This Is What You Are Not Getting!

How do present the offers that you’re going to make to the homeowners when you put together the package? Today, Sam Wakefield covers some specific verbiage that you can use, a couple of one liners that can turn the key to unlock the customer’s mind to see all the options. At the end of the day, our goal is not to focus in and try to cause a homeowner to buy any specific thing every single time, but to share what’s available, share the benefits, and let them choose.

We are covering how you present your offers, how do you go through your system or options, how you got through the different offers that you’re going to make to the homeowners when you put together the package. We are going to cover some specific verbiage that you can use, some scripting. Not necessarily scripting, but a couple of one liners that turn the key to unlock the customer’s mind to be open to seeing all the options. At the end of the day, our goal is not to focus in and try to cause a homeowner to buy any specific thing. We are not trying to get them to buy the top–of–the–line system every single time. Our job, our whole responsibility is to share what’s available, share the benefits, and let them choose.

Wouldn’t you always rather have a sale than no sale at all? That’s what happens so many times. We had a guy in our team. He didn’t last very long because he came from a different industry. He tried to step into heating and air sales with the same mindset that he had from a completely different trade. Every brand of equipment, you’ve got four, five, six different models and levels of equipment. He would only show the two premium options. It’s the only one he ever showed to homeowners. It’s wonder that his close rate was horrible. That’s what happens when customers get the sentiment and the feeling that you’re trying to manipulate them into buying something if you only show them very limited options unless there’s a situation where you explain why the rest don’t work in their situation.

Go Through The Process

For most of the time, with residential HVAC, just about everything will fit. You’ve got to go through the process. I’ve got a great story too. I walked into this humongous house, a couple of million dollar houses, three or four systems on the house. We were looking at this one specifically and from the very get-go, he says, “I’ve talked to a couple of other companies and I’ve decided I just want to go with the basic single estate equipment.” “Yes, sir. No problem.” I said. “Tell me about what you’re experiencing, what your concerns are.” I went through my questionnaire with the homeowner and talked about indoor air quality etc.. He tells me, “I’m only going to be here another two to three years and that’s it.” “No problem. I’m sure we’ve got a system that will fit your needs.” A cool catchphrase, a kind of turn-up phrase that you can totally have is, “Perfect. That’s great. We try to have a saddle for every seat, meaning we’ve got to fit for you. Let’s just figure it out and work together to come up with the right combination of things to put together for your proposal, something you will accept.” He’s like, “Okay, sounds great.”

We go through the process and then how you present your equipment and not talking in terms of the features but talking in terms of the benefits from each one is so widely important. This guy already talked to two or three companies and got other bids, which is what they were. They were bids, people just dropping stuff off. I get there and I go through the process. I’ve evaluated the area, looked at the current equipment, all that kind of stuff and then I sit down with him. I did my manual calculation of what size system we needed. “Here are the different models and here’s what they do. Here are the problems they overcome with the comfort of your home. Each step of the way, you’ve got your single-stage equipment. You’ve got your two-stage equipment, then you get into what we call adaptive cooling equipment,” and talked about the benefits of humidity control and limiting the on and off times and that kind of thing.

We go through the whole process and he says, “That’s interesting. Nobody else explained any of that equipment. All they ever showed me was the single stage stuff. I didn’t even know these other stuff existed,” which was my clue that you’ve got to show everything. You’ve got to show all of the systems. When I started showing him the equipment and talked about the features and benefits of each one, and here’s another phrase for you, use this and it’s super powerful because our job is just to see if they’re open to hearing about all of the options. Here’s exactly what I said, “I know you mentioned that you wanted the single-stage equipment but if you don’t mind, I would like to take you through everything that’s available so you can know what you’re saying no to.” That’s so powerful. He said, “Sure.” I said, “It’s our job to really educate you so you know everything that is out there.” I then proceeded to take him through all the different levels of the equipment, all the way through to the truly variable speed.

Show Pricing From The Top Down

When it’s time to open up, you don’t show pricing at this point. All you’re talking about is the simple high level features of each system, the problems it overcomes and why it was developed. Get all the way through that, and then when we show pricing, turn around and go backwards. Always show pricing from the top down because you’re accomplishing a handful of things when you do this. This is deep psychology of sales with this process. This has nothing to do with manipulation but has everything to do with the way people buy. One, you’ve already told them that you want them to know everything that’s available so they can make a great decision. That’s good. The next thing you told them is you’re communicating and that you’re going to show them everything that’s available. It’s up to them to choose what best fits their project, which is great because you’ve given them the sense that they are in control of the buying process. In fact, here’s the exact verbiage that I use. “What we’re going to do is go through all the models available. I’ll show you everything that has to do with each one and why it may or may not be a fit for you. At the end of the day, there is no right or wrong answer. It’s up to you to decide what the best fit for your house and the way you live here is.”

