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 by 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.

Well, all right everybody.

Welcome back to the Close it now podcast with Sam Wakefield, your source for H Vac and solar cells training.

Today I have a special guest.

He is not just someone that I had the privilege of working with.

I am blessed to call him a friend and not just an acquaintance, but a friend.

And it's so exciting when you come across people doing this, doing what we do.

And it's.

The H Vac industry is such a small world and it gets even smaller all the time with the ability to be online, to be virtual.

And then when you go to somebody's location and you get to see day in and day out how they operate and some of the all the best things about them, it's just really exciting.

And when you get to help take their whole organization to the next level.

And this is exactly what happened with this guy.

We showed up, had never really met him before showed up.

We did a site visit in Pennsylvania and a little bit of history here with him.

He had not been in sales at all, let alone a track sales.

His first year he goes out there and rocks out a cool 2 million.

So for all of you out there, that's, that's pretty serious numbers for year one and next year after that was 2.85.

And this year so far he's at 2.1 million on pace to do probably about three and a half this year.

But even more importantly, he moved after the first year I moved into much more of a sales manager spot.

They brought on a selling tech.

And so here, check out these company numbers.

And this is where the magic starts to happen.

First year was 3 million.

Second year at 6.6 million.

This year we're eight months into the year and year to date is 6.6.

So it took eight months to do what they did the previous year.

So they are absolutely killing it at Triangle Heating and Air up in Pennsylvania State College, Pennsylvania, right It's right, right there near Penn State.

Yes, sir.

Thank you for joining me on the show today, Mr. Heath Sprout.

Thanks for having me, Sam.

I'm happy to be here and it's nice that we have established that relationship.

So I'm not talking to a stranger here today.

True word, man.

So give us a, give us a highlight.

Real man.

And we always like to start with when we have guests on.

It's like, tell us a little bit of your, you know, kind of how you ended up landing in a track, how you ended up landing as a sales position there and give us a little bit of just a taste of your philosophy in life.

So kind of an accident thing through Covid that I ended up here in sales.

Went to high school with our owner.

I used to, used to help him through school.

We, we get through math class together, let's just say that.

And now work for him.

During COVID my last job where I spent 12 years in a factory setting, not enjoying my life at all.

During COVID that kind of had to change up and move some things.

And Justin reached out to me during that time, the most perfect time because I'm a loyal guy.

Like I'm, I'm on team.

I'm on the team.

And he, he managed to convince me that coming to Triangle would not only be beneficial for, for me, but also he thought that I'd have a great spot on the team.

Really sold the, the concept of getting on board in, in trying to do something with our, our young lives.

I mean, we're not, we're not too young, but we're still, we're middle aged and we want to go somewhere.

Yeah.

So that's our philosophy really is that we want to do big things, we want to help people and we want.

To do it in a big way.

And it is working.

Justin's a fearless leader and he takes us all along with him and I'm just trying to help bring other guys along with that.

Love it, Love it, man.

That's fantastic.

So a little bit of the, the history there since y', all, you're really growing the team.

And of course being there, getting to experience, you know what it's like in, in your organization was a ton of fun, but so first year it was like just you.

And then added a selling tech.

We've got another salesperson with you now as well.

And then of course all the other divisions give us just a super quick walk through all the different divisions that Triangle has.

It's a lot more divisions than a lot of companies out there, right.

So we started just H Vac and a little bit of plumbing.

So any job in that first year that I'd go out to, I mean, and you have.

You have to do electrical to a degree to even be in this industry.

You can't wire a unit, you can't.

You can't do H Vac.

Sure.

So any of that stuff I handled on my own came into it blind.

My family's been in the industry for working for a different company, but he's.

My dad's more of a plumber for 35 years, so I had to learn that on the fly.

So pretty much selling H vac and a little bit of plumbing and we hit 2 million that first year.

We realized, you know, I think we've got something here, but I think we can be better.

So we started looking for avenues to grow, Tried to find people that thought the same as we did, and surrounded ourselves by companies like SGI, companies like you said, and really trying to understand how do we get better, how do we set processes.

So in year two, we realized, you know, for one that plumbing was a substantial revenue avenue without the overhead per se.

So a lot more margin in.

In plumbing.

So that was where we wanted to go in that capacity.

And then we started implementing programs, processes, thought processes to how a sales call should work.

We all know, sure.

What we should be doing in that capacity.

I'm sure we're going to talk about that a little more.

But we started to implement a process and then it grew.

We were like, whoa, okay, so this is real, like, not.

We're not just selling by the seat of our pants because that's what we were doing before, right when we realized we were good at it, but we weren't doing it professionally.

So we started implement those professional programs.

Year three, you know, at the end of last year, we realized that we should do electrical as well.

We should start an electrical division.

We're finding that that is.

That is very lucrative.

The profit margin is good there.

Keeping guys, maybe that's not the easiest thing because they are hard, hard guys.

It's hard to find guys.

But we have now we have H vac, plumbing, electrical.

We started a handyman division based off of a property management company that we had.

We have a department store or a contractor store with wood, materials, tile.

We have home showcase.

We have a rental company for equipment.

We have a construction company that handles our bigger jobs.

We have a roofing division.

I mean, the list goes on and on.

When we.

