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.

Another day, another episode of drivetime University.

Welcome back.

Sam Wakefield here at Close It Now.

It is your source for the psychology of sales in the trades today.

This is a part two in fact.

Thanks Greg.

You had mentioned that you were listening to the Power of the Pause, the first, the first version from a few years ago recorded during Drive Time University and that I needed to revisit that.

And I 100% agree because there are some really cool.

There's a cool testimony that came out of that last episode that I want to mention as well as there's a lot of psychology behind the power of silence.

It creates a lot of things that we can use very effectively in sales.

It's just like in music, the arrest is equally important as playing notes all the time.

The power of silence and waiting is awesome.

So that's what we're going to talk about today.

It is a ninja trick for sales.

It will take your sales to the next level.

If you're not using pauses correctly, you are missing a massive ability to create tension and to basically solicit responses from people.

So that's what we're talking about today.

Let's start off though with a little bit of what's in your cup today.

Today I am actually not coffee.

I had coffee earlier today is it is later in the day.

I am drinking a steez S T E A Z peach organic green tea today.

So that's what I've got in my cup right now.

What is in your cup?

Somebody shoot me a message.

I am curious to know what mostly coffee.

That's the things we talk about the most.

I am always on an adventure and a journey to find some more or different coffee beans.

If there's a, you know, a bean that you're really, you're really fond of, something you really like, especially if it's regional to your area, then let me know, pop me a message, shoot me some beans.

Or something.

I want to give it a try.

I'm going to be.

I'm super excited because I am leaving tomorrow for Kansas City.

So that is going to be fun.

I'm going to be there for a week with Air Care.

So super excited about that.

Then rumor has it in August I should be up in Baltimore, Maryland.

So that will be fun.

If you're in that area, reach out to me and maybe we can hook up when you're there.

I love to.

When I'm in a location for a site visit and you're in the area, let me know.

Let's catch up.

Let's grab a.

Grab a coffee, see what's in your cup there.

We can do it in person or we can cruise out to a meal or something and just chop it up.

You know, I am full.

I am happy to just chill out, help you, you know, help you with any sales questions or just get to know you.

You know, I just love meeting people all over the country and that is an exciting part of doing site visits is I get to get to know everyone.

Where I am, you know, when I travel and where I'm at or if you ever come to Austin, let me know and we can do the same thing here.

But, man, super quick, I want to make sure that you are aware of the Profit rocket Growth Conference 2023, September 27, 2829 in Austin, Texas is Victor Rancour is putting on that event and it is going to be off the chain.

I'm going to be one of the speakers on the sales panel.

As you can imagine, that one is going to be lit.

But also, if you haven't noticed, I'm doing a speaker series.

I've been interviewing all the.

A lot of the speakers that are going to be at the event for the keynotes.

So make sure I've got a bunch of episodes coming up for the speakers at the event.

It's going to be so good.

Make sure you're there.

Come meet me in person.

Come to the event.

Literally you can double your numbers from this one event.

So that is exciting.

But yeah, let's jam on this a little bit.

The Power of the Pause, version two.

Thank you, Greg.

All right, got a drink of the steez and let's go.

So the psychology behind the pause is so crucial, you know.

So the problem is so many people who, especially if you're in sales, you like to talk.

I mean, it's just we were blessed with that.

My dad would have said we were vaccinated with the Victrola Needle for all you young folks out there that don't know what a Victrola is, sets the needle off a record player.

But basically when we're in cells, the person our personalities so much is we just love to talk.

Even worse, we love so many times we love to hear our self talk.

So there is an element of over talking and over sharing which comes from ego, which I am here to tell you.

Your ego is not your amigo.

Your ego does not belong in a sales appointment.

So that's the first thing we have to be aware of.

And that's why I'm so against so many of the sales systems and the sales processes, especially the questionnaires and things that are designed to make the salesperson look smart and the homeowner look stupid.

They're designed to demean the homeowner so they think, oh my gosh, this guy is so brilliant and he knows everything, so I must buy from him.

That is absolutely the opposite effect of what you really need to do.

That's like the literally the 80s way of ABC always be closing the trash that needs to be taken out of the industry.

At this point.

Let's get, let's get away from the ego and let's really actually care about the homeowner.

It doesn't matter how much you know.

And here is a great lesson I learned from my friend Jimmy, my business mentor Jimmy J's.

