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.

All right, welcome back to Close It Now. Sam Wakefield here. I am stoked about this episode. I've got an incredible ninja tip for you that will really kick yourselves to the next level this summer. And before we get to that, let's cover a handful of things. So welcome back. This is going to be a great episode today. A couple things I want to go over first before we get into it, make sure to get your ticket. It's the very last chance announcements you're going to hear from me. Get to the American Dream Dream event in Houston, Texas. It is the 20th and 21st. Go to americandreamevent.com and you can get your tickets there. Use the code close it now for 10% off. I am a keynote speaker on Thursday. The conference is going to be Thursday and Friday. Incredible. So if you're anywhere in the area or you want to come travel, come see me at that conference. It's going to be awesome. Taking it to the next level and. And yeah, just helping people win. So that is the first announcement. The other is I heard recently all of you who are in solar or if you know people who are in solar, one of the very main installers in the country just shut down. So if you were with Titan and you're looking for a new home, message me. I have the place for you if you would like to work directly on my team. This is a huge call out, so Message me directly. Samoseitnow.net Shoot me an email and I can get you connected to my leaders and get you plugged into the Personally, what I feel is the company with the best compensation plan in all of solar. So reach out to me directly. If you are left looking for a new home or if you are in solar and just want to know more about it, pop me a message. And sam closeitnow.net and we can get you integrated into probably one of the smoothest systems that I have ever seen and I've seen a lot. So that is a quick announcement there. And yeah, this is going to be good content today, y'. All. I'm super stoked. So there's a. If you're into your local buy nothing groups, come across some really cool stuff sometimes. My woman, she is always looking out for me because obviously personal growth, growth and that kind of stuff. Well, she. The coolest thing happened a couple days ago in our local Facebook buy nothing group. If you know what that is. If you know, you know. If you don't look it up. They came across a book by Zig Ziglar. It's reaching the top. It's actually two books. It's his book Secrets of the Closing the Cell and then also top performance in one book. It was like a 1986 edition. Love it. I'm ready to dive in. You're going to be hearing a lot of insight from classic Zig, I am sure. I'm sure this is going to turn into a ton of different podcasts, but it's cool because psychology doesn't change over time. The way people buy may change, how we communicate may change, but human psychology and the human experience does not change. So that's really fun. You can always find gems like that. What are you currently reading? What are you doing for personal growth? Obviously you're listening to this podcast, but what else are you doing? You've got to constantly be feeding your mind to grow and to move forward. So a couple sections here before we get into some things. One is I want to highlight a review because this is from Matthew Stellato. He is at a company at Summit Heating and Air down in buda in Buda, Texas that I am coaching. Currently. They're on the 12 month program and I love this testimony. So thank you Matt for this. This review says Sam's in person training and ride alongs are on a whole other level. The podcast is epic and wonderful, but his on site training will level up your game so much faster and all the nuggets from his podcast will align and work together in a fraction of the time. Your life will change in more ways than just your bank account. The relationship with my partner has massively leveled up and life is getting more joyful every day. This man will inspire you and give you the tools you need to be the best version of yourself and be someone worth buying from. Do it in all caps. So thank you Matthew. I appreciate that and you know, everybody, this is really what it's all about. So much of what we, what I train on here, what we talk about is communication skills which will help you in all areas of your life. It's not just, you know, for, strictly for your sales numbers. This is the type of thing that gets me excited. I want to see you win. I want to see everyone be better in all areas of your life. And so this was such a cool testimony and I wanted to share it with you because don't think of when you're listening to personal growth. Don't be single minded and think about it in terms of only directly about what you're doing or like what your profession is or you know, just for us, like sales numbers, that kind of thing. Think of all of the other ways that learn, especially learning communicate better communication and language patterns and those kind of things. Think of all of the other elements of your life that it will affect and can improve and apply it there too. It doesn't just have to be in sales. So thanks Matt for that review. I appreciate it. You are a total rock star. I can't wait to get hit some more ride alongs with you. We'll be doing that soon. And for everybody else, let's get into some things. It is time for the what is in your cup section of the show and what I decided to do. This was such a brilliant idea from, from my, from my wife. She was saying, hey, instead of just hopping on the show and talking about the coffee, why don't you do a blind tasting on the show with all of the coffees that we're trying. So that's what I'm doing today. So this is the wake the hell up ultra caffeinated 100% all natural coffee. We ordered it off Amazon. I'm pretty stoked about trying this one. I've seen it for a little bit. It is ultra caffeinated. And yeah, this is the full city roast they call it. So we are going to do a blind tasting. So everybody, what is in your cup today? If there are beans that you want me would recommend that I try, message me, let me know. And if you've ever gotten, if you've gotten enough value from the show, I mean, shoot, send me a bag, I'll try them. We'll give you a shout out on the show if you send me coffee. And I love coffee adventure. So let everybody. What is in your cup? Let's take a