Welcome to Close it now, an H Vac sales training podcast with Sam Wakefield.
Speaker AHere we'll build your reputation in residential H Vac sales to be the expert influencer in your market.
Speaker AYou'll get insight into the top minds in the industry as they share their skills and hacks to help you on your journey.
Speaker AThis 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.
Speaker ANow let's get started with your host of the Close it now podcast.
Speaker AThis is Sam Wakefield.
Speaker BOkay everyone, welcome.
Speaker BThis is the special edition Close It Now.
Speaker BMy name is Sam Wakefield.
Speaker BToday we are talking about how to host an effective virtual sales call, all the ingredients of it, what to take, what tools do you need, do you need any special tools or not?
Speaker BAnd how effective is it in our society, especially right now with the global crisis of the Coronavirus COVID 19 as you all know, how could you miss it?
Speaker BIf you don't know about that, you've been living under a rock.
Speaker BSo we're going to definitely talk about that.
Speaker BI know that in Austin, Texas we've seen a huge rise in in people requesting us not to come to their house or if we do to take a bunch of extra precautions.
Speaker BAnd I'm sure that all of the rest, if you haven't yet, you are going to start getting those requests.
Speaker BCan we do this over the phone?
Speaker BCan we do this without you coming to my house?
Speaker BBecause just to be honest, people are freaked out.
Speaker BThe media has done a really good job of there's a lot of scare tactics going on and at the same time there's a lot of reason and value in the social distancing.
Speaker BSo that's what we're going to talk about today.
Speaker BI'm going to take a quick second and introduce our super special guest here.
Speaker BHis name is Aaron Courtney and I've got his bio.
Speaker BAlright, so this guy, he is a rock star.
Speaker BHe has been in the industry for about 15 years plus right now he's the general manager.
Speaker BBut like most of us he started off at installation as a helper, has worked his way up all the way through the every level of the industry.
Speaker BCouple of his big accomplishments.
Speaker BPersonally he is a $4 million a year salesperson with an average sale of right around 11,000 bucks which is pretty rock star status by anybody's terms.
Speaker BCurrently at this point he is the GM sales manager, he's the service manager, GM of actually two different companies at the same time, which is that definitely want to do an appointment sometimes, maybe get him to tell us about what that is because that's really unique and different.
Speaker BSo that sounds like its own type of a challenge in itself.
Speaker BBut currently he has over 68 employees, six comfort consultants, every single one of them selling over a million dollars a year, eight selling service technicians, and that supports $14 million in total sales.
Speaker BSo that is our Special guest today, Mr. Aaron Courtney.
Speaker BWhy don't you take a second and introduce yourself.
Speaker BJust give a.
Speaker BHey my friend.
Speaker CSo I've been doing this for a long time, Worked my way up.
Speaker CStarted as an install helper, decided I didn't like ductwork or hanging ductwork very much so decided to jump in the service and the hot addicts and the crawl spaces and stuff and just figured out it was a lot easier for me to sell and communicate with people.
Speaker CSo kind of focused on what was good.
Speaker CBeen doing that for about 12 years now.
Speaker CDoing mainly sales.
Speaker CWe're a very service oriented company, so still really involved with the service department and to touch briefly on the two company things.
Speaker CSo we have struggled tremendously.
Speaker CI'm in the Louisville, Kentucky area, which is encompasses like southern bottom part of Indiana and most of Kentucky.
Speaker CSo we've got like 150 mile radius that we service.
Speaker CSo we've had a lot of issues with employees.
Speaker CSo our new business model was basically going after new companies to acquire employees with the bonus of having a little bit of a customer base.
Speaker CNot huge companies, million dollar sales companies, things like that.
Speaker CSo that's kind of our new business acquisition.
Speaker CDoing things like that.
Speaker BExpansion through acquisition, Right.
Speaker BThe Warren Buffett method.
Speaker BYes sir.
Speaker BThat's.
Speaker CThat's the easiest way I found.
Speaker CSo getting new employees is a challenge.
Speaker CAnd then, I mean people are jumping ship for two or three dollars an hour now.
Speaker CAnd from when I started, we made 10 bucks an hour as a service tech.
Speaker CToday most of our service techs are making over 25, $30 an hour.
Speaker BRight?
Speaker BYeah, I totally agree.
Speaker BWhen I started it wasn't a service tech, but just on the install crew, man, I was making eight bucks an hour.
Speaker BAnd that was a good deal at that time.
Speaker CIf we could just make 15, we'd had no more problems.
Speaker CWould we?
Speaker BOh, that's it.
Speaker BThat was totally the thought.
Speaker BWell, cool.
Speaker BSo yeah, thank you for that.
Speaker BI appreciate it.
Speaker BAnd for everyone else, if you don't know who I am, if this is the first time to see me take a quick second to introduce myself as well.
Speaker BI'VE also been in the industry just over 15 years.
Speaker BI started off same track as a helper on the install crew, worked my way into service, ended up getting almost the same type of a plan.
Speaker BI realized that for things to get better, I had to get better.
Speaker BAnd I was really tired of tearing my hands up, tearing my body up in the attics and decided I hated that as well.
Speaker BSo I went out and I found just poured myself into sales training.
Speaker BBought every single course or book or anything known to man.
Speaker BI've attended every single seminar and got my license owna as a partner in a company in the Texas Panhandle for about five years.
Speaker BAnd then yeah, in the last several years I've moved into Austin, into the big sold.
Speaker BThat company moved into Austin, the much bigger market.
Speaker BAnd now I'm lead project manager for one of the top distributors for carrier in the Austin area as well as of course host this, the close it now sales training.
Speaker BSo that's a super quick nutshell.
Speaker BAnd so yeah.
Speaker BSo let's talk move into the topic for today.
Speaker BVirtual sales.
Speaker BAnd so this is kind of a conversation too.
Speaker BHow many of you raise your hand if you've had people already that have been asking for virtual appointments or asking for your company not to come to your house?
Speaker BI know that's been us.
Speaker BYeah, for sure.
Speaker BSo cool.
Speaker BSo I was talking to Aaron the other day.
Speaker BYou know, I've been doing a lot of just kind of chatter in the Facebook group about how to have a virtual sales appointment.
Speaker BIs it effective?
Speaker BThat kind of thing.
Speaker BAnd then Aaron pops in a couple days ago and says, hey, I closed three for three virtually today.
Speaker BAnd of course I know his history and his sales record.
Speaker BI was like, man, it's time for us to have a real conversation about this.
Speaker BI'm crushing it.
Speaker BHe's crushing it.
Speaker BI know some other people that are really doing some massive amount of virtual appointments and closing them.
Speaker BAnd how do we do that?
Speaker BWhat does it look like?
Speaker BHow do we set the right expectation for the client?
Speaker BBecause I'm a firm believer that something that has been done exactly the Same for over 50 years is ripe for a revolution for a change anyway, because technology's changed and people's expectations changed.
Speaker BI think let's start with that.
Speaker BAaron, let's start from the beginning.
Speaker BHow do we set the right expectation for the homeowner when they call in asking for that, or even if they don't, how do you set up that conversation with the client?
Speaker CSo you and I were talking before we started this, a lot of us have been doing this for years.
Speaker CI mean, it may only have been five or six a year or something like that.
Speaker CMyself in the summertime it was super easy to even have an easy as a phone conversation and sell something, communicate through pictures or email or things like that with customers.
Speaker CA lot of people are a little funny about coming to their house and then everybody works.
Speaker CSo convenience is an issue for a lot of customers.
Speaker CSo this is more convenient.
Speaker CJust as an example, my wife had a doctor's appointment last week and this is how we did it.
Speaker CWe did it with the doctor just like we are now, and very smooth, a little awkward face to face.
Speaker CAnd that's what we're trying to figure out.
Speaker CSo beginning with customers is setting the expectation of we offer this.
Speaker CSo we threw up a really fast commercial.
Speaker CI'll send it to you, just kind of letting people know, hey, this is available.
Speaker CBecause a lot of people don't even know how this works.
Speaker CI mean, people are getting really accustomed to zoom.
