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A
We're not completing what's involved with sales, but we just say the word sales. You're bringing it down to the most shortest element and the thing that seems negative, like somebody's pushing me. What I'm really in the business of doing is selling people on the notion to allow me to take care of them. So you need to complete the sentence when they say the word sales. I want to sell people on allowing me to be their friend, allowing me to find a permanent solution. I want to sell people on giving them choices and not ultimatums.
B
All right, guys, today I got an amazing guest. He's been on the podcast several times. He's done a lot of training with us. His name is Joe Chris Sara and he's an expert in sales business home services. He knows a lot about H Vac.
A
He.
B
He's the guy in the home closing deals. He's based out of la. Service sales coach for plumbers, H Vac technicians, comfort advisors and electricians and even garage door companies. Service mvp. He's known as America's service sales coach. Joe Gracera has been transforming the way home service contractors think about sales and business management for decades. As the founder of contracting selling.com and the creator of Total Immersion Sales Summit, Joe has helped thousands of owners, managers and technicians triple their results while creating happier customers. Joe isn't just about theory. He's about real world results. Joe is helping contractors across the country earn more, serve better and build businesses that thrive. And he wrote an amazing book. It's right here. And it's one of the things we make our technicians read. What should we do? And I'm a big endorser of this book, Tommy.
A
Thank you. Thanks for inviting me here again. You know, it's like when I first met you, Tommy. I remember when we first met, I thought I was just going to meet a client. I had no idea I was going to have somebody change my life and definitely become a great friend too. I didn't know I was going to get a friendship out of. That was a bonus. Tom, so. So thanks for. Thanks for giving me your friendship and your support and your respect. Honestly, that book over here would not be possible without you. So definitely you're a major part. He wrote the forward, by the way. Read the book and you'll see. You want to read Tommy? He'll see the forward in there too, by the way. You know.
B
Well, Joe, I'll tell you, you know, the methodology, I'll have you break it down. But this idea of just giving people options and I think I. I stole this from you because I say it almost every day. If you're not giving options, you're giving ultimatums. And you know, your ego's not your amigo. And I just sent out a video to a bunch of sales reps, like the whole entire team. And I said, look, I'm here in your home. I want to earn your business. Let's figure out a different solution that'll work for you. But you go in humbly and you smile and you say, I'm a hard worker and I love this company and the stories you did with the tire store. We'll share it in a little bit, but tell us a little bit about you. I mean, the audience, if they don't know who you are, they've been living under a rock. But how'd you get where you are? What are you excited about today? And what does next year look like?
A
Well, first of all, thank you, Tommy, for that great introduction. And I think you're right. It is about the. By the way, you cannot steal what I've given you for free. I've given it to you. So you can't steal, Tommy. You can't steal what I give you. Okay? So that's. Let's get that clear. You're not a thief. You're somebody who has collaborated with me. And I learned just as much from when I went to A one garage door and I did training over there every time I go there. I learned so much from you, too. So it's a collaboration between the two of us. But I think what we're doing now is to make sure that we know the concept works and it's options, not ultimatums. The new project we're working on is called Option Builder AI, which will take what normally takes a half an hour to an hour to build to list the problems with a garage door or H vac system or a plumbing system or even garage floor. I'm working with garage floor companies now, Tommy. So what's the problem we're solving? Got to write that out distinctly, and that's what the program does. And it also creates the solutions and ties it to your flat rate program. So instead of making the technicians chase down the prices and try to write them all up in Service Titan or in any kind of a program, it does it for you in seven seconds. It's a great idea of taking technology and making it work for the technician, not replacing the technician, but to work for it. I know AI. We're all getting sick of AI, honestly. But this is something that we're not sick of because it makes our life easier. And that's really what I'm trying to do. Now. My next phase, Tommy, how can I scale things to make the solution so easy that you'd be stupid to try something else? It doesn't make sense to try something else other than what I teach. Does that make sense?
B
It does, it does. I just break down your, you know, if you had to give your sales methodology in a couple minutes, and I know it's a big book and what you did in this book was, which was amazing. People tell me all the time he gave everything. He didn't hold back. Like, he gave everything. He had. You literally like laid it out. But, you know, if somebody doesn't want to pick up the book today, they're listening to the podcast, they will, they've got to buy the book. But if you just wanted to break it into a few set few minutes of the methodology, sure.
A
I mean, number one, Tommy, you've always known, you said the way to become successful is not by yourself, it's with other people. And that's where we start in the book. The book starts with how do we give our friendship and support and respect and care to our clients? Give our friendship to our clients first and connect with people first. So that's the first lesson in the book really is how do we make that personal connection with people because we're going to use that connection later. Number two, how do we diagnose not just the symptom of the problem, but the thing that caused the problem so we can create a permanent solution to the problem? Makes sense. So how do we diagnose the whole system? Not just like in garage door, not just the torsion spring, the weather stripping, the rollers, the opener, the track, everything has got to be diagnosed. And then number three, how do we create the premium mid range economy options to solve that stack? There's gotta be a problem stack which we're going to show you how to do in the book, and also a solution stack that solves the same problems that you found. And then you need to customize and use that personal connection to make a personalized customized element inside the premium mid range and economy solutions. And then bring it to a conclusion with the words what should we do? It's here's the prices. What should we do? That's a lot of money. I know. It's a high investment. So what should we do? So, and you know, I've never seen a person do this before. I've never seen a, a husband And a father like you who takes care of their family either. So what should we do? Right, so the bottom line is that make a friend, diagnose the system, make the options, make them personal. And then what should we do to get a yes, no, another appointment, Any company that's out there, even a one garage door. One of the things we start to fall. It starts to slip, is getting the outcome. A1 garage door doesn't deserve to get a yes to every job, but they do deserve to get a yes, no, another appointment. When we get a no, we learn just as much from a no as we do from the yes or from the other appointments. So Those are the three outcomes every call. If you did that, you'd close 92% of all your jobs because you wouldn't be chasing down leads after you gave a. After you gave a presentation. Does that make sense, Tom?
B
Absolutely. I got a question for you because I learned on the podcast this is why I started. It is basically, I guess, you're like, counseling me. Tell me the best way to get that next appointment or to get the no or the yes. Can we walk through that?
