The central theme of this podcast episode revolves around the paramount significance of confidence in the realm of sales, particularly within the HVAC industry. We delve into the critical nature of conveying certainty in our communications, as the assurance we project directly influences the perceptions and trust of our clients. We stress that the language employed during sales interactions must reflect decisiveness and clarity, eschewing phrases that may engender doubt or hesitation. By adopting affirmative terminology and demonstrating an understanding of the customer's needs, we can significantly enhance our credibility and the likelihood of closing sales. Ultimately, our discussion emphasizes that instilling confidence in both ourselves and our clients is an essential component of achieving success in sales.

This episode dives into the two must have traits every closer must have in order to make the sale.

It’s not what you think…

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In this enlightening episode of the Close It Now podcast, Sam Wakefield delves into the critical theme of confidence within the HVAC sales landscape. The discussion initiates with an exploration of the intrinsic relationship between confidence and successful sales outcomes. Wakefield posits that a confident demeanor not only enhances the salesperson’s effectiveness but also significantly influences client trust and decision-making processes. He asserts that confidence is not merely an internal trait but should be actively communicated through one’s verbal and non-verbal interactions with clients.

Throughout the episode, Wakefield presents a myriad of strategies aimed at bolstering one’s confidence in sales scenarios. He meticulously discusses the importance of language, highlighting that the choice of words can substantially impact client perceptions. Wakefield offers insights into the psychological aspects of communication, advocating for the use of definitive language that conveys assurance rather than ambiguity. He provides concrete examples, illustrating how the use of assertive language can transform the salesperson-client dynamic, fostering an environment of trust and reliability.

Moreover, Wakefield emphasizes the necessity for HVAC professionals to embrace their expertise and articulate their knowledge with authority. By clearly outlining solutions to clients’ problems and demonstrating a thorough understanding of HVAC systems, sales professionals can enhance their credibility. The episode culminates in a powerful reminder that confidence, when effectively communicated, can lead to increased sales success and long-term client relationships.

Takeaways:

• The essence of HVAC sales lies in understanding customer needs and building trust.
• Confidence is paramount in sales; words and demeanor significantly influence customer perception.
• Employing assertive language enhances credibility and ensures effective communication with clients.
• Effective solutions are derived from clear problem identification and proactive customer engagement.

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.

All right, welcome back.

Sam Wakefield here.

This is the Close It Now H Vac sales training podcast.

Today we are talking about confidence doing.

Do you have confidence in what you do?

Do your words say that you have confidence?

Because that is one of the most important things in sales and making a sale.

I would always rather have someone that is confident than someone who is wishy washy.

When I am talking about, talking to anyone about sales, about, you know, doing a service or a product that I'm shopping for.

It's the same thing with clients.

So today we're talking about confidence.

There's some words that are very important in communicating confidence and some that are not so important.

So that's what we're going to talk about today.

Very specific words that when you swap these around, you'll see a massive difference immediately in your sales.

So thanks for joining.

First, I want to give a super quick shout out to my mom.

She's been listening lately.

So hi mom, good to hear you.

Hear that you've been enjoying the podcast.

I know that my target demographic is a little bit different than you, but thank you for supporting me.

So.

But yeah, so confidence, confidence, confidence, confidence.

It's so crucial to your sales career if you're not confident.

So here's a fun interesting story.

I had got a call recently from a guy that actually was with my insurance company.

Just you know, my local insurance for auto and for.

I've got some renters insurance and some different things.

Well, he calls me and says hey, I am new to this office.

So the agent at the office wanted me to call you and just make sure that you knew everything we offered and to make connection with all of our clients.

So I'm going through the list and just talking to people.

Okay, great.

Well, what's, what, what's up?

What's going on?

He said, well, you know, one, I wanted to introduce myself but two, I wanted to find out, did you know that our insurance company offers life insurance?

And I said, well, yes, of course I do.

They're an insurance company, they offer life insurance.

And so he tells me, wow, I've been in the industry for a long time and I didn't even know that.

And instantly my confidence in his confidence went through the floor.

Because when with insurance companies, that's one of the most common things they do is life insurance.

So for him to say something like, I've been in this industry for a long time and I didn't even know that when it's something really common, it was totally lost my confidence in him as a representative for my agent.

And the same thing happens with us if you if a custom.

So there's a difference in, you know, saying, you know, I don't know the answer to that specifically, but I can find out and I'll get right back to you.

And then.

Or saying something like, you know, I've done this a long time and I've never even heard of that.

Well, there's a big difference there.

There's a huge difference in that type of a response.

And that is part of what I'm talking the it's okay to not know everything.

It's your demeanor and your confidence that comes across.

If you're unsure about even how to find out, that's the difference.

Because no one expects you to know everything.

What they do expect you to know is how to find the solutions to their problems.

They expect you to know how to locate basically at your fingertips, how to locate the solution, how to locate the answer.

So some of the keywords, and this is something I've worked on for a long time and actually go to the Internet, use the search, Google something like power words or words that are questioning words.

You can do all kind of different searches on the intensity of words.