Speaker CI'm doing zoom with my family members just to stay in contact right now.
Speaker CSo, you know, people are getting more accustomed to it.
Speaker CAnd to be honest, once this catches, I think it'll stay.
Speaker CI mean, I think this is something that will be in our industry from here on out.
Speaker CI think this is something people will be open to.
Speaker CI mean the face to face is always going to be a little better to build rapport, to build the trust with.
Speaker CI think this is a good option.
Speaker CSo what we do, we screen customers.
Speaker CWe know, we assure customers on service and on sales calls.
Speaker CWe have their health number one in our mindset.
Speaker CSo we're basically taking, our guys are coming in the morning, we're taking their temperatures, we're asking them questions.
Speaker CAre, you know, have you had any symptoms, anybody in your house?
Speaker CAnd we're doing the same thing with the customer.
Speaker CSo we're setting the expectation both ways.
Speaker CAnd then we're saying, okay, so here's another option we have.
Speaker CBut things going on, we know people don't want to, you know, that six foot rule, but some people just don't want you in their house.
Speaker CSo even on our maintenance calls and stuff, a lot of them are doing just the outdoor units and coming back and putting you on a list to do the indoor units later, the coils, things like that.
Speaker CSo, you know, people are very open to this.
Speaker CWe have not slowed down in service one bit.
Speaker CInitially when this first came out, it did slow down, but we kind of put a plan together, started making those statements, asking customers and our guys are working full time hours as normal.
Speaker CSo it's kind of business as usual for us.
Speaker BI love it.
Speaker BI love it.
Speaker BSo when somebody says, hey, you know what, that sounds really interesting.
Speaker BI would totally be open to doing this appointment virtually.
Speaker BHow do you prepare them ahead of time for what we're going to need and what we things that obviously they have to participate a little more than traditional if we're doing it in person.
Speaker BYou know, when we go to a house, we can take our measurements ourselves, we can look at it all ourselves.
Speaker BHow do you prepare them for that aspect of it?
Speaker CSo we're giving them options.
Speaker CYou know, we're telling them that, you know, this is, you know, video calls are our easiest way face to face.
Speaker CIf they're totally not comfortable with it, a phone conversation still works, but we would need some pictures of what we're looking at.
Speaker CThings like that, they're taking pictures of model numbers, you know, even prior to the actual estimate.
Speaker CSometimes customers saying, well, can we FaceTime?
Speaker CFaceTime is an easy one.
Speaker CMost people, you know, 80% of the population have iPhones.
Speaker CSo iPhones, people have been doing this for years.
Speaker CIt's super, super comfortable for them.
Speaker CFacebook messenger, things like that.
Speaker CThere's a lot of options.
Speaker CSnapchat, I mean, there's a lot of different options for people that they have on their phones already.
Speaker CSo finding something they're used to using is always the first question.
Speaker CWhat do you use?
Speaker CFaceTime?
Speaker CAre you familiar with zoom?
Speaker CAnd you go from there with it.
Speaker CBut we're setting the expectation with them of, hey, here's how this goes.
Speaker CYou know, it's gonna be no different than us coming to your house, but we will need you to walk us around your house.
Speaker CWe will need you to answer questions like normal.
Speaker CSo, you know, we encourage the face to face because that helps us build our trust.
Speaker CYou know, knowing who you're talking to is always going to be a plus.
Speaker CBut some people are just flat not comfortable.
Speaker CYou know, they want to lay the phone down and just see you talk sometimes.
Speaker CWe ran into that a few times.
Speaker CThen we have people, hey, let me email you the pictures and let's discuss.
Speaker BRight?
Speaker CAnd then as always, we're getting the people where let me take pictures and just mail me a price.
Speaker CWe're still getting that too.
Speaker BSure, sure, yeah, no, I've run into every single one of those as well, you know, and I can honestly tell you that I've sold just like you.
Speaker BI'm sure I've sold projects under every single one of those conditions.
Speaker BAnd Those circumstances.
Speaker BSo for everybody on the call here, what kind of we're headed with this right now is really the importance of the sales appointment doesn't change.
Speaker BI think a lot of, I've talked to a lot of people at this point of how they're doing this and what they're experiencing.
Speaker BI think what most people are running into is there's a tendency and, and kind of just knee jerk habit or reaction to shortcut the process of building value and just instantly give a price.
Speaker BKind of like Aaron was saying, if they email pictures and you just send them a number back, there's zero value in that.
Speaker BBecause we have to remember price has no value, but value definitely has a price.
Speaker BAnd what do I mean by that?
Speaker BThat means we have as salespeople, as professional consultants, we have to build our stack of value bigger than their stack of dollars because remember, someone else will never be the cheapest and there's no point to try to be the loss leader for your area.
Speaker BSo what do we have to do otherwise?
Speaker BWe have to build the most value.
Speaker BWe do that by just like Aaron saying, building a rapport with the clients.
Speaker BAnd building rapport is not talking about golf, it's not talking about the weather.
Speaker BIt's about being professional, being friendly, but not their friend, and asking the right questions.
Speaker BAnd questions are the answer to solve all of these problems.
Speaker BBut they don't know and we don't know until we ask the right questions.
Speaker BSo the really important is don't skip the sales process.
Speaker BJust like you said, has to be the same.
Speaker BOkay, great.
Speaker BWe'll get on the video call.
Speaker BBefore you walk around to your furnace and your outdoor unit and all that stuff, let's just have a conversation first.
Speaker BAnd I don't know about you, but what I'm finding is where in the, in the past people might be a little more resistant when you pull out your questionnaire and start asking questions now that it makes more sense because you're like, listen, I'm not there, so I'm going to need to ask you some really specific questions about your home and what you're experiencing.
Speaker BThat way I can put together a picture of how I need to build your system for you because I can't be there to do it.
Speaker BAnd are you finding that people are even a lot more open to answering those questions and being involved in the process?
Speaker CDefinitely.
Speaker CAnd I found that the husband and wife are home now, so we have divided attention a lot of times.
Speaker CSo I think people are more comfortable in their homes too.
Speaker CYou know, they're in control.
Speaker CThey can show you what they want.
Speaker CSo for us, it's been a very.
Speaker CSo we've been doing it for years on the phone and, you know, some video calls we've done service could kind of experiment the last couple of years with fixing customers that can't figure out their new WI fi thermostats on the phone.
Speaker CDoing face to correct their, you know, just the setting problems and things.
Speaker CSo they're pretty successful there too.
Speaker BYeah, yeah, absolutely.
Speaker BAnd of course, people appreciate that.
Speaker BIt's like, okay, don't charge me a sales visit just because we figured it out on the over the phone and that's.
Speaker CYou have to go to right now.
Speaker CI think you have to go is a service to the community.
Speaker CYou have to go, hey, we can probably fix this by phone.
Speaker CYou know, on our service department, you know, we're saying, hey, if it's something simple, then we know at least, hey, we need to come out now.
Speaker CIt's kind of like when you call the cable company or the Dish Network or somebody and they walk you through 10 steps and they're like, well, we can't fix it.
Speaker CWe got to send somebody out.
Speaker CAnd they've been doing it for years.
Speaker BOh, yeah, that's nothing new.
Speaker BThat's a decade worth of that type of work there.
Speaker BSo, yeah, totally agree.
Speaker BSo perfect.
Speaker BBefore we move into kind of the next step or next section, I want to cover here, any questions from anybody.
Speaker BLet's make this a little bit interactive here.
Speaker BIf you have a question, go ahead.
Speaker BSo quick housekeeping.
Speaker BBottom left corner of your screen.
Speaker BIf you're on a phone, tablet or computer is a little microphone icon.
Speaker BSo right now there should be a red line through it that you muted.
Speaker BIf you want to unmute yourself and ask a question, feel free to go ahead and do that.
Speaker BTake a quick second here.
Speaker BIf anybody has questions about at this point.
Speaker DHey, Aaron and Sam, I got a question.
Speaker DIt's Rob.
Speaker BYeah, Rob.
Speaker DSo on the front end on schedule and for model and serial numbers and some expectations.
Speaker DAre we sending them out?
