Epidode 38 - Generator Sales Secrets - Homelink

@7:26 - Clay Neumeyer (serviceloopelectrical.com)

Welcome to Entrepreneur Secrets, the Electricians podcast. So glad you could join me. I'm Clay Newmeyer.

This is my co-host, Joseph, the sales bot, Lucanie. How you doing today, Joseph? 

@7:53 - Joseph Lucanie (Fathom)

It is a beautiful day. I am loving it today. It's a great one and I am pumped.

I'm pumped to talk about what we're talking about today. 

@8:00 - Clay Neumeyer (serviceloopelectrical.com)

Love the energy, brother. Love the energy. Listen, we're here to help you master sales, simplify pricing and deliver premium level service.

And this optional Friday is no exception to that. What are we talking about today, man?

@8:15 - Joseph Lucanie (Fathom)

Today, we're talking about a very, very important type of manual transfer switch and how this particular transfer switch can drastically increase not only the sales you're on now, but also sales you're gonna get in the future.

And you're gonna be able to separate yourself and make yourself so different than your competition that it won't even be touchable.

@8:35 - Clay Neumeyer (serviceloopelectrical.com)

I love that. I cannot wait to get into this. So some generator sales secrets right here. 

Let's go.

@8:43 - Joseph Lucanie (Fathom)

Okay. The biggest problem with people when they try to sell generators is it's like they're all home run hitters.

They're all trying to get that 20KW, ATS whole home system. And the problem is not everyone needs that. And sometimes it's actually wrong for the customer.

Somewhere at that time to go automatic. I mean, if you think about what actually is involved, an automatic generator is a very substantial investment where it requires if you don't have natural gas and you got to run on propane, some of them can draw between two to three gallons per hour.

Now, in addition to that, they also frequently need to be maintained. And if you're not being maintained, they also need to be serviced if there was any defect or break with it.

So though they're incredibly convenient, there's a lot of investment that goes with it that a lot of customers aren't really aware of.

And Clay, does it sound fair to yoke someone with an investment that they're not prepared for?

@9:38 - Clay Neumeyer (serviceloopelectrical.com)

It does sound fair to me. And I'm adding two, we're going to get into this more, but I'm betting there's a lot of opportunities even in that maintenance and serviceability.

So yeah, here's serviceability. I'm like, judging not that it's all about money, but serving at the highest level and really that risk that seems really attached to home service in general is volume of work and serviceability.

I men, after I install a receptacle. When's the next time I need to service that thing?

@10:04 - Joseph Lucanie (Fathom)

I mean, realistically, you should almost shouldn't ever have to unless it's something where you're consistently coming back to it.

You did your job right. A splice is a splice, man. Like back in the day, you used to solder those things, but now you don't have to because we're so good at what we do.

@10:19 - Clay Neumeyer (serviceloopelectrical.com)

Yeah, definitely. So good example there. So I love where this is going. So serviceability, but as you're saying, ATS might not always be the right choice.

@10:28 - Joseph Lucanie (Fathom)

Sometimes it's not. I mean, maybe there's a situation where sometimes a family will say, you know what? I'm going to get a generator, but I'm only going to be here for five years.

Well, does it really make sense to have some? I mean, don't get me wrong. I love they take a big ticket sales, but what I love more is aligning someone with the thing that they truly need most that truly solves our emotional concern.

And I think today is going to be a great way of getting into that. Can I just dive in?

@10:55 - Clay Neumeyer (serviceloopelectrical.com)

Yeah, you can. So what, let me ask you this though.

What problem are we really solving here today?

@10:58 - Joseph Lucanie (Fathom)

Okay. The problem is, is that there is an entire neglected market that is being untouched by the majority of people doing generators.

And that is the portable generator market. So many people are so good at down talking portable generators that they've actually talked customers out of that particular investment.

So as a whole, you have on one side, usually options starting anywhere from like eight to 25,000. And then there's, there's a drop.

There's nothing. It's like you want anything, this is where you got to start. Whereas in the portable market, you can have options as low as like $900.

And then in addition to it, you actually have a very strong cap. I've sold portable generator installations without the generator upwards of $6,000.

