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.

Close It Now.

Sam Wakefield in the house.

Welcome to 2024.

Are you ready to make this the best year of your life so far?

I know I am.

Today's episode is going to cover something that I've been getting a lot of questions about lately, about clients when we're in the home that seem to be just really shut off, right?

The ones that don't want to give any information, they're just like really resistant to you even being there.

So we're going to cover some psychology and how to have that conversation with them with on this episode today.

So stick around.

Super excited about that.

But first, let's cover what's in your cup.

And in fact, I think I'm going to make a new episode soon on but first and why it's such a magical phrase.

But first, what's in your cup.

What are you drinking today?

I am.

This.

We were gifted some coffee at Christmas and this one is this Starbucks fall blend.

I'm really enjoying it.

It's a little bit nutty.

It's definitely a little darker than most of their beans, most of their roasts.

I'm not a humongous, humongous Starbucks bean fan.

However, when gifted, I love them.

So that's great.

But what are you drinking?

What's in your cup?

What is, what is a bean that is special to you?

Something that you get a lot of kick charge out of.

Something that just really trips your trigger.

So message me, let me know samoseitnow.net or pop me a text man.

512-364-8559 and let me know what are you drinking or give me a recommendation.

I'm traveling all over the country so you never know, I might show up in your town and drink your coffee.

So let's everybody take a sip together.

Three, two, one.

All right, so let's hop into this today.

We've got a couple things going.

One, Couple quick announcements before I do hop into this content.

The first is I am going to be a keynote speaker at door to Door Con 7.

It is in Salt Lake City the end of this month.

The end of January 2024.

That's January 25th, 26th, 27th.

I'm speaking on the 26th at 4pm so you can get those tickets@h vacdoors.net and use the discount code SAMW20 for a 20% discount discount on your tickets.

So SAM W20 get you and your team there and it will be the event of the year.

In my opinion.

It's all about having a hunter mentality.

There's going to BE sessions on recruiting 1 Recruiting and training people and recruiting and training door teams.

There's going to be sessions on leadership, on mindset, on sales.

I get my own hour long session and it is going to be badass so you don't want to miss that.

And outside of what I'm doing, the other keynotes are going to be Lance Armstrong, Sean White and Chris Voss.

I'm excited about that.

He is the author of Never Split the Difference and of course Sam Taggart, the number one door to door trainer in the country.

And then Sam Wakefield of course.

I am the face of Door to Door for H Vac right now which is really interesting and yeah it's really fun.

I love being in that place.

But let's do this.

So get there.

January 25, 26:27 it's coming up just a couple weeks away in Salt Lake city.

Go to h vacdoors.net get your ticket, use the code SAMW20 for a 20% discount and make sure to find me.

I want to meet you in person, look at the whites of your eyes, give you a high five and say what's up?

So yeah, so that's gonna be good.

Also I am going to put a post up in the Facebook group here shortly with information about I am hosting an in person in classroom sales training event.

It is going to be March 21st and 22nd.

Second we're in this, we are going, it's going to be in the Austin, Texas area.

So start making plans.

March 21st and 22nd it is going to be.

I'm super excited.

It's going to be my first in person training that is not at a company but we are going to do some incredible things.

I'm really excited about it.

We're going to cover the sales process that start to finish.

We're gonna deep dive in like how in the world are People still in this market, in this economy still getting 60, 65, 70% plus close rates even on marketed leads.

Right.

Well, this sell system is the way to do it.

We're gonna deep dive into the psychology of the buyer of you as the, you know, in sales.

All the things we're going to go through, the actual system.

You're going to get a written workbook with the sales system and some surprises of course, but it's going to be really incredible.

I'm excited about it.

I'm capping it at 30 people, so I maxing that out at 30 people, no more.

So make sure to sign up ASAP.

It is going to be really, really fun and life changing.

The numbers that, the numbers that we're seeing are just are wild.

We're seeing people, even people who are exceptional in sales, right?

We had a guy recently, he's doing 4 million a year in sales.

His average ticket was like $9,800.

The month after I trained him, his average ticket was like 16,000.

So that's the kind of numbers we see people that think they are exceptional and really, really doing some incredible things.

Don't know.

What happens is you just don't know what you don't know.

And so when you come to a training event like this, it's really about having your mind opened to possibilities, having your mindset, having your mindset up level, have your vision up level and really see what's possible.

