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.

Yo, what is going on today?

Sam Wakefield here with the Close it now podcast, solar and H Vac sales training.

And as you know by now, we dive into a lot of other things.

My goal is to bring you perspective outside of the industry, to help within the industry because heck, I don't want you to get stuck in the rut with blinders on and miss what's going on in the outside world because it happens to us sometimes.

I've been guilty of it myself.

So I'm stoked today to talk about a topic that's actually very passionate about, very near and dear to my heart.

Something called the moment of rapport.

So we're gonna dive into that today.

Thanks for tuning in.

I am so excited.

So today let's do the segment of what's in your cup.

And right now, actually it's much later in the day.

It's about 7:30 in the day for me.

So I've already blown through the coffee of the day.

But if you find beans somewhere in anywhere in the actually anywhere around the world.

Cause I know there's 20, 25 countries that listen to this podcast where what are you drinking?

When it comes to coffee, I'm a coffee fanatic, a coffee snob if you will.

And so I would love to hear about any really unique coffees.

If there's.

I'm not super into flavored coffees, but if you are, I want to know about it.

If it's an unusual flavor, if you're like man Sam, you just got to try this, let me know.

Shoot me an email samoseitnow.net and send me a bag.

Heck, I'll give it a try.

We'll give you a shout out on the show if it's worth drinking.

If it's not worth drinking, I'll still give you a shout out, but you might catch it a little bit.

But no, I'm always into trying new Coffees find out what's going on.

If you come to my town, you come to Austin, Texas, I will take you on a coffee adventure.

And there are some fantastic high level, world class coffee shops here in Austin, Texas that you have to check out.

But today, earlier I drank some coffee from Bones Coffee.

It was a chocolate mole, so if you've ever it was a little bit spicy.

Pretty rich.

So that's enough of the what's in your cup.

But I want to know what's in your cup.

That's what was in my cup today.

Let me know what is in your cup and we'll keep the coffee adventure going around the world.

But today I'm super excited to dive into the topic.

It's called the moment of rapport.

It's something I've been thinking about for a long time.

And they're just in every sales call.

In fact, not just every sales call, in every conversation.

When you meet somebody new or when you're in any type of interaction, this all originates from anytime something new is introduced to an environment, what happens?

This could be even maybe your family or a sales team or your company.

Somebody new comes in and what happens.

Everybody's guard goes up a little bit, that wall goes up a little bit, Shoulders are tense and there's a time that passes.

Even if they were introduced as the most amazing person ever, they're could not be enough accolades about this person when they're introduced.

It doesn't matter.

It's something new in an environment.

So what happens is that guard is up and it's a length of time that will pass until the guard drops and all of a sudden everybody loosens up.

You start joking with the person and everybody's just at ease.

Now what happened?

That is called the moment of rapport.

I don't know that I've heard this anywhere else.

It's something I've just been thinking about that I came up with.

If I did hear it from somewhere, I would love to give credit where it goes.

But I'm fairly confident actually came up with that not too long ago.

But it's really, really, really important.

So it came from just studying the psychology and just understanding how that works.

But then when you apply it to a sales appointment, this can be in home or it could be virtual.

Either one, it doesn't matter.

The same thing happens.

That's why at the beginning of an appointment, what do we do?

You don't just dive right into content.

You don't dive right into what.

What you're there for.

Exactly.

You're not diving right into technical stuff.

What you do is introduction.

You've got introduction.

And what I'm not talking about.

And this is where so many people screw up rapport and have screwed it up for so long.

You know, 20, 30 years ago, form was the way that people were taught to build rapport.

You know, family, occupation, recreation, you know, and the material things in that order to build rapport.

But it's ridiculous.

That's the way of the past.

You don't go into somebody's house and be like, this is not how to build rapport.

But tell me, if you raise your hand if you've ever done this, I've been guilty myself.

Raise your hand if you.

Even worse, you've experienced this.

Somebody comes in and like, oh, you have a dog.

I have a dog.

You like the Dallas Cowboys?

I like the Dallas Cowboys.

My gosh.

You play golf?

I play golf.

Well, who cares, right?

You are there to be a professional.

You don't go to the doctor and expect them to come in and be like, oh, I'm going to play golf next week.

You want to come with me?

No, of course not.

That's ridiculous.

They're professional.

They come in, they ask the direct, pointed questions to figure out what's going on, find out why you're there, and so they can recommend a solution to the problem.

Maybe they run tests, maybe not.

But they're friendly, but they're not there to be your friend.

So we have to treat our appointments the same way.

And again, this is either virtual or in person.

It doesn't matter.

It's the same thing.

So the way to build rapport is through one.

Through a really well crafted introduction.

And the introduction, it's a simple formula.

You want to start with the bigger picture first.

And it all starts with the permission questions.

Everything you do is permission based.

And you introduce it something like this.

Hey, our clients tell us it's important to know about the company they're working with.

Company and the person I'd like to take a second to introduce myself.