There's a lot of things that you can offer that would drastically improve the customer's life. And I'd love to touch on some of those things.

@11:55 - Clay Neumeyer (serviceloopelectrical.com)

Yeah, let's do it. And if you're part of our live Facebook audience right now watching this live or replay, go ahead and type that.

Yeah. live or replay when you're watching this. But if you're live with us, either way, engaging with us in that group, in the Entrepreneur Secrets Facebook community, please let us know our generator's part of your menu.

It's something that you're installing and are you looking forward to hearing more of these secrets here today, Joseph, please take us deeper on this.

@12:19 - Joseph Lucanie (Fathom)

Okay. So there is actually a manual transfer switch that is called the HomeLink 50M transfer switch. No, we are not sponsored by HomeLink, but HomeLink, if you're listening, I'd love to talk.

@12:29 - Clay Neumeyer (serviceloopelectrical.com)

Hello, HomeLink.

@12:31 - Joseph Lucanie (Fathom)

Hello, HomeLink, right? So HomeLink has been around only for a little bit. It's not a brand new technology, but it's a very unknown technology for a lot of entrepreneurs.

And I want to talk about that. Now, the main difference between the HomeLink and a regular MTS is that the HomeLink is very easy to use for the customer.

And it's also upgradable to an automatic. So I'd like to explain to the situation of what the customer has to do without this.

And then I can solve what it's doing instead or in the world. Is that fair?

@13:05 - Clay Neumeyer (serviceloopelectrical.com)

Yeah, it is. Let's go. 

@13:05 - Joseph Lucanie (Fathom)

Okay. So let's say you have a customer who you decide to offer an interlock to basic interlock.

Think of what the customer has to do when they lose power. I'm going downstairs with a flashlight figuring out where it is.

Main breaker goes off. Interlock goes up. Generator breaker goes on. All the breakers go off. Go outside, plug in the generator, twist lock, fire the generator up, go back downstairs to the basement, generator breaker on all the different circuits go on now.

Does that sound super convenient for someone who is either a dealing with snow or rain or sleet or crying baby in the background or realistically anyone who's not amazingly mechanically handy?

@13:50 - Clay Neumeyer (serviceloopelectrical.com)

Negative.

@13:51 - Joseph Lucanie (Fathom)

Yeah, doesn't sound like a lot of fun, right? So the thing is, is that because of that effort, it dissuades a lot of people from going to it.

Yeah. Home link is different. It's a 50 amp transfer switch that has about 16 circuits already built into it.

And what it has is two lights, an orange light and a green light. And the green light says we're on utility power.

It automatically tells you on your utility power. It has an orange light that says when you're on generator power.

So let's say you go downstairs and you find out, oh, it's neither one's on. Okay, so we've lost power.

You take your generator, you plug it into the inlet, but this is where it gets fun. You simply press one button and relay enables transfers automatically, your clang, and now all those 16 circuits are powered.

Why this is so important is because if you have a generator properly sized for the load you're putting on, you don't have to individually turn them all on.

You can back them up under load with this system because it's rated for a full 50 amp transfer. So now this customer in their mind, you can pitch it as you.

don't have to do anything other than press one button to get your generator back on. And the biggest problem is how did you know previously that power came back on?

You have to look at your neighbor, you got to keep one light on somewhere. But if you were on an interlock, you couldn't.

The main breaker was off. So the only way you could tell is if something else was powered, you saw somewhere across the street where you got a notification.

But when this, you just look and see when the green light comes on. Oh, the green light song, you know how you fix it?

Press that button again and it automatically transfers back to utility. Seems pretty straightforward, right?

@15:38 - Clay Neumeyer (serviceloopelectrical.com)

Love it. And the convenience of it is just too much, right? Like, oh my god. You know, in something we call the value driver formula, that there's a couple factors that always seem to play into buying decisions.

And the huge time delay and effort and sacrifice. And just to give this a little more on the principle of it, why does 711 sell milk and eggs?

@16:00 - Joseph Lucanie (Fathom)

Because you know what, I could go to some grocery store or I could just go to one location when I'm getting gas.

@16:06 - Clay Neumeyer (serviceloopelectrical.com)

Absolutely. And they're not the same price. We know that. So convenience does sell. What we're talking about here is not just a minor convenience upgrade.

