Ep 189 - The Offer Sets You Free

Hello, hello, hello and welcome back to another episode of Electric Paneur Secrets, the Premium Service Electricians podcast. For me and my partner, joseph Lucani, show up with you guys five days a week to help you master your sales, simplify your pricing and deliver premium level electrical fucking service. You're going to be wrong, you must do that for you.

No, I love the cadence swing on that one too. You can tell I'm digging in the background.

I threw an F-bomb. I'm sorry if your children are listening.

apologies, that was not professional, though, yeah, I was going to say, anyone who's listened to our podcast more than two episodes should know that it's not safer work Like come on.

It's not like it's explicit.

Yeah.

But there's about an F-bomb. Maybe two an episode, I bet your average is around 1.1. I'm someone that believes in the power of well placed profanity.

I agree with you 100% on that one, though it literally is used in one. Why? The reason? Why is because people, especially trades people, when you walk into a room, you need to know that you're speaking the language of those who you talk. To Name one construction site, you've gone on where people kept the PG-13.

I can't, I can't.

I literally was on a job site at 14 years old and I learned some things I wasn't ready to learn. We get it, but I consider them more like accent points, exclamation points in a sentence. They are value enhancers.

Accent like down under.

Yeah, that's one way of saying it.

It's a terrible Australian accent. I know we have Australian listeners If they're with us today. I'm so happy to have you guys again and good old to you. All good things to say, and I apologize that I suck at your accent. That's actually embarrassing. It's not the first time I've embarrassed myself about two minutes into this podcast, though, but luckily it was the last time tying people up.

I think was a little admission of that and you threw me on that one because you're like you don't have to tie people up. I'm like, well, give me a bag of zip ties and some duct tape and a trunk and I'll make some moves happen. But you're like, oh, wrong time, right, wrong type, oh man.

Okay, Joe, tell me something. How was 75 E hard serving you today?

I am absolutely loving it. Put it in perspective I hate it the moment I wake up and I love it the moment I finish it. The reason being is I normally get up at five and what I'm doing now is I'm getting up at 445. 15 minute difference doesn't sound like a lot, but I start today and literally my knees hit the ground. I'm saying grace, yeah, moment I get up. Then I get up and I go downstairs right to the gym and I'm working out before the girls get up. I get it done, I get it figured out. Now, luckily, for the past two days I've been making it happen where they've been able to sleep in a little bit. So, to put your perspective, not only did I get my workout in, not only did it got my grace in, but I was able to read some books and I was able to start on my messages before six am even happened. That's nice, it was great. So by time everyone was ready, I had my coffee in my system, breakfast was good, how the windows were open, the lights were on, the sleeps out of my eyes and I was able to be a more present dad and a better husband.

Yeah, and I can vouch for that, because we had a power session at well, 8am my time today. We really, really lit it up. I mean we went right through it. As James says, get lit in the comments. I love what you did this morning, joe. I love that we built the challenge that way. What I'm not loving is Robert in the group with us saying what's the accent all about Clay? Oh, I think I'll go for it I mean Jab, from yours truly in New York Just bugging Rob. I appreciate you, brother. Thanks for joining us. Joe, today we're talking about something really important how the offer sets you free. Let me give this a bit of context. Yesterday I shared with anyone following my Facebook account how one of our clients one year ago was celebrating 48k months. In fact, they made 48k month. That was a big milestone for him. And just yesterday, during his progress call for the month in our program, he celebrated a 48k week. And I always, always, always, love drilling down and asking what's the difference? What changed? How did this happen? Mm-hmm, what are the top three things? And so he told me and number one was really, we started out with pricing and the pricing is part of our offer. Training and offers link exactly back to what we were discussing yesterday and this whole topic for the week. So can we just talk about that again for a moment. Be happy to Stick into it, because yesterday we talked about the anxiety of like actually getting to the door and knocking and I even admitted, hey, when starting this podcast, sometimes there's like a skip breath, there's still a moment of like hmm, am I going to introduce it right? Mm-hmm, it happens, but it happens so much in the first one I could tell you I probably still have sweat that I can't wash out of my clothes from our first podcast together.

You know what, though? It's probably mutual though, because at the same time, when you're putting yourself out there to what you conceive is a group of strangers, you look at them and say what does the audience look like? And all of us assume that people are standing out there with their arms crossed, like what the fuck are these guys about? More than really what the audience is? Is people going? What are these people about? What are they actually saying? They're interested, not judgmental. They want us to succeed because if we succeed, they succeed with it. So changing the perspective of they're not here to judge us, they're here because they want the help. So would it be wrong of us to push through that anxiety to make sure they get the help they need?

