Stop Selling Equipment and Start Selling Outcomes

Are your sales focused on the outcome a homeowner really wants, or just selling equipment? When contractors lead with the box, brand or price, customers can miss the bigger picture: comfort, efficiency, safety, system performance and long-term peace of mind.

In this episode of Cracking the Code, Drew Cameron President & Founder, Flow Odyssey, explains how a stronger diagnostic process helps homeowners understand what really needs to be addressed in their home. He breaks down how to make comfort issues visible, communicate value beyond the equipment and build the trust needed to help homeowners make confident decisions that lead to stronger closes.

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00:00:00:05 – 00:00:16:13

See, I’m never three or 5 or 6000. $10,000 more than anybody else. I might be 3 or 4 or 5 or 6 or $10,000 different than anybody else.

00:00:16:15 – 00:00:41:17

Hey, ladies and gentlemen, great to have you back with us again. This is part two of an earlier Cracking the Code session we had with Mr. Drew Cameron. Let’s roll right back into it. If you said something a minute ago that I think is is is worthy of circling back for a minute and it’s it’s that in in essence, Hvac contractors are actually the manufacturer for that homeowners Hvac system.

00:00:41:17 – 00:01:04:01

And I always like to tell homeowners, I say, listen, your Hvac system is everything from grills and registers back to and including the equipment that you think. I don’t say it this way to them, but that you think, is this system? No, it’s just a piece of the system. And we’re the assembly plant, right? We’re bringing it just pieces and parts.

00:01:04:03 – 00:01:25:14

And are those pieces or parts are picked and assembled by us. And you said another thing, and this is something I think a lot of contractors miss. And I used to I used to like drill this into our people’s heads. Back in the days when I was running my dad’s business. Is that the minute we touch the doorknob, we own the result in that house.

00:01:25:14 – 00:01:42:02

Now, the fact that we didn’t put the duct system in originally because it was done by some residential new construction guy makes no difference. We now are responsible for it, right? Because if it doesn’t work, they’re going to call us. And I’m going to call the guy that built the house. They’re going to call us and say, I’m still not comfortable in my master bedroom.

00:01:42:04 – 00:01:59:07

We got to get this resolved. You said you were going to do it. It’s not resolved well. And then you find out. It’s the duct system because it ain’t the equipment’s fault, y’all. It’s not the main manufacturer of the equipment. The equipment is just parts right there. Bigger part, the biggest parts, and they’re the most expensive parts, but they’re just parts.

00:01:59:07 – 00:02:22:19

So no more important than the PVC, the gas piping, the electrical, the condensate pump or anything else that we put in. Right. You’ve been made as contractors to believe that that’s the case. It’s just not true, okay? It’s not accurate. You may believe it and it might be true for you, but it’s just not accurate. Right. The reality is, is you have your former colleague and coworker, David Richardson over at National Comfort Institute, and he put a system in years ago.

00:02:22:19 – 00:02:37:03

And I remember his story. He wrote in, Contract in Business magazine where the customer came back after the fact and he basically said, hey, we’re going to make things comfortable, more energy efficient throughout the, you know, the house. And he put the system in, did what you’re supposed to do, did exactly what he sold to the customer, what the customer was buying.

00:02:37:06 – 00:02:57:07

But the customer came back and said they weren’t happy. And they went out and they checked the whole entire system, the operation, the system, everything was functioning, performing the way that it was supposed to. But the customer still complained about comfort in the kitchen, in the master bathroom. And so what they, when they found was gaping holes below the, the one of the kitchen cabinets where the jenn-air pipe had gone through the floor.

00:02:57:07 – 00:03:22:08

Right. And so cold air was just kind of coming into the kitchen and into the kitchen space. David didn’t build a house, and Dave was not responsible and had nothing to do with David’s job. Right. Same held true in in the master, you know, primary bedroom suite, right. There was a big gaping hole where the Jacuzzi tub pipes and pump were installed and a gaping hole out, you know, attic air to kind of come flooding down from from above into the, into the bathroom.

00:03:22:12 – 00:03:36:03

Right. So the customer and all they know is I’m not comfortable. I hired you, you told me you were going to make me comfortable. I understand that may have nothing to do with this, but you told me you’re going to do it. So what did David have to do? David had to go fix it. I had to go fix a house free of charge.

00:03:36:05 – 00:04:12:12

Right. Because something that he didn’t do. But I agree with you to, you know, as soon as you touch the home, the doorknob, you’re responsible. Right? And so you’re responsible for everything that every clown in town did before you ever got there. Right? And so just go do your job right. If you do your job at the level that the customer expects you to do your job, then they can do their job and they can make an informed and intelligent decision to buy a larger scope of work for more money, which is different than some other clown in town selling maybe similar equipment for a less lesser price.

00:04:12:15 – 00:04:34:06

See, I’m never three or 5 or 6000 $10,000 more than anybody else. I might be 3 or 4 or 5 or 6 or $10,000 different than anybody else. And it’s those differences that make the difference in the home. And how did I get there with the tools, right. The tools allowed me to do my diagnostic job. I spend as much time as I need in a home.