It doesn't matter what you say, it matters what they say.

So when in a sales appointment, it doesn't matter what you say, it matters that the homeowner says it.

That's why it's so important.

If you follow this like this, the close it now system, what we do is we ask questions to the degree that we're leading them to the destination.

We want the homeowner to go.

If it's deciding about a certain type of equipment, if it's deciding about IAQ or whatever it is we're talking about, it's very question based.

So it's almost like if you've ever seen the Leonardo DiCaprio movie, DiCaprio movie Inception, it's almost like planting the idea in their mind so by the time it actually comes up, they feel like they're almost the one that had the idea to start with.

And so when you get and become a master at being able to craft this type of conversation in a sales appointment, it has nothing to do with price anymore, has nothing to do with, you know, getting three bids.

It's a matter of the certainty that you can solve their problems.

So that is that.

That's exactly what we do with the questions and with our, with our process.

But and which reminds me of a couple quotes that I'm actually going to use from one of my very favorite sales books of all time.

If you haven't read or listened to this book, the Psychology of Selling by Brian Tracy, I highly recommend it.

I start every single coaching client of mine with this book because it is that important.

So there's a quote that comes from there.

Telling is not selling, says Brian Tracy.

Whoever is asking questions has control.

The problem with so many of us in sales is we just love to freakin talk, we love to hear, we love to use words, we love to create word pictures and tell a story and give all the details.

But that is not selling.

So many times.

I mean, how many of you have been in a sales appointment or you have been, especially if you've ever been in an appointment with somebody else and you got the chance to observe and it sounds like they just, once they get going, it's like that motor warms up and they just don't stop.

Somebody has to literally stop them to ask a question because they're just going to keep spouting more and more and more information and details.

They're talking at the homeowner and then wonder why the homeowner doesn't buy.

They're talking at the homeowner and when you ask them after, they're going to say, man, it felt like I had the best rapport.

If you'd have heard me in that appointment, man, it was awesome.

But that's the problem because they're saying, if you would have heard me in that appointment, man, I did a hell of a presentation.

There's no reason they should have said no.

There's no reason they should have said that.

I want to get three bids.

There's no reason they should have said, I want to think about it.

But the problem is mindset.

What I'm hearing when I hear that is the person saying, if you would have heard me in that appointment.

Well, where's the homeowner in that?

If you would have heard my presentation, it was the tits.

It was rock star level.

My presentation was awesome.

Well, what'd the homeowner say?

What the homeowner say about it?

Unless they signed on the dotted line, maybe be open to the idea that, okay, your presentation was good, but if it didn't involve the homeowner, if it was just giving information, maybe it's not really that good.

Maybe you've got your info Correct.

Absolutely.

That's awesome.

But so does everybody else that walks in the house.

Maybe.

You talked about all the things that our company does.

We're going to nitrogen purge the line set, we're going to vacuum pump the line set, we're going to check the airflow.

Nobody else does this.

Except what you don't realize is every other company that walks into the house says the same thing.

So wait a minute.

Now you're just white noise.

What the homeowner say.

Did they come back and ask you questions?

Did you even listen to the questions they were asking?

Did once you.

And here's even a bigger step and a bigger problem.

When we ask a question, when you ask a question, do you listen?

Do you even listen to the complete answer from the homeowner?

So all of this is.

And it's nobody's fault necessarily, because we just like to talk.

I mean, it's literally why I started a podcast, because I was like, I've got a lot of words, I need to get them out.

And surely somebody might want to listen, right?

But at the end of the day, it doesn't matter what we say.

It matters what they say.

And the only way we can listen to what they say is, is by shutting up.

We ask a question and sit and listen.

A super easy quick trick for you.

And this is a cheat code.

Ready for this one?

Raise your hand if you're ready to write down this note.

If you're in Drive Time University right now, stop and make a voice memo.

Don't actually write it down, but raise your hand if you want this cheat code.

One of the easiest ways to force yourself to start to listen more is to incorporate a three second count, but in two different places.

When you ask a question, count to three and force yourself to be silent and listen.

Do not.

When you ask a question, do not fill it with another single sound until they have completed their answer.

No more words, no more sounds from you.

Ask a question and sit in silence and let them respond.

