Welcome to Close it now, an H Vac sales training podcast with Sam Wakefield.

Here we'll build your reputation in residential H Vac sales to be the expert influencer in your market.

You'll get insight into the top minds in the industry as they share their skills and hacks to help you on your journey.

This podcast isn't just about selling more, it's about understanding your customers needs and building efficiencies behind the scenes so you can sell more but work less while being top of mind when people think H Vac.

Now let's get started with your host of the Close it now podcast.

This is Sam Wakefield.

All right, well welcome back.

Sam Wakefield here.

Close It Now.

I am coming to you from Baltimore, Maryland.

This is Notes from the Field.

This is the last day of the site visit here.

It has been a fantastic week up here with the guys in Baltimore at Supreme Service today and I'm super excited to talk to you today.

One of the things that I get questioned about the most is how do I clear out the I want to think about it because we know it's not a real objection, but how do we get past it?

Most people when they hear I want to think about it, they freeze like deer in the headlights.

Like what do we say?

And the worst thing you can possibly say is what is there to think about?

Because that is really no response and people will not tell you or they don't know.

So I'm going to teach you today how to get past I want to think about it really easily.

So let's start off with a little bit of what is in your cup and I will tell you mine today is I have no freaking clue because I am at the Stabridge Suites here in Baltimore and I am drinking hotel coffee however it tastes.

Okay I guess.

So let's all take a collective drink of what's in your cup.

Message me, I want to know about coffee from around the world.

Where are you at?

Did you know this podcast is listened to in over 25 countries around the world?

Basically, if it gets warm and they speak any semblance and you speak any semblance of English, you listen to this podcast, which is so exciting and I'm so grateful for every single one of you.

So message me, email me@sam closeitnow.net or just join the Facebook group and and let's have a coffee conversation.

I'm actually going to start a post in there.

I want a coffee conversation.

I love coffee so much and I love trying new coffees and different coffees, especially if it's different from different parts of the world or just different beans somewhere.

So in three, two, one.

Let's take a drink of coffee.

Three, two, one.

Ah.

Okay, let's get into this because I'm super excited.

This has been a killer week.

But.

And today, if you don't know when you do a site visit with me and you have me out to your company to really revolutionize the numbers, we're looking at doubling numbers.

So I've got a couple cool stories from the field too, from this week.

But I just get asked so often, you know, how do we deal with.

I want to think about it.

It's the most common one that most people get.

Obviously there's the one night conversation, which I'm going to do that episode probably next week.

And the three bids which we got, I just released last week.

If you didn't listen to the three bids masterclass, go listen to it.

There's no reason you should be bullied by the three bids Objection anymore.

If you handle it like that, it's just a tree.

Three bids is a smokescreen too.

But let's get into.

I want to think about it.

So it has to do with clarifying, clarification questions.

There's not a single objection that you can't solve by, you know, asking more questions.

You ask more questions, you help clarify.

We're helping the homeowner get clear in their mind of we're helping them over their own objections, basically, as we ask questions.

We're helping them realize what is happening.

We're helping them clarify.

We're helping them solve their own problems is why we're there.

We are problem solvers.

We are there to help them get over the hump of indecision in their life.

Most people are just trained.

They're just so scared of making a wrong decision, they get stuck in indecision, which is no place to be.

It's horrible.

It's just really a bad location because if you don't make a decision, you're choosing not to decide.

Kind of like the old Rush song, right?

To not make a choice is still making a choice.

We have to help them see that if they don't do anything, that's still making a choice.

And once we do that, we're able to help them get over their indecision into making a decision.

And when you are a great company, when you have the assurances and the guarantees and your reputation, because really it's not about that.

What is an assurance and a guarantee and warranty, what is that about?

It's about trust.

It's to prop up the trust that should already be there.

So when you are.

Because the reason people think they need to get bids, the reason they think that they need to, you know, shop around.

The reason people don't make a decision immediately is really just lack of trust in you.

That's what it is.

And because if they trust you, then they would make the decision.

