Picture this: You're at the park on a perfect 75-degree day. An old guy sits next to you and starts rattling off investment advice. You're half-listening, being polite, but not really paying attention. 45 minutes later, you get up to leave. And he says, "By the way, I'm Warren Buffett."

Everything changes. You wish you'd listened differently. You wish you'd asked questions. You wish you'd recorded the conversation. Why? Credibility. The advice was the same. The words were the same. But who you thought was saying them changed everything.

Here's another example: Joshua Bell, one of the world's most celebrated violinists. Three days before this happened, he sold out Boston's Symphony Hall—even the nosebleed seats went for $100. Then The Washington Post set up an experiment. They had Joshua Bell stand in a D.C. Metro station during morning rush hour in plain clothes, playing his $3.5 million Stradivarius violin for 45 minutes. Out of 1,097 people who walked past him, only 7 stopped to listen. One person recognized him. His case held $32.17 when he finished.

Same person. Same skill. Different context. That's exactly what's happening in your appointments.

In this episode, Sam Wakefield breaks down the 3 credibility flags you must plant in the first 5 minutes—or you'll fight an uphill battle the entire appointment.

In This Episode:

• Warren Buffett park bench story: why the same advice gets different responses
• Joshua Bell Metro experiment: accurate details from the 2007 Washington Post study
• The one question homeowners are asking: "Who am I listening to?"
• Why credibility must be established in the first 5 minutes, not at the end
• The 3 credibility flags: Experience, Pattern Recognition, Professional Context
• Ninja trick: Put your back to the equipment to control the conversation
• Trust equals honesty plus competence (competence must be communicated)

Work with Sam / Join the Close It Now Movement:

• Website: https://www.closeitnow.net
• Coaching & Training: https://www.closeitnow.net/coaching
• Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/closeitnow
• Email: sam@closeitnow.net
• Free Friday Trainings: Every Friday 10am CST live in the Facebook group

3 Ways to Work with Sam:

1. On-Site Training (SPRING 2026 PROMO ACTIVE) - Half-day classroom plus half-day ride-alongs with your team.
2. Virtual Training - Same frameworks, same results, delivered remotely for teams or individuals.
3. Growth Catalyst - Full company growth and scaling program. Finding 15-20% of revenue sitting in your company that should have gone to your bottom line.

Email sam@closeitnow.net or visit closeitnow.net to learn more.

Next Week:

The Car Analogy - How to Make the Intangible Tangible. Most homeowners don't understand HVAC, but they understand cars. When you use the right comparisons, you don't need technical explanations anymore.

Leave a review on Apple Podcasts or Google to help more salespeople find this show. If I read your review on the show, you earn a free 1-hour coaching session.

Google Review Link: https://g.page/r/CbfnnDqTCwQdEAE/review

Welcome to Close it now, the podcast that's revolutionizing the H Vac and home improvement trades industries.

Get ready to dive deep into the world of heating, ventilation and air conditioning.

We're turning up the heat on industry standards and cooling down misconceptions.

And we're not just talking about fixing vents and adjusting thermostats.

It's about the transformative movement that's reshaping the very foundation of H Vac and home improvement.

We're the driving force, inspiring top performers who crave excellence not only in their professional endeavors, but also in fitness, nutrition, relationships, and personal growth, proving that we can indeed have it all.

This is Close it now, where excellence meets excitement.

Let's get to work.

Now, your host, Sam Wakefield.

Okay, let me paint you a picture.

You're at the park.

It's a perfect 75 degree day.

Your kids are playing.

You sit down on the park bench and there's this old guy next to you.

And he just starts rattling off investment advice.

How to build your bank account, how to build wealth, how to build your business.

And you're half listening, maybe being polite, but really not taking notes, really not paying a ton of attention.

45 Minutes later, you get up to leave, and as you're walking away, the guy says, you're like, hey, yeah, my name is.

So I'll use my name.

My name is Sam.

And he's like, oh, by the way, I'm Warren Buffett.

Immediately, everything changes.

You wish you had listened differently.

You wish you would have asked questions.

You wish you would have recorded the conversation.

Why?

Credibility.

One word.

Credibility.

The advice was the same.

The words were the same, but who you thought was saying them changed everything.