I would say that's a major convenience upgrade.

@16:19 - Joseph Lucanie (Fathom)

Oh, yeah.

@16:20 - Clay Neumeyer (serviceloopelectrical.com)

And a big expense. Do you recall any pricing around this home?

@16:24 - Joseph Lucanie (Fathom)

The home is only about $8,900. That's really all it is. And if you think about what an MTS normally is, is you've got like the one off memory here.

I believe reliance was somewhere around 300. Problem is with the reliance that didn't have any serviceable parts so they can go bad.

An intro lock could be anywhere from $50 to $200, but it required all the additional steps. And then there's more and more advanced manuals, but almost all of them are made with the reliance standard.

So if they don't have serviceable parts, your only other option is to make a custom sub-panel with your own kind of flip interlock.

Where you turn one on and another breaker turns off. And that's not convenient either.

@17:06 - Clay Neumeyer (serviceloopelectrical.com)

No, not at all. I wanna go a step deeper if we can. I know that generalizations, co-clarity, and we definitely don't wanna do that.

I don't wanna suggest anything that would get someone behind the ball, so to speak, on their pricing. But if you were to determine a level of difficulty, five being hardest, one being the easiest of this installation, as a master electrician, what would you say? One to five. 

@17:28 - Joseph Lucanie (Fathom)

I'd say one being the easiest and five being the hardest. Yes, sir. Probably around like a two.

And the reason being is that it has a pre-made whip. You literally just connect it next to the panel, drill in the four holes, slide the whip in, wire it into the main panel, and then that's the whole MTS.

Granted, the hard part of the installation would be no different than anything else you're doing is where you're routing the inlet.

I mean, if you have to run, you're in that 100 feet across the round of the house, well, that's harder.

OK. job, but that's not a problem of the MTS. That's the problem with the installation, right?

@18:05 - Clay Neumeyer (serviceloopelectrical.com)

Right. So, neglecting the inlet for a second, the installation could be an hour, two.

@18:12 - Joseph Lucanie (Fathom)

I would say realistically to do an MTS effectively, an hour just doesn't feel like enough, because I want to make sure that not only are we doing the circuits, but every time I would do an MTS, we would also do a whole home circuit labeling.

Because if you're thinking about it, it says this is the furnace, but if I don't confirm this is the furnace and you lose power and the furnace doesn't come on, who's ass' on the line?

@18:37 - Clay Neumeyer (serviceloopelectrical.com)

Yeah, you're getting the call back.

@18:39 - Joseph Lucanie (Fathom)

100%.

@18:40 - Clay Neumeyer (serviceloopelectrical.com)

You're going to confirm it anyway. To me, that's good commissioning.

@18:43 - Joseph Lucanie (Fathom)

Yeah. So, bare minimum is we're going to also include a whole home circuitry labeling. Long that takes plus one to two hours for the MTS.

I feel like it's a very reasonable thing. If you were going to round it to three hours, I think that'd be fair.

@18:58 - Clay Neumeyer (serviceloopelectrical.com)

Awesome. Love it. Okay. Okay. Did you have more on that? Or should we jump right into like the language around this thing?

@19:05 - Joseph Lucanie (Fathom)

Oh, no, I got more about it. This thing is relentless. Okay. So the main reason why this is such a valuable piece is because it bridges the main value gap between those who would want it automatic and those who are comfortable with a manual.

The main reason why is usually financial and time. Let's say someone just moved into a home, right? Like someone like myself, for an example.

There's a lot of expenses you've got to take with the home. There's landscaping there, air conditioning. There's just generalized improvements, renovations.

You don't always have $20,000 to $30,000 sitting around or be willing to take a $500 to $600 monthly payment.

But if you lose power, you still need a generator. So what do you do? This is one of the best ways because you can tell them we can start you off with this particular system and I'm going to go into the verbiage of how we describe it.

But I'm just speaking layman's terms. You would describe that this system is... is allowing them to have that generator backup battery power.

They'll have to use it portable for now. But the best part about this is that it's upgradable. All it takes is one additional relay to be installed into it and it converts to an ATS and it'll carry up to an 11KW automatic generator.