Speaker DMaybe like a little to do list to set up the appointment.
Speaker CDefinitely wouldn't make too complicated for them because it kind of scares them off interaction with them while you're there.
Speaker CTake me down to the furnace.
Speaker CLet me help you find the numbers I need.
Speaker CWe record most of our number so it's our customer.
Speaker CWe usually have the information already, so definitely take advantage if your company tracks that stuff and has the model and serial numbers in there.
Speaker CSo you already know what you're looking at.
Speaker CBefore you get there.
Speaker CThat's definitely been helpful for us.
Speaker CBut wouldn't overload them out.
Speaker CThink a template that you can mail them out saying here's what they expect or something like that.
Speaker CMaybe before the appointment here's some information and questions we'll be asking you would help, but I definitely would watch overloading them with I got to do all this stuff now, you know, that's the only thing I would fear.
Speaker BYeah, I totally agree with that.
Speaker BWell, and two, like you're saying, are there things that they could do ahead of time?
Speaker BAbsolutely.
Speaker BAt the same time I'm finding it's really exciting that to see them so involved in the process in real time.
Speaker BBecause forever people have trained when you're taking measurements like here, hold my tape measure, read me what that number is.
Speaker BBut now it's like even the next step of getting them involved in the process so they're feeling like it's their project and not just they're not just getting you info and waiting for a number.
Speaker DI appreciate exactly what you're saying also because I spoke to Sam and Aaron, of course through Facebook.
Speaker DI'm fairly new.
Speaker DI'm actually starting tomorrow.
Speaker DSo I've been following these guys for a little bit.
Speaker DSo this is really exciting.
Speaker DAnd one of the other project managers or comfort advisors, we're talking about interacting with the customer and I bring up customer experience and the other fellow I'll be working with, I brought up the Build a bear workshop where people are involved in making a teddy bear trying to get the customer's experience of hey, you're going to help put this together.
Speaker DIt's almost like the customer experience them helping to do it and things like you just said Sam to interact.
Speaker BYeah, beautiful.
Speaker BGreat analogy.
Speaker BIf you don't mind, I'm going to steal that like Build a bear workshop.
Speaker BThat's great.
Speaker BWell cool.
Speaker BAll right.
Speaker BAnything else you want to add, Aaron, before we kind of move into the next area?
Speaker CNo, I think having pre made templates and stuff up, like some people want to see stuff and we're like zoom.
Speaker CYou can definitely screen share like slides you have and things like that.
Speaker CI would practice with it at home for one.
Speaker CIf you're not familiar with it, grab your wife, your kid, anybody and just practice with zoom or good time right now since you can't really go see your family is to play with Zoom.
Speaker CThat's what we do.
Speaker CWe get together and talk and laugh and figure it out.
Speaker BYeah, no, I totally agree that that's so far.
Speaker BSo we're kind of Moving into some of the tools, I guess would be the next part of the conversation.
Speaker BBut yeah, I'm finding that Zoom is a great platform because it's so easy to do a screen share, especially when it comes time to have questions and stuff.
Speaker BBut yeah, to kind of wrap up that last piece.
Speaker BRemember, the process is the same, you know, got to set your credibility pieces in place.
Speaker BIf they're already your customer's.
Speaker BAwesome.
Speaker BDepends on your company.
Speaker BIf you're a newer company, if you're a smaller company.
Speaker BOur company, even though we are one of the largest residential companies in Austin, we're still a newborn, basically.
Speaker BWe're not quite 10 years old or just barely 10 years old.
Speaker BSo most of our leads are still marketed leads, which means we've got a lot of credibility pieces to set in place at the beginning of the call.
Speaker BAnd we don't have a lot of history like Aaron was talking about.
Speaker BThey're a much, much, much older company, so they've got a lot of that already established.
Speaker BSo it depends on the type of company you are.
Speaker BOf course, they have marketed leads too.
Speaker BSo remember, your sales process, in order needs to be credibility for the company, credibility for yourself.
Speaker BAgenda.
Speaker BWhat is this meeting going to look like?
Speaker BAnd then go into the questions, find out from them what they're.
Speaker BAnd phrase it like that.
Speaker BWhat's your experience?
Speaker BWhat are you concerned about?
Speaker BWhat are you experiencing living in your house?
Speaker BAnd let's discuss that before we look around.
Speaker BAnd people really appreciate that, that you're really concerned.
Speaker BYou're taking the time to find out what is going on in their mind.
Speaker BAnd don't talk in terms of.
Speaker BTell me about the details, tell me about the experience.
Speaker BJust like, just like Rob was saying, the customer experience.
Speaker BThen is the time to have them walk you around the house.
Speaker BIf ideal situation, if we're on a video call like this, have them walking around.
Speaker BYou can tell them, okay, see that right there?
Speaker BNo, that.
Speaker BSee that?
Speaker BThat's growth.
Speaker BThat's mold growth going on.
Speaker BOr here's what's happening in this bedroom over here.
Speaker BYou talk them through it, get them hands on to the problems, and then ask.
Speaker BAnd then like the concept is the same.
Speaker BAsk them, can you see how this is causing that problem?
Speaker BAnd once you've explained it and when they say yes, they great.
Speaker BCan you see how what we're going to discuss when you present your solution, can you see how this is going to be the solution to that problem and then clarify yes along the way?
Speaker BAnd so that's kind of where we're at right now in the sales visit.
Speaker BBut you can't shortcut any of that.
Speaker BOtherwise you're just a number dropper.
Speaker BAnd those are people that get a 30% close rate industry average and they're down the road, you know, you might as well be writing a number on the back of your business card.
Speaker BSo we've got to build the value.
Speaker BSo, yeah, good stuff.
Speaker BLet's start talking about tools, things that we use during the virtual appointment.
Speaker BHow do you explain things?
Speaker BI know everyone can see behind me right here.
Speaker BThis is my.
Speaker BBasically right here in the corner, we've got a massive house full of people.
Speaker BSo I've just set up my little mini office in the corner of my bedroom right here.
Speaker BAnd I've got my whiteboard, I've got my tripod.
Speaker BTripod On Amazon is 20 bucks.
Speaker BI love to draw things.
Speaker BAnd when people have specific questions, I flip over to my phone right there on the whiteboard.
Speaker BYou don't even have to have that.
Speaker BIf you don't have a whiteboard.
Speaker BGet yourself a sheet of paper and just turn your phone around and show them while you can talk while you're drawing stuff.
Speaker BBut it's really important to have visuals along the way.
Speaker BIf it's strictly this the entire time, just a conversation without visuals.
Speaker BBecause when you go to a house, you've got tools, you've got brochures, you've got all the things.
Speaker BIf you start leaving those out, we start losing the value.
Speaker BSo what other tools are you using, Aaron, to go through the process?
Speaker CLike I said, I've got some templates built, which we've had for a long time to mainly email out things like that, with differences between a 16 seer and an 18 seer, things like that.
Speaker CSo we use a lot of those on email templates.
Speaker CSo we're pulling them up during the video screen and showing them the front page of the brochure for a 19 serifinity we do carry here.
Speaker CSo carrier infinity and the benefits.
Speaker CAnd then we have breakdowns, kind of walking through financing and things like that.
Speaker CSo we have different templates for all that.
Speaker CBut people want to see the visual thing.
Speaker CLike you said, they get tired of looking at you and it makes them more comfortable since they can't have the brochure or if you're sketched out, you can always mail them the brochures or things.
Speaker CBut I think we have went to a lot of digital brochures in the past two or three years anyway.
Speaker CSo for us it's kind of business as usual with that stuff tool wise though, you know, graphs, seer rating, different graphs, things like that, reason that.
Speaker CAnd then we do a lot off of a computer program we use that already gives us a lot of the information.
Speaker CThe customer's house, the square footage of the home, things like that.
Speaker CWe'll write down.
Speaker CWe know what's the utility bills as we're talking to them, key points they're doing, and we'll keep that up on the screen with them to remind them, hey, you said that, you know, your bills were high.
Speaker COnce we recommend a product to you to help, the solutions always point back to the you said thing.
Speaker CI'm assured everybody sales training has always had that in there.