And then the next place that you're going to put your three count, when you think they've completed their answer, force yourself to count 1, 2, 3, and then be silent for a minute.

Not a whole minute, but be silent for a few seconds.

Because a lot of times with that additional silence, after they've answered a question, a homeowner will volunteer more information.

Because this is something we're talking about, this is an awareness for us, because it's very top of mind.

It's something.

If you're listening to this podcast, if you're here in Drive Time University.

Your focus is getting better.

Your focus is to become 1% better every single day than I was yesterday.

And if that is the case, then that means that we're like, we're really focused in on, how can I be a better listener?

How can I start to listen to understand?

Not just listen to respond.

That's one of the keys for this episode, especially when we ask a question, listen to understand.

If we're listening to understand and truly listening to understand, we don't have to answer immediately.

Set your ego aside.

That says, I have to know all the answers and I have to answer them right away.

When we ask a question, we're going to listen to understand.

Process that information in your head, turn it over a few times before you respond.

We're not listening to respond.

We want to truly understand what they're saying.

That's why when they answer something, we can ask, if we're truly trying to understand it, we can ask those deeper, probing questions, how bad is that?

When does that happen?

How so tell me more about that.

What's that make you feel like?

How does that make you feel?

What's it like living like that?

So we can ask those deeper, probing questions and then listen again, and then listen again, and then listen again to finally get to the actual answer that we're digging out of the homeowners.

And so it has to do with listening to understand.

In fact, there's another quote by Brian Tracy that I love so much.

The sale takes place with the words, but the buying takes place in the silence.

The sale takes place with the words, but the buying takes place in the silence.

And I have a testimony, actually, I want to read to you.

That is, that proves exactly that.

My man Daniel Fisher, up in the DFW area when he listened to the first version of this podcast, the Power of the Pause, his testimony says, shortly after listening to that episode about a year ago, I had a lead where there was a huge language barrier, so the customer and I were having to converse through his daughter, so his daughter was translating.

He said, I get to my price.

And he says nothing.

I hand him the contract and a pen, and I say nothing.

He said he set a timer on his phone.

After five minutes had passed, he ended up sitting there in complete silence with this guy and his daughter for 37 minutes.

It said, without saying a word, he picked up this pin and signed for a $24,000 deal.

Shut up and sell.

And that's so powerful, because what if you, we as salespeople, Especially the biggest exercise that you can do is to practice silence.

Practice silence because the, it's kind of like, you know, it's in the negotiation, whoever speaks first loses.

It's just like playing poker.

I mean, we are there in those moments to use silence to create tension.

We can use silence to solicit an answer.

I mean, so many times when you ask an answer, and in fact, I'm going to prove it here, right here when I.

And I'm not going to cut this down, I'm not going to edit it, but feel what happens when there's silence.

I'm just going to say, hey, watch this.

Can you feel the tension?

All of a sudden you're thinking, man, there's dead air.

What happened?

Somebody needs to feel the silence.

And that was a really short pause.

But when you're in a, in a sales appointment, when you're, when you're sitting with a homeowner and you ask a question and there's silence, use it to your advantage.

A really powerful place to use silence is when you are, you've done your measurements and you sit back down to run your calculations.

So many people try to fill that space with just small talk.

Don't do it, I implore you, don't do it.

Unless they, unless the homeowner is forcing it.

And they just cannot function with that amount of silence.

What I always recommend, and this is ninja level, this is like the next level stuff.

You're going to sit there, you're going to calculate.

Okay, no problem.

I'm going to run my calculations.

And it's even more powerful if while you're punching it in and you're on your computer or you're doing it by hand, however you do it, and you every now and then give a huh, okay.

Hmm.

Ah.

And make those kind of sounds, but that's it.

So there's silence.

And don't do this too often, but every so often give a slight.

Aha.

Hmm.

That's what I thought.

What is this doing while they're sitting in silence waiting for you to run the calculations?

We're building anticipation, we're building their thinking.

Oh, always figuring it out.

He's discovering something.

Oh, that's what he thought.

Okay, good.

That means he's got a solution for me.

That's what's running through the homeowners mind.

Use that silence powerfully.

When you ask a question, just ask the question and shut up and sell.

Right?

The concept is for all of you, raise your hand if you were ever in theater, if you're My age or older, which I'm early 40s, right.

You, you were, at some point in time, you were probably on stage and you probably experienced a spotlight.

