Andy Elliott Transforms Average Sales Reps into Master Closers

Summary

Andy Elliott Transforms Average Sales Reps into Master Closers

Podcast: Andy Elliott's Elite Mindset Motivation and Sales Training
Host: Andy Elliott
Episode Date: September 12, 2025

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Episode Overview

In this transformative episode, Andy Elliott, CEO of The Elliott Group, dives deep into the mindset, tactics, and practical skills necessary for salespeople to evolve from average reps into master closers. Andy blends hard-hitting motivation, tactical demonstrations, and live role-play to show how conviction, energy, and authentic customer care drive elite sales results. The episode is packed with actionable strategies for winning trust, framing the close, and overcoming the mental barriers that keep average reps stuck.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Transformation Starts With Identity

• Becoming Someone New:
  Andy urges salespeople to outgrow old patterns and adopt the energy and presence of a top performer.
  • Quote: “Do you guys want to know how to get whatever you want?... Become someone else. He must die. You got to recreate a new human.” (00:00)
• Energy and Body Language:
  Use hand gestures, body movement, and space proactively to create engagement and presence.
  • “These are your weapons... I will move and reposition myself at any time... You want to create energy.” (00:43)

2. The Secret Weapon: Genuine Care for the Customer

• Caring more than anyone else is the differentiator:
  • “Whoever cares the most about the client... freaking wins.” (01:13)
• Many salespeople fail because they don’t truly care—and customers can tell.
• Job of a Sales Professional:
  “To make people feel seen, that's your freaking job. This is the key.” (01:44)

3. The Power and Purpose of Sales

• Salesmanship is presented as the foundation for business success and financial freedom.
  • Quote: “How much money do I need to build an empire? Zero... We built it with sales... Sales fixes even ugly, broken, nasty operations.” (01:58)
• “If you can't become obsessed with sales, then settle for average.” (02:20)

4. The “Setup”: Disarming and Framing the Interaction

• Andy demonstrates a “water heater replacement” scenario, laying out the essential first moves to create trust:
  • Respect & Disarm: Always thank the customer, ask about house rules, and offer to take shoes off.
    • “Do I need to take my shoes off, or is it okay to keep them on?” (03:12)
  • “I want Jerry to understand that I respect him as a homeowner... and I want to disarm him.” (03:18)
• Gain Permission:
  “If I see anything concerning, would it be okay to share it with you today?” (03:54)

5. The Close: Framing, Positioning, and Execution

• Where You Close Matters:
  Don’t close in passing conversation. Sit with the customer in a comfortable position and create a hospitable, reciprocal environment.
  • “Where does Jerry close me—standing or does he ask me to have a seat?... I will not present until I'm positioned. Tactical advantage.” (07:02)
• Reciprocity & Hospitality:
  Offer something, even in their home, to break down walls and create goodwill.
  • “Let me get you something to drink. Where's the cups?... My mom raised me if someone's in my house, I always give them something to drink.” (07:25)

6. Creating Compelling Options and The Power of Story

• Present options clearly, using illustrative stories (“domino effect” of broken parts).
  • Quote: “So when these four get replaced, normally within two to three months… this domino is going to hit. It's a machine, it's a water heater, it's out of warranty.” (08:20)
• Make the replacement offer special (e.g., spare unit in the truck for a family member, but offering it to the customer instead).
  • “Make them feel special... say something cool, make it fun to spend money with you.” (09:36)

7. Handling Objections and Building Trust

• Use transparency and urgency (tariffs, rising costs) to motivate action—always with honesty.
  • Quote: “If I was telling my mom what to do, I would tell her to replace it… Because it's not a matter of if you're going to replace it, it's just when.” (10:56)
• Building trust comes from telling the hard truths and being authentic.
  • “Clients do business with people they can trust... and the only way you can create trust is with transparency.” (12:14)

8. The Final 10%: Relentless Conviction

• Most sales reps do 90% of the work but don’t cross the finish line.
  • “90% of the time you're doing this. The last 10% of the time, you are collecting 100% of the money. Will you shortcut the last 10%? No.” (06:41)
• The closer is the one with the highest conviction.
  • “Whoever has the highest level of conviction will get what they want. If they believe that you're going to leave more than you believe they're going to buy, you are going to leave.” (13:44)