Would that be all right?

Sure.

Okay, great.

So my company is.

And then the formula is really, really simple.

It sounds like this.

It's award, or basically it's fact, fact, heart.

You know, that's the formula.

Fact, fact, heart.

So award, award.

I like the company because it does this, or we care for people because of that.

And then the same thing with yourself.

Fact, fact, heart is the formula for introducing anything.

That's when you're introducing another person.

That's when you're introducing A company.

What's when you're introducing yourself in the company.

So the fact fact for example, for myself would be I've been in home improvement for 18 years.

Fact, I owned my own company, my own home improvement home performance company for five years and I moved across the state, became a sales trainer and sales manager for a large company for several years.

And now I focus on caring for people and helping them solve the energy and comfort problems in their home.

Heart.

Right?

Fact fact heart.

So that's just a simple example I shot from the hip on.

But when you really think about and you craft it, that introduction does a couple things.

One, they get a little bit of a feel for who you are and at the same time we're in the environment and we're taking some time and while that time is being taken, they are getting used to you.

They're getting used to how you speak, how you look.

The guard is starting to go down.

And then what do we do?

We give them a quick agenda, have a plan for our meeting today to help you best and to be most efficient.

Like to go over that with you.

Great.

Cool.

So and then you go into the agenda but most importantly, start to discovery is first you start to ask the questions.

Have you ever sat down and looked at solar before?

Or have you ever.

How many other companies have you talked to about this problem?

Have you ever.

What was that experience like?

You know, what would you like to solve today?

Why are we even here?

We're starting to ask the so we start broad and then start to focus in more and more to the direct pointed questions.

What would you like to accomplish if it's solar, you're like, you know, what are your highest bills of the year?

What are the lowest bills?

What is your average?

What are you experiencing?

Is the environment important to you?

So we start to ask those questions.

If it's here, heating and air, if it's H vac, we're still asking the same questions.

Which rooms in the house in the summer are warmer than the others in the winter?

Which rooms are colder than you would like them to be?

Are all the rooms the same temperature?

And quick pop out.

I've got to make sure to grab the questionnaire out of the Facebook group.

It's for free.

You could download it in the files.

If you're not a member of the Facebook group, just go search, close it now in Facebook and it'll lead you right to the Facebook group.

Go join the group.

It's a totally positive, supportive group.

There's no bullying in there like A lot of the other heating and air Facebook groups and other solar groups.

But go join the group.

It is a 100% positive experience.

I'd love to be able to support you in there.

And also, it's a great place to ask questions.

There's 1700 members now, and it's just a great peer group.

But back to the topic, right?

So we start to ask the questions.

So just like a doctor, when they come in, why are you here today?

What's wrong?

What are you experiencing?

Is there any pain?

What's the level of pain?

Right?

Because if you go to the doctor and you have something wrong with your foot and they start checking out your shoulder, you're going to think they have no idea what they're doing.

You're going to think they're a quack because they didn't ask the questions.

You didn't get the chance to express what your concerns are.

It's the same thing when we go into a home or when you're sitting with somebody virtually.

You start to.

You've got to ask the questions.

You can't just prescribe something.

The house doesn't write the checks.

People write checks.

People buy what they want, not what they need.

Even if we know there's a solution that this house needs, who cares?

The homeowner is the one who writes the checks.

They're the ones that sign the papers.

So that's who we need to talk to.

What are your concerns?

What are you wanting to accomplish?

And as you go through this process, that is how true rapport is built.

Now, here's the thing about the introduction and discovery.

You know when that moment of rapport happens because shoulders drop, all of a sudden you feel the energy shift.

Everybody relaxes.

The.

You start to look at your watch, they look at their watch.

You cross your legs, they cross their legs.

And now the energy you're leading, the energy of the conversation.

If you've never experienced this, you just need to sit with more people.

And now that I've mentioned it, you'll be aware.

It's one of those mental shifts that you can now be aware of and with the awareness will change everything for you.

So now, now that you notice that moment of rapport, that mental shift, when that energy shifts, that is the only time that you can move forward in your appointment.

If that doesn't happen, do not leave the Discovery section.

Do not leave Discovery until that moment of rapport has happened.

Because what happens if you do?

You stay in the combat mode with the homeowner.

There's.

They see you as the salesperson that's there to take something from them.

They don't see you as somebody that is there to help them solve one of their problems.

The very second that moment of rapport happens, the energy shift changes and you slip into the consultant mode.

So you slide into consultant.

So now you're working together to solve the problems that they're saying they're having.

You're exposing the pain points.

You're letting them just tell you all about what they're wanting to accomplish, and then you've asked for permission to present the solutions.

And that is what a consultant does.

In fact, if you truly do this right, at some point, you're going to be working together and they're going to be helping you craft the solutions for their own problems.

So they take ownership of the process, they take ownership of the project.

And then when you get to the end, because now your consultant, they've worked, you know, they're highly involved and happily involved in the process.

