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Speaker 1: Welcome to the Master of the NEEC podcast, the ultimate

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destination for anyone passionate about the electrical trade. Whether you're

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a season electrician, an eager apprentice, or just someone who

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wants to dive deep into the world of electrical work,

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You've come to the right place.

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Speaker 2: Join your host, Paul.

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Speaker 1: Abernaviy, a true authority in the industry with over thirty

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eight years of trade experience, as he electrifies your mind

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within depth discussions, expertise, and valuable insights that will keep

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you ahead of the curve. Each episode, Paul will illuminate

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the complexities of the trade de code, the National Electrical Code,

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and share the latest industry trends, all while empowering you

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to take your electrical career to the next level. So

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gear up, plug in, and get ready to supercharge your

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knowledge because with the Master of the NEEC podcast, the

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power is in your hands.

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Speaker 2: Now get ready. Here is your host? What up? Everybody?

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Speaker 3: Welcome to Master the ANC podcast, the show where you

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don't just talk electrical theory. We don't just talk about

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the National Electrical Code, but we talk about real world

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situations and actually take it to the next level when

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it comes being comes to being a professional in the trade,

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and that's what we do here on Master the NEC Podcast.

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So hopefully you're catching this podcast on whatever your favorite

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podcast platform is. Deezer Speaker, iHeartRadio, Apple podcast, Google podcast, Gosh,

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I don't know. You can even listen on your electa

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devices if you ask for it to play Master the

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NEC Podcast. Anyway, welcome to the show, and you know,

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we like to everyday and then step back. And for

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those that don't know, my name is Paul Abernathy, and

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I've been in the electrical industry in nearly forty years,

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written books on the Electrical Code, and I serve on

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various committees and you know, and I've taught seminars all

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over the country and have courses that are available for

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people wanting to learn the National Electrical Code at a

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much higher level. I also consult to many contractors out

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there and and serve as expert witness on cases that

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may have something to do with the National Electrical Code.

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But I but most of you may know me for

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doing the podcasts, and so I appreciate you listening to

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the podcast. Now today we're gonna we're going to step

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outside of the codebook a little bit we're gonna you know,

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and for many people this is going to be outside

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of their comfort zone because you know, if you're an

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electrical contractor, from time to time, whether you're the actual

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electrician on the site, or you work for somebody, or

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you're a company in general, you have employees. At some point,

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you're going to have a situation where you have this awkward,

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tense situation where you go out to a project or

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a job and you complete the project, and maybe you

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do it in record time. I mean maybe you get

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out there and the thought is it's going to take

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you an hour or two hours, and you you actually

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get out there and you're done in fifteen twenty minutes,

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and then the you know, you give the customer a

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minimum of one hour, and then they balk at it,

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they start raising a beef, and it's an awkward situation

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and if you haven't run into it in the career,

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you will eventually run into it. And so I want

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to give you some thoughts and how you can overcome this,

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how you can train your staff to overcome this and

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get a little bit better at that awkward situation between

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you and your customer and then be able to know

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that when you walk away or your or your employee

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walks away, that you're walking away with the customer, that

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you still want to keep them.

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Speaker 2: I mean, you still want to retain them.

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Speaker 3: I mean for whatever reason they're they're questioning your pay

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or your rates or the time that you committed or whatever.

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Speaker 2: That just par for the course.

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Speaker 3: But you have to try to always think about how

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I'm going to come out win, win, how everybody's going

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to win, how we're going to come away from this

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with a positive outcome. You know, the customers always right

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is not accurate in our trade. We know that, but

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is there some way that we can come out of this?

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And in that awkward, tense moment when a customer suddenly

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acts after you've already done the work, they act like

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they don't want to pay once the work is done,

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or they question the cost, and you obviously you've done

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the proper things right, You've you've laid this all out

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up front. You have your pricing schedule, if you're doing

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maybe your hourly rate or your time and material, or

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you're just doing like in Texas where you just give

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them one rate, or if you know flat rate pricing

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and they already know which level or you've looked at

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the work and you know whether it's a level one,

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level two, level three, which is going to affect the price.

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Speaker 2: And obviously jobs.

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Speaker 3: Can become more difficult than what you thought they were

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originally and take longer. So things can change, prices can change,

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and of course with that said, you'll get customers who

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will It just puts you in an awkward situation. So

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I want to talk a little bit about there. You know,

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we've all been there again. You've done that job, it's

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it's inspected, it's solid, and now you're you're you're sitting

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to go, they're stalling on paying you.

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Speaker 2: How does that work? Okay, so how do you keep calm?

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Speaker 3: How do you hold your ground still walk away with

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your dignity and your customer's relationship intact, Because at the

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end of the day, that acquisition cost for that initial customer,

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I mean for them to go to the exercise to

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contact you, there's a cost to that. You've either advertised,

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you've done marketing, you've done something, so don't think, oh

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my phone just rang or something like that. There is

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an acquisition cost, and we don't want to lose that

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acquisition cost. We want to maintain it so that we

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keep that customer because you never know when they're going

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to need more work done, but you may need to

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help set the tone in how this this is going

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to work out. So that's what we're going to talk

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about today, and in this episode, you know, I'm going

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to share ten proven to go ciating tactics can help

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you kind of de escalate the situation, recover your payment,

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and then maybe turn a bad encounter into a long

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term win or long term customer. So grab your coffee,

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your codebook or whatever while we kind of go through

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this and we're going to kind of break into it

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and discuss it in detail. Okay, first, first and foremost,

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you know, I usually tell people segment one or part

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one of this is going to be the reality check. Now,

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before we jump into the tactics, let's get real world

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for a second. Every contractor even the best of us,

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eventually run into that one customer who either delays payment,

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questions the invoice, or flat out refuses to pay. You know,

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and here's the truth. In that moment, your reaction matters

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more than your reputation.

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Speaker 2: How you react.

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Speaker 3: There are a lot of times where I've seen employees

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immediately jump defense and it becomes a problem, and once

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it starts going down that slope, it is hard to recovery. Okay,

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you can have the best craftsmanship in the town, you

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can be the best electrician in the world, but if

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you lose you're cool that one customer can hurt your

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credibility so fast. And the old saying, when somebody dislikes

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the situation, they will go out of their way to

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tell everybody they can.

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Speaker 2: Okay.

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Speaker 3: The sad fact is a lot of times people live

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in misery right and they want to bring other people

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to that same level of misery. That's like telling people

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who you don't even know, your situation of what may

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be going on in your life and you're you're depressed

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or down and they don't care. They may act like

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they care, but they really don't care. And that's a

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brutal fact. I just hate to tell you that, you know,

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you know, unless they're your friend or somebody you know

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you have a relationship with who you know, make care.

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The general public do not care about your concerns about

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your needs. And I talk about that in another podcast

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where I tell you know, tell your employees do not

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bring their personal situation into the work. Do not carry

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it over to the customers. And if they're disgruntled or

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upset at the company in any way, keep it to themselves.

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Speaker 2: There is nothing good.

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Speaker 3: And I tell them this, tell them there is nothing

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good that can come from you venting your frustration to

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a customer, which could eventually get back to me and

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only make your situation worse. So there's nothing you're going

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to gain. There's nothing that customer can do that's going

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to make your situation better.

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Speaker 2: Zero.

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Speaker 3: So first of all, get that out of your mind.

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And I teach people this when we're talking about soft skills,

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and I tell them, get that out of your mind.

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I know you want to vent. I know you want

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to say things. I know you want to you know

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you're upset maybe or whatever reason, and you're on a job.

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Keep it to yourself. They don't care. Okay, just keeping

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that square.

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Speaker 2: Now. I had a contracting contractor friend.

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Speaker 3: Years ago who blew up at a customer over a

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two hundred dollars difference on a four thousand dollar job.

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Now he was right, he was in the good he

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the customer was wrong, but the way he handled it

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was wrong. Now he got his money, but he lost

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five referrals, and because of his attitude, he got a

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Google review score that tanked almost overnight.

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Speaker 2: Now if you don't think that can happen.

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Speaker 3: You can have five stars and then all of a

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sudden you get one one star or somebody wants to

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come in there and taint it. That one star will

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drop you down and you're not going to recover from it.

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Now you're still main high. But that's not your goal.

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Your goal should be five stars all the time. And

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if not, ask them what can I do to make

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it five stars?

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Speaker 2: What you know?

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Speaker 3: And I've done that with a customer when they're going

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to do a review. Like many people know, I gave

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my brother who has a really high rating. I mean,

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everything's vibe. My brother's just amazing. But you know those

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little pin clips that I have on our website that

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have the QR code on there, uh, A lot of

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people that order those get it, actually scan it so

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it goes right to their Google listing rating, so they

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can ask them to do a review while they're there

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while you're working out the invoice, say do you mind

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doing this while I work out? You know, get this

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for you whatever, And and a lot of people say sure,

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I don't mind. It's really quickly. Five star boom, give

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a little something, say a little something. It really does

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help you locally, and it's just as quickly as having

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that QR code right there on your hat or on

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your business card or whatever you're using to get them,

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but you want to get them there. And for my

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brother and me, it's it's easy to have this little

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clip right here, and it's a conversation piece and I go, hey,

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here's a QR code. You got your phone. Just scan

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this and I'll go work on everything for you here.

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And if you don't mind giving me a five star review,

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ask for what you want. By the way, don't say

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can you just give me a review? No, say I

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hope you're happy with the service. I do my best

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to please you. A five star review. It really helps

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my business as a local.

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Speaker 2: Dude.

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Speaker 3: Don't be afraid, folks to ask for what you want. Okay,

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first mistake people make, they don't you don't they don't

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ask for what they want. And if somebody says to you, well,

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I don't you know, if they're ballsy enough to say,

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well I don't think it was five stars, then say

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what can I do to get you there, What do

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you need me to do? If I had a customer say, well,

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you can knock twenty five dollars off, and I'm like,

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is that that all it takes to get you to

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a five, then I'd say a fine, I'll give you

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a discount, because, believe it or not, those reviews matter,

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and you may be solid so stern, you're like, no, bullshit,

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I'm gonna get I'm getting my money the reviews. If

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you're local and your work off this social media's and

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you're working off this type of things, the review is

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much more important in the long run than worrying about

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twenty five bucks from a customer that may say that's

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the only threshold that they need to get that fifth star.

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You hear me, I'm just that's an example. But I'm

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just saying, you got to negotiate. So in his case,

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he screwed up because he got his money, and he

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might think that he won the battle, but ultimately, at

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the end of the day, he lost the war because

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he called me and the person he did he was like, dude,

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that some of a gun gave me a damn one

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star rating, and I did his work and giving you know,

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and I'm like, yeah, well you won the battle, but

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you lost the war. And because I know how he

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told me how his interaction went, I was like, remember,

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you're not just wiring systems. You're also managing relationships, and

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negotiation is part of your craft, whether you like it

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or not, whether you're electrician. And you think I don't educate,

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I don't negotiate. I'm just here to do a job

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blah blah blah.

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Speaker 2: That's not true.

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Speaker 3: And if you're like that and you're an owner, then

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you're in either in a market where there is zero

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competition or you don't care, and your business is going

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to have a peak and then it's going to slowly

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decline as your reputation starts to get weighed and tainted.

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Speaker 2: For that.

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Speaker 3: Okay, but you get to you know, you get you

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got to kind of work through those things. But you know,

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it's just kind of things that you have to think about. Okay,

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So now let's go into what I like to say

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is you know, segment two here of the podcast is

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the ten negotiating tactics. Uh, first thing number one is

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you need to set your payment expectations early. This is

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where people can just screw up all the time. The

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best negotiation is the one that never happens because you.

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Speaker 2: Handled it up front.

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Speaker 3: Always get your pain terms in writing, deposits, whether you

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can do draw payments, or whether it's a completion fifty fifty,

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whatever it is, get your payment terms. Get it in writing,

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whether it requires deposits, whatever, a certain completion, amount of money.

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Complete it, whatever it is, get it out, but spell

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it clearly in your estimate or contract or opening negotiation

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or contract. If it's a sales call, get it up

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front so that everybody's on the same page. Don't leave

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it ambiguous. And I know guys that do this. They

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get there, they're worried about getting work done. They go, ooh,

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I'll just I'll give the price later. Don't give it

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up front. Let them know that there's different levels to it,

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and this is the minimum. It could go up a little.

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I'm hoping it's not, but I don't know what I'm

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into yet. But I'll keep your breast along the way

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and you can determine what level you want to get to.

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Communication is key, okay, but the key is get that

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out there.

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Speaker 2: And here's my rule.

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Speaker 3: If a customer says we'll sell it, we'll settle it

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after the job. That's a red flag, right if you

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have a customer that you go in there and you're

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saying something talking prices, and he goes. If the customer says,

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we'll settle it after the job, spider senses start.

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Speaker 2: Tingling, tingling, tingling.