9. Offering Options to Increase Respect and Close Rate

• Give more than a single option—frame it around what the customer qualifies for.
  • “If I see that there's three different options you could qualify for, would it be okay to share all three?... Imagine how much people respect you now.” (15:20)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Identity & Transformation:
  “Become someone else. He must die. You got to recreate a new human.” (00:02)
• On Customer Care:
  “Whoever cares the most about the client... freaking wins.” (01:13)
• On Closer’s Mindset:
  “If you can't become obsessed with sales, then settle for average.” (02:20)
• On Reciprocity:
  “Let me get you something to drink... The way that my house is reciprocity. My mom raised me, if someone's in my house, I’m always going to give them something to drink.” (07:25)
• On Trust and Transparency:
  “Clients do business with people they can trust... and the only way you can create trust is with transparency.” (12:14)
• On Conviction:
  “Whoever has the highest level of conviction will get what they want.” (13:44)
• On Offering Options:
  “If I see that there's three different options... would it be okay to share all three? ... how much do people respect you now?” (15:20)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:00-01:44 – Mindset, identity shift, and genuine customer care
• 01:45-03:10 – The supremacy of sales skills, and setting the frame with the customer
• 03:11-06:41 – Live water heater scenario: respect, setup, and building trust
• 06:42-08:19 – Positioning for the close: hospitality and tactical advantage
• 08:20-09:35 – Demonstrating options and the domino effect story
• 09:36-12:13 – Objection handling, urgency, and transparency
• 12:14-15:20 – Final 10% of the close, conviction, and power of offering options

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Conclusion

This episode delivers straight, actionable wisdom on what it takes to become a master closer—from shifting your identity and embodying energy, to disarming customers with respect and trust-building honesty. Andy's blend of role-play, storytelling, and raw advice highlights that elite salesmanship is about unshakable conviction, tactical empathy, and always pushing to deliver value and peace of mind for the customer.

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If you're looking for practical frameworks, motivating energy, and detailed closing strategies—all delivered in Andy Elliott's intense, no-nonsense style—this episode is a blueprint for sales greatness.

Transcript

[A]

Do you guys want to know how to get whatever you want? Yes, sir. Become someone else. What's that mean? Do you want the results you're getting now? Do you want the money you're getting now? Do you want the life you're getting now? Yes or no? Okay. He must die. You got to recreate a new human. Number one. They're going to use their hands from now on. Where do your hands go? Here. They're always here. It's not like, hey, Sam. It's like. No, it's like they're doing something. So when I say put them here, what I'm saying is, don't put them here. Here, you're dead. Here. You're creating energy. You want to create energy. These are your weapons. Feet, move. Get close to people. I will move and reposition myself at any time. If I'm talking to someone here, I'll be like, yeah, that's a good idea. You know what I was thinking? Why am I moving? People are very antsy. Why do you. When you make a social media clip, keep transitioning to different clips every 3, 5 seconds. People get bored quick. You won't get bored of me. Let people see your heart. Show people that you care. Yes, this is a skill. Whoever cares the most about the client, whether you care about them more than they care about themselves or they care about themselves more than you care about you, whoever cares the most freaking wins. Listen, some of you in here, you don't care about people. That's your number one problem. You don't give a about other people. You don't. This is our customers. Do you feel like these people are overwhelmed with an amount of love in their life and they just can't believe it? Okay. Do you think they feel seen? What is your job as a sales professional, not an amateur. To make people feel seen, that's your freaking job. This is the key. You guys want to know how we built this massive empire? You want to know SALS cells? How much money do I need to build an empire? Zero. You know, we built it with sales. Andy. I want to make more money sells. Andy, shut up. Sales. Yeah, but I want sales, bro. Sales. Sales can even fix ugly, broken, nasty operations. If you can't become obsessed with sales, then settle for average. Are you in sales? Yep. What's your name?

[B]

Jerry.