When we walk into a home we're not just there looking at H Vac that if, if any of our guys are walking in, in our, into a home to be a plumber or to be an electrician, they're not seeing the end game, they're not seeing the end goal.

I'm walking into a home and asking for a home inspection report because I am your one stop shop to help you accomplish all your needs.

And let's get that financed.

And that's the way, that's the way that we go about it.

Beautiful man.

So in that process, you know, when I was there, we, we worked a lot to kind of marry those together and to, you know, obviously help everybody open up their minds to not be so pigeonholed like you're saying, into the one thing that the reason that they were there and to, you know, open that up.

So, you know, how effective has, you know, implementing some of those questions like, you know, hey, if I see anything else while I'm here relating to building safety, energy savings, health and durability, is it okay to bring that to your attention?

How effective has that been with your, you know, with everybody to, to start to expand where they're thinking and bring in more, more divisions into a project.

So Sam, when you were here, I had a few epiphany moments that we'll touch on some of them later.

But, but really you're bringing up one of the big ones.

Was that asking permission?

Asking permission for a lot of different things.

Not just the way that you're asking me now, but opening up a homeowner's mind that I'm already getting a yes out of them.

I'm asking them if I can help them and they're not going to say no.

So now we're establishing just another bringing down the blockade.

Just one more step to bringing that down.

Like I'm really here to help you.

So like I said, I've been asking some people if I can see their home inspection report, especially if I know that they just got into this home lately.

Sure.

And they're really accepting that I am now not just an H Vac professional.

I'm a professional on homes because I have all these division, I've worked with all these people and we've been in business since 1973.

So all of that knowledge has funneled its way down to me.

And they trust me because I asked them to tell me they trusted me to help them with that.

And, and it's, it's just weird that they open up a little more than they, than we ever Thought we could get them to open up about some of the problems that they're having.

And there's no more one track mind thing.

Sure, sure.

I love it, man.

And.

And you're right.

That's.

That permission is so important because without it, you know, they have that resistance.

And, and like you're saying it's such a fun.

I like to say we just put sales on easy mode.

Right.

By just incorporating a little bit of that.

And.

And for most people, they already have a decent system.

It's just a matter of they're missing the, you know, those.

The really key pieces to.

To not be pushy.

We don't want to be the creepy sales guy.

In fact, that's when I first got there.

I remember that was one of the very biggest things as far.

You listen, the day one, we start the very first session and Justin, the owner, comes in and heathen.

Every single person, you know, I have to make a list of what they wanted to accomplish out of the training.

And every single person said, well, I don't want to be that creepy, pushy salesman.

Right.

It's scary.

Something that you fear that you don't want to.

You don't want someone to feel like you're.

You're snake oil.

And it's something that I think we should be conscious of to a degree for sure.

But to feel that way means that we're doing something wrong.

And no longer do I think any of my guys actually feel that way because of.

Of what we're doing in house to make sure that they don't have to feel that way.

Exactly.

Exactly.

Love it, man.

Oh, that's.

That's.

That's good.

So.

So we did a good job of changing some mindset when we were there.

That's great.

And then, of course, you know, it's.

You're the champion to keep it going, too.

So with Heath being the sales manager there for everybody listening, he's not only the sales manager, he's, you know, killing it in his own cells, but he's got a team of people that he's, you know, taken to the next.

That next level.

So.

But yeah, let's.

Let's cruise through some of the big epiphany moments, man.

What.

What were those moments for you?

Because like you said, you don't know what you don't know.

Right, right.

And.

And I like that line out of you.

The.

The biggest thing for me, if we're really going to say what was hindering me and then what was being broadcasted onto my team, you you recommended go for no for this, but I was selling out of my own pocket without in disguising it is that I was helping people.

So I was disguising selling out of my own pocket as if I was helping people by getting them into a better price instead of looking at it the way that we're supposed to be looking at it.

I am helping them by giving them what they want.

They asked for it, so you got to get them.

Like you.

You explained.

I'm sure that everybody out there listening has been through, through at least a few podcasts with Sam.

But your overall ticket don't stop selling like people are asking you for something to find out what they want and give it to them.

Don't give them the cheapest price.

It's not about the cheapest price.

So I was broadcasting that thought process onto everybody that would listen to me.

So my epiphany moment in that, in that situation was so large for me that it almost brought me to tears because of the amount of money that I actually cost this company over the last.

The course of the last.

How many.

How much money I cost myself over the course of these last two years.

Maybe I did hit 3 million that first year if I just would have stopped doing that, you know.

So that was huge.

That was huge for us.

That was huge for me.

The, the training and the reading that that, that moment inspired for me, based on some recommendations that you made has been huge for our organization in itself.

Because now we're figuring out that we were flying by the seat of our pants even with the structure, because some of that structure from some of these companies that we're.

We're following is not getting in deep enough, is not actually giving you understanding.

It's taking mediocre salesmen and making them follow a process that makes them good salesmen.

But at no point do any of those programs make you great.

Right?

That's.

That's my big.

My big.

That was the biggest moment for me.

Love it.

Yeah, that's good.

So when you say getting in deeper, tell us a little more about that and how that has really changed for you in this last little bit.

So we love your training and it's been very crucial to us.

