Ep 178 - The Right Connection: Level up to Premium Service

Hello, hello, hello and welcome back to another episode of Electric Purner Secrets, the Premium Service Electricians podcast. We're back with episode 178 of trying to help you master your sales, simplify your pricing and deliver premium level electrical service in your neighborhood, in your marketplace. Joe, would it be wrong of us to want to help some people with that today?

No, it would not. I absolutely love when you use that phrase.

How are you doing today, brother? How was the weekend, by the way?

Honestly, weekend was really really good. I was going to say some family might be listening, so I'm going to pick my words nicely and just say I got to see some family. It was really nice that I did. I got to understand them a little bit better and I get to plan moves accordingly in the future. So as a whole, it was a productive weekend for your boy.

Awesome, man, awesome. What about you? I'm going to get a little bit of a sleep in this morning, mostly because I stayed up a bit late last night. I'm learning how to tie people. Yeah, that sounds bad, right, I mean, it depends what you're into but yeah it depends what you're into. No, literally, I was interested in learning how to tie in different ways, and so Marilyn and I ordered some rope to try and see if we could figure that out. And we tried YouTube to listen to this guy and he's kind of like a super nerd. I dig him. I dig him, so he's named his mannequin and all this stuff. But when he started his video I shit you not he said hello, hello, hello and welcome to rope tying secrets. I'm going to teach you how to tie up a person. Pretty funny, right. I was like yeah, this is not meant to be.

I think it was. I mean, if anything? I mean you say, how do I tie people up? I'm just thinking, all right, you got a box of 36 inch long industrial grade zip ties, a box of duct tape, but you should be good to go. We talking about the wrong thing here, like I don't know.

It's a different type of tying. That's a different type of tying. I think there's actually a name for it. We try to keep the romance alive, not to get the creepy vibe out there. So I'll give in and just give you the juicy details Trying to keep the romance alive. They call it shabari. It's a nice feeling rope you can tie really nicely. So, hey, give it a shot. Something mixed up, a bit, right? But anyway this guy's saying that hello, hello, hello. I couldn't believe it.

You know what I was going to say. Is he also Canadian? Can we just figure that out? Is he also Canadian?

He is American, but we'd take him. We'd take him for sure. You know what? We'd take pretty much everyone. Though Long as you're nice, long as you'll hold the door open and thank someone for walking through, you're pretty much Canadian already.

Alright. Well, I thought a flannel jacket was required as well.

Yeah, flannel jacket around a fire with a full 5% beer tends to be a bit of a need here in Canada. I'll take it. Listen, I'm done embarrassing myself on our podcast. We've got exciting stuff to get into this week. In fact, we're talking all about making the right connection, leveling up to premium service, which is a bit of a play on one of our clients. That's their business name and I wanted to share today some of their wins and really break that down this week because it's been massive so soon. Joe, I'm so pumped about this. I mean, we literally had a fire class this morning, pulled out, really extracted some of the biggest stuff that's been fueling their wins and their growth, and we're going to share that on the podcast this week. How does that sound?

I can't think of anything better to do. I mean, at the end of the day, if people are able to learn the lessons, take the lessons and apply them and then see how those applied lessons were achieved as results, how can you say no?

Yeah, it's true. This all begins, actually, with something else I wanted to talk about, which is the Four Forces. In this episode, I even named the Four Forces a bit at one point and I changed it at the end because this is about leveling up to premium service and what that means. Guys, we're going to share some of those secrets, of course, but the Four Forces are really at the root of all of our decisions. It's something that we're measuring when we're speaking to electricians like yourselves who want to grow, and what it does is just really it's able to. It's a way to isolate, really, what the pain points are and what the fears are, away from what the current wants are versus the future aspirations are, and we have those separated. It's almost like a little four quadrant map where we can see okay, here are the things that are holding us back from realizing everything we want today, and here are the things down below of the future, the fears that are holding us back from everything that we envision someday. Now let me ask you this have you ever heard of this before? We all have a vision. We all have this place. We're trying to go. We can all sort of see this future that we desire, but did you know that 95% of people don't put themselves in that vision? They can actually see the vision, but they can't see themselves in it. Have you heard that before?

Yes, literally just today, I was reading a book called the Customer Service Manifesto, and one of the things that they were talking about was that people, specifically as they're trying to envision their next step, they often view that it is another person achieving those results, or it is a version of themselves that is so different from themselves that they can't identify as the same.

