. Now, you have the option to record their conversations with customers and ensure they’re following your process and, ultimately, providing the best customer experience. 

Maybe you’re even thinking about getting started with Rilla and hopping on the virtual ridealong bandwagon.   

But there’s one question that inevitably comes up: “Is it legal to record conversations with homeowners in their home?”

The answer is yes. As long as you do it properly. 

One-Party vs All-Party Consent

When it comes to audio recording laws, it’s important to know which states require “one-party consent” or “all-party consent” to be recorded. 

One-party consent means that you can record a conversation without the other person’s consent. This means it’s perfectly legal for your technicians and design consultants to record their conversations with homeowners. Just keep in mind that there are some nuances to the individual laws between states. 

In all-party consent states, sometimes referred to as two-party consent, you need the consent of all parties involved in the conversation to record it. In this case, your team must explicitly obtain consent before recording a conversation. 

Most states in the US are one-party consent states. However, for conversations that happen face-to-face, there are 10 two-party consent states. They include: 

• California
• Delaware 
• Florida
• Illinois
• Maryland
• Massachusetts
• Montana
• New Hampshire
• Pennsylvania
• Washington

How to Seamlessly Get Recording Consent from the Homeowner

Getting recording consent from a homeowner is similar to that of agents at a call center; there are just a few more steps in the process to cover all your bases.

1. Display a Disclaimer on Your Website 

Displaying a disclaimer on your website is one of the first places your customers can learn about this aspect of your service. Key areas to display the disclaimer on your website include the privacy policy page, the fine print of a contact page or form, or the confirmation page after requesting a quote. 

If your customers have the option to book in-person appointments directly with your reps online, add a consent box to your scheduling form. 

The text should read: “By clicking here, I understand and agree that my in-person appointment will be recorded for quality and training purposes.” 

2. Share the Disclaimer Upon Booking  

When the homeowner calls to book their appointment, members of your call center should be coached to say the disclaimer. This is an opportunity to give the customer a heads up that both the call and in-person visits are typically recorded. 

• Don’t say: “Thank you for calling. This call will be recorded for quality and training purposes.” 
• Say: “Thank you for calling. All of our calls and in-person appointments will be recorded for quality and training purposes."

Customers are used to hearing that phone calls are recorded, and most are fine with it. But it’s important to make sure it’s clear that it isn’t just the phone call that will be recorded. 

3. Include the Disclaimer in Dispatch Appointment Reminders  

In your automated dispatch system, make sure text message and email reminders to customers include the disclaimer. This is just another step to reassure and reconfirm that you have consent. You can also use it as an opportunity to let them know you’d be happy to share the recording after the meeting, if that’s something you want to provide your customers. 

Here are a couple examples to send in dispatch reminders: 

• “As a reminder, all of our in-person appointments are recorded to ensure we provide our customers with the best service.” 
• “This meeting will be recorded so we can provide better follow-up service and coaching to our team. By meeting with our technician, you consent to such recording. If you do not consent to being recorded, please ask our service rep not to record.” 

4. Have Reps Remind the Homeowner Upon Arrival 

After taking the above steps to inform the homeowner, you’re technically safe to record in the eyes of the law. But, to make sure you’re totally covered–and to win some transparency/loyalty points with the customer–have your rep repeat the disclaimer to the homeowner right after they enter the customer’s home.

Here’s what they can say: “Hey Ms. Homeowner, I’m Jake with X Company. Just to remind you, I’m on a recorded conversation for quality and training purposes. How are you doing today?” 

With Rilla, our users actually track when their reps say the recording disclaimer.

Based on our data, more than 99% of homeowners respond positively to the in-person disclaimer. In fact, we have a large, private equity customer in California, one of the most privacy-aware states in the US, and they observed that less than 0.2% of appointments declined being recorded. 

As you’ll hear below, homeowners are more than happy for you to record the meetings. This is especially true when your reps explain the value of recording for security as well as their own growth and development in the trade.  

Your reps also have the option for asking for a signature of consent. This is an extra step, which isn’t necessary to legally have you covered, but might give your reps and the customer peace of mind. 

And you might even find some like-minded customers who believe in the importance of recording too. After a funny misunderstanding, the customer in the recording below lets the rep know that he was also being recorded!  

Delighting Customers with Transparency

Many of our customers in one-party consent states still opt to inform the home-owner about the recording as a way to differentiate their brand. 

It sounds something like this: “Hey, here at [company name], we care deeply about the experience you receive from our team and making sure we stand by our word. While other shops might try to pull a fast one on you, we record and share our conversations with you to keep us accountable and deliver the best service.”

Remember, transparency around recordings is good for your business and for the customer. Think about it, with a recording, the customer knows the sales rep will be held accountable by their manager. It also keeps everyone on the same page about what was said during the visit so that there’s no confusion or misleading information.

That’s why most customers see audio recordings as a positive. Plus, increasing transparency between you and your customers helps increase trust and loyalty, leading to repeat customers and awesome referrals.

So whether you need one-party or all-party consent, the data is clear: recording your calls is beneficial for all parties involved.

