Sales Integrity: Don’t Cut Corners Even If They Can Outspend You

There are two types of people in sales, those who overcharge, and those who don’t. Sales is a very interactive type of business where you gain the trust of a client, and this is best done with integrity. In this episode, Sam Wakefield reminds everyone about the importance of integrity, not just in business, but as a person. Being in service, he emphasizes the importance of doing everything you can to get things right the first time around, not cutting corners even if they can outspend you. Learn how you can differentiate yourself from competitors and imprint quality service on your clients without lowering your prices.

Integrity In Sales

We are talking about something that’s important. Every episode is important, but this topic is a little bit different than an actual sales process or procedure. What we’re talking about stays with the theme of integrity that I’ve been focusing on. In our industry, we know what we do to a tee. We’re to the detailed level. However, we also know that most other people don’t know the level that we do. There comes a time that we have a decision to make. The things that we do a lot of times are easy to do, but they’re easy not to do as well. This topic involves integrity. This focuses on when we have those white-glove clients. We have to always do the right thing even when no one is looking. That means going the extra mile and taking the extra steps. If you’re doing an installation in the far corner of an attic or crawl space and no one else can see you, do you still take the same measures and maybe tie things in the way that you should? Do you cut corners? This is what we’re talking about, doing what’s right even when no one’s looking.

This focused on when you start to have those clients that what would be considered A-level clients. You all know who we’re talking about. They have a big house. They drive a Tesla or a Ferrari or something like that. They are extremely high-end clients. In short, don’t cut corners and go the extra mile. Do what it takes to get it right the first time. Also, don’t be scared to charge enough to ensure that you have enough coverage to do it right the first time. I am not talking about overcharging this client. I’m talking about if you know that a project at a house like this is going to take multiple return trips, allow some for that. It’s okay. People at this level want it done right the first time. Even if it’s a few trips, always get it right the first time. Even if it takes a little bit longer and costs a little more, you have to go back to fix things that are not working from the get-go. Don’t ever cut corners, especially if they can outspend you. I have seen this situation too many times where a company was hired and they came in. Either the comfort consultant was scared to charge the right amount for the sake of not getting the job. They cut some corners and the project didn’t go as planned. It was out of integrity from the beginning. Something happened, something was damaged. That client keeps an attorney on retainer, turns around and sues the contracting company, and puts them out of business.

That’s why we have business insurance. However, I want you to be aware this happens. Doing what I do and working with many companies, I see this happen more often than it should because they don’t take the right steps to do it right the first time. It’s not that hard. I know that most of you who read my blog are not that company, thankfully, because I’m attracting a tribe. You are the tribe of doing it right. You’re the tribe of accomplishing things over and above. You give more value than you take so that everything grows and blossoms and it flourishes. That is amazing and I love it. I want to make sure of that. The reason this is coming up is I’ve seen it happen in my town. There’s a big company. They undercut this project and this exact same thing happened. It’s a company that no one would expect to have those issues. However, they did and they went away for this reason. I want you to be cautious to always do the right thing no matter what, no matter who’s looking, especially if they can outspend you.

Sales Integrity: Even if no one else can see you, don’t cut corners, still take the same measures and tie things on the way that you know you should.

It’s easy to do the right thing and walk with integrity. Integrity is what we do. We serve the client. We serve people. Zig Ziglar always said, “If you don’t know who that is, look him up.” One of the world’s greatest motivational speakers and trainers, Zig Ziglar. This was his famous catchline, “If you help enough people accomplish what they want or get what they want, you can have anything you want.” That tells me that your focus can’t be on yourself. Your focus has to be on helping others. Your focus has to be on serving the client in a way that’s far and above anybody else. This is the other common theme. Our industry is boring when it comes to the sales process and all of the things. What can we do to do business differently? Think about that. Don’t just have a little bit better offer than the next guy. Have something completely different and breathtaking to the client that they think, “I’ve never experienced anything like this.” Especially when it comes to heating and air plumbing or electrical or whatever service company you have. Have your clients the mindset that when they interact with you, they feel like a million dollars because people don’t care how much they know until they know how much you care.

It’s all about how you make them feel. They’ll always forget what you tell them. They always forget everything else, but they will never forget how you make them feel. They want to feel like they’re your only client. Treat each client like they are your only client and that you would do everything for them. That does not mean you’ll give in to the whims of clients who are unreasonable or have unreasonable expectations. Be awesome and treat people awesome and the rest takes care of itself. Don’t cut corners, walk with honesty, and walk with integrity. It’s sad for one and it hurts my heart that I feel inspired to do this episode because going online and jumping into all the different Facebook groups that are out there, it is sad how many people would easily take advantage of the client and not walk in honesty and integrity. At the same time, I know some of you are thinking that this conversation has to do with price. It does not. I am in no way saying that you need to lower prices. You should get a fair wage for what you’re doing. You need to charge what it’s worth. It’s okay to be more expensive as long as you provide more value. The company I work with, we’re one of the most expensive in town and we’re proud of it. There’s not another company that provides the same service, the same backend service, or after-sale.