They get to the end, and now they've taken, in their minds, they've taken partial ownership of this project already because they helped design it.

Do you think that the chance of them saying no is higher or lower?

Right.

Because now they own their own project.

It's interactive, and it's just a more fun experience for you and for them.

But it all revolves around that moment of rapport.

If that moment of rapport doesn't happen, you go through the process, and we've all been there.

It's like watching paint peel off a wall.

It's just so painful.

You go through.

They're not answering anything.

They're holding their cards close to their chest.

They're not answering any questions.

You.

And they just, like, they've got the blank stare on their face when you're presenting and you're like, this is.

I could have done a better presentation at home in my own bathroom, presenting to the toilet paper roll than to this homeowner.

Because they're not engaged.

They're not.

There's no participation, there's no action.

Why?

Because you did not wait for that moment of rapport to happen before you moved forward.

So that is the message today.

It's really, really powerful.

I know it's a simple concept, but it's a lot of work to master it.

I know there's a gentleman, Cam McBeth, he is one of the most experts at this that I know.

I'm going to actually have him as a guest on the podcast coming up soon.

But he is the master at Discovery the master at this moment of rapport, I've heard him tell stories of, you know, sitting in the home for 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45 minutes, strictly in discovery.

He will not move past that phase until this moment of rapport happens.

If they are not playing along and answering the questions the way you want them to and the guard has not gone down, don't move forward because it's just going to be a waste of time for you and them.

So we'll hear from Cam at some point.

He's a rock star and rockstar solar expert and he's a partner with.

Partner with a company that I'm involved with.

So we'll get him on here.

But it's so powerful.

You've got to have that moment of rapport if that doesn't happen.

And two, you can watch this in your own life.

You can practice this with your, with people you meet anywhere.

You can practice this with people at the grocery store, you know, people at your church or synagogue or wherever you go.

You can practice this at the little league field, watching your kids play ball.

You can practice this just with your own team, you know, with your, with your partner or your spouse.

Practice the moment of rapport.

There's a moment that it happens with every single person, especially when you meet new people.

So be aware of it, start to exercise it, and you will be amazed how quickly you can notice when it starts to happen and also how quickly you can start to be able to control it.

Now, the whole point of the close it now sells process is that moment of rapport for most people normally happens 30 to 40 minutes into an appointment.

The whole point of a well executed introduction, discovery and system is to smash that forward to within the first five to ten minutes of arriving or showing up on a zoom.

If you execute it properly and you're very intentional about the moment of rapport, you could move it forward.

And if you can move it forward that far, then can you imagine how the rest of the appointment is going to go when you're working together instead of taking the entire appointment to, to just get to that point?

So it changes everything within that interaction with the homeowner?

So that's the power of the moment of rapport.

And so, yeah, so that's my message for today.

I hope you got some value from this.

If you did, shoot me an email, I want to know about it.

Sam closeitnow.net also within the Facebook group, leave me a comment.

Would love to hear how this is helpful and how you're applying it how you're using it in your life.

So a couple quick announcements before we wrap this episode up.

The high performance coaching program is in full swing.

I do have limited spots so depending on when you hear this episode, there may or may not be available spots open.

If there's not, we do have a waiting list right now.

I have a handful of spots that are available but hurry because they fill up really quickly.

That's a private coaching one on one session with me.

And I mean numbers speak for themselves.

The testimonies are amazing.

I have so many people whose numbers have doubled within the program that it's just astronomical.

So I love to help people be their best self.

So reach out to me about the high performance coaching program.

Also I am rolling back out the site visits.

If you're an owner or you're a sales manager or you just want to present this to one of them, I'm coming out to your site, coming to your company and doing a several day boot camp will get your entire team to the next level.

So we can do a handful of things.

Reach out to me.

You can learn more about what all I coach.

It's not just H Vac sells.

We can do a handful of things.

We're incorporating solar into the mix.

If you're an owner and you want to know how to incorporate, how to double your bottom line without adding a single truck to the road or increasing your overhead, let me know.

Because we're making some dramatic changes in the country.

Because we all know.

In fact, I've got an episode coming up with Nate Adams of the Electrify Everything movement.

That is the way the country's going.

Like it or not.

It's not political, it's just science.

Everything is being electric, electrified.

You are already dealing with the biggest user of electricity in the house.

Why not?

Also, since you're already trusted being able to reduce that electric consumption and then help that homeowner with zero out of pocket eliminate that electric bill and lock it in for 25 years.

So it is the best way to incorporate that together.

Synergistic and it just works.

So reach out to me.

I'll show you how to do that.

Otherwise that is the episode today.

Thanks for hanging out with me.

I hope your drive time university today was off the charts and use the moment of rapport.

Be thinking about that in the appointments you have today and it will change everything in your process.

So until next time everybody go save the world one heat stroke at a time.

Thanks for listening.

To Close it now with Sam Wakefield.

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