If they had had a history of working together and you've done a few projects together and you've been working together for years and all the projects turned out great and the price was always great, they wouldn't even have to shop around, you wouldn't even be having this conversation.

But you haven't because most people by did you know the average North American buys 1.3 heating in air systems in their lifetime?

That's it.

So they probably haven't done this before and most of them probably won't do it again.

Because also the average is people live in a house about seven years now.

Yes, I know there's plenty that live in it longer and there's plenty that will be be there long enough to buy first, second, third generation systems.

But statistically the average is 1.3 systems in their lifetime.

So we have to walk them through the process.

We have to stop assuming people know what they're doing, Take them from the beginning, start it from scratch.

And I'm not saying talk down to them demeaning or treat them like they're idiots.

What I am saying is through questions, permission questions, and then explaining things that you normally wouldn't probably explain to people, we need to explain to people.

Here's an example.

How many of you have a what to expect on the day of installation conversation with people.

More importantly, how many of you have a page or a file that you send them that's going to walk them through what to expect the day of installation?

Probably not very many of you, but you're falsely assuming that they know what's going to go on.

So walk them through it.

That is a peace of mind that is like really putting them at rest.

That you know, hey, we know what we're doing, we do it every day.

We are professionals.

There is no guesswork in this.

We don't believe in guesswork.

So here's the roadmap, here's what it's going to look like and here's exactly what it's going to sound like or not sound like, of course.

And we're going to walk you right through it.

So we have to educate, we have to like the really I'm on this soapbox lately.

If they understood what our products do, they would already have them.

So where is the disconnect?

The disconnect is between us communicating in a way that they understand not just what our products do, but more importantly how their life is going to be different and why should they care about what we offer will do for them.

That is a different conversation than I've ever heard in the industry.

It's a different conversation than I've ever heard anybody else train.

Because, I mean, what do we normally hear?

We normally hear more of a scare tactic type of a sales approach.

Did you know that we get lightning strikes or did you know that?

Do you know what happens when water hits, when water is toxic?

Do you know what happens with all the mold and mildew in the air?

Have you ever thought, I mean, are you guys breathing that it's scare tactic stuff, right?

What that is, it's the negative side of everything.

When we try to train like that, yes, there is a place for it.

We have to show them the pain points.

We have to let them simmer in the pain point and expose, yeah, who in the home has asthma, allergies or respiratory issues and then we drive down that road of how bad it is.

But the missing piece.

And this is what's happening in our society.

This is the change.

That's why sales moving forward is going to look different.

If you keep doing things from 15, 20 years ago and forcing sales on people and scare tactic sales on people, you're going to start losing them.

You're going to start with getting a reputation of every time you come out, you try to sell me something that's a horrible reputation to have.

But when you start painting the picture of how beautiful life is going to look moving forward and how different it's going to be and start asking those questions like, won't it be nice to not have to have to take so much allergy medication and wake up with bloody noses?

And won't it be nice to not have to experience xyz?

And you're just telling them back what they said, the problems they said they have.

Won't that feel great?

Because the missing piece in our industry right now is the feeling part, it's the emotion part.

And if you don't believe it, think about our society.

Think about how people are buying right now.

Think about how many people, if you agree with it or not, I mean, how many times do you see social media posts or news stories about so and so was triggered and Emotionally response people are emotional people, especially as the older generation moves on, as we're getting into the elder millennials and the millennials, and even younger than that, people are emotional.

They've been given the permission to have emotions, and now that they do, that's how they function.

That's how they buy.

That's how I buy.

That's how most people that I know purchase.

That's how you purchase.

So we have to navigate ourselves.

We have to adjust the way that we do our process to match that.

If you don't stay up with the marketplace, you're going to fall behind.

I'm insanely passionate about that right now because I do not hear it.

So I'm leading the way with this.

So ask emotional questions.

Start asking more questions of how does that feel?

How does that feel in both good and bad?

How would that feel?

Use the word feel.