Here's another example.

I've referenced this before, but I did the research, so I know the details now because I do not like giving misinformation.

Truth is everything.

Integrity is everything.

How you do anything is how you do everything.

So be truthful.

In sales, we don't lie, cheater, steal.

We don't need to.

So here we go.

Joshua Bell, one of the most celebrated violinists in the world.

He sold out Boston Symphony hall, even the mediocre seats.

They had Joshua Bell stand in the Metro station in Washington, D.C. during the morning rush, during morning rush hour, plain clothes, baseball cap.

It was a study.

Out of the 1,097 people who walked past him, only seven people stopped to listen for more than a minute.

One person recognized him and when he finished his course, he had his case open in front of him like a busker.

And when he finished, his case held $32.17.

And 20 of that came from the one person who knew who he was.

Same person, same skill, different context.

So that's exactly what is happening in your appointments.

Hey, I'm Sam Wakefield.

This is Close It Now.

So before we dive in today, I want to read a recent five star review because it ties directly into what we're talking about.

This one came from Johnny Turner.

This is five stars and I love this.

And so listen to this review.

This is a good one.

I found Sam in the Close it now podcast.

When I was at a low point, I was moving from a home warranty contractor to the retail side of H Vac.

I had no idea how to make money other than repair what was in front of me.

Through his podcast, I've learned so much.

I more than tripled my revenue in like a week.

He is so easy to listen to and it's all rather practical.

I actually call him when I have serious issues.

He's a great guy and a benefit to the industry.

Thank you, Sam.

Well, thank you Johnny Turner for the five star review.

I appreciate it.

This is off of Google and so first of all, Johnny, if you hear this and you message me or pop me a text, you have earned yourself a one hour coaching session.

And for everyone else, if you have gotten value from this podcast and you leave me a 5 star review either on Google or on Apple podcasts and I read it on the show and you hear it, message me and you will have earned yourself also a one hour coaching session.

And so I love that.

So thanks, Johnny.

That's exactly what happens when you apply.

And for everybody else, that's what happens when you apply these principles for everyone listening if you've ever gotten value.

Yeah, hit me up with a review.

I appreciate it.

So now a quick note on how you can work with me directly because I've been getting a lot of questions about this and I want to clear it up so there's no confusion.

One, there's three different ways.

One is on site training for your team.

This is where I come to your company, work with your people directly and build a custom program around what you need.

So there is reach out for the details.

You can hit me up.

I'll give you all the contact info here in a second.

Actually let's go through all three.

So that's the first one.

I got a spring promotion on on site visits where I come to your location.

We spend half a day in the classroom, then we lock that in the second half of the day in ride alongs with your team in your vans doing the work.

I am not the trainer that goes back to the hotel room at 3pm and doesn't do what I train.

So something is important.

Number two, virtual training.

Whether it's your whole team or as an individual, we can do this remotely.

So same framework, same results, just delivered virtually.

So we go through.

It's a different structure of course because it's virtual.

We spread it out and some different things.

But virtual training so I don't have to come to your site.

I can do it remotely where we dial in and then number three, the growth catalyst.

This is our newest program, full company growth and scaling.

I want you to hear this word.

There's a major difference between growth and scaling.

And I'm going to have actually my partner in this on the episode soon and we're going to talk about what the difference in growth and scaling looks like and where most so many companies that try to do this get blocked and it doesn't work for them so they feel like it's smoke and mirrors.

So this is the newest program, full company growth and scaling.

What happens is we find roughly 15 to 20% of your revenue is sitting in your company that should have gone to your bottom line.

We help you reclaim it and then build a growth plan to scale past the walls that you keep hitting you keep running into.

This is for the owners who are ready to stop leaving money on the table.

You're tired of doing the work and then wondering where all of the money went.

So to learn more about any of these, email me samoseitnow.net, or head over to closeitnow.net and fill out the form on there or find me on Facebook.

You can join the Facebook group where I do a free training Friday.

It's a coffee talk Friday where we go what's in your cup?

And then we talk about the current events of the day in the industry and you can always DM me on social media.

So that's samoseitnow.net or go to closeitnow.net, fill out the form, and I will get back to you immediately.

Okay, so let's.

What's in your cup real quick?