So we're trying to learn more, we're trying to read more.

We're trying to establish an environment of constant evolution, of constant growth.

So we have, based on your recommendations, we have implemented 7:30 meetings every morning.

I meet with the entire sales team every day at 7:30 and we run through everything that happened to us.

The previous day, how we could have reacted to that differently.

What would you have said?

We're fostering an environment of, you know, availability, vulnerability, emotional acceptance of where we may have went wrong and accepting that criticism as well.

So that's been really huge for us.

Oh, I love it.

That is not at all the answer I expected right there.

But that's even better.

So yeah, in any growing organization, especially the sales department, you know, that we've got to have such consistency check ins.

I see too many companies hit summer and they'll take their sales meetings from once a week to maybe every other week or once a month.

Right.

And it's the opposite of what should be happening.

They're like, oh man, we're just so busy.

Go out there and sell well and then the guys go out and they'll close one or two out of every five.

Whereas we should be, you know, let's increase the frequency, let's work, let's sharpen that ax, let's if talk throughout the team.

Is there something we keep consistently hearing and, and quick tip for you.

In those meetings, when you have objections that are consistently coming up, that means we don't need to learn how to handle these objections.

What that means is somewhere in the process we're planting the seed for that objection.

So let's find where that is and get rid of the cause of it.

So the objection just eliminates itself.

Right.

So that's a really great way to be able to handle that.

And but yeah, we should be having sales meetings, you know, twice a week, three times a week, daily like you're doing.

Especially as we're scaling and we're getting everybody up to speed, you know, so.

Huge, huge kudos, impactful, that's for sure.

And I think that when you start to do that, you open them up to, you know, really understanding that we're here for them, we want them to grow as well.

This isn't just about the company, it's about their personal growth to get paid to, to sell stuff.

Right.

So right.

Why not help them?

Why not help them make more money?

And really the fact that we're getting from them and the information they're bringing, I'm learning more training that than, than I can do out in the field than I can do anywhere else.

Like just listening to them and, and speaking to them is making me better at what I do.

Right.

So it's just this nice little backend thing that we're seeing as a result of those meetings and I bet better.

Too when you do it.

Yeah.

Oh, it is.

Yeah.

Every single time I'm on site, like, person, my personal numbers, they get better, just strictly because, I mean, I'm constantly training it and constantly sharpening that ax and getting better there.

And, you know, what is it Albert Einstein said?

Until you can teach something, you never truly understand it.

You don't truly know it.

And.

Yeah, because it.

You know, it forces you to break the steps down and really analyze them.

And it.

Because it's all about communication.

Right.

If we can communicate clearer with any topic to.

So it's understood on any level, man, that's where.

That's where the power really starts to happen.

Right?

So, yeah.

Love it, man.

Yeah.

That's cool.

Y' all are doing good stuff.

Yeah.

Our average ticket has gone up substantially.

We've also implemented a bonus program for the guys as well to help them understand that talking to people has benefits.

Creating that relationship has benefits.

So we've increased their bonus package in that way, and we're seeing the results of the guys in the field actually benefiting from that.

You know, it's really nice.

You sell a couple things to make 400 bucks, like, and it didn't.

It didn't take anything but talking to a customer.

So I think they respond well.

Yeah.

Oh, I love it.

I love it.

That is great.

Yeah, that's.

I was really excited to see what y' all did with that after I left, because, you know, when you.

When you people understand that it's.

It really is easy to talk to a homeowner, and it really.

It doesn't have to be hard and have to be complicated, and it truly is just involves asking a couple of questions and then saying, wow, that sounds important to you.

If we could fix that, would that help you?

And they say, yes, then we can offer anything we want.

That's the solution.

Right?

And it's literally as easy as that.

So many people overcomplicate it, and that's.

That's where everybody gets lost.

Or they don't.

They don't.

They don't ask enough.

Like, the.

One of the other things that has really helped us recently is that we're taking something that is as simple as asking allergies, asthma, respiratory issues, and somebody's telling me, now, we don't have any of that.

Really, though?

Really?

Yeah.

So you arm yourself with knowledge about what the government says about what an indoor air quality should be like.

You may not really realize this, but it's in your.

It's in your life.

It's in your house.

So we can't Stop there.

And just teaching those guys that I don't need it is just an excuse so that they don't.

You.

Don't.

You stop talking about it.

You got to just tactfully get in there and really find out what's going on with them, because that no is probably not a real no.

I love it, man.

I'm so happy you took us down this path and said that.

So.

And you're at the first, like we were talking about when I was there.

The first no is just a test to see if even know what you're talking about.

You know, do you believe in what you're doing?

And it's just that kind of lit.

Litmus test for us.

Right, Right.

That's for sure.

And these people, they're trained to not want to let you in.

Like, we're.

We're at a disadvantage in every house that we walk into.

There's a stigma with salespeople.

So we just got to get past that stigma.

And sometimes to get past it, you talk about it.

And that's the next thing that, that we've really been working on lately is bluntness, being very forward with customers and getting things out of the way that I normally wouldn't have ever talked about before.

So there was this huge thing and another epiphany moment from when you were here.

This huge thing about being the absolute professional or being what the customer expects you to be or.

Or what you think your company expects you to be or what.