Speaker CYou know, you said this.
Speaker CSo kind of push it back to them to say, here you go.
Speaker COther tools, definitely the pictures and cameras and screenshots on your phone.
Speaker CEven as you're talking, you can screenshot when they're showing you the equipment model and serial numbers for reference.
Speaker CThere's digital apps that even if you have a picture of the furnace and coil, you can use that app.
Speaker CIt'll measure it out for you.
Speaker CSo if you need to know if it's 17 inches wide, 21 inches wide, this app, convert those measurements over off the pictures.
Speaker BOh, sweet.
Speaker CIt's an app and I can post it in the, on the page later.
Speaker CBut just an app that does it.
Speaker BYeah, perfect.
Speaker BYeah, if you drop that link later, that would be great.
Speaker CYeah.
Speaker CAnd then our distributors have kind of went this route with us too.
Speaker CI mean, to be honest.
Speaker CSo they're using tools now.
Speaker CLike we use a carrier distributor, Cook Air, and they have put tools into place, something called Cook Connect, where literally as we're on that link, so it's like a zoom.
Speaker CBut when we're on there, we can actually zoom in on the core.
Speaker CLike if they're in their basement and within 8 foot, I can zoom in and read model and serial numbers off of my phone.
Speaker CThey don't have to do anything off there.
Speaker CWe can physically, you know, take her.
Speaker CAnd they used it initially as a service tool for like a field rep for the manufacturer to be with the service tech on a service call and go, hey, I need to see what's going on.
Speaker CLet me see this.
Speaker CSo that's things they, you know, we're using.
Speaker CAnd then like I said, you know, the slides on here are very, you know, you can show videos, you can interrupt this and show them a video on a Remy Remy Halo or something like that.
Speaker CYou know, you.
Speaker CSo you can, you know, you can break it Down a little bit.
Speaker CSo it's still a 40 to an hour process, easy, if not longer.
Speaker BYeah, absolutely.
Speaker BI'm finding the same thing and just kind of an important.
Speaker BWhat Aaron just mentioned an important sales tip for all you guys.
Speaker BYou know, if it's live or virtual, either way, interrupting, pattern interrupt is really, really, really important.
Speaker BIf things start to get in kind of a rhythm or a rut, that's when it's the perfect time to say, oh, you know what, hang on, look at this, let's talk about the.
Speaker BAnd just all of a sudden have a video or have a brochure or you know, something, a graph or something to break up the monotony of just the same sales call.
Speaker BThat's definitely something I know I use all the time to.
Speaker BAnd this is kind of second level sales stuff, but to change the energy.
Speaker BIf you feel that they're getting away from you with energy wise.
Speaker BAnd that's why video is so important.
Speaker BYou can really see everyone's energy.
Speaker BSo to use a video at a really well placed moment or a brochure or a graph or something is a perfect pattern interrupt.
Speaker BBecause they're like, oh, something's different and it brings them mentally right back in and they check back in with you.
Speaker BThat's just a super important quick sales tip there.
Speaker CYep.
Speaker COther than that, like I said, the customers are getting used to it and I think they like it.
Speaker CThey'll ask you, hey, can you send me that?
Speaker CSo people text that to them or to email that to them for sure too?
Speaker BYeah, absolutely.
Speaker BSomething else that I've done for our team is just right here, the whiteboard I set up and I recorded.
Speaker BWe basically have our own way that we do system presentations to take everyone through the different levels in a way that they'll understand it by talking about benefits and so just basically made a prerecorded explanation.
Speaker BSo as a reminder we can send this to them because we're going to go through it with them in person.
Speaker BBut it's so much information.
Speaker BPeople want to be able to refer back to it and so send it that way or that client that says, you know what, I'm not comfortable with video, let me text or email you these pictures.
Speaker BWhen you send back, of course the proposal and that kind of thing, send the video then with it that way if they haven't been able to do it in person, you can do it on the phone verbally, but you've also sent on the video.
Speaker BIt's going to be of course the same presentation, but now they can See, as you're drawing things out or however you do your presentation, take a few minutes and record one.
Speaker BAnd it's really simple to everyone.
Speaker BIf you have an account on YouTube, you have your own channel, load it in right there.
Speaker BBecause it's easiest to send a YouTube link, mark it as unlisted.
Speaker BIt's super simple to do.
Speaker BAnd then just send them that link because it's a great way to get that communication to them as well.
Speaker BThis is something that not many companies are doing.
Speaker BEverything we're talking about today is something that if you do this in your marketplace, there's no reason you can't dominate.
Speaker BBecause we talked about what's happening, most people are shortcutting the process.
Speaker BOkay, send me a couple pictures.
Speaker BAll right.
Speaker BAnd they'll email them back a number when.
Speaker BRight now is the time to really dive into this.
Speaker BBecause people have the time.
Speaker BLike Karen said, they're there.
Speaker BThey're not going anywhere.
Speaker BThey've got time to look on this.
Speaker BThat's why we're seeing actually a rise in business right now, too, because people are home.
Speaker BThey don't want to be quarantined at home in a hot house.
Speaker BThey know the heat's coming, and they have the time and the ability to tackle these projects, and it makes sense for them to do it.
Speaker BLet's have a check in for Q and A right now, too.
Speaker BAnything come to mind for anyone?
Speaker BYeah.
Speaker CSo phrasing the introduction.
Speaker CWhat do you think is the best way to go about that?
Speaker CI would say.
Speaker CI mean, again, it's just a normal conversation.
Speaker CAre you talking about maybe, like, when they call in initially or as soon as we.
Speaker CLike when he was saying, starting to build value.
Speaker CSo I'm.
Speaker CI'm calling you saying, hello, Mr. Jones.
Speaker CYou know, hi, I'm.
Speaker CI'm John from Precision.
Speaker CAnd then going into there.
Speaker BRight.
Speaker CI would start as.
Speaker CAgain, don't skip what you're doing.
Speaker CContinue your same presentation as before, still ask the same questions, still build the same rapport with the customer, go over the comfort concerns, all that stuff, and still stay the same.
Speaker CI don't think that part changes.
Speaker CYou have to adjust as you see if they're taking this as awkward.
Speaker CSo we're looking face to face to each other.
Speaker CIf that seems awkward to them, turn the camera around and show them slides.
Speaker CShow them units as you're talking.
Speaker CLike, I do a lot of these from the office, so we have displays there.
Speaker CSo a lot of times I'll turn the camera around to go, hey, here's what this 19 seer infinity unit looks like.
Speaker CAnd you still continue to talk, just let them look at an object instead of you.
Speaker CI mean, that's what I found.
Speaker CWhen you see they're kind of starting to look away.
Speaker CI mean, you're going to learn about people and their eye contact with this, for sure.
Speaker CA lot of people will not look you in the face even through video.
Speaker CThey just look you in the face.
Speaker BOkay, 100% agree.
Speaker BAnyone else?
Speaker BWe're good.
Speaker BOkay, cool.
Speaker BYeah, great question, John.
Speaker BThat's really powerful.
Speaker BSomething else that I think Aaron was really wanting to cover with us is really looking at the big picture.
Speaker BThat's something that we've got to be.
Speaker BAnd I 100% agree we've got to be.
Speaker BSo just basically not concerned, but acknowledge people's concern and how we do that.
Speaker BSo I know that's something you really want to cover today as well.
Speaker CAaron, I think people are scared right now.
Speaker CYou know, they're uncertain of what's going on, how long this is going to last.
Speaker CYou know, financially, everybody's kind of, you know, a lot of your customers that had great income are now wondering and, you know, even getting unemployment's an issue at this point.
Speaker CSo people are scared about that aspect.
Speaker CThey're scared that you're going to give them something, that somebody has to come in your house.
Speaker CSo it's kind of uncertainty.
Speaker CSo I think we're a necessity.
Speaker CSo that's one thing that, I mean, even though, yes, they live without air conditioning, 50 years ago, they lived without heat.
Speaker CAnd it's not the way it works anymore.
Speaker CEspecially people that have these breathing problems and things like that when it turns.