If you want to learn more about Rilla and take your business to the next level, book a demo here.

Today’s Rilla Report shares insights we gathered from 23,244 conversations from September 1st, 2023 to March 19th, 2024. Through Rilla’s platform, we analyzed conversations from sales reps in the home remodeling industry. These reps speak with customers in their homes with the goal of selling big-ticket home remodeling projects like windows, siding, retail roofing, bath remodeling, and kitchen remodeling.

RIlla Team
Data Analysis Team

Here’s the bottom line: more time in the customer’s home leads to a higher average ticket. Spending anywhere from zero to 30 minutes in the home leads to an average of $3,809 USD per ticket. Compare that to an average of $17,000 USD when a rep spends three hours or more in the home. 

If you want your reps to close larger deals, have them spend more time in their client’s home during a sales visit. 

Now that you know to aim for a longer time in the home, how do you coach your team to do so? The data shows there are two key levers to pull: “interactivity” and “longest customer story.” 

Both of these are data points you can track using Rilla.

What is Interactivity and Longest Customer Story?

Before we dive into the numbers, let’s first define these two data points so you know what you’re tracking in Rilla. ‍

Interactivity is the average number of speaker changes within each minute of a conversation. 

High interactivity is a sign of an engaged and interactive conversation between the rep and customer. As a result, your reps are spending more time in the customer’s home. And more time in the home means higher sales. 

Longest customer story is the term we coined to represent the longest amount of time customers spent talking to the sales rep without interruption.

A longer customer story gives the customer the time they need to express their needs and pain points. Just like interactivity, a longer customer monologue increases the time spent in home, increasing your average sales.

How Interactivity and Longest Customer Story impact Time in Home

Looking at Rilla’s data, it’s clear that when reps increased their interactivity and elicited longer customer monologues, they spent more time in the customer’s home.

Here’s a snapshot of how interactivity scores affect time in home:  

The average interactivity score is 2.25 speaker changes in each minute of conversation, which corresponds with an average time in home of almost 2 hours. 2.470 is the highest score on Rilla associated with the highest sales conversations. But a good goal for your reps is around a 2.3 score, which correlates with spending around two hours in the home. 

Our data also shows that higher interactivity tends to have a better talk ratio, with the rep speaking less than the customer. Interestingly, those with the highest interactivity also speak 2% slower than those with lower interactivity. 

You might expect faster speaking rates would lead to more interactions per minute. But fast speech can make a customer feel rushed or pressured. The data suggests it’s better to keep a slower, concise cadence.  

Here’s why aiming for high interactivity works:  

• The customer is more engaged, leading to a higher level of trust.
• The rep makes a more memorable and favorable impression by demonstrating their interest in hearing the customer’s perspective, not just selling to them. 
• Reps tend to gather more information, which can help them identify additional buying signals and tailor their pitch more effectively.

‍Here’s a snapshot of how a longer customer story impacts time in home:  

In long conversations that lead to high average tickets, the average longest customer story is 5 mins. As you know, longer customer stories tend to generate better talk ratios, which tend to be better for sales. The longest customer story we’ve ever seen was 20 minutes, while the shortest ones are only 20 seconds long. The key is to find the sweet spot, aiming for at least an average of 5 minute monologues for your customers.  

Here’s why focusing on the longest customer story works:  

• Customers with more time to speak feel like they have room to think without pressure.
• Reps show customers they have their complete patience and attention.
• Customers feel valued and respected.
• Customers view reps as a trustworthy partner.

The data has spoken. Higher interactivity plus giving your customers the opportunity to share their story is the key to a longer sales call, and a higher ticket size.

How to Increase Interactivity and Longest Customer Story

Now, you might be thinking these two metrics are contradictory. But remember, in a sales conversation both these variables naturally happen. 

Reps typically start with high interactivity, bouncing questions and affirmations back and forth with the customer. This gets the ball rolling, builds rapport, and shows the customer interest and support. 

When the moment is right, the sales rep gives the customer space to share their needs, pain points, or concerns. This opens up the floor for a longer customer monologue.   

Both these pieces of the sales conversation are necessary to increase time in the home. 

To improve these metrics, you need to set goals, provide the right training, and use data to coach your reps. 

1. Set Your Metric Goals 

Set a goal to reach a high interactivity score and a long customer monologue. Your goals might depend on the starting points of how they’re currently performing. Or you might set the standard based on your top performers. If you’re not sure where to start, here are some target goals to aim for: 

• For interactivity: A score of 2.3 or higher. ‍
• For longest customer story: At least 5 minutes or longer.

As soon as you start recording calls with Rilla, our platform will track and provide you with this data.