Toast this episode and get into it.

So what are you drinking today?

Today I have.

I've got some tea.

I've got some Irish breakfast tea.

Thank you.

My friend Brian o', Boyle, he gave me this.

Actually, this box of tea is teabags is from Ireland.

So I appreciate it, my friend.

What are you drinking today?

You have monster.

You got a Coke.

You got a latte.

You just got coffee.

Make sure to drink your water, people.

It's starting to warm up.

So let's toast this episode and get into it together.

3, 2, 1.

All right, so over the last few weeks, what we've talked about is one honoring the tipping point.

How homeowners have already said yes by the time you show up.

We've talked about showing your work, building the bridge so they can see how you got to your solution.

We've talked about language, how saying only or just starts to kill your value.

Today, we're going to talk about something that either amplifies all of that or completely undermines it was how we started today.

Credibility.

Here's the thing most people don't realize.

It's not just what you say.

It's who you think you are when you say it.

The same advice from Warren Buffett on a park bench versus a random stranger.

Completely different response.

He made 32 bucks.

But those Symphony hall tickets, right, the cheap seats were 100 bucks.

Same person, same skill, different context.

And what's happening, and this is exactly what's happening during your appointments.

Because the homeowners, they don't know if you started last week or if you've been doing this for 20 years.

They don't know if you're the best in the business or just going through the motions.

All they know is somebody showed up to my house.

And until you establish credibility, nothing else you say carries the weight that it should.

So here's the mental thought process.

I need you to lock in, as my kids would say.

They're like, lock in, dad.

Okay, so here's what I need you to lock in.

Credibility changes everything.

Same information, different sources, different response.

Think about the Warren Buffett story.

The advice didn't change.

The words didn't change.

What changed was who you thought was giving the advice and that completely shifted how you valued it.

So let's apply this to your appointments.

When you walk into a house, the homeowner is asking one question before they hear anything else.

You say, who am I listening to?

Until they have an answer to this question, everything else you say is filtered through uncertainty.

They're thinking, is this person qualified?

Do they know what they're doing?

Have they done this before?

Should I trust them?

And if you don't answer those questions early in the first five minutes, you're fighting an uphill battle.

The entire appointment is every piece of advice or you're you give.

Every recommendation, every price you present is being evaluated through the lens of.

But do I believe this person knows what they're talking about?

Now, here's where most people get it wrong because, and I know a lot of the systems out there are built like this.

This is why it's wrong.

They think credibility is built at the end of the appointment.

Well, if I do good work, they'll see I'm creditable.

Or they'll wait until you sit down at the table right before you present price and go, okay, let me tell you a little bit about our company.

It's too late.

By then, it's too late.

Because credibility determines how they listen to you throughout the entire appointment.

If they don't believe you're credible from the start, they're not going to be fully engaged.

They're skeptical.

No wonder they grab their phone and they'll get lost in the scroll hole while you're trying to have a conversation with them.

They're skeptical, they're questioning, they're hesitant.

Sometimes if you walk in, it feels like there's some pushback from them.

This is why.

But if you establish credibility early, everything else starts to flow.

So they'll listen differently.

They're going to trust your recommendations, they're open to your solutions.

So the question is, how do you establish credibility in the first five minutes?

So let's get some boots on the ground here, some real world application.

So I'm going to give you a framework that will help.

So I call it the plant plan.

Really I just call it.

When we're planting credibility flags, it has to happen early.

These are the small, basically authentic moments throughout the first five minutes where we're gonna, it's subtle, but we're gonna establish that you know exactly what you're doing.

This is not bragging, this is not name dropping.

We're just giving context.

It's the Highlight reel.

The highlight reel for you, the highlight reel for the company.

So here's what it looks like in practice.

When you walk in and, you know, they walk you straight to the system.

Don't just say, okay, let me take a look, right?

Raise your hand.

How many of you have those people that they second you get in the house, or they might even meet you in the yard, or they'll the garage doors up when you pull up, and they walk you straight to exactly what you want to look at.

If it's the garage door opener or if it's the plumbing, it's the water heater, it's the whatever it is, they walk you around to the condenser, whatever it is you're looking at.

So instead of going, okay, let me take a look, say this.

Hey, got it.