A
Well, yeah. At the end of it, it's just like, well, at this point, somebody's like, you know what? Can you email to me and I'll call you back later? And I'd say, sure, we're going to do that in a few seconds. Right now we're in the selection phase. So at this point, are you interested in the solutions I have or are you not interested? If you're not interested, you can tell me no, and I'll still be your friend. So I always say go for the no, and you'll find that that's the most unpopular request you're ever going to ask somebody. Tommy, why don't you just tell me no and I'll still be your friend. Now, on the other hand, if you say yes, we can purchase right now, or we can make an appointment to purchase a different, like, later today or tomorrow morning or something like that. So do you want to tell me no, or are you still interested? No, I'm still interested. Well, if you're still interested, then we could get the job done now, or we could schedule the job to be done, let's say, Friday, and then you can always call me to cancel before we come back on Friday. So those are. Those are the three choices. Tell me no, tell me yes today and get the job done now, or let's schedule it for tomorrow, and you can always cancel while you shop around. So what should we do. Those are the three choices you got. Makes sense. If everybody, like if I came to a one garage door and that's all we accomplished was those three things, dude, we would be having record sales day on that. On the day I came there. It would be a record day because everybody would be getting a conclusion. And doesn't it make sense though, honestly? You know, if you're interested, let's schedule the appointment or get it done. Now if you're not interested, just tell me no and I'll still be your friend trying to get somebody to tell you no after you give them your friendship. It's a law of obligation, Tommy. Nobody wants to tell you no and lose your friendship when I just gave you mine. Does that make sense?
B
No, it does. It makes a lot of sense. How much do you feel like in this economy financing is the key?
A
Well, because there's a reality of the economy and the amount of money that people have versus the amount of money they need to get the job done right provides a. It's a gap, it's a conflict that happens. So anybody who doesn't use financing is. It's really bad service, honestly, because we should. Tommy, at the heart of service is to anticipate what's going to happen when I present something to somebody. So if I said to do the garage door for 18,000 with new weather strip and just really did this job the right way and did a 12 year or 15 year service agreement, I can anticipate that somebody would say that's too much money. So I say, you know what, that's why I did the bridge loan. So you could get it done for 197amonth for a 15 year loan at 8.9% interest. So financing is not just a nice idea. It's the primary offer that you should be giving people the gift of affordability. That's, that's what you're giving them when you do financing. So financing has to go from the back seat to the primary way we do things. Does that make sense? You have to get rid of the discretion of like, I think I'll do financing as an afterthought. Financing is not an afterthought. It's the primary offer that we should be doing in the service industry
B
when it comes to one of the most important things. And I've learned a lot from you. But I really, really, really love the magic moments. Can you, can you walk us through the magic moments?
A
Well, you know, there's all kinds of methodology to try to connect with people. You probably Heard of form. Those are kind of shortcut ways. Like a beginner's way to connect is family, occupation, recreation, and material possessions. So it's like. And that's a good. Kind of like a kindergartener's way of doing it honestly. Because the problem is material possessions and all the rest of it there. It's like a thing that's risky if we just praise them. So instead of praising the family directly, which is judging people, praising the occupation or whatever, so you shouldn't be going directly at the family, occupation, recreation, or material. You should be praising the effort of the people who worked hard to get that new boat or to get this new house. It's not the house, it's the consumer or the family, the husband or the wife who had to work a lifetime to get the dream house they own. It's the effort they made to do that. So you really. Magic moments begin with praising something that's real. The only thing we know is real is the effort it takes to coach your kids little league team, the effort it takes to spend time with your son in Boy Scouts, the effort it takes to you and your wife going on that vacation and blocking that time together. That took effort to do that. So praising effort is the only thing that's not risky. The other stuff, when you praise it directly, hey, nice, nice, nice car you got. Yeah, I'm going to sell that piece of junk or whatever, it could turn into that kind of a thing, right? So, you know, you have to know the four. I do agree with forum. However, I agree. I. I really feel like it's not praising those things directly because remember, family, occupation, recreation, those are all things that are. Those are things. People are more important than things. Tommy, does that make sense? So if you're not praising the effort of the people, sharing gratitude, which is what the magic moment also does, sharing how you feel, how it's inspiring you, or making you feel honored. So those are the three elements. Praising the effort, sharing how it makes you feel a good feeling to be in this home. Sharing gratitude for blocking out your time and spending it with me today. Sharing gratitude for giving us this opportunity. I think it could just start with gratitude. Honestly, everybody in the company should be able to say, thank you for the opportunity, inviting me to your home. Thank you for letting me into your home today, inviting me here. Thanks for taking your time and spending it with me today. Those are things that are true because they're happening right now. Does that make sense, Tom?
B
Yeah. And like, I think the example you gave upstairs and this is A few years ago, but it really stuck out to me is when you said, oh, my gosh, you're a teacher. And you pulled out your cell phone and you're like, would you mind if I get a selfie with you? Because literally, like, you're changing the world. Like, the teachers, they don't get enough credit of what you do. You entered into that job because you really wanted to make a difference. I don't remember. Do you remember, like, that example you give?
A
Percent yeah, because it is. It's like people who have a job in service, like, they're a pastor at a church or they're a teacher or. Or they're a firefighter. I mean, those are heroes. Honestly. I mean, would you want to. Do you want to grind it out for what a teacher makes all day long, and then go to teacher conferences and all that kind of thing, and then deal with the parents on evenings trying to get the kid to do the homework? I mean, and then you got to bring your own school supplies. I mean, think of the effort a normal teacher makes. I don't think they get quite enough credit for doing it all. And they are heroes. So you got somebody who works at the church and tries to start the soup kitchen. You got somebody who adopts a pet. Like, you and Bree adopted your dog. That's a heroic act. You had to get the paperwork, the effort it took the thought, the paperwork to adopt that dog to make sure you got the training for the dog that was necessary so the dog could behave properly. Those are the things that. Little things that people do. And you're surprising people that you actually noticed how hard it is to adopt the dog and take care of a dog, or to take care of your kids or to take care of your mother who's going through cancer, or to take care of that classroom you got. Does that make sense? So really, if you said, tomorrow with all your people, let's try to make a list of all the things that our clients are doing for their families and for their pets and for their job and recognize and praise the effort they make to do that. You'd be well on your way to a magic moment. That's what I would tell you. Makes sense.
B
It does. One of the things I always. I always talk about, we say, mellow the customer, and it's kind of an acronym. And what does mellow mean? It means, you know, we always heard this phrase, they got to know, like, and trust you. And I think that's the easiest one. The other one that people miss is they really Got to love the company. So the company story of why you work here and why you're happy and why you believe in this company and why they've had your back in good times and bad. And the third one that I think you really emphasize on is the customer needs to feel heard and loved. You need to laugh at their jokes. You need to let them talk. There's this old saying of this teacher. He's pouring tea, and it's cold tea in this kid's cup. And he goes, hey, stop. It's overfilling. And the teacher says, yes, just remember, the cup must be empty for you to learn. Meaning that you got to be ready to accept the information. What are your thoughts on that as far as, like. Like, you like the. You know, love the company and feel heard and loved?