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Speaker 3: You know what I'm saying, because that means that they're

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gonna hold, potentially have They're gonna try to negotiate the

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price at the end if they don't think you spend enough,

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if you spend too much time, or you replaced a

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part that they don't think that was that needed to

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be replaced, and they're not the expert here, but they're

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telling you this, then you're gonna have no talk about

301
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price up front. I just get it out of the way.

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And people say say, well, you know what, people that

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talk price, you know that's the only thing. Well, dude,

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that's right, because it's not like a job interview, right

305
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where people don't want to ask you upfront what the

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sour is. You know that's gonna be somewhere in the

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conversation when it comes to doing work.

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Speaker 2: I'm gonna be honest with you.

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Speaker 3: I'm gonna let you know what the price is upfront,

310
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you go by my course. I'mone to let you know

311
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what the price is upfront, no negotiation needed at that point.

312
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But if you don't and you defer it, you don't

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train your staff to get it out of the way upfront,

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it's gonna come back to haunt you later.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm not saying every time.

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Speaker 3: I mean there are good people out there who will

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just you know that are honest and you know.

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Speaker 2: But again, for every one honest went out there, there's.

319
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Speaker 3: Probably five pieces of crap that you're gonna have to

320
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wigh through. So I'm just trying to save you that.

321
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And that's the first thing, right. One tip I'll give

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you is verbal agreements are like loose terminations. They will

323
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come back to arc haunt you later. So verbal is

324
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one thing. People seem to have very short term memories

325
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when it comes to verbal I know, people say, I

326
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don't like to get all this stuff, paper and all

327
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this stuff. Dude, it's very simple to have a one

328
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page contract, one page agreement, one page price thing explaining

329
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that the price could change.

330
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Speaker 2: It's one way to do it.

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Speaker 3: And I've helped plenty of contractors develop that, and that's

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part of the consulting services that we have will help

333
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you to understand how to do service. Call initial you're

334
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pricing will be different in your region, but we kind

335
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of give you steps and you just feel in the blank.

336
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That's some of the consulting things that we do, or

337
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at least have somebody to bounce your thoughts off of

338
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that type of thing. So again, payment expectations, get it

339
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done up front. Next, use Paul's power. And you're thinking,

340
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what the freak is Paul talking about Paul's power. Okay,

341
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now think about this for a second. When a customer

342
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gets confrontational, the best tool isn't your mouth, it's actually

343
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your silence. People hate silence, and in fact, when you

344
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are negotiating with somebody and you go silent, their mind

345
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all already starts calculating the outcome and a renegotiation point automatically.

346
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Speaker 2: So if I talk to.

347
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Speaker 3: Somebody and I pause, they pause, I pause after they

348
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say something they you know, they're trying to negotiate and

349
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not pause, and I think about it, their mind is

350
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already in this counter point mode and they're not. They're

351
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not expecting you to pause. They're not They're expecting you

352
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have a quick comeback. Like, this is a negotiation. I

353
00:18:31,480 --> 00:18:36,759
give you ten oh five seven eight, No, No, you pause.

354
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So if the customer gets confrontational, you pause, take a breath.

355
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Don't jump in defensively, just take a breath.

356
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Speaker 2: Pause.

357
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Speaker 3: And this is hard for some people, but take a breath.

358
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Maybe tell yourself to swallow five times before you speak.

359
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Speaker 2: That's the kind of little tip.

360
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Speaker 3: Swallow full swallows before you speak five times, and then

361
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say something like I hear what you're saying. Let's walk

362
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through this together. That pause keeps the situation from sparking

363
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into a full blown short circuit situation. Okay, that pause

364
00:19:18,119 --> 00:19:25,440
it breaks the the the the banter of a confrontational negotiation.

365
00:19:27,720 --> 00:19:32,319
It's a technique that you gotta practice, and it's tough. Okay,

366
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I can tell you right now that I do not

367
00:19:35,880 --> 00:19:39,160
practice this practice is very well when I'm arguing with

368
00:19:39,200 --> 00:19:42,960
my son, who is a total pain in the butt

369
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and he kep knows how to push my buttons. But

370
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as I got older, I realized that that's what he

371
00:19:50,960 --> 00:19:56,400
liked and that's what he wanted, and so introducing pauses

372
00:19:56,440 --> 00:20:01,720
in there really threw him off his game. And so

373
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take a breath, pause and think, you know, kind of

374
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look away, nod your head a little bit. You heard

375
00:20:11,079 --> 00:20:15,160
them very good at listening skills active listener and swallows

376
00:20:15,200 --> 00:20:18,559
swallows swallows swallows swallow and then say you know, I

377
00:20:18,599 --> 00:20:21,440
hear what you're saying, and do it in such a

378
00:20:21,480 --> 00:20:24,960
calm way. You're going to be surprised. You're going to

379
00:20:25,039 --> 00:20:28,200
be surprised. Now, the next tip I can give you

380
00:20:28,400 --> 00:20:35,640
is stay empathetic not emotional. Okay, you can be understanding

381
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without surrendering. Folks think so many people forget that. They

382
00:20:39,880 --> 00:20:41,279
think that I've got to just come back with a

383
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defensive tone. But there may be a situation where you

384
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have to understand and have a little empathy for their situation.

385
00:20:48,400 --> 00:20:50,400
Speaker 2: Uh, economy, what's happening?

386
00:20:50,400 --> 00:20:52,119
Speaker 3: And you know they may have told you a story

387
00:20:52,119 --> 00:20:54,079
while you're there working and all that that. You know,

388
00:20:54,279 --> 00:20:56,880
love got problems, I got because everybody likes to share

389
00:20:56,920 --> 00:21:01,200
their problems. So you getting into this now where you're

390
00:21:01,240 --> 00:21:03,359
going to take a fee. Now, yes, you did the work,

391
00:21:04,039 --> 00:21:08,200
but now you're taking this money. So you know, you

392
00:21:08,359 --> 00:21:11,960
just you gotta be empathetic, but take the emotion out

393
00:21:12,000 --> 00:21:16,480
of it. So use empathy phrases like I completely understand

394
00:21:16,559 --> 00:21:18,519
why that might be frustrating.

395
00:21:19,559 --> 00:21:20,359
Speaker 2: You know what it does.

396
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Speaker 3: It causes their brain to go into a pause, a

397
00:21:26,519 --> 00:21:30,880
calming effect, not a instant trigger between two people that

398
00:21:30,880 --> 00:21:34,880
their octave is so high that they're now bantering at

399
00:21:34,920 --> 00:21:36,799
each other, and it gives a brain no time to

400
00:21:36,880 --> 00:21:41,480
register what's going on. Okay, So it calms the brain

401
00:21:41,519 --> 00:21:46,039
down literally, once emotional levers levels were reduced down to

402
00:21:46,160 --> 00:21:49,200
what's called logic means a discussion that you could be had.

403
00:21:49,319 --> 00:21:53,519
Then you walked them through the facts, the materials, the

404
00:21:53,559 --> 00:21:58,759
time permits, where permits were required, unforeseen issues. I can

405
00:21:58,839 --> 00:22:02,519
tell you one situation this worked very well was in

406
00:22:02,599 --> 00:22:06,400
a service call where we went out and just reset Gfciyes. Now,

407
00:22:06,440 --> 00:22:10,359
my brother, for example, this was a call where and

408
00:22:10,400 --> 00:22:13,759
I'm sure you've all had this where people called and

409
00:22:14,480 --> 00:22:16,599
you know, and everybody's different and how they want to

410
00:22:16,599 --> 00:22:18,680
deal with this. I'm different than my brother would deal

411
00:22:18,720 --> 00:22:20,920
with it. But you know, I got a call out there.

412
00:22:20,960 --> 00:22:24,960
It was multiple GFCIs in series in one trip. Then

413
00:22:24,960 --> 00:22:27,279
I didn't know where the other one was. I didn't

414
00:22:27,319 --> 00:22:29,359
know that until I got there. But they right there

415
00:22:29,359 --> 00:22:31,799
were saying this receptacle doesn't work, and YadA YadA, YadA.

416
00:22:31,839 --> 00:22:33,519
So we got there and sure enough it wasn't working,

417
00:22:33,559 --> 00:22:36,039
wouldn't reset, so we had to go hunting for it.

418
00:22:37,359 --> 00:22:38,559
Speaker 2: Well, we found it quickly.

419
00:22:38,839 --> 00:22:41,599
Speaker 3: You know, ten there's only so many circuits that it

420
00:22:41,599 --> 00:22:43,599
can be on, especially depending on the year of the house.

421
00:22:43,759 --> 00:22:44,279
Speaker 2: Y'all know this.

422
00:22:45,079 --> 00:22:48,039
Speaker 3: So we found it and it reset it and it

423
00:22:48,119 --> 00:22:52,720
was probably less than I don't know, probably less than

424
00:22:52,799 --> 00:22:56,200
twenty minutes. And my policy is I charge a minimum

425
00:22:56,240 --> 00:22:58,400
of an hour. And at the time, I also had

426
00:22:58,400 --> 00:23:02,960
a after hours coffee. You know, they could have waited

427
00:23:03,039 --> 00:23:03,599
during hours.

428
00:23:03,599 --> 00:23:03,960
Speaker 2: They didn't.

429
00:23:04,000 --> 00:23:06,240
Speaker 3: Did they necessarily need that gypsy out of work or

430
00:23:06,240 --> 00:23:08,359
that receptacle there? No, but they called it. So there's

431
00:23:08,359 --> 00:23:11,799
a fee. So the customer was like, you know, and

432
00:23:11,920 --> 00:23:14,000
be honest with you. You know, he kind of went

433
00:23:14,039 --> 00:23:17,359
through some sob stories, but honestly, he says, you know,

434
00:23:17,400 --> 00:23:20,440
I think that's overpriced. You weren't here but twenty minutes,

435
00:23:20,920 --> 00:23:22,839
and I know it's an hourly rate. You don't have

436
00:23:22,880 --> 00:23:25,279
a scale for thirty minutes. So he's trying to tell

437
00:23:25,319 --> 00:23:28,839
me how I should run my business, right, And I

438
00:23:28,880 --> 00:23:31,440
looked at him and I was just eye contact important.

439
00:23:31,440 --> 00:23:32,799
I looked at him and I was shaking my head.

440
00:23:32,880 --> 00:23:35,599
I mean I was listening, active, listening to everything he said.

441
00:23:36,559 --> 00:23:38,039
And then after it was done, I kind of looked

442
00:23:38,039 --> 00:23:40,200
at it, and you know, and I thought about it

443
00:23:40,200 --> 00:23:41,799
for a second. I looked at him and look, dude,

444
00:23:42,039 --> 00:23:44,799
I know how you feel. I've had this happen to me.

445
00:23:44,960 --> 00:23:46,279
You know, that type of thing. I get it.

446
00:23:47,559 --> 00:23:50,079
Speaker 2: Unfortunately, let me let me.

447
00:23:50,559 --> 00:23:54,160
Speaker 3: Is it okay if I explain you just briefly, where

448
00:23:54,480 --> 00:23:58,279
my pricing scale, why we do what we do? He said, sure.

449
00:23:59,000 --> 00:24:01,799
You know, he's still a little yamped, but sure. And

450
00:24:02,079 --> 00:24:04,119
there was no thought that he wasn't going to pay me.

451
00:24:04,240 --> 00:24:06,079
He was just you know, he was a little upset

452
00:24:06,079 --> 00:24:09,559
at it for some reason because I found it so quick. Now,

453
00:24:09,599 --> 00:24:11,359
my brother would have just said, no, that's fine, just

454
00:24:11,359 --> 00:24:14,400
give me twenty bucks and move on, okay, But not me.

455
00:24:14,960 --> 00:24:15,279
Speaker 2: Okay.

456
00:24:15,440 --> 00:24:17,599
Speaker 3: I had one hundred and twenty five dollars minimum an hour,

457
00:24:17,839 --> 00:24:21,720
and I had a fifty dollars after hours call. So

458
00:24:22,079 --> 00:24:24,799
I'm you know, I'm in business. You know now you

459
00:24:24,839 --> 00:24:27,599
could have waived the fifty that made him feel better,

460
00:24:27,680 --> 00:24:29,559
but you know what, it's worth a shot in the negotiation,

461
00:24:29,759 --> 00:24:33,279
and I'm using tactics that we train soft skill tactics.

462
00:24:33,319 --> 00:24:34,880
Speaker 2: And I want to get my money.