So now think of it this way. If I were to install this inlet and I ran all the wiring and control wiring necessary to that inlet that an 11KW would need, now the only thing that has to happen to convert from manual to automatic is you need the generator, you need the fuel source and you need one relay connection.

And now you literally are at least halfway through the installation. So the justification is this is an investment in your home that will return the investment.

In fact, you're paying today's prices for tomorrow's services. And anyone who's into investing knows that's the best time to invest.

I want my money to work for me. I don't want to put money into something and then rip it out later.

If I put this in once, I can continually use it later in the future.

@21:10 - Clay Neumeyer (serviceloopelectrical.com)

Love it.

@21:11 - Joseph Lucanie (Fathom)

That's a pretty substantial value.

@21:13 - Clay Neumeyer (serviceloopelectrical.com)

Absolutely. Yeah, I can see that. I mean, we're all working for today and tomorrow. And if we can get today's money, we're working for tomorrow.

@21:21 - Joseph Lucanie (Fathom)

Damn right. Right. So there's a lot of different ways. And before I was going to say anything I'm missing so far, I'm pretty sure we're on the same page or can we just dial into more?

@21:30 - Clay Neumeyer (serviceloopelectrical.com)

Yeah, yeah, man. Keep going.

@21:31 - Joseph Lucanie (Fathom)

Okay. So in addition to all this, the question comes down to, well, how do I package it?

Well, I'm not saying this has to be your only option, but this is most certainly your best premium option.

Because what you can do is let's say your customer doesn't, they might want to go automatic, but they just can't right now.

You're at least giving them the opportunity to say the money you have now is applied towards the future. My top option would almost, first two choices, would almost always be a home link.

The reason being is my top top option would be, I'm gonna install the home link, and I'm gonna run all the wiring ready to the inlet as if this is gonna be an automatic.

I'll do all the prep work, I'll get everything you need. Directly beneath that is we're not going to run all the control wiring to the inlet, but we will prepare your MTS for conversion.

Then beneath that goes down to saying, now we could talk about regular manual ETSs, like your reliance or your interlocks.

But because you had that top option in place, the customer now has an opportunity to invest in something that no one else is going to offer.

And doesn't that make you separate and stand out from your competition?

@22:50 - Clay Neumeyer (serviceloopelectrical.com)

Apple's to oranges, man, love it. Apple's oranges. Apple's to apples, it's prone to price comparison. We have to do things differently.

This is the edge. Give me no. way for free live right here. I'll let you print our secrets. Little plug for us there and home line, high home line.

If you're watching, if you're watching. Follow us.

@23:09 - Joseph Lucanie (Fathom)

We're really bad for ties on this one.

@23:13 - Clay Neumeyer (serviceloopelectrical.com)

All right. What's next for us here?

@23:14 - Joseph Lucanie (Fathom)
 
Okay. So continuing on with this, now it comes down to how do you verbally package?

Because I'm going to swear by never using parts or jargons or any kind of trade term to confuse a customer.

Because if I were to come to them, let's say you're not an electrician, you're just a typical homeowner. And I'm like, you can have an interlock, you can have a reliance MTS or you can have a home link MTS.

The fuck am I talking about? Like does it even, it doesn't apply. It doesn't mean anything, right?

@23:48 - Clay Neumeyer (serviceloopelectrical.com)

Lloyd said last night, I'm here in Charlie Brown's teacher, man, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow.

@23:53 - Joseph Lucanie (Fathom)

So I actually coined a term that I would use on all the time that I loved and it was called the one touch transfer switch.

That was the thing behind it because all it takes is one touch. I can convert and I can reverb with one button.

And the benefit is that you want to describe the cut, like the best way to sell a generator, especially a portable generator, is to walk the customer through what they would have to do in the sake of an emergency.

And when you can make it easier for them to understand, because during a power outage, you're usually not super calm.

The baby's crying, it may be late, you could be in the middle of dinner, you could have a family over, and you're jarbled and rushed.

You got to go through and flick circuits around around? No. Now I'm going to get a spoiler, there's actually another podcast coming where I'm going to go even further into this kind of stuff.

