Eric Triplett (5:12)
They want to be heard. They don't want to be told. Right? So. And I made that up. That wasn't a chat GPT signal. Just so you know, I was literally thinking that, what can I. How can I put this together? Right? I know what I was thinking is, you know, think about someone who wants to be a weight loss journey. Right? And I know this is not a weight loss channel or this is not a weight loss podcast, but a lot of us want to be healthier, right? And. And so I know some people that are in the fitness industry, and so it's Very easy question to ask someone. So you'll be like, how much weight do you want to lose when you want to get it done by. And feel like, I want to lose £30 by my wedding. You know, there's. There's a specific time and date and a goal, Right? And so for the fitness, you know, trainer to be like, well, what's holding you back from achieving that goal? It's a very profound question. Okay. When you think about it in the health and wellness kind of aspect, right? But, like, think about it in a. In a pond scenario, if someone has a pond problem and they can't overcome it, like, what's. What's holding you back from getting this pond fixed? Right. What's holding you back from getting this pool installed in your backyard and turning this backyard into your dream oasis? What's holding you back from that? Right. So I think it's a very profound question. It gets me thinking a lot about our personal goals. And I've talked about Natalie Dawson's personal, professional, and financial goals that we all should be looking at daily, twice a day. We should be writing them down and thinking about them. We should have a really good idea of our. Of our employees and what they want out of life so they can. We can align with our big vision and their vision together. Right? So it got me thinking a lot about this clarity, right? What is holding us back from these goals? What's help? What's holding back our customers, and what's holding us back? We all want to grow our businesses. We all want to serve our customers at the highest level. So what is holding us back on this stuff? Right? So, you know, I think about this. I think most people, whether you're a contractor or a regular person listening to the podcast, most people aren't necessarily stuck. They're just unclear. They're just unclear of what it is that they want. And because without clarity and specificity, we don't have direction, Right? So it's interesting because people feel stuck. Hey, I feel stuck in this weight journey. Hey, I feel stuck in growing my business. Hey, I feel stuck in not getting this problem fixed on my property. Whoever you are, whoever I'm talking to at this moment. So a lot of times people feel that they're stuck, but what exactly is it they are stuck on? So when we define what the goal is, specifically, it's very easy to. I shouldn't say it's very easy, but only until then can we define, like, what's holding us back from achieving that goal. Okay. Without a target, there's no path. And so without clarity, we just have frustration. And I think I get frustrated about a lot of things. Like, I'm trying to get through even after I know what my goal is and I'm hitting my head against the wall trying to figure out how to get through the weeds, you know, But. But at least I have some clarity. I know that these are the steps I need to take. And it becomes more palatable. It becomes more like I can bite off these little pieces, right? So I think a lot of people don't have a what's holding you back problem. A lot of people just have a I haven't even decided where I'm going problem. So think about that in your own personal life first, which is foremost importance. But then think about that not only for your employees or the employees you're going to hire one day. You should be thinking about it in that fashion. In fact, we're in a hiring spree right now. We have a big. We have another job fair coming up, and we've interviewed three people in the past two days. But, you know, like, I want to align with what their goals are, right? So I'm looking at what their targets are because much too often we just hire people where there's no targets. And so I can't help them. And if I don't show them what my targets are, how can they truly help me? Instead of just like, I'm going to move rock or I'm going to clean an aquarium or I'm going to, you know, clean upon. Like there's not really this bigger vision, right? So I think where most, most contractors and people altogether fail is, you know, their. Their goals or are like, I want more money, I want better jobs, I want better clients. But without that specificity, how can we really attain it? How can we go for it without that, you know, that perfect client identity? Like, how can we market to them? Do they golf? Do they bowl? Do they, you know, what is it they do? Funny story. I went bowling on my trip in Pittsburgh and we went on like this total. Like, we. We played like three or four games. And I was getting kind of frustrated because I had these brand new bowling shoes, right? And so they didn't slide. If any bowlers in the house, you know, you go up to throw the thing in, that last little. That last little push with your foot. You slide just a little bit as you let go of the ball. These were