Speaker CSo we just had a little flash of 80 degrees the last couple days.
Speaker CAnd I mean, we had service calls ringing off the hook yesterday.
Speaker CSo people are concerned.
Speaker CThey're going to react when the weather reacts, so they're still going to be there.
Speaker CSo your job is to say, hey, this process is still the same.
Speaker CWe're still here for you.
Speaker CSo our commerc.
Speaker CBasically where, hey, we're still here, you know, we're an essential service.
Speaker CWe're still here to serve you.
Speaker CWe did have to change how we do business a little bit.
Speaker CPeople are scared, so you have to give them.
Speaker CYou know, initially I wouldn't got into financing options until 3/4 through a presentation, but now I'm like, hey, here's what we got.
Speaker CWe've got 0% interest for up to 72 months, which we've never had before.
Speaker CWe've got no payments, no interest for 18 or 24 months.
Speaker CYou know, we just, we added in those options to help ease people's minds with this.
Speaker CYou know, this is a big purchase.
Speaker CI don't have a job anymore, I'm unemployment, I'm not working or whatever.
Speaker CWe had a physician yesterday that installing a system for tomorrow.
Speaker CAnd she basically said look I don't have time for any of this.
Speaker CJust give me some prices, you know, on break, can you shoot me some prices?
Speaker CAnd we literally done the whole thing through text.
Speaker CSo that's how fast it went.
Speaker CYou know, she was already our customer of course so she confidence was already there and she's like I'm not going to be home.
Speaker CNobody in my house is going to be home.
Speaker CCan you put it in when nobody's home?
Speaker CYou know.
Speaker CSo we've adapted.
Speaker CYou know, normally that's a little weird but hey, in today's times we're definitely open to doing things like that.
Speaker CBig picture is they still need heating and air.
Speaker CSo your job is probably one of the best out there except maybe a plumber when they start flushing all these non flushable wipes.
Speaker CBut our jobs are going to be secure.
Speaker CIt may be a little different than we were before.
Speaker CThe peak may not be a peak.
Speaker CYou don't have people looking for replacements unless they have to.
Speaker CMaybe there's a lot of people that this time of the year we're kind of lucky it happened at this time of the year because there's a need for us right now.
Speaker CYou know, people have problems last season, they know it and they're going to address them.
Speaker CSo we still have business versus a lot of people can't go to work.
Speaker CSo I just think for us don't get too wrapped up into it.
Speaker CWhether you believe hype or not hype or whatever, you know, it's what it is.
Speaker CBusiness is usual for us with a lot of precautions.
Speaker CThat's kind of the way we're going to business with it.
Speaker BRight.
Speaker BQuick side note too, Aaron has graciously volunteered.
Speaker BThey had a graphic built for their organization that somebody made that is just a no contact service technician.
Speaker BThis really cool little logo that's got like the mask on.
Speaker BThe service technician made a post about it in the close it now Facebook group.
Speaker BIf you would any volunteered if you would like the actual file for that, the clear file to just find that post in the Facebook group and shoot him a message or comment below.
Speaker BAnd he said he's happy to send that over.
Speaker BSo anybody who wants that to use on your marketing and your business, on your website, whatever he's volunteered that for us.
Speaker BSo thank you for Aaron, for that.
Speaker BIt's really generous of you.
Speaker CI think you have to right now get people out there to know you're still there, because people are wondering, is this place open?
Speaker CIs that place open?
Speaker CCan I still call these people?
Speaker CMe and my wife have those conversations every day of, is this place still open?
Speaker CI wonder what their hours are now.
Speaker CI wonder what they're doing.
Speaker CYou know, and restaurants have a really good job at reacting here locally.
Speaker CWhere we're at with, hey, we deliver now.
Speaker CHey, we do this.
Speaker CAnd they're getting that word out, and I think we need to too.
Speaker CSo, like I said, we immediately jumped on, changed our TV commercials, changed, you know, any kind of marketing advertising.
Speaker CWe do Facebook, and then we are actually upping our SEO game.
Speaker CSo we're gonna up our online presence because that's where everybody's at right now.
Speaker CThey're at home, they're online, they're on their TV now.
Speaker CSo those are the options we think are gonna get more people and more people's attention.
Speaker CSo, you know, TV and SEO are where we're sticking our money right now.
Speaker BAbsolutely.
Speaker B100% agree.
Speaker BYeah.
Speaker BThis is.
Speaker BI mean, look at how the profits and the businesses that have soared right now, you know, all the subscription services, Netflix, all of the video streaming services, Peloton, anything that is can be done.
Speaker BVirtually all of those businesses are going through the freaking roof.
Speaker BAnd there's no reason that we can't do the same thing as well.
Speaker BIf you're definitely the time to reallocate marketing budget to digital means and online and kind of thing, and like I said, TV goes, wow, it's amazing.
Speaker BSo I'm going to jump to a question from Preston Hayden in the comments here real quick.
Speaker BCustomer decides to move forward.
Speaker BAre you letting them know this is an estimate and a site visit is required before we do the install?
Speaker CI think it depends on how comfortable you are with the information you got.
Speaker CAgain, if it's our existing customer, I know I don't need to know if it's a new customer and you have a doubt whether it's an 80 or 90% furnace, for some reason, they can't furnish that information.
Speaker CI think you definitely have to, but I think you have to be a little bit flexible with that and maybe let your install guys wing it and run them what they need.
Speaker CI mean, that's kind of the way we're going with it.
Speaker CGet the customer schedule, they will be there.
Speaker CAnd, you know, we've adjusted to having Extra parts runners to be able to take the 90% furnace that we sent the 80% furnace instead.
Speaker CSo we're kind of adapting that really.
Speaker CI think it's how comfort you are and the customer.
Speaker CWe are a little lack on signing documents.
Speaker CWe do.
Speaker CYou can have digitally signed documents.
Speaker CBut we're really trying to make it comfortable for everybody.
Speaker CIf they don't have the aptitude to do the E signatures and things like that, then we're kind of letting that go by the wayside right now.
Speaker BYeah, I agree.
Speaker CYou guys are starting some jobs without getting signatures first.
Speaker BI get the why, but that can.
Speaker CBe a little risky.
Speaker CWell, with my company, you pay before we start.
Speaker CSo we don't start any job till payments in full or you're financed.
Speaker CSo that's why.
Speaker CBeen doing that for years.
Speaker CSo for us, it's not really a risk.
Speaker CI get it.
Speaker CIf you're in an area where you're letting them do the hey, pay when we're done.
Speaker CI get that.
Speaker CBut we usually already have a credit card authorized or we have financing secured or whatever.
Speaker CRight.
Speaker CAnd we take half up front typically.
Speaker COr have financing secured.
Speaker CSo the money's not necessarily the concern.
Speaker CIt's the formal agreement between both parties.
Speaker CRight.
Speaker CI think if you communicate email back and forth with each other and you send them a final estimate and maybe have another follow up conversation with them or have them respond to the email, I think that would cover that part for you.
Speaker CAs long as you get a yes, I like this, or you know, no, I want to change this, or whatever.
Speaker BYeah.
Speaker BIn that case, it seems like it would be just the crew that's going out say, okay, great, before we get started, let's go ahead and get your signature on this.
Speaker BWould basically cover that base pretty easy.
Speaker BWithout getting it.
Speaker BI think Dan's concern is.
Speaker BDan's on my team.
Speaker BWe've had projects where we get into halfway through the project and all of a sudden the client says, that's not what I wanted.
Speaker BAnd I never signed that.
Speaker BAnd then now the intention of the client is to get more than they were paying for because they were trying to use that as a leverage.
Speaker BBut yeah, I think the easy solution would be just have inform the crew and set that expectation with them of before you get anything out of the truck, go over everything with the homeowner and go ahead and get the signature first and then that's an easy way to clear it up.
Speaker CRight?
Speaker BYep.
Speaker BGood stuff.
Speaker BSo cool.
Speaker BCool.
Speaker BYeah, it's a great question.
Speaker BSo let's go to when you're presenting.
Speaker BWe've gone through this process and there's a ton of different theories and concepts, but we all know that when you present at the table.