2. Provide Tailored Training and Guidance  

We know you’ve already got your sales training dialed in. But here’s a few more specific tips on how to coach your teams on increasing interactivity and longest customer story: 

• Conduct roleplaying exercises: Though roleplaying, reps learn how to identify whether it’s a moment for more interactivity or time to give space for customers to speak without interruption. 
• Use Rilla to learn from others: Build a library made up of Rilla clips with high interactivity scores and long customer stories so reps can listen and learn. 
• Provide scripts: Reps should know what types of phrases and clarifying and thoughtful questions spark interactivity and a longer customer monologue (Examples: "Tell me more", "walk me through", "help me understand."). 
• Use Rilla trackers: Add trackers, which are scripted steps in your sales process that you can measure and track in Rilla. 
• Build rapport early: Reps should reference prior exchanges later in the conversation to keep interactivity high.
• Use verbal active listening for interactivity: Reps should reply with affirmative words like 'yup' or 'got you' to both validate the customer and directly influence the interactivity stat. 
• Use nonverbal active listening for longest customer story: Reps should use nonverbal cues like nodding, smiling, indicating agreement, and using silence and hand gestures to encourage more. 

3. Use the Data to Improve Interactivity Performance

After sales calls, listen to the call on Rilla and review the interactivity and longest customer story scores. Discuss what was done well, and what can be improved to get  higher scores. This feedback and learning process loop can help field sales reps improve. 

Here are some common mistakes reps make:   

• Interject instead of staying silent and waiting a bit longer for the customer to think through and continue speaking. 
• Miss opportunities to encourage and elicit more details from the customer. 
• Lack enough follow up questions that help build rapport. 
• Move too fast to get to the sales pitch. 
• Mishandle objections by rambling rather than answering the question that the home-owner asked. 
• Try to predict the customer’s next question rather than being patient and letting them ask it themselves.

Increase Time in Home, Increase Average Ticket

We probably sound like a broken record, but the data speaks for itself, and we speak on behalf of the data. More time in home increases the average ticket size. And the leading indicators to coach on for time in the home are interactivity and longest customer story.  

Remember, if you want to earn more time in the home (and increase those sales) it’s simple: keep up the interactivity, and when it’s right, invite them to tell you their story. Then show them how your business fits into it. 

With these coaching tools and Rilla along for the ride, you can track performance and train your reps so they hit their targets. If you want to learn more about how our customers increase their average ticket price with Rilla, check out our customer stories.

To better understand how the length of home visits relates to sales success, the Rilla team analyzed 62,685 conversations between September 1, 2023, and March 19, 2024.

The data showed a strong correlation between more time in the home and closed sales, with successful sales reps going well past the average home visit length of unsuccessful reps.

These professionals in the home remodeling industry were tasked with helping homeowners with big-ticket projects, such as replacing siding, windows, or roofing and doing complete bath or kitchen remodels.

So, at what point does the typical sales call turn into success? We share the breakdown here.

The Average Sales Call Is Not Enough

The first thing we can see from the data is that an average sales call for reps without a sale is 1 hour and 24 minutes.

Of the conversations we studied, 41,911 fell into this “not sold” bucket. It was the larger bucket in our study, with most sales reps not making sales at this average in-home visit length.

But when the average visit length was extended to 2 hours and 1 minute — just 30% longer — real change began to happen. This is the average visit length for the "sold" bucket — reps who were able to close a sale while inside the customer's home.

What It Takes to Stay in the Home

Home service sales are largely consultative, and conversations with the customer can be the difference maker. But it's not just what your reps say that results in a close; it's how they say it. Factors that turn a “no sale” into a “sale” include:

• Taking more time to listen to the customer
• Tailoring the message to the problems at hand
• Following the proven sales process provided by their trainers

By doing these things, sales reps appear more authentic, earn trust, and naturally extend the length of their sales calls.

Consider that the difference between the “sold” and “not sold” averages is just 37 minutes. For most reps, this is not a big deal. It may be the time it takes to thoroughly tour the home, ask additional questions, and — most of all — listen to what the homeowner is saying.

More Industries Can Benefit

Our research is clear: Longer visits matter for those selling windows or updating an outdated roof. They also matter for other service industry experts, such as HVAC teams and comfort advisors, who spend the majority of their customer service time inside a home.

If an industry does the bulk of its sales within the walls of a customer's home or garage, it's likely to benefit from longer sales calls.

Increase Home Visits the Right Way

Sales trainers and managers already know the tell-tale signs of a successful sales call, including longer customer talk time. It may mean following a specific sales process for different problems or even knowing the right upsells to make without coming across as unsympathetic.

These are nuanced situations, but there’s a right way to sell. A manager ride-along can often spot these opportunities and provide real-time feedback, helping to convert these "no sale" buckets to high-ticket sales.

Most companies don't have the time or resources for frequent ride-alongs, especially after initial onboarding. If there is time for one, it's likely focused on newer reps. More established reps who could use additional mentoring are left out of potential upskilling.

Rilla solves this problem by recording your reps’ sales calls and analyzing them according to your unique sales process. It helps you find missed opportunities in sales calls to focus on for future training. It's scalable for teams of all sizes and offers a more consistent and affordable experience than ride-alongs.

For example, it helps measure talk time, a top missed opportunity in a shortened sales call.

Is the customer getting a chance to be heard? Is the rep doing all the talking?

By adjusting this single metric, calls can be extended, and customers can feel a part of the process. (This is just one opportunity to discover.)

Ready to extend home visit time and turn those missed sales into wins? Read other customer stories on how to make your reps the best in the industry.