00:04:34:09 – 00:04:47:20

People ask me, how long does it take you to run a sales call? As long as it takes right to do my job and do it properly. And you know, hey, I understand the last three guys who came into your house may have been in and out of the house in less than 30 minutes or to an hour, right.

00:04:47:22 – 00:05:03:06

And I’ll apologize on behalf of our industry for people taking the shortcuts that they do. But the only way for me to do my job is to do my job. And the only way I know how to do my job is the way I do my job right. And so it may take a little bit longer than you expected, but never anything less time than it should.

00:05:03:07 – 00:05:16:01

It may cost a little bit more money than you thought, but never less money than it should. Think about this way. You’ve been in. You were in business for a long time. I was I, I always told customers, I’m not here to tell anything you don’t want, you don’t need, you can’t afford or doesn’t make sense. Number one.

00:05:16:02 – 00:05:29:18

Number two is, you know, you’re the person has to live here with your choices, right? I don’t care what you do as long as you do it knowingly. Now, that’s my job, is to make sure you know what needs to be done and why it needs to be done, and what it’s going to cost to address it.

00:05:30:00 – 00:05:47:00

It’s expensive to buy a house. It’s expensive to own it, maintain it, upgrade it, and replace things as you need to. We understand this. Most customers tell us they can’t afford to get this wrong and we understand that. So I’m going to take the time that I need to take to do my job so that you can do your job right.

00:05:47:05 – 00:06:07:18

And I have that upfront, honest conversation with a customer before I go execute my process, which I teach in the design principles classes and the, you know, the sales classes I do for Jay. If I tell a customer that more often than not, these customers are like, like chomping at the bit, right to to hear what I got to say because no one else did what I had to do.

00:06:07:18 – 00:06:40:06

That doesn’t mean I win them all. No. Right. But, more often than not than I do, because they see me as being something different. It is my process that tools and technology that allow me to separate myself from the marketplace. And yes, that my scope of work is different. Typically, you know, the warranties and guarantees are different because I can I, like you said a little, but I can promise in writing certain things that nobody else can because, I did my due diligence, you know, and, and, and I’ll bet on my people, my processes, you know, every day and twice on Sunday.

00:06:40:08 – 00:07:08:02

And that is absolutely the difference maker, isn’t it? And so what we have to do is, as leaders in our organizations, is we have to empower and equip our team, our people with the tools and training tools. One of the tools is a process, right? We’re not just talking physical tool. That process is a tool as well. So it’s with the tools and training needed to be successful in the role for which we are paying them.

00:07:08:02 – 00:07:37:17

So I want to make sure my service techs are the best service techs on the planet, because that’s what my customers deserve. I want my installers to be the best installers on the planet because that’s what my customers deserve. I want my salespeople to be trained properly, communicated properly, because that’s what my customers deserve, right? So we we always focused on making sure we looked through the eyes of the customer and we said, look, our customers deserve ultimate indoor comfort.

00:07:37:19 – 00:08:08:23

That’s what we’re going to be delivering. In order for you to deliver ultimate indoor comfort, you need to understand that the box that we’re trying to condition cannot be comforted, cannot be comfort controlled unless we can contain the air in the box. So the Richardson story you talked about a minute ago, they had a container problem, right? The box itself that we’re trying to contain and keep comfortable had some flaws in it that unbeknownst to them, David and his team, they didn’t see it.

00:08:08:23 – 00:08:32:18

Right. So when you think about tools, you mentioned infrared cameras. That would be my go to first tool is walk through the entire house, especially on a really cold day or really hot day where you can see the temperature differences throughout the house and say, that’s going to be a problem. That’s going to be a problem. That exact tool saved my butt on a job where a guy that’s also like, show the customer, hey, exactly.

00:08:32:18 – 00:08:48:20

Let’s just be looking at it. It’s like, hey, Mr. Customer, look at this. Yeah. Come look. Yeah, exactly. In fact. Right. Give it to them. Let them go walk around because they’re going to take you right to where the problem areas are, because they already know. They just didn’t know what was going on behind the scenes. Right. We’re exposing that.

00:08:48:20 – 00:09:03:03

We’re making it visible. So we’re making that tech. We have to master competition. I can just say you mean you. I know you said you had a couple other companies come in here. Nobody else talk to you about this. Nobody has pointed that out. You know, they didn’t. Oh, you I apologize. You know, I apologize in my half of our industry.

00:09:03:04 – 00:09:18:14

I’m not sure why there are certain people who take these shortcuts that they do. But, you know, we hear and time and time again and, and and I mean, and I tell because I’ve been in business, you know, I’ve been in the industry for a long, long time. And I have a lot of pride and integrity as to what we do and how we do what we do to get the results that we get.