463
00:24:34,960 --> 00:24:36,480
Speaker 3: I mean, I'm in business, right, So I look at

464
00:24:36,559 --> 00:24:39,799
and I go, you know, I have to pay for advertising,

465
00:24:40,079 --> 00:24:44,519
you know, and I licenses and insurance and accounting and everything,

466
00:24:44,559 --> 00:24:48,880
and so my prices are actually broken down in a

467
00:24:48,920 --> 00:24:51,319
way that makes it so that I have to do

468
00:24:51,359 --> 00:24:54,359
a certain number of calls a month in order to

469
00:24:54,400 --> 00:24:57,640
be able to meet my expenses and pay myself or

470
00:24:57,680 --> 00:25:01,319
pay my employees. And that's these that's what these things

471
00:25:01,319 --> 00:25:05,400
are are based on. And it's I've tried to break

472
00:25:05,440 --> 00:25:08,319
them down to what the cost of living is for

473
00:25:08,440 --> 00:25:10,799
me and what I have to do. And I try

474
00:25:10,839 --> 00:25:13,720
to carry that over honestly, uh with with with my

475
00:25:13,839 --> 00:25:19,000
customers and you know, And after I explained it to

476
00:25:19,079 --> 00:25:21,119
him and and and I'm like, I'm in business, and

477
00:25:21,119 --> 00:25:24,240
I'm you know, I'm a you know, gave him some

478
00:25:24,279 --> 00:25:27,240
of my situations, not to the woeies me situation.

479
00:25:26,880 --> 00:25:29,079
Speaker 2: Like I need the money. No, I just tried to explain.

480
00:25:28,799 --> 00:25:31,960
Speaker 3: The business aspect of in licensing and and the you know,

481
00:25:32,039 --> 00:25:34,640
acquisition of customers and the ads that I run on

482
00:25:34,880 --> 00:25:39,240
you know, different various networks. And he's like he literally

483
00:25:39,319 --> 00:25:41,559
was he looked at me, and everything else went away.

484
00:25:41,599 --> 00:25:45,759
Speaker 2: He's like, dude, I understand. He actually apologized to me

485
00:25:45,920 --> 00:25:47,000
for even notion of it.

486
00:25:47,039 --> 00:25:50,240
Speaker 3: And I'm like, dude, don't you know, don't appolo because here,

487
00:25:50,240 --> 00:25:53,039
at this point, I knew that I could take this

488
00:25:53,160 --> 00:25:57,160
customer and now make a long term relationship with him

489
00:25:57,160 --> 00:25:59,440
and anybody that he may know, because I said, dude,

490
00:25:59,480 --> 00:26:03,640
I get it, I get it, and I understand, and

491
00:26:03,680 --> 00:26:07,079
so ultimately I did give the guy twenty five dollars off.

492
00:26:07,160 --> 00:26:09,400
Now did I have to do that? Absolutely not.

493
00:26:09,920 --> 00:26:10,839
Speaker 2: Why did I do that?

494
00:26:11,119 --> 00:26:13,599
Speaker 3: Well, because after we started talking and he was more

495
00:26:13,640 --> 00:26:18,000
than willing to pay, I started throwing out the things like, dude,

496
00:26:18,039 --> 00:26:18,960
you know what you know.

497
00:26:19,799 --> 00:26:22,160
Speaker 2: You give me, You give me a I'm using. I'm using.

498
00:26:23,079 --> 00:26:24,839
Speaker 3: You know, people like this and some don't like this,

499
00:26:24,920 --> 00:26:26,559
but I don't give a damn because I use it.

500
00:26:26,720 --> 00:26:28,240
I'll say, you know, you give me a five star

501
00:26:28,319 --> 00:26:32,039
review and tell your friends, and I'll be honest with

502
00:26:32,119 --> 00:26:35,079
them as I'm honest with you. And uh, you know,

503
00:26:35,640 --> 00:26:38,200
I'm a local business. I'm trying to make it and

504
00:26:38,240 --> 00:26:41,799
trying to grow, and I'll give you twenty five dollars

505
00:26:41,799 --> 00:26:43,759
off and help you out.

506
00:26:43,759 --> 00:26:44,240
Speaker 2: A little bit.

507
00:26:44,359 --> 00:26:46,359
Speaker 3: You can help me out a little bit. And you

508
00:26:46,400 --> 00:26:47,400
know I rely on.

509
00:26:47,359 --> 00:26:51,880
Speaker 2: These good reviews. The dude, the dude, I swear to you, folks.

510
00:26:51,920 --> 00:26:54,400
Speaker 3: The dude about tripped over himself to say, where do

511
00:26:54,440 --> 00:26:55,039
I give the review?

512
00:26:55,039 --> 00:26:56,440
Speaker 2: What do I do? Where'd I give you? Just for

513
00:26:56,480 --> 00:26:58,200
twenty five bucks? That was worth it for me.

514
00:27:00,759 --> 00:27:03,480
Speaker 3: Now, I could have walked away and got it all right,

515
00:27:04,960 --> 00:27:07,279
But after I took a little time and explained it,

516
00:27:08,039 --> 00:27:12,880
I actually was. What I was doing was networking and

517
00:27:12,960 --> 00:27:19,599
working a possible whale. Possible whale is that somebody who's

518
00:27:19,640 --> 00:27:23,079
going to be please satisfied, give a good review, Tell

519
00:27:23,119 --> 00:27:26,440
their family members, tell their friends, their next door neighbors,

520
00:27:26,480 --> 00:27:27,640
everybody in the neighborhood.

521
00:27:27,640 --> 00:27:29,519
Speaker 2: They probably go out of the way to when something

522
00:27:29,519 --> 00:27:32,319
goes like, hey I got a guy. I know a guy. Right.

523
00:27:34,200 --> 00:27:37,599
Speaker 3: Not the easiest skill to do, but it takes a

524
00:27:37,599 --> 00:27:40,720
little practice. But again, I wasn't bsing them. I wasn't,

525
00:27:40,960 --> 00:27:44,759
you know, working them beyond trying to explain to them.

526
00:27:45,200 --> 00:27:50,359
But I saw an opportunity to hammer that home and

527
00:27:50,440 --> 00:27:51,039
I just had to.

528
00:27:51,240 --> 00:27:54,440
Speaker 2: You have to learn that skill. But if you start out.

529
00:27:54,359 --> 00:27:57,799
Speaker 3: Was showing a little empathy, empathy for them, and then

530
00:27:57,880 --> 00:28:02,519
explaining your situation using techniques, and then explaining it and

531
00:28:02,559 --> 00:28:07,440
then having the ability to seize the opportunity to expand

532
00:28:07,559 --> 00:28:11,960
on that and make it a solid review. That's what

533
00:28:12,000 --> 00:28:14,599
a good business owner does. That's what a good technician does.

534
00:28:14,640 --> 00:28:16,799
That's what a good salesperson does. And if I work

535
00:28:16,839 --> 00:28:20,240
for somebody, I'm an extension of them. So you've heard

536
00:28:20,279 --> 00:28:22,160
me say this before. If you've got employees who are

537
00:28:22,160 --> 00:28:24,440
not willing to do that or work the customer like

538
00:28:24,480 --> 00:28:28,319
that and give them that attention and that care that's necessary,

539
00:28:28,519 --> 00:28:30,279
then they're a cancer to your company and you need

540
00:28:30,359 --> 00:28:32,119
to get rid of them. I don't care how good

541
00:28:32,119 --> 00:28:36,079
of an earner they are. If you're paying them, they

542
00:28:36,279 --> 00:28:40,039
need to reward you with promotion and effort, and if

543
00:28:40,079 --> 00:28:42,359
they don't do that, then they're not worth paying. Get

544
00:28:42,440 --> 00:28:44,720
rid of them, get somebody else. I'm just saying it.

545
00:28:44,839 --> 00:28:46,680
I hope I don't cost anybody their job out there.

546
00:28:46,680 --> 00:28:49,880
But again, if they want to do differently, tell them

547
00:28:49,920 --> 00:28:50,960
to go get their own business.

548
00:28:52,119 --> 00:28:52,920
Speaker 2: You know what I'm saying.

549
00:28:53,000 --> 00:28:54,759
Speaker 3: I mean, they're working for you, make them do it,

550
00:28:54,799 --> 00:28:57,000
but you have to offer them the training, the techniques

551
00:28:57,000 --> 00:29:01,160
and so many electrical contractors with employees. They don't do

552
00:29:01,279 --> 00:29:03,640
enough soft skilled training. They don't train with how to

553
00:29:03,680 --> 00:29:07,119
work with a customer. They don't do training exercises with

554
00:29:07,359 --> 00:29:10,480
all of their technicians. And why is that important? Because

555
00:29:10,480 --> 00:29:13,119
some technicians are shyer than others, and so I want

556
00:29:13,119 --> 00:29:15,200
to see when they do a little exercise and they

557
00:29:15,200 --> 00:29:19,079
do it together at the office, which ones are restrictive

558
00:29:19,079 --> 00:29:20,720
to do it, which ones are like, I ain't doing that,

559
00:29:21,000 --> 00:29:23,759
It's is stupid. I want to see who those are.

560
00:29:24,720 --> 00:29:27,039
That's a good way to identify who's willing to do

561
00:29:27,079 --> 00:29:30,519
this and the ones that are willing to do it.

562
00:29:30,960 --> 00:29:33,160
And that's where you can start keeping a good eye

563
00:29:33,200 --> 00:29:35,240
on your employees and who wants to see the business

564
00:29:35,319 --> 00:29:36,160
grow and who doesn't.

565
00:29:36,400 --> 00:29:38,440
Speaker 2: That's what we're all about. If you're just about an earner,

566
00:29:39,079 --> 00:29:39,759
that's on you.

567
00:29:40,039 --> 00:29:41,680
Speaker 3: But I want somebody that's going to earn for me,

568
00:29:42,400 --> 00:29:44,599
it's gonna be thankful for me giving them a job,

569
00:29:44,920 --> 00:29:46,799
and they help grow my business.

570
00:29:47,440 --> 00:29:49,799
Speaker 2: That's who I want. I don't care how much you

571
00:29:49,839 --> 00:29:50,599
make for my company.

572
00:29:50,640 --> 00:29:52,680
Speaker 3: If you're a shitty person when you're out on the

573
00:29:52,759 --> 00:29:55,039
job and you are hindering my growth, then I'm going.

574
00:29:54,960 --> 00:29:56,799
Speaker 2: To get rid of you and get somebody else. That's

575
00:29:56,880 --> 00:29:57,119
just me.

576
00:29:58,759 --> 00:30:06,640
Speaker 3: Next is reaffirm the value before talking money. You would

577
00:30:06,640 --> 00:30:08,720
think this would come before, but I just want to

578
00:30:08,720 --> 00:30:12,160
point out the fact that when payment conflict starts, customers

579
00:30:12,240 --> 00:30:17,720
often forget what they got. So remind them of what

580
00:30:17,759 --> 00:30:21,480
you delivered. So when I'm getting ready, you know we've

581
00:30:21,519 --> 00:30:24,119
got the pricing, and either you do it up front

582
00:30:24,240 --> 00:30:24,519
or you.

583
00:30:24,480 --> 00:30:27,039
Speaker 2: Do it at the end before you ask for the money.

584
00:30:27,039 --> 00:30:29,039
Speaker 3: For the giving money you, I always used to say

585
00:30:29,119 --> 00:30:31,559
to the customer, I say, okay, let's do a summary.

586
00:30:31,640 --> 00:30:32,920
Require I want to do a summary for you what

587
00:30:33,000 --> 00:30:35,480
I did, so you know you know what you're paying for.

588
00:30:36,240 --> 00:30:36,880
Speaker 2: Believe it or not.

589
00:30:36,920 --> 00:30:41,200
Speaker 3: People like that, okay, so remind them of what you delivered.

590
00:30:41,599 --> 00:30:45,039
Remember too, we upgraded your service panel. We brought it

591
00:30:45,119 --> 00:30:48,240
up to code. We passed the inspections on the first try,

592
00:30:48,680 --> 00:30:50,400
or if they did a service cause. As we were

593
00:30:50,440 --> 00:30:53,319
tracking down the GFCIs, we found the other GFCI.

594
00:30:53,480 --> 00:30:54,279
Speaker 2: So now you know.

595
00:30:55,720 --> 00:30:58,720
Speaker 3: If you have this happen again, where the GFCI is

596
00:30:58,720 --> 00:31:01,640
to reset this so that you don't have this issue

597
00:31:01,640 --> 00:31:06,519
in the future. You know, different things like that, explain

598
00:31:06,599 --> 00:31:09,240
it to them and maybe you're there for twenty minutes

599
00:31:09,359 --> 00:31:11,799
and you instead of leaving, maybe you've worked into like,

600
00:31:11,839 --> 00:31:15,799
for example, I teach people thermal imaging, so thermal imaging

601
00:31:15,839 --> 00:31:18,000
course is great. Pull out your thermal imager and if

602
00:31:18,000 --> 00:31:20,960
you're paid for the hour and you feel inclined, then

603
00:31:21,200 --> 00:31:22,839
you stay for the hour and you say you know what.