What the stigma is out there, what the mold is out there for, what a salesman is.

And that's a bunch of bull.

Yeah, we.

We can have fun.

We can talk.

We can kick our feet up.

You know, people are people, right?

You're not.

You're trying to get a sale, but that's still another human that you're talking to.

That's still another human that goes home and has a beer.

Like, they're.

They're not some.

Some robot that you're speaking with, and neither are you.

So that's been something where, you know, like the.

The dummy thought that new salesmen actually do really well because they're not so worried about the equipment.

They're not so worried about any of that stuff.

They're more worried about making a connection with a customer and then letting the customer run the call.

Sale.

Sales call, and then moving forward with what they told them.

And, yeah, that's helped because I was.

I was helping these guys get to such a professional manager or professional in their.

In their job.

And now we're More like maybe we can relax a little bit and have fun with this and still have that image and let get people to open up to us.

Oh, I love it.

Oh, so good.

And you're right.

That's.

It's a good example in kid.

I just had probably the very funnest sales appointment I've ever had in my entire career in Kansas City.

So stories from the field.

We went showed up at this lady's house, and it was one of.

It was.

It started heartbreaking, but it turned out awesome.

She was from.

She's immigrant from China.

She's in her late 30s.

She lives there with her, you know, senior citizen mom and speaks zero English.

So it was just a fun experience.

And we'd go, everything's in the basement there.

So we go down into the basement, and she has this huge karaoke center set up with a big screen.

She's got flashing lights to go with the music.

Got her own bar set up, pool table, basketball, all this stuff in her basement.

Okay.

So while we're down there, the older gentleman, I'm with Eddie, he says, hey, why don't you fire that thing up and let's sing some karaoke?

So she does.

But the story was she moved to the United States.

Yeah.

Oh, yeah.

Moved to the United States from China because she's a massive Michael Jackson fan.

She moves here in 2008, and then he passes away, and she never got a chance to see him in concert, and that's why she moved to America.

That's insane.

Yeah.

So we're turning on karaoke, and of course, I had to be the one to sing.

Not that I'm scared of that.

Volunteered, of course.

And so I was saying, you know, saying Billie Jeans did Michael Jackson song, and we're in the basement, and her roommate, who also lives there, and her mom comes down in the basement.

We're cracking up.

She's videotaping it, you know, recording everything on her phone.

We're recording it.

We're having the greatest of time.

We're walking back up the stairs, and the guy that's with me is like, I didn't know we could even do this kind of stuff in a sales appointment, right?

I'm like, why not?

Do you think she's gonna go with anybody else now?

It's like, honestly, it doesn't matter at this point.

We're there to have.

Can make a connection and serve people and have a great time doing it.

And they literally went.

A roommate went and bought us frozen yogurt to have before we left.

Perfect.

It was awesome.

Installed the next day, right?

Yeah.

So they, that company was.

You had.

You found some nice fun guys out.

There as well, or, you know, that was, that was a lot of it.

Everywhere I go, the, you know, so much of it is we have the stigma in our brain that the minute we step into this role as consultant that all of a sudden there's rules and limitations and things we can and can't do.

And I'm here to just tell everybody there's no rules.

Just connect to people on their level and how, you know, you, I mean, stay within the bounds of your own moral code and your moral compass, obviously.

You know, I'm not saying to, you know, go off the rails, but, but just connect with people where they're at, you know, and have fun with them, you know, Fun, fun, joy.

Yeah, fun, joy and laughter is the same wave of mental brainwaves as connected to money.

So when you start to, if you stay too serious, their, their brain waves are not on the money spectrum.

So help them have fun and it's easier to spin so it's exciting.

Makes your day to day a lot nicer.

It keeps your self esteem higher because it's not just about accomplishing a goal anymore.

I mean, we've got to have our goals.

But really, at the end of the day, I want to have a good time too.

Like, I don't want to just do this every day.

I don't want that monotonous routine.

So when we break out of that shell of what a professional is supposed to be and we start looking at this as, you know, we're professionals, but we're also humans and we can, we can connect with you.

It just, it makes your life better.

Your sales are going to increase, but your life gets better.

And that's more important to me and my guys, I think, than anything.

Yeah.

Yeah.

You don't want to be hating life every single day, driving to work, having a freaking, you know, like panic attack because you just hate what you do.

You know, if that's the case, do something else.

You know, this is made for people who enjoy it and, you know, constantly want to get better.

Yeah.

So we, we've been working on, like I said, continuous improvement.

I've been reading some of the books that, that you've sent over to me.

Go for.

No, that was, that was pretty good.

Some of the messages in there about just really work harder was kind of what, what you got from some of that.

But I did like the underlying, the underlying notions and, and then we've Been into the, the Sanders sales proposal now.

We've been working on that.

Yeah, absolutely.

How to teach.

So yeah, so y' all are doing that as like.

Yeah, y' all are doing that as a group, right?

Yes.

Okay, so tell us a little bit about how you're, you know, how you're organizing that.

You know, did everybody get a copy of the book?

It's like, okay, everybody read this section.

We're gonna get together and talk about it like book club style or how are you navigating that with your team?

So we're leaving that to them.

We need to make sure that our guys are self starters.

We want the guys that want to be here.

