Contractor Training • Spring 2026
Navigating Changing Buying Patterns
Discover why 53% of your buyer's decision hinges on how you sell — not what you sell — and how to run consultative site visits that command premium pricing.
Contractor Training • Spring 2026
Discover why 53% of your buyer's decision hinges on how you sell — not what you sell — and how to run consultative site visits that command premium pricing.
Chief Growth Officer & Author of "The Sales Edge"
Chief Growth Officer
Chief Growth Officer
Gene has lived the contractor sales journey firsthand — building a geotechnical business from zero to over $6 million in revenue in under four years. Before that, he held leadership roles at Gateway Computers and Tony Robbins' organization, learning what separates the sellers who command premium pricing from the ones competing on cost.
In this session, Gene unpacks the research behind how your buyers actually make decisions, walks you through the EDGE consultative selling process, and gives you a proven framework for turning site visits into closed deals — without discounting or high-pressure tactics.
What you'll walk away with after this session
Learn why CEB research shows only 9% of purchase decisions come down to price — and what the other 91% is really about, so you can stop discounting and start differentiating.
Walk every site visit using a four-step framework — Educate, Develop the Gap, Greater Gap, Emotional Connection — that positions you as a trusted advisor, not just another bid.
Discover how to use your size as a strategic advantage — speed, customization, owner involvement — to outmaneuver bigger competitors even when they undercut on price.
Put clients in a 'peak referral state' using a simple follow-up script that triples your Google reviews and turns every completed job into your next opportunity.
Follow the full training session, step by step
Gene opens by challenging attendees to name their biggest takeaways so far. He introduces the aggregation of marginal gains — the idea that 5% improvement across leads, conversions, site visits, close rate, and average sale price compounds into transformational growth. No single silver bullet — just disciplined improvement across every stage of your sales pipeline.
A contractor asks how to win against companies 10x their size. Gene reframes the challenge: your speed, customization, and owner involvement are advantages the big dogs can't match. He lays out four questions every contractor must answer: What makes you different? Why does it matter? What core problems do you solve? What are your buyer's fears?
Gene shares a buyer's metaphor from his book research: sellers are either wet sponges (giving concessions under pressure) or dry sponges (holding firm on value). He explains that every dollar discounted is 100% profit lost, and that professional buyers are trained to squeeze — so your negotiation strength comes from running a thorough sales process before the negotiation even begins.
Through a memorable Thanksgiving parable, Gene challenges the room to question their inherited selling habits. Just because something's always been done a certain way doesn't mean it's the right way — and new hires are just as likely to pick up bad habits as good ones. The lesson: audit your site visit process with fresh eyes.
Gene presents the landmark CEB study showing that 53% of customer loyalty comes from the purchase experience — not the brand (19%), product delivery (19%), or price (9%). He breaks down what buyers actually value: unique market perspectives, navigating alternatives, ongoing consultation, avoiding landmines, and being easy to buy from.
Gene flips the traditional training pyramid upside down — putting mindset, rapport, and questions at the foundation instead of product knowledge. He traces his evolution from SPIN Selling to his own EDGE method, sharing the Gateway Computers/UMB Bank story where he discovered a problem the client didn't even know they had — and closed the biggest deal in company history.
The room shares referral tactics — gift cards, business card referral programs, follow-up calls. Gene introduces 'peak referral state': the moment after a client confirms satisfaction when they're most receptive to leaving a review or making a referral. Then he dives deep into the E (Educate) and D (Develop the Gap) of the EDGE process.
Gene teaches future pacing from NLP — painting a vivid picture of what happens if the problem isn't solved AND what life looks like when it's fixed. Key phrases: 'Now is the least expensive this will ever be,' 'Imagine when this is done,' and 'Tell me more.' The goal: resist your urge to sell and let the client sell themselves on the urgency.
Gene closes with the most powerful close: telling a story of another client just like them who chose you and is glad they did. Case studies, testimonials, Google reviews, and awards create the social proof that overcomes buyer fear. The law of conformity — in times of uncertainty, people do what most people do — makes your proof documents your strongest closing tool.
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Gene walks through the complete EDGE consultative selling framework with live Q&A, real contractor examples, and actionable scripts you can use on your next site visit. Submit the form below to unlock the recording.
This is one of seven sessions in the Deep Lock Contractor Training Series. Explore the full program to build your technical skills and sales confidence.
Fill out the form above to access this session's recording. Our team will get you in touch with an Alchatek partner as soon as possible.
