Welcome to Close it now, the podcast that's revolutionizing the H Vac and home improvement trades industries.

Get ready to dive deep into the world of heating, ventilation and air conditioning.

We're turning up the heat on industry standards and cooling down misconceptions.

And we're not just talking about fixing vents and adjusting thermostats.

It's about the transformative movement that's reshaping the very foundation of H Vac and home improvement.

We're the driving force, inspiring top performers who crave excellence not only in their professional endeavors, but also in fitness, nutrition, relationships and personal growth, proving that we can indeed have it all.

This is Close it now, where excellence meets excitement.

Let's get to work.

Now, your host, Sam Wakefield.

Okay, so here's the setup.

If you're like most people, the moment that the word financing comes out, the room just kind of goes flat.

The energy dips, the buyer's eyes glaze over, and suddenly all the momentum you had and built is gone.

But here's the secret.

Top performers don't talk about financing.

They present programs.

Programs are how pros present money without killing the emotion.

So because they're about protection, peace of mind, possibility.

So in this episode, by the end you'll know exactly how to present programs that keep buyers engaged, confident and excited and how to use them to protect both homeowners and contractors.

So the title of today's episode is financing Like a how to present money without killing the emotion.

And I am glad you're here, so stick around.

So welcome to the show.

This is close it now.

My name is Sam Wakefield and I'm going to turn off the radio guy voice because I realized that lately I have been sliding into this big announcer, radio voice and way more often.

And you know, it was really interesting watching.

I was watching a Tony Robbins, the Tony Robbins Dean Graziosa AI Summit that they're putting on right now.

And everyone has this tonality.

It's this, everything is urgent and you've got to understand the pauses.

You've got to understand the importance of what we're talking about right now.

And it was really interesting because the more I watch courses, the different courses, trainers, especially presenters, and there's like this one type of language, this one type of tonality, this one type of, it's almost this level of everything is mission critical, every single word, all the pauses.

And so it's funny because, you know, when you go back and listen to the bunch of the closing out episodes, I talk a lot about, we talk so much about tonality we talk about how to adjust your tonality.

In fact, I'm going to do a whole episode on that coming up pretty soon.

But one of the things I've said often is stop being weird and start selling.

Stop using that creepy salesman voice.

And so it's like that creepy salesman voice, you know, you have.

This is how this works.

Stop it.

You just talk like a normal human being.

And so it dawned on me.

And so this is for everybody listening.

If you've listened to the last handful of episodes, clearly I did it on this opening hook very intentionally, on purpose, strictly to give the example to everybody.

I've slid into it the last handful of episodes and wasn't even realizing it or paying attention.

So that's how easy it can happen for you in your appointments if you're not being intentional and conscious about the things that you are.

Every single thing is important.

Every word, every pause.

The tonality is important.

But more importantly, without going into all the depths of the different types of tonalities and all those kind of things really just paying attention, this is why it's so important to record yourself during your appointments.

And I'm not talking about using a tool like Rilla or Ciro or some one of those types of things because you don't get the actual yes, yes, yes, it's great.

Don't just go off of the transcript, though.

You have to actually listen to yourself.

Or if you don't have one of those tools, that's fine, just turn on your voice recorder.

Or you just listen to yourself, listen to yourself back.

Because so many times the way that you hear your voice in your own head is nothing like the way anyone else hears you.

And so when you listen to yourself back, you realize maybe your inflection on words is different, which gives a different meaning to a sentence than you thought you were delivering.

Or maybe your word choice or the way that you said something came across very different than the way you heard it in your head.

But until you're listening to yourself, you don't have.

You don't even know what you don't know.

So you don't have the opportunity to change or improve.

So that is why I did that.

So there's your quick little coaching moment for the day before we even get into the content.

So a couple quick things and then we'll get into this.

First of all, what's in your cup today?

I've got just a regular black cup of Joe.

Nothing fancy, nothing special, which means that I need some new beans.

So love a recommendation from you, what are you drinking?

What are you, are you into new coffee beans lately?

Get some recommendations.

I'm going to be actually, I'm going to be headed up to.

I'm super excited.

So here's part of the announcement too.

So a request and an announcement.

And here in a couple of weeks I am headed up to Maryland, to the Annapolis, Maryland area.