And it's gonna start changing the way that the responses that you get, it's gonna start changing your results because people are feeling people now, that could mean a lot of things, but people, people have feelings, they have emotions.

And we have to start asking, how do you feel about that?

So let's get past.

I want to think about it.

That was my little diatribe on just really where my head is at.

Let's do a couple stories too.

Another hotel coffee.

What's in your cup?

You know, honestly, this is pretty gross.

I'm going to have to stop somewhere and get some better coffee because, man, it's so hard to get good coffee places.

But so story from the field.

First, I went out with one of our, with the guy that I'm working with, Matt, here in Baltimore.

A couple days ago, we get to the house and you know, it's one of the classic ones.

Yes, he was probably going to buy.

I mean, he definitely had to buy something he didn't have to buy that day from us.

He 100% could have been a three bid shopper.

He could have given price objections.

But what happened is we executed the process just flawlessly.

I was demonstrating to Matt what it would look like in the field.

And we get to the end, we go through the presentation, get through the system presentation, and the homeowner sees the pricing and he just says, well, there's no point in even looking in the middle.

Let's compare the very top and the very bottom system.

Of course, we're showing four options.

Good, better, best, fantastic.

Right?

And I just let him talk through pros and cons for a minute and then just said, pointed to the top one to the top, the highest end variable speed system.

And said, well, why don't we just go with that one?

He goes, okay.

And the guy that was Matt that was with me, I think his jaw hit the floor.

And after we left, so we just closed it, moved right on, had some accessories in there, full book price, no discounts, nothing.

And when we left, Matt was saying, for the last year and a half, maybe that's never happened like that.

In fact, the guy in the house, the homeowner, said, I normally get three bids for this kind of thing, but I don't think I even need to this time.

That is when, you know, you're executing the process properly.

When they start saying things like, I normally get three bids, but I trust you guys.

I normally get three bits, but I don't feel like I have to.

That means you've done the right job of setting up the credibility pieces.

You've done the great job of educating.

You've done the great job of explaining things in a way that they understand it and they should care about it.

That is the difference.

And so when we, you know, we ended up installing, in fact, the install is today for the adaptive cooling system.

And, you know, so not only that, he was.

There was no price objection.

There was no asking for a discount.

There was no anything.

I mean, he very, very, very loosely asked for, hey, do you have kind of maybe a military discount?

And there was.

There was no.

And so we.

There was.

There was no teeth behind it.

So we.

Matt actually had some, you know, he included a UV light because he had some extras.

And so he just gave him a UV light for free, which he didn't even have to do that.

But the cool part was there was no price negotiation.

And when the homeowner says, I normally get three bids on this, but I don't really feel like I have to, that's when, you know, you're executing the process right.

So we're going to get to clearing out the one.

I think about it in a minute.

But I just want to tell you these stories from the field because they're really fun.

That what we're seeing is, you know, I sat with a.

One of their new service techs yesterday.

He's been in the industry about a month.

He was a mechanic before, and he was telling me, he's like, you know, I don't really have a lot of confidence yet because I don't know about all the equipment.

You know, I'm in training.

It's like I'm just learning the industry.

It's like, I'm mechanical.

I understand how to fix things and how to work on things and can diagnose.

So it's not difficult.

I just don't know the components yet, he said.

But my biggest fear was talking to the homeowner.

That was my biggest fear before.

And he's like, the way that you train this, it just makes it so easy.

It's like the easy button in the conversation because I don't feel like I have to be just everything else that I've ever seen in training is just so difficult and so hard and so complex.

You just make it so easy.

I have the confidence now that I can turn this into a career.

Man, it was so cool to have that conversation with him.

But the other story from the field is one of the service techs here, of course they have some IAQ bundles.

The top end bundle for them is a little over $3,000.

And as a service tech, as a maintenance tech, he's out there in the field and he had the coolest story yesterday.

He's like, the very first time I implemented your process, this was yesterday, the very first time I implemented your process, it was so smooth.

We went right through it.