But for now, I'm going to touch on the line. Thought is this, if you can walk your customer through it and say, well, imagine this, your generator gets plugged in and...

you can get electric starts or even remote start generators. Now picture this, you can have a remote start generator already pre-plugged into this inlet, right?

You walk outside, you press on. The generator automatically turns on through the remote control. You then go into your garage or where your panel is and you see, oh, there's an orange light, clang, and now you're on generator power.

And then as soon as you recognize that, because it's only a 16 circuit system, there may be other things in the home that turn on when power comes back on.

Or if it doesn't, you already know that the green light is ready when the utility's on. So you can simply press it back, even without turning the generator off.

The loads will automatically transfer back to utility. You walk outside, you press off on the remote control. Is that not the most turnkey solution you can possibly think of for someone?

@25:55 - Clay Neumeyer (serviceloopelectrical.com)

Yeah, absolutely love it. And I love that you're bringing that knowledge and experience to this, Joseph, especially before. Because a lot of people listen to this right now just haven't experienced it yet.

We know what the first time's like. And that's the joys. That's the benefit of being with people who have experienced it.

That's why we wanted to bring this segment of this show to you guys. Again, live five days a week.

But really at this point every week, we want to bring you stuff like this to help you have some experience going into that, to know who you can reach out to and talk to before you go into that.

Guys, optional Fridays, we're here for you. Right. So why not use the resource? And I'm guessing now back into the situation here at some point, you're going to ask this client a recurring question that you love.

Was that wrong for offering that to you? Yep. We almost didn't think there.

@26:42 - Joseph Lucanie (Fathom)

I love it. I was going to say, because it's true. When you can present it as was I wrong to offer this to you and your family?

Because I feel that you deserve it. That just sweetens it a little bit further. You know, play the last thing I'd ever want you to have to experience is when you have no power and it's cold.

And you're thinking about wheeling a generator outside. That's enough effort as it is. You shouldn't be worrying and playing a playing electrician.

You shouldn't have to say, oh, well, this is a 30 amp load. I can't turn that on. Oh, this is a 15 amp load.

It can't turn that on. Shouldn't you just know that all you have to do is press one button. Is that enough?

Isn't that enough that you have on your plate as it is? What I wrong.

@27:23 - Clay Neumeyer (serviceloopelectrical.com)

You know what happens. It reminds me of the wine test. We've talked about this many times before where people love to choose the highest option they do.

They just want you to validate that expense because currency is really only good for this. It's only good in exchange for value.

That's all it does. It's a measurement system. We use it as a tool. We exchange it for things that improve the quality of our life.

So here's where I want to go ahead and go and a limb and say right after they push that button for the first time, they're going to do it many times.

Just role playing the scenario, wishing the power would go out.

@28:00 - Clay Neumeyer (serviceloopelectrical.com)

The first time that happens, they're going to hit that button, sit back on the couch and go.

@28:05 - Joseph Lucanie (Fathom)

You know, I've actually heard specifically from customers and I can walk you through the experience of what they've actually said.

@28:12 - Clay Neumeyer (serviceloopelectrical.com)

All right, let's do it.

@28:13 - Joseph Lucanie (Fathom)

Once you get a generator, you are itching to lose power because the thing is, is that some people consider generators an insurance policy.

They're like, it's like, you're going to go on an enjoy. I hope I never use it. I hope it collects dust.

I hope it just sits there and never doesn't anything. Other people say, no, I just, I'm not spending $6,000 on nothing.

I want, I'm, I'm giving some use out of this thing. This is getting some laps. Yeah. So the thing is when they lose power, it stops being a, oh shit.

What do I do? And it starts going, don't worry, babe. I got this. I'll be right back. We are empowering our clients.

We are removing a fear. And fear is, I don't want to say the best motivator, but fear is a very present thing.

the lives of so many people, myself included. I'm sure Clay, I mean, you see them all put together, but I'm sure you got fears of your own.

@29:07 - Clay Neumeyer (serviceloopelectrical.com)

Terrified shitless right now.

@29:09 - Joseph Lucanie (Fathom)

If we were able to do something that takes a fearful situation and reduces it and gives control, easily accessible control to our customers, while also giving them the ability of saying this is an investment into their home, and not a waste that they're gonna have to rip out in five years when they get more money.

