I have a long time client in the roofing industry. A while back, he was meeting with a potential customer, and she shared a story with him that demonstrates the fallout that can occur when you're overly emotional on a sales call.
She had hired a roofing company a couple different times to do repairs on her roof. They had sent the same guy out both times, and he did a great job. She was really happy with the work, and was planning on using him in the future.
She had some damage on the roof, so she called the company again. This time, they sent out two guys she'd never met before.
She shared with them that she really hoped the roof wasn't damaged too badly. She had never filed an insurance claim before, and didn't want to start now. She was hoping she could avoid that headache and just pay for some minor damage out of pocket.
One guy got up on the roof to look around, and the other guy walked around the house with her, inspecting the exterior.
All of a sudden, the guy on the roof stuck his head over the edge. As they all made eye contact, he have a big grin and a thumb up.
The lady turned to the guy on the ground and said, "Oh, good, that means it isn't damaged."
"No," he replied, "that means it's totaled."
As you can imagine, she was pretty ticked off, and she let them know. "You knew what I was hoping for!" she fumed. "That was so rude!"
Needless to say, she ran them off, and was now talking with my client.
She had already used that company two times, and was very happy with them. She was planning on letting them do the repair work, and hadn't even called any other companies. But the guy on the roof let his emotion get the best of him, and his grin and thumb up lost them the job.
Now, it was only a $7,000 roof, which isn't huge in the roofing world. But the lady shared the story with three neighbors and her mom, all of whom were planning on using that same company. Needless to say, they changed their mind quickly.
Be careful that you keep your emotions in check when working with clients and prospects. Reacting emotionally lost that roofing company $35,000 or more in business.