604
00:31:22,880 --> 00:31:24,960
That can also stop an argument and say, you know what,

605
00:31:25,160 --> 00:31:27,200
since I'm here and I finished it early, do you

606
00:31:27,200 --> 00:31:28,880
want me to do a thermal imaging of your panel

607
00:31:29,000 --> 00:31:31,480
just to see there's any loose connections whatnot. I'm here anyway.

608
00:31:31,519 --> 00:31:34,359
I'll give you a free thermal inspection. I've got a

609
00:31:34,359 --> 00:31:37,839
thermal imaging camera. I'll go look at your panel. I'll

610
00:31:37,880 --> 00:31:40,759
also look go around at a select a number of

611
00:31:40,799 --> 00:31:43,720
receptacles and things like that and just look and see,

612
00:31:43,880 --> 00:31:46,400
you know, if there's any heat or lose connections, just

613
00:31:46,440 --> 00:31:50,680
things like that, and it kind of makes them thing, Damn,

614
00:31:50,720 --> 00:31:52,519
I'm getting a lot more from I'm getting more for

615
00:31:52,640 --> 00:31:54,680
my money.

616
00:31:55,200 --> 00:31:56,440
Speaker 2: You're still getting paid your hour.

617
00:31:56,559 --> 00:31:58,200
Speaker 3: So if you're the kind of person that's like, dude,

618
00:31:58,200 --> 00:31:59,240
I want to get paid for an hour, but I

619
00:31:59,319 --> 00:32:00,480
only want to do twenty minutes work.

620
00:32:00,559 --> 00:32:03,400
Speaker 2: I was never that way, I'm still gonna get paid

621
00:32:03,400 --> 00:32:03,680
an hour.

622
00:32:03,720 --> 00:32:05,200
Speaker 3: If i'm there an hour, I'm gonna be there an

623
00:32:05,200 --> 00:32:08,000
hour unless there is absolutely nothing they want else from me,

624
00:32:08,079 --> 00:32:11,119
and then I leave. But if I'll offer different things

625
00:32:11,160 --> 00:32:12,559
to them, I said, wuld you like me to check

626
00:32:12,559 --> 00:32:13,000
your panel?

627
00:32:13,160 --> 00:32:14,960
Speaker 2: Now? Some people think, well, you're just doing that to

628
00:32:15,000 --> 00:32:17,039
look for more things. No, I'm not here. I'm not going.

629
00:32:17,319 --> 00:32:18,839
I tell them, Look, I'm not here to look for

630
00:32:18,880 --> 00:32:19,440
more things.

631
00:32:19,640 --> 00:32:21,759
Speaker 3: I'm here to make sure you don't have any issues

632
00:32:21,799 --> 00:32:25,279
that could could cause a problem down the road. Okay,

633
00:32:25,720 --> 00:32:29,119
And these things can manifest themselves at any different time,

634
00:32:29,200 --> 00:32:32,400
and it's usually the worst time. Murphy's law, right. So

635
00:32:32,480 --> 00:32:34,640
I'll look and see if there's any excessive heating on

636
00:32:34,680 --> 00:32:38,079
your lugs, your main lugs, maybe lose connections, whatever like that,

637
00:32:38,119 --> 00:32:39,960
and if i'm hearing if it's a quick tightening up,

638
00:32:40,039 --> 00:32:40,559
I'll tighten it.

639
00:32:40,559 --> 00:32:44,519
Speaker 2: I'm here for the hour, dude, you will look like

640
00:32:44,559 --> 00:32:45,720
a freakin rock star.

641
00:32:46,720 --> 00:32:51,119
Speaker 3: So I encourage everybody to add thermal imaging to their portfolio.

642
00:32:51,359 --> 00:32:53,880
We have thermal images available cameras over on our website

643
00:32:53,920 --> 00:32:57,880
at the best price that I've seen and without going

644
00:32:57,920 --> 00:33:01,400
through is some shady application of these we have directly

645
00:33:01,799 --> 00:33:05,359
sold to us through a distributor and they're less than MSRP.

646
00:33:06,200 --> 00:33:08,119
And we have a thermal imaging course as well that

647
00:33:08,200 --> 00:33:09,799
teaches sales and marketing and.

648
00:33:09,720 --> 00:33:10,519
Speaker 2: All that kind of stuff.

649
00:33:10,680 --> 00:33:13,920
Speaker 3: But at the least it's not brain surgery. There's a

650
00:33:13,960 --> 00:33:16,000
bunch of different palettes on here. You'll find one that

651
00:33:16,039 --> 00:33:19,559
you kind of gravitate to, but it's really nice to

652
00:33:19,640 --> 00:33:23,480
kind of buffer that extra time. And of course, you

653
00:33:23,759 --> 00:33:25,720
know you'll get a technician who thinks, well, I'm just

654
00:33:25,680 --> 00:33:29,200
gonna get ot it early. Well, I would train my

655
00:33:29,440 --> 00:33:32,759
staff to say, look, you're there for an hour. Okay,

656
00:33:33,799 --> 00:33:36,200
you're an hourly employee, so I'm gonna be paying you

657
00:33:36,240 --> 00:33:38,599
for hour, not for the job. So at the end

658
00:33:38,640 --> 00:33:41,880
of the day, offer them other services. And if you're

659
00:33:41,920 --> 00:33:44,680
like me, I used to have a inspection form that

660
00:33:44,759 --> 00:33:46,359
I would give to them when I left, and it

661
00:33:46,400 --> 00:33:48,559
would say we looked at this, this, this, this is

662
00:33:48,559 --> 00:33:50,759
our recommendations. This looks good, this looks good, and you

663
00:33:50,799 --> 00:33:52,559
know you might want to fix this in future. You

664
00:33:52,599 --> 00:33:55,240
don't have GFCIs on account of tax, give a quick inspection.

665
00:33:56,160 --> 00:33:58,240
They might call you back, and again you're getting more

666
00:33:58,319 --> 00:34:01,960
money for your time, but that's up to you.

667
00:34:02,200 --> 00:34:02,519
Speaker 2: Okay.

668
00:34:02,720 --> 00:34:08,559
Speaker 3: Now, as I say, remind them, remind them what you did.

669
00:34:08,679 --> 00:34:12,440
This puts the value front and center before you go

670
00:34:12,599 --> 00:34:14,039
to the dollar mark.

671
00:34:14,119 --> 00:34:14,519
Speaker 2: Okay.

672
00:34:15,679 --> 00:34:18,719
Speaker 3: People pay when they feel what they got was worth it.

673
00:34:18,800 --> 00:34:22,840
So I always go reaffirm the value before you talking money,

674
00:34:23,039 --> 00:34:28,119
other than to let them know upfront what your fees are. Now,

675
00:34:28,199 --> 00:34:30,440
you can kind of do it up front, but at

676
00:34:30,440 --> 00:34:34,639
the end, I do always recommend a summary at the

677
00:34:34,880 --> 00:34:37,159
time of payment. Look at them right in the eyes,

678
00:34:37,199 --> 00:34:39,599
say okay, let's do a quick summary. I want to

679
00:34:39,599 --> 00:34:42,679
explain what we did here today, so that you're aware

680
00:34:42,679 --> 00:34:45,000
of what we did here today. You know, boom boom, boom,

681
00:34:45,000 --> 00:34:48,840
boom boom, and that explains it to them. It takes

682
00:34:48,840 --> 00:34:51,400
a little practice for the technician to get used to that,

683
00:34:53,920 --> 00:34:58,000
all right. Next item is offering options, not ultimatums.

684
00:34:58,360 --> 00:34:58,639
Speaker 2: Okay.

685
00:34:58,760 --> 00:35:03,840
Speaker 3: Negotiations die when one side feels trapped there's no way out,

686
00:35:03,920 --> 00:35:06,199
and that's kind of is not a negotiation, that's a

687
00:35:07,360 --> 00:35:08,760
one sided takeover.

688
00:35:09,400 --> 00:35:09,840
Speaker 2: Okay.

689
00:35:10,039 --> 00:35:15,840
Speaker 3: So instead of you need to pay this today, try

690
00:35:16,360 --> 00:35:19,679
let's look at some ways to get this resolved. So

691
00:35:19,920 --> 00:35:21,800
they may tell you they don't have the money, and

692
00:35:21,840 --> 00:35:25,719
you've already discussed the money, right.

693
00:35:25,480 --> 00:35:27,840
Speaker 2: You've already discussed it. Well, if you already know you're not.

694
00:35:27,800 --> 00:35:30,039
Speaker 3: Getting it, and you negotiate it out and you're getting

695
00:35:30,039 --> 00:35:34,199
ready to just blow your top, maybe you think about

696
00:35:34,199 --> 00:35:36,800
it and say, well, you know what, I can get

697
00:35:36,920 --> 00:35:40,480
something out of this. I'll give you an example. My

698
00:35:41,239 --> 00:35:44,960
son's girlfriend was in a car accident with a illegal

699
00:35:45,039 --> 00:35:46,199
that did not have.

700
00:35:47,760 --> 00:35:50,360
Speaker 2: Did not have a car insurance.

701
00:35:51,760 --> 00:35:56,000
Speaker 3: So they had an accident and I got involved in it.

702
00:35:56,639 --> 00:36:02,159
Speaker 2: So what ended up happening with that is.

703
00:36:03,639 --> 00:36:07,519
Speaker 3: We had to take him to small claims court and

704
00:36:08,440 --> 00:36:11,239
you know, and you know, we got a judgment for him,

705
00:36:11,239 --> 00:36:12,840
but he is had no incentive to pay.

706
00:36:12,960 --> 00:36:15,239
Speaker 2: He's like, so what, I don't care. I got a judgment.

707
00:36:15,920 --> 00:36:18,880
Speaker 3: Well, the way I negotiated out with him and explained

708
00:36:18,880 --> 00:36:20,880
to him that this would sit on his record because

709
00:36:20,880 --> 00:36:23,159
again we won the judgment and we'd be more than

710
00:36:23,159 --> 00:36:25,880
willing to remove this judgment, but we got to be paid.

711
00:36:26,000 --> 00:36:28,679
He will you know, I understand you don't have the money, Well,

712
00:36:28,760 --> 00:36:33,559
getting something is better than getting nothing. So I structured

713
00:36:33,559 --> 00:36:41,000
out a payment plan for ten payments. Right now. I

714
00:36:41,559 --> 00:36:43,880
had to structure this for him and explain the benefits

715
00:36:43,920 --> 00:36:45,440
of keeping his credit. You know, he don't want to

716
00:36:45,440 --> 00:36:46,880
get him in trouble. We want to make sure and

717
00:36:46,920 --> 00:36:50,239
we'll gladly remove this lean. So he made it all

718
00:36:50,239 --> 00:36:52,320
the way up to the ninth payment, believe it or not,

719
00:36:52,400 --> 00:36:53,960
and then he I don't know what happened to him.

720
00:36:54,000 --> 00:36:56,320
Speaker 2: I never heard from him again. He could have died

721
00:36:56,440 --> 00:36:56,719
or something.

722
00:36:56,719 --> 00:36:59,840
Speaker 3: I don't know, but he But we got just about

723
00:37:00,159 --> 00:37:04,239
all of the money out of him up until that

724
00:37:04,320 --> 00:37:07,559
last payment. No, we never lifted a judgment because he

725
00:37:07,559 --> 00:37:09,440
still owes this one payment. But I never heard from

726
00:37:09,440 --> 00:37:10,960
the guy again. He just disappeared.

727
00:37:11,239 --> 00:37:13,880
Speaker 2: The point is, you can.

728
00:37:13,679 --> 00:37:17,559
Speaker 3: Negotiate with people, and it's better to get something. So

729
00:37:17,760 --> 00:37:21,639
maybe you don't get your entire amount, but maybe you say, look,

730
00:37:22,079 --> 00:37:25,599
I get fifty percent of it, and then I will

731
00:37:25,639 --> 00:37:28,440
break the other fifty percent up into two payments or

732
00:37:28,440 --> 00:37:30,639
three payments or two payments or whatever you want, you know,

733
00:37:30,960 --> 00:37:33,320
in that way, and I'll you know that type of thing,

734
00:37:34,639 --> 00:37:36,920
you know, will do you know if you'll ever get

735
00:37:36,920 --> 00:37:39,199
the other two payments? No, but you at least walked

736
00:37:39,199 --> 00:37:42,239
away with something. Now, I'm not telling you that's a

737
00:37:42,280 --> 00:37:42,840
perfect way.

738
00:37:42,880 --> 00:37:43,280
Speaker 2: To do it.