So March 21st and 22nd is going to be in classroom on, you know, in person sales training masterclass with me, Sam Wakefield in the Austin, Texas area in Round Rock specifically to be exact.

So make, you can email me about that samoseitnow.net you can text me 512-364-8559 and also there's going to be an incredible amount of information about it in the Facebook group.

So make sure to go join the close it Now Facebook group and that will be a good place to get the information.

So with all that being said, let's get into this episode today because it's a really good one and I want to make sure that you are get some good value today.

I don't want to be that podcast host that every time you listen it's like, oh my gosh, she's always trying to sell me something.

No, my whole life philosophy is give more value than you take.

So that's what we're doing today.

So I have been getting a lot of comments about, you know, when people are really closed off, what do we do?

Right.

I just can't seem to.

I'm going through my questions and everything is fine.

It's fine, it's fine.

It's all fine.

It's all good.

Nope.

No allergies?

Nope.

Nobody has breathing issues.

Nope.

Temperatures are fine throughout the house.

Every single house, every single room is the same temperature.

Everything's good.

Nobody has problems.

Humidity is fine.

It's fine.

It's all fine.

Bills are fine.

All the things.

Right.

So how do we combat this?

So two things.

One, we're going to cover a mindset and philosophy and two, we're going to cover some actual practical, real life boots on the ground that you can use today.

Right.

So first is the mindset though, because we have to understand the psychology and the mindset of what's happening here.

They called us first of all.

In most cases, they called us to come out and help them solve their problems.

Right.

However, our industry has such a black eye from the last, probably 20, 30 years of companies out there that are just taking advantage of people dramatically overcharging and not providing the value or just, I mean, there's so many companies that out there.

And this is why, if you've never seen this, this is why in cities, you know, news stations will run sting operations every summer.

You know, they'll call 10 or 12 local H vac companies, they'll have some, you know, quote unquote expert and they've sabotaged a, you know, condensing unit, just clipped a wire or something and they call 10 or 12 different companies to come diagnose, to do a service.

And then they video, you know, candid camera, videotape it, record it to see who's lying, see who catches the problem.

See, you know, what they're trying to, you know, if they're trying to take advantage of homeowners.

So that happens every single year all across the country.

And the reason for that is too many people have been taken advantage of in the past.

Our industry is so bad about this.

So I am on a mission to raise the standard.

Let's bring trust back to the trades.

I mean, 40 years ago, the most trusted person was the plumber or the H Vac guy.

You'd call them up and hey, the furnace is out.

Okay, great, put on a pot of coffee, I'll be there in a minute.

And that was it.

But now that it's not like that anymore, and the reason for most companies anyway, the reason is just all the trash.

We talked about the Billy Butt cracks of the world, right?

The, you know, the guys that are, you know, just the hacks out there.

So one, we don't want to be that.

But two, how do we handle that homeowner who's been burned by that person or knows someone who's been burned by them too many times, right?

So when we get there and we're trying to help them, when we go through discovery and they're just super closed off, right?

Anything we ask them, they're like, nope, I just need a number.

Nope, just need a number.

Well, the philosophy and the thing to understand, and this actually goes back book recommendation time.

If you've never read a book called how to win Friends and influence People by DALE Carnegie, that's 100% a must read.

I will not coach people at a high level.

When somebody does, like private coaching with me, I will not coach them.

If they haven't read that book, it's a requirement.

You have to have that under your belt.

So that's one of the things.

But how to win friends and influence people.

And there's a philosophy that comes from there.

It's how to be the most interesting person in the room.

And that is the person who asks the most questions.

So if you go to a party and I mean, think about the times when you go to a party and you leave and you think, man, that person was just so great to talk to.

They were, they're great conversationalists.

And when you think back through the conversation, what happened?

They asked you the most questions.

So it's to be the most interesting, you have to be the most interested, right?

The most interested, the most curious person is the person at a party that everyone says, oh my gosh, they are so good at conversation.

They're such a great person to be here.

And everybody opens up to them because they just ask questions and listen, right?

And so it's the same thing, it's the same philosophy when we are in the home.

And the second part of the mindset and the philosophy is, and you may not like this, right?

I know as technicians, technician, background, and you know, most of when we're in sales, yes, we've gotten over this some.