Where's the loss? Where are they losing?

@29:35 - Clay Neumeyer (serviceloopelectrical.com)

There's no loss. Like I said, it's in those moments. They're actually gonna feel better with the power out for a short time.

They're gonna be in a better state than they were with the power on. Because we get complacent about that stuff and we love using our new toys.

@29:53 - Joseph Lucanie (Fathom)

Correct. And in addition to that, a lot of times it's also removing something that the customer has to stress about.

We're actually giving them a mental equity because if you lose power, if you have kids, your first thought is how I'm entertaining them.

Because obviously if you lose power, you're not taking them out in the storm, not going to go play outside.

You know, yeah, you can sit and play in the playroom, but what are you going to do in the dark or the food's going to go bad?

You're going to keep the furnace is not going to be working. Everyone's going to be by space heater and plugged into what?

You know what I mean? Like there's so many things that people are going to be worried about, but now they don't have to worry.

One button and one remote start handles this entire equation at a budget that they know that they can afford and even more so if you finance it.

Now I'm going to talk to you guys. There's going to be another episode coming. We're going to talk to you of all the enhancements that you can offer on a portable generator.

And that's how we're going to get up to the $6,000 tickets. But regardless of what level they picked, if they're in a situation where they don't have to be a.

afraid of something, all they have left is the enjoyment. And the satisfaction of saying, yes, I made the right decision, and I am so glad I went with this company.

@31:12 - Clay Neumeyer (serviceloopelectrical.com)

Love it. Love it. Love it. Love it. Again, Apple's storage is men. So many things are applying here. Of course, you know what?

More options, more power. Differentiation 101. Man, how do we, how do we move people to do this? How do we get them active on this?

@31:30 - Joseph Lucanie (Fathom)

Specifically this particular thing. So the thing is, is normally our actions and all their actions are pretty specific because they're either sale or service oriented.

This now comes to material and requires very specific action. The first thing is, I want you to just buy one.

Just buy one and install it either in your own shop, or if nothing else, just mess with it. The reason being is if you take this transfer switch and you compare it to almost any other transfer switch that you'll offer, it's going to be a good thing.

I'm gonna take the exact same time to install, but the benefit of this is that this one actually has serviceable parts, meaning that if there is something wrong with it, like from experience, I've had to take apart reliance transfer switches.

They're not meant to be taken apart, and I literally was losing my mind trying to get like soldered connections and tracing wires are made from the factory and figuring it, it's awful, it was awful.

With this kind of installation, it's no different than a basic sub-panel with a relay cabinet. That's all it is.

So it's serviceable just like a panel would be. So the first action step is buy it. If you can't buy it and you're not willing to invest in it, load up the specs and keep them available.

Understand how it works. The reason being is that if you don't understand how it works, you can't take the all-star action.

And the all-star action is just free can offer it. If you're not offering options on your portable January installations.

Well, that's going to bother me. But I'm telling you for a fact that this is the best top two options that you can also, because you can tell someone one, this is an investment in your future and your home, two, it is the most convenient possible thing that you can do, and three, it prevents multiple inconveniences that you would normally experience, such as working with interlocks or having to monitor when power comes back on, or having to throw levers.

It's not necessary anymore. Let me have a reasonable action in all star.

@33:32 - Clay Neumeyer (serviceloopelectrical.com)

Absolutely, man. I love it. I love it. And I want to see you guys take action on this. I want to see you guys win with this stuff.

So as you do take action, as you're winning, please report back to us. Let us know how it goes.

We'll put you up on our winmull. And of course, you get honorable mention on the show. We'll be speaking your name followed by some sweet nothings and all the success that you've been able to experience with that.

Joseph, I want to thank you personally for your expertise on this subject and bringing that to the show and to everyone who's listening.

Right now if again, if you're in our Facebook group and engaging with us. Thank you guys for joining us as always the engagement means the world to us makes a huge difference and really helps drive This thing to thrive even further So for myself clay and Joseph here.

Thank you guys for tuning in to Secrets the electricians podcast we're here to help you master sales simplify pricing and deliver premium level service 

Cheers!