Author’s Note: This article is adapted from a class I taught at HPBExpo26 in New Orleans. The class was originally conceived by Gideon Honeycutt, but he couldn’t make it to the show at the last minute, so he asked me to teach it for him instead. As such, that course and this article are both inspired by his ideas and insights.

The Quote Trap

Do you have salespeople who jump to the wrong products because they don’t understand the customer’s problem? Salespeople who default to the cheapest available option? Salespeople who fail to advise their customers on a solution as well as you would? Or salespeople who struggle to sell jobs because they’re being pulled in a million different directions?

If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, then you probably have salespeople caught in the Quote Trap.

The Quote Trap, as defined by my good friend Gideon Honeycutt, is when salespeople fail to show customers why specific products or solutions will uniquely solve their problems and are reduced to giving out quotes—and nothing more.

When we fail to show customers how what we’re quoting them will uniquely solve their problems, all we can do is provide a quote. That’s it.

“And if you reduce yourself to a quote giver,” Gideon says, “you reduce your product to a commodity—and in a commodity sale, price always wins.”

When we fall into the Quote Trap, customers get confused, distracted, and buy elsewhere.

But here’s the good news: Your company can break free from the Quote Trap by taking three simple steps.

1. Using a customer intake form
2. Adopting a company sales process
3. Establishing the next step with every quote

Let’s take a deep dive into each of these steps now.

Step 1: Use a Customer Intake Form

More often than not, salespeople fall into the Quote Trap because they don’t understand their customers’ problems in the first place.

Here’s the typical buying experience in our industry: A couple walks into a busy showroom. A rushed salesperson hangs up a phone, puts down a stack of quotes, and walks up to the couple.

“What brings you in today?” the salesperson asks.

“We’re looking for a fireplace,” the couple replies.

“Okay,” the salesperson says, “insert or zero-clearance?”

“I think we’re looking for an insert.”

“Great, you have a brick fireplace? Follow me.”

Suddenly, the salesperson walks the couple over to the wall of inserts. “Brand X does this, this, and that,” the salesperson explains. “Brand Y does this, that, and this. And Brand Z does that, this, and that.”

And the entire time the salesperson is talking, the couple is totally confused.

Of course, the salesperson may eventually figure out that the couple has a 1,500-square-foot house with a masonry chimney that’s two stories tall. But understanding those three things doesn’t really uncover their problem.

Because the only way that we can understand our customers’ problems is if we ask thoughtful, intentional questions—and the best way to do that is to sit down with a customer and use a Customer Intake Form.

After greeting customers and asking what brings them in, you can move the conversation toward the Customer Intake Form by saying something like this: “That’s awesome that you’re looking for a new gas fireplace. As you can see, we have all kinds of fireplaces on display, but they’re not all safe for every home. So if it’s okay, I’d love to ask you a few questions about your project, just to make sure I fully understand your situation. After that, I’ll show you some fireplaces that would be a great fit. Would that be okay?”

After hearing that question, nearly no one on Earth will say, “No, I don’t want to answer any questions. Just show me everything you sell, whether it’s safe for my home or not.”

And once customers say “yes” instead, you’ve got permission to pull out your Customer Intake Form, walk through the questions that will uncover their problem, and take careful notes along the way.

That said, here are 12 customer intake questions I’d highly recommend:

1. How did you hear about us?
2. What kind of project are you working on?
3. What style is this project?
4. What kind of fuel do you want to burn?
5. Where is the fireplace located in the house?
6. How do you use this room?
7. What do you have there right now?
8. What’s the reason that you are getting this fireplace?
9. Is there anything you’ve seen that you’ve liked?
10. What’s below where the fireplace or stove is going?
11. What’s around your fireplace right now?
12. What are you hoping this project does for you?

To be clear, you don’t have to ask these exact questions in this exact order. You can adapt the form to your business, add questions that matter for your market, and rearrange the flow to match the way your salespeople actually speak.

After all, the point isn’t to use this list; instead, the point is to have your own list.

Because if we don’t have an intake form to really understand the customer’s problem, the best we can do is provide a random quote for something. And as Gideon says, when we reduce ourselves to quote givers, we reduce our products to commodities. And in a commodity sale, price always wins.

In contrast, asking thoughtful questions uncovers customers’ problems—and once we understand their problems, we can move on to advising their solutions, which is the first step toward being a consultant instead of a clerk.

Step 2: Adopt a Sales Process

Zig Ziglar famously said, “If you aim at nothing, you’ll hit it every time.”

