A funny thing happened at the Iowa presidential caucuses on Jan. 15.   The weather was terrible, with a high of negative 7 degrees, dangerous wind chills and knee-deep snow.  I was running late and was one of the last people to get into the official location.  Seconds later, I was joined by a haggard-looking gentleman who, like me, was one of the last in the door.  We exchanged excuses for being late while we waited.  

It turns out my new friend, Bill, was an HVAC service technician who had spent his day juggling furnace emergencies.  In his words, "In this kind of weather, the biggest issue is how many hours a day I can work." He worked all day without a break and came straight from the last service call to the caucus.  The lines on his face indicated this wasn't the first day of this service crush.

As we walked to the meeting room, I asked him if a person could do something to eliminate these subzero callouts.  His answer shocked me.   He told me that 70% of the failures he worked on over the past couple of days were preventable via regular maintenance.  When I raised my eyebrows, he went on to say a well-known national association pegs that number at closer to 80 to 85%.

Sadly, I 'didn't get a chance to continue the conversation, and being one of the worst skeptics on the planet, I checked into his facts as soon as I got home. 

What I found out was Bill obviously knew his stuff, and now I have a bunch of unanswered questions for him:

•    Did you share this maintenance information with your customers during this cold spell?
•    What issues could you have avoided if the customer had regularly scheduled maintenance?
•    How much could the customer have saved by following a maintenance program?
•    Did you attempt to schedule these customers for routine maintenance sometime this spring or summer?
•    Do you plan to reach out to these customers later to create a maintenance service plan?
•    Have you or your fellow service people ever had any sales training?

When is the Best Time to Sell a Maintenance Agreement?

After more than four decades of direct selling experience and pulling from thousands of years of clients' experience in customer-facing roles, we have learned that selling takes place when customer need is at its maximum.  When the temperatures drop below zero and the furnace isn't running it is one of those times.  

Based on Bill’s comments, his company has zero issues selling during this emergency.  The question is, how do you sell during times when the weather is mild?

Another great time to sell is when the customer remembers the pain your services alleviated.  For years, I have advised industrial salespeople to schedule meetings with the top decision maker the morning after they have saved the day by getting the customer's facility up and running.  

The same applies to my personal life. 

For instance, the car dealership where I purchased my last three vehicles earned my loyalty because of their efforts on my behalf when I was negotiating with an insurance company on the value of a wrecked car.  The day after providing me with extensive information on my car's value on the used market, the sales manager called to remind me of their efforts politely and suggested that I drop by to check out some of the vehicles they had in stock.  I did, and they made a sale.  I have since purchased several cars from them and have referred friends and family.

Sales lessons from unexpected places.

Many years ago, a barber friend reached out to me because they wanted to grow their business.  Brainstorming over beers, we concluded that most people get their hair cut when they are far shaggier than they want to be.  When asked, most folks tell their barber they are a few weeks overdue but forget to make an appointment.  Barbers and stylists agree for most people the best time for a new haircut is five to six weeks following their last cut.  

By setting an appointment for five-week intervals and sending out reminders, my friend's business grew by over 25 percent without finding a single new customer.  Further, fewer people switched to a new shop during the first two years of tracking.

What would have happened if Bill had set spring maintenance appointment times with each of the people he visited during the freezing days of snow-mageddon? A serious bump in business would follow, meaning happy customers and more company revenue. Isn't that the goal?

The moral of this story is relatively simple. Spend a little time today to set up a system for reaching out to your customers during those predictable slow periods.

Frank Hurtte Founding Partner, River Heights Consulting. Common sense, straight talk, small town values, and a lifelong drive to help others grow define Frank Hurtte’s work at River Heights Consulting.   Frank has authored six books and countless articles on distributor success.  His latest book, The New Sales Guy Project, is available on Amazon.  He hosts a popular blog www.thedistributorchannel.com and can be reached at Frank@riverheightsconsulting.com.