And that's a fucking problem, man.

Yeah.

That's the and you guys don't have all the gravy here of this situation yet, but what we're going to throw at you today, what you're going to learn about this week, is literally going to make you feel like that's fucking crazy, Joe, If we cannot see ourselves in that place of actually being a premium service provider, if you can't see that and feel that and really truly act as if, then you can't have it.

I like to go even further than that. Go ahead and say it's not that you just can't have it, it's that, even if you could, you won't feel you deserve it. Oh shit.

That's the mic drop. Is the podcast done?

No, there is a lot.

Did you just drop it?

Well, the thing is is like we all need to feel good in order to make decisions that put us in a better situation. Right, and if we're in that place where we can't see, the next step is a step that we would take. We'll start to identify that other companies are doing this, but they won't see it as our company is doing this. So if someone else is successful, it's because they're someone else. Instead, we want to focus on how can you yourself follow actionable steps to get exactly where you want to be and recognize that you're the same person at the end, just in a better situation?

That's huge man, that's really huge. So if you've been with us for a while or maybe you're just starting now I want to engage you for a moment. If you're listening, you can do this by raising hand. If you're with us in the Electric Pinner Secrets Facebook group watching live, you could even throw a comment out. Right now I'm going to run through some of the pains that our clients were feeling ahead of the big wins that they are now feeling. Now we're going to go through that. So have you ever dealt with contractors and had cash flow problems? Oh, my gosh, right.

We were literally just talking in the background and saying I remember there was a time when I got $14,000, $16,000 on a net 90. Yeah, contractors suck.

And here's what that typically looks like. Right, we're reflecting on. A bank account Balance comes up because you got to draw or you got a payment. You're feeling like, oh sweet, maybe we will be profitable this month, maybe there will be some cash left over. But then you get the supply house bill and it's $22,382,. Right, they've got a 2% or a 3% incentive. So now you're dealing with this battle of do I pay it early or do I pay my staff? If you pay the supply house in full to get the 2% to 3%, which does add up at the end of the year, I can't blame you for that. Now we're trying to wait for, put more pressure on getting more AR accounts receivables, more payments in next week, because Friday's coming quick and payroll draws another $18,300 for the three or four guys you got working for you in the office staff. Anyone ever feel that before? Ouch, right, we can feel like we're sinking in this. I get that, and that's why this stuff's so important to share, because it's massive. Right, we can all feel this way and you could feel like what is premium service I don't know how to provide, I'm stuck in the $189 call, or even, maybe it's worse, maybe you're doing an $89 call out, as we see so often, and we're seeing some comments come in here I'd be rich if I just got paid. I've literally guys, I feel your pain. Joe feels your pain. We've been there. We've seen this over and over. I've been on calls with people here you may be listening right now. We've met at the end of the year and we've celebrated the 1.3 million they did that year, their biggest year ever. But they have zero profit to show for it because they're owed $300,000. Ouch, and then you're going to battle for that right?

You're hiring collectors.

You're putting liens on. Go ahead, Joe.

Yeah, I didn't mean to interrupt, but I'm saying it's the craziest thing that why is it in our industry Do we have to nicely ask for what we've already earned? Like, if you think about it, you put in the time, you put in the hours, you've done the job and now all you want to do is get paid for it. But now they have to figure out ways to politely ask for it, because, god forbid, you upset that contractor and he decides to cut you off of the knees because that's who you use for future work. That's why we push so hard for residential service, because these problems start disappearing.

Yeah, 100%. You ever been working so hard for that contractor in good faith, that everything says you envisioned it, that everything says you discussed it, maybe verbally and you're working so hard that you're even forgetting to invoice. And by time you do invoice it's still another 30, 60, 90 days out before they actually freaking pay you, if they do ever.

I remember something you told me that really stood out was every time you were handling a project and they wanted to change order because they wanted to keep things just moving. You're like, sure, no problem, just send me an email and we'll go through it. I'm going to send you an email, just sign off on it, and then it's like, oh, hold on, maybe we don't need to do that. So you're right, there's so much that goes attached to how do we just get paid what we're already?