collective sip and then I'll give you a review on this one. Three, two, one, Ooh, that is full bodied. It's nice and bold. It's dark. I could definitely tell it is ultra caffeinated. Has a nice sharp kind of a little bite to it. So it's slightly on the bitter side, but very full, very full bodied. And yeah, it's a recommend. So give Wake the Hell up ultra caffeinated coffee a try. It's this cool, cool branding too. It's got this roost, like it's a silver package with this really kick ass rooster on it. So. All right, what is in your cup is. Wake the hell up today, man. Got to get one more drink. All right, let's get into what we are going to talk about today. There is a insanely underutilized tool that everyone has access to, everyone can use, but almost no one is using. So let's talk about this a minute. How can we get to our appointments and the homeowner already be warmed up to already be ready to have the conversation and be much more likely to just get into that moment of rapport much quicker. And one of the ways that we can do this is we need to understand a couple numbers here, a couple metrics, and a little bit about psychology. So the first thing is you've probably raise your hand if you've heard any kind of talk about people buy after a certain average of follow ups, like eight follow ups or something like that. Eight to eight to 12 follow ups. There's also a marketing number. You know, it takes about 12 to 14, they call it exposures for anybody to start to see or start to recognize signage or things like that. That's why, you know, the marketers talk about being on billboards and really put your name everywhere. Because truly, when a new company moves to town and think about this yourself, when a new company moves to town, what happens is, you know, all of a sudden, say you're driving down the road, all of a sudden you see a sign for this. You know, say it's a new restaurant or it's a new store. And then you go in and you're like, man, this place is brand new. And you go home and you, you know, you tell your partner like, hey, I want to try that new restaurant. And you get to the restaurant and you start asking them, wow, how long have you guys been open? And they're like, oh, we've been open like nine months. Or we've been open 14 months. We've been open a year and a half. You're like, wow, y' all been open so long, we didn't even Realize it well that it doesn't mean that you haven't seen the place it took that many times driving by, seeing the signs before your brain registered they were there. So it has to do so much about number of exposures, number of times you've been. You've seen the marketing, you've seen the branding, you've seen the advertisements. That's why I'm a huge fan of like Dan Antonelli of kickcharge Creative or the marketing companies out there that are helping companies rebrand with logos and with better company names so that it becomes stickier. A sticky brand is something that sticks in the brain so it stays there. So one of the very best ways we can do that on an individual level is what we're about to talk about. So think about the thinking through your company's process. It's like, how many times does the homeowner hear from your company before you arrive at the door? This is if you're, you know, project management, you're an advisor, this is if you're a service tech. And so it doesn't really matter. The point is how many times is the homeowner going to hear from you before you show up? Because if it's only once or twice, say the homeowner calls in, they schedule an appointment and you, you know, you call when you're on the way. That's twice. That's it, right? Or say they call in, they talk to someone on the phone, the homeowner or the, the office emails them, maybe a confirmation, maybe they text them a confirmation of the appointment. So now we've got three touches, then you call when you're on the way. That's four. So now we're getting better. That's four touches before we arrive. Even better than that. Of course, a lot of you that are using Service Titan or some of the other programs will do it when the dispatch, all of a sudden, now they're sending a picture of you and your bio and letting them know the technician's on the way. So that becomes like touch number five. When that happens, we all know if it's only emailed, email gets like a 3% open rate. So do never just rely on email. I highly, highly, highly recommend, make sure you're including text in that. But the way to supercharge this, this is the big one. This is the tool that everybody has access to and nobody is using is the on the way video. The on the way video. So it's very, very simple. And here's why we do this. It's Incredibly important. So it started back in the 40s and 50s when no one had televisions in their home hardly. And then all of a sudden, everybody had televisions in their homes. So what happened is it wasn't the movie stars, it was the TV stars that started complaining to their agents, that started complaining to the recording studios, then the production companies that, man, I can't go anywhere because everywhere I go, people start talking to me like they already know me. They're like, this is getting really annoying. That wasn't happening to movie stars at the time. It was just happening to the sitcom stars. So they analyzed it and they said, well, of course they are, because you're in their own living room every single week. So it feels like to them, you're a part of their family. And they called it the living room effect. Now, the more they study this, so this is really cool information. The more they study this, though, the more they realize that it has nothing to do with, you know, seeing somebody on a moving picture on a weekly basis or frequency, but it has everything to do with the fact that it happened one time. So when we take this information and we apply it to what we do, this is why recording a nice little short 32nd or so on the way video is groundbreaking in our industry. No one is doing this. This is the most underutilized tool anyone has right now. And the way that you do it is very, very simple. You want to do it selfie style. Think about all of the, you know, any marketing you see on social media, on Instagram or Facebook or wherever. You know, it's usually some dude walking around in a park or, you know, in a city with it, with his phone, selfie style. Don't