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.

Hey, hey, hey.

Welcome back, Sam Wakefield.

Here it is, Close it now time.

So I am super excited to connect with you all today day.

What is going on?

We've got a really great episode today.

We're going to be talking about the difference in seer and seer 2.

How does that work?

More importantly, it's not necessarily about us even learning the technical stuff.

While the technical is good to know.

More importantly for us, it's how do we communicate it to the homeowner that makes the most sense.

How do we communicate it in a way that they understand it and, and why should they even care?

And then how also, and the most important part of this that's really effective is how can we use this little piece of conversation to cast doubt on the competition without talking bad about the competition.

So that's the, that's what we're going to cover today.

So welcome back to Close It Now.

I'm so excited to be rolling with you guys again.

It is Drive Time University, so I hope you are out crushing it right now.

I know, I know.

My team is, they are just destroying it like crazy right now.

I hope you are as well.

We've got, we've got H Vac, we've got solar.

We're combining H Vac and solar.

So if you don't know what I'm talking about, you're going to hear a lot, lot more about it because that is the wave.

It's not the wave of the future, it's the wave of now.

So that's what's happening in the world.

We're electrifying everything, which means it's good for you.

I don't care if you, you know, get upset that, you know, there's talk about people getting rid of your gas stoves.

Who cares, right?

We can make more money by selling more stuff and helping more people.

That's the really the ultimate goal.

That's the, the whole point of what we do is helping people, helping people save money, helping people live more comfortably, live more efficiently.

And that truly should be where you come from is serving people.

So yeah, super stoked.

We've got the high performance coaching.

One on one coaching program is crushing it.

We're helping people instantly increase their close rate, instantly increase their average ticket, instantly increase the amount of accessories and IQ they're selling.

So it's, it's, it's going off.

So reach out to me, email me@sam closeitnow.net we can talk about the high performance coaching program.

Email or and join the Facebook group.

The Facebook group is so cool.

I it's, I don't know if you're in other Facebook groups that are solar or H Vac on Facebook but if you are, because I'm in a bunch of them, you know that somebody puts a question in any of those groups and it is just a complete bully fest negativity and, and it's like why does somebody even ask questions in there?

So it turns into a group of bunch of trolls.

So yes, there's groups for that.

It's almost comedy to go and see what happens.

But in my group in the close it now Facebook group, there's a zero bullying policy.

There's a no negativity policy.

If I find somebody bullying or negative in this group, they go straight to the block party.

What I mean by that, they're kicked out of the group because it's the only positive, positive group.

Do we have fun?

Absolutely.

Go join the Facebook group.

You can just find it by searching close it now right on Facebook in the groups.

Or you can go to the website closeitnow.net and there's a right at the very top there's a join our group link.

There's almost 1700 people in there at this point.

We're about to pass a couple thousand just like minded people like yourself.

Everybody that wants to improve, wants to get better.

I do.

If you don't know, I do a free coaching Friday.

Every Friday we put in a post sometime throughout the week, usually Monday, Tuesday.

And what questions do you have for the week?

You know what, what are you struggling with?

What are your friction points?

What are you trying to overcome?

Is that next level in your sales?

And then Friday I'll just sit down, hop in and do a Facebook Live.

It's live, it's interactive.

You can hop in, you can.

I've brought people on the show before.

You can interact.

We can answer your questions in real time.

But yeah, just Whatever your questions for the week, and then a lot of times those questions will turn into this podcast.

If one person is asking a question, then of course that means lots of people have the same question.

So we cover that.

But let's dive in today to the topic Seer vs Seer 2.

What is it?

Well, one thing just kind of on the back end of it, when I started really researching seer, I mean, I've been in the industry a long time, and I'd never even really thought to look up when it started.

So in 1987, legislation for seer was passed.

But then, of course, the heating and air industry just always fights anything like this.

But it went into effect in 1992, effectively making the minimum seer 10.

Minimum required.

Seer was 10 in 1992.

So that is when it actually started and rolled out SEER 2.

They.

They introduced it in 2016, but then, of course, H VAC lobbyists, they lobbied against it until 2019.

Then it was voted in in 2019 to implement in 2023.

What does that matter?

What does it mean?

The important part is when we're talking to homeowners, that's what it means.

Because, you know, this is not something we need to just bring up all the homeowners every single time.

It's not about when we're talking, communicating with homeowners when we're selling to homeowners.

It's not about being able to share with them every single technical.

All the technical knowledge that you have in your head that will only confuse them.

And we know the confused mind says no, right?

Raise your hand if you've ever vomited way too much technical information to a homeowner.

And of course they're like, well, what do we get when we do that?

Well, we need to think about it.

I was like, oh, damn it.

I shared way too much info.

You're gonna have to think about it now.

Let's share less next time so there's less to think about so they can just make a decision, right?

That's like, really?

Where.

If you can say it in less words, use less words.

But so what happens, though?

And thanks to Daniel Fisher, he's the one that actually asked this question.