brand new. Like, they were still kind of leathery and sticky. I couldn't get them to slide. And so I was really frustrated, but after like three games, I'm like, okay, I kind of got it figured out without a good slide, right? And then so I started bowling better. And then my, my friends were always, they were doing better. Me, I was catching them. I'm like, oh, I can get them now. So then all of a sudden a hundred bucks comes out on the table and, and you know, a couple beers in, now we're like wrestling and fighting and having a good time and having it. Just not wrestling in real life, but like verbal, verbal judo, right? So it was kind of fun. So I, I still have a blister on my hand and my left butt cheek hurt for like three days because, you know, we went so long bowling, it's. I don't know, I, I digress. Back to the clarity. If we want just more money, it, like, what does that mean? 20 cents, $20, you know? Well, I need real money. Well, what's real money? Like, we have to be very specific about this, right? So we need a specific revenue target, a specific lifestyle target, specific client type. These, the more specific we can get behind these, these problems, these dreams. Then we can actually find out a way to do it. So we've talked about the RAS system I learned from Ed Mylett, which is reticulator activated system. The more you create specificity in what you want, your brain starts to try and figure that stuff out, right? So what does the ideal week look like? What does. You know, that's from Dan Martell. You know, I love my Dan Martell. The book's back over there somewhere behind sponsor magnets right there. What kind of jobs do you actually want? I talk to contractors all the time. They're like, they're taking on whatever job they can get because, you know, and then we start to go look into their production line. They have paving, they have asphalt, they have lawn, they have pond, they have snow. Like, they just have this whole list of stuff. I'm like, what do you make the most profit? They're like, well, I'm not really sure yet. Okay, well, let's, let's look into that. Let's get specific about this, not just take on those jobs. What's the best job for your company? Which one ticks the needle the most for your business? For me, I know it's service and repair. That's our most profitable line item. So that's where I'm, I'm trying to spend the most of our, our vision in growing that section of our business. And without having specificity, how do we know how to market to it. Right? So another important thing is what are you trying to eliminate from your life? Right? Because once we define a goal of what it is exactly that we want, then your mind starts to think about what's getting in the way. And sometimes it's things that we're doing in our life. I need to stop doing this so I can do that. Right. If I'm going to get healthy, I need to figure out a time where I can go for a walk every day or hit the gym or go shopping so I have better food to choose from or whatever. Like, you have to create what you need to eliminate from your life so you can achieve these things. And the problem is, if the vision isn't clear, you're going to have resistance and it's always going to feel random, like the world is against you. Right. The world's just against me. And I feel stuck, but I don't know what I'm stuck from. Got all this friction and, you know, it just feels like that's the way the world is. But you guys know people just like I know people that have the same amount of time in the day and then get. Get all these beautiful things out of life, and it's easy for us to just go, well, they got lucky. Okay, well, maybe they didn't. Maybe they just were very specific on what they want out of life. And I. I think I want to inspire you guys as contractors and people and employees and as fathers and mothers and daughters to help the people around you become more specific on what it is that they want, Especially that client, that, that contractor to prospect relationship. I think that's really important. And I started thinking about some of the things, and this is coming from some of my coaching that I'm doing and of course, all the reading and stuff that I'm doing. But I think the real question becomes, like, not like, what is holding you back? Right? What's holding you back? I've already told you about, hey, we need to try and help our customers figure out what's holding them back. But what is really holding you back? Is it a skill? Like, do we need a new skill? Sometimes we don't know what we don't know. You know, my break point, I'm trying to get through 3 million. It's very hard. And I. I'm paying for coaching because there's things I just don't know how to get through yet because everything it took me to get to up there. Oh, gosh, I hope that calls. Okay. Everything that it took me to get to the 1 million mark to break that mark. It's not going to get me through the 3 million. And one of the things that I'm learning through all this goal setting and working with my, my wife and working with my, my team is there's a belief gap problem, right? And so we, we have a problem believing that it, what we want is so is even achievable. And I've actually struggled with my wife on this and she's having a hard time even saying it