But so many people, everywhere I go when I train, everyone is so closed off to the homeowner.

And I'm just here to tell you that the easiest way for them to open up to be vulnerable is you have to be vulnerable with them.

You have to open up.

You have to share some personal details.

Now, I'm not talking about diving into the nuts and bolts of your personal life and just unpacking everything however, you do have to open up and share some things that you wouldn't normally feel comfortable sharing in a home with a stranger.

But this is a ninja trick.

This is a fast forward.

The faster you can take them into your world and paint that picture by being vulnerable, the faster that you can get to a little deeper level of conversation with obvious vulnerability things, the faster they are going to open up.

It's proven true.

There are studies behind this.

You can google it, you can look this up.

If you're vulnerable with them, they will open up and be more vulnerable with you.

This is for those people that hold their cards really tight to the chest, right?

And it's just a philosophy lesson for everyone.

So when you're being vulnerable, then yeah, you're.

It's an emotional bank account that you're investing into.

You're planting those seeds and there is a lot the law of reciprocity.

They will open up and be more vulnerable with you.

So that is the mindset and the philosophy behind this.

Now some practical applicable skills, right?

Things you can implement right away.

Success happens at the speed of implementation.

So what you can start using right away.

In fact, I recorded this version of this podcast a few years ago before I had read the book Never Split the Difference by Chris Voss.

Now he does a really fantastic job of defining these skills and outlining them in that book.

So if you've never read that book, I highly recommend it.

Also, I guess this is book club day.

Total pop out.

Real quick though.

I am starting a Close it now book club, the virtual book club.

So you do have to join the Close It Now Facebook group to be a member of that.

It's going to be totally free.

I just informing a group of people to want to uplevel themselves, who want to be the best version of themselves.

So we're going to do a once a month book club and it is the this is January 8th, it is about to start in January of 2024.

So I'm excited about that.

So go to the Close It Now Facebook group.

I have a post in there about starting a book club.

Make sure to comment on that or just message me directly or text me that you want to be included in the information about the book club and we'll make sure to get you involved.

So but back to the skills, back to the skills for people to open up.

So these ninja tricks are really powerful.

The first one is something that is called mirroring.

Throwing up a mirror is very easy, it's very simple and really it has to do with two things.

One is your tonality and the second is the word you say.

Because remember, communication is 15%.

The word you say, 85%, is body language and tonality.

So when we are going to use a mirror, really important that we have the right body language.

I highly recommend, and I hope you always take a notepad, write stuff down.

Professionals.

Write things down.

Even if you can remember everything, write things down because it shows the homeowner that you are listening.

It shows them that you care about their opinion.

You care about what you're asking them because you're making notes about it.

This is not about you, it's about them.

So make sure that you are making notes.

You have a notebook.

If you don't have the questionnaire, a good questionnaire to use in the Close It Now Facebook group in the files section.

My gift to you as a free download is go find the Close it now questionnaire.

Use that.

It's the best one that I've ever seen.

It's like 20 versions to get to the one it is now that I put together.

It's a free download.

So go get it.

Go download it.

Throw your own company logo on there.

I don't care.

But use it.

It's really, really powerful.

Remember that every question is a conversation starter.

Right?

But so when we're going through the questionnaire, when we're doing this, write notes, pay attention, wait before you answer.

When you ask a question and they answer something, we're going to do a couple different things here.

One is you're going to listen longer.

When it seems like they finished their answer, don't respond with any sounds.

Immediately nod your head, write a couple things down, breathe, count to three, and just look at them.

This is the Mr. Rogers negotiating skill, I call it, because if you've ever watched the Mr. Rogers movie, especially such a good job of listening, just listening to other people, people will fill that gap.

So when they ask, when they answer your question, listen, listen longer than you think it would be normal.

Just slightly longer.

And a lot of times they will add information to fill in the gaps.

Nature abhors a vacuum.

So do homeowners.

They get very uncomfortable in silence.

So silence is one of your best friends.

Ask a question and then sit in silence and listen.

Let them continue to talk and fill in the gaps.

Now, if it seems like they've run out of steam and.

Or they answer something, here's a good example.

We're going to use a room that's maybe not the right temperature.

So we're in wintertime and we've asked the question, okay, in the winter, when some rooms are warm, are other rooms harder to heat up or cooler than the rest?