A
Well, here's a fact, Tommy. Nobody can believe. Nope. Nobody can sell anything they don't believe in, except. So you don't believe in it. Nobody can even offer it. Or if you don't believe it's a problem that you're seeing, you're not going to be able to. You will probably won't create a solution even make sense. So the first thing is, like, I have to look at something like. Something like a weather stripping missing from the bottom of a garage door and say, that's not healthy or safe. That can let water snow. That's. That could create a slip hazard that could let insects and rodents come in the house and create bacterial growth. I believe that has to be fixed. Like, I don't look at it. Like, yeah, we should take a look at it. I like, dude, that's got to get fixed. That's not even. I'm not negotiating. I'm not going to leave till we get that. Like, I believe that something like weather stripping on the bottom of a garage door that we got to take care of today. Like, I'm not gonna. I'm not gonna let that go. I'm not going to put the A1 name on a garage door that doesn't have that problem fixed. Does that make sense? So you got to believe in the company and the. The quality and reliability of the company. So you're saying I'm not going to bypass that problem. I believe in the safety and health of my clients. I'm not going to bypass that problem.
B
Really.
A
It starts with believing the effect of the problem. Quality, reliability, safety, health, and the service of letting me take care of it. That's called pure motive service, Tommy, which we teach in the book. A pure motive service is. I am motivated every day. I don't know what's going to happen. I do know I'm going to make a friend. I'm going to fix the quality and reliability of the solution I'm working on. I'm going to fix the safety and health for the client to enhance that safety and health. I'm going to make sure that we do the service so we can take care of it so the client doesn't have to lift a finger. That's what I'm going to do. And if you believe in those things, you're standing on a solid rock foundation called Pure Motive Service. And I welcome everybody to join me in Pure Motive Service. And we can all do the Pure Motive pledge together. And there's companies out there, Tommy, every day they have a meeting, they do the Pure Motive pledge stating publicly that they believe in that. It's like. It's like a ritual they believe in. And that's what changes companies and makes it permanent. Because the team, like you said, Tommy, nobody can do this by themselves. We have to do it together as a team. And the team will succeed. When we work together, when the team starts fracturing and people have their own way of doing things, then that's when we start losing our mojo. We start losing what we're working on together because we're trying to do our own way, our own. I would say this time the things we do together are illuminated on a success path. The things we do by ourselves is a dark place that is janky and leads us to destruction, honestly. So don't do things by yourself. Do it with your team. The team has a way of doing it. We have to do this together. And Tommy, you embody that. I mean, nobody can speak on that more than you do. You taught me about that. Honestly. When I saw what you do at a one garage door, I was a student of you. That's what I learned from you. Makes sense.
B
We've always been a work in progress. I always say we're the best we've ever been, but the worst we'll ever be because we continue continuous improvement. I got a question. I think part of marketing is getting the right people on the bus. It's really knowing that we could produce this vehicle with them to change their life and change their dreams. I really believe that. I want people that want to be healthy, show up for their families in a different way, get involved in the community, coach their kids, be a good steward, be a good husband or wife. I don't want just good KPI's good sales, I want a plus. I want to create raving fans. And so I do think there's. It's really important. We had 50 technicians and installers graduate this month. We got the same amount coming back next month. You worked with some of the best sales All Stars that make customers raving fans. One thing we know is that customers that spend the most also tip the most and they love us the most and they brag about us the most. It's just, that's what we've seen at this company. How do you identify somebody that's going to just automatically pick up your tools? The pure motive. Motivation. What do you look for? Because I think a lot of people right now are like, I can't find great people, but they don't have the system. So I know the system's so important. You talk about the system, you put the system in place. But still, not everybody's created equal. What do you look for when you. What's the things that stick out when you see All Stars coming on board?
A
Well, it's funny because, you know, I just met for the first I've heard about a guy named Dale Steele who used to work at Ghetto, and I met him at Pantheon last week for the first time in history. And the funny thing is we start sharing. We start just like sharing a few stories again. Dale sells like 15 million or whatever a year, and it's the first time we've ever met. Honestly. He's like, oh, my God, I've been looking forward to meeting you. And I said, I've been looking forward to meeting you too. So we start talking about stuff and it's like, man, we both believe the exact same thing, right? So I think that's what it is. Number one. I think the owner of the company has to be firm in their beliefs, so you know exactly what you're trying to achieve. We are going to make a friend with every client. We are going to diagnose the whole system. We are going to make premium, mid range economy choices that are customized and relevant, and we are going to get a yes, no, another appointment to every single job. That's what's going to happen. And I talked to Dale. He's like, dude, that's exactly what I do. And I said, that's what I do, too. And he's like, yeah, we should do it. So we're going to do a podcast with me on Friday with him. And he doesn't do any podcast. I'm going to do it, but let's just talk about that part. So let's do that. But the bottom line is, I think that's it. It's like when I interview Dale, I'm like, this dude. It's like a brother from another mother. When I met you, Tommy, I felt the same way. I'm like, this guy is like, I. I feel like I'm already working at A1, because I'm working on the same principles and the same thing. So, number one, we're going to look for the same value system, right? And you could give. Give people a chance to be responsible, I think. Enthusiasm to learn. Like, if I. There's some people out there right now, Tom, that are using the audiobook version of this to say, hey, I'm going to give you the audiobook because you're one of the finalists. I want you to go through the audiobook and give me three things you learned in the first, like, five chapters. Just listen to a few little sentences to work here and see what you. What you come up with. What are some of the things that you got from this? And they. And they come back and they know. It's like, wow, that was really a good book. I really like that, Tommy, because that's what we're doing here, right? So in a way, you're kind of testing the applicant before you get them. Number one. Did they dig into it? Did they make the effort? Because service takes effort. Tell me about a time when somebody made effort and they know they weren't going to get paid. Has you ever done a service like that where you did something for somebody, Tommy? Have you and Bri ever done something for people that you didn't get paid and you still did it anyway? Have you ever done that before?
B
Yeah, we just gave a million dollars to our church that I don't think maybe that's a fun ticket to heaven. I'm hoping so.
A
It may not get you to heaven, but you know what? It wasn't. It wasn't. Because you're gonna. That's not. You may go to heaven or you may not, but you know what? The money is not why you're gonna go to heaven. You know what I'm saying? Or.
B
No, no, no, I. I know that. I was just kidding.