He's in Dallas, Fort Worth, asked this question to start with.

But it's like, how do we communicate this to homeowners?

When you're going out there and you're quoting against some competition and the homeowner brings up, well, they're saying, this is a seer number of 16.

Why should.

And you're telling me this is a 14.8, for example, with CO2, you know, what's the difference?

That number is higher.

Isn't it better?

And so how do we communicate?

Right.

What are we telling the homeowner in that situation?

So the first thing to do is really start with leading questions, but do it in such a way that, of course, as you know, the three steps, if you've listened to the podcast very much, you know, the three steps to permission based selling are, first, even if it's something they literally just asked you about, you've got to ask that permission question to be able to transfer the data.

Otherwise, that wall goes up, their eyes glaze over, and they'll check out.

So when they ask, what is the difference in Seer and Seer 2, the last company said it was this.

What's the difference?

You say, oh, I know a lot about that.

Do you mind if I share it with you or.

Yeah, absolutely.

We can cover what the difference in Seer and Seer 2.

Would you like to know what that is?

Of course they're going to say, well, of course, I just asked you.

Okay, great.

But by asking that permission, it drops their guard down, their shoulders will relax, and they'll actually be open and receptive to the information that you're about to give them.

So that's the first step.

But then you start with leading questions.

Leading questions are so important.

And start actually with the education piece that we kind of went over to start with.

And so, you know, and we're just asking them, why is it different?

Right.

So basically, Mr.

Homeowner, did you know when Seer even started?

It started actually in 1992.

That's a long time ago.

Right, right.

Do you think that technology, maybe some of the equipment has advanced since 1992?

Well, of course it has.

We're talking about 31 years.

Right.

It's completely different equipment than we had back then.

So that's step one.

So in that amount of time we had to the industry, we had to come up with a better way to measure things.

So really what's going on here is, you know, and then ask another question.

Have you ever heard any stories about people that were promised maybe a certain amount of energy savings.

Savings on their bill based on that number, but they didn't get it.

Sometimes people are going to say yes, and then sometimes they'll say no, not really.

I say, okay, well, that's fine.

Even if you haven't heard that story.

That's what was happening.

And so basically what happened is the government The Department of Energy came up with Seer 2 because basically what it's doing, it's forcing the heating and air industry to be more truthful and honest and be in integrity with what they're telling homeowners your equipment is going to actually achieve.

So you can kind of think of it like this, Mr.

Homeowner, have you ever bought a car and on the sticker it says it's going to achieve, say, 30 miles a gallon, but then when you get it home and you drive it, you only get 25 miles a gallon, and you're like, where in the world did they test this?

Was it.

Were they going downhill the entire time?

Did they.

They didn't even use the gas.

How did they achieve 30 miles a gallon?

Wouldn't it have been better if they just put 25 miles a gallon right on the sticker?

And then when you drove it and you got 25 miles a gallon, then you would be way happier because, hey, I actually got what was promised to me.

Wouldn't that make sense?

Of course it makes more sense.

So that's really all that's going on here.

The SER was rated with the perfect laboratory situation.

Not in a house, not with ductwork attached to it, not within.

It's not in an attic, it's not in a basement.

It's just sitting in the laboratory measuring it.

And that's how they came up with the ser number.

So all seer 2 is, it's just testing it under different circumstances.

That's much more real world.

So you actually receive what is being promised to you.

So it's much more accurate to what we're going to be, you know, what we're installing.

That way you don't have any surprises, because you don't.

I know you don't like.

We don't like surprises.

I know you don't like surprises either.

Right, Right.

And this is a big investment.

We don't take it lightly.

We hate guesswork.

So this is the best way for us to be way more honest.

And it's not like we were fibbing before.

This is truly what.

Truly what you're achieving now, what we're going to be able to achieve for you and what you're going to see as a result.

So, and quick, pop out.

This is how you can use this conversation to cast doubt on the competition.

So back in, it's like, okay, Mr.

Homeowner, so what you need to know since.

Thank you for bringing this up, because it's a really important topic.

If there's a company that's telling you that Seer is better because the number is higher and my system is not going to perform as well.

I mean, it's the same equipment, it runs the same.

But if they're telling you strictly to buy from them because that number is higher that they're offering you, they're trying to deceive you.

So I would recommend to run from that company because what else are they going to be conveniently not telling you?

Or corners, what other corners are they going to be cutting when they should be following this?

Because this is what the experts say, you know, this is the Department of Energy.

This is all of the entire heating and air industry, which is multi billion dollar industry, has said all decided this is the way we're going.

If there's a company that's still trying to follow the old way, one, they're outdated and they're refusing to adapt.

But also they're trying to deceive you.

So I would recommend running from them.

We're all about integrity here.

So that's why we're doing things the right way.

And if obviously, like I said, we don't believe in guesswork.

If that decision is important to you, it's pretty clear, you know, which direction to go.

Right?

Right.

Does that make sense?

Right.

Right.