739
00:37:43,320 --> 00:37:50,159
Speaker 3: I'm just saying that sometimes it's basically keeping the flexibility

740
00:37:50,320 --> 00:37:55,360
keeps the door open, and it's a professionalism intact. You

741
00:37:55,400 --> 00:37:57,360
didn't go off the handle, you didn't throw. If you're

742
00:37:57,400 --> 00:38:01,079
not going to get your money and you go, you

743
00:38:01,079 --> 00:38:03,440
gotta get to used to where you feel this. If

744
00:38:03,480 --> 00:38:06,000
I feel somebody has just scammed me, and I did,

745
00:38:06,000 --> 00:38:08,320
they just don't have the money, you try to get

746
00:38:08,360 --> 00:38:08,679
out as.

747
00:38:08,679 --> 00:38:12,320
Speaker 2: Much as you can, Okay, I mean, it just is

748
00:38:12,320 --> 00:38:12,800
what it is.

749
00:38:12,920 --> 00:38:15,840
Speaker 3: Maybe you dump the fifty dollars you know, after hours

750
00:38:15,840 --> 00:38:17,559
fee and just say look, I'll dump the fifty and

751
00:38:17,559 --> 00:38:19,679
get you know, But you don't do that right away.

752
00:38:19,760 --> 00:38:23,360
You wait until you feel the air, you feel the negotiation. Okay,

753
00:38:23,880 --> 00:38:28,480
But but again, flexibility at least gets your money and say,

754
00:38:28,480 --> 00:38:30,320
you know, the fifty, I'll well, you know, can you

755
00:38:30,360 --> 00:38:33,639
pay it in two equal payments twenty five each, you know,

756
00:38:33,760 --> 00:38:35,760
one this month and one next month and we'll be square.

757
00:38:36,639 --> 00:38:40,639
You'd be surprised. They'll be like that's fine, and you

758
00:38:40,679 --> 00:38:43,920
just send them an invoice, uh, you know, and they

759
00:38:43,960 --> 00:38:47,840
may or may not pay it, you know it. But

760
00:38:47,920 --> 00:38:51,119
again you're you're walking away with something and you say

761
00:38:51,239 --> 00:38:55,239
the key is saving the reputation, and maybe part of

762
00:38:55,239 --> 00:38:58,480
that negotiation says, you know what, here's what I'll do

763
00:38:59,239 --> 00:39:01,840
is I will get I will will knock off the fifty.

764
00:39:02,039 --> 00:39:04,320
You got to pay the one twenty five. I'll knock

765
00:39:04,360 --> 00:39:07,440
off the fifty for you because I get it, I understand.

766
00:39:09,599 --> 00:39:11,840
But how about this, I will you can pay the

767
00:39:11,880 --> 00:39:15,519
fifty and two equal payments of twenty five bucks over

768
00:39:15,519 --> 00:39:17,280
the next two months.

769
00:39:17,440 --> 00:39:18,760
Speaker 2: And and and in.

770
00:39:18,679 --> 00:39:21,079
Speaker 3: Turn for that me doing that for you, could you

771
00:39:21,079 --> 00:39:24,199
give me a five star review now? And then you

772
00:39:24,320 --> 00:39:26,199
told it and let them give give a review, and

773
00:39:26,239 --> 00:39:28,199
you go, okay, I have to give the review. You know,

774
00:39:28,280 --> 00:39:31,280
you're right there, have it ready, do it, take the time,

775
00:39:31,719 --> 00:39:34,639
and that review is huge.

776
00:39:34,840 --> 00:39:35,239
Speaker 2: Okay.

777
00:39:36,440 --> 00:39:40,039
Speaker 3: So anyway, that's uh, that's the kind. There's different tactics

778
00:39:40,079 --> 00:39:43,119
for that. But again, throwing ultimatums in there sometimes can

779
00:39:43,199 --> 00:39:45,880
cause it to to really go south quickly.

780
00:39:46,159 --> 00:39:47,280
Speaker 2: But learn to be flexible.

781
00:39:47,320 --> 00:39:49,719
Speaker 3: If you're gonna lose the money anyway, then think of

782
00:39:49,760 --> 00:39:53,360
ways at least you can leverage and get the most

783
00:39:53,440 --> 00:39:56,719
you can and then maybe you offer a payment plan

784
00:39:56,840 --> 00:40:00,440
for the whatever's remaining or whatever. Okay, it's just flex stability.

785
00:40:01,599 --> 00:40:05,880
Our next is use silence strategically.

786
00:40:06,199 --> 00:40:06,920
Speaker 2: What does that mean?

787
00:40:07,039 --> 00:40:11,000
Speaker 3: Okay, you know, here's a psychological trick.

788
00:40:11,119 --> 00:40:11,559
Speaker 2: You're ready.

789
00:40:12,360 --> 00:40:18,400
Speaker 3: After you state your case, just stop talking, just stop,

790
00:40:19,960 --> 00:40:23,599
don't fill in the sentences. Let the customer process it.

791
00:40:25,920 --> 00:40:27,599
Silence makes them respond.

792
00:40:28,599 --> 00:40:30,639
Speaker 2: They're you know any.

793
00:40:30,400 --> 00:40:35,239
Speaker 3: More, I guess thoughtful approach instead of an emotional approach.

794
00:40:35,920 --> 00:40:41,239
Speaker 2: It's uncomfortable. Silence makes people uncomfortable, but it works.

795
00:40:42,880 --> 00:40:46,360
Speaker 3: And I'll also give you another another tip to this

796
00:40:46,920 --> 00:40:49,119
is that when you think about the previous one where

797
00:40:49,159 --> 00:40:53,360
you actually uh talk about everything that you've done for them,

798
00:40:53,719 --> 00:40:55,519
that you've helped to me before you get the money.

799
00:40:55,599 --> 00:40:57,679
Speaker 2: Is at the end of it, you tell.

800
00:40:57,559 --> 00:40:59,639
Speaker 3: Them everything you've done, and then you simply end it

801
00:40:59,679 --> 00:41:03,039
with the simple phrase is like okay, we did all that.

802
00:41:03,119 --> 00:41:07,280
Then you know, so does that sound fair or that

803
00:41:07,360 --> 00:41:10,800
that does that sound like a reasonable reasonable price for

804
00:41:10,800 --> 00:41:12,679
for all the services that we gave you today?

805
00:41:13,039 --> 00:41:16,280
Speaker 2: And just stay quiet, silent.

806
00:41:18,199 --> 00:41:20,880
Speaker 3: Because you're asking, you're giving a summary, and then you're

807
00:41:20,920 --> 00:41:25,320
you're confirming everything you did sounds.

808
00:41:24,960 --> 00:41:26,679
Speaker 2: Good and reasonable to them and that you did all

809
00:41:26,679 --> 00:41:27,159
these things.

810
00:41:28,880 --> 00:41:31,039
Speaker 3: Or you might say something like okay after the summary,

811
00:41:31,159 --> 00:41:32,639
say now you agree you're with me.

812
00:41:32,760 --> 00:41:33,719
Speaker 2: You agree we did all.

813
00:41:33,559 --> 00:41:36,280
Speaker 3: This, uh, you know, all of this for you and

814
00:41:36,280 --> 00:41:39,840
and solve the issue right and and uh everything's you know,

815
00:41:39,920 --> 00:41:41,599
taken care of and we kind of covered everything is

816
00:41:41,800 --> 00:41:47,559
all that is? Uh, you agree with all that? Just silence,

817
00:41:50,599 --> 00:41:56,840
But it works. It makes them feel very awkward, but

818
00:41:56,960 --> 00:41:59,280
it also takes emotion out of it because now they

819
00:41:59,320 --> 00:42:01,360
have to thought think a little bit more about the

820
00:42:01,400 --> 00:42:05,800
thought process of giving you a response. The next thing

821
00:42:05,840 --> 00:42:08,480
I will tell you that's going to save you frustration

822
00:42:08,599 --> 00:42:13,960
and customers like this is document everything. If I had

823
00:42:13,960 --> 00:42:16,960
a conversation with electric contractors out there, and so many

824
00:42:16,960 --> 00:42:20,480
of them do work without agreements, without documentation, without contracts,

825
00:42:20,480 --> 00:42:22,599
and maybe you have a career when you go through

826
00:42:22,599 --> 00:42:24,519
and you never do it and you never have an issue,

827
00:42:24,599 --> 00:42:28,320
and God bless you are. There's somebody out there that

828
00:42:28,400 --> 00:42:30,679
have a problem. Every time you get on a job,

829
00:42:32,000 --> 00:42:34,639
every time. I'll give you an example in the state

830
00:42:34,639 --> 00:42:37,800
of Virginia, if you do work for somebody without a contract,

831
00:42:38,800 --> 00:42:43,559
they're not under any obligation to pay you. Yeah, I

832
00:42:43,639 --> 00:42:45,320
know you thinking, no, that's bulltle crap.

833
00:42:45,679 --> 00:42:46,719
Speaker 2: Nope.

834
00:42:46,880 --> 00:42:50,360
Speaker 3: Now I'm not a lawyer, But if you do work

835
00:42:50,360 --> 00:42:53,199
for them, and it's work that's required under the Virginia

836
00:42:53,280 --> 00:42:56,719
law to be contract work. And you do not get

837
00:42:56,719 --> 00:42:59,199
a written contract that has all of these stipulations that

838
00:42:59,320 --> 00:43:04,920
must be met when the job starts, when it's estimated, finish, YadA, YadA, YadA.

839
00:43:05,000 --> 00:43:08,039
If you don't do that, and ultimately they don't pay

840
00:43:08,079 --> 00:43:11,159
you and it goes to court, it may come up

841
00:43:11,199 --> 00:43:15,840
whether or not y'all had a binding contract, And if

842
00:43:15,880 --> 00:43:20,440
you didn't, chances are they could walk and not pay

843
00:43:20,480 --> 00:43:28,639
you anything. Now, a signed estimate, a text confirming approval,

844
00:43:29,320 --> 00:43:34,239
a dated change order, those things will save your But

845
00:43:34,360 --> 00:43:36,880
I know a lot of contractors who do something. They

846
00:43:36,920 --> 00:43:39,320
do not get a change order. They just let some.

847
00:43:39,440 --> 00:43:43,199
My brother is guilty of this all the time. In fact,

848
00:43:43,280 --> 00:43:46,280
my brother do work for certain contractors and in bill

849
00:43:46,280 --> 00:43:49,320
of eight months later, I'm like, Jesus Christ, what.

850
00:43:50,000 --> 00:43:50,679
Speaker 2: Are you doing?

851
00:43:51,719 --> 00:43:54,639
Speaker 3: But my brother only does work for contractors that I

852
00:43:54,679 --> 00:43:57,639
mean for yeah, for general contractors and builders that he's

853
00:43:57,719 --> 00:44:01,039
known for thirty years, forty years. They've always paid him.

854
00:44:01,360 --> 00:44:04,000
He's not into getting new work, he's not into trying

855
00:44:04,039 --> 00:44:05,440
to find new builders.

856
00:44:05,519 --> 00:44:06,519
Speaker 2: He's not into any of that.

857
00:44:07,760 --> 00:44:10,519
Speaker 3: He only does work now in his sixties he only

858
00:44:10,559 --> 00:44:12,920
does work for the people that he's done work for

859
00:44:12,559 --> 00:44:15,280
for many, many years, so he knows he's getting paid.

860
00:44:15,320 --> 00:44:16,000
Speaker 2: That's fine.

861
00:44:17,719 --> 00:44:20,239
Speaker 3: But for the vast majority of you contractors out there,

862
00:44:20,360 --> 00:44:23,199
I'm going to tell you, whether it's a one page contract,

863
00:44:23,320 --> 00:44:25,519
it's simple to get multiple of them made up and

864
00:44:25,639 --> 00:44:28,400
keep in your truck or whatever. And you're a binder

865
00:44:29,280 --> 00:44:34,440
one page contract, it's all that's necessary. With chat, GPT

866
00:44:34,599 --> 00:44:36,679
today and all these other things, you can most certainly

867
00:44:36,719 --> 00:44:40,119
have it. Create a very simple one page contracts better

868
00:44:40,159 --> 00:44:46,280
than nothing. Okay, change orders anytime you change something, get

869
00:44:46,360 --> 00:44:49,280
it in writing. Just a simple change order sheet. Make

870
00:44:49,320 --> 00:44:50,960
it clear what the change is going to be.

871
00:44:52,239 --> 00:44:52,639
Speaker 2: Simple.

872
00:44:53,760 --> 00:44:55,719
Speaker 3: You'll be surprised in many of you, and some of

873
00:44:55,800 --> 00:44:57,440
you may never encounter anything.

874
00:44:58,599 --> 00:44:59,519
Speaker 2: But when you need.

875
00:44:59,400 --> 00:45:06,360
Speaker 3: It, good to have it. Okay, photos invoices, texts, and

876
00:45:06,960 --> 00:45:12,039
it's your evidence if something ever goes to a legal setting,

877
00:45:12,719 --> 00:45:15,679
have as much documentation as you can.

878
00:45:15,760 --> 00:45:17,559
Speaker 2: Why risk it. It only takes a second.