A
It's the resources. I know it is funny, but it is the resources that you're giving the church to be able to foster and help other people that are in need. And so that's something that you did for other people without getting. So that's service, right? You did it without looking for something in return or any glory. You Just did it to help people. Right? And that's what service is about. It starts with that. Of course, if you help enough people, they're going to pay you for the service because you now give a chance to invest in that service. So I think, number one, tell me about a thing you've done for somebody where you didn't. You just did it because you. Something at your church, something at your home, something. What have you done for somebody else where you didn't get paid for it? Tell me what that's like. That would be a good question to ask somebody. Hey, when something went wrong at the last job, what was your piece? I mean, I know you. What happened on that one. If they talk about how much their boss sucks and everything like that, I would just say, what was your piece of the dysfunction? Did you. Was there anything that you were part of it that you could have fixed on yourself? If he says, there's nothing I could have done, well, then that's not somebody who takes responsibility. Give somebody an opportunity to take responsibility and see what they do with it. I would ask, then I would ask the person, would you be open to taking responsibility if I told you some things you could have done different or would you have a closed mind about that? Yeah, I would. I would like to hear what I could have done better because honestly, I was frustrated. That's what we're going to teach you at A1 garage doors, how to take responsibility and not blame other people, but take responsibility for what you can change. Would you be open minded to that or would you be close minded to that? Because that would be the kind of thing, give somebody an assignment to do something, to see if they would listen to an audiobook, to see if they would, you know, role play with you during an interview, that kind of a thing. Right. If they're not open to role play, you know, working in A1 is going to be role playing. If you aren't open to reading a book, you know, at A1, we're going to give you a book on the first day you start here. Does that make sense? Tommy, you're kind of testing people before they start. I think what you're looking for, and by the way, that can be part of the marketing. You know, we're looking for pure motive service providers who aren't looking for a job. We're looking for people who want to serve other people. That would be a great marketing ad. I didn't even write the ad, but I'm already saying that sounds pretty good to me. Does that make Sense, sir. Tommy.
B
It does. What do you think about eye contact, a firm handshake, a good smile? Tell me a good story. I kind of thought about this as a. Is this somebody you'd want to go have a beer with? And then the next thing is, would you work for this person? And the next one is, if you had a couple young daughters and a wife at home, would you allow this person to go to your home and you're not there? I don't know if those things even hit home for you, but what are your thoughts on some of those things?
A
It really does. I used to have a thing in my company where I said, if I wouldn't have you come to my house to meet my mother and my father to have, like, you know, come over for a Labor Day barbecue or Memorial Day barbecue, and I'm gonna make some ribs and bring your family over. If I see the person, like, I don't think I would want that person at my house. Like, my mom. My mom and dad would say, would you. What do you have this dude come over? Like, you know, I probably wouldn't be. So it kind of has to pass that test. I do agree with that, 100. Because that's kind of like your internal value system that, you know. You know, that you're. Sometimes your own family knows more about the kind of person that should be. I think who. Who you said it in your presentation at Pantheon is like, show me your friends and I'll show you your future. Does that. Does that make sense there? The same thing apply. The same thing applies with this. You. I. I was like, I had to write that one down. That's a good one. Show me your friends, I'll show your. Show you your future. I think that really applies to. I think you got to think of that way when you're applying for coworkers and even with customers. Honestly, guys, you're letting that customer into your company, you know, that's one of. You're going to be your new friend. If that's somebody who's going to be a terrorist, who's going to screw up your company and sue your company, don't even let them into the company. I would say sometimes you got to learn how to say no to customers when they're trying to be toxic themselves to begin with. Right? So. So both toxic employees, or might be possible employees, toxic customers. Sales is about having a boundary tomorrow that we don't let toxic people into our life, both the company life and our personal life. Because if we do, all the rest of the company's got to pay to support that toxic customer or that toxic employee. So there's a high duty when it comes to that. And it's a very. I take that duty very seriously. And, you know, the day I met you, Tommy, is the day I knew that that's somebody I would invite to my house. Invite to my house. And I would come over to his house, too, and spend time with you, because I know that my parents would be proud to have you come to my house, Tom. So I knew that. And Bree. Especially Bree. Now you got. With Bri involved.
B
Yeah, no, she. She makes me look good. You know, there's. I was just thinking about where. Where did I want to go with this? The technicians that don't own a house yet. And it's. Look, I didn't buy a house till I was 30, so we've got a lot of 22 really great people, but they don't necessarily. There's something from a tech, because I was a tech. Even though I owned the business, I was out in the field. And originally I thought if I pay a dollar and sell it for 10, I make $9. I didn't think about the marketing or the overhead of the insurance or the workers comp. Or the computers or the air conditioning. We have to flow into this warm building and. And the trainers I would need in the recruiters, and it goes on and on and service tight and all these different tools we use. And I think sometimes technicians have a way of thinking, well, the parts cost this. They pay me this. How could we charge these prices? And they have a hard time buying in, and they probably, you know, the, The. The. The cobblers. Kids with no shoes, you know, they. They wouldn't do this to their own home. They don't believe in it that much. Like, if you're in water quality and you don't have a water system at your home, like, like, you know what I mean? And I always say, you know, my first thing is to get you guys a door cheaper than I pay. I've worked with the manufacturers, and if you don't own a home, let's do it for your mom. Let's do it for your grandma. Let's do it. Who you care about. Let's. What are your thoughts? Because I do believe that there's a lot of the.
A
The.
B
The most companies, some people just don't believe. But these same people are wearing Jordans and they have the $200 Nike t shirt, and they buy their first Rolex watch. But what are your thoughts on Getting people to believe that this is an investment and it's got a huge ROI and you should feel good about this. A new Tom Howard said his average ticket in, in California, by the way, it's in Fresno, is $36,000 per ticket. 36,000. Now that's. Now if our average ticket for a garage door is 6200 and the technicians might feel that like that's a lot of money. I'm like, a new roof is 45 grand. A hot water heater is 12. We're the cheapest thing out there. So what are your thoughts on that? I just want to hear how you would go about that and how you would coach to that.
A
You know, it's funny, it's ironic, isn't it, that service people who are selling a service would never purchase one for themselves. That that's. It's ironic, isn't it? And then honestly, the owner of a company who is saying, my guy, my guy can't get the concept that it costs money to do business. That same owner is penny pinching and trying to save money and he's not hiring professional managers himself and investing in the training and things like that. So I can't tell you how many times people say, you know, I can't afford the training, Joe, it's a lot of money for the training. But I'm like, dude, it's way more money to not be trained and go out there and try and do service. Are you crazy? When you don't do, you're not going to get the $36,000. I do believe. Listen, I have people in our program that do anywhere from like I said, 32 to 36,000 as well. Like Tom's team is one and Katherine Howard one of the people who push our services over there too. But you know what, if the people at the top are not willing to invest in the team in a premium way. Like I love when you. One of the things I see that A1 does, you take the winners on the team to a premium location and you give them first class experience because they are seeing that. So other people see that, you know, they're treating people in a first class way. The owner of the company, then I should start training my customers. I do think it starts at the top of the company, Tommy, because most service providers have never treated themselves to something like a VIP experience like that. It's up to us as leaders to show our team what a VIP experience looks like by giving them one first. I believe that's where it starts. I don't believe we should ask the employee to begin thinking about VIP services. I think the owner of the company needs to release the brakes and do premium training. Premium. Premium, you know, experiences. Taking your team on a premium experience. Take them to a ball game and get in the skybox for the winning people on the team. We do that at service. Mvp. We get. I'm not even a Dodgers fan, but I like, you know what? Let's get a $10,000 skybox package, and let's bring our team there, because we had a great. We hit this month. We're going to take everybody to that skybox, and it's $10,000 in the hole. But we know what it really does. It shows people, like, man, I can't believe that people watch a ball game from a skybox. Like, you know, and the drinks and everything are free. Yeah, well, that's a VIP experience. So, you know, I'm saying. Or, Tom, don't expect your people to do VIP experiences for your clients if you're not willing to show your people what a VIP experience looks like themselves.