[A]

Jerry, what do you sell? Do you understand? Enough to do your job? 22 years. If I ask him anything, should this guy know it? I mean, he's been doing this as long as some of you have been alive in this Room. Okay. So Jerry comes in to my home, and right when I meet him. Jerry, you say what? We've never met.

[B]

Andy, I'm here to fix a water heater. Let's take a look at it. Okay, can you show me where that's at?

[A]

Yeah, it's right here.

[B]

Okay, so right away, I notice you're leaking on your water heater. It's totally blown out.

[A]

We have to replace this that quick? We're gonna move like that. Stop. Everybody write this down. Set up. First thing is, Jerry's a customer. I walk in, I meet Jerry. I say, hey, Jerry. Number one, thank you so much for having me in the home today. Do I need to take my shoes off, or is it okay to keep him on? I walk to the door. Number one, I want Jerry to understand that I respect him as a homeowner, and I want him to see everything, and I want to disarm him. They're already thinking, I got a stranger at the door. Disarm them immediately. Hey, Jerry. Awesome to be here today. Can I say, should I take my shoes off or is it okay to go in with them? What's best?

[B]

Yeah, we take our shoes off.

[A]

Okay, cool. Thanks. I just want to make sure I do it right. Be respectful. For you guys, number one, thank you for having me today. So we have. I'm believing it's a water heater issue. I'm going to go check it out. I don't need you guys right now. If you just point me in the direction, Let me kind of research it and check it out. However, I want to ask you a question. If I see anything concerning. If it's concerning, what did you. Would you like me to share with you?

[B]

Absolutely.

[A]

Okay. That's all I want to do today. Where's the water heater? That's the setup. If I see anything concerning, would it be okay to share it with you today? You know, I'm going to find some Chad. Listen, if he fixes it, he's going to be the bad guy. You say, how am I going to be the bad guy? Because I'm going to charge you $500 to fix your water heater, and then I'm going to leave. And three months later, something's going to break again on it. And I'm like, jerry, son of a bitch didn't fix my water heater. Right. He has to learn how to be dangerous with replacing. It's not a matter of if it's going to break. It's when. And when it breaks, he's the bad Guy. You want great Google reviews, You want people running around, raging fans. You want people, when you fix it, they're taken care of for a long time. Replace it. Now, he has to present when he's talking to me why I should replace it. Would you agree? That's called the close. So we check the water heater out. We realize something is broken. But the ideal situation is to replace it, Right? So it could either be a presentation of $500 to fix it or a presentation of $3,000 to replace it. Is that cool? Okay, I'm in the living room. Jerry comes back in the house. Go.

[B]

So, Andy, my suggestion would be to.

[A]

Do a total replacement.

[B]

I don't want to come out here again and charge you more money than I need to charge you. Let's just knock it out. The first time, the right time, the right way.

[A]

Okay? Now listen. There's a thing called the tactical advantage. Where does Jerry close me standing in the living room, or does he ask me to have a seat? You've taken the time to go out to their house. The time's already spent. Would you agree? Yes. You're taking the time to look at the water heater. Everybody, 90% of the time, you're doing what? Building value. You're setting up the cell, framing the customer, and you're coming up with a solution. Jerry does 90% right, and he stays broke. First. 90% of the time, you're doing this. The last 10% of the time, you are collecting 100% of the money. Will you shortcut the last 10%? No. No. If they like you, they'll listen to you. If they believe you, they'll buy from you. But you have to close them. Like, listen, believe, buy. Right, Ron, do they have to like you? Yes. They have to like you. What's the difference between you and the other people? They like you. And if they don't like you, they won't listen to you. If they won't listen to you and give you their ears, they can't believe you. And then there's no way they can buy from you. By the way, like, listen, Believe. What is believe? Two things. Jerry has to believe that this product he has is the greatest product in the world. And this way to solve it is the greatest way in the world. Only the greats know this. If you don't believe, they'll never buy. Last 10% of the time, you collect 100% of the money. So, Jerry, this is what it looks like every time. I. I got win and win bigger situation here. Okay, question Is how many trips do you want me to come back to the house? One or five?

[B]

One.