879
00:45:19,280 --> 00:45:21,400
Speaker 3: If somebody doesn't want to sign something for work you're

880
00:45:21,400 --> 00:45:23,840
getting ready to do or whatever, then maybe you don't

881
00:45:23,840 --> 00:45:27,119
want to do work for that person because that hesitance

882
00:45:27,159 --> 00:45:28,880
isn't I want. If I have a contract to come

883
00:45:28,880 --> 00:45:29,920
and do something. I sign it.

884
00:45:31,840 --> 00:45:34,000
Speaker 2: I'm like, dude, you did the work. I want to

885
00:45:34,000 --> 00:45:34,280
pay you.

886
00:45:34,400 --> 00:45:36,639
Speaker 3: I'm not worried about all these little crap on here.

887
00:45:38,000 --> 00:45:42,840
So anyway, paperwork is power. It's your backup generator, folks.

888
00:45:42,960 --> 00:45:47,239
It's what keeps you okay when crap hits the fan,

889
00:45:47,360 --> 00:45:49,599
and you can produce a document that says, well, they

890
00:45:49,840 --> 00:45:51,679
told me to do this, and they agreed to pay

891
00:45:51,719 --> 00:45:52,199
me to do this.

892
00:45:53,199 --> 00:45:53,880
Speaker 2: I'm just saying.

893
00:45:55,760 --> 00:45:58,079
Speaker 3: And you're a professional contractor, you know, you should be

894
00:45:58,920 --> 00:46:01,599
treating your you should be working professional. You should have

895
00:46:01,639 --> 00:46:04,320
the shirts, you should look the part, wear the boots,

896
00:46:04,800 --> 00:46:08,239
have your vehicle lettered properly, have business cards done properly,

897
00:46:08,679 --> 00:46:12,639
carry look the part, stay well kept and then follow

898
00:46:12,679 --> 00:46:16,280
all paperwork and be very professional about it, very professional,

899
00:46:16,840 --> 00:46:21,559
keep it very neutral. Contract agreements one page simple contract

900
00:46:21,639 --> 00:46:24,679
service call agreement. Have the customer sign it up front

901
00:46:24,679 --> 00:46:26,840
with the pricing and you know, and the levels. If

902
00:46:26,880 --> 00:46:28,920
it's flat rate pricing, it could be level one, level two,

903
00:46:28,960 --> 00:46:30,960
level three. Have a note in there that it could

904
00:46:31,039 --> 00:46:34,519
run into unforeseen issues that could increase the price. Have

905
00:46:34,639 --> 00:46:37,480
them initial that they understand this stuff. There's no room

906
00:46:37,559 --> 00:46:41,159
to argue afterwards. And if you end up having to

907
00:46:41,199 --> 00:46:42,800
go to small claims court and put a lean on

908
00:46:42,840 --> 00:46:44,559
the property, then is what it is. If you choose

909
00:46:44,599 --> 00:46:46,440
to do that, then you've at least got your paperwork.

910
00:46:47,199 --> 00:46:49,880
Speaker 2: Okay, that's up to you.

911
00:46:49,960 --> 00:46:55,559
Speaker 3: I'm just giving you advice when you know, next, escalate calmly.

912
00:46:56,719 --> 00:47:00,199
Speaker 2: We needed What does that mean? Well, if things aren't really.

913
00:47:02,079 --> 00:47:06,960
Speaker 3: Mention the next step, which is respectfully doing this like

914
00:47:07,079 --> 00:47:11,079
we say, I'd rather we handle this between us, then

915
00:47:11,159 --> 00:47:14,880
turn it over to some collections or defollowing. You're not

916
00:47:14,880 --> 00:47:18,280
threatening anybody, You're informing them, and you're only going to

917
00:47:18,400 --> 00:47:22,400
use this tactic very calmly with your pauses. Again, the

918
00:47:22,440 --> 00:47:28,159
old saying swallow five times before you speak. It creates

919
00:47:28,159 --> 00:47:28,639
a pause.

920
00:47:29,199 --> 00:47:29,559
Speaker 2: I don't know.

921
00:47:29,599 --> 00:47:31,400
Speaker 3: You might think that's too long. Do three times if

922
00:47:31,400 --> 00:47:33,199
you want. Sometimes I get so pissed off I need

923
00:47:33,199 --> 00:47:37,320
the five times. I'm just saying now, that's not threatening.

924
00:47:37,760 --> 00:47:40,760
If you get to that point, you're just stating the obvious.

925
00:47:41,679 --> 00:47:48,480
That's a calm tone. Keep your professionalism look the part. Okay,

926
00:47:48,519 --> 00:47:51,679
But it's also possible that you need to use that

927
00:47:51,800 --> 00:47:56,119
tactic in a tough, tough, tough conversation, but know that

928
00:47:56,159 --> 00:47:57,480
it's there and use it wisely.

929
00:48:00,199 --> 00:48:02,079
Speaker 2: Next something in your mind.

930
00:48:02,320 --> 00:48:05,079
Speaker 3: Always think about you, and you've got to train your

931
00:48:05,079 --> 00:48:08,239
employees to think this. If you're a business owner, always

932
00:48:08,360 --> 00:48:12,800
think about retention. Never a revenge situation.

933
00:48:13,519 --> 00:48:13,760
Speaker 2: Okay.

934
00:48:14,159 --> 00:48:18,679
Speaker 3: Sometimes you take a small loss to gain a long

935
00:48:18,800 --> 00:48:23,800
term win. Maybe they short pay this time, but you

936
00:48:23,920 --> 00:48:27,800
handle it with class and dignity and they come back

937
00:48:27,920 --> 00:48:30,480
later with referrals or bigger jobs.

938
00:48:31,000 --> 00:48:35,079
Speaker 2: Or maybe maybe you offer.

939
00:48:35,320 --> 00:48:38,000
Speaker 3: A discount if you think it's going to turn that way,

940
00:48:38,079 --> 00:48:40,079
and you get clever and you say, well, you know what,

941
00:48:40,679 --> 00:48:43,039
we are running a special where we'll give you twenty

942
00:48:43,039 --> 00:48:45,480
five percent off or ten percent off of five percent

943
00:48:45,519 --> 00:48:47,920
off or twenty five dollars off if you do and

944
00:48:47,960 --> 00:48:50,960
give us a five star Google rating. Never say a

945
00:48:50,960 --> 00:48:55,760
Google rating. Say a five star Google rating, okay, and

946
00:48:55,800 --> 00:48:57,800
then be there and make them do it while you're there.

947
00:48:57,880 --> 00:49:00,920
Take the time, folks, it's important that you do this

948
00:49:01,320 --> 00:49:06,559
today because people follow these damn reviews.

949
00:49:06,719 --> 00:49:07,119
Speaker 2: They do.

950
00:49:08,280 --> 00:49:10,280
Speaker 3: If I if I can tell you all the people

951
00:49:10,320 --> 00:49:13,559
that I get calls from contractors who talk about there,

952
00:49:13,800 --> 00:49:15,400
what can they do to fix their reviews?

953
00:49:15,440 --> 00:49:15,719
Speaker 2: Again?

954
00:49:15,840 --> 00:49:17,679
Speaker 3: The ones that I consult with and I tell them, well,

955
00:49:17,719 --> 00:49:20,360
here's how you start. Okay, you're not gonna get rid

956
00:49:20,360 --> 00:49:22,199
of the crappy review, but you're gonna have to. You

957
00:49:22,239 --> 00:49:24,000
have to think how you got the review, why you

958
00:49:24,039 --> 00:49:25,760
got their view, and is there a way you can

959
00:49:26,119 --> 00:49:29,320
offset this. Now, a lot of people think with those

960
00:49:29,320 --> 00:49:31,400
reviews that it's you know, it's it's you. Let the

961
00:49:31,400 --> 00:49:35,199
customer decide. Absolutely not. This isn't buying it wayfair, this

962
00:49:35,239 --> 00:49:39,840
isn't Amazon. You're right there in their face. I Am

963
00:49:39,880 --> 00:49:43,039
going to promote it and push it as a five

964
00:49:44,719 --> 00:49:48,679
right away, right away. And then if you've got a

965
00:49:48,760 --> 00:49:50,599
QR code or you got something, you can take them

966
00:49:50,679 --> 00:49:53,199
right to where they do the review, Yelp review or whatever.

967
00:49:53,719 --> 00:49:55,559
Now I can tell you the thing today is to

968
00:49:55,599 --> 00:49:57,880
have it. Go to your link tree. We're on that

969
00:49:57,920 --> 00:49:59,519
link tree. It has all of them.

970
00:49:59,559 --> 00:49:59,960
Speaker 2: You have it.

971
00:50:00,119 --> 00:50:02,960
Speaker 3: You have your Google review, you have your Yelp review.

972
00:50:03,679 --> 00:50:06,480
And maybe you go there and maybe you come up

973
00:50:06,480 --> 00:50:08,039
with a tactic and you go, you know what, I'll

974
00:50:08,039 --> 00:50:12,119
give you ten dollars off for everyone that you give

975
00:50:12,159 --> 00:50:14,559
me a five star review. And maybe you only have

976
00:50:14,679 --> 00:50:18,599
Google and you have Yelp. Maybe that's it. Okay, maybe

977
00:50:18,599 --> 00:50:21,800
you have bing, Is it worth it to get this

978
00:50:21,880 --> 00:50:24,719
review a five star review? In these Absolutely it is

979
00:50:24,920 --> 00:50:26,320
for your long term business.

980
00:50:26,360 --> 00:50:26,719
Speaker 2: It is.

981
00:50:27,079 --> 00:50:29,239
Speaker 3: I am more than happy to give up thirty dollars

982
00:50:29,320 --> 00:50:32,920
on a call in order to get three five star reviews.

983
00:50:33,239 --> 00:50:35,440
That's going to be easily putting me in a local

984
00:50:35,519 --> 00:50:38,119
search around. I'm just telling you. You can say no,

985
00:50:38,239 --> 00:50:39,920
I don't believe in that crap. I'm just telling you

986
00:50:39,920 --> 00:50:43,280
I've seen it. I work with people doing this. Okay,

987
00:50:43,599 --> 00:50:45,880
that's up to you. I'm not here to tell you

988
00:50:45,920 --> 00:50:47,360
how to do your business, but that's up to you.

989
00:50:48,760 --> 00:50:57,239
Remember your business. Your reputation outlasts your receipts. You understand

990
00:50:57,320 --> 00:51:02,239
that that one job, that one incident where you're fighting

991
00:51:02,280 --> 00:51:07,559
over ten, fifteen, twenty dollars or disgruntle over something can

992
00:51:07,599 --> 00:51:12,400
affect your future revenues. Because people do use these reviews.

993
00:51:12,440 --> 00:51:15,599
They do, not everybody, but a lot of them do.

994
00:51:15,880 --> 00:51:17,880
And now more and more people are going online. They're

995
00:51:17,880 --> 00:51:20,199
looking for electrician near me, and you'll come up in

996
00:51:20,239 --> 00:51:22,760
this list, and the lists with the better reviews move

997
00:51:22,800 --> 00:51:23,320
to the top.

998
00:51:24,199 --> 00:51:28,519
Speaker 2: I'm just saying, think about it a little bit. O.

999
00:51:28,679 --> 00:51:36,800
Speaker 3: Next thing is debrief every conflict once you're done. If

1000
00:51:36,800 --> 00:51:39,599
you have a situation, you know, you have a situation,

1001
00:51:39,840 --> 00:51:42,960
train your employees to come back to the office and

1002
00:51:43,840 --> 00:51:47,119
offer them incentives if they get a weird one like that,

1003
00:51:47,320 --> 00:51:49,639
make them know that that they can come in and

1004
00:51:49,639 --> 00:51:52,280
they'll get you know, they'll get you know, twenty five bucks,

1005
00:51:52,440 --> 00:51:55,239
or they'll get a lunch free lunch or whatever. If

1006
00:51:55,239 --> 00:51:57,719
they have a tough situation that they were able to

1007
00:51:57,760 --> 00:52:00,400
de escalate or how they work through it, that they

1008
00:52:00,440 --> 00:52:02,679
come back and they share it with everybody. They have

1009
00:52:02,719 --> 00:52:05,000
to openly share it with everybody. So it's an incentive

1010
00:52:05,039 --> 00:52:07,159
program that your company can offer. And if it's just you,

1011
00:52:07,559 --> 00:52:10,639
then you're going to do this anyway. So after every

1012
00:52:10,679 --> 00:52:14,760
tough customer, ask yourself, what did I miss? What did

1013
00:52:14,800 --> 00:52:19,840
I fail to communicate? What in the scope of what

1014
00:52:19,960 --> 00:52:25,960
I did did I fail to communicate? Was my quoting vague?