B
Yeah, I agree with that. I think what changed in my life is when a mentor said to me, why don't you try buying exactly how you want to be bought from? And it took a while to sink in. And before, I used to be the most frugal negotiator you could ever see, and now I just. I kind of fell in love with going first class to Disney World with my niece and nephews and cutting all the lines. And I'm like, this is a better way to go. The premier service where they show up when you go for that steak dinner that, you know you're gonna spend $1,000 for three people, but they're gonna take your martini and reshake it halfway through and make sure it's cold. The manager stopping by. They're texting you the next day to see how it was. They're calling you to make sure it was a great experience. And while McDonald's is right down the street, I do agree with you. They've got to experience what great looks like. And you know that that's something I try my damnedest to do, but after talking to you, I think I can do better. It's really giving them. We just had the red carpet and a champagne, but it's apple juice toast. I'm like, I want a red carpet. When these guys graduate, I want to celebrate. Let's get all their family there. They're getting. This is a new. Not only a new career, but a New path of everything. And I really believe that. And I wish I had a chance to just know each and every person and get to know their families, but we just crossed over over 900 people, and I realize I'm only. And so now we got to teach every leader in the company to build relationships.
A
Yes. You got to scale those relationships, the same kind of thing you want to do. That's what you have to get your leaders to do to create that VIP internal customer experience so they can get that. And I. And I do love the part that you bring the families in, because that's part of the. Then the family feels like, man, he's working for a VIP company. I mean, the pay might be slightly better at first, but it gets really better after a while. And, like, not only that, it's not where they're using my. My husband or my. My son. My son or my daughter to do this job.
B
They're.
A
They're. They're. They're. They're elevating. Just like your book, elevate. It does what your book promises to elevate everybody. And that's a great name for your book. That's why I love the name of your book. And even my wife, Julie read the book and like, dude, we got to start doing everything to. Tommy said we got to start elevating our team.
B
And.
A
And you know what? You've inspired me, Tommy, with the effort you make with your team, and it changed our business, honestly. And so you know that elevate is a word that everybody should aspire to live up to, which is to elevate your team, elevate your clients, let them know they're worthy of a VIP experience and by giving them that one and just do the best you can. And here's one thing, too, Tom, is that, you know, I think sometimes we are hesitant to spend too much on something. But let me just say something to you guys. Everybody here listening to this. Go ahead and challenge yourself by spending more on a VIP experience, the best one you can do, even if you don't got the money for it. Because, you know, the enemy of good results is when the status quo is fine. So if I'm. I'm just happy to pay for what I already got and not take any risk to do more for my family, to get that VIP education, to go on that VIP vacation for my family, that's the engine that makes me work longer and harder and get the training done better to make myself succeed. I wake up every day like a lion or a tiger, hunting to Try to get the prey for my company, Tommy. Does that make sense? Like. Like, I don't wake up saying, you know what? I think I'll just take it easy today and relax. I'm getting old. I should just relax, Dude. I'm more energetic now. After I met you, I'm like, you have a standard. You make me. You make me live up to Tommy. And I saw you on stage, like, you got to get. You, like, yourself with your shirt off. I went back and took my shirt off. I'm like, dude, you got to start doing. I immediately. I immediately. I started scheduling my workouts. I'm like, I am going to get on it right now. So thanks for inspiring me there, because you're right. It's like, you know what? If I'm going to be a VIP experience, I got to treat myself like. I got to love myself enough to be that experience. I think it's all about self esteem, right? Do more for yourself and then challenge yourself to make more money to pay for it. That's what you need to do.
B
Yeah, I mean, when you buy a house and you buy a nice car and you like nice vacations, you start to become more consistent. And I know certain individuals, this is not who we are. But they'll only hire married people with kids because there's a lot of obligations that fall into that life. I want to do a little role play with you, and you're the client, and I just want to show you a technique, and I want to ask you a question about it. So, Mr. Casara, how are you? It's Tommy with a one garage door service. I'm on my way to your house right now.
A
That's great. Just so you know, Tommy, you can just call me Joe. Okay, Joe.
B
I appreciate it. Listen, I'm stopping off at Circle K. Don't make me guess.
A
Joe.
B
Are you a Red Bull guy? Are you a coffee guy? You like soda? Do you like Gatorade? Anything I could grab for you?
A
You're gonna go, how about a Coke Zero?
B
Absolutely. But if you say no, the idea being is, listen, you come to my house, Bri's gonna cook for you. Let me bring you something. That's my fiance. Amazing woman. This is what we do in our house. This is what we do as a business. Let me bring you something. I just. Don't make me come empty handed. Don't make me guess. I really. And you know this as well as anybody, the law of reciprocity. And I'm not expecting you to buy from me just because I Did that. I just want that raving fan experience. I want you to get the profile. I'm smiling. You're knowing about what I love to do, what I'm passionate about, a little bit about my family and why I work for the business. It's a professional smile. Photo in front of my clean van. And I got my hair cut and I got the shirt tucked in and you know who's coming. And then I want to offer you something. And then I'm going to knock on your door versus ring the doorbell because strangers ring the doorbell. I'm going to park in the right spot. I'm going to be prepared and I'm going to have the biggest smile. I'm going to play with your dog.
A
I'm.
B
And my question is, now listen, if I'm a technician, I just expense it onto that job. It shows up right on my paycheck that same week. So let's say that week I ran 15 jobs and spent 15 bucks a call. That's $275. But it's literally coming right back under your check, including taxes. Like, I'm eating that cost. It's not coming off. It's just I want world class experiences. And by the way, you know, I know certain guys. Hey, listen, I felt like a coffee, okay? I'm not gonna, like, I'm, you know, it's one thing to take advantage of it, but shoot, if you wanted a coffee, dude, I'm okay. Like, as long as it's not $40 on every time. Like, let's not steal from the company. But, you know, just be honest about it and I'm okay with it. Why wouldn't a technician. And these are my team members, these are my winners. This is the people I win with every single person in the company. Why wouldn't you do that on every call? Like, what? Maybe because you don't want to stop. What would be the methodology to stop you from wanting to do that when you're getting paid back the money? Like, and you're actually the client who's like, wow, that's exceptional service.