Listen, I've worked on hundreds of these.

This is one of the more common setups we see in homes like yours.

Let me run a full diagnostic, and I'll walk you through exactly what I find.

So it's very different.

You didn't say, I'm the best.

You didn't brag.

You just gave them context.

I've done this before a lot.

Now they're listening to you differently.

Now, here's the ninja trick.

And so as you're on your way to the thing, this is when you've got that 20% driver personality, the ones that just take off, Everybody else say, absolutely, of course we're going to look at it.

But first, can we go over a couple things?

That way I have a better understanding of exactly what we're looking at today.

Sure.

Okay, great.

And then you get to ask a few questions, and you can take them into a bit of the introduction that way.

Now, for those people that just take off and they take you to the appointment, don't make it weird.

Don't force people to sit down at the table.

I despise that.

That's ridiculous.

I've done intros on the.

On a tailgate, over a trash can, standing over a condenser, lots of different places.

It doesn't matter.

But you have to have the conversation first.

The conversation is what sets the context, not the fact that you sat down at a kitchen table.

So get rid of the thing out of your mind and focus on what's actually happening here.

And so when you get there, here's your ninja trick.

Those people that just take you to the system or to whatever it is you're looking at when you get there, do not start doing your diagnostic or measuring or whatever it is and try to verbally do this at the same time.

Because what's gonna happen is all they're doing is they're looking at what you're doing and they're not paying attention to what you're saying.

So when you get there, I want you to put your back to the thing.

Put your back to the condenser, put your back.

Stand right in front of it, back to the furnace, to the water heater, to wherever you're at.

Walk over to it, turn around, put your back to it.

Position yourself between the equipment and the person you're talking to.

And then you get to go into a bit of the intro.

And that is huge because then you get there and say, okay, great.

I'm going to check this out in just a minute before we get started.

And I've got some scripting for you in a second, but before we get started.

So hit pause there.

That's how you position it.

And I made notes, but I'm off.

I'm off the rails of my notes here.

I'm going to reel it back in.

But you got to get there.

You position yourself between you and the thing and the turnaround.

And that gives them this very clear picture of I'm a professional.

Here's my path, here's what we're going to do.

Absolutely.

I'm going to look at that here in just a minute.

Before we do, there's a few things I'd like to go over with you.

Is that okay?

They'll always say yes, because now you are taking control and you are leading the appointment.

You have to be the leader in the appointment.

So here's credibility.

Flag number two, pattern recognition.

So when you're diagnosing the issue, share what you're seeing.

You know, okay, so based on what you're telling me and what I'm seeing here, this is a pattern I see in a lot of homes built around this time.

Let me confirm a couple things and I'll know for sure.

So there's some language around what you're doing that's just show them you're not guessing.

You're recognizing patterns.

You've seen this before.

Their credibility with your credibility with them is starting to rise.

So professional context.

At some point in the first five minutes, what's going to happen here is we're going to give them a little bit of your background, A not your life story, just enough context.

So we've got to cover the company and the person.

So company first.

Always do.

Company first.

They didn't call you.

They called the company.

And so hey, you know, our clients tell us it's important to know about the company and the person they're working with.

We think that's important too.

So love to go over that with you now.

Would that be all right?

They say yes.

Okay, great.

So we're, you know, we're whatever you are, we're a local family owned company.

We are, you know, we're, we're from the area.

We're part of a large network.

We've got the support to be able to take care of you however you need to position that one thing that's great about us, I don't know if you found us on Google.

We have this many Google reviews at that high a rating.

What we love about Google is you can't pay them to get rid of negative reviews.

So we've earned every single one of those stars.

So what are we doing?

We're lowering their resistance.

We're letting them know, hey, we've been in business for this many years and if you're with a younger company, that's fine.

Say we've been in business for however long, a year, two years, three years, we have a combined experience and that's where you add up the combined experience years of the people in the company or at least the few primary members.

We have a combined experience of over 50 years.

What we did is we came together as a company because we realized a lot of companies in the area were not doing things correctly or serving their people, serving their clients at the highest level.

So that's why we formed this company because we got tired of our homeowners get taken advantage of.

So we wanted to be able to serve you at the highest level and that's why we started this company.