So that's important to us for them to.

Yes, I'll give you the tools.

I will buy you the book.

I have no problem with that.

I will purchase that book for you.

But it's going to be up to you to read that book.

It's going to be up to you to work on yourself.

So we hold ourselves accountable in that capacity.

I listen to it first.

I have a copy of it.

I've been taking notes on it and I've been highlighting it too.

So really working with them through the steps daily is where we're at with the process now.

Just taking a peek at and instead of what to do, why we're doing it, and really practicing each of the seven steps daily, we're really just right at the beginning of delving in, getting in deep.

And a lot of the practice, like you did with us, that, that showed us what to do.

And now I'm trying to understand why we're doing it right so that I have a better mental capacity.

So like I said, we're handing those guys the book whether they read it or not, their own prerogative.

We're not giving them any of a choice to not be on board, at least for those meetings and just reciprocate.

Sure, it's tough and I'm sure you go through this as well.

I feel a lot more comfortable in a leadership position than I did when you came here.

So I feel a lot more comfortable standing kind of where you were and helping these guys because of what you showed me is possible and, and how we can grow and we can move towards a better understanding of why.

Right.

You've got varying degrees of salesman and ability, so you can't.

You've got to start somewhere.

But there's always people at higher levels or lower levels.

So if you're not getting with them and working with them and, and actually Sitting down at their level, they're not going to understand everything.

So we're doing one on ones.

We're doing group meetings as well, but we're breaking into groups and doing one on ones too.

Okay.

Oh, I love it.

So the.

Since you started this, how has that affected the.

One, the culture and morale and two, how's that affecting numbers?

So we've started to pull everybody in, whereas before it was the small group of my tight core team, my selling tech, me and Seth really, at first, and then some of the other techs that were really interested in learning.

We started that pretty much after you left.

So it's been about a month now.

We've done that.

We've seen a huge surge in surge protector sales.

So it's, it's, it seems silly.

I guess it doesn't seem silly, but it's, it's something to me.

So average ticket for something that we may not even have had a sale on, that's an inspection.

And we're getting a surge protector out of that inspection.

Right.

So that means that those guys are actually listening.

They're actually talking to customers.

And that's step one for us.

And, and hopefully we can get everybody further than step one.

But the results at step one are speaking volumes.

That, sure, it's happening.

So that's been nice.

We're seeing 500 upcharges.

They're increasing their average ticket.

We're giving them a bonus for selling the dang thing too.

So, yeah, it's, it's, it's good.

Since we really delved into the Sanders method.

Sandler.

Sorry.

We delved into that.

You know, we really haven't seen the results yet because it's deep.

It really is deep.

And the way that that works is you got to have buy in.

So we're creating buy in for now.

We're really, we're, we're not much further than step one because we're not trying to rush it.

And yeah, now that we're seeing what you brought to the table and what those other processes can add and we're growing and learning from you and them, we're trying to help ourselves as well get into a better position.

And the results are there, but it's always continuous improvement.

Right, of course.

Yeah.

We're growing or we're dying where it's not.

There's no plateau.

We're not staying the same.

And yeah, that.

It's such a powerful.

And the cool thing is you don't have to, you don't have to rush anything.

I mean, if you end up staying on part one for a month, who cares if they implement?

You know, I, I see all these people that, oh, I read 50 books this year.

My goal is to read a book a week or whatever it is.

And I'm like, yeah, but how many of them did you implement?

You know, it's cool to have all this knowledge, but if you're not actually applying it and using it, then what kind of difference is it making in your life?

And so, yeah, kudos for being aware of that and, and, you know, choosing to just say it takes as long as it takes.

We don't have a timeline here.

Right.

Until we see everybody's ready to go to the next step, let's just keep doing this one.

Yeah.

Be known as every single job gets a surge protector until everybody's on board.

And then, okay, what's the next thing now we're going to add, so.

Because when an entire team decides to make that change and it increases, I mean, huge, huge steps at a time.

We'Re seeing a lot more buy in than we did before just because we're all getting together and, and some of these meetings are optional and some of the people that are joining these meetings are coming at their own will.

So, yeah, it's really showing you that if you build it, they will come.

If you're vulnerable, they, and we can, we can speak clearly to each other.

It's gonna, it's gonna help you.

So it's been impactful for sure.

And it's only going to get better.

We're really excited.

We've gotten better every year, but we just want to keep going.

Like I said, if you're not growing, man, you're dying.

So we're, we're headed for the clouds.

That's always been the goal.

And the more people that we can get to understand that, the better we're going to be as a company moving forward.

Right?

Yeah.

And, and I'll tell you, everybody listening.

When I was there, it was one of the very clear, very clear to me how well that Triangle has done with their marketing and their branding as well.

Oh, yes, all the companies listening, man.

Branding is, is crucial.

You know, you can, even if you're a small company, but you're branded.

Well then.

And I've got Dan Antonelli coming on the podcast here saying he's going to be a guest with Kick Charge.

But if you're not branded, well, you're missing so many opportunities.

It's such a, when you didn't have all of the, all the, the Images on the trucks when you didn't have the wraps on the cars.

What is that difference?

Like, because was it more of a struggle in the house?

And is it easier now that just branding itself is kind of helping out there?