Speaker BSo take the virtual side out of it.
Speaker BWhen we're going to a traditional sales visit, when you present at the table, the energy is high, the excitement is high and to lock it in immediately is the ideal situation.
Speaker BNow, not having the ability, because I know everyone has different levels of.
Speaker BSome people are doing handwritten pricing, some people have pages, some people have the virtual, virtual presentation.
Speaker BSo how are you guys handling that?
Speaker BAre you doing a screen share?
Speaker BOkay, here is our different systems, here's the different prices.
Speaker BLet's go ahead and lock in right now.
Speaker BAre you sending an email with prices and then communicating that way?
Speaker BHow's that kind of working for you?
Speaker CSo we have set systems.
Speaker CWe sell.
Speaker CSo the most thing we sell are certain types of.
Speaker CSo there's really about three different templates.
Speaker CSo we are screen sharing with them on the estimates.
Speaker CWe recommend this one to you and go from there.
Speaker CAnd when we start getting the pushback from the price, the payment, whatever, we're back down to the next step below.
Speaker CBut we initially are going to recommend what you're getting when we, especially doing video presentations, I think that, hey, here's where we've answered your questions.
Speaker CWe do give customers ranges, you know, when we first start.
Speaker CNow, this is going to cost you anywhere from 8,000 to 25,000.
Speaker CSo here's your expectations.
Speaker CSo nobody gets a heart attack whenever there is a, you know, hey, I want the best.
Speaker CWell, it's $25,000.
Speaker CSo we get that out of the way to start with.
Speaker CWe make sure that you're not thinking this is going to cost 2,000 to start with.
Speaker CSo we really are, you know, our guys are really good at pushing.
Speaker CThis is the product we're recommending based on what you've told us.
Speaker CSo this is addressing all the needs.
Speaker CSo it goes back to the sales process.
Speaker CWe're really recommending that now.
Speaker CIf they can't afford that for some reason, then we'll go to, hey, here's some other options for you.
Speaker CBut again, we're using mainly three templates.
Speaker CWe have templates basically, and we've made it so simple.
Speaker CThere are three different colors.
Speaker CSo when we're talking to customers, they're like, hey, I like the blue one, I like the green.
Speaker COur green ones are of course, what we call our green speed, our 20s here.
Speaker CSo it's the green one and this is the energy conscious one.
Speaker CSo you Know, we start with that one a lot of times and go down to our 19 into our 17 and things like that.
Speaker CSo they have three colors to pick from.
Speaker CSo they're like, I like the wife is I like the blue one, I like the yellow one.
Speaker CSo it simplifies the process.
Speaker CAnd then they can look at the slides all they want.
Speaker CAnd while you're talking to them, you can say, hey, so you can flip back and forth if you want, I can email these to you right now or we can text them to you or whatever's easiest for you.
Speaker CYou are giving your prices out, but things are changing.
Speaker CThis is the way it is.
Speaker CAnd to be honest, we're not scared of our prices.
Speaker CYou know, we know where we're at, we know where we need to be.
Speaker CSo I don't care if anybody has my prices, to be honest.
Speaker BSure, I totally agree.
Speaker BThe concern, I think a lot of times is if I let them, there's a whole concept of kind of a mental headspace and just kind of covering this.
Speaker BThe concern a lot of people have, well, if I let them go, they're not coming back.
Speaker BBut you know, honestly, I function from a lot, and I know you do too, because we've talked enough function from a much more of an abundance mindset of it is what it is.
Speaker BThis is us.
Speaker BThis is our prices.
Speaker BWe're better than everybody else.
Speaker BThe people that are going to choose us are going to choose us.
Speaker BIf they do it today or tomorrow, if I email back and forth, they're still going to go with us.
Speaker BIt's not a loss if I don't sell it right at that second.
Speaker BThat's kind of that.
Speaker BListen, they can do their due diligence and they're going to find out that we are the best relative to anything else that they're going to look at either way.
Speaker BSo don't get yourself so concerned in the fear of if I don't close it right now, I'm not going to close it at all.
Speaker CRight.
Speaker CBut I think you could still have just as accessible closing rate as you did before doing this.
Speaker CYou're actually being a little more personal with them.
Speaker CAnd then with us, a lot of times we'll have certain things we can give them at the time of the appointment.
Speaker CSo, you know, while you're doing this, we're actually installing these air cleaners for anybody that can go in at this certain time period or things like that, putting a little deadline on what you have.
Speaker CI mean, our estimates are only good for days for us.
Speaker CAnd then we have a lot of rebates that we have from utility companies and things and we always make sure everybody knows their deadline.
Speaker CSo there's a little implied pressure there.
Speaker CYou know, definitely no hard pressure at all, but gives them time.
Speaker CAnd I think once you go through and they see the time that you spend, if you're still doing the same process you did before, you beat 90% of the people out there, you know, because they're writing their prices on napkins and just prices, not really explaining things to them.
Speaker CAnd that's the key to this for us is, you know, our guys explain the difference between a five stage unit and a two stage unit and a single stage unit, what the benefits are to the customer.
Speaker CAnd 80% of the companies out there don't explain that to customers.
Speaker BNo.
Speaker B100% agree.
Speaker B100% agree.
Speaker BI'm going to be just a little bit self serving here real quick because I know three of my team are on this call.
Speaker BWould you mind just real quick because we've got a little bit of time.
Speaker BYou explain the difference between maybe your green speed and your 19s here.
Speaker BJust that you're too top right.
Speaker CSo we use a lot of car analogies and things like that.
Speaker CWe do it to really relate to the customer.
Speaker COur green speed is our inverter, of course.
Speaker CSo the inverter really doesn't have a size.
Speaker CIt can be anything it needs to be.
Speaker CSo for you, you're only using the power that you need to heat and cool the home.
Speaker CSo that's where the efficiency is at.
Speaker CSo here locally we've had a lot of mild winters, so you could imagine if you're only using a quarter of the power of a unit to do the same thing in your house to reach the desired temperature.
Speaker CHere's how much money you're saving.
Speaker CThe five stage, which is the 19s here.
Speaker CSo this one has five stages.
Speaker CSo it's kind of like in your car if you had a manual car that had the stick shift, it's kind of the same scenario.
Speaker CSo there's still huge savings over like a single stage.
Speaker CBut the inverter dials in exactly what you need and only uses what you need every time.
Speaker CSo I mean, that's a quick, you know, thing.
Speaker CWe have a little bit more complicated process than that.
Speaker BSure.
Speaker BThank you.
Speaker BThat's great.
Speaker BI know that'll help my team.
Speaker BThe conversation everyone always has is, you know, it's easy to differentiate single stage, two stage.
Speaker BAnd this is for everyone with every brand because we all have similar models.
Speaker BIt's easy to differentiate between single stage to two stage and two stage to when you get into your highest end equipment.
Speaker BBut I know the biggest concern that most people and one of the most questions that I get is how do you differentiate between the top couple systems in any brand?
Speaker BBecause they are so similar, they're scared that homeowners will say well why should I go with the very top one?
Speaker BBecause this one's almost the same thing.
Speaker CWell, really for us it's like the winters we had this year.
Speaker COur winter was so mild.
Speaker CYou're heating 4 ton unit, I mean 4 ton homes with 2 tons of energy and you have that capability with that.
Speaker CSo it really depends on the price difference and if you can break it down and kind of show them where they're gonna get the payback on it.
Speaker CSo you know, if we're only using a quarter of the power versus on the five stage you're going to be using a third.
Speaker CYou know, you can kind of break that down to them.
Speaker CReally it's about for me, people want the best, you know.
Speaker CSo when you're focusing on it, you know this is still only a five step.
Speaker CSo you kind of have to downplay the five stage, you know, it's still a five stage unit.
Speaker CHow are you handling the objection that they have roughly the same seer, SEER rating and your rating because you're saying savings from efficiency.
Speaker CIf they're savvy enough, they're going to look at the SEER rating and they're.
Speaker BThey're pretty close.
Speaker CRight.
Speaker CYou know, you focus on for us the green speed side.
