This podcast episode delves into the imperative of understanding client needs in the HVAC sales sector, emphasizing that true success transcends mere transactional exchanges. We assert that effective salesmanship is predicated upon the ability to listen actively and discern the underlying motivations of clients, as encapsulated in the adage attributed to Theodore Roosevelt: "Nobody cares how much you know until they know how much you care." Throughout our discussion, we explore the significance of posing insightful questions that reveal the clients' actual aspirations, thereby enabling us to deliver tailored solutions rather than just fulfilling surface-level requests. We contend that this approach not only enhances client satisfaction but also fosters long-term relationships built on trust and integrity. Ultimately, our aim is to equip listeners with the tools necessary to elevate their sales practices by prioritizing client-centric methodologies.

This episode covers one of the most important questions you will ever ask a client. From the answer to that question you can learn what the main concern of the homeowner is instead of just going off of what they are asking for. We all know that people don’t always know what they want and this is a fantastic way to decipher what they are really saying.

Make sure to check out www.closeitnow.net to find out about our coaching program and also go join the community at www.facebook.com/groups/closeitnow.

The Close It Now podcast, under the adept guidance of Sam Wakefield, ventures into the nuanced realm of HVAC sales, emphasizing the critical importance of empathetic engagement with customers. Central to this discourse is the assertion that the act of selling transcends the mere exchange of goods; it involves a profound understanding of the customer’s needs, aspirations, and the challenges they face within their living environments. Wakefield encapsulates this philosophy with a poignant quote from former President Theodore Roosevelt: “Nobody cares how much you know until they know how much you care.” This sentiment serves as the cornerstone of his approach to sales, advocating for a model that prioritizes listening and understanding over mere transactional interactions. Throughout this episode, Wakefield presents compelling arguments for the necessity of asking probing questions that uncover the underlying motivations of clients. He illustrates this through illustrative scenarios, such as a homeowner expressing a desire for additional insulation. Rather than simply fulfilling the request, Wakefield urges sales professionals to investigate the client’s broader goals—be it energy efficiency, comfort, or addressing specific temperature imbalances within their homes. This deeper inquiry not only enhances the salesperson's understanding but also empowers them to present comprehensive solutions that genuinely address the client’s needs, thereby solidifying their role as a trusted advisor within the HVAC industry. Moreover, Wakefield discusses the significance of maintaining integrity and authenticity in client interactions. He posits that true success in sales is predicated on a commitment to serving the customer’s best interests, even if that means acknowledging when a particular product or service may not be the right fit. This level of transparency fosters trust and loyalty, ensuring that clients view the salesperson not merely as a vendor but as a partner in navigating their home comfort challenges. The episode serves as an invaluable resource for HVAC professionals seeking to refine their sales strategies, reinforcing the principle that effective salesmanship is fundamentally rooted in genuine care and a commitment to understanding the client’s unique circumstances.

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.

Hey, hey, hey.

Welcome to another beautiful day.

My name is Sam Wakefield.

As you just heard, I want to also welcome a new country that has come online.

Did you know that this Close it now podcast is is listened to in eight countries around the world now?

So welcome Bosnia.

Thank you for joining me.

This is a really incredible journey.

It's an ongoing conversation of, you know, what do we do in the house to serve clients?

It's about serving people.

In fact, that's the topic of today.

There's a really cool quote.

I'm sure you've probably heard it by a former president of the United States, Teddy Roosevelt.

Nobody cares how much know until you know they know how much you care.

Nobody cares how much you know until they know how much you care.

So today the topic is going to be listening between the lines, I like to call it.

It's our job to.

Because what happens so many times is you get a lead and it comes in and they're asking for, we'll say insulation for an example.

Or the one.

In fact the one I'm headed to right now because I use my drive time university to record episodes.

It's really cool.

So you've got to use your drive time, use your drive time wisely.

Don't just jam out to music all the time.

Grow yourself, put on personal growth, put on podcasts, put on.

And you are if you're listening to this.

So congratulations for stepping up your game.

But audiobooks are a beautiful way to educate yourself and to grow.

And not just fiction stuff.

Fiction is fine, but there's some amazing books, business books, sales books, all the things that you can listen to to get better, to up your game, to up your level.

So.

But that's it.

The one I'm going to now the guy is asking for a dehumidifier.

You know, when you show up to a call, do you just offer what they're asking for?

Or do you really dive in and investigate?

Because I'm here to tell you that that is next level sales.

So closing out the month of June this year.

So we'll share some numbers.

What are your numbers?

May I had 64 point something percent close rate.

I just finished June with 61 point some odd close rate.

In our industry.

That's not too bad, not too shabby.

And so this is next level sales is what we're talking about.

I bring that up not to impress you, but to impress upon you that these skills are powerful.

These are powerful tools to tap into the.

Just the number of people that you're seeing doesn't have to change to dramatically increase your income and dramatically increase the bottom line by serving more people.

So listening between the lines, having empathy until they the way that they know you care is the fact that you listen to what they're saying, listen to what they're describ.