And pay special attention to how that question is worded.

And they answer, no, not really, then we're going to say something like not really.

So it's just the last two words.

So just the last word or two that they've said.

We're going to say not really.

But here the tonality, I said, I said it in the form of question, not really.

And then wait, and they will clarify.

Anytime you hear anything that is not certain that's like, no, not really, ask it back to them, no, not really.

And they'll volunteer more information.

They'll either correct themselves and say, oh no, there is no problem, or say, well, you know, just this one thing and then you can ask more about it.

This is super, super powerful.

And even this technique can even be used for those definite answers when say you ask the same question other rooms that are cooler than the rest or harder to heat up and they just say, no, ask it back, say, no, none at all.

So just clarify, right?

But it's just, it's a mirror in its tonality.

So it's super, super powerful technique to throw up that mirror and to ask those questions.

People will open up, they will start to share more, especially as you get further into the conversation.

And here's a way to navigate the appointment a little bit.

If at first they're really closed off in this section, what you can do is hit pause on it.

So if they're just answering everything as a no, no, no, no, no, no.

Okay, no problem.

So I would hit what I personally have done in the past and what I coach people is you get to hit pause on that, say, okay, no problem.

Tell you what, just tell me what's going on, right?

And just get them talking, go around, have them show you some things.

Go look at the equipment, go look at the ductwork, all the things, do your normal process, come back to them and say, oh, you know what, Remember earlier I asked you if I found anything else, if it's okay to bring it to your attention related to health and safety, building durability, energy savings, Is that okay?

So they said yes.

Well, when you come back to them, say, okay, remember earlier I asked you that?

And they'll say, yeah, of course.

Say, well, I found this thing.

Can you tell me more about what you're experiencing there?

And you know, if you legitimately find something that should be of concern, ask them about it, right?

And then circle back into the questions.

Because the longer that you're there, and some of the reason for this is the longer you're there, the more comfortable they're going to be with you anyway.

Everyone has a different meter to the moment of rapport, of how long it is in their mind.

Some people warm up really, really quickly to you.

Some people take a long time to warm up to a new person in their environment.

It has nothing to do with you or your company or anything else.

Some people just take a long time to warm up to a new person in their space.

We're in their home or in their living space, in their sanctuary.

Sometimes it takes a long time to warm up to people.

So when you sense this is happening, this really is a third level listening skill.

Do yourself a favor and look up some third level listening.

In fact, I'll do a whole episode on it.

But third level listening is paying attention to their body language, to their tonality, really zooming out and thinking about what all is going on in the.

In the space.

Right?

I mean, so here's a good example of a horrible job reading the room.

I went to a sales appointment one time, and I get there and, you know, the handful of people in the family are just kind of sitting around.

You know, the appointment's at like 11am they're just sitting around.

They're like, hey, we have a hard stop at 12.

Okay, no problem.

That's an hour.

And so.

But I noticed everyone's kind of dressed up a little bit.

I didn't ask anything else about it.

Everyone sitting.

The house is quiet.

They're just sitting in various places and like, they're waiting for something, but I didn't ask what.

So I go through the process.

I'm asking the questions.

They're super cold.

They're not really responding a lot, not answering a lot.

End up going through the, you know, grabbing measurements and doing my thing.

And about the time that I get everything compiled, one of them's phone rings and they answer and say, oh, we've got to go a little sooner.

So they stop and they say, okay, is this something you can just send us?

Our dad just died a couple days ago.

We've got to get to the funeral.

Whoa.

My whole stomach hit the floor.

Of course I was like, oh, my gosh, I'm so sorry.

Why are we even doing this?

Yeah, absolutely.

Well, I ended up not making that cell because clearly I didn't even pay attention.

I didn't ask the right questions.

It's something that I could have uncovered had I really Been a noticer of what was going on.

What should have happened is ask a couple questions and then start asking for more clarifying questions of, wow, what's going on today?

Why is everyone so dressed up?

And the second that I heard that somebody in the family had died just a few days prior, and we were literally butting up against the funeral from the time of the appointment that was made before the person had died, the system was running, so it wasn't even an emergency.

I absolutely should have said, you know what, let's hit pause in this.

That is way more important.

Let's revisit this after.

And then obviously, it would have shown caring, it would have shown compassion, listening.

But, boy, I was just so focused on.