A
Yeah. I think the reason you wouldn't do it is because you have bad self esteem. And you might think like you're. I call it your paranoid. You think, oh, if I say that they're going to think I'm just trying to do something nice to get money from them. Like, you know, we're kind of projecting or, you know, thinking a negative thought. So I, I have it. And Tommy, I know you have this too. I have a boundary Where I do not let negativity permeate my life. No matter how dark it gets or how money is tight and things like that. Sometimes it's, it's, you know, money comes and goes. But friendships are something that stay forever. That's why we say. But I'd say the reason why somebody wouldn't do it is because they are doing a thing called projecting. Projecting means you're thinking of a negative outcome. And so you think if I do this, people are going to think it's corny and I'm trying to sell them stuff like it's too nice. That's why magic moments are hard to do too, because, man, you sound like you're just being too nice to people. That sounds phony. They might say, does that make sense? Projecting that it sounds phony. Projecting that people are going to think it's you're trying to buy me off with coffee or that kind of thing. So those are the negative thoughts. But I'd say becoming in the book, I do a thing called inverse paranoia. Inverse paranoia thinks people are looking forward to meeting me. People. And you got to do affirmations like that, you know, in a room of technicians, just have people repeat after me. People are looking forward to meeting me. People are looking forward to have a friend in the service business. People are going to be happy to meet me. People would love to get a refreshment from me on the way out to the house. So you have to do these affirmations for yourself. That negative self talk we have and Tommy, we all unfortunately have that. Especially since you're involved with like private equity and you're involved with so many different your, the tentacles of where Tommy Mello started and where you are now. There's always something paranoid that could enter your mindset, like what's that guy trying to get from me? Everybody wants to be friends with Tommy Mello all of a sudden, right? But if you have that negative mindset, like somebody's trying to get something from you, you're missing a rich relationship. When somebody's actually trying to do something for you, does that make sense? And I think it starts with the negative self talk. And I think it's low self esteem that we're not worthy of that friendship, not worthy to stop and get that service to that person. They're not. They're going to think it's phony in a way. I think it is up to leadership in a company like yours or like mine to create the positive self talk. And, and because if you don't, you don't put it out there. And it's obvious. Here's what it sounds like when you're not paranoid and you, the leader of the company and all the managers in the company, need to create that positive new tape that plays in our head so we don't start thinking negatively. Does that make sense there, Tom?
B
Yeah. You know, you reminded me of something that I wanted to tell you because a lot of people and my mom said stuff before. Bree, a lot of my family has said, you know, they're only after you because of your money. And, you know, that's. But I never felt that way. Let me explain why. Because imagine you're a 22 year old woman. You take care of yourself, you get facials, you work out every day, you do yoga, and you're just very, very attractive. Guys don't usually say, you just like her because she's beautiful. Well, yeah. She gets hit on by everybody in the bar, right. And everywhere she goes. And so if a woman wants to talk to me and I'm engaged, but I mean, or an investor or someone's got a great idea, I would expect them to want to, you know, like, this is normal. I don't know how anybody could say, you know, but I do need levels, you know, that's why I've got a committee. And that's why I try not to make it personal, because I've withdrawn myself and say, look, that relationship's gonna be our relationship. I've got a team that does this with me. Because that actually pulled me out of. It's a lot easier to handle that for me, because if I had to do all those other things, I wouldn't be a good CEO and founder of this business, and I wouldn't be a good steward to my people. So the money, it's one of those things where people are like, man, don't you ever get burnout? Don't you ever feel like imposter syndrome? I'm like, no, I don't. I've never felt it. There are moments in a year that I feel overwhelmed. Very, very small moments. And I just gotta breathe, go for a walk, make sure I get a good night's sleep, eat the right food, make sure I'm putting the right stuff in my body. I had a guy call me up, he lives in Milwaukee, and he goes, dude, I just had a newborn. I'm not getting enough sleep. My numbers are slipping. He goes, dude, I am overwhelmed. I'm not getting the good jobs. And I said, hey, bro, I'm glad you called. Me, I said, I have no idea what it's like to be a father. I've been a son before, but I look up to you for that. I said, if I were you, I'll make you a deal. I'll call the dispatch manager, give me three days that you go work out with your wife, that she'll take care of the newborn. Just three days. And I'll stack up those next days for you to make sure you got enough sleep, do 15 minute walk and go get your blood checked. I just wanna make sure everything's working right, you don't have a leaky gut, your testosterone levels are right, your thyroid gland's working correctly. He got his blood checked, he started getting sleep, drinking more water, doing walks, and he goes, dude, I've never felt so good. He needed some stuff, supplements. And he's like, dude, it's crazy. And I think we get overwhelmed and we get this complex because indecision. We're just not taking care of ourselves. We're putting garbage in, we're not sleeping. And a lot of guys, I know, Joe, they brag like, I only need five hours. I'm like, I prefer eight, seven at a minimum. And when I don't get it, I'm not my best. And I've realized that sleep is so important. It's probably the number one thing because when I sleep right, I don't like to drink, my workouts are better, I'm more focused, I eat better. You know what I mean?
A
Our heavenly Father has designed us to sleep 30% of the day because we have to rest for the 2/3. We're giving 100%. And I believe that my higher power has designed my life so that I can give 100 to my family, a 30%, 30% to my work and 30% to rest and restoration and myself. And I think you are. And by the way, that little story, there was nothing in it about how much money can this guy make for me or how much am I going to lose? Like paranoid, oh my God, I'm going to lose money if this guy doesn't work longer, right? How can I help this person restore themselves so they feel like they can give to our company and give to their family and give to themselves. Really? Those are the three things we have to take care of if we. If you only do one of those things, like too much family, not enough about myself, too much work and not enough about the family and myself. There's something, it's like a three legged stool, Tommy. And then that three legged stool with One of the. One of the legs missing just tumbles over, and we wind up and, guys, listen, I am. I'm. I'm definitely, you know, susceptible to this as well. I'm not. No way do I claim perfection. Sometimes I just have to humble myself and realize that. Like when I saw you on stage at Pantheon, you talked about, you know, love yourself enough. I just stuck in my head, and I'm like, I gotta get back to that. I mean, I didn't know that already, but, you know, just talking to you again today, and that little story you told, that's a pure motive story. You're just caring about the health and safety of that employee, the quality and reliability of his life so he could be a reliable employee. The service you're giving him by that advice and coaching, there was no financial outcome guaranteed to anybody there. It was done because you're trying to take care of somebody. And guess what? He probably took care of the company and took care of his family much better and took care of himself much better. He started living a life of balance. And really, that's really what we're talking about here, Tom. And that's why I'm so proud to be honored and to be here with you doing this thing, why I'm so thankful to have the relationship I do with you.
B
Honestly, I really appreciate you. And what I love about you versus 99% of anybody that's ever coached is, you know, I. You're notorious for just. And I know you're a much busier man now, but, you know, you're like, you want to see it in action? I'll go out to the house and do. I'll show you. I still got it. You're like, you know, this old dog. And you're not an old. But. But my point is, like, you act like I don't got it anymore. Like, most guys go, yeah, I don't do that anymore, so you can't show us how it's done. You're like, hey, what job do you want me to go to? You pick it. I'll go run with your guy. We'll do the best we can. And that's what I like is most people aren't willing to do that. They want to coach, but they're not willing to get back in the game. And I love that about you. I got one more question, and then I'm going to ask you some. Some finishing questions, if you got enough time.
