Words That Sell: How Your Language Transforms Home Service Calls

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Communication might be the most underrated skill in the home service industry. While technical expertise is essential, how you speak to homeowners often determines whether you close the sale or walk away empty-handed.

Jefferson Fisher, an attorney and communication expert, offers a perspective-shifting insight that could transform your approach: "The person you see isn't the person you're talking to." When you step into a customer's home to fix their AC or repair a plumbing issue, you're entering a private world layered with stresses that have nothing to do with HVAC or plumbing. They might be dealing with a sick parent, financial pressure, or workplace stress. Recognizing this hidden dimension and leading with empathy isn't just good manners—it's good business.

Your words function as tools just as important as your wrenches and gauges. The distinction between saying "this is your only choice" versus "let me walk you through some options" can completely transform customer receptivity. Through powerful real-world examples—including the story of a technician who proved his thoroughness by pointing out an intact cobweb across a crawl space entrance—we see how authentic communication builds the trust that leads to sales. The most successful service professionals don't just fix problems; they create comfort, security, and peace of mind by approaching every conversation with empathy, choosing their words carefully, and genuinely seeking to understand their customers' needs.

Ready to elevate your communication skills and close more calls the right way? Listen to discover the three key takeaways that can transform your approach to in-home sales. And if you've found value in this episode, please take 30 seconds to leave us a five-star review—it helps other service professionals discover these insights and level up their skills too.

https://www.jeffersonfisher.com/

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Episode Transcript

Corey Berrier (00:00):
Welcome to the Successful Life Podcast.
I'm your host, Corey Berrier,and today I am solo today, which
I'm super excited about.
Just wanted to say really,really grateful for you
listening to the show.
If it weren't for the peoplethat have supported this show,
it wouldn't have grown, itwouldn't have reached more

(00:21):
people Just like to express mygratitude for listening to the
show.
So today we're going to betalking about so there's an
attorney, he's an author andreally this podcast has
contributed to him, because thisis going to be a lot of his
information, which I think isjust unbelievable for

(00:44):
salespeople.
It's amazing, it's amazing.
So the goal here is to elevateservice professionals,
specifically plumbing HVACtechnicians, and the goal is to
help you to communicate withhomeowners in a way that they
can understand whether you'reselling, educating or resolving

(01:06):
a problem in the home.
How you speak matters just asmuch as what you know.
And so today we're going to betalking, we're going to be
diving into Jefferson Fisher'ssome of his insights around
communication.
He is, like I said, he's anattorney communication expert

(01:26):
whose words have real meaningfor anyone working with
face-to-face with customers.
So what Jefferson says is theperson you see isn't the person
you're talking to.
This really hit home for me.
And it hit home because justthink about that the person you

(01:48):
see isn't the person you'retalking to.
You might be thinking well,corey, what in the hell are you
talking about?
So when you walk into someone'shome and you're stepping into
their private world, you may befocused on a busted water heater
or an AC unit that's down, butthe homeowner the homeowner

(02:12):
might be dealing with a sickparent, a stressful job,
financial pressure, and whatyou're really walking into is

(02:37):
often layered with stress thathas nothing to do with plumbing
or HVAC.
So how do you sell effectivelyin that environment?
How do you build trust fast?
You lead with empathy, you slowdown, you look for the human

(03:17):
behind the homeowner.
When you start from a place ofunderstanding, acknowledging
that there's more going on thanmeets the eye, you shift from
being just another technician tobeing someone they trust, and
trust is the foundation of everysuccessful in-home sale.
So the second insight that Iwant to talk to you about is
there's power, word spoken outloud.
Now, before I dive into this,if you're in sales, you know

(03:54):
that 55% of how you communicateis your body language.
37% is your tonality and howyou say would you like to buy my
product?
Or would you like to buy myproduct?
Or would you like to buy myproduct?
You see how the differenttonalities there, and then about
7% of this is the words that weuse.
And you think, well, corey, if7% of the words, then the words

(04:17):
don't really matter that much.
But this gentleman, jeffersonFisher, has shifted my
perspective on the power in aword spoken out loud.
So, as a technician in the home, your words are your tools,

(04:