You can do searches on words that raise questions, searches on words that.

And there's lots of psychology of sales and lots of different things that they have these lists that are easily found on words that have power, words that have meaning.

And those are the words you want to use when you're in a sales appointment.

Here's a great example for you to stop using expressions that raise questions in a customer's mind.

So a good example is maybe you're looking at a, say, duck work design with a homeowner.

And the problem is, let's set this up with a context.

Say it's little Johnny's bedroom in the corner of the house.

The room is always too hot in the summer.

You know the solution right off the top of your head.

You know, the room needs some return.

And also, maybe there's a problem with the supply duct getting over to that room.

It maybe it comes off of a bad junction and is not getting any airflow.

You've investigated it.

You've done your due diligence.

You've gone in the attic or in the, in the crawl space, wherever your ductwork is, and you've figured it out.

You know what's going on.

You know what the solution is.

Now, here's where the problem arises.

You get back with the homeowner and you say something along these lines of, well, I think that if we were to do this duct work this way, yeah, that's probably going to be the solution.

Does that give any confidence in the homeowner's mind?

Because you're, one, you think, two, you use the word probably, which means there's a chance that it couldn't.

So the right way to communicate that to the homeowner is, okay, I've investigated the problem.

Here's a picture.

Let me describe to you what's happening.

It's not getting airflow here.

And also it can't circulate, so it needs return.

That is the solution, solution for this problem.

And once we do this, it will fix the air, the temperature problem in this room.

Do you understand how that is going to make the situation better?

Then you ask the question at the end.

Do they understand how it's going to improve the situation?

But at any point in that explanation, did you hear me use any words of question?

I didn't say probably.

I didn't say, well, I think I said this is the problem, this is the solution.

And once it's finished, it's going to be.

The benefits are the room is going to be the same temperature as the rest of the rooms around it.

And then clarify with them.

Do you understand how this is going to fix the problem?

Does all of this make sense to you?

So anytime you give new data, you always follow up with a question of does that make sense?

So can you see how with this type of language change, one, your confidence goes up because.

And try it.

When you feel yourself and when you hear yourself use words of question with like, well, I think this is probably the solution.

And, well, this is probably going to, you know, I think this is it.

It's probably going to work.

Those kinds of.

And expressions, your confidence is even less.

But when you change those around and you use words of this is.

And we are going to solve this problem.

By doing this, this because of airflow design.

This is how this is supposed to be.

And don't be scared.

Just because somebody bought a house, they don't always expect that everything in the house has been done.

That's why they called you.

They got a problem.

So don't be scared.

To use words like, this was designed very poorly to start with.

This is a bad design.

I'm here to fix it.

Because something was built that way from construction.

We all know builder grade is builder grade.

Use those terms.

You say, here's a really, really great way to communicate to a homeowner.

Say, listen, builder grade is just that there is that.

It's called that for a reason.

Because a lot of times builders use installers, builders use companies that maybe not necessarily can get work with real companies.

So they'll work for builders.

So what you end up with is a result that is not at all what you would want.

It's not at all what makes sense with any type of design.

You know, you can go to classes for this or you can work for the builders.

I mean, you could a lot of things that you could use.

But more importantly, and that's not saying that they're all bad.

There are a lot of times there's some really great companies that work with builders.

Most of the time, however, that's not the case.

You find really subpar installations.

So if a homeowner has, you know, has something in their mind like, wow, this house isn't that old.

Why am I having these problems?

Then that question is, well, it's called builder grade for a reason.

It's the very.

And don't be scared to use the terms, it's the very lowest end, cheapest, bottom dollar project that the builder could get.

That is a builder grade, builder level installation.

And that's what.

Unfortunately, Mr.

Homeowner, what you have here now, what we do is fix that problem.

We've taken the design classes, we know what it's supposed to look like.

This is the problem.

It was designed poorly to start with.

And what it should look like is this, here's what we're going.

And that will instill so much confidence in the homeowner.

You're raising your value.

So when it comes to the dollar amount, say, here's how much it is.

And their only thought is, how soon can you get it installed?

How soon can you get this fixed?

Cause I'm tired of dealing with this problem.

And when you say that, say, hey, let's fix this problem for good.

This is the solution.

So you Never have to deal with it again.

You'll find that people will write you checks left and because they are tired of dealing with their problems.

And that's part of the uncovering process at the beginning of what rooms are warmer than others when some rooms are cool, what rooms are colder than others when some rooms are warm in the winter and when they start to.

And then how so how bad?

Tell me about that and uncover that.

And then when you offer the solutions, it's make it much more of a here's the problem and here's how we're going to fix it in first person and as if it's already on the calendar, you know, and when you talk about the solutions, this is another very, very important principle.

So many, so many salespeople, so many project managers or comfort advisors, comfort consultants, whatever you call yourself, and in fact join our community and we'll have a thread on that because I want to know what everybody calls themselves in the industry, but so many people scared to use the affirmative in the positive type of terminology.

When it comes to the project.