Speaker CSo we're selling the 26 year now that just came out like literally it just hit last week.
Speaker CSo we have the 26 seer inverter carriers available now.
Speaker BSo that jealous.
Speaker BWe're not getting those for another couple weeks.
Speaker CYeah, they're eliminating the 20 where we're at.
Speaker CSo this is going to make it super easy.
Speaker CThat exact scenario you just explained.
Speaker CNow we have a 19 seer and a 26 here and they're going to phase out the 19 seer even for.
Speaker CSo that's kind of helped us with that.
Speaker CBut to answer the question basically on here it depends on the weather, you still are using only the energy you need.
Speaker CNow literally we can be a 0.3 ton if that's what it needs to be at that time.
Speaker CAnd you kind of.
Speaker CI do a lot of drawings with this, so I'll do drawings I'll actually draw.
Speaker CSo you have a 4 ton unit and here's what you're doing.
Speaker CSo we sell here Louisville, so we have a lot of dual fuel.
Speaker CNow, you guys probably don't have as much down there, but we do a lot of heat pumps with dual fuel.
Speaker CSo here it's a great selling in this area because of the heating side.
Speaker CThe HSPF on the green speeds versus your 19.
Speaker CYou're still getting a pretty good boost from that.
Speaker CYou have a lot of propane?
Speaker CYeah, we do a lot of propane and then even dual fuel here.
Speaker CBecause gas here used to be really expensive right now it's cheap.
Speaker CGas used to be really expensive.
Speaker CSo we had a huge heat pump boom in the last 10 years here.
Speaker BRight.
Speaker CSo, yeah, I mean, you know, knowledgeable wise, if you break it down, is there a lot of savings?
Speaker CIf that temperature is a normal summer and that's 95 degr all summer long, there's a lot longer payback on that green speed.
Speaker CBut with the green speed now with the warranties they're offering things like that.
Speaker CI don't know what you guys have.
Speaker CLike, we get 12 years on a green speed and only 10 years on an infinity.
Speaker CSo they're starting to separate those units to give you a little more selling power.
Speaker CBut 19 seers are bread and butter.
Speaker CLike I said, our average sale, we do 17 seer.
Speaker CYou know, we do a lot of 17 seer two stage still, but we sell the most green speeds of anybody around.
Speaker BYeah, I think the same works for our company as well.
Speaker BSo.
Speaker BYeah.
Speaker BSo let's open it up for some just kind of general Q and A, I think.
Speaker BAre you still good on time for a few more minutes, Aaron?
Speaker CYep.
Speaker BOkay, perfect.
Speaker BAppreciate that.
Speaker BLet's see.
Speaker BI'm seeing a few mutes undoing and doing.
Speaker BRob, you got a question there?
Speaker DYeah, quick question.
Speaker DLike, I'm newer to residential, but, you know, not new to the industry.
Speaker DBut so with that 26 year and the 19 seer or 20s here, we talked about energy.
Speaker DWhat about comfort levels?
Speaker DWhat does that do?
Speaker DIs there anything that's worth talking about.
Speaker CDehumidification features in them?
Speaker CDehumidification?
Speaker CThe units are quieter, the physical footprints, so there's still a lot of that.
Speaker CSo the 26 seer is.
Speaker CIs a lot smaller animal than even a 17 seer.
Speaker CSo quietness wise, but as far.
Speaker CAnd it's really about efficiency with that stuff.
Speaker CI mean, that's what you were focused on.
Speaker COr what I do anyway is payback.
Speaker CThere's a lot of dehumidification.
Speaker CThere's a lot of stuff for a technician side that is Going to be a benefit to them.
Speaker CWe have a lot more tools with the connected portals now with these higher efficiency units.
Speaker CWe, we use that to the full extent.
Speaker CI don't know if anybody knows what these are, but it's where if they have an infinity or a communicating thermostat, we have a portal and we can actually go into it and we can reset it.
Speaker CWe can change your temperature.
Speaker CYou have to, you know, allow us these, you know, when they set it up and we set it up for them.
Speaker CBut we, we can kind of say, look, we can check on your system for you and monitor for you through this portal.
Speaker CYou know, so when a person comes in and says, man, I can't get my heat to come on, we can literally go to the computer, hit a button, and turn the heat on for them.
Speaker BSomething too.
Speaker BYou know, it's funny because I do a ton of the high end as well and actually focus more on comfort than I do efficiency.
Speaker BSo it's funny that we're kind of opposite sides of that coin.
Speaker BMy thing that what I usually.
Speaker BAnd here's a great turn of phrase that any of you guys can use is listen.
Speaker BNow, Rob, I've done this long enough that, you know, in all of the thousands of systems I've installed, I've never once had somebody come to me and say, you know what, Sam?
Speaker BI wish I'd gone with that cheaper system, but I have had people come back to me and say, you know what, this one's great, but, man, I wish I would have sprung that little bit of extra for the better one.
Speaker BA great way to handle that conversation.
Speaker CAnd the green speed's amazing on the heating side.
Speaker CI know in Texas you guys don't have this as much, but here we get so much.
Speaker CI mean, our heat pumps here go down to zero before they ever kick over.
Speaker CSo, I mean, we're heating the homes at zero with a heat pump.
Speaker BYeah, I've got a picture of my thermostat.
Speaker BIt's 8 degrees outside.
Speaker BIt's blowing 100 degrees out of my.
Speaker BMy air vent with that one.
Speaker BSo.
Speaker BAll right, yeah, let's.
Speaker BLet's circle back real quick and just kind of nutshell this.
Speaker BSo the virtual appointment, we kind of got into the weeds a little bit with system presentation, but just a quick plug here.
Speaker BAlso, the cell, the group coaching, if you've got some value from this.
Speaker BThis is something that basically I do every single week.
Speaker BMonday nights at 8pm Central, I do the OSTA group online coaching like this for sales training.
Speaker BI've Opened it up.
Speaker BIt's typically $300 a month.
Speaker BI've opened it up free of charge to anyone who wants to attend from now until the end of April.
Speaker BSo that's my way of kind of helping everyone through this, through the pandemic, you know, whatever it is.
Speaker BBut there's no reason that you guys can't be crushing it.
Speaker BAnd so these are a lot of the topics that we cover every single week.
Speaker BIn fact, tomorrow night, the topic is going to be exactly what we were talking about.
Speaker BHow to present systems in a way that makes sense to people, in the way that we've designed our presentation, that we train instantly, people will disqualify themselves from the basic equipment and they'll start choose.
Speaker BWe hear all the time.
Speaker BI know the people on the on the call that are on my team will definitely tell you that, man.
Speaker BPeople tell me all the time, well, I don't want anything from that level.
Speaker BLet's only look at these top ones because of the way they explain it.
Speaker BSo they're making that.
Speaker BIt's kind of.
Speaker BIt's like Inception.
Speaker BWe're planting those seeds along the way and then they're telling us, no, let's go.
Speaker BOnly go with the top stuff.
Speaker BSo that's how we present our systems in such a way that they choose that before you can even ask, hey, which one you know would be a best fit for you.
Speaker BSo it's really cool.
Speaker BSo that's going to be the topic tomorrow if you would like to.
Speaker BSo go to the Facebook group, shoot me a message, drop a comment in whatever.
Speaker BShoot me a message, drop a comment below.
Speaker BAny of that.
Speaker BIf you would like to be part of that group, that sales training group.
Speaker BIt's a zoom meeting just like this.
Speaker BBut yeah, so it's open, it's free till the end of April.
Speaker BI would just want to help everyone rise above the your competition.
Speaker BSo that's a quick little blurb about that.
Speaker BBut the virtual appointment is something that where Aaron and I have been doing for years and years and even, gosh, I've sold top of the line green speeds literally over the phone without them sending pictures.
Speaker BI was, you know, popped in for five minutes.
Speaker BThe babysitter let me in the house to look and then I just called them and they're traveling and have done that.
Speaker BSo it's definitely.
Speaker BIt's about the conversation.
Speaker BIt's about building the value.
Speaker BIt's not about.
Speaker BThis is totally different.
Speaker BIt's not a different animal than we've always done.