[A]

Okay, let's have a seat. I framed them. See, I framed. Did I tell them anything? There are two chairs, right? Cause, see, I don't know what the house looks like, but I know where I need to be close to you. I know already, and I will not present until I'm positioned. Tactical advantage. Let's say we're in the kitchen. Would it be okay if I pulled this chair around here so I can show you this in case you have any questions? Would it be okay if I pulled the chair over there so I can show you this in case you had any questions? Notice in case you had any questions? What's he going to say? No, if I have any questions, I don't want you to help me now. He's going to say, okay, cool. So I'm going to do this. Hey, Jerry, before we have a seat, let me get you something to drink. What do you want? Where's the cups? I'm not even joking. Let me get you some water. Where's the cups? Here. Oh, I'm good. No, no, no. Let me get you something to drink. Good. The way that my house is reciprocity. My mom raised me, if someone's in my house, I'm always going to give them something to drink. And then I was raised, anytime I talk to somebody, I want to be respectful. I want to give you something to drink. Is that okay? Don't tell me no. Even if you won't drink it. Let me get it. Is that okay? What am I doing? I'm breaking that wall. I'm melting the heart, and I'm creating reciprocity. Secret. If I give you something, you have to give me something back. I will make you take something from me. Let me at least get you a piece of gun man. Whoever takes the best care of the customer is going to win. Is it disrespectful for me to offer him something to drink in his own home, or is that over the top? It's weird. It's like, why would you do that? That's weird. I know. I've learned that the best hospitality feels a little weird because other people are cold, and I'm just. I just don't operate that way. When I sit here next to Jerry, when he turns like this, here, and it's me and you. This doesn't feel weird. This is me, like, showing you it's us. But you're here on stage. How does. How does this feel? No, but this is how you close. When he goes to close me. What are some things that he should keep in mind that are great for closing? So we can do one of two things. Number one, we can do a, which means we're going to fix it. If it was me, I would replace it. But I want to show you the fix. It's going to cost us about $500, and it's going to work. The problem is that what I've noticed is that these water heaters, they have 600 working parts on them. And so what we've commonly seen is that when these four parts go out. Have you ever seen, like when you knock a domino, this one falls and it hits that one and it hits that one. Right. Well, so when these four get replaced, normally within two to three months after this domino is going to hit. It's the reason why it's because it's. It's a machine. It's a water heater. It's out of warranty. Looks like it's about six years old. And they're going to start dominoing. The next fix is going to be about $800, if I'm correct and I'm 99% right. And then the next one could be anywhere between 1500 because we're just going to keep throwing parts at it to fix it. Every time there's a service visit, there's no warranty. And honestly, it's inconvenient because you don't know when it's going to go out. You might be getting ready for a wedding rehearsal. This is option A. Well, there's option B. I've got one in the truck. Just happen to have one in the truck. And I would make it because I like stories. So I'd say option B, which is crazy. I don't know if it's meant to be. Do you believe in fate? I do. Some things. Things just line up. I have a job tomorrow to do for one of my family members that. It took me two weeks to order the water heater. That's the same one for yours. And so if I had to replace yours, it would take me two weeks to get in. But I got one in the truck, and I can call my family member and he'll understand and I'll just give it to you. It's like right there. Make them feel special. What's the difference between all people, the way they deliver information? Can you guys deliver this? A little bit exciting? Can you just take this from me, by the way, don't make up a story. I Don't care. Just for the love of God, say something cool like make it fun to spend some money with you. Look, we can shortcut a lot of things, but you don't shortcut your home. I learned one thing my father taught me. You shortcut anything else, but you don't shortcut the house. Plus, with an older machine, it's probably going to even increase higher electricity bills. Am I right? So, number one, the higher bills, you're going to kill that. Number two, we're going to do one trip. We're going to fix the problem for the next five years. Guess what? You're not going to talk to me at all unless you decide to buy another house and you want another one, which I'm happy to come out because you're set and you're good. What's that worth paying? Peace of mind. The close when you ask them is. So, with that being said, most my customers either put it on a credit card, they finance it. Which, by the way, instead of paying $500 today, right, for the fix, you'd only pay $83 a month. And that'll actually