And because we have, we're launching the Door to Door Institute, we have our first company building beltway up there.

Ryan Grimes, shout out to you brother.

We're going to be doing the on site try.

This is not a trial run.

This is the first beta test of the Door to Door Institute where we're taking a canvassing team to knock doors in a very systematic, organized way, complete with marketing on top of it, to set appointments on his calendar across a five day time span.

So you are going to want to pay attention.

As soon as we have the data back from that, you know, I'm going to be letting you know.

So what that means is I need a recommendation for coffee shops.

Who do you know what, what Great.

If you're in the area, what great coffee shops are there in the Annapolis, Maryland area that I can check out because as you know, I'm a coffee nerd.

So shoot me that recommendation also, wherever you are in the world, I would love a recommendation for some coffee beans.

What should I try?

Where should I order from?

If you have some that you'd like to send to me, I would 100% will mention you on the show because I'm just always on search for something new.

So that is the what's in your cup segment of the day.

Let's toast this show, this episode together in your drive time university.

What's in your cup today?

Is it you got an energy drink, you got a latte, you got hopefully you're hydrating.

Make sure you have your water.

Also you got a soda.

What you got a coke.

What's in your cup?

So three, two, one.

All right.

Okay, so a couple quick announcements, one last quick announcement.

Yes.

We're filling up the beta test for the Door to Door Institute.

There's only a couple spots left.

So out of the 10 that we're originally doing as the beta test.

So reach out to me.

This is the time of year if you could use, you know, 40, 50, 80, 100, 120 appointments on your calendar in a week's time at about half of the cost that you're paying on digital right now.

And this is what we're doing.

So it's the it's the most effective way and highest conversion way to get not just leads, but appointment qualified appointments on your calendar from your exact specific target neighborhood and area that you know, exactly the age of the homes, exactly the demographics of the people that live there, exactly the home values, exactly the age of the systems.

You get to choose when you do this type of process.

And so it's insanely effective.

And we're not asking you to do it, we're doing it for you.

So that's the cool part of this program.

So reach out to me about that.

You can get ahold of me samoseitnow.net, you can message me on Instagram, hereal close it now.

You can go to the CloseItNow.net and fill out the form and I will get right back to you.

So without further ado, let's get into the content for today.

Because financing is a hard topic.

It's something that so many people don't know how to present and sure as heck don't know how to present properly.

And when they do, usually it comes up as like an also ran like, oh, yeah, well, it's almost like this desperate type of.

Well, okay, well, if this, this price is too much, we also have financing.

Would you be interested in that?

Don't say the word interested.

Of course nobody's interested in anything.

Just stop using the word interested.

Nobody can be interested if they don't know a ton about it already.

So, yes, we're gonna cover how to present financing the correct way.

So because realistically, statistically in your company, if you're presenting financing properly, 50% or greater of your project should be financed.

I don't remember the exact number.

I actually have a meeting coming up with our financing rep for the company that I'm a fractional sales director for.

Yeah.

So get the exact numbers.

But realistically, it's between, I think it's between 50 and 55% of your projects should be financed.

Which tells me.

And tells you.

So pay attention to this numbers.

If you're the owner out there or if you're, you know, just, if you're a, you know, your sales professional, you're selling tech or you're a comfort advisor or whatever your role is, if you're not financing that many projects, it doesn't mean.

So what most people tell me when they, when I talk about financing, they say our area doesn't finance.

Nobody wants to finance here.

My answer to that is, you're wrong.

You're looking at it completely wrong.

What that means is you're leaving 30 to 40% of business on the table.

That means you've got a lot of people saying no to you that would say yes.

If you offered financing better, if you had a better way to communicate it and a better offer, you would have a lot more people say yes.

The people that are going to pay cash are going to pay cash either way.

But, but so what?

You're only looking at the projects that do go through.

What you're missing is the ones that don't because you didn't offer financing or you didn't offer it properly.

So that's exactly what we're going to solve today.

How to.

How to.

How to offer it properly.

Is this making sense?

Everybody raise your hand if this is making sense.

Okay, so here's, here's the context of this conversation, because most people handle the money conversation like a technical handoff in instead of an emotional bridge.

And that's 100% what we've got to do here.

So the words you use change how the brain feels.

When we shift from cost to investment, from financing to program, all of these things, we're going to move our client, move our buyer from fear to confidence.

So let's get into some of the word choices first, because this is super crucial.

The first thing I want you to do is stop saying financing.

We're not going to say the word financing.

When they say financing, then we use the word financing.

But until then, we are going to say the word program.

Here's an example.

So we have excellent programs for our clients.

Simple, flexible, and built to fit your budget.

Programs.

It's a program.

Program feels intentional and helpful.

Financing sounds cold and transactional.

It is a.

This might seem silly or small to you, but I'm here to tell you the small things are the needle movers.

These tiny things are going.

Is what makes the difference in your conversation.

The second word replacement.

I want you to stop.

Start changing immediately.

Is.

We're not gonna.

We're gonna stop saying price.

We're going to stop saying cost.

We're going to stop saying payment.

What I want you to use instead is investment.

We're in home improvement and home services.

Every single thing they do is an investment in their home.

So why not call it what it is, which is an investment?

If it's a small everything, from a small repair to a, you know, a whole new addition on their house, it doesn't matter.

And everything in between, it could be a new garage door, it could be gutters, it could be a heating and air system.

It could Be solar, it can be roofing, it could be windows, it could be siding, it could be flooring.

It doesn't matter what it is.

It could be closet upgrade, it really doesn't matter that.

Who'd I leave out?

Water heaters, it could be water heater, it could be a water filtration system, it could be a whole home generator, it could be a ev, you know, electric vehicle installed charging system.

It doesn't matter what it is.

I don't want to leave anybody out in this.

It could be irrigation, you know, well done.

Right?

Shout out to you guys.

Good job, Robert.

Quick side note, Robert is crushing it.

And we started a 75 hard program with close it now and accountability group and he has been the most consistent.

So you made the podcast, brother.

Shout out to you.

So it could be irrigation.

It doesn't matter what it is, what the product is.

It does not matter.

It's the, you know, it's an investment in their home.

And so when we say, so when we talk about the prices instead of total price, your total investment is.

And then monthly, when we're talking about the payments, your monthly investment is.

And so that's.

We've got to change from price, cost or payment to investment, investment.

Because think about it and actually Doug Wyatt was, when he spoke at my event in May in Boston, he has a whole section on this, he calls it wordsmithing.

But you know, think about those words.

What do they trigger in your brain?

What do they trigger in your brain, anybody's brain, when it's priced, it's cost or payment and it triggers pain points, it triggers a pain response.

There's something negative a lot of times associated, maybe not in this context, but if in any context there's something, something negative can be associated to price, cost or payment.

We don't want that to carry into this conversation.

But then think about investment.

There's positive connections there.

So any, anything that's an investment that means it's going to grow in value over time.

So it triggers reward centered brain chemistry.

So it's just brain science, y'.

All.

So let's talk.

So, so recap those real quick.

We're not saying financing, we're going to say we'll call it a program.

And we're not saying price, cost or payment.

We're saying investment, total investment, monthly investment.

Okay, so segment two, when and how to introduce the program.

There's several different places we can do this, but ideally you want to introduce one.

We're gonna, we could talk about it early.

We've gotta Plant the seed early.

So even in your realistically it needs to be on your website.

Have them a place where they can apply and get pre approved.

Start there.

If you don't have that, get it set up.

Step two, Your person, your CRM, your, if you're using AI as your callers, your int.

Calls, whatever it is, everyone needs to be programmed to just have a simple line mention.

Oh, and they're going to, when you speak with someone, they're going to talk to you about our incredible payment programs.

No, I said payment there actually our investment programs.

We have programs to help it.

We have programs that fit everyone's budget.

There you go, partially shooting from the hip on this as we go.

We have programs to fit everyone's budget.

So they'll discuss all of the, all, everything that has to do with that.

Something simple.

Don't get so caught up in the exact words in your script.

Get the meaning across.

That's, that's, that's the important part.

Authenticity is everything.

But as we do that, it's just a matter of learning words to use and not use.

And then you can craft your script as you go.

As long as we're hitting the key components and we've got it locked into the message.

So, and then all the way into the conversation, then you're, you know, in your introductions and agendas, it's like, okay, so what we're going to do is we'll, we'll go over, you know, I'll ask you a few questions.

You get to tell me what you're experiencing and what your concerns are in your home.

Then once we have that list of the things that are important to you, what I'll do is I'll go grab my measurements, run some calculations and once we've, you know, once I've run those calculations, I'll sit down, I'll show you what those calculations are and we'll just work together to come up with a project and a proposal that, that you would accept.

And we've got some incredible programs to help everyone, everyone to be able to do this as something that, so you can.

So here's a little twist too.

When you're talking about, when you're introducing things, when price concern comes up with, especially when it's early, before you really get to anything to be able to show pricing, somebody's like, oh, I hope I can afford you guys, I can afford this.

You can give them peace of mind with a couple different things.

You give them peace of mind with, hey, so listen, tell you what, don't worry.

I like to say we have a saddle for every seat because of course, I'm from Texas.

We have a saddle for every seat.

We have a fit for almost every homeowner.

So don't worry about your concern with your, with your investment, your investment amount.

And even better, we've got some great programs to help almost every homeowner fit their budget and then move on.

That's how you plant that seed early without, you know, without derailing.

And we don't want to talk about money right now.

We're just planting the seed that, hey, don't worry, we can help you.

We can show you how you can afford it.

And that's the vibe and the message that we want to get across.

So then when do we actually do.

When's the price reveal?

When are we talking about this?

So we're going to introduce the program after we've established the value, but before the total investment reveal.

The best place to introduce a monthly investment number is right in between there.

The first thing we want them to see.

So we've gone through the entire presentation, we've figured out what their problems are.

We've shown them how we're going to solve those problems either through, you know, our service, through a product, through a new heating and air system, through a new garage door opener and garage whatever it is.

We've shown them the presentation of what the new thing is and how we're going to do it without pricing.

There's no numbers yet.

So we've shown that because we have to build the value, they have to understand how you are different than every Tom, Dick and Harry out there.

They have to understand how you're different than the cheap guy.

Once they understand how you're different and the steps that you take to ensure that none of those other problems happen, like if you go with them, then you get to the price reveal and the very first thing is showing the monthly investment first.

And so in fact, here's a just an example word track for you.

So most of our clients take advantage of our programs.

They're designed to make getting what you want easy and stress free.

So you're not discounting, you're delivering earlier access to the solution.

So mentioning programs early, earlier primes the subconscious for affordability because the conscious brain is going to start comparing totals.

And so when we get into the climax, if you listen, go back and listen to the last episode was the story, arc episode.

But when we get to the price reveal, the investment reveal, order and framing determine everything.

The way that the ideally, what you want to present, and there's a whole science around this.

We can do a whole nother session on, you know, how to structure, actually how to structure your options with various financing plans.

But in the context of this conversation, just a general best practice is the first number they want to see that monthly investment number.

Just have it tied to whatever plan that you offer has that generates the lowest monthly possible.

Don't think in terms of how you would buy.

Stop it with this.

Will we only offer 12 month, 0% bullcrap.

Think in terms of what is the lowest monthly investment for them.

I don't care if there's interest attached, it doesn't matter.

And they won't either if you present it properly.

But the first number, and you might not even go with that one, but the first number you want them to see is the lowest possible barrier of entry for your project.

Because the seed that's planting in their brain is, wow, that's less than I thought.

We can afford this.

They're going to ask for the total and that's fine.

We're not hiding it.

We just want to plant the seed first.

We're planting the anchor of affordability and then we show them everything.

We're not hiding it at all.

So, okay, yeah, of course.

Let's go through all these details.

Here's the terms, here's the total investment, here's what, everything's included in the project.

And if they have concerns there, we address them.

We can, we can change to a different program, we can move to cash, we can move to credit card, we can do anything else.

But we want them.

The very first thing that we want them to see is the most affordable number possible.

So that is, there's a ton of brain science in that that I don't need to get into now.

Hopefully you get it.

If not, get ahold of me, we can talk about it.

I'll talk about this way longer than you want to listen, I promise.

But so that reveal the total investment in other programs.

Once you've revealed what that low monthly investment is going to look like and you know, and then if they don't like the terms, show them other options.

That's fine.

Once they get that seed planted, then they can move into what they want.

Then we can ask them questions like, well, what's more important, the, the interest rate or the monthly investment amount?

Find out, because it might not be a monthly investment number.

That's their concern.

They just might not want to pay interest.

Okay, well, great.

Well, in that case, we have either these lower Interest plans or zero interest plans, et cetera.

So that's how it works.

So the first number of the brain hears becomes the anchor.

So starting small keeps emotion positive.

And then logic can proceed, logic can process the rest.

You're not hiding the total.

You're guiding focus is truly what's happening here.

So let's talk about this for a second, because I really had not even considered this part until the other day.

My buddy Chris Scoville made a post that one of my coaching clients shared with me and it was like, duh.

Yes, of course, this is another way to present programs without the friction, because it does offer a layer of protection for both you as the company and, and for the homeowner.

And this is a different way to think about it.

And so this is also that tool that you want to have in your tool belt anytime that homeowner has a concern.

In fact, as I go through this, you'll realize you'll be able to recognize really quickly what concerns a homeowner might possibly have around this.

So because programs aren't just about affordability, they're about protection.

So here's how this, how, here's how it works.

Here's how it protects everybody.

The homeowner's protected because think of it like this.

The funds are held securely until completion in almost like an escrow type of arrangement.

So there's no risk of lost deposits.

So if some, if you have a process in your company where you do a deposit, say we take 50% down or something like that, and a concern comes up, even if they told you initially they didn't want to finance, then move them back into financing because all of the funds 100%, it's zero out of pocket.

The funds are held, for most people, the funds are held securely until completion.

So you are protected to ensure the project is done completely and up to the specifications that we talked about.

So you're not.

There's no risk of losing a deposit.

There's no risk of you losing any investment if this doesn't turn out the way that you want it to.

So.

And of course you're protected as well because the payment is only released when verified completion.

And yes, there's ways, if this homeowner doesn't want to sign off on it, but you did the work according to spec.

Yes, you can actually get those funds released pretty easily.

You've got to document all the things, of course, document the signatures and all this stuff.

But yeah, there's, there's a whole process for getting money released.

So don't think that you're at the mercy of the homeowner, but you're not chasing checks.

You're definitely not chasing excuses.

How many of you have done a project and they may be paid a down payment or didn't and invoice on completion and they just never paid you.

They just never paid.

So you had to write it off.

That sucks when that happens.

This protects you from that ever happening again.

So even if homeowners plan to pay it off immediately, which is fine, run it through a program, create, present it in a way that it creates an escrow style safety net.

So then they're going to pay it off immediately anyway.

They're not charged anything extra because there's zero prepayment penalties.

But it's a layer of protection for both them and you.

And people love that.

So here's a real world example.

Think about a $50,000 roof.

If a homeowner gives 25,000 down to a contractor that goes out of business, then that money's lost.

The work was never done.

Flip the other side of the same coin.

A homeowner gives you 50,000, 25,000 bucks as a down payment on a $50,000 project.

You do the work and they say, that's all I got for you, I don't want to pay you the rest.

Of course we can do the lien on their home.

But at the end of the day, what does that really do?

If they're not moving anytime soon, you're hosed.

So you're out the other half.

So see how this can protect both ways and it's good for both parties.

So protection equals trust.

When people feel safe, they buy faster.

So when you present your financing options, when you present your programs, present it as a layer of safety for them.

And it creates another level of trust that for a lot of people, not it's not for everybody.

There's not a single magic bullet for everyone.

But for the ones that this will make a difference for, it'll make a major difference for them.

So let's, here's how to frame the programs as freedom.

Right?

They're not debt tools, they're decision accelerators.

This isn't about borrowing, it's about buying freedom from delay.

So you really want to emphasize control.

You decide how you want to invest.

We just make it simple, but we've got to normalize it something like, and use social proof with that.

So most of our clients choose one of these programs because it just makes sense.

Most of our clients choose one of these programs because most of Our programs choose this program because what happens?

Freedom language engages the piece of the brain, the prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain that says yes when it feels in control.

Freedom language does that.

That's not going to take that side detour.

But yeah, freedom of language engages the part of the brain that says yes when it feels in control.

And so that's why we present things in the way we do, because we help that homeowner feel in control of the process.

So here's a common mistakes to avoid.

We say financing, so we're going to recap.

We say financing, price or cost?

Don't say those.

It is a program and it is your monthly or total investment.

Number two, avoid this.

Don't wait to the end.

After you've presented your total and all of that and you present financing like a rescue plan.

It's like a desperation attempt.

Well, that's too expensive.

Well, we also have some financing programs.

Would you be interested in that Vomit.

Stop it.

That's like, it's like a desperate, like, please buy from me.

We've got a way you can spread the payments out.

No, a professional presents the process in a systematic way where it just makes sense.

Number three, leading with rate or term instead of outcome.

Don't lead with, oh, we've got a 0%, 18 month, or we've got a, you know, 120 month, 6.9, and your monthly investment is.

No, stop it.

Just the outcome.

What's the outcome for the monthly investment of $212 that gets your project started today?

You can pay it off at any point.

No, no prepayment penalty.

You only pay as much interest as that you want to.

You can pay it off at any time.

And then you've only paid that much interest.

You don't have to pay it the entire length of time.

But if you decide to, this is what your monthly investment's going to be.

Because the other mistake is so many people sound apologetic when they're talking about money.

Just apologetic because we're so uncomfortable talking about money with people.

You know what they say?

The three things we're never supposed to talk about in the public is what?

Politics, religion, and money.

Well, I'm here to tell you in this role as a sales professional, you better get damn good at talking about money.

You better get very comfortable talking about money.

Because if you're not comfortable talking about money, it's not going to come into your life.

Get comfortable with money.

What is your relationship with money?

Like, I'm gonna, I'll do a whole episode on that because there's, I mean, have you ever written yourself written a love letter to money?

If you haven't, do it.

So confidence sells clarity.

When you present money with calm assurance, your clients will mirror that emotion.

Because that's what it all comes down to.

You are leading them.

So money doesn't kill emotion, but bad framing does.

Programs create safety, clarity and control.

They protect both sides.

They keep the project on schedule and make the buyer feel empowered instead of pressured.

So this is how professionals do it.

So recapping again, always call it a program.

Replace price and cost or payment with investment.

Show your lowest monthly investment first and explain how programs protect both sides.

So you're not selling financing, you're presenting protection professionalism with possibility.

So if this changed how you think about presenting money, share it with your team.

Stop selling prices.

Stop start presenting programs.

Super important.

Stop selling on price, Start presenting with programs.

So last thing, if you want to grab your copy of the Guerrilla Marketing guide, it's your way to get consistent leads year round by getting into your community without spending a dime online.

Go to doortodoorinstitute.com that's D O O R the number two D O O Rinstitute.com and you'll grab your free copy there also.

That will let you know about how to get involved.

You can actually schedule an appointment with us to have a discovery call of what it looks like for us to bring our team to your location to put appointments on your calendar with the very best.

If you know what CAC is.

It's the very lowest number on customer acquisition cost is what it is that's possible on the planet right now.

There's only a couple methods that is cheaper than digital.

So high.

This is one of the very lowest cost, highly effective ways to do it.

So go to doortodooriinstitute.com, you can get on our discovery.

Again, we've only got two or three spots left in our beta program before we have the hard data, before we present it, and prices will go up because there's so much room to grow.

We're doing this right now at the, we're working with people that are early adopters, but the second we have some data, we're locking it in.

So get on board the train right now as it's leaving the station because it is going to be moving super fast here before you know it.

All right, that is the episode today.

I've got to bounce actually to my coaching appointment with my coach.

Because if you want to be successful in life and you want to compress time, you get a coach.

I have a coach right now who's incredible.

I love it.

And I've seen more growth in the last six weeks, eight weeks, than I have seen in years because I hired a coach.

So highly recommend hiring a coach.

If you want to talk to me about coaching you again, reach out samoseitnow.net or Papa message in just find me on Facebook or Instagram and pop me a message.

Or go to the website closeitnow.net and until next time, everybody.

When you start to present like this, this is how you become someone worth buying from.

You've been listening to the Close it now podcast.

Our passion is to dive head first into the transformative movement that's reshaping the very foundation of H Vac and home improvement and at the same time covering fitness, nutrition, relationships and personal growth, proving that we can indeed have it all.

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See you next time.