Use the maintenance agreement to 'hook' new customers

The maintenance agreement is what hooks your longtime customers. It's a seemingly irresistible package of goodies, but it's also how you determine your regular customers from your casual ones. It's about a relationship that intertwines the customer into your business.

So how do you "hook" them in the first place? Here are three things to keep in mind when adding maintenance agreements.

1. Timing
Bring up the maintenance agreement too early in the conversation and the customer may brush you off. If the customer has already written the check in his or her mind, then you're also doomed. If you present it in just the right way, the customer will see the value and won't mind the extra cost.

2. Beef Up Technician Support
Depending on how your company works, technicians can be your ground salespeople - making all the right moves at a house call, and perhaps even giving the customer a preview of what a maintenance agreement can do for them.

3. Extra Benefits
Embed the maintenance agreement into the product cost. A customer won't mind an additional $200 for an agreement that truly saves him or her time and money.