think this has to be perfect. Don't just get it complete and usable. So you want to record a video that says something like this. Hi, I'm Sam Wakefield with closeit. Now, I'm excited about our appointment. Wanted to let you know I'm on the way before I arrive. I'd appreciate if you take a minute to clear out any access points to. In front of your heating and air conditioning equipment or for any other trade. I'd appreciate if you take a minute to clear out any space around where I'll need to work, I will need access to. And then, you know, give whatever, whatever area of the house, if that's. If you have to go into attics, you have to go in basements, crawl spaces, wherever, we'll need access to that. So I appreciate if you take a minute and clear the space There if there's anything stored in the way. That way, during our appointment, we can be the most efficient and focus on what is important to you. Again, I'm excited about our appointment. I'll see you soon. And that's it. One, you make it gener. I can't even word today. Make it generic and general. That way you can use it over and over again. You do this work once and then you can use it over and over. So you're not saying like, hi, Ms. Jones, I'm on the way to your appointment at 3. You can't duplicate that. But if you make it general it, you know, you can reuse it. And then what you're going to want to do with this video is everyone has a free YouTube account. I recommend YouTube. Or you can use Vimeo somewhere. You can even like a Google Drive folder somewhere you can put the video online. And then we're sending them the link so we're not taking up their bandwidth. And anybody can open this on any browser. So it can be a phone, it can be wherever they open it, but. And then mark that link like unlisted or something. So you can just. And then copy that link into a note in your phone. So all you have to do is copy and paste. And then the text in the note says, hi, this is Sam with Close it now on the way. Appreciate if you take a minute before watch this video before our appointment. See you soon. And that's basically it. So what this is going to look like and what the flow looks like is the whole point is we're adding more touches in before we get to the appointment. And then when they see you on video, this is going to. The coolest thing happens. So I'm going to talk through how the experience changes, and then we'll talk through the flow and how this should look. So how many of you have experienced this? Even if you're calling ahead, you're like, okay, this is Sam. I'll be there in 40 minutes. Or whatever GPS says, you know, is there anything I need to know about parking before I arrive? Perfect. All right, see you soon. And if that's all you're doing, or especially if it's just getting, you know, a text message to the house, something like that, and you show up and you knock on the door and then you wait, and then you wait and then you wait and you knock again. And finally they come to the door and they're like, who are you? You're like, man, I just called you like 30 minutes ago. You knew I was on the way, your air conditioner's broken or whatever it is, your water's down, you know, the garage door doesn't work. I called you on the way and they're like, who are you? And so I know you've had that experience. I have too, so many times. The coolest thing starts to happen when you send this video ahead of time because now they're going to see the video and it almost becomes a game with them because you'll go up to knock on the door and they'll wait until like you're right at the door and they'll open it right before you knock on the door. And I guarantee you do this enough times, somebody's going to say, hey, you're the guy in the video, or hey, you're the lady in the video. Which is perfect because imagine how much warmer that homeowner is already because something is so uniquely different and out of the ordinary and it's custom, right? This has to do with bedside manner is the classic way to say it. This is cut. We're starting to help that homeowner feel special and like we're customizing things for them because I'll do another episode. This is going to build the muscle on how to use this for follow up and for answering questions and things to close the deal later. But once you're able to do this, man, it makes your life efficient. And so let's talk through what the flow looks like with this. So say they click on ad, they click on your PPC for Google or they call in, they schedule the appointment, your office takes the appointment, whatever confirmation that your company is sending them there when you're on the way. Let's talk about what you have control over if your company allows you to do this. And sadly, not all companies allow people to send this on the way video. And if you don't and you're listening to this and you're in a manager or owner position, I highly recommend you change your consideration about this, change your ways, because this is where companies are going. If you embrace this, you'll be ahead of the pack. And this is like adopting back when Servicetitan started sending the text and the picture years before anybody else did. And the companies that embraced that had a good clear Runway for probably eight to 10 years before it just got so widely accepted. Now everybody's doing it. This is the moment right now with this video. So if you're in an ownership and leadership position, consider that this is staying outside the box and ahead of the curve by Implementing this. So for everybody listening, let's talk about the flow. So the things that you can control when you're on your way, you know, you hit dispatch on your whatever dispatching software. Call the homeowner. Hey, this is. And of course use your name and company name. I'm using my own as an example. But hey, this is Sam with Close It Now. Want to let you know I'm on the way. I should arrive and looks like my GPS is telling me about 35 minutes, give or take with traffic. Anything I need to know about parking. All right, perfect. Great. I'll see you soon. By the way, I'm going to text you a quick link to a video that's less than a minute. I appreciate it. If you take a watch before I arrive. See you soon then. As soon as you hang up, then text the video, right? Then just copy and paste. In fact, use basically that same verbiage in the text to them. Hey, this