save you money, and that'll put a new unit in. So most of them either finance it, pay cash, or put it on a credit card. Since I have the unit in the truck, how would you like to pay for it? And I can go ahead and get that done today so I don't have to come back. Positioning the clothes like this, getting close to him here, writing this down, understanding the results and understanding the pain, he's like, I don't know, Andy. I think I'm going to wait. I totally understand. The problem right now is with the tariffs going up. Do you watch the news much? Have you seen the tariffs? Most water heaters come in from out of the country. And so the problem is, is that the shipping containers coming through with the tariffs are so expensive, a lot of these water heaters are going to start doubling. So if we wait, there's two things. Number one, it's going to take longer and it's going to be twice as much. Hey, listen, it's not my money, okay? But I'm trying to tell you, if it was me, if I was telling my mom what to do, I would tell her to replace it. Why? Because it's not a matter of if you're going to replace it, it's just when. And so the when, if we do it now, you're going to get them for half the money. I have one in the truck, which is convenient. You're set for the next five years. And I've already told you, I mean, I. I've been doing this for 22 years. Once this domino knocks, this domino could start anywhere between three days and three months when it's going to go out. And I just don't want to be the bad guy. I want to be totally transparent. The best thing my grandfather ever told me was that clients do business with people they can trust. And the only way that I've learned that you can create trust is with transparency. That the only way he would ever do business with somebody is if you trust him. And then I asked him a question. I'm, like, playing this out. And then that's why I asked him. I said, grandpa, how do you know if you can trust somebody? And he said, they tell you the hard truths and they're transparent. Honestly, if I didn't care about you, your family, if I didn't care about people, just in general, when I leave your house, I'm going to say same love to the next home. This is how I am when my wife and kids, when I kiss and I kiss them goodbye in the morning I go to work. I want them to be proud of me, and I want my clients to trust me. Whether you spend a dollar with me or if you don't, I want you to understand what's happening behind the scenes. I've been doing this for 22 years. I know what's going to happen, okay? It's going to cost way more. It's going to be way more frustrating. It can end up costing twice as much. And I got one in the truck. And so this is full transparency. If you want me to replace it, I'll do it right now. Matter of fact, I had two jobs ahead of me. I had two jobs ahead of me. I'll go ahead and call dispatch right now just for you. I'll tell them to send someone else out, and I'll take care of this right now. You're not getting away. You're not getting away. And. And by the way, can I tell you why you're not getting away? Well, because you've already done 90% of the work. Now you're about to leave and not get paid for it. I watch salespeople go, and they'll sell the first 90% of the time, give everything they got, and then the last 10% of the time, they don't understand how to be a closer. Give the presentation. We can help you. I heard your problem. This is how we solve it. Get to the close. Do you Want to know who gets a yes every time on every sale? The person who's the most sold, whoever has the highest level of conviction, will get what they want. If they believe that you're going to leave more than you believe they're going to buy, you are going to leave. Is there friction? No. That's the thing you don't understand. You're like Andy, how do I do that when there's no and keep friction out of the deal. Easy. Rule number one, connect. Rule number two, disarm early. Okay. Hey, if I see anything concerning, would it be okay to share it with you? Listen, I've learned there's more than one way to skin a cat. When I'm looking at your problem, if there's two different ways we can fix it, can I share more than one option with you? Yes or no? What? Eric, after looking at your problem, if I see that there's three different options that you could qualify for, would it be okay to share all three? Or do you want me to just go over the one that you're interested in now? I want to see all three. Now imagine sitting down and you're a finance guy and he's like, the payment's going to be. And I'm just giving example on 30 years. He's a mortgage guy. 30 years. This percent interest, this is going to be your payment. There's only one option. But imagine if he said, hey, listen, you guys make so much money, you actually qualify for three different options. You qualify for a five year ARM, a 15 year short term, and then also a third of your fix. Would it be okay if I went over all three with issues as you qualify for them? Because it's your money if you have options. I always like seeing options. And you, the initial decision, you can tell me which one you want to do and we'll wrap that up. Is that okay? Dude, how much do people respect you now?