owed. Well, I've got some good news for you guys. There's a great little niche over here in premium service, premium Residential service, that you likely haven't fully tapped into yet. And if you haven't, then you're in the right place, because here's what it did for our clients at the right connection Averaging just over 30k months after just a month with us I want to say one month. So we're we're going into week six. It's looking like they're doubling the revenue on the first month Sorry, second month, let me get that straight. So this October, looking at how it is after the big week They've just had, looking like they'll be north of 70k. And that's without even completing all of those opportunities yet mm-hmm. The only reason this can happen is actually by a massive belief shift. Joe, correct, that's what's so incredible and what we have to share here today. So we actually asked them what were the top three things that they did or that they could reflect on from our program in such a short time to have that level of a win, to look at doubling the revenue for a month already. And here's what they said top three things you ready, I'm ready, hit me. Okay. Number one a premium service mindset, a mindset. Some of the feedback I get from us in this podcast, joe, is people say on the calls you know, I listen to the other guys, I listen to this, that and the other, I listen to waste no days. I listen to the big guys and there's lots of tactical solutions. You guys kind of go into some different stuff. You guys go into a little bit deeper. You guys are really into the psychology of things a little bit more than just the how-to. I love that. What happens in our program on the inside track is when people dive straight in. You've got this podcast, but also the class that proceeds it every day, five days a week, but also the chat support. Also our accountability coach, raina, helping with everyone in their client success. So the interactions are numerous every day of the week and what happens is you end up with a psychological shift. You start to think like a premium service provider and in this case it didn't take long. Please jump in, brother.

I was going to say. You know, one of the other benefits of the belief shift is also how we actually follow through with our process, like remember how I've mentioned that this is now the way that I speak, because this is how I've trained myself to do so. Imagine if how you talk to customers wasn't an act and you talk to them no different than you talk to everyone else. Wouldn't that shift your belief as well? To simply say I'm not following a script, this is just how I communicate with people, and now you're able to do so from an authentic place and, as a result, that authenticity is what sells it 100%.

So the full immersion led to a psychological shift. In other words, have you ever had an aha moment, Joe?

Mm-hmm.

Typically those aha moments. I've always experienced them as this you tell me if it's different for you. I've always got this complex aha followed by a. You know I could have figured that out if I'd sat with this long enough. It's actually not rocket science, is it?

Often not.

Simple. It's simple, but it's still an aha. So they had an aha moment and what it led to was seeing things they couldn't unsee. And that leads perfectly to number two. Number two was now that we feel and share the same beliefs as a premium service provider. We had a harsh realization.

Mm-hmm, you know what?

that realization was Joe.

We weren't actually acting on the things that we believed in.

Now that you've leveled up that premium service beliefs, you're realizing, wow, we actually are under serving people.

Mm-hmm.

Before we were. Let's change that. And so by truly believing this, every time you're going to a job now, you're realizing I can't keep doing things the way I was. That's no longer aligned with my values, with my beliefs, because my beliefs have shifted. If you truly believe something, then that's conviction, right.

Conviction is one of the best things you can possibly have, because it's an intangible that every customer you meet will see, because it's almost something you can see in someone's eyes and hear in their voice. Where, imagine, I'm sitting across the table or not across, I'm sitting next to you, got to follow the play and then say we're sitting shoulder to shoulder and you give me what's known as an objection and it doesn't even phase us because we're realizing who else are you going to go to. We truly value you and your family and your situation and we're going to stick it out until you physically kick us out. That's how much we care about this. I would say. Just the conviction alone would be like you know what? This is the kind of guy I want in my corner. All right, let's talk about it 100% man.

I love that Great share. So this second level is just realizing that hey, if we believe in this, we've got to take action on this. Beliefs, then actions. Keep in mind, they've just touched the process. This is so new. It's so exciting for us to see people at this level just shaping what they will be and already breaking close to, like that $80,000 month mark, which is remarkable. They came here feeling like you know, if we could hit 50s pretty soon, that would be nice, remarkable, joe. So number three here it is we believe, we act. And guess what? That confidence comes full circle, they said. Number three was how did we believe and act that way? It only made sense to market that way. It changed how they're marketing, joe, because now their belief has impacted their actions, which have impacted their confidence, which have impacted their intentions. Would you market yourself the same if you truly believe that you were number one in your area for service?

If I truly believe that was number one, in that I was offering something distinctly different. I would almost be shouting it from the rooftops with a mission, because it's like if I really believed that I was the best person and that anyone else wasn't going to serve you to the same extent, I wouldn't take the first no as a no. It'd be like I want to serve and maybe I haven't communicated enough why you don't want to work with me yet. Let's figure this out, let's really go into it. Maybe I haven't explained because if I believe it, I'm going to communicate as if and my confidence is going to show through. And once again, confidence and authenticity often alone can sell a project.