1015
00:52:26,719 --> 00:52:30,760
Was my pricing vague? Did I leave something out? Did

1016
00:52:30,760 --> 00:52:33,400
I not provide a contract? Did I not do a summary?

1017
00:52:33,719 --> 00:52:36,519
What did I do that maybe could have changed the

1018
00:52:36,559 --> 00:52:41,639
outcome of this? Every confrontation teaches you something, whether it's

1019
00:52:41,679 --> 00:52:44,360
a pricing clarity, whether it's a scope or definition of

1020
00:52:44,360 --> 00:52:46,719
the work that's going to be done, the tone, how

1021
00:52:46,760 --> 00:52:49,039
you control it where you kind of feel like you

1022
00:52:49,079 --> 00:52:52,199
probably got argumented it because we all have that conscience.

1023
00:52:52,239 --> 00:52:53,119
Speaker 2: When you leave, you're.

1024
00:52:53,000 --> 00:52:57,079
Speaker 3: Like, shit, well I shouldn't have said that because that

1025
00:52:57,119 --> 00:53:00,800
took it to another level. So I mean you really,

1026
00:53:01,320 --> 00:53:05,159
every tough customer basically is an opportunity to teach a

1027
00:53:05,199 --> 00:53:08,039
soft skill. And again, that doesn't mean the customer is

1028
00:53:08,039 --> 00:53:10,400
always right. That doesn't mean that you're kissing their ass.

1029
00:53:10,480 --> 00:53:13,800
That means that you're learning from every situation. And a

1030
00:53:13,880 --> 00:53:18,679
good employer wants to know their employees can learn those

1031
00:53:18,760 --> 00:53:20,880
tactics and those things that are going to make their

1032
00:53:20,920 --> 00:53:25,039
company better. And ultimately, as an employee, if you ever

1033
00:53:25,079 --> 00:53:27,000
want to own your own business, because that's a beautiful

1034
00:53:27,000 --> 00:53:29,320
thing about electrical as you do, someday may want to

1035
00:53:29,360 --> 00:53:30,800
own your own these skills are.

1036
00:53:30,760 --> 00:53:33,000
Speaker 2: Going to be invaluable to you to learn.

1037
00:53:33,760 --> 00:53:36,320
Speaker 3: So debrief every conflict, look at how you could have

1038
00:53:36,320 --> 00:53:38,280
addressed it better, and also the ones that you had

1039
00:53:38,280 --> 00:53:42,880
a conflict than it was successful. We're in that conversation.

1040
00:53:43,920 --> 00:53:47,800
Did you find that the tide turned? Was it? You're

1041
00:53:48,360 --> 00:53:52,679
giving your summary and asking a question in pausing, was it?

1042
00:53:52,880 --> 00:53:53,480
Speaker 2: We're in there.

1043
00:53:53,519 --> 00:53:57,119
Speaker 3: Do you feel that it turned the tide from a

1044
00:53:57,159 --> 00:54:00,199
customer that might have been confrontational and that type of thing.

1045
00:54:00,440 --> 00:54:03,400
Those are important things to kind of share with other

1046
00:54:03,400 --> 00:54:07,840
people that work in your company. Now people ask me

1047
00:54:07,880 --> 00:54:09,480
all the time, you know, how do I do this

1048
00:54:09,519 --> 00:54:13,400
in a kind of a role play situation? So segment

1049
00:54:13,440 --> 00:54:16,400
three here is de escalation in actions kind of a

1050
00:54:16,480 --> 00:54:17,000
role play.

1051
00:54:17,639 --> 00:54:19,480
Speaker 2: So let's kind of work this out. Let's play this

1052
00:54:19,519 --> 00:54:20,719
out in a real world situation.

1053
00:54:20,760 --> 00:54:23,480
Speaker 3: So I have a customer and the customer says, this

1054
00:54:23,519 --> 00:54:27,360
bill is higher than what you quoted, And the contractor says,

1055
00:54:27,400 --> 00:54:32,119
I understand that caught you off guard. So there's the empathy.

1056
00:54:32,440 --> 00:54:34,280
He said, I understand that caught you off guard. Let's

1057
00:54:34,400 --> 00:54:38,199
let's walk through the invoice. Remember we added the dedicated

1058
00:54:38,320 --> 00:54:42,519
circuit for that microwave after you requested a mid job.

1059
00:54:42,920 --> 00:54:45,119
You wanted me to do this, so mid job, so

1060
00:54:45,199 --> 00:54:46,519
we had spend a little more time.

1061
00:54:46,320 --> 00:54:47,519
Speaker 2: To do that.

1062
00:54:47,519 --> 00:54:52,519
Speaker 3: That's where the additional one fifty came from. So now

1063
00:54:52,559 --> 00:54:56,320
the customer is like, okay, you explained it to me.

1064
00:54:56,599 --> 00:54:58,480
Now I can see the bit you did the summary

1065
00:54:58,920 --> 00:55:03,760
of it. Now that's a calm, factual and non defensive

1066
00:55:04,079 --> 00:55:08,159
way you're explaining. You're not apologizing. I'm not apologizing for

1067
00:55:08,239 --> 00:55:09,639
the work I did the work you asked me to

1068
00:55:09,679 --> 00:55:14,760
do the work. But now think about how this tone

1069
00:55:14,800 --> 00:55:19,599
could change. Right, So now let's listen to how the

1070
00:55:19,599 --> 00:55:22,880
tone changes here. Let me give you a bad example. Well,

1071
00:55:23,000 --> 00:55:25,920
you asked for it, we did what you think? Well,

1072
00:55:26,159 --> 00:55:30,400
what did you think we would be free?

1073
00:55:30,719 --> 00:55:30,920
Speaker 2: Now?

1074
00:55:31,039 --> 00:55:34,079
Speaker 3: That is I'm going to tell you what I can

1075
00:55:34,119 --> 00:55:35,840
tell you right now. I know some people that are

1076
00:55:35,840 --> 00:55:37,840
just the employees that work for you, that are just

1077
00:55:38,000 --> 00:55:40,440
taking a paycheck and they did all the work.

1078
00:55:40,440 --> 00:55:41,000
Speaker 2: They're tired.

1079
00:55:41,000 --> 00:55:43,480
Speaker 3: They just crawled through a freaking attic, they got damn

1080
00:55:44,079 --> 00:55:49,159
dug insulation all over them. They're tired, and they might

1081
00:55:49,199 --> 00:55:51,800
spout off something like, well, you asked for us to

1082
00:55:51,840 --> 00:55:53,960
add this microweb circuit, would you expect me to just

1083
00:55:54,079 --> 00:55:56,199
throw in the wire, the cable and everything for free.

1084
00:55:56,960 --> 00:56:00,639
That is not the way you say it. That kills

1085
00:56:00,679 --> 00:56:05,880
the relationship instantly. There's no empathy there. You just yeah,

1086
00:56:05,920 --> 00:56:07,679
you might have felt like that's the best way to

1087
00:56:07,679 --> 00:56:13,159
approach it, but it wasn't. Keep your tone steady, slow, confident,

1088
00:56:13,239 --> 00:56:19,440
your professional not a collection agent, explain in a summary

1089
00:56:19,880 --> 00:56:24,119
what we did to justify this cost, and don't feed

1090
00:56:24,119 --> 00:56:28,280
them bullshit. Okay, I can't stand that if the cost

1091
00:56:28,360 --> 00:56:31,360
is increased because something was different. For example, say you're

1092
00:56:31,400 --> 00:56:33,280
a flat rate pricing and it was a price one

1093
00:56:33,360 --> 00:56:35,159
job and it elevated to a.

1094
00:56:36,719 --> 00:56:37,280
Speaker 2: Level two job.

1095
00:56:37,360 --> 00:56:39,039
Speaker 3: Let's say it was a ceiling fan and you noticed

1096
00:56:39,039 --> 00:56:41,159
that it wasn't a ceiling fan box, and now you're

1097
00:56:41,159 --> 00:56:42,800
gonna have to go in the attic. You're gonna have

1098
00:56:42,840 --> 00:56:44,840
to put in a ceiling van box with a new bracket,

1099
00:56:44,880 --> 00:56:46,719
all this kind of stuff and the price. Originally you

1100
00:56:46,719 --> 00:56:49,280
didn't know what was under there, so you gave a

1101
00:56:49,360 --> 00:56:51,559
level one, and now it's keep to a level two.

1102
00:56:51,559 --> 00:56:53,639
Maybe it's another one hundred and twenty five dollars more,

1103
00:56:54,159 --> 00:56:56,280
and you get to explain it. You go, okay, let's

1104
00:56:56,280 --> 00:56:59,239
do a quick summary of what we did. So originally

1105
00:56:59,239 --> 00:57:01,199
we price you level one. We can't really see what's

1106
00:57:01,280 --> 00:57:03,039
underneath that box, and we were kind of hoping that

1107
00:57:03,079 --> 00:57:05,920
it was a ceiling fan box. But you still gave

1108
00:57:05,960 --> 00:57:09,159
them prices up front so they feel comfortable. And I said,

1109
00:57:09,360 --> 00:57:11,280
you know it has on there that it could be.

1110
00:57:11,360 --> 00:57:13,599
And everybody that has flat rate pricing should do this.

1111
00:57:14,400 --> 00:57:14,639
Speaker 2: Uh.

1112
00:57:14,679 --> 00:57:17,599
Speaker 3: The structure of how you can escalate your pricing structure

1113
00:57:18,119 --> 00:57:20,760
is it said, look, once we found out that it

1114
00:57:20,960 --> 00:57:22,880
you know, per code, the code is going to know

1115
00:57:22,960 --> 00:57:25,719
because it could fall out of the ceiling. And so

1116
00:57:26,480 --> 00:57:29,440
we had to upgrade it and put a different box

1117
00:57:29,480 --> 00:57:32,480
in there that's going to support this weight. And I

1118
00:57:32,519 --> 00:57:34,760
can show you in the nec where the added there's

1119
00:57:34,800 --> 00:57:37,119
actually weight values that we have to use, and I

1120
00:57:37,159 --> 00:57:40,199
can show you in the box the weight parameters for

1121
00:57:40,280 --> 00:57:40,800
this box.

1122
00:57:40,800 --> 00:57:42,000
Speaker 2: So that's where you're called.

1123
00:57:42,000 --> 00:57:44,199
Speaker 3: And it's a little more to install this box than

1124
00:57:44,199 --> 00:57:45,840
we originally thought it would be. We thought it was

1125
00:57:45,920 --> 00:57:47,320
just put a fan up, take you know, take a

1126
00:57:47,400 --> 00:57:48,119
light down, put.

1127
00:57:47,960 --> 00:57:48,480
Speaker 2: A fan up.

1128
00:57:48,800 --> 00:57:53,000
Speaker 3: So that's where actually the extra prices came from. Is

1129
00:57:53,039 --> 00:57:54,719
that extra work that had to be done.

1130
00:57:55,280 --> 00:57:55,519
Speaker 2: Uh.

1131
00:57:55,599 --> 00:57:59,719
Speaker 3: And and if you explain it to somebody, then it's

1132
00:57:59,760 --> 00:58:03,920
easy to overcome that hurdle rather than to just say

1133
00:58:04,239 --> 00:58:06,559
what we had, we had to use more expensive pieces.

1134
00:58:06,719 --> 00:58:11,039
Would you expect us to do it for free? Do

1135
00:58:11,199 --> 00:58:12,440
not let your employees do that.

1136
00:58:14,079 --> 00:58:16,559
Speaker 2: Do not. Okay, that is not the way to do it.

1137
00:58:18,039 --> 00:58:23,599
Speaker 3: Next segment four, we're gonna talk about building future trust. Okay,

1138
00:58:24,480 --> 00:58:29,639
So after remember what I said earlier about taking a

1139
00:58:29,719 --> 00:58:34,960
situation and and and using it to gain the trust

1140
00:58:35,000 --> 00:58:38,480
of the customer and possible future references. There's an element

1141
00:58:38,480 --> 00:58:40,000
where you can, you know, you can take it to

1142
00:58:40,039 --> 00:58:45,159
the next level very tactfully. So after resolving a payment issue,

1143
00:58:45,400 --> 00:58:46,960
send a quick thank you note.

1144
00:58:47,000 --> 00:58:47,599
Speaker 2: Or a text.

1145
00:58:48,519 --> 00:58:52,199
Speaker 3: This is this is after you negotiate everything out and

1146
00:58:52,239 --> 00:58:54,519
everything's done, not the other one when I'm talking about

1147
00:58:54,559 --> 00:58:56,119
where you had to give a discount and you had

1148
00:58:56,119 --> 00:58:59,079
to be create, creative and offering them. Maybe if you

1149
00:58:59,119 --> 00:59:01,280
do a five star out, I'll give you this, you know,

1150
00:59:01,400 --> 00:59:03,760
five dollars off ten or whatever it is all and

1151
00:59:03,800 --> 00:59:05,840
then go into it and say because I appreciate you,

1152
00:59:05,880 --> 00:59:10,960
where I'm just a small business trying. No, this is after, right,

1153
00:59:11,639 --> 00:59:15,679
This is after you've done, payment's been done. You will

1154
00:59:15,719 --> 00:59:19,239
be surprised. And I can tell you contractors do not

1155
00:59:19,599 --> 00:59:24,400
do this. They do not do this. Very few do this.