or putting it into a vision board or things like that. And so my wife and I have had these long, deep conversations and then we have to go back and look at all the goals that we've achieved in our life together up to this point and be like, look what we've done. Like, that seems impossible to some people. So the big vision and dreams that you have now, they are very possible. Now. We're a lot older than we used to be, so we're going to have to get there faster, but we still have the possibility to do that. And it's all in that belief gap, right? And so then it's going to come down to execution. We have to make sure we're executing daily towards those goals. Contractors, if you're sick and tired of not making enough money, you might suck at sales and you don't even know it. Or worse, you suck at sales and you actually think you're good. Before you get upset with me, I sucked at sales too. And for a long time. Here's the difference. I pulled my head out of the sand and I forced the change. That's why I know what you're up against and how you too can turn things around for you and your family. I'm not going to sugarcoat it. I got really uncomfortable. I trained hard. I studied books and podcasts, videos, courses, role playing, and I took guidance from mentors and coaches while spending thousands of of dollars. But trust me, it was all worth it. I mean, I turned my struggling company into a profitable seven figure construction business. I put together a list of the critical sales techniques that I use to flip my business from surviving to thriving. And I call it my contractor sales secrets. I want to share the list with you with no, no expense. Just to get you moving in the right direction. It's my way of contributing and giving back to my community. Community and the construction industry that I know and I love. The list is available to you@contractorsalesecrets.com I promise you, with these sales secrets, some grit and discipline. I know you can dramatically change your life. So stop what you're doing right now and go to contractorsalesecrets.com that's contractorsalesecrets.com One thing that I'm doing currently right now for two reasons. Well, one, the main reason I'm doing this, I'm tracking every 15 minutes of my day. You know, when I take my dog out, when you know, there's a bathroom break, when I go to get coffee, when I'm eating, when I'm on a sales call, when I'm doing a sync meeting with my team, all that's every 15 minutes. I'm marking things down. Right? So, you know, I've heard, I've heard Dan Martell talk about this many times. I've heard and I, and I never executed on that. I never would, like, did that because I, I thought my day was pretty well done. But 15 minute increments is really, really heavy. Okay, so Alex Harmozi talks about that as well. And so one of the, one of the positions that I need to accommodate in my business is replicating myself. Now, it feels impossible. I mean, it literally feels impossible. It's so frustrating. It's my wall, but I know that's on the other side of that is the light. So I'm in the weeds of that right now. So in this one position that I'm specifically trying to get through, I am just documenting because I don't even know how to tell the person. I don't even have any clarity behind their job description. It's like, hey, you tell the guys where to go, when to get there and where we're going to be and what materials to order. Like, without some clarity, how can I fulfill that gap? So I am, I'm committed to doing that not only for a, A, a day or two or a week, but potentially up to a month. Because the position that I'm working on is, and what I'm trying to execute, this is the execution gap that I'm talking about. It's like I'm executing on trying to fill this gap. I've been trying to fill this gap for two years, but I now know this is the pathway through. I've been in the weeds for two years on this position right now. I know this is the way I have to do this. So I'm going to execute on the stuff that Dan Martell taught me two years ago. I'm going to execute stuff that. It's really profound the way Alex Hormozy talks about it, because he's like, you will become the most productive guy in your, in you've ever seen when you start doing this. 15 minute increments. Because the gaps in your time and the things that you're wasting time on are glaring. They were glaringly obvious where you waste time. So I would, I would highly recommend that you take a stab at that. I wish I would have done it two years ago. Maybe I'd be a little bit farther along. The last gap that I want you to talk, that I want to like kind of talk to you about is environmental. And that's the people that you surround yourself with. So we've all heard this. I'm not, I'm not making up any new things, but you're as powerful as the people you hang out with. There's all the different ways you've done this. But you know, your, your team should be aligned, your systems should be aligned, your surroundings, your area should be cleaned up. And this is the way you create an environment where you can. So that's, I'm not going to beat the horse on that one because you guys know it, but it's, it's never in. Each one of us are going to be stuck in a certain thing. Maybe it's a skill, I don't know what, I don't