I had commission breath.

I was so focused on, man, I've got this great process.

We're going to follow the process and everybody's, you know, they're going to buy.

Well, no, that's not always what happens because you got to pay attention to the people.

This is a people business.

We're in a service business.

So paying attention is crucial.

It's important.

And so much of that is listening more than you.

You might think you listen enough, but you're not listening enough.

I can guarantee you, you, A, not asking enough questions, and B, when you do, you're not listening as thoroughly as you should be.

We have two ears and one mouth to be used in that proportion.

So that is my message for you today.

One, be vulnerable with them.

Share some things out of your life.

They will open up and it will unlock those doors for them to be more vulnerable with you.

And then use the mirror.

The mirror is a really powerful tool.

Just asking the last word or two back in the form of a question and then just be silent and wait.

So silence and using the mirror are the skills that will get you to the next level.

If you're not using them now, start to use them.

And that will be a huge step for you.

If you are using them now, I would suggest that you're probably not using them enough.

Or we can always get better at the skills that we have.

So revisit that.

Think about that being vulnerable, the power of silence and using a mirror in the conversation to get them to open up, to share more with you, tell you more what's happening.

And that is it, man.

That's the power.

That is one of those ninja tricks that gets people to the next level.

That's how people are closing.

At 65, 70, 75% regularly across time, consistently.

This is one of the skills to be able to be a master at so that's a taste of what we're going to cover in depth in the training in Austin in Round Rock, Texas Austin, Texas area at March 21st and 22nd.

So thank you for listening.

If you've ever gotten value from this podcast, I would love if you left me a five star review on wherever you listen.

That would be great.

That that's one of the things that helps me.

Reviews help your business and they sure as heck help mine too.

So I appreciate that so much.

And as today's we're going to read the review.

Featured review of the day is from Tammy 528T A M I528.

It's a five star review.

It says great learning tool.

Our review says we are restructuring our company and really need some sales training for our technicians.

And Sam has just what I was looking for.

His teaching, along with the many guests he has offer great tips and direction.

I just started and look forward to the many episodes I'll be binging on and sharing with our team.

So thank you Tammy.

I appreciate that you absolutely reach out to me and let me know how I can help you and help support you.

And yeah, it was really, really so fun to get reviews from people that I've never met because I appreciate every single one of you and I know that I know people are multiplying their numbers by what I bring.

So think about this too.

There's so many cool.

My favorite testimonies are the ones that come from people who just listened to the podcast and implemented that have never been a member of my training group, never been to one of my events.

Those are so fun because those are really cool.

It's super powerful.

I literally have a gentleman that he messaged me at one point.

He was like, man, I was the bottom person in my company.

I started listening to your podcast and implementing and I became the number one person in my company in less than three months.

And then of course when we coached together, things escalated quickly and you multiplied numbers again.

But that's what happens.

All you gotta do is implement.

Success happens at the speed of implementation.

So those thank you for that review.

Tammy, you are a rock star.

I'm sure I'd love to visit with you at some point.

And thank you everybody who listens.

I'm so excited about 2024 already have brought on the first trainer with me, Corey Barrier of the Successful Life podcast.

He is going to be basically coordinating the virtual program which we have.

So make sure that you reach out about that jump in the Facebook group.

If you want to know more about the virtual program, it's a virtual accountability group.

We're doing some things that no other trainers do, so I'm all about breaking the mold and doing things differently.

Anything that's been done the Same way for 50 plus years is ripe for revolution.

That is exactly what we are doing here at Close It Now.

So let me know how I can help you, how I can support you.

If you have ideas for an episode or a topic that you would like me to cover, make sure to message me or put a post in the Facebook group.

And other than that, everybody, I will see you at door to door con7hvacdoors.net to grab your tickets there, use code SAMW20 and also I will see you March 21st and 22nd here in Round Rock, Texas for the close it now on Site classroom in person sales training.

So start making plans for that.

Block those dates out on your calendar.

More info coming soon and email me samoseitnow.net text me 512-364-8559 that is my phone.

It goes directly to me and also join the Facebook group.

We're over 2,000 members now and that's a very thriving community of positivity that would love to have you as a member.

All right everybody, go out there save the world one frostbite at a time.

Go save the world one heat stroke at a time.

Thanks for listening to Close it now with Sam Wakefield.

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