Not at all. Not at all. That said, the anxiety is there. Maybe we're feeling that long before we ever work on our business, and one of the first things that electricians have to work on is pricing. Let's be honest every call we get on, almost every call someone says to the pricing question well, what's your rate? Where are you at? What's going on? Why is that so low? They always say the same thing and it's well. If you were here, you would see the number of people in my area that are undercutting us. They make it really freaking difficult for us to raise our rates at all because we won't get any more work. What does that do to your anxiety, joe? Raising your rates, getting your pricing right? How does that impact you in this anxiety conversation we were having yesterday and your ability to actually confidently sell your work there's?

two things that I want to break apart from that statement. Is that okay? Absolutely. The first is that when I hear that, I'm usually feeling bad for the situation, because it shows that there's also a mental block. If you feel that a trunk slammer coming into your shop, lowering their rate and dropping their pants for it is a direct threat to your work, that shows what your belief of how you separate from them. That was heavy, thank you. They're not the same person. They're not providing the same service and, as a result, they're not supposed to chase the same client. The kind of person that hires someone off Craigslist is not the kind of person that looks online for five-star, premium white glove service. Instead of changing the rate and lowering it to compete with them, instead raise your rate so they don't even come into the question of people that you'd be entertaining, for that's the first thing that comes to my mind.

That's good. Can I throw something in there without you getting lost? On the second point, throw for it, okay, and if I do, I do. I'm throwing. What you just said gave me an epiphany. Okay, hit me. It's not that we're angry that they're charging less and that they're shoddy. That's their decision entirely. We're angry that we have trouble articulating the difference between them and us. Bingo, wow, that's heavy. So the real complaint is not that they suck, it's that we're not differentiated.

Correct. And the problem is when you have, if you become a commodity sale, right, I want a generator. I don't care who I get it from. I'm going to get this product. Whether I order it from Home Depot or whether I order it from you. It's going to be in my yard by next week. That's commodity. I'm removing the relationship away and I'm only interested in the product and whoever can install this product for the most competitive price. But if you take that same service into stride and you say okay, let's say say, give argument, joe Schmo actually installs the generator and then you need it. How much are you willing to bet the system is going to operate to the finest way it could? Is it going to be the most reliable? Is it going to be the safest? Is it going to be the code compliant or safety standard compliant? Who's going to be maintaining it? Who's going to be taking care of the warranties? Who sized it correctly? We don't know, because when you only go into, cut it in, cut it out. Remember, one of our clients the other day was saying that they had called to get a gas line installed by someone and they put a 24kw generator on a half inch black pipe line, there's not a chance that's going to work. But if you think about it, that's what your competitors are offering.

And the homeowner doesn't know. That's the bigger problem. They have no idea, unless we find a way to articulate that value and help them understand that difference.

Yeah, it's not the pressure. Anyone, like so many people, think that articulating value means I'm trying to sell you on something. Well, technically, all things, all communication, is sales in one form or another. But really you're trying to prevent them from wasting their money, from wasting their time and for having a bad experience. If you could say I can take $10,000 and you can get a questionable experience, or I can take $13,000 and guarantee your experience, almost every single one of us would pay the $13,000. Like I pay it $3,000 more to guarantee this never happens. Yeah, I'll take it, but we don't describe it that way and that's where we end up getting tripped up.

Without the articulation it loses the value. So I think I'm hearing you right. Let me just kind of back this up and say it sounds like this is a fork in the road and in almost every case there's a homeowner that doesn't know better and doesn't even have their mind made up necessarily on how to acquire that necessary contractor to complete that work, let alone who to acquire for that work. So if we empower our offer, if we empower our business with that level of articulation, instead of looking at it like forcing anyone down which path of the road, it's actually educating them on how to make the decision and then allowing having the ability to articulate where you fit on the sliding scale of who could help you with that installation.

Even better is that when we offer our six options, we actually automatically allow them to go with a competitor just by seeing those choices. Because, if you think about it, no one other than us is going to offer the platinum level, right. Some people might offer the mid-range level. Most people are offering the economic level. So by showing every single scale of what they can buy, you're showing them this is the floor of what we do, but it's the best that your competitor would offer you. What does it say when their best is where our worst starts?

That we're a fuck of a lot better.

Yeah.