And how do we do that?

We do that through asking questions.

Questions is literally the most powerful tool you have in your tool belt.

When you're going into a house and you're talking to clients and talking to homeowners, you've got to ask questions.

I'm going to do an entire episode at some point on how to convert statements into questions and how to ask it in the form of a question.

But until then, just keep this concept in your mind.

If you can tell it or you can ask it in a question, always opt for the question because it keeps them engaged.

So when you're.

And so today we're going to give you the one of the most important questions that you can ask the homeowner on any topic.

It all depends on what they say they're wanting and what their the real solution might actually be.

Something different.

So back to our example.

Say they get the request is the lead is for insulation.

I need more insulation in my attic.

Well, do they need more insulation in their attic?

You get there and they're like, oh, you know, I've got a little bit I need to add some more.

You go up in the attic and maybe they don't necessarily even need insulation.

You have no idea.

But before you even do that, this question is so powerful.

Okay, Mr. And Ms.

Homeowner, I see on the my notes that it's here, I'm here to look at your insulation.

Is that right?

Yes.

Okay, well, let me ask you something.

What are you trying to accomplish by adding insulation?

What would you like to accomplish by that?

And then listen, hear what they say it could be.

Well, our Bills are really high.

And we just think that this might be something to help out with, that it could be their response might be, well, there's this one room in the corner of the house that is really hot all the time or cold all the time, depending on your season and where you're at.

It's one room in the house that's always the wrong temperature.

And we think that might be the solution.

Or it could be a combination of.

I mean, there's a million things that they could respond.

But what you're listening for is because nobody needs insulation.

Nobody just wants to buy insulation for the sheer fact of buying insulation.

So when you go into a house and you approach it from that direction, say, well, you know, you've got about 6 inches of insulation, and current code in our area is about 12 to 14 inches of insulation.

And you start talking about R values and all this stuff.

It doesn't matter.

It does not matter to the homeowner.

They don't care about any of that.

What they care about is solving the problems that they have now in their mind because they're uneducated most of the time.

They've translated their problem into, well, I think I probably, hopefully, maybe this will fix my problem.

I just need more insulation.

So it's our job as educated professionals to get there and then ask the questions, to unpeel that onion to find out, okay, what are you trying to accomplish?

Because the solute, the, you know, insulating a house can cause problems if there are already some other things going on.

I mean, there's so much to, you know, to surround around that.

But what we're trying to do, we're trying to figure out, are they after energy savings?

Are they after a quieter home?

Are they after fixing temperature imbalances?

Because every single one of those could be a different solution besides insulation, or if they truly needed insulation, it could turn into.

Instead of just selling insulation, you could really ask the right questions and listen to what their real true concerns are.

And then in offering your solution, can sound something like this, say, yes, Mr. Jones, Ms. Jones, the insulation is a part of what is going on here.

Yes, you do have a lack of insulation, but there's also several other things happening that when combined, will be a much more effective solution for what you've got going on.

See, maybe this room is uncomfortable because it's got some airflow issues.

So you what those are and how as part of the solution, along with the insulation, we're going to do this.

Oh, and you've got, you know, really A loud house.

Well, that's part partly the old metal duct work you've got, you know, that's, that's what's going on here.

So along with insulating, if we insulate now, the access to change this later is going to be limited.

Why don't we go ahead and do you a complete new duct system.

It's going to solve all these other issues like dustiness and allergens and molten mildews and all the things you go through.

It could sound like, wow, you know, your big concern was your energy savings.

But I noticed that yes, insulation will make a difference, but also you're running a heating and air system that's outdated and it's say 24 years old.

This is your largest consumer of energy in your home.

Would you be open to considering upgrading that at the same time?

Because that when we combine all of these together, you're going to see an enormous difference versus just this one thing.

And then ask them, does that make sense?

Because what we want to do is serve the client.

We want to accomplish the things we want to accomplish are their concerns, not what they asked for.

So if they just asked for insulation, it more than likely when you get that lease is not the case.

It's usually not the actual problem that they're wanting to fix that they're wanting to solve.

Same thing.

When we go into a house and it's a lead for just new air conditioner.

Well, that's not all that's going on.

Most of the time, you know, say it's a tech turnover and there's, you know, the system is down compressor shot and it's just a dead in the water system.

And so, so they're wanting to change the equipment.

So then you start the process again, same questions.

Okay, great.

What would we like to accomplish in this project?

Because one, we can come in and we can install just a newer version of the exact same thing you had.

However, you didn't get to choose that when you moved in.

And that's the more than likely it's going to be a builder grade model.

And that's, you know, that's kind of the rock bottom basic builder grade.

What would we like to accomplish?

Would you like to improve the comfort of the house at the same time, would you like to make it a lot quieter?

Would you like to make the temperatures a lot better?

The humidity control, Would your indoor air quality get, is it dusty in the house?

Start asking all these questions and by going through that you're gonna have your clients, they're gonna Say, yeah, you know, that sounds great.

What would it take to do that?

That's when your response is, of course, are replacing the equipment.

