If you’ve been experiencing fewer leads or a longer sales process following the COVID boom, you’re not alone. One way to speed up your sales process is to tap into ChatGPT.
“A lot of sales is meeting with people, asking them questions, organizing what they tell you, and then formulating a proposal,” says Jack Jostes, CEO of Ramblin Jackson. “ChatGPT is amazing, because it can help you do all of those things faster and better.”
Jostes will focus on real-world applications on how to use ChatGPT in your sales process during his session, “ChatGPT for Landscape Sales Pros and Owners: A Hands-On Intro To Close More Sales” on Wednesday, Nov. 5, at 9 a.m. at ELEVATE. Jostes says this session will be geared toward beginners to intermediate users of AI.
“I’m going to share things that people could literally use on their phone the day of the talk,” Jostes says. “A lot of people present on ChatGPT and AI, and it’s really theoretical, and people are left inspired, but they’re not really sure what to do. My goal in my talk is to literally get people started, and if if they are already using ChatGPT to learn some prompts and ways of using it that will help them make sales faster right away.”
ChatGPT Uses
The main benefit of AI is speed. Jostes says ChatGPT can increase ‘speed on bases.’
“Maybe first base is getting an initial phone call, and second base is going and doing an onsite visit, and third base is sending their proposal, and home run is getting the sale,” Jostes says. “If you can be faster in between the bases, your chance of closing sales goes up.”
One example of where ChatGPT can speed things up is by uploading your notes from a client meeting, either handwritten or a recording, to help you craft a follow-up email quickly.
“Let’s pretend that a homeowner is meeting with three landscapers to get three bids,” Jostes says. “If you’re the one that met with them on time and then followed up faster and in a more professional way, it’s going to build trust with them faster, whereas most landscapers are, frankly, bad at communication, and then the communication they do send is kind of cryptic.”
Instead of leaving the customer confused, you can quickly send out a polished email with the help of ChatGPT.
ChatGPT can also allow you to get notes to your designer sooner, meaning they can start working on a proposal faster.
Jostes recommends utilizing AI to streamline tasks in between meeting clients such as typing up notes or formatting a proposal.
Maintaining A Human Touch
While AI easily speeds up your sales process, it is critical to read and edit anything it provides you and personalize it.
“I think a lot of people go wrong where they send a clearly AI-formatted email with em dashes, all the nouns are bolded, and there are emojis,” Jostes says.
Jostes says he will often prompt ChatGPT to tone these elements down in his prompts. He encourages landscape professionals not to be afraid to prompt AI to try again when it misses the mark the first time.
“I would think about ChatGPT like a sales assistant, somebody who is assisting me in getting my emails typed up faster,” Jostes says. “They’re assisting me in organizing things. They’re assisting me, so that way I can spend more time doing the people work, like talking on the phone, visiting somebody in person, and moving things along. It’s reducing the amount of what I call administrivia.”
Jostes does caution that AI can have hallucinations and make mistakes, which is why it is important to use it to leverage your existing way of doing things, rather than to replace how you do things.
“If you’re starting with ChatGPT, I think that’s a bad thing,” Jostes says. “I think you should be starting with what your customer wants, and that’s why my favorite way of using it is to start with a recording of my customer, where I literally record them and prompt them.”
He recommends asking the client how they envision using the space, if they have pets and other detailed questions. Then he utilizes AI to type up this information faster.
Ready for tangible tips on how ChatGPT can help you close more sales? Register for ELEVATE and we’ll see you in Phoenix, Arizona!