know. Maybe it's the belief, you know, the belief system inside your brain. Can we even do it? Maybe you're not executing. Maybe it's the environment, right? You could have all four of these particular problems that you're dealing with right now, but there's one that's holding you back the most. There's the one thing, you know the book, the one thing that you can go after, whether it's the environment, get that fixed up and then you can feel more confident and then you can go to like, hey, I got to work on my belief system. Let me read a book. I just read this book. I think I showed this one to you. This one's a tough one. This is the nine figure mindset. And this is, this has really been a big help for the belief, the believing it's even possible. It's a great book. I would recommend that one. But maybe it's the environment. Get yourself cleaned up, stop talking to negative people, get into the belief system and then figure out how to execute and get going, get going. And then suddenly you're going to find out things that you didn't know, you didn't know. Your skills are going to get better and you're going to start to find these breakthroughs. So this is this is like the premise behind it. But let's get back to sales for just a second because while we're working on ourselves, we have to be, you know, working on our, on our clients and our prospects and taking care of them at the highest level. So back to that question. You know, a lot of contractors, and that's why we love to role play on Tuesday nights. That's our opportunity to ask these questions. So, you know, instead of, hey, do you want to move forward on the project? Or, you know, hey, when would you like to set up? You know, if you haven't heard them enough, they might go, hey, I need to think about it. And then you're, you're lost in the weeds with them. But if you haven't found their, their direct buying motive, right, then that's the point where you're like, hey, well, what's holding you back from moving forward on this project? That's very specific. They have to go like, it's money, it's, my wife doesn't want it. It's, you know, I have some uncertainty around the product. And so now you can talk to them about those specific things. That's holding them back, right? It's just like the person who's the fitness trainer is like, what's holding you back from, you know, losing the 30 pounds? And they're like, I think it's my diet, I think it's that I like to party on the weekends and I go drink alcohol with my friends and I, like, now it becomes specific and then they can attack those things. Right? But it's very important for us to ask that question and then shut up and just let them think about it and then give you the answers and then you can help them through the process. Right? Because when we ask this question correctly, with the right tonality, the right empathy, all that's wrapped around that, you know, we uncover their fears, we uncover their confusion, we uncover decision paralysis. Like they get, you know, they get caught in analysis paralysis or their spouses or whatever their priorities are. Because sometimes objections just aren't. They don't just exist there. They're really unspoken fears of how they're going to be moving forward on the project. Right? And so the sooner we can help them with that, the sooner you can help them, you know, get to their dreams. So some of the word tracks that could be wrapped up in this, like a role play on a, on a Tuesday night with us, if you're going to role play with us in twt, like, hey, what's holding you Back from fixing this pond? How long has this been a problem? On a scale of 1 to 10, where are you at in this problem? Right. These, these are the kind of questions we want to start asking in the right cadence at the right time to help your customers. Right? What's holding you back from building the dream pond? What's holding you back from solving this problem once and for all? What's holding us back from solving this problem? This has been a problem for four years. What's holding us back? What's holding you back from getting that, that problem fixed? Right? So these are, these are the way we ask these questions. And I want to, I want to pause right here. I don't think Joe's on the call. Is Joe on the call? I don't think Joe's on the call. So, you know, we've been practicing the I need to think about it close, right? Remember when I broke out the closer survival guide from Grant Cardone, and we started going through the five or six closers that, like the closing lines that we needed to kind of perfect and learned that are affecting our business, every business, as I need to think about it, right? Joe was at a garage sale. I wish he was here to tell the story. He's at a garage sale. He's selling the stuff. And someone wanted to, to buy this special cooler that he had. And Joe's like, $30, right? And, you know, at a garage sale, 30 bucks is kind of a lot for something, I think, you know, I'm like, I'll give you five bucks for this. How much you want for this chainsaw? Give me $5. You know, you buying chainsaws for $5? So, like, this cooler's $30, and the guy's like, I need to think about it now. In the past, someone like Joe might just assume, oh, they can't afford it. It's too much money. They're gonna