It's massive. So this thing came full circle. Those were the top three things. I'll iterate it again. The belief shift, just the full immersion being able to jump in a class every morning, follow the podcast every day. They're with us right now. That's so exciting. I'm so proud of you guys. Keep going. We're not done Having that full immersion with the accountability. The chats change their beliefs, which led to new actions in the field, recognizing new options, providing it a higher level service at a higher level, which then led to marketing to follow. And now things are blowing up and now they're actually seeing like that four forces we mentioned, the quadrant walls, are breaking down and you're starting to see how moving from pains to your immediate wants, which are all being checked off swiftly, is now going to start adding up to the big goals, those desires for the future and that vision for the future. I just can't say it enough of how excited we are for them. And guess what? This week we're going to be giving away those secrets in detail. So you guys are going to want to stick around and hear all of this. It's going to be incredible, joe. Anything to add to that before we get to some action items.

Man, I'm just ready to dig in. But if I can just add in, you know, mandy and Eric, we have so much love for you and we're so proud of the things that you're doing, because it's one thing to teach it, it's another thing to say. You know what, you exemplify it, and I couldn't have been prouder to know that we have students that can follow these values to such an extent 100% Beautiful thing, brother.

Action items. What do you think you want, the base action or the all star?

I actually want the all star today because I have something specific in mind.

Okay, base action. We've said this many times before. I'm going to say it again Take everything we give, just promise to take action. Sometimes taking action looks different to different people at different times. If, today, taking action means actually taking a step towards Eric and Mandy's big success, if you want to double your revenue a month from now, if you want that level of success, you're going to have to take action. So, whatever it is that's holding you back, whatever it is that's in the way, if you've had one call with us and haven't had the second call, know that you want to work with us and haven't made the decision, then that's the action, it's the obvious next step. If you're working with someone else, even right now, and you haven't taken the next step, this is your call to action. Just take that next step. We don't always need to know for sure what's at the top of the stairs, we just need to take the next step. So, whatever it is that's in the way, intuitively, if you've got no one behind you supporting you with this, what is your next step? What are you going to do about it? If it's just getting this belief shift, then go back and listen to some more episodes today. Don't end it right here. Get motivated and take action. That lines up perfectly with what I was going to say.

So there was a speaker I remember listening to years and years and years ago. His name was Noah Benchia and he had made a statement called Put your faith in front of your fears. And I feel like that is actually a precursor, but a larger action, to what you already said, because your first thought was take action on it. But for some people who are listening to this, that taking of action is an insurmountable fear that they have a hard time clearing. So my all star action is the gap that leads you to taking that action. So what it means to put your faith in front of your fears, it's not like taking a spiritual stance, but it's saying do I believe that what I'm doing will produce results if I take one step forward with it? Do you believe that by me taking steps I will eventually achieve something, or are you equally blinded by my fear of what will happen if I do nothing? So the concept is that if you had a team of horses, the lead horse can influence all the other ones behind them. So if you put the strong horse up front, the other horses, even if they are in a position of fear, will still move forward based on the forwarding actions of the lead horse. So my concept is put your faith, put your belief that this is something that you can do, forward, facing in front of all that you are, and what you'll find is that your faith in yourself, by definition, will overcome your fear of yourself. So, if you're not sure that you can take the action step, the first step would then be can you believe that if you did that, you would have achieved a result? And then, if you believe that, what's stopping you from taking one step forward?

Really powerful stuff, joe, really powerful stuff, especially the end part. It was all great, but I want to highlight this again what is stopping you, literally what is stopping you guys? Reflect on that. Enjoy the rest of your Monday. I know we're going to. I'm just about 16 ounces of coffee in, joe. I've got energy to boot. Let's take this day on. I know for you it's the afternoon, I'm still pre-noon, brother. I can't wait to come back tomorrow and discuss some more around, even what you just said, what's in the way and how to get the fuck out of the way so you can start winning, doubling up your revenue, leveling up to premium service, just like the right connection crew Guys, thank you for joining us on episode 178 of Electricpreneur Secrets, the Electricians podcast, where we keep showing up five days a week to help you master sales, simplify pricing and deliver premium fucking electrical service. I threw an F-bomb in there for the first time you threw off my cadence.

I love it.

We got some fired up people today. Have a great afternoon, folks. See you tomorrow. Y'all take care.