I’ve got a friend who likes to do everything himself. Partly because he is cheap, but mostly because he is proud of his skills. He is a true DIY guy. His pride is his worst enemy. We talk about this all the time. (Actually, to put it more accurately: I make fun of him all the time.) A couple of years ago, he designed the logo for his wife’s company. Although they saved quite a bit of money, the logo looked like it was designed by a DIY guy – not a professional. As usual, he was so proud of his work that he kept claiming: “I need to get into marketing.” His pride damaged his vision, and he actually saw his deficient work as being excellent.
My friend is like most people that take on a job themselves instead of hiring a professional. They’re proud and truly believe their work is as good as or better than a trained specialist’s work. When trying to sell to this type of personality, you should never do this…
Don’t ever challenge a DIY guy. Many sales people will say things like “you get what you pay for” or “our technicians are well trained professionals”. All you’re doing is building his appetite – he’s already dying to do this project and prove the professionals wrong, and now you’re throwing down the gauntlet. Instead of challenging the DIY guy, support him with authority. Use a statement like this:
“Some projects can be handled by sharp teams like yours. However, some have hidden challenges that create nightmares for the most capable teams. What type of job are considering doing yourself? Walk me through it and I’ll give you my input. If we can help, I’ll let you know. If it’s something you should do on your own, I’ll let you know also.”
This is just the beginning of the strategy, but you’ve positioned yourself as an advocate instead of a typical vendor. If they don’t open up to you, then you can either walk away or get more aggressive by stating the realities of most DIY results.