There was zero objections.

And the lady just, he's like, I sold my very first the top end IAQ bundle and she wanted it.

She asked me for it.

It's like I just asked her the questions like you said.

I did the intros like you said, set the agenda, asked the right questions and said, hey, if we could help out with that, would that help you?

If we could do something about that, would that help you?

She says, yes.

So he offered the bundle and she said, oh, that sounds great.

And he sold it with no resistance.

And she thanked him for it.

If you're having to fist fight and overcome objections every time, if at the end of your process you're having to fist fight through the objections, your process is not smooth, your process is not, not well executed.

I mean, if you're especially all these, the different trainings you're doing, if you're training and training and training, but you're still having to fist fight through objections at the end, maybe consider that what you're doing is not good, good enough, or maybe it worked years ago, it's not working now.

So think about that.

To get different results, you have to do different things.

To get changes, we have to make changes.

So let's clear out the.

I want to think about it.

Is this helpful to you?

Raise your hand if this is helpful to You.

I know every single time I talk about this kind of stuff, it's the easy button.

So go join the Facebook group.

I do these free trainings all the time.

Implement what I'm teaching you in the podcast, because it's literally changed people's lives just from listening and implementing the podcast.

So let's clear out.

I want to think about it, and it's so easy.

We just have to ask clarifying questions.

So when does I want to think about it?

Come in at the end when we've asked for the cell.

You have to ask for the cell the first time.

So you go through and you present.

And the first thing we have to do is, is there's a couple different ways I want to think about it.

Comes they may or may not have narrowed down the options.

Basically, it's called right sizing the project.

So you have to right size the project first.

We've got to get it narrowed down to exactly what they want to buy.

So once we do that.

So if they want to think about it comes before they've narrowed anything down, then we use a hypothetical.

The hypothetical takes the pressure off.

So we say we go through and you present your options, and they go, man, that's, you know, boy, this is a lot to think about.

Can you send this to us?

And, you know, we want to think about it.

We'll get back to you.

Can you email it over?

And that's when we say, yeah, of course we can.

Mr.

Homeowner, Ms.

Homeowner, do you mind if I ask you a question?

So we have to ask permission first.

Do you mind if I ask you a question?

They'll say, sure.

So listen, you know, of course you got to think about it, but hypothetically, if you were to pick one, which one?

If you were to pick a system, which one do you think would be the best fit for your family?

Just hypothetically?

That way I can, you know, you can frame it a little bit if you need to, though.

I can plan a little bit.

Maybe I can help answer some questions.

Don't even say that.

Just hypothetically, if you were to pick a system, what do you think would be the best fit for your family?

Saying hypothetically will take the pressure off.

And they'll say, well, you know, and just tell them, listen, I'm not asking you to decide today, but, you know, from everything you've heard so far, what do you think would be the best fit for your family?

And they'll narrow it down at least to one or two of them.

And I would think probably that one.

Okay, great.

So do you mind if I ask you a couple more questions?

Sure.

And circle back.

This is called looping.

We're going to loop back and say, you know, you.

So are you comfortable with us as a company?

Yes.

Okay.

Are you comfortable with me as your representative?

Yes.

Yeah, of course.

Can you see with the project, everything we've talked about, can you see with the problems you said you had, can you see how everything we've talked about, the solutions we've talked about, will definitely solve the problems?

Can you see how life is going to be different once we do the work?

And how.

And we're starting to paint the picture here, can you see how it's going to feel that different, how you're not gonna have to experience xyz.

And don't just stop there.

It's not that.

Don't say just that.

You're not gonna have to.

We'll take allergens, for example.

Don't just say you're not gonna have to experience, you know, thoseso.

A good example is my wife.

She used to get a sinus infection every quarter.

Every single quarter, she would be quarter.

So about every three months, she would be in bed for a week with a horrible, horrible, horrible sinus infection.

Well, of course I fixed the house.

She doesn't get that anymore.

And that's my personal story.

And so you can, one, you paint the picture, use stories.