Speaker BIt's just using the Right tools and handling properly.
Speaker BSo don't be scared of it.
Speaker BI do recommend, if at all possible, whenever you can set up a video call because it is more powerful.
Speaker BAt the same time, it doesn't mean that you can't be just as equally effective through just texting pictures and having a phone conversation, whatever.
Speaker BBut build the value.
Speaker BDon't skip the part of, hey, our clients tell us it's important to know about the company they're working with.
Speaker BI'd like to take a second and cover that with you.
Speaker BWould that be all right?
Speaker BAnd then go through the same process you normally would.
Speaker BThis is really important.
Speaker BSo I want to be conscious of everybody's time.
Speaker BBut any other questions, thoughts, comments before we kind of wrap up today?
Speaker DSorry, you know, Rob's got one.
Speaker DAaron, what do you think about what's the negativities that you've run into with the virtual appointments?
Speaker COlder people who aren't technology savvy, they're kind of still against it.
Speaker CSo I think you're gonna have a lot of them still kind of waiting to do anything with you.
Speaker CSo, you know, the negatives would be, you lose some of the personal stuff if you're not able to figure out where the customer is comfortable.
Speaker CSo that's the most important thing.
Speaker CI mean, a lot of them are going to be more comfortable on the phone, having a phone conversation, but I think you're going to lose a little bit if you just do that.
Speaker CI think you need to try the video thing to definitely get them comfortable with it.
Speaker CI mean, we're going to flourish in this time right now because again, we have two homeowners, you know, the wife and husband together.
Speaker CDecision makers are there at the table with you.
Speaker CSo as long as you're building the rapport, they like you.
Speaker CI think it's still as easy as it ever was in my mind.
Speaker DYou know, the only things that I see as being a hiccup is you sell the job.
Speaker DMaybe if it's your customer existing.
Speaker DI'd hate to get to a job and say, all right, man, I only got three tons of air and I got put a five ton unit in.
Speaker CWell, you know, check your square footage of the house and you're going to have those hiccups probably.
Speaker CBut I mean, you can go on Zillow and check the square footage of a house, you know, and just do a drive by.
Speaker CYou don't necessarily.
Speaker CI mean, you can literally go to the outdoor unit, look yourself.
Speaker CI mean, even though this is a virtual appointment, you can still physically Go look at the.
Speaker CI mean, I did an appointment Friday outside the customer's house by their air conditioner unit.
Speaker CYou know, just exactly doing what we're doing here.
Speaker CSo I physically came to the house, you know, and I can look and see, hey, is there a 90% vent sticking out of the side of the house or not?
Speaker CSo you can get more information without ever physically going into the house.
Speaker BRight.
Speaker BCool.
Speaker DThank you.
Speaker BYeah.
Speaker BRob, John Hurst, I think I saw your unmute there.
Speaker BDid you have a question?
Speaker BYeah.
Speaker BSo when it comes to your presentation itself, have you been keeping the same duration for the most part, are you.
Speaker DStreamlining a little bit?
Speaker BLike, I know if I'm showing them slides, can't really gauge their reaction very well.
Speaker CYou know, really, for me, it depends on what question they're answering.
Speaker CYou know, just like when you're in the house, some people you're getting information and not giving your reaction at all.
Speaker CI think it's the same with the.
Speaker CYou have to gauge and ask questions and get to it.
Speaker CJust listen for the objections.
Speaker CI mean, I think it's just the atypical sales call with it.
Speaker CI don't think it changes it or makes it harder or anything I haven't personally gotten.
Speaker CAnd again, this has only been pushing for about two weeks now, but my closing rate's the same.
Speaker CIt really hasn't changed.
Speaker CAnd we close about 80% at the time of the appointment.
Speaker CSo, you know, I don't really see that changing yet.
Speaker CAnd your competitors aren't going to do a lot of this stuff, so they're still wanting to come to the house.
Speaker CSo it kind of eliminates a lot of your competition.
Speaker BYeah, that's true.
Speaker B100% agree.
Speaker BRight now, I'm rocking.
Speaker BYeah, I think I'm at like 55% close rate for the month, which is for our area.
Speaker BIt's pretty solid.
Speaker BSo I'm not seeing any type of drop in numbers or anything either.
Speaker BIt's been awesome.
Speaker BRight.
Speaker BOn other questions before we wrap this up, I just passed you.
Speaker CI'm at 61%.
Speaker BWay to go, man.
Speaker BI love it.
Speaker BI love it, I love it.
Speaker BYeah.
Speaker BSo that's definitely doable.
Speaker BThis is the time to.
Speaker BWhen big things happen in the world, we can sit around and we can mope about them and complain and gripe, or you can grab it by the horns and say, how can we make this an opportunity and not a problem?
Speaker BAnd so that's what we're doing here.
Speaker BWe're making it an opportunity because like the great Jim Rome said, the winds of life blow the same on every single person.
Speaker BIt's how you set your sails that determines if you're going to get to your destination or if you're going to get bashed into the rock.
Speaker BAnd so we're setting ourselves for success here.
Speaker CSo you can do most of it from home and never go there.
Speaker CAnd, I mean, it's easier.
Speaker CI mean, just to be honest, my guys love it.
Speaker CI can do this from my house.
Speaker CThey're setting up rooms in their house with banners behind them, carrier.
Speaker CYou can use virtual backgrounds and zoom of whatever product you're selling or whatever.
Speaker CSo they actually are kind of excited about they're staying home with their families and selling.
Speaker BOh, yeah.
Speaker BYou know, at the end of the day, if your average appointment is, you know, mine's about an hour or so, I can see more people.
Speaker BI did all day Friday, sitting right here in my shorts with no shoes on in between, I can hit the kitchen and grab a coffee or something and it's great.
Speaker BI love it.
Speaker BThis is honestly, in my mind, the coolest thing that's happened in the industry since anything since WI Fi.
Speaker BI don't know.
Speaker BI really, really am excited about this time right now.
Speaker CAnd I'm hoping we don't go all the way back to the way we used to be.
Speaker CI hope this becomes a norm.
Speaker BYeah.
Speaker BOh, totally agree.
Speaker BYou know, there was a call Friday that in one of the other groups, Pete Ramsey's H Vac Greatness, they hosted a call and had Weldon Long on.
Speaker BHe was the guest speaker.
Speaker BAnd he was saying the same thing.
Speaker BHe's like, you know, every industry traditionally, that when there was a move to virtual and online, a lot of times people were really resistant to it until they found out how good it really was.
Speaker BAnd then seeing the efficiency numbers go up, everything go up.
Speaker BAnd then you compare those companies to the companies in the same industries that didn't make the transition.
Speaker BThey were left behind.
Speaker BAnd I really think there's going to be a big shift in our industry where companies that aren't embracing it or the people that are really resistant to it, we're going to probably see a lot more doors closed, and the companies that are embracing it are going to pick up the lion's share of that difference.
Speaker BAnd it's really exciting.
Speaker BCool.
Speaker BWell, everyone have a fantastic Sunday.
Speaker BThanks for hanging out with us for an hour.
Speaker BSo in the Facebook group, if you have more questions, just put them under the actual post that had the zoom link.
Speaker BPop your questions in there.
Speaker BErin and myself will jump in and answer your questions if and when they pop up.
Speaker BOtherwise, if you would like to start to participate in the group coaching that I'm doing for free until the end of April, it's Monday night, shoot me a message.
Speaker BOr you can also put that in the comments of those same posts and I'll make sure that you get the link to that.
Speaker BOtherwise, thanks for hanging out with us.
Speaker BThis has been Close it now, our special edition for how to host a virtual sales call.
Speaker BThis is going to be turned into a podcast and actually I'm going to use this as a YouTube video as well.
Speaker BSo thanks for everyone for hanging out.
Speaker BUntil we meet again.
Speaker BGo save the world one heat stroke at a time.
Speaker BI'll talk to you guys later.
Speaker AThanks for listening to Close it now with Sam Wakefield.
Speaker ASubscribe to the podcast now so you're first to hear new episodes jam packed with actionable tools and tips to make you the top H Vac professional in your market.
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