try and talk me down, and I want $30, so I'm not gonna do it. So, like, that's old Joe probably happening, right? But he says, yeah, cool. No problem. That, that's, it's in the closer's guide. Look it up. Toodle. You know what I mean? Agree with them. Like, yeah, cool. I, I, I totally get it. I know it's on. It's not. It's not uncommon for people to think about a decision like this. Hey, but there's. There's typically only three reasons why we need to think about a decision like this. Is it cool if I just share those with you? This is At a garage sale, bro. And he even said I was sitting down in, like, in my chair in front of the garage, and they were standing above me. So I was like, subordinate to him. Him, you know? So, like, his. The way he's thinking is like, hey, I was down low, he's up high. He had the more dominant position in me. And I'm down here just cool, calm, collected. And I go into the. I need to think about it close, right? And so you. If you guys have trained with me, you know, like, you either you're. I think he. How did it go? He said, you're not even sure if you'll use the product. You're not sure if it's the right product for what you need to solve, right? And. Or it's maybe because you don't like me. But we just met. You don't even know me long enough to know whether you like me or not. So it can't be that or it's because you can't afford it. He literally said that to this person sitting in the driveway. And the person reached into their pocket, pulled out the money, and just flipped him 30 bucks. And he said, thank you so much. You have a great day. Boom. Sold it like that at a garage sale. We're learning these prompts to help people right in. You know, those are. That's identifying that. The. That's identifying the objection truly. Was it the money? Or maybe you don't like me, maybe you don't believe in me. Maybe I've talked too much instead of listening to you, right? So, like, these are absolute objections. And so I just think it's real fun that these role play prompts that we're talking about, you know, now we're using them in garage sales and having success with it. So let me turn this inward just a little bit, okay? The same question that you ask your clients, I hope that you're asking yourself, because if you can't identify what it is that's holding you back, then you don't have clarity where you're trying to go. And that's what's truly probably holding you back. So what's holding you back from hiring people? What's holding you back from raising your prices? What's holding you back from being organized and being in the shape that you want? Because if you avoid this question or you don't, you. You can't, you know, find the problem. You can't find that the thing that's holding you back, it is you. It is you. So just remember this clarity is Going to create direction. Clarity will give you the absolute direction of where you need to go and when you have the direction, that's when you can even see the resistance. Like I just told you, like I am all muddy in the weeds here but now I'm doing these 15 minute increments and I can really dial in. Like this is what needs to get done in the morning, this is what needs to get done in mid morning. This is what needs to get done before lunch. This is when we need to call the crews and make sure that they have all the supplies and resources they need for tomorrow. So we have time to update our CRM so we can be prepar and lay the foundational tracks for tomorrow. Like this is what I'm doing and so I see all the resistance now because I have a lot of clarity in how to get it done. So let me just ask you, okay? What is holding you back from being the kind of person that you want to be? From being the kind of person who asks that question every single day, not only of yourself, but to the people that you love in your life and to the customers that you're trying to serve. Hey, it's Triplett here. Listen. In a world where quality is often overlooked, Helix Life Support stands proud bringing you American made excellence for your koi ponds and water gardens. And I want you to know I worked in the field for over 15 years and had professionally built nearly a thousand ponds before I designed my own proprietary filtration equipment. So trust and believe when I say that Helix Life Support is a product line that was crafted for those who demand durability, advanced technology and a deep commitment to fish friendly designs. Now at the heart of the product line is our patented award winning Helix pond skimmer. Built with the safety for your koi and other fish as our top priority. No sharp edges, no unnecessary risks. Just an innovative fish friendly skimmer you can trust. And every piece of Helix equipment that's made is with high quality materials so you can get a filtration system that's as tough and reliable as it is efficient. Whether you're a first time pond builder or professional contractor looking to elevate your game, my team and I are ready to help you realize that vision for personalized pond design assistance or to get your hands on Helix Life Support filtration equipment. Give us a call today at 800-522-5043. That's 800-522-5043. Support American craftsmanship and choose Helix Life Support for your pond. Built for koi Built for life, Built for you.