So in order to do this right, to tap into that emotion like we were talking about, you say, okay, great.

So can you see how what we found is causing the respiratory, causing the sinus infections?

Because you said you're.

That always starts from allergies and you're allergic to mold and mildew.

And can you see how we found that in your system?

Yes.

So you can clearly see what the problem is and what's causing it.

Okay, then.

And can you see how by doing the work we're recommending and whichever bundle that we're doing, the, you know, the combination of our solutions and removing this, and we're cleaning and we're going to install, you know, a germicidal lamp or we're going to install this filter, blah, blah, blah.

Can you see how that's going to solve that problem?

How that's going to definitely solve that problem?

They say yes.

They have to be certain from your.

And they lean into your certainty.

You have to know that you're.

That your equipment works.

If you're not selling this stuff, that means you don't believe it works.

You probably don't even have it installed in your own home.

That's step one.

Put it in your own house.

That way you can tell stories about it.

So then we ask them, you know, can you see how this is going to solve that problem?

Yeah, perfect.

See, because you know, Mr. And Ms. Jones, I want you to be like my wife.

You know, she used to get a sinus infection, was in bed for a week every quarter.

But once I did this in my own home, she doesn't get that anymore.

It doesn't happen.

In fact, she showed me this last year about how we buy like two thirds less over the counter allergy medicine for the whole family.

So for you, what I want to experience for you, you're not going to have to live like that anymore.

How great will life be like when you don't experience those allergens?

You're going to get up, it's going to feel amazing.

And you're not going to be having the red rimmed eyes and all of the runny nose and everything you told me about earlier.

How good will that feel knowing that you're not going to have to live like that anymore.

Isn't that going to be amazing?

So what do we just do?

We painted the picture of what her new life will be like once it's installed, once we've taken care of the problem.

We had a story of, you know, success.

We're the expert.

It's what we do in our own home.

And we painted the picture of what their life will be like from after we do the work, what life will be like and how much more amazing it's going to be.

And say, and so that's part of the feeling part.

Won't it feel great knowing that you're not going to ever have to deal with this again?

And they'll say, yes, say, okay, great.

So we're clear on the project that is going to definitely solve your problems, Right?

Right.

Great.

Okay.

And here's where you get low and slow everything.

When anytime you talk about money, your tonality is, it's no big deal.

You get low, you get slow, everything is no big deal.

And so, you know, Mr. And Mrs. Jones, I've done this a long time and in my experience at this point it's just price then, right?

And hear the delays, listen to the delays in the tonality in my voice.

So it's just price then, right?

And they'll say, yes, say, okay, great, now we can handle the price.

Objection.

We just cleared out.

I want to think about it.

And now we can figure out what the Real objection is.

And so I will do a whole other episode on how to handle the price.

Objection.

But that's how you clear out.

I want to think about it.

It's a loop.

It's called looping.

We're going to loop back and we're going to circle back to.

Do you mind if I ask you a question?

Sure.

Hypothetically, if you were to.

Not asking you to choose, they.

But hypothetically, if you were, what would be the right choice for you?

If they haven't narrowed it down, if you haven't right sized the project.

If you have right sized the project, you don't have to do that.

You already know.

And then they say, I want to think about it.

Go ahead and send this over.

Sure, no problem.

I'll do that.

Do you mind if I ask you a question?

Sure.

Okay, great.

So you're comfortable with our company doing the work, right?

Yes.

Because don't get fooled into thinking the decision is the equipment.

The decision when you came out today is choosing the right company.

That's why three bids comes up.

They need to pick.

They're trying to decide if you're the right company for them.

The rest is just picking out.

The rest is just ordering food off the menu.

You, once you pick a restaurant, you're gonna stay at that restaurant.

You might change your mind if you're ordering pizza or a hamburger or a hot dog.

But you've already picked the restaurant.

You're not going to the different restaurant.

The reason you are doing an appointment is so they can pick the restaurant.

They're picking the company.