Have you noticed the difference?

Absolutely.

Like, I can't even understand or explain.

How about story time?

One of our plumbers this morning said that he was.

He was in the house, looked outside and saw a girl jogging by.

He said, I was looking, obviously, but saw a girl jogging by.

He said she stopped, turned around, backed up, turned to the van, pulled her phone out, took a picture of the van, and then kept jogging.

And he said he got out to his van and said, sat in the van.

And here comes some guy biking guy, stops on his bike at the same house, backs up on his bike, takes a picture of our wrapped vans, and then keeps on biking.

And then we had another of our guys, Mark, if you remember.

Mark.

So Mark was out at the hospital with his daughter during work hours.

She had.

She fell and needed some stitches.

He said some guy just starts beeping the horn while he's in the parking lot.

And he's sitting in his van, like, blatantly beeping the horn, drives over, parks Mark in, gets out.

He's like, hey, you guys do plumbing?

Just out of nowhere, like, so the marketing, I mean, I can't even believe it.

I had a call yesterday.

So we've.

We put a bunch of money into a jingle, and the jingle is pretty dang catchy.

And in the.

The question that the CSR has asked them, there's a question that says, you know what?

How did you find us today?

Like, how did you find Triangle Heating and Cooling?

And said, the kids won't stop singing the jingle in the back of the car.

And it said that literally right in my.

Right in my report, I'm like, oh, I'm talking to them about that for sure today.

Absolutely.

It's been.

It's been a big change.

And we were just in the process of getting those vans wrapped as you were here.

The little triangle man that we got on that bad boy is out there doing work for us.

He works for you even when you're asleep.

That's right.

That's right, man.

I learned this from the.

The CEO of the.

Of the Apricot Solar, the solar company that I'm connected with.

He says branding beats sell seven days out of seven.

And when you've lived that world both ways, you know when you had white van syndrome and it just blended in, and it was white noise, and it looked like every other service van going down the road, Sales are harder, all of the conversations harder.

But when the branding really stands out and it's just, it pops and it's, it's well put together, people keeping the, the vehicles clean and all that, man, it's just such an easier conversation.

People are like, oh, yeah, you're professional.

Right.

So for anybody starting their company, handle branding first.

Don't wait when it's, you know, when it costs a lot of money to, you know, convert a whole fleet.

Start at the beginning, begin with the end in sight, and it's just easy to do along the way.

And you'll grow faster because of that, because you're perceived as a well put together, organized, you know, professional company because, you know, you look like it.

And so it's just representing.

Establishing rapport is so much easier.

When you walk into a house and a customer has already done that work for you, that's the big thing, like making somebody trust you.

And is, is step one.

And if you don't have to spend so much time in step one, man, things get a lot easier.

Life gets easier.

Sales gets easier.

Yeah, they do.

Yeah.

You got it, man.

Well, I love it.

So tell us a little bit about.

Oh, so we talked earlier.

What is something actionable that the listeners can implement right away?

What, what are you, you doing with your team?

What's one thing that has been a big, just instant switch for people when they're, you know, getting ready to be able to see results pretty quickly.

So just what we're doing now, just what we're finally starting to do now that we didn't do before, and that is sitting down, listening and speaking with each other.

Do not let the fact that we're busy override the fact that we need to invest in ourselves, our thought processes, our guys.

You need to listen to them, you need to bring that information back to a central location and we need to pull it.

We need to figure out where we're having deficiencies.

Where are those consistencies and negativity?

Where are those consistencies and objections and no.

And learn from it.

Figure out how we get past it and grow as a team to make sure that that's not exactly what's the problem.

You know, you'll find the problem if you listen and if you work hard enough to find the problem.

I love it.

The key word there is listen.

Yes.

If we will, we'll find out everything we need to know if we listen more.

Yeah, just be that, that observer.

Right, right.

Let, let them Talk, too.

I mean, it just like sales works, letting the customer talk.

Your guys are going to tell you what they, what they found, what they need, sit back and absorb it.

And it doesn't need to be critical, but positive reinforcement of what they did.

Right.

And then you tell them a little bit, hey, you know, I think at this point, we could have done something a little different.

Can we try that next time?

And I'm going to try it, too.

I'm going to work on that, too.

Right?

So it's been fun.

It's definitely.

And it's working, man.

I can see in you, in just a month's time in our conversation here, you, the way you're carrying yourself now and you're positive posture is so different.

I totally see you stepping into that role and owning it and, and taking that risk, that radical responsibility, not just for yourself and your own numbers, for everyone's numbers, man, I love it.

I, I can, I can see you growing into that person, and it's exciting.

I mean, to be honest with you, Justin's to credit for, for asking me to step into this disposition where we actually take ownership of it.

But it has been very enjoyable.

And I didn't realize how much that I, I desired to.

To be in that type of thing, to desire to help your organization from more of an involved role, more of a training role.

So I encourage anybody out there that hasn't stepped up to the plate or hasn't proposed that, you know, we really take the bull by the horns, take it, step into that, that training role, get out of your comfort zone.

Because I'm sure if you've ever been in the room with Sam, he's got to be the one up there sitting.

And it's not comfortable when you're learning, but it's not comfortable when you're teaching either.