00:09:18:16 – 00:09:34:17

And it really breaks my heart when customers like yourself are exposed and other companies that don’t do what they’re supposed to do. Absolutely right. You know, and so I don’t have to bash anybody. My job is to help the customer see what they need to see, make them aware of what to what you were talking about a little bit earlier, what the standard is, right.

00:09:34:17 – 00:09:52:05

Your standard for excellence and quality and, and, comfort and health and safety and happiness, you know, that those are standards. That’s right. Right. That’s right. And so your people in your processes allow you to achieve your standard. Now, that doesn’t mean everybody wants to pay for, you know, the whole standard or the Cameron standard. And that’s okay.

00:09:52:07 – 00:10:10:05

Yep. Right. Right. But that doesn’t mean that I change who I am. I like I say, it’s not even what I do. David, we’ve talked about this on another call. As well. It’s not what I do. It’s who I am. It’s an identity. I can’t not be me right. You could try, but try it. It would be seen.

00:10:10:05 – 00:10:31:09

It would be viewed. It would be noticed. Right? Somebody would say, that guy’s trying to be something. He’s not. Right. Because the proof is in the pudding. The proof is in the next month, the next year, the next ten years. Right. And how we do our job. And you’ve mentioned a couple times training and you and, I think you and Russ Horrocks have some training coming up here pretty quick in Dallas area.

00:10:31:09 – 00:10:58:00

Tell us a little bit about that and what people can expect. Yeah, we call it the sales boot camp. April 7th and eighth in Dallas, Texas. Make sure you come in on the sixth and leave before 6:00. Make sure your flight’s after 6 p.m. on the eighth. We’re going to do two full days instead of three. And like we did in the past three and a half in the past, and it’s just Russ and I, and we’re going to basically take, what we teach in the content that exists online.

00:10:58:03 – 00:11:24:00

We’ll take some subsets of some of that stuff, right. But we’ve enhanced it with a whole bunch of new, you know, training and, support resources and tools and, information around tools and technology around how to sell the money, which is financing or payment options and things like that, how to be compelling and tap into customers emotional currency, you know, in the home, how to separate yourself from every other clown in town that’s out there right.

00:11:24:02 – 00:11:48:17

As we’ve kind of talked about already on the on this call. And, and we’ll help you troubleshoot your entire process, we’ll have probably well over usually well over 100 people, allow for for tabletop discussions and networking as well. And so, you learn not only from obviously, the, you know, the teachers, but you learn from your peers as well in the group, and you’ll be able to get, hands on support and questions being asked from, I think, you know, the two top traders in the country.

00:11:48:21 – 00:12:05:17

I think Russ and I are the two top sales traders and technicians, communication traders in the country. If we didn’t believe that and then you shouldn’t come. So. That’s right. That’s right. And we didn’t believe that it wouldn’t be on the EGA stage. So we appreciate you guys being a part of the faculty. Yep, yep. So, yeah.

00:12:05:20 – 00:12:25:15

Please show up April 7th and eighth, in Dallas, Texas. And, we will help you basically get ready for the summer and help you basically take your, your process, you know, to the next level so that you can have a great summer. You take care of more people better, and that’s a really good thing. I’ll go ahead and give you a heads up.

00:12:25:15 – 00:12:44:11

I’m going to have a couple of my coaches in the back of the room. That definitely want to learn what you guys are teaching so that we can help contractors implement what you guys are teaching as well. So we’re going to have the full team there. And, it’s going to be a really, really strong event. I know as of this recording there are seats available.

00:12:44:11 – 00:13:06:13

So if you haven’t already, go ahead and get signed up on SGI Contractor University’s website, my contractor university.com. And, hang out with Drew and Russ for a couple of days and you’ll walk away a better person because it’s our responsibility to get better. It’s not the customer’s responsibility, you know? And I don’t know this stuff. It’s our responsibility.

00:13:06:15 – 00:13:27:18

And to the extent that we can communicate the value that we’re delivering, which is what they’re going to teach you, how do you communicate the value that you’re delivering in a compelling way? So the customer feels comfortable so that they trust you to make the right decisions for their safety, health, comfort, and efficiency, and so that they can live the ultimate life within their own house as well.

00:13:27:18 – 00:13:48:00

So we appreciate everything you guys are doing and in helping the industry be better tomorrow than it is today in everything that you do, drew, and we appreciate you as also, board member at Eagle and appreciate the the guidance that you give, give our team going forward and we’ll continue to for years to come. So thanks for all that man.

00:13:48:02 – 00:14:09:23

You appreciate David. Thank you. You bet. All right. That’s another crack in the code episode, ladies and gentlemen. And tell you what, keep on watching. Keep on watching these Cracking the Code episodes like share, subscribe, do all those fun things so we can help share the wisdom of our team with the industry that we all love and make it better as well.

00:14:09:23 – 00:14:29:09

So do your part. Watch these things, pass them along to others within your organization, but for sure like, share and subscribe so the others within the industry will see this information and we can help all of them be better tomorrow than they are today. This is David Holt and Drew Cameron. See you later. This is cracking the code.