So, but that's it, that's the whole conversation.

It's really simple.

It doesn't have to be complicated.

But use the, use the mileage sticker analogy, that's really the easiest way.

And anytime that you can try to create an analogy to something that people use every day that they understand, if they drive it, they touch it, they feel it, it's something they use every day.

It connects with them to the level where they're able to internalize it and understand what's going on and then use that to cast out on the competition.

Because like, hey, if they're telling you something else, run the problem because this is really, you can see now why this is in place and why it's the only way to do it.

Right, Right.

Great.

So that is how to use Seer vs Seer 2, to increase your sales to win that bid.

You know, we don't bid here.

Win that quote, win that estimate to win that homeowner.

Over to your way of thinking.

Yeah.

So that is what's going on.

I want to know from you, was this helpful?

Email me@sam closeitnow.net Hop in the Facebook group, you know, to show me a comment, let me know what's happening there.

And now it's actually time to Move into this next little segment, which I like to call what is in your cup?

It's what's in your coffee today, everybody.

Let's take a collective sip of coffee in my cup today is actually Verona.

Some Starbucks Verona that we had at the house.

I don't always go so mainstream, but just what we have right now.

But I want to know, is there something in your part of the country, in your part of the world that you drink that is unique or unusual?

You know, what are you drinking?

Actually, somebody messaged me this morning, said they drink some Death Wish.

I said it takes him one cup of coffee and he's good.

It's a lot of caffeine, so I'm gonna have to try some.

That sounds delicious.

I've seen Death Wish a bunch and haven't tried it.

So what are you drinking?

I'm always interested to learn and try something new.

And the biggest announcement right now, right before I leave you with this episode, is I am rolling back out the site visit process.

We're going to start doing site visits, start doing boot camps at your facility.

So if you are an owner or you want to recommend this to owner or manager at your company to come do a group, let's just do a boot camp.

Let's get it rocking and rolling.

Let's take your entire team to the next level.

Time to increase your sales, increase your close rate increase, increase your average tickets.

Iaq we work through the whole process, especially if your company doesn't have maybe a specific system.

I know a lot of companies, even bigger companies, I've been hearing lately, they, they hire just a ton of people and basically it's treated like, treat everybody like spaghetti, Just throw them against the wall and see who sticks.

They hire for somebody that already has, you know, some selling skills and some talent.

But the problem with that is once a crew like that gets in the field, the homeowner does not have a consistent message from the company.

So there's only a certain point that that company can scale, scale and grow until what happens is those homeowners start to communicate.

And I saw the same thing.

The company I was at years ago, we had about four people on the sales team at the time.

Before we really started growing and scaling, before we systematized.

And what happened was one homeowner bought a system from us in the spring, the very right, that very fall, we went out, they referred us to their neighbor, a different person went out, and we're talking about identical cookie cutter houses.

They said, we, we love our neighbor system.

We Want the exact same thing.

And the price was so many thousands of dollars different because the, at that time, the team had the ability to just set their own pricing based on a margin model and work.

Somebody just needed to make a deal.

So they cut a crazy, you know, crazy discount on the, on the first one.

Then the other guy that went out, he marks it dramatically higher.

And so what that did, it caused the second homeowner, or both homeowners to become so livid at us, they destroyed us on social media, they destroyed us in all the review sites.

And it was very clear at that point, that's before I actually became the, you know, had any kind of control over the system, the training and the systemization there.

But it became apparently clear that there's no way to scale, there's no way to grow.

So we put some regulations in place, basically said, here's your, here's your pricing, here's your amount of discount.

And that's when I started actually right around the time that I started the close it now training and started training it to the company.

So when all of our people went out, the homeowners would get the same message.

They would get the same, you know, same structure.

And it was amazing because as soon as that happened, we tripled in size in just over three and a half years because we got.

It just became really smooth.

And so if you want to triple in size in three and a half years, it's something I've done before.

I've helped companies do that.

So if you're an owner, if you want to recommend this to the owner of your company or to your sales manager, message me and we can talk about a site visit.

It's incredibly affordable and it's a way that, to really change the trajectory of your sales team this year.

Wouldn't it be great to have the problem where you have way more sales than you have installs for?

That's normally not the case for most companies except the ones that work with me.

So that's the message today.

Site visits are on.

Message me.

We can come out and it really revolutionize your system and your team.

So that is the episode for today.

Thank you for hanging out with me.

Seer versus SEER two.

I want to know how you are handling this.

Was this conversation helpful?

Email me and let me know samoseitnow.net or join the Facebook group and leave a comment there and we can, we can bounce some ideas back and forth.

If you have a different analogy that works for SEER versus SEER two versus the Sticker mileage versus the driving mileage.

Let me know we can incorporate that into some of the training into the podcast and get you a little bit of.

A little bit of credit for that and let everybody know who you are.

But yeah, so message me.

Otherwise, everyone go save the world one heat stroke at a time.

See you soon.

Thanks for listening to Close it now with Sam Wakefield.

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