So if you take that, that out of your comfort zone and, you know, really start being vulnerable with you guys once again and then letting them reciprocate with you, it only makes you better, too, really.

The, the reciprocation from them is just sharpening iron.

Sharpening iron.

And it's been, it's.

It's been very fruitful for all of us.

Even if, you know, today it doesn't result in sales.

I know that because we're doing this, we're going to continue to grow and we're going to meet our goals this year and next and beyond, right?

Absolutely.

100 agree.

I mean, when I was there, y' all were tracking on pace.

Let's see, last year Y' all did what, 9 million?

Is that what it was then?

Yeah, did 9.

Yeah.

6.6 and 6.6 last year.

Yeah, yeah.

To do 12.

Yeah.

Doubling in, you know, an account from 6 to 12 is huge.

Yeah, huge.

And I have zero doubt it.

The, for everybody listening, the theme here is not the, you know, yes, there's sales specific things, ask the permission questions and all of that.

But the really the theme for this type of growth in an organization is creating that right culture.

And you're 100% right.

If everyone is on board, from the helper on the, on the retro crew all the way to the top or from the top down and everyone is equally on board, there's buy in.

And you're creating a place where they one, they feel safe to bring concerns to you and don't feel like, you know, they're not scared to say, hey, I made a mistake, how can we fix this in the future?

And they're not going to get reamed because of it.

You know, if there's discipline, of course we need that, but you know, there's, it's a safe environment.

It's a culture of growth, that culture of personal growth as well as success for everybody, man.

It's clear what happens.

And when you get all of those elements combined, it's a rising tide that just raises all the ships.

And so yeah, it's exciting.

That's the only way to double in size like that year after year.

Hopefully we can continue to do that because that just, that makes me feel good when I sleep at night, that's for sure.

No kidding.

Well, and for everybody that doesn't know when, I mean where these guys are located, it is rural America, Pennsylvania.

We're driving through miles and miles of forest to get to these appointments.

It's not, it's not a population density like a lot of you guys that are in cities and stuff.

And so to be able.

So this is one of those cool stories I get told all the time.

Well, what you teach and what you do might work in that big city over there, but it'll never work here.

And sure enough, you know, it does.

People, the psychology of people are the same.

And so it's just strictly learning, better communication.

And the second we can do that and create that culture, now you've got this.

You guys are on the like tip of a rocket, you know, just launching.

Yeah.

And you're just getting started.

And that's the cool part.

You literally just branded a month ago, right?

I mean and holy cow, we're talking about three years worth of growth.

To go from 3 million, I mean, 3 million year one as a company is pretty massive.

And then to go to 12 and you know, three years later, so huge success, man.

So proud of you guys.

Appreciate that.

And so question for you.

Would you recommend, would you recommend site visit training for companies to have me out to help their company?

Absolutely.

If you guys want to take your ticket to the next level is what, what Sam did the most for us I'd say here is that, you know, the whole process works.

And, and if you've got a strong process already, he's only going to make it better.

I felt like we had a decent one, but Sam helped us realize what we were missing.

He helped us realize where I had faults in my own thought processes and that I had faults in training my people.

So those faults were epiphanies for us to help us grow.

So it may, it may be that not only him helping you sell and helping you establish a program, if you have a program in place, there might be something you're missing.

And if there's something you're missing, Sam's going to find it and he's going to help you get rid of it.

And that's what happened for us.

And our average ticket is up because of it.

Nice.

What kind of, when you say it's up, what kind of numbers are we talking about, kind of difference addressing?

So just, let's just talk about me and the average indoor air quality that I get to now.

Because of that, I'd say on any given ticket, I'm anywhere from 1500 to $2000, if not more, depending on the pains that we're experiencing in the house.

Sure.

But at, if you put it on average, I mean, I'm getting at least a 500 surge protector extra on every sale.

And sometimes I'm getting five, you know, I'm getting, I'm getting the whole package, the whole indoor air quality package.

But that at every sale, you know, you guys know what that does for your, your numbers yearly.

You know what that puts in your pocket.

And especially if you get some kind of company or you get some kind of thought process that we incentivize those up sales in addition to the commission that you make.

Guys are going to respond to that.

Guys are going to work for that.

I like that little extra money because, because not only have we extended that to our guys, we've extended that to myself as well.

So if I get an electronic air cleaner, say, well, it's just a couple extra 100 bucks I wouldn't have made yesterday, so.

But don't sell out of your own pocket.

And that was that.

Sam found our fault here, and it's been good.

Yeah.

Love it, man.

Well, thank you for that.

And, man, thanks for spending some, some time with me today.

I know you are a busy guy.

You've got a big, big team up there, and y' all are doing some amazing stuff, and it's just so cool to watch.

This is like the, you know, we're right about five weeks out, so that check in of how are things going?

What kind of differences?

And more importantly, have the changes been something that's been carried on?

Because a lot of people will do a training and it's exciting when you're there and in the training, but then they just go right back to their old habits.

And so it's about creating those new habits and new patterns to really launch, you know, and continue to grow.

Yeah, I appreciate you checking in with us too, to make sure that things are going the right way and that we have all the things we need.

And I'd encourage you guys to.

To keep checking back with Sam as well, because he's right.