Maybe we understand the thing or two better than they do. It's a possibility. You know it's an interesting concept Pointing out value without throwing sand, yes, Like. It's something that we're very attached to in our process, not only what we teach electricians but also what we do in our sales process. I absolutely never, never, never say bad about any other company. We know many of the other coaches from the other companies and I know many of the differences and it's our job to actually articulate the difference and demonstrate the difference while honoring the existing relationship, and that's something that I really feel empowered by and I hold strong to. In fact, just like in our process where we're at the panel investigating the competition, trying to honor your homeowners, your clients' relationships with their existing professionals, it actually helps you in the end to understand that, and you know what. I'll probably need some help here, Joe, but I'm going to go out and say qualifying or disqualifying yourself ahead of ever wasting time going and presenting to someone who ultimately doesn't want to hire you anyway for one and two, otherwise obliterating that objection later when you get confirmation that no, they indeed want to use someone else for XYZ reason.

Yeah, am I off-haster.

Is there anything to add to that?

No, it's actually. You did a really good description. There's only one little thing I'd like to add to it, which is also the how it obliterates the objection, because some people are like you don't want to just go in and be like well, are you using XYZ? But you're asking questions like have you used another professional? Do you use a handyman? Is there a friend, is there a family member that you've ever helped you with something like this before? And some people might even ask well, why it's like well, I mean, I'd hate to do something that clearly you could have called them and you called us. I'd hate to lose the opportunity of working with you. So, just so I know that I'm not stepping anyone's toes or breaking up a relationship, why am I here instead of them? And the benefit is is that at that point, when they know I'm not trying to sell you on something, I'm just trying to respect your existing relationships, that's a huge value add right there, because would anyone who's trying to undercut someone else say you know what? If you have a great relationship with someone, I think you should continue with them if you're happy with their level of service. If anything, I can see them going. Well, hold on a second. You're already here. Well, we have a. Why am I here? Do you have someone you already like? Why not just go with them and you're real in?

it Now. Ironically, that ties directly to how we started this week talking about the confidence you need to have, bringing that value and believing in yourself and being able to stand on the top of your little mountain and shout to the world that you're the right fit, you're the answer, while giving as many options to be that answer as possible, and we're going down a bit of a rabbit hole. But in the final moments of this thing, really, there's one major complaint that I see where people really pull back from the six options, that part of the offer and that Commitment to serve at that level, and it's always the same. So why don't we address it here? Six options, people will say, will confuse my customers and and a confused customer won't buy Mm-hmm. What do you say to that, joe?

So the thing that I've always noticed about six options is that it's not that it's meant to confuse people. It's often that you yourself are either confused or explaining it in a way that doesn't communicate the direction. Like, thank you, parking. If I had six options and every single one of them was a completely different option, completely different description, and it was a line item breakdown and I had to go through it like it's a project estimate, mm-hmm, you bet your ass, I'm gonna say you emailed over and I'll get back to you. I got to figure this out. But what we do is when we're describing it, we focus on what it's actually doing for the customer. We're saying, all right, let's simplify the language so there's no trade jargon in it. Let's break it down so communicates what problems here and how the problem is solved. And then we make each level Understandable. So your premium options match your other premium options. They don't like that. Get rid of it. Your mid-range options match the other mid-range options. You don't like that. Get rid of it. Same with the economy, so that when you have your buyer archetype if you're a premium, mid-range or economy buyer they can look at just those levels and see them in a comparison form that's easy to understand. If you can do that, your customer better identifies what they want, while also understanding the levels above and below it.

I love that and honestly, I feel the same way about three options. Hmm, you can actually lose people in that too, when it's not articulated Well. The the underlying theme in this whole episode has become articulation in your ability to communicate. And even this morning I mean most days of the week when we're dealing with the speed bumps in our business, it always comes back to and we say it often communications the hardest thing, unications the hardest thing. But if you guys are engaged with us right now, if you're listening right now, watching right now or listen to replay after on the podcast, consider this If I could articulate my offer well, even though maybe I'm three times higher in price than others, the 3x price Causes the homeowner to already go. Oh, what's the difference here?

Mm-hmm.

Wait a minute. But then you're able to actually articulate that value, an answer to that one value price objection, as we've discussed and in full on the podcast. But now, if you're actually able to develop the skills To articulate six options, 95% of the time, with a few exceptions, that will leave outside of this podcast.

Mm-hmm.