That totally gives them back control of the buying process even though you’re in control of the presentation. You’re leading the call. You’re showing them but they have that feeling that they now have the power, which is exactly what you want them to have. You want them to have that feeling, that way when you get through the process, they can say yes to something. We don’t want them to say no or, “I’ll think about it.” We want them to say yes to something, so you present your systems from bottom up. That way you can build on each one and explain the differences. When you’re going through pricing, and this is the important part, start at the top down. Turn around and you start with the highest end package you have, whatever it is. The other thing that you do with this is your price conditioning because once they see if its sticker shot for the client, they are going to have it on the first one. Once they see your top–end equipment and the pricing for it, everything else seems like a smaller number. Whereas if you started on the bottom, everything seems to get bigger and bigger and grow. That’s also why you want to go from the top down.

Presenting Your Offers: When you’re showing them what they’re not getting, you’re tapping into their fear of missing out.

Present The Top Package First

You present your top package first and once you go through all the features that each of those include, then when you go to the next one, first, you ask the question, “Does this seem like a good fit for you?” Usually what they say is, “Let’s go ahead and look at all the rest”. That’s perfectly fine. When you go one step down from the top, when you say, “Here are the things that you’re not going to get with this system that the higher one included.” That’s really important verbiage. Here are the things that are not going to be included because what you’re doing there is you’re tapping into fear of missing out. Have you ever had FOMO? Everyone has FOMO. That’s exactly why people do the things they do, buy the things they buy, and go to the places they go because so many times it’s driven by FOMOs. It’s driven by fear of missing out. It’s driven by that comparison syndrome.

That’s not our fault that people have that. This is a really fun tip too if you’ve done several projects for either the same family or associates or business partners or maybe even on the same block or the same street. I love it when that happens because I’d totally step in and be like, “Your neighbor down the street and the other one this way, they did these systems.” Very seldom does that next person pick anything below what those other people chose because they can’t be missing out. They say, “If they picked it, then surely we need to do that too.” As you present your top levels, “Does this seem like a fit for you?” “Let’s see some other option.” “Okay, great. No problem.” You step into the next one, “Here’s what you’re not going to get with the system,” and then ask the same questions. “Does this seem like a good fit for you?” “Let’s see the rest of the options.” “Okay, no problem.”

Every single one that you go through, again, you keep repeating the same thing over and over and it’s not going to feel weird or anything. You’re just going to be very matter-of-fact, “Here’s what you’re not going to get with the system. Here’s what you’re not going to get at this next step.” If I make it all the way to the very rock bottom builder-grade equipment, that’s how exactly how I describe it is. This last system is a typical builder-grade basic system. It’s the lowest thing we have. We do this on a lot of landlord-type of situations. Apartment complexes use this. The way you’ve described means everything and so many times before you even get to single-stage equipment, the homeowner already says, “I don’t want any of that last century stuff. I don’t want any of that old technology. The way you described everything, we’ve got to at least stay in the top three options.” “Okay, great. No problem. We won’t even look at the single stage.”

As you go through in explaining, “This is not what you’re going to get,” there will come a point where they say, “Let’s not go any further because you’ve already taken away more than I wanted you to. I want to keep these features because that comfort and that energy savings is what I’m after.” That is exactly how that conversation happens and that’s what they’ll tell you. “Don’t go any further. I don’t even want to see those bottom systems because I don’t want to go there. This is what I’ve lived with for these many years and everything you described, all the uncomfortableness in that system, I don’t want to do that again now that I have the choice to pick something that I want.” Here’s another line that you can use and it’s so powerful. Once you ask them, “How long have you lived in the house?” they’ll tell you how many years they’ve been there. “Great, now is the chance for you to choose what you want in your home. You get to choose the ability to control your comfort instead of just taking what somebody else picked for you.”

That really taps into some psychology there too. They realize that, “Yes, somebody has picked this for me and I haven’t liked it. I get to pick what I want now.” All of these little things build together, the compound effect to you leading there buying decision. Are some of them going to pick a basic system? Absolutely. There’s always other things going on. That’s something that you have to always remember no matter what your conversation has been, how well you’ve gone through your investigation phase. There’s always something else going on. There’s always another element in their mind that they are not letting on. It could be a medical thing. Maybe grandpa in another state has cancer and in the back of their mind, they’re like, “If we have to move, we’re going to sell the house,” and they don’t want to invest. It could be maybe they are thinking about the opposite way like, “Maybe we’re going to have to move them in with us so we want to choose something that is going to be the most comfortable for them.”

