The Idiocy of the FREE QUOTE, Sales is a Conversation, A Functional Day of “Work”

"You call yourself a free spirit, a "wild thing," and you're terrified somebody's gonna stick you in a cage. Well, baby, you're already in that cage. You built it yourself. And it's not bounded in the west by Tulip, Texas, or in the east by Somali-land. It's wherever you go. Because no matter where you run, you just end up running into yourself." 

— Truman Capote (Breakfast at Tiffany's)

Top of the mother trucking morning to you! It’s 4:21 a.m., I’m up, I woke up about 4:00, went to bed about 9:00, I think 7 hours of sleep is enough, time to get this party started! This is my time, my time to shine.

I tend to get up early with ease when not having a drink the night before; I think there might be something to not filling my belly with booze.  Another day of not drinking, another day of giving that fellow, my demon friend, the finger.

An amazing day yesterday capped off with some great friends at our local pub watching a friend play live music. There were about 20 of us that showed up; it’s within walking distance of our home. Life is beautiful when surrounded by friends. Yes, you can go out, enjoy the evening and not consume booze.  

I got a call a couple of days ago from a young lady that wanted to give me a free roof quote for one of my commercial buildings. It was a random call; they were providing a quote to the building next door.  They wanted to know if I was interested in a FREE quote.

I told her I don’t live there, we own it, and the last time I was on the roof, it was in very good shape. We don’t have any leaks, but if she wanted to go through the time and trouble to provide an estimate I didn’t need, have at it!

I was pretty specific with the first caller, told her she would have to get with the tenants, schedule the inspection with them.

Yesterday my Queen and I went for about an hour walk through the city of Indianapolis. As we were walking my phone rang, it was the roofing company, a number from FL; they were confirming that I would be at my property to meet the estimator.

I again explained that I didn’t live there, in fact, I was about an hour and a half away, and if they wanted to get on the roof, they would have to get with the occupants of the building. I gave her my blessing to reach out to the tenants.

About 10 minutes later she called me back to confirm that they had talked to the occupants and they were going to email me a quote. 

I do not understand the offering of FREE quotes. It blows my mind. I had an agent one time that worked for our company, I showed him the correct way to work sans quoting, and he left, started his own company, and runs a quote machine.  When someone wants an insurance quote, I refer them to him.  He’s not the sharpest tool in the shed.

Quoting takes time, and we make no money from this exercise.    The time and labor it takes to inspect, provide a quality proposal is an investment of time and money. Firms that are set up as quote machines boggle my mind. 

Instead of quoting, why not have a conversation and find out the needs of the suspect. Hell, I’m not even a prospect for this roofing company, they don’t’ know me, all they know is that I own a building next to a building they were going to give a quote so why not waste the estimators time and give me something I don’t even want?

I’m a salesman, I’m a sales manager, and if one of my salespeople were giving random quotes, I'd have a long talk with them about time management. Sales are about a conversation and a determination of needs. It’s not a process of throwing shit on the wall and seeing what sticks. That is a terrible way to run a company. Instead of always be closing, let’s change the conversation always to be prospecting.  The ABP model allows for a firm to select their clients.  

The key to sales is to find a product or service that a suspect or prospect actually needs and then determine if the person or company is a fit for your culture. As a company, we say more to prospects than we say yes. That is our way; I think the best way to run a company. Not everyone gets to be a Thompson Group client. We choose our clients carefully using our no asshole rule. 

If you own a business and are giving away your work for free, it might be time you and I had a conversation. I don’t care if you are in the roofing business, the automotive business, or the window washing business. There is a sales process that can reduce your time working with suspects and only working with qualified prospects. It’s a system, it’s not brain surgery, but if your sales process involves FREE quotes, please stop your insane process, let’s have a conversation.

Since I just shit on most folk’s process of sales, let me share my day and see if you can see the difference. At 7:00 a.m., I’ll leave my home and head to a meeting with eight business owners. We have been meeting for a few years; we know each other’s business; it allows for a deep dive for all owners to share and get feedback from non-industry business owners. They all know me, our business, our process, and refer business to us that meets our criteria.  

I’ll leave there and begin my hour drive north to our office in Beautiful Parker City, Indiana. I’ll work with my team and then take a call from a tech firm that has a solution for our company. It’s a 15-minute call; they are not giving me a quote; they are learning more about our firm — an amazing first step in any sales process.

I’ve got lunch with a client and friend to do a review, make sure their current program still matches their needs. I have a 2:00 p.m. appointment with a new opportunity that we will review our process and see if they fit our client profile.

At 3:00, I’ll be back in Indianapolis to review the program for another client. Does our current program match their needs? At 4:00, we have a scheduled call with a company we are working to acquire; we’re putting the pieces together to integrate their company into ours carefully. 

I’ll end at 5:00 and at no time did I give away my work for free. I don’t offer quotes; I don’t throw shit on the wall and cross my fingers something sticks. I logically connect with people that need our products and services and then vet them to make sure they can become long-time relationship-based clients.

Our system works, its why people pay me well to share our systems, policies, and procedures. I’m not a genius; I’m a simple man with a simple mindset that has allowed us to grow and become very profitable. If you own a business and still give quotes, please stop.  You’re doing “it” wrong.

"You call yourself a free spirit, a "wild thing," and you're terrified somebody's gonna stick you in a cage. Well, baby, you're already in that cage. You built it yourself. And it's not bounded in the west by Tulip, Texas, or in the east by Somali-land. It's wherever you go. Because no matter where you run, you just end up running into yourself." 

— Truman Capote (Breakfast at Tiffany's)