1156
00:59:24,480 --> 00:59:26,320
And I've had a couple do this, and I tell

1157
00:59:26,360 --> 00:59:29,119
you what, they get my business because they appreciate it.

1158
00:59:30,280 --> 00:59:31,440
Speaker 2: So after you receive your.

1159
00:59:31,320 --> 00:59:33,800
Speaker 3: Payments, send a quick note, thank you note or text

1160
00:59:34,920 --> 00:59:38,119
and maybe you'll say appreciate you working through that with me.

1161
00:59:39,000 --> 00:59:42,079
Glad we could get the get it squared away. If

1162
00:59:42,119 --> 00:59:44,920
you need any future work or maintenance, I'll take care

1163
00:59:44,960 --> 00:59:49,719
of you. A small act leaves a positive after taste.

1164
00:59:49,800 --> 00:59:54,199
It turns conflict into credibility. Now this is not just

1165
00:59:54,280 --> 00:59:58,239
when you're going through this negotiation period. I think it's

1166
00:59:58,239 --> 01:00:01,639
a good move for every a service call that you do,

1167
01:00:02,760 --> 01:00:05,480
every one of them, that you respond back to them,

1168
01:00:05,519 --> 01:00:09,480
either with a text or with an email or even

1169
01:00:09,519 --> 01:00:12,320
with a call, that that's your nature and say, look,

1170
01:00:12,360 --> 01:00:13,800
I just wanted to call and thank you as a

1171
01:00:13,840 --> 01:00:16,920
small business here in your community.

1172
01:00:17,000 --> 01:00:18,719
Speaker 2: I just want to thank you for allowing me to

1173
01:00:18,760 --> 01:00:19,440
do this work for you.

1174
01:00:20,320 --> 01:00:24,320
Speaker 3: You know, just folks, you're in business, you say, well,

1175
01:00:24,360 --> 01:00:28,360
I don't suck up, I don't kiss ass you. Something's

1176
01:00:28,400 --> 01:00:32,719
wrong with you. It is not about that. Stop letting

1177
01:00:32,719 --> 01:00:36,480
the ego get in the way. You're working a local community,

1178
01:00:36,519 --> 01:00:41,079
you're working your business networking. Be appreciative of people coming

1179
01:00:41,079 --> 01:00:45,400
to you. They could have gone to somebody else. If

1180
01:00:45,440 --> 01:00:46,880
you want to call a kiss an ass or the

1181
01:00:46,880 --> 01:00:49,320
customer after the fact, that that's fine. I'll take that.

1182
01:00:49,360 --> 01:00:51,679
I'll kiss every customer's ass after the fact. If I

1183
01:00:51,719 --> 01:00:55,440
think that they will refer me, promote me, call me back,

1184
01:00:56,440 --> 01:00:57,559
share me with other people.

1185
01:00:58,679 --> 01:01:03,000
Speaker 2: Worth it, worth it. You can disagree.

1186
01:01:03,119 --> 01:01:08,360
Speaker 3: That's fine to me, one hundred percent worth it. Lastly,

1187
01:01:08,480 --> 01:01:15,840
Segment five closing thoughts. Now, negotiation and contracting isn't about

1188
01:01:16,039 --> 01:01:20,719
who wins. It's about how you handle the situation. Remember

1189
01:01:20,760 --> 01:01:24,800
you're the professional. You control the tone, You control the pace.

1190
01:01:25,320 --> 01:01:29,440
You even have a hand in controlling the outcome depending

1191
01:01:29,480 --> 01:01:32,920
on that tone, that professionalism, and how you handle the situation.

1192
01:01:33,239 --> 01:01:37,239
And I will say how flexible you can become in

1193
01:01:37,320 --> 01:01:42,239
a pivoting being able to detect a potential conflict and

1194
01:01:42,559 --> 01:01:45,760
head it off at the past, whether you're involving empathy,

1195
01:01:46,239 --> 01:01:49,400
whether or not you're involving summary and explaining what you've done,

1196
01:01:49,719 --> 01:01:53,000
whether or not you're offering some kind of incentive like

1197
01:01:53,000 --> 01:01:55,760
a reward program or offering discounts if they give you

1198
01:01:55,800 --> 01:02:00,360
five star ratings. However, any of that, you control pace

1199
01:02:00,400 --> 01:02:05,280
to tone the outcome. Then, when you stay calm, you're

1200
01:02:05,440 --> 01:02:09,119
always in control. Because you're offering the service you have

1201
01:02:09,239 --> 01:02:12,480
done the tesk. They already feel obligated to pay you,

1202
01:02:14,280 --> 01:02:19,280
but you control the tone. Remember, your best wire in

1203
01:02:19,360 --> 01:02:28,000
business isn't copper it's patience. It conducts way more successful

1204
01:02:28,039 --> 01:02:31,840
deals right in the future. That patience you put in

1205
01:02:31,880 --> 01:02:33,880
the wire, you put in the material that's just there.

1206
01:02:35,000 --> 01:02:38,239
That's only getting you paid on that one incident at

1207
01:02:38,280 --> 01:02:43,440
one time. A good negotiation, a good outcome, a good

1208
01:02:43,920 --> 01:02:48,719
working relationship with that customer will pay dividends in the future.

1209
01:02:48,920 --> 01:02:52,840
That's where your money's made. That is where you're going

1210
01:02:52,880 --> 01:02:55,079
to get repeat customers. You're going to build your base,

1211
01:02:55,119 --> 01:02:57,039
they're going to share it with other people. They're gonna

1212
01:02:57,039 --> 01:03:00,599
give you those those Googles, those Yelps, those being reviews.

1213
01:03:02,280 --> 01:03:04,360
Give them the opportunity to give that to you. I

1214
01:03:04,400 --> 01:03:07,159
tell people all the time, if you've never done it before, guys,

1215
01:03:07,519 --> 01:03:09,320
just go to my website. Pick up one of those

1216
01:03:09,320 --> 01:03:12,119
little hat clips for all of your staff. Let us

1217
01:03:12,199 --> 01:03:16,960
know what your link tree account is. That you can

1218
01:03:17,000 --> 01:03:19,000
get one count and you can put all of your Yelp,

1219
01:03:19,000 --> 01:03:21,119
Google whatever. We'll we'll help set that up for you

1220
01:03:21,119 --> 01:03:22,920
if you want, or if you have a website where

1221
01:03:22,960 --> 01:03:25,079
customers can give you reviews, or you got just a

1222
01:03:25,119 --> 01:03:27,280
Google listening like my brother, and you want us to

1223
01:03:27,280 --> 01:03:29,039
put that on the QR code and send it to you.

1224
01:03:29,679 --> 01:03:32,960
We sell those whatever it is, you want to make

1225
01:03:33,000 --> 01:03:36,119
sure that you actively get a review. Now, people have

1226
01:03:36,239 --> 01:03:37,960
been in business for many years and they say, I

1227
01:03:38,000 --> 01:03:41,360
don't care about that crap. You better start caring because

1228
01:03:41,440 --> 01:03:44,800
people are using it. Statistics are showing that people are

1229
01:03:44,920 --> 01:03:46,840
using referrals and they're looking at it.

1230
01:03:47,800 --> 01:03:48,320
Speaker 2: And I'm just.

1231
01:03:48,280 --> 01:03:51,119
Speaker 3: Telling you, as young, hungry people that are in this business,

1232
01:03:51,119 --> 01:03:52,840
not the guys that have been in thirty forty years,

1233
01:03:52,880 --> 01:03:55,719
you're setting your ways. If you're young, you're eager, you're hungry,

1234
01:03:55,760 --> 01:03:57,159
you've been in the business a couple of years, and

1235
01:03:57,199 --> 01:04:00,039
whatever you want to build your base, this is what

1236
01:04:00,199 --> 01:04:03,719
you do. You build your base by doing good work,

1237
01:04:04,079 --> 01:04:07,960
looking professional, being courteous, understanding when you get empathy when needed,

1238
01:04:08,719 --> 01:04:13,360
being able to state your summary, hold your ground, be flexible,

1239
01:04:14,760 --> 01:04:20,840
stay calm, and give the customer a good experience. It's

1240
01:04:20,880 --> 01:04:23,880
going to pay dividends and they're going to tell everybody.

1241
01:04:25,000 --> 01:04:30,119
And that, my friends, is how you negotiate a tough situation.

1242
01:04:30,440 --> 01:04:33,280
Hopefully got something out of that episode and can put

1243
01:04:33,320 --> 01:04:36,199
any of it into practice. If you're interested in joining

1244
01:04:36,199 --> 01:04:39,199
our network or having me as a consultant and helping

1245
01:04:39,199 --> 01:04:41,679
you out, give us contact. We'll let you know what

1246
01:04:41,719 --> 01:04:44,679
that is, and I'm more than happy to help you

1247
01:04:44,800 --> 01:04:47,800
be that sounding block or help you with other things

1248
01:04:47,840 --> 01:04:50,159
that you needed from a consulting aspect of It's not

1249
01:04:50,199 --> 01:04:51,639
always just about the electrical code.

1250
01:04:51,679 --> 01:04:52,519
Speaker 2: We do other things.

1251
01:04:52,880 --> 01:04:56,960
Speaker 3: I've owned multiple electrical contracting businesses through the years, so

1252
01:04:57,880 --> 01:05:02,079
and I have a very diverse area of expertise. I

1253
01:05:02,079 --> 01:05:04,760
have a bachelor's degree in business management, I have master's

1254
01:05:04,800 --> 01:05:08,400
degree in engineering, so I kind of wrap all these

1255
01:05:08,400 --> 01:05:12,159
things together. I've owned multiple companies through the years, so

1256
01:05:12,199 --> 01:05:15,039
we try to give you a well rounded approach to

1257
01:05:15,159 --> 01:05:18,000
how you do your contracting business. And we love to

1258
01:05:18,039 --> 01:05:20,800
be a sounding board and develop a relationship with you.

1259
01:05:21,000 --> 01:05:22,679
If you're interested, reach out to us. Our number is

1260
01:05:22,679 --> 01:05:24,800
five four zero six zero seven zero one one six,

1261
01:05:24,960 --> 01:05:28,400
or reach out on our website Electricalcode Academy, dot com,

1262
01:05:28,440 --> 01:05:30,320
dot net or dot org it doesn't matter. Or go

1263
01:05:30,400 --> 01:05:33,639
to our Fasttracksystem dot com website. You can send us

1264
01:05:33,679 --> 01:05:35,800
something through there. We have a contact us feature.

1265
01:05:36,280 --> 01:05:36,760
Speaker 2: Let us know.

1266
01:05:37,280 --> 01:05:39,400
Speaker 3: I'm more than happy to work with you. Till next time,

1267
01:05:39,440 --> 01:05:40,519
Stay safe, God bless.

1268
01:05:41,360 --> 01:05:44,719
Speaker 1: Thanks for tuning into another electrifying episode of The Master

1269
01:05:44,840 --> 01:05:48,960
the NDC podcast. We hope you're feeling more powered up

1270
01:05:48,960 --> 01:05:51,519
and ready to tackle the electrical world with the knowledge

1271
01:05:51,559 --> 01:05:56,440
and confidence you need to succeed. Remember, in the electrical grade,

1272
01:05:56,719 --> 01:05:59,320
knowledge is power, and we're here to make sure you

1273
01:05:59,360 --> 01:06:03,320
stay plugged to the latest insights, tips and code updates.

1274
01:06:04,360 --> 01:06:08,199
If you enjoy today's episode, don't forget to subscribe, leave

1275
01:06:08,280 --> 01:06:10,800
us a review, and share the podcast with your.

1276
01:06:10,679 --> 01:06:12,760
Speaker 2: Fellow electricians and industry pros.

1277
01:06:14,119 --> 01:06:17,960
Speaker 1: Until next time, keep your tools sharp, your circuits clear,

1278
01:06:18,239 --> 01:06:20,840
and you're my focused because here at the Master of

1279
01:06:20,840 --> 01:06:26,320
the ANEC podcast, we're all about sparking your success. Stay safe,

1280
01:06:26,559 --> 01:06:30,880
stay smart, and keep mastering the trade. From all of

1281
01:06:30,960 --> 01:06:33,679
us here at Electrical Code Academy, thank you for all

1282
01:06:33,760 --> 01:06:35,679
your support and we will see you on the next

1283
01:06:35,679 --> 01:06:41,400
amazing Master of the NEC podcast episode

