Why Every Restoration Owner Should Hire an Outside Sales Rep

The world of outside sales in restoration is bigger than insurance agents and plumbers. And a diverse referral base is what raises your multiple when you sell.

I want to encourage you to hire an outside sales rep. It's really that easy. That's what I want to talk to you about.

If you're thinking to yourself, "Oh man, I have to end this video because there's no way I'm doing that," then definitely stay with me.

Also, if you're thinking to yourself, "I've already got one, and that doesn't work," then definitely stay with me.

If you're thinking, "You know what? I'm fine with all the digital marketing that I do. I'm fine paying Google and paying lead generation companies," stay with me.

I'm going to talk about sales in the restoration industry. I think there are three very distinct types of sales in our business. Although I'm going to focus on the first one, I just want to expose you to the other two. This isn't going to be revolutionary, but I want you to be thinking about it because, in each one of these types of sales, you can improve. You can get really disciplined and make minor adjustments, tweak your business, and get better in each one of these areas. It makes a huge difference.

Here are the three different types of sales in the restoration business, in the world according to me.

Number one, you've got to make the phone ring.

How can you do that?

You can do it through digital marketing. You can do it through lead generation services. You can do it through joining a TPA. God forbid, right? There are a lot of people who would say, "Oh my gosh, I'm deleting this guy. I'm unsubscribing." But there are a lot of big businesses that are very, very profitable that are on TPAs. I'm not saying it doesn't come with a whole set of challenges, but don't completely throw it out the window.

There's also hiring an outside salesperson, or people.

So number one is you have to make the phone ring somehow.
 

Number two is, once the phone rings, somebody has to set the appointment.

If that isn't happening as well as it could be, that's a huge opportunity. Maybe they're not creating a sense of urgency. Maybe they aren't building trust, planting in the customer's head, "Oh, this is good. I've picked the right place. They're going to take good care of me."

If they're not getting that person scheduled right when they call, on that first call, no callback to schedule, that's a problem.

The third is the in-home sale.

Gone are the days of $100 deductibles, or even $250 deductibles. You're probably not even seeing many $500 deductibles anymore.

The person showing up with a work authorization in hand, or an iPad in hand trying to get that signature, has to have some sales ability. They need relationship-building and trust-building skills, or they're not going to get it signed, and you're not going to get the work.

Things have to go well in all three of those areas.

You've got to make the phone ring.

You've got to set the appointment.

And you've got to get the work authorization signed.

I want to talk to you about hiring an outside sales rep if you don't already have one.

If you have one and they're underperforming, you might have the wrong person, or you might not have set clear expectations. You might not be holding them accountable. You might not be coaching them and role-playing with them.

If that's the case, and you think you have somebody on the team who could benefit from a little more attention, then book a call with me. I'll tell you about the Restoration Sales Academy. It could be the perfect thing for them.

If you've had a salesperson in the past and you're saying, "Scott, this just doesn't work. Gone are the days of being successful by dropping into insurance offices," I would argue with you. I would tell you you're absolutely wrong.

I'd also challenge you not to have such a limiting mindset about what outside sales is.

There's a whole big world of people for outside salespeople to call on. Not just insurance agents. Not just plumbers. There's a whole world of verticals that generate a lot of revenue for restoration companies.

So if you're saying to yourself that outside sales in this industry doesn't work, I'll respectfully challenge you and tell you that you're wrong.

Here's the other thing.

When you think about your business as it stands today and how it differs from your dream or your vision of what you want it to look like, think about the benefit, not only today but in the future, of having a more diverse source of jobs and leads. A more diverse set of relationships. Not being beholden to the algorithm. Not being beholden to one lead generation service. Not being beholden to a TPA, or maybe two TPAs, that are giving you the majority of your work.

Hiring an outside sales rep, or reps, is a great way to diversify your mix of business and where it's coming from.

It not only helps you today, but it also helps when it comes time for your eventual sale.

One of the deciding factors in the multiple your business sells for is customer concentration.

If you're heavily concentrated in a small number of referral sources or customers, your multiple will be lower than if you've cast a wide net and have a large number of referral sources.

So you're not only helping your business become more stable today, more profitable today, and more resilient today, you're also helping yourself build value for the long term.

If you want to talk about any of this, don't hesitate. Reach out to me, book a call, and we'll talk.

No high-pressure sales.

I only want to work with people who truly want to grow their business, who are ready to start taking action, and who just need some direction and maybe a little accountability.