Find The Best Fit

These are not typically things that come up in the initial questions no matter how thorough you are, if they are not forthcoming with your certain situations. There’s always something else going on which is perfectly fine, but remember that because sometimes their choices will surprise you. Sometimes it’s less than you expected. Sometimes it’s higher than you expected. Even if it is a very basic system, but they still said, “Yes, let’s do it,” and celebrate it. Don’t get emotionally connected to the sale price on the sale. Don’t get emotionally connected to which model of equipment that they choose. Your goal is to take care of the client and that means finding the best fit for their situation because they all are going to cool the air. They all are going to heat the air. They all are going to be cheaper to do it than what they currently have. If you need to re-frame the entire visit, if it seems like they are starting to get overwhelmed with the choices, remember the confused mind says no.

If they are starting to get overwhelmed with the choices, stop. Put everything aside for a minute and say, “There’s a lot of choices here, but every single one of them is going to cool when you want it to cool, heat when you want it to heat and it’s going to be cheaper to do it than what you have now. No matter what we do, it’s going to be a wild improvement over what you currently have. That’s our goal is to just come up with the right combination of things that’s going to work for you.” Remember, there is no right or wrong answer here as far as which system is the right one for you. It is like putting up a jigsaw puzzle together. You’ve got what you’re wanting to accomplish comfort-wise. You’ve got what your savings you want to see efficiency-wise. You’ve got how long you’re going to be in the house, the total price, and the financing option. All of these things are putting together a jigsaw puzzle. I’m not here to tell you which pieces are going to fit your puzzle. I’m helping you figure that out.

Presenting Your Offers: Once they decide on a system, your answer should instantly be, “Excellent choice. That’s a great system. We do a lot of those.”

Move To The Details

When you explain it that way and you take the pressure off, normally at that point just about every time they’ll go ahead and say, “This one really sounds good to me. What do you think honey?” They are telling their partner or if they are just by themselves, usually at that point it clarifies it enough in their mind that they’ll go ahead and just pick one, which is great. Then your answer is, “Of course, excellent choice. That’s a great system.” Once they decide on a system, even if it’s the very basic one, your answer is instantly, “Excellent choice. That’s a great system. We do a lot of those.” Move on and say, “Great, the next steps are let’s pick an installation,” because they have already said yes to you. They’ve said yes to which system they want and then the rest is just details. There’s no more choosing. The rest is just, “I’ve got Tuesday and Thursday open. Which day works better?” “Are you planning on paying by cheque, credit card, financing, or any combination of that?” The next step is, “Let’s go ahead and knock out this paperwork.” Move to the details after that.

Thank you, Tim, for that conversation we had that sparked this idea because it’s really important when your presenting your options, start at the top down and talk about what they are not going to get at each step of the way. That will change everything in your numbers. You will find that if you’ve been going from the bottom up, try this method for a month and then track your numbers and compare it to where they have been and I guarantee you, you’re going to see a huge shift in your close ratio, average dollar per sale and average dollar per lead. Everything’s going to go up for you because of this one simple shift. It will change everything in your numbers, everything in your bottom line, and everything in your pocket. Who doesn’t want more net dollars in your pocket at the end of the day? This is how you serve your clients better because you educate first and then let them choose. When you take that approach and you really spin the time and focus on what their concerns are and you’ve educated them enough to choose the right thing, the world opens up to you. Personally, I sell 52% to 55% of my projects and they are the top two highest-end premium products in our offering line, fully communicating verbal speed equipment because of this approach.

In our entire company, between 5 people in the sales team, we’re 50% plus, highest in communicating equipment because I’ve trained every single one of them to make the offer this way and then step it back. People will choose the better equipment because they want more comfort and more energy saving. Try this for a month. I challenge you to change into this if you haven’t done it this way and keep track of it. You can’t manage it if you don’t measure it, so keep track of your numbers. Join our Facebook community because I’d love to hear how this changes your numbers for you. Thank you for reading. If you got some value from this, share it with somebody. We’ve got a coaching program that we’re rolling out soon which is going to be in–depth on all of these things that we’re talking about. If you got some value from this show, share it with somebody. Sharing is caring. This is the fastest growing HVAC residential sales community online, podcast online. We are only one right now, which is awesome and I love it. Thank you for joining the Close It Now community.