This doesn't have to be an actual spotlight, but if you ever think about this, have you ever been in any situation where you were the speaker, you know, in front of people or whatever it was, and you feel the heat on you from everybody's eyes looking at you, or if you're on stage and you feel the heat from the spotlight, it's a game between you and the homeowner.

We're constantly playing this mental game between you and the homeowner.

Whoever asked the question is in control.

Right?

And so if we can.

If the game is, if you start to feel the heat from the spotlight, that means you're talking too much, instantly ask a question and shut up and listen.

The goal is to keep that spotlight on the homeowner often and as long as possible.

That means they're the ones talking, they're the ones giving the information.

The best sales appointments involve very little speaking on your part and very.

A whole lot of speaking on their part.

Those are the best sales appointments.

We have two ears and one mouth.

Use them in that proportion.

So the power of the pause is.

It's crucial, it is absolutely mission critical that you get this down.

Don't be the guy or lady that just talks.

You will never make a sale by just telling.

Unless that homeowner is the one that's telling.

They're selling it back to you.

They will never be engaged.

You're always going to get, and I want to think about it, you're always going to get.

We got to get three bids because they're not retaining any information.

That means you didn't ask permission to give data.

That means you didn't check in.

You're just fire hosing them with data.

And that it will never end up in a sale.

You're going to end up with a close rate of about 30%, which is the industry average.

And that's the same average as the dudes that literally write a number on the back of a business card and drop it on the table and say, okay, call me when you're ready.

That's industry average.

That's 30%, right?

You are called to excel.

You're called to be a top performer.

If you're listening to this, I know that you have it in you to be at the top of your game.

You can easily double your numbers by starting to incorporate these kind of things into your process.

Always play this game with yourself.

If I can say this in fewer words, I will.

If I can turn this into a question instead of a statement, I will make that your daily affirmation.

I will use more questions and I will use more pauses and I will use less words in my appointments and you will be amazed at the difference with just from making that one little change that everything is going to start to be to come out completely different for you.

So use the pause.

Use the power of the pause.

It is crucial, it is important and it will dramatically change your numbers immediately when you recognize, hey, wait a minute, I'm the guy that talks at the homeowner.

I want to be the person that listens to the homeowner because if you're constantly talking at them, you will never hear their concerns.

You never get to hear all of their good.

If you do discovery right and you ask the right questions and listen, they're going to tell you all the reasons they want to buy and exactly what they want to buy and, and they're going to tell you also all the reasons that would keep them from buying.

So you can handle them very easily.

But if you're not listening, you're never going to be able to hear that.

If you're not listening to understand, you're never going to hear that.

If you're strictly listening to respond so you can hear yourself talk some more, man, that's your ego talking and it is not your amigo.

So that is the podcast for today.

I hope that was valuable to you.

If it was, and this is something I'm going to start asking for more often because I didn't four years in and I've never asked for this.

Please, please, please, if you've ever gotten value from me, go to the review section on itunes on Apple podcasts and leave me a five star review.

I would greatly appreciate that.

That will help dramatically in my ranking.

Also email me samoseitnow.net I would love to hear what value you get from this podcast.

How can I help you?

I 100% am here to support you and reach out to me.

Maybe it's time to do some one on one coaching.

If you're ready to double your numbers, maybe it's time, maybe it's time to get me out to your facility and double your entire team's numbers.

I'm headed to Kansas City next week.

We're going to Baltimore.

I'm talking to somebody in Saskatchewan, somebody in New Orleans.

I'm going to be all over the map.

So reach out to me.

Let's get some stuff scheduled.

I want to see your team double their numbers instantly, basically what happens.

So yeah, man, I love it.

Go to oh join the Facebook group.

All of the speakers that are coming through, they're all joining the Facebook group.

So it's one place where you can connect with them.

So all the speaker series that's going on, make sure to join the Facebook group.

And in there I've got a pin post so you can buy your own ticket to the Profit rocket Growth Summit 2023.

Get your ticket, get there, meet me in person.

Let's chop it up.

Let's have a good time and everybody's time to go to the next level.

So I appreciate you listening.

Thank you so much.

Go leave a review on wherever you listen.

I appreciate the review and all right, everybody go save the world one heat stroke at a time.

Thanks for listening to Close it now with Sam Wakefield.

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