Doesn't that actually mean that just based on the skill you've developed that you're offering more? And the law of averages say mm-hmm. You're gonna sell more. Average ticket goes up. Weekly revenue, daily revenue, monthly revenue all go up. Your skills are up, so your ability to connect with clients is up, so lifetime value goes up. Think my missing stuff here, joe.

No, I mean, there's only something I'd like to add to it, but you're not missing anything. So the thing that I want to add is, when I'm speaking directly to people who say I don't know if I can charge that rate, because here's my question for you if you don't charge the rate and you want to deliver better service, where are you pulling the fund to deliver that service from? It's impossible. But if you were to offer better service and it matched a higher price tag and your client invests in that higher price tag, now it's an honor, it's an expectation that you're delivering that service. So, if anything, the price tag keeps you accountable to what you've already said. You can't come in and charge $15,000 for a panel, change out and not give them the finest, truly finest service and product that money can buy Maybe a crook otherwise. So you saying I'm doing this and I'm going to charge it and by God, I'm not going to deliver on. That's usually what helps as well.

For these reasons and everything we've talked about today, I don't think there's any coincidence why our biggest breakthroughs tend to happen so quickly. For this level of electricpreneur, that's either that first year to kind of three years in that maybe just hasn't cracked the code yet. That's probably floating between the $200,000 and $600,000 a year. There's just huge gains at that level to quickly get you up towards that million dollar mark, because typically we're doubling their price, sometimes tripling the price, and then arming you with the complete offer suite to justify that value and that price. It's no wonder why Zach again reflecting had $48,000 a month a year ago that we'd celebrate and then yesterday celebrate a $48,000 week. So proud of you, zach. Joe, I think the action items are pretty, pretty big here. I want to start with the base, if I can.

Sure by all means.

Just recently, guys, if you've been following along and you've heard a bit that we actually remapped out our program and really re-strategized. Even how we serve at the highest level and how that looks from a us to you or client perspective is that we really prioritize the what we do training and that's the offer we're talking about, and that training literally starts with your price. And that tool is, at this point, the most thorough guide for pricing available in industry, with 12 pages of step by step guide, and we give that away for free because we want you to succeed at the highest level. Why else would we keep showing up five days a week to help you guys with almost 200 episodes and two action items every time? That pricing guide has now been kind of re-pinned, re-updated. I edited the post and people are grabbing that for free right now. You guys can get that too if you're listening, if you're engaged, because it's not the. What we had before was going to an actual online form with sliders and stuff. It actually had some bugs If you tried it. I'm sorry about that. Mandy's with us saying the price guides the best they've seen as well, and they've been through different coaches, as you would have seen from them last week on their interview. This guide is the full, essential guide to understanding your basic P&L accounting and pricing so that you can get a hold of your business, stop being that bottom of the barrel and start being the premium service provider with that quality of life that you're after. That's just the base action. Put your hand up either now in the comments, if you're engaged with us on our website through a contact form, or on our Facebook Electric Burner group page, and you can get that too. That's the base action. Joe, do you want to start with the All Star on that one?

I do, and this one is going to cause some trembling. So the base action is get the tool, get it in your hand, fill it out. Not even fill it out, just get it. With the base action, the All Star action is what the hell are you going to do about it? You now have this thing in your hand. It is the most comprehensive guide. Once you go through it and you find your number, then what that's the hard part Are you going to actually implement it? Are you going to change your rate now that you've seen that now growth is now accounted for, that a healthy profit margin is there, that you have the ability of funding good service? Once you know this is the number you have to charge, are you willing to take action on it? And if you're not willing to take action or you need help taking action, I know two guys that want to help you. Simple as that.

Am I one of them?

Yeah, you're one of those guys, don't worry about it. Don't worry about it. Yeah, it's step one get the piece. Step two take action on it. There are so many people out there that will just get a tool and let it sit in the inbox because to them having the tool feels the same as taking action on it. But I'm telling you from experience I've owned a lot of books and a lot of programs and know the tool you don't use doesn't get the job done.

Mike Dropman, don't let your first action be your last action or you'll be stuck in reaction. Oh my God. I didn't even know it. There's some knowledge coming from north of the border today. Look out, it's coming back. All week there's been another episode of Electric Pinner Secrets, the Electricians podcast, where me and my partner Joseph over here are helping you master your sales, simplify your pricing and deliver premium level service. Remember I said that there's a quiz later. We'll see you again tomorrow for Wednesday Action Wednesday, jeff, and we'll see you guys then.