A
Sure.
B
So one thing that I've noticed about the people at A1 is they don't like being called salesmen. Saleswomen, the salespeople. And so I described it as, I just want you to treat people like it's a relationship. And I go, daniel Pink wrote a great book to sell as human. Why is it that we all. If you were to close your eyes and just think of the first thing you kind of think about, a trashy car salesman, like, the word sales has just really got negative connotation. It's like, oh, gosh, no, no sales. But I'm like the priest, the preacher. Like, when you met your wife, you were in sales. You opened her door, you had the clone, you did your hair perfect, you were well mannered, you paid for the food. When you get your son to make his bed, you're in sales. Like everything that we do, building relationships and we're selling ourselves. Why is it that sales became such a bad word?
A
I think it's because we're not. We're not. We're not completing the what. What's involved with sales? Like, we just say the word sales. You're bringing it down to the most shortest element and the thing that seems negative, like, somebody's pushing me, right? A really great salesperson like Robin and people like that at day one. And, you know, the people who are most successful, even myself and the people who are the most successful in our program, who we have over 500 people that do over, you know, $10 million a year individually, Those people are not at the complete the phrase they're selling, allowing people to sell themselves on and getting the benefit from it. So what I'm really in the business of doing is selling people on the notion that to allow me to take care of them. So you need to complete the sentence when they say the word sales. Sales itself is just too short of a phrase to embody all the things that a really professional salesperson needs to do. So I think you just have to extend the explanation of what sales means. It means to sell people on allowing me to be their friend. Selling me. I want to sell people on allowing me to find a permanent solution. I want to sell people on giving them choices and not ultimatums. So you need to kind of continue that word after the word sales as to what it really means. I think if we give people the full explanation of it, I think everybody's on board with being a salesperson at that point. They know that's what it meant. But sometimes we need to complete the sentence to fully explain what a professional salesperson does. Because, you know, when you see a bad salesperson who tries to work at A1, you don't want any part of that. You know, somebody who's going to be trying to push their way in the front door. Listen, nobody needs to be sold on the garage door working properly or the water heater working properly. They've already sold themselves. They're just looking for somebody who can give me choices and give me friendship and give me a way to manage the project by getting the job done and getting the financing, which is the service. Again, we're going to provide all that stuff to you. So you got to be able to say, here's what we do. So when we go out to a house, we make a friend with people, we find the problem and what the permanent solution would be. We provide the options people get, we finance if they can afford it, and then we bring it to a conclusion to manage the project. That's what we call selling and that's what a salesperson does at our company. So you need to fully explain that. Every time you explain that job this way, people say, oh, that sounds really good. Actually, it sounds like what I want to do. Does that make sense? So I think we shorten it up too quickly and we don't do justice to the word sales. I think it's not the audience. Like, you know, when you do marketing, you can't blame the audience if they're not, if they're not adopting the advertisement or the marketing we're doing. It's our messaging that they're not that it's wrong. It's not the, it's not the consumer or the person who's hearing the message that's wrong. It's nothing wrong with them. It's something wrong with the way we're explaining it. Does that make sense? Tom?
B
I love it. I love it. You know, I'll tell you one other thing and then some closeout questions. Is, is the one question I asked towards the end of my three and a half hour orientation that I've never missed. One with every new class is how many of you guys sell things that people don't need? And every hand, they're like, oh no, we would never. And I'm like, that's all I do. Nobody needs to use their cell phone to open up the garage. I could fix any garage. But if they want great insulation and they have a worry free experience, I said, you know, when a plumber walks into my house, I want every option on the table. Rich or poor, don't care the neighborhood I live in, what my color of my skin is. If I'm old or young, tell me everything and let me decide. You know what I mean? Like nobody. Why is it up to you to decide what the customer should have? Why wouldn't you say the same thing to every customer? Let them decide? And that's what you teach.
A
It is.
B
And that's what I love.
A
You know, it's like. It's like, you know, why do we need a security camera in our. In our garage door opener? Well, you have to have the. Because I did that. Because when your kids use the garage to come home from school, I want to make sure we know who's in the house with your children to make sure they're safe and taken care of. The reason we got the belt drive opener is because I want it to be quiet so you guys can sleep. When David comes home at night, the family doesn't get woken up and they can get their eight hours of sleep. That's why I did that for them. We did the cell phone program on the open air because God forbid the batteries go out. You'll have a method of opening the garage door with your cell phone. You can be.
B
Or if you forget to close it, if you ever left the house 10 minutes through on your way to work and you said, oh, no, just look at your cell phone and close it.
A
You got to give the reason why. The solute number. I always say this time without the. Without the problem that corresponds. Like you left the house without shutting the garage door. That's the problem. The solution is the cell phone. Could you open and shut the door? I mean, now that you said it that way, I'm like, you know what? I gotta get my garage door on that. It's like, I just thought about that. You know, I don't even have that. I just got the one that connects, but I got. I got to get the one on my cell phone so I can. Because if I. I'm in. I'm in, you know, Temecula right now, today. And I'm like, man, I forgot if I closed that garage door or not. It just bothered me there, you know, like, son. So good job.
B
I, you know, I always ask this question in closing. This is a closeout question, so everybody's got to check out. And I promise you, I've listened to it, I've read it. What should we do? When somebody asks me what's a great sales book, I'm like, he laid it all out. He put his. He put his soul into this book. And it's not just a quick, easy read. It's got so many great stories that you're going to remember in it. And it explains, like, I love the initial story about the tire story where they couldn't sell $300 tires. And every job after you got done was 1,000. And there's so many great stories. And then when you come out, you give people maximum influence. You give them another blue book that you wrote. I'm brain farting the Success Principle. Success Principles. And I'm just going to ask you real quick, is there any books if I'm new to sales or new to home service? And I wanted to really. I love the book Influenced by Ciardini as well. But is there what books? Not the common ones that we all know, like E. Myth or whatever or just business books in general that really impacted your life?