So even though we've only been this company so far has only been in business for a couple years, we've got experience from the field for 50 plus years and now we're here to do things right.

People don't care that you haven't been in business for 85 years.

They care that you've got the experience to take care of them.

So this is crucial when you're introducing yourself.

And this is one of the things that.

So I'll give you a couple different versions for a personal intro as well.

Because they don't want your life story, they just need context.

So here's a couple different versions.

Here's one.

If somebody's been in the field a little bit longer, so make it yours.

But so I've been doing this for 12 years now.

I actually started as an installer.

I moved into diagnostics.

I moved.

Or into the service tech moved into whatever.

And now I get to work with homeowners like you to make your home more comfortable and efficient.

You gave them the history.

Now here's on the flip side.

If you've not been in the industry very long or you're fairly new to your position, so.

Or you're.

Especially for you young guys out there, I used to have to do this a lot.

You have to hit it off.

Hey, I might look young, but I've done over 400 installs.

This is what I do every single day.

I've got.

And if you have any licenses or certifications, throw those in there.

You know, I'm certified with.

I'm a NATE Certified Technician or NATE Certified Installer or whatever.

I have hold my EPA license.

They don't know that that's standard for everyone in H Vac.

It doesn't matter if you don't say it, you might as well not have it.

So just reference something because it's going to build credibility and it changes how they perceive everything you say after that.

Now, here's what you don't do.

You don't wait until the end of the appointment to say, oh, by the way, I've been doing this for 15 years and I'm certified in six different systems and I've won awards.

And, and, and too late.

They've already made up their mind about whether they trust you, whether what you've said is, is truthful or not, whether they, they're going to.

They've made their mind up already.

You waited too late.

Credibility is established early or not at all.

So let me show you what this looks like from start to finish.

Is this good?

Raise your hand if this is good.

Is you.

Are you getting some value from this today?

So you walk up to the door, the homeowner answers.

Hey, my name is Sam with Close it now@h vac.

Thanks so much for having me out.

I know it's frustrating when stuff breaks down.

I'm here to help.

It's okay if I come in, come inside, they take you to the furnace.

And remember, everybody, I'm giving an H Vac example, but apply this to whatever it is you do.

Got it.

So this is a.

We're going to call it whatever brand.

Work on these all the time.

They're solid units, but they do have a couple common failure points.

Let me run a diagnostic and I'll walk you through exactly what I find.

Sound good?

Flag planted I know this unit.

I've seen it before.

You run your diagnostic, you come back.

Okay, so here's what I found.

Based on what you told me about the issue and what I'm seeing here, this is actually a pattern I see in a lot of systems that are around this age.

We call it, the capacitor is failing.

And when that happens, it puts extra strain on the motor.

Let me show you what I mean.

Flag planet.

I recognize patterns.

I'm not guessing.

Is this making sense?

I know this is a super basic, stripped down version.

So for all of you super techs out there, yes, I know that there's steps to diagnostic that I'm not going through right now.

We're making it simple for the sake of this process.

So understand, I want you to learn how to apply this.

So the flag that we're planning is I recognize patterns.

I'm not guessing.

You explain the issue, you build the bridge, show your work.

Go back to episode two in this series and listen to that one.

If you don't know what I mean there, then as you're transitioning to solutions.

So, hey, listen, I've been doing this for over 10 years now, for over a decade, and I've probably replaced a couple hundred capacitors or a couple thousand like this.

So here's what I'd recommend.

See, it doesn't have to be this forced thing.

It's subtle.

But when you say, gosh, I've done this a few thousand times, here's what I'd recommend, they go boom, all right, I've done it.

I mean, you're saying, I've done this before and a lot.

See what just happened here?

In the span of 10 minutes, we've planted three different credibility flags.

And now when you present your solution and your price, they're not thinking, I wonder if this person knows what they're doing.

They're thinking, this person clearly knows what they're doing.

I'm in good hands.

That's the credibility principle in action.

So now there's another layer to this.

It's the emotional piece.

It's the emotional anchor.

Because people buy on emotion, justify with logic, and justify that logic with another piece of emotion.

And so they don't just buy solutions, they buy solutions for people they believe are qualified to deliver them.

So you have the.

I mean, you have the best product in the world.