is Sam with Close It Now. I'm excited about our appointment. Please watch this video before I arrive, see you soon. And then text them that along with the link to the video. And it's the cool. The. Some of the neat stuff that happens when you arrive is for example, so many of the country, you know, systems are in attics. There's nothing like arriving to a home to see that car already backed out of the garage, the garage door open, the attic stairs already pulled down, the light in the attic already on for you. Like they're fully prepared for this appointment. This will let you know. Or maybe they've taken the time to clear out the space and the clothes out of a closet that has like the scuttle access to the attic or in front or over the crawl space access, things like that. When they do this ahead of time, that shows you their level of engagement. It also shows you basically how excited they are for the appointment. If they're willing to acquiesce to your request, so to speak. If they're willing to actually do it when, when you've, you know, you've sent them the video and you requested it. It'll show you who watches the video and who doesn't. But you'll instantly be able to tell when you show up if they had a chance to watch it. Because the way that they respond to you and it's so much fun once that starts happening. But now we've dramatically up leveled the number of touches and we've positioned yourself as they're starting to think, wow, this is very professional. This company knows what they're doing. This person knows what they're doing. And the other thing that happens when we text them this on the front end is you're already establishing a text based relationship with this homeowner. Because you all do it, I do it, everybody does it. How many of you? Your best friend calls and you're gonna laugh at this. Your best friend calls you on the phone like your very best friend in the world. And you watch it ring until it stops reading and you text them right back, hey, what's up? And then you wait for them to text back. And if we do that with our friends, you know, it's like, holy crap. So salespeople call friends, text. So the faster we can get to a text based relationship, the better. Do this before when you're sending this. And so it normalizes communication via text. Because I will tell you, following up via text is the most powerful way to follow up. It's weird if all of a sudden you're texting out of the blue after the appointment, but if you set it up like this, it is no longer weird. It's a normal way to communicate with them once you've already done it ahead of time. So this is your ninja trick of the day. Go record yourself an on the way video. In fact, reach out to me. I have a how to video that I've recorded and also a demonstration video on this that I will have that I'll share with you. So reach out to me, I'll send you those videos if that's something that you would like to see. Be open to some more information there. And that's just a little teeny piece of what I train when I do on site visits or if you're doing virtual coaching with me, a one on one coaching, that's a little tiny piece that we, that we train. But it's so powerful and so effective. So I want to hear some stories from you of using this in the field. How is it working for you? Let's start using it in the field. I'm happy to critique these, record them and send them to me. You can text them to me at 512-364-8559. When you develop your video, text it to me and I'll give you a bit of critiques. If there's anything if be like it was awesome or something, you need to change something to recommend and then start using it. So if you want to know more about that, want to talk more about it, that's my number. 512-364-8855. 9. Pop me a text. You can email me samoseitnow.net if you want to know more about I've only got a handful of one on one coaching slots left. This is the time. It's cool. It's a four month program. It'll take you all the way through summer and get you to the next level. If if your income has been within 10% of itself for more than a year, you're not living another year. You're living the same year over and over in sales. The way that we have the opportunity here, your income should be going up way over 10% year after year after year. If it's not, it might be time to consider some coaching, get a different perspective, get you to the next level. So email me samoseitnow.net or you can go to closeitnow.net to fill out a form. You can learn more about the coaching programs or how to hire me to come Speak it to be a speaker at your event. If you have an event or if who do you know? So this is my big shout out, my big request. Who do you know? But the one focus right now is for Service World. I applied to be a speaker at Service World and you know what? They denied me. So I've started playing a game with myself of how can I. So I'm putting the word out right now. I know a lot of you listeners have good connections. Who do you know at Service World for the event in the fall that you could talk to to recommend me to be added to the speaker list? I would love a connection there. So reach out to me, reach out to them. Let us get us connected. Let's challenge ourselves. Let's use this as living proof. Make a story here. How can is this six degrees of separation? How can we get Sam Wakefield on stage at Service World this year? So reach out to me. Let's get connected. Also, if you've ever gotten value from this podcast, I would love, love, love. If you're to leave me a five star review, the number one place you can leave that is on the Apple podcast platform. But anywhere else you can leave a review, go join the Facebook group Close it now on Facebook. And that's the main that's the episode today, y'. All. I appreciate you hanging out with me. I'm super stoked about what's happening this year. We are growing like crazy and yeah, everybody just we're getting into it. This is June 17th. Go save the world one heat stroke at a time.

You've been listening to the close it now podcast. Our passion is to dive head forward 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. We hope you've enjoyed the show. If you did, make sure to, like, rate and review. We'll be back soon, but in the meantime, find the website@closeitnow.net find us on Instagram at the real Close it now and on Facebook at Close It Now. See you next time.