If you're not doing it, we got to find somebody to do it.

And if you don't have the time to spend in the.

What we're trying to do here, Sam's the guy to help you continue to make sure that this process gets implemented.

You get held accountable.

Right.

Right.

I mean, it's like y' all aren't paying me anymore, but I'm still texting for everybody that's listening.

If you've trained with me, I'm gonna text you periodically just to see how you're doing.

I don't care if you're sending me money or not.

It doesn't matter.

I just want to make sure you're successful and that's.

That's what matters to me.

And that's.

That's truly, truly the important part.

So.

But yeah, man, thanks for hanging out.

This has been a good episode.

It's about time to land the plane.

And any parting.

Parting thoughts you have for everybody while.

While we got you on the line?

Nah, not really.

I just appreciate you having me as well.

I think I said what I wanted to say.

I didn't know I deserved to be on this, but I. I'm happy that you asked me to be in and you know it's in.

Go for no.

But step out of your comfort zone.

Do something like this every once in a while.

You never know what It'll lead to.

You got it, man.

You got it for sure.

Well, thank you.

Thanks everybody for listening today.

This has been Heath Sprout with Triangle Heating and Air.

If you are anywhere near central Pennsylvania and you would like to contact him, that I know that the way they're growing, they are always hiring quality people.

And if you're listening to this podcast, you are clearly focused on personal growth and getting better, and you're probably at the top of your game and maybe potentially a good match for them.

So, Heath, how can they get in contact with you to reach out about starting that conversation?

You know, Sam, it's funny you'd say that.

We're actually currently looking.

We've got a radio advertisement out there in our area right now that is geared towards people that are stagnant in their careers that believe that they can be a top tier contributor to our company.

So we're actively looking for top tier talent in places like prisons and hospitals that, you know, it's hard to find the type of money that you're.

You're making at your day job, but you're sitting behind a desk and you hate it.

So right now, if you call Triangle Heating Cooling out of State College, Pennsylvania, stop by our website@trianglesheatingcooling.com or you can give us a call at 814-355-7653.

We got that job Bear job fair coming up next month.

We'd love to see it in that room.

We're only taking 20 applicants and it's almost full right now, so.

Perfect.

Come sit down with us.

We want to hear from you.

Love it.

Well, thank you.

That's.

There is no such thing as a coincidence, and I did not know that.

But I know great companies are always looking for quality people, people who have the, the bigger vision and the mentality to move forward.

And I know you listeners out there would love the culture at Triangle.

Bunch of great, bunch of great people.

And I just thoroughly enjoyed my time up there.

Can't wait someday to, to go back and you're gonna have a whole new team of people to train.

So.

But yeah, everybody, if you've ever gotten value from the podcast, I would appreciate it.

I've never really asked for this before and I don't know why.

It's a good lesson for me because we live and die by reviews in the trades.

Your company, that's one of the ways that we introduced the intro is setting up on reviews.

Right.

I never asked for reviews for my podcast, so I know it, but I am now so go to the Apple Apple podcast, everyone.

I would appreciate a five star review that would help me out tremendously and a couple things coming up.

So as you have clearly heard in this episode, I do site visit on site trainings for companies.

The last company I was at in Kansas City, their company's average close rate for between four people, every single one of them was sitting right at 40% give or take a point or two.

While I was there.

We were, we rocked out a 75% close rate.

And so that's the kind of difference that we see every single time, you know, we step out in the field because it's not just classroom as Heath knows.

You know, it was half a day of classroom and then ride alongs.

I mean we're going out.

I mean Heck, day one went out with Seth and two appointments we closed 50k worth.

Yeah.

So I was a little jealous.

Right?

Absolutely.

And so, so that's what happens.

You know, the, the energy goes up.

But more importantly, like you've also heard from Heath is the energy doesn't just jump while I'm there, but with what we go over that everyone is able to immediately implement and we're changing habits on the spot.

And so as those habits change over time, the results even get better and better.

So reach out to me, Sam, close it now.net email me and we can start a conversation about me coming to your company.

I only do one of these a month.

I'm not the com.

I'm not going out there all the time because like all of you, I like my family and I like to be around them.

So that's my priority.

But I do want one a month.

Right now I, I'm booked for the next couple months so the spots are filling up fast.

We're getting a lot more and also everyone come to the Profit Rocket Growth Summit in Austin, Texas 9-27-2829.

I'm going to be a speaker on one of the sales panels and there's.

I have two huge announcements which I'm just teasing about.

I'm about to be recording some things, some content and putting the sales course online.

So be on the lookout for access, be able to access that to have Sam Wakefield right in your writing, in your, right in your living room, anytime you want it.

With some places I'm recording.

So big announcements coming close it now is about to be everywhere in the industry and I'm just so grateful for everyone that's listened across this period of time and you know, companies like Triangle, like yours, he that have you know, trusted me enough to have me out and, and definitely seeing the numbers change as a result of that.

So super grateful for y' all trusting me for that.

And man, thanks for hanging out today.

Hey, thanks for having having me, bud.

Everybody give Sam a call.

You won't regret it.

Good stuff, man.

Well, let's end this like we always do everyone.

You go out there, save the world one heat stroke at a time.

Thanks for listening to Close it now with Sam Wakefield.

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