When you're talking to the homeowner and if the, if it comes up and you're saying things like, well, if you choose us to go with this project and well, if selected, then we will do this type of work, you're always leaving it, leaving it hanging as if it's a question of them choosing you.

So change that terminology to things like, okay, so here's what we're going to do is we're going to change this ductwork here and we're going to do this with the project.

Here's what we do.

When the guys are out, they're going to change this flue pipe here and they're going to do this new platform here, change it to the positive.

Assume the cell from the very beginning in your words and your communication with the homeowner.

You know, make it okay.

So when the, on the day of install, here's what it's going to look like, here's what that day looks like.

They're going to call you to let you know when they're going to be here.

This day is going to look like this when we do the install, here's what to expect.

And so every bit of your communication as if they've already decided they're using you before you even got there.

And so when you function in that, the assumed sell at the end makes it so much simpler because they're already in the mode of, yeah, we might as well use these people.

They're so confident that they're going to do the job right and we're going to get exactly what we want, that this is a no brainer.

It's a no brainer to pull the trigger with this company.

It's a no brainer to say, yes, let's do it.

Because the end result has nothing to do with the brand of equipment.

It has nothing to do with, you know, which if it's adaptive or modulating or very, you know, single stage, who cares how many stages?

What it has to do with is your confidence that their benefits, their end result is going to be exactly what you say.

It's going to be using expressions like, I've seen this situation hundreds of times or thousands of times.

Be truthful, but I've fixed this specific problem, you know, 840, 42 times across these last couple years.

I know exactly the solution for this problem.

And when you start using that kind of terminology, say no problem.

This is something we see all the time.

You called the right company.

We know exactly how to fix this.

That is those kinds of terminologies that instills so much confidence in the homeowner that they will totally let down their guard and tell you about the concerns they have, the things they're experiencing in the home and they'll open up.

And of course, every single one of these things is increasing your percentage of earning the sale, because that's what it is.

It's not about making the sale.

It's not a luck, it's not a numbers game.

You are every single house you step into, you're earning the sale, you're earning the sale from the homeowner.

You're figuring out, you know, uncovering what their concerns are, what their problems are, and then matching your solutions to fit their problem.

See, so I went to three appointments today.

Two of them were basic cut and dry.

One, you know, one appointment, close it on the spot.

The third one that I went to today was a job that we don't want.

I gave the, it was actually a renovation project that is not, does not fit my company's wheelhouse.

Could we do it?

Absolutely.

Would it be a big project?

Sure.

It's probably going to be about a $35,000 project.

However, it's not something that fits within our spectrum of what we're good at.

So I gave him a lot of education, gave him a lot of good information.

We parted as friends and basically said, we're not the company for you because it's way too far outside the scope of what we're expert At.

And it's OK to say that it's okay to walk away from a job, but I was even confident in that.

Say, listen, here's how to do it right.

If it were my house, here's what I would do.

When you're talking to companies to do this project, ask about these.

This handful of things and those are the steps that they're gonna.

Anybody who does this is gonna have to take to do it right.

We're not your company.

I wish you the best luck and I hope you find one.

So it's okay to walk away from a project if it's not what you know can be.

Aw.

If it's going to take too much time out of your busy calendar when you can do so.

This job would take an entire week with a crew where I could do maybe five projects in that same amount of time and have two thirds greater revenue because my crew was tied up for that amount of time.

No, it doesn't make any sense to do that.

So that's the type of project our company would take on, possibly in the completely dead off season, maybe not even then, because it's not what we're experts at.

So I hereby give you permission right now to walk away from jobs that are not what you do, that you're not good at.

Sam Wakefield from Close it now has given you permission to say, no, you don't have to install every single thing that comes your way.

You don't have to do that project.

It is not always in your best interest.

Now, everything that is, we're going to close it and we're going to close it now.

But that's a fun little aside.

Don't have to do every single thing that comes your way.

Some of those projects are better suited for somebody else and it would only cost you heartache and misery.

So don't do it.

Don't do it to yourself.

When you have that gut feeling of, man, this probably isn't good for.

For me, trust that.

Trust that feeling and go with it.

Just because there's maybe big numbers attached to it doesn't always mean it's the right thing.

So that's the lesson for today.

Use confidence words.

Use words that are positive words that communicate to the homeowner that you've seen this problem before.

Your company, you and your company know exactly how to fix it.

And here's how we're going to do it.

When during the install, the guys are going to do this, this and this, and that will be the solution.

So at the end of the day you've got exactly what you're asking for and it's going to be even better than you thought possible.

And when you communicate like that, that's when the homeowner whip out their checkbook and say, how soon can we get started?

And I live in proof.

That happens all the time.

The time.

So thanks for listening.

This has been the Close It Now H Vac Sales Training podcast.

Your source for all things H Vac related all things sales related so you can go out there, sell in this new age, sell in, so dominate your marketplace.

You know we want to work less and sell more.

Increase your income by working less.

How does that sound to you?

So connect with us@CloseItNow.net and I will talk to you again soon.

Thanks for listening to Close it now with Sam Wakefield.

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