What happens after the sale? We’ve got quality control. We’ve got a true person who answers the phone 24 hours a day, seven days a week. You might be a small company. You might not have that and that’s okay, but how can you provide the next level of service that supports what you’re charging? It’s perfectly awesome. You should be getting killer margins on your projects because you know you’re not out there killing somebody. You’re not cutting corners. You’re providing an awesome service. I give you permission to raise your prices. It is okay. I can almost guarantee you, 99% of you out there know in your heart of hearts that you are not charging enough for your repairs and for your installs. Raise your prices. You need to do it. That’s my passion. The other reason for that is for the client. People who invest more, expect more. As they expect more, they also appreciate more. If you go to a training course, I’ve paid thousands of dollars to go to sales training courses and personal growth seminars and all these different types of things. I know of people who were given tickets who didn’t even bother to show up to the same event that I was paying thousands of dollars for. They didn’t appreciate it because it cost them nothing.

Being Different

That absolutely carries over into what we do in this industry. You have to charge so people will appreciate the value that you’re bringing. Ask the client, we’re not dumb and we know this. It’s not a race to the bottom. Every single person will tell you that the cheapest person doesn’t bring the same value. The cool part is when you can educate the client and show them and say, “We’re not $2,000 higher. We’re not $3,000 higher, we’re $3,000 different. If you would allow me, I’d love to show you how.” When you go through all of the details and the different ways that you are different than the guy that’s charging $3,000 less, that is when you’re able to influence. Educate the client to realize it.

Once you do that, here’s a cool technique. For example, your client says, “We’re going to be in the house for ten years.” You say, “That’s great. You’re telling me that’s our nearest competitor and it seems like the same equipment, the same project is what they’re giving you for $3,000 less. I would love to be able to explain to you how we’re not $3,000 higher. We are $3,000 different.” At the end of the day, once you go through that explanation and you say, “Mr./Ms. Homeowner, you said you’re going to be in the house for ten years. That’s easy math here. You’re telling me that for $6.25 a week, you are willing to go with a company that may be cutting corners. By all means, it looks like they’re cutting corners. Here’s how we’re different. They might not even be pulling a permit. They are skipping the steps that it would take to make sure that your family doesn’t suffocate at night because of a gas leak or a furnace leak or an electrical fire. That’s the reason we pull permits. That’s the reason we take the steps we do.

Sales Integrity: You should get a very fair wage for what you’re doing. You need to charge what it’s worth. It’s okay to be more expensive, as long as you provide more value.

If you break out ten years and you divide that across $3,000 at ten years by how many weeks, that is at $6.25 a week. You’re telling me for one Starbucks coffee a week, you’re willing to go with a subpar installation?” Ask them that. If they seem focused on that lower number, break it down by the week and help them understand that the difference is quality. The difference is safety. The difference is savings. The difference is a properly installed system is going to save. Even the same equipment installed improperly will not be nearly as efficient because we know that there’s no such thing as an apples-to-apples. That’s a load of bullcrap. That is a way of a consumer’s mind of trying to justify their decision for a lower price. We know that if we can educate properly and then take that number and break it down to a week type or if you want to go further, you can go to a day. That’s literally less than a dollar a day that they could have the best install without cutting any corners.

It’s guaranteed it’s going to be done right the first time. Break it down like that to the client and you will be amazed how many times they will say, “You’re right.” My team, we walks away with projects that are thousands higher than our nearest competitors all the time by this kind of conversation. On the backside of it, this ties back into how we started this episode, if we make these promises like this, we’ve got to deliver. You have to be confident that your team can give that level of installation and that level of service. As long as you are, absolutely use this technique in the conversation to close the deal. You can’t help them if they don’t buy from you. The only way to serve people is if they choose to use your service and use your product and move forward with you. If they don’t move forward with you, you can’t help them. The reason many people are resistant to sales is they’re thinking about themselves and what people think about them. Their focus is wrong. Your focus has to be on how you can help the client. That’s by doing it right the first time.

That is my message. Use that type of conversation because it is powerful. Be blunt with them. Break it down. Educate and let them decide. If they sell you, “I’m not going to go with you. I’m going to go with somebody else.” You can absolutely end up with what happened to me before. I had a client that I had this conversation with. They still chose the cheaper company. It wasn’t six months later I was on the same street, across the street at the neighbor’s house for a two-system estimate. The neighbor tells me, “My neighbor across the street had you out to give an estimate for their project. They ended up going with somebody else.” I asked him, “Why didn’t they refer them to you?” He said, “They were disappointed in the other project. They wish they had gone with you. When I asked him who he used, he told me who he used but he also said, ‘Do not call that company. Call Sam because I wish I would have gotten with them instead. What I ended up with was nothing but a nightmare and a headache. Use their company and I’m sure that you’ll get a much better project.’”

I got a two-system project out of a referral from somebody to whom I didn’t even sell a system to. I lost that project. They went with somebody else. That to me was an ultimate form of a compliment. Somebody who didn’t choose me referred me to the company they did use. That is the level of service that you have to provide every single time you’re in a home. Don’t let yourself get lazy in your rock star presentation. Don’t take the shortcuts in the presentation. Don’t take shortcuts in the installs because it will always come back to haunt you if you do. That is the message. Be safe out there. Join the Facebook group. Go to CloseItNow.com. That will link you right to the Facebook group. Read about the coaching programs. We have some killer coaching programs. If you are ready to up-level your game, shoot me a message and jump on board the coaching program. They’re always rolling and we have people who have a crazy number of differences. Shoot me a message. Let’s get on a call. I’d love to talk to you. I’d love to hear from you. What’s your biggest question about the sales process? Selling, heating, and air a track, anything. Is it the numbers? What is it? Let me know and go out there and change the world one heatstroke at a time. Save the world one frostbite at a time. I will talk to you soon.