It doesn't cost nearly as much to do it all together.

It's a bigger project, but you're going to accomplish so much more because you're doing it together.

We're able to get in and make little adjustments right now that are a lot more difficult to do at a different time.

And so now you're going to have just a overall better experience in your house.

And most of the time, people are all for that.

They get excited, they're ready to rock.

When you go in with that type of a concept, the concept that you're going to serve them, and by serving them, that means that you've got to close the deal.

Because if you truly believe in your product and you truly believe in your solution and what you offer clients, that is the best thing out there, that their life is truly going to be better because you and your crew were there, because you did work above anyone else's work.

If you truly believe that you're better, that you do amazing work, that their life is going to change, then it is your responsibility to make sure that they get the help they need.

And you can only do that if you close the sale.

You don't need the I want to think about it kind of thing.

And that's why this question process is so important.

Because as you start asking those questions of, well, you know, I'm hearing you need insulation, or I'm hearing that you need a new system, but what other things are going on?

And you start really diving into that process and asking second, third, fourth level questions of, oh, that room's hot.

Who sleeps in that room?

Wow.

What's it like for them?

Tell me more about that.

And when you start asking those deeper, deeper questions, now you've got a full solution for the whole home.

You're giving them the total experience of their home.

And not just, well, replace this box that blows air into my house and makes it warmer or colder.

Because that's two wildly different things.

If that's the only common conversation, you're talking about a commodity that they can call 20 other companies in town that sell the same brand, and then all they're doing is comparing prices on beans and it's a race to the bottom.

But when you start talking about the whole house overall, what is it like for them living there?

Are there concerns, are there temperature issues?

All the things.

And when you roll the entire, every bit of that into your Packaged offering and say, listen, we're not just going to, you know, install a box that blows air for you.

Those are all the things that we're going to accomplish.

Now there's nothing to compare to.

There is no such thing as apples to apples anymore because there's nobody else out there that's doing the same kind of thing.

There's nobody else out there at the same thoroughness and same level that is going to be offering the solutions that you're offering and bundling it together like this.

That's why when they come back with, well, I just want to make some comparisons and let's, you know, got to get three bids.

That's when you're just like, there's not a comparison.

In our industry, Mr.

Homeowner.

There's not a comparison because here's what we offer and here you're trying to compare apples and chickens.

It's not the same thing.

So take that into account.

And that's why we're different.

We're not, you know, $6,000 more expensive.

We're $6,000 different.

And you told me that you wanted to accomplish these things.

Is that still true?

And so that's, that's how that conversation needs to go.

So important.

But back to the all important question is, no matter what the lead is, when you get there, no matter what's in your notes, the way the call came in, when you get there, ask what would you like to accomplish?

What are you trying to accomplish by xyz, Whatever they asked for.

And this applies to anything.

This applies if you sell windows, this applies if you sell water purification.

It doesn't really matter what you're selling selling.

It matters what they're buying because they're buying solutions to their problems.

They're not buying your product, they're buying solutions to your problems.

And that's what we have to pair up with what we bring to the table.

Because if I ask anyone, and two, you have to care for the client enough to be able to say, you know what, we might not be a good fit for you.

This is not a project that we excel at.

And I'm just going to be honest with you here, it's not a good fit for us.

Maybe give them a recommendation for some else.

That is.

So you have to be able to have the integrity enough to do that.

And when you do, that's when that client will never go to anyone else for your service because you were so upfront and honest with them and transparent that it gave them that confidence to know that you're not messing them around.

You're there truly with their best interest in mind because you listened to them tell you what's going on and ask the clarifying questions to hear, don't just listen, but actually hear what they're truly saying to you.

So remember Teddy Roosevelt, people don't care how much you know until they know how much you care.

And you can show that by asking the questions what are they trying to accomplish?

And listen and then you can offer your solutions after that.

So thank you for listening today.

This has been a, this has been a lot of fun recording this one.

This is one of the things I'm truly passion about is serving with, serving with an open heart, basically being transparent.

There's such a move towards authenticity in our climate, in our, in our world right now and a big part of that has to do with this model.

It's not going in and going through this process of well, I've just got to, you know, take them through these steps and as soon as we get through these steps, that's when you know, I'm a superstar and I'll just show them my products and they're going to buy from me.

No, if you have that concept in mind, then there's a big problem because you're not serving the client that way.

It's about serving the client.

Listening to them first, will they always be right?

No.

We know that it's our job to educate through questions.

So yeah, that's, that's the message today.

I hope you enjoyed this podcast.

If you got some value from it, share it with somebody.

Because sharing is caring.

That's how we're growing our community.

Find us@CloseItNow.net we've got a website site being built as we speak so that is going to be happening really soon.

For now go to closeitnow.net and it's going to route you to where you can connect to our online community in our Facebook group.

And I will.

I'm actually going to be doing a live video in there later and we'll answer some, answer some questions real life and in person.

But otherwise I will talk to you again soon.

Thanks for listening to Close it now with Sam Wakefield.

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