Unfortunately, that’s how a lot of companies in our industry approach sales.

I know that “sales process” can be a dirty word in our industry. We’re hearth nerds, we’re independent, and we don’t want to be put in a box.

Fair enough.

But here’s the thing: Even Steph Curry has a process when he shoots a jump shot. He doesn’t just walk up to the line and think, Well, I guess I’ll try it left-handed today. Instead, he has a process—because every professional has a process.

That doesn’t mean professionals are robots. In fact, Steph Curry can ad-lib like nobody else because he’s ridiculously thorough with his process.

The same goes for the pilots who got you to your last destination. Do you think they were just winging it? Do you think they looked at each other right before taking off and said, “We don’t need to check the fuel gauge today. We’ve got a good feeling about this.”

No way.

Clerks fly by the seat of their pants. Professionals use a process.

And when it comes to our industry, here’s the sales process I’d recommend:

1. Greet the customer.
2. Understand the problem.
3. Advise a solution.
4. Explain the process.
5. Call the customer to action.
6. Pursue the opportunity.
7. Show gratitude.

Again, I’m not saying you have to follow these exact steps in this exact order. You can take them, change them, or build your own from scratch.

But no matter what, you need a documented process that outlines how your team sells.

Because when you follow a sales process, you keep the customer journey on the rails. You take time to understand the problem. You advise a solution rather than pitching whatever’s on display. And you stop confusing customers by talking about everything you sell because you weren’t quite sure what would actually work for them in the first place.

Simply put, a sales process doesn’t turn your salespeople into robots—it sets them free to be their best.

Step 3: Establish the Next Step With Every Quote

Here’s a principle that should be tattooed on every salesperson’s forearm: “If you don’t define the process of how to do business with you, your customer will.”

When we hand a customer a quote and say, “Here you go. Think about it and shop around, then let us know what you think”—we’re telling them how to do business with us.

We’re telling them to leave.

We’re telling them to compare.

We’re telling them we don’t care if they come back.

But there’s a better way.

In the famous sales movie Glengarry Glen Ross, there’s a scene in the beginning where Alec Baldwin screams this mantra at a room full of poor salespeople: “When it comes to sales, ABC. A. Always. B. Be. C. Closing. Always be closing!”

Well, here’s the version I want you to remember:

• A. Always
• B. Be
• C. Confirming a next step

That means that every time your salespeople give out a quote, they should confirm some sort of next step.

Here’s how it plays out: Every time they hand a customer a quote, they simply ask, “Based on these numbers, would there be a good day next week for our technician to come out to your house and confirm all the project details?”

That simple question confirms the next step and keeps the momentum going.

Now, let’s say the customer says “no” to that. Maybe they’re going on vacation, but more often, it means they don’t love the price.

At that point, salespeople have several options. They can defend their value. They can offer a more budget-friendly product. They can lean into the conversation. But even if the customer still isn’t ready to book the in-home visit, salespeople can still establish a next step by saying something along these lines: “No problem at all. We can come out to take a look as you get a little closer to making your decision. In the meantime, would it be okay if I circled back with you Thursday or Friday of next week, just to make sure you don’t have any questions that come up after looking at this quote?”

This actually gets at how I personally define sales: Sales is communicating wisdom to bring someone to the point of a decision.

That’s it.

We aren’t making decisions for our customers—they can say no, and that’s totally fine. We’re just communicating wisdom and bringing them to a place where they can make a solid decision. And one of the best ways to do that is establishing a next step with every single customer, every single time.

From Clerks to Consultants

If we want to break free from the Quote Trap, we have to transform from clerks into consultants.

Because clerks make quotes—but consultants make sales.

So how do we know if we’re operating like consultants? Here are the top five indicators:

1. Consultants always provide estimates and quotes to customers at the end of their time in the showroom.
2. Consultants quote fewer products—ideally one—with options for the customer to “shop” within the quote, rather than getting confused by four different units from four different brands.
3. Consultants use the quote to transition to the next part of the sale, not to end the encounter.
4. Consultants always establish the next step with customers before they leave.
5. And consultants know that price objections are an invitation to a conversation, not a deal-breaker.

At the end of the day, here’s what we have to decide: Do we want to give our customers the best experience possible? Or are we content to send them out the door with nothing but a quote so we can move on to the next thing?

Again, if we reduce ourselves to quote givers, we reduce our product to a commodity. And in a commodity sale, price always wins.

So stop quoting—and start selling.