Close More Sales Utilizing a Color Consultant

Utilizing Designers to Close the Sale on the Spot and Outsource Color Selection

Streamlining the sales process and creating a seamless flow between contract signed

and project start date is always on my mind.

How can I create better systems to free up my time as the business owner and lead salesperson?

There are many sales strategies and system implementations that achieve this,

but what makes that goal EVEN BETTER is when time creation is coupled with

a higher closing rate and clients who are raving fans from the very start!

About six months ago, I was still stuck in the cycle of personally being the full service paint concierge for our clients.

I would:

take the appointment

follow up with the pre-qualification call

do the estimate

close the sale

offer color sampling/ideas

procure samples and deliver them to the client

follow up with the pre-qualification call

do the estimate

close the sale

offer color sampling/ideas

procure samples and deliver them to the client

Nothing inherently wrong with that chain of events.

IN FACT, it was sustainable for a while as our company grew

and we were referred often due to our diligence with the customer experience leading up to the actual painting.

But then, we got busier and busier, and the more leads we closed and jobs lined up meant more and more color consults.

I know some of you may be thinking at this point,

“Why not just tell the customer to pick out their own colors by such and so time?”

I’m not opposed to letting the customer pick out their own colors.

Often I encourage them to do so when the project is smaller and/or they already have ideas in mind of what they want.

We’re Not Competing on Price Anymore…

When Steve teaches not to compete on price, but on value, this is one of the ways to add value that he is talking about.

The reason a customer signs a contract on the spot is because of added value offered at the point of sale – like free color consultations.

Color Consulting is low hanging fruit that, in my experience when offered, has never been met with skepticism or negativity.

It’s usually welcomed with smiles when offered.

A color consult on average for us takes 3 hours totaled up.

drive to meet with customer

chat about ideas

trip to the paint store

color samples procured

return trip to customer

decision!

I, for one, would love to use that time for building our business and freeing up time for the most efficient use of my time–

(see our video about knowing your Hourly Responsibility Rate – ie: only doing those activities that produce that rate and delegating everything else.)

How to Find Color Consultants

I reached out to local designers on Instagram that already followed our painting page

and started a dialogue with them regarding what we were looking for and the expectations we would have.

The result…two designers (one for each half of our county) who respond to customer requests for color consulting from our office.

They contact the customer, do the color dance 🕺, send over selections with customer stamp of approval…and an invoice for their flat rate.

PRO TIP: SET A FLAT RATE WITH OPTIONS FOR ADDITIONAL COSTS KNOWN TO THE CUSTOMER AND DESIGNER. THIS WILL KEEP COST PREDICTABLE AND SET PARAMETERS FOR THE DESIGNER TO STAY WITHIN.

It’s important to note, we do not offer a free color consult to every customer.

It is not in writing on the contract and I do not recommend it.

Typically I verbally state it during the estimate when the customer voices that color is a pain point for them

or I can sense that it could tip the scale in our favor by adding value to close the deal on the spot.

Then I just build the cost of the consult into the materials portion of the estimate.

Outsourcing color consultation is a WIN-WIN!

You win back your time and the customer wins an enhanced experience that could be the reason they turn into Raving Fans!

Not to mention the added sale for the color consultant!

Do you have any color consultants in your local network?

Do you have color consultants that refer work to you?

Do you have color consultants that already follow you on social media?

Now you know what to do…go make your own Win-Win by contacting them today!

I’d love to hear how you create win-wins with your color consultants.

Dream Big, Hustle Smarter!

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About the Author

As many of you know, my journey has been one of grit, grace, and transformation. At 19, I was a high school dropout, single father, and struggling paint contractor in Michigan. I later moved to Florida, where I faced both personal and professional hardships. With nothing left to lose, I turned to prayer—and was blessed with a relentless hunger to learn. I devoured books, attended seminars, and discovered better ways to streamline and grow my business—even through the Great Recession (and yes, I did hit the wife lottery along the way!). In 2014, I published How To Double Your Business and later sold the painting business, launching a new chapter: coaching others to grow their businesses. For the past 10 years, I’ve dedicated myself to helping business owners scale through the DYB System, while also drawing from frameworks like EOS, Scaling Up, and The Four Disciplines of Execution. Yet something was still missing—something more adaptive, integrated, and complete. Then I found Pinnacle. After months of research and interviews with other Guides, I joined Pinnacle. Their tools and strategies have exceeded every expectation. Now, as a Pinnacle Business Guide, I help leadership teams implement a custom-tailored operating system that draws from the best in the industry—but flexes with your unique business. It’s a dynamic, proven approach to achieve clarity, momentum, and lasting growth. I’m no longer taking on any more 1:1 coaching clients… Instead, I now specialize in working with visionary business owners who are ready to get their leadership teams aligned—around a clear vision, a focused strategy, and an actionable execution plan. With the tools and process I now have as a Pinnacle Business Guide, I help turn alignment into momentum, and momentum into results. If your business is growing—but your leadership team isn’t fully rowing in the same direction—let’s talk.