A
Well, you know, Robert Cialdini is a personal dear friend, so definitely, I definitely recommend Influenced by. But you know what? It is a little technical. I wouldn't start with that one, honestly, because it is. I would say wait till you get more into it and then get the Robert Cialdini's book Influence. It's a great book. But I would say don't start with that. I would just say, I think like the Success Principles is a great one by Jack Canfield. I mean, literally, if you read it, Tommy, you would say, this guy, I could. I could have written that book. Like, when you see the things that are in it, 67 principles that if you live by those principles, everything that you said on that talk, I saw you at Pantheon, it's like, check, check, check. It's like everything's in that book there. So I would recommend. If you saw it, Tommy, I think you would recommend it for every employee you have and even for your friends and family. It's that kind of a book. So I recommend that one. Number two, I think, yeah, Maximum Influence by Kurt Mortensen is a great book with Mortensen with an en at the end of it is a great book. It does kind of dumb it down in terms of all the science of persuasion and that type of thing there. It does use it to give you examples how to use those things. And matter of fact, that's where I got inspired when I saw that book back in the 90s. I saw that book and I'm like, dude, this is like one of the books that kind of made it dumbed it down for me in a way. Right? And then, you know, Cialdini's Influence is a great one there too. If you're a business person, I Think the E Myth, you know, by Ken Goodrich and also by Michael Gerber. It's great for the trades. I think it's good for the blue collar trades if you're trying to systemize your business. It's a great book. I always recommend to people do that. Mike Michalowicz, Profit first for Accounting and Bookkeeping is one of my go to's. I tell people, just read profit first because that's what we're going to do to make sure you can identify the KPI of profit. I think he is the real OG if it comes to financial responsibility for a business or for your person. You can use the Mike McCallitz book for your own personal family. Not because your family is a business too, Tommy, it's not just your business. Everybody who's got a family has got a business in a way. Because running your family is like running a business too. Does that make sense?
B
Yeah, you know, I know Michael well and I hired him to build a program for our employees. And so we set up these different bank accounts and you got your vacation account, you got your home account, your rental home account, and it pulls out of your account. It just, you don't even notice it. You got your Roth ira, you got your retirement like and then you live on the rest and it takes a little bit of discipline. And the guys and gals that are doing that are winning. Joe, somebody wants to reach out to you. What's the best way to do that?
A
You can just go to service mvp.com. that's our main, our main website. We have a chat bot in the lower right hand corner. Just say, I want to talk to Joe Caera. You want to do that is a good way. Or you can just email me at joe service mvp.com or I'm on Facebook. I'm on social media Tik tok. You can message me or Facebook. Just search Joe Chrisera C R I S A R A And if you search it, you'll be shocked at how many, how much social media. I'm almost as much as Tommy Mello, but not quite. I think Tommy does. He might beat me on that one. He's got a great. We both have. We both have competing social media teams. Maybe we should merge it together, Tom, so we could just.
B
Yeah.
A
Get the one team working on it together. Because I mean, honestly, I mean, like you said, I'm getting up there in years. But you know what? I want to spend the last part of my career with the people I love the most and the people I treasure the most. And that. That you definitely are at the top of that list. And, you know, I don't look at you as somebody that is a client or a coworker. I look at you as a dear friend. And just like Robert Cialdini is as well. And definitely it fits in that Rick Picard, Dale Steele, people like that are just dear friends. And so because I just get a good. I get motivated and I get. I get. I get just as much on the teaching people like you and working with the people like you, I get probably more out of it than you actually get. So I definitely try to live up to the information I give to you. So thanks a lot, Tommy, for inviting me here and thanks. Hope everybody needs help. I'm here to help. I'm here to serve you. I'm humble. I'm not here to try to dominate your business. I'm here to help your business and, you know, to take advantage of it, because it's an honor to do that. It's not something where it's a burden. The reason I'm. You are the reason for my work, not an interruption to my work. I always say that to people.
B
Well, I want the audience to just reflect real quick. If you listen to this podcast at this point, I think Joe might have given me 25 compliments. And I think that's the same way you treat clients when you're in their home. And I don't think it comes as just natural for you. I think I've seen you do this around everybody you meet. You've got a big smile and you mean it. And I think people could take some notes on that. And it's something to where I need to be better. It just sometimes we. Sometimes we don't see as many complicated. Even though you love the people and you think they're great, as you know, at my little breakout, I said just text somebody that's at home taking care of the business while you're at Pantheon how much you appreciate them and how much you're honored that they would. That they would be there handling the business. So I appreciate you. I'm going to let you close us out with one final thought. Joe, whatever is on your mind. Maybe we didn't discuss something.
A
I think, I think we did a great job here, Tom. And I just want to make sure that everybody realizes that, you know, what you see on social media, I want to make sure that it comes across that I'm here to serve everybody, everyone. And I'm not done. I'm not. I'm not wrapping it up. I am I'm going to play this out. I can't see ever see myself retiring. I I think my body will tell me but I'm trying to work on that now too Tom so I don't have my body tell me I got to retire but I think I'm going to be definitely because you inspire me on that make sure I take care of myself better and everybody here go to go to top some of Tommy's events like home service freedom. I highly recommend that I recommend the go and take a tour of a one garage door. I think you'll have a great time there and Tommy has a heart so big you can fit inside of it so definitely take advantage of that because you could be speaking to a guy who is a home service millionaire right there. So take advantage of the relationship that Tommy can give you as well. Thanks everybody. I appreciate it Tommy.
B
Thanks Joe. Great job.
Host: Tommy Mello
Guest: Joe Crisara ("America’s Service Sales Coach", Service MVP)
Date: May 26, 2026
In this engaging episode, Tommy Mello is joined by home service sales legend Joe Crisara—author, trainer, and founder of Service MVP and ContractingSelling.com—to dive deep into reframing the idea of “sales” for technicians. They explore how shifting perspectives around selling can elevate technicians’ performance, create raving fans, and drive business excellence. From practical sales frameworks to hiring best practices, “magic moments” with clients, price confidence, company culture, and self-care, this episode is packed with memorable stories and actionable strategies for leaders and front-line technicians alike.
Core Steps:
(58:55)
| Timestamp | Segment/Topic | |-----------|-------------------------------------------------------------------| | 00:00 | Why "sales" is a misunderstood word in home services | | 02:11 | “Options not ultimatums”; Tommy’s sales mantra | | 04:50 | Joe’s step-by-step sales methodology | | 08:00 | The power of "Go for the No"; closure mindset | | 10:02 | Financing as a key to higher sales and customer service | | 11:40 | Creating “magic moments” by praising effort | | 16:30 | Company loyalty and making clients feel heard, loved | | 24:31 | Screening for pure-motive hires and responsibility | | 32:09 | Internal VIP experiences spill over to client service | | 39:47 | Pre-call customer touches—little gestures matter | | 42:09 | Positive self-talk vs. negative projection in service techs | | 48:23 | Work/rest/life balance for high-performing teams | | 52:18 | How “sales” should be defined in service roles | | 58:55 | Book recommendations for service professionals |
Joe Crisara and Tommy Mello remind listeners that true home service sales leadership is about reframing sales as a form of service, teaching technicians that offering choices, connecting with clients as friends, and believing in their value are the foundation for world-class results. Customer care, team culture, and self-care are the reliable engines of growth. Companies that model VIP experiences for their own teams will see those experiences paid forward to clients, closing more jobs and building stronger brands.
Joe closes:
"You are the reason for my work, not an interruption to my work...take advantage of the relationship Tommy can give you as well." (62:09, 64:10)
For more from Joe Crisara, visit ServiceMVP.com, or connect on social media.