You could have the best price in the market.

You could have the most thorough diagnostic process.

But if the homeowner doesn't believe you are the right person to deliver it, there we're stuck with.

I want to think about it.

They won't buy.

Because trust isn't just about honesty.

And this is the piece you have to get.

Trust is not just about honesty.

And I understand that so many of you, and I commend you for it.

Yes, absolutely.

Integrity, honesty, morally, ethically, everything we do is along those lines.

However, there's more to trust than just honesty.

Trust is also about competence, and competence has to be communicated.

It's not enough to be good at what you do.

You have to show them that you're good at what you do, and you have to do it early, you have to do it authentically, and you have to do it consistently.

So I want you to think about it like this.

If you needed surgery, would you want the surgeon who walks in and says, all right, let's get started, with no context about who they are or what they've done, or would you want the surgeon who says, man, I performed over 500 of these procedures.

This is one of the more common situations we see.

And here's exactly how we're going to approach it.

Same surgery, different level of confidence.

That is credibility, and that's exactly what we're after here in this situation.

And the same thing applies to your appointments.

Your homeowner is making a decision that it's going to affect their comfort, their safety, their budget, literally their human existence in their space.

And they need to know who.

They need to know they're making a decision with someone who knows what they're doing.

So give them that confidence.

Plant the flags.

Plant them early.

Establish credibility early.

Watch how differently they respond to everything you say after that.

So let's recap.

Let's bring this home.

Time to land the plane, so to speak.

Credibility changes everything.

Same information, different source, different response.

Warren Buffett on the.

On the park bench versus some stranger giving investment advice.

Completely different response.

You know, with Joshua Bell, the world's greatest violinist, in the subwave, versus, you know, at the Boston, you know, theater hall.

Same person, different perception.

In your appointments, homeowners are asking, who am I listening to?

If you don't answer that question early, everything else you say is filtered through skepticism.

So plant credibility flags in the first five minutes.

Experience, I worked on hundreds of these.

Pattern recognition.

This is a common issue I see in system, this age, professional context.

I've been doing this for 10 years.

I've been doing this for however long.

You're not bragging.

You're giving them context.

Or if you haven't been in a lot of years, say I've worked on hundreds of these, or I've worked on, you know, lean back into the.

I, I studied this and now I have the experience of.

And, and the thing is, and context changes how they listen to you.

I promise you this is the thing.

They will trust your recommendations.

They'll perceive your value.

Credibility is established early or not at all.

So if this hit home, if you've been waiting until the end of the appointment to establish credibility, or right before you do your actual presentation of your pricing, you give them the so let me tell you a little bit about our company.

I want you to try something this week.

Plant three credibility flags in the first five minutes of your next appointment.

Experience, pattern recognition and professional context.

Watch how differently the appointment will flow when they believe you know what you're doing from the start.

And if you want help with this, if you want to break down every part of your process and communication, head over to CloseItNow.net we've worked with salespeople and companies to literally optimize every single step of the appointment.

And next week we're going to be diving into something that makes sense to homeowners.

So it's the car analogy, how to make the intangible tangible.

So most homeowners don't understand H Vac or plumbing or electric or whatever it is that you do, the garage doors, the solar, the roofing, but they understand cars.

And when you use the right comparisons, when you use the right analogies, you don't need to give technical explanations anymore.

And so that is the thing to remember.

And we're going to dive into it next week.

So I'm Sam Wakefield.

This is Close It Now.

Remember, everybody, you have to work harder on yourself than you do on your business, harder on yourself than you do on your skills.

And what I mean by that is work to become someone worth buying from.

As your level of personal growth increases, people will naturally want to do business with you because you're now a person of character.

And how you do anything is how you do everything.

So, yes, work on your sales skills.

Take these skills that we just went through and immediately implement them.

Because success happens at the speed of implementation.

Success happens at the speed of implementation.

And also.

And that is exactly how you work to become someone worth buying from.

You've been listening to the Close it now podcast.

Our passion is to dive head first into the transformative movement that's reshaping the very foundation of H Vac and home improvement, and at the same time, covering fitness, nutrition, relationships and personal growth, proving that we can indeed have it all.

We hope you've enjoyed the show.

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See you next time.