So don't get fooled into thinking and do not let equipment and system selection stop the sale.

So that's the mindset we have.

So that's why we first start clarifying with the company.

So you're comfortable with our company doing the work, right?

Yes.

And with our guarantees and warranties, we're the right company for you.

Right?

Right.

Okay, great.

And you're comfortable with me as your representative, right?

Yes.

Oh, and they'll say, oh, yeah, of course.

You've done a great job today.

Educated.

I feel super comfortable with you.

Okay, awesome.

And the work.

So the project we talked about, that makes sense.

You can see how it's definitely going to solve your problems and life from now forward.

Won't it feel good to know that you're not going to have to deal with any of those problems anymore?

Oh, yeah.

It's going to be amazing.

We love it.

Okay, great.

So at this point then it's really just price then.

Right.

And they'll say yes, and then we can handle the price.

Objection.

So that's how you clear out.

I want to think about it.

There's no reason you should have to suffer through.

I want to think about it and not get the deer in the headlights and not know what to say.

It's just a matter of clarifying all of those three things and narrowing it down because those are the only four.

Really the only four elements that there are.

It's the company, it's the person, it's the project, and it's the price.

That's it.

And so once you've narrowed it down to there handle the price.

Objection.

And you can do that various different ways, which we'll cover in another episode, but that's it.

So I hope this was helpful to you today.

If you have ever gotten value from the podcast, will you do me a favor and go to Apple Podcasts, leave me an amazing review.

I would love that.

It will help me so much and it will help me be able to continue to do this for more people.

So reach out to me.

I revamped the virtual program.

I'm bringing the energy from these on site visits into the virtual space so we can.

We're creating a support system for people especially.

You know, it's great for big companies, but man, if you're that lone guy out there, there's just one or two of you at your company.

You don't have a support system.

I mean, the first 10 years of my career, I was solo dolo out there.

I was the one guy in this little town.

And there was not a Facebook group for heating and air, for H vac.

There was not sales Facebook groups.

If there were, I didn't know about them.

There was definitely not community of people meeting over zoom, talking about how to get better and how to uplevel.

It took me buying like literally in the 15 last 15 years, I've spent probably over $150,000 in courses and books and education, traveling to events, because I didn't have the resources at hand and didn't have the community of people who've already been there to show me how to get there faster.

So what I'm doing is building a way for you to compress time.

You do not have to take years and years and years and years and years and spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to achieve mastery when you can just plug in and connect to a peer group of people who are already doing it and who are supporting each other and all striving with one definite purpose and One focus to get to the top level, to get to, you know, a close rate of 60, 65, 70% with average tickets of.

I mean, so the podcast that's dropping today with Kevin Polito, his average ticket is around $25,000.

Is that a good number for you?

Yeah, I think that's a good number for anybody.

So he's going to do five million this year.

Average ticket of 25 grand.

He was.

I mean, I'm the very first coaching he ever did several years ago and then he springboarded from that and skyrocketed because we got him started off right.

That's only been like four years ago.

Do you think that compressed some time for him?

Heck yes, it did.

And so that's what we're talking about doing with people.

I know they can think of another guy.

Mark Goodwin, man, he was 088ac sales experience.

We coached together and like four months later, he's number one in his company.

Right?

That's what happens when you can compress time.

It will take as long or as short amount of time as you think it will.

So we can help out with your mindset.

We get your mindset right and compress time, get the right skills right off the bat so you don't have to beat your head against the wall forever trying to figure it out on your own.

And man, it just shortens the path to being a top producer.

So reach out to me samloseitnow.net and also go join the Facebook group.

It's a really awesome place to be because there's so much training that goes on in there as well as it's an awesome support group, great place to ask questions and go leave me a review on Apple on the Apple podcast.

I would love you forever for that and definitely send me some recommendations for for better coffee.

I'm tired of hotel coffee.

So everybody have a great day.

Go win your day, Go crush it and go save the world one heat stroke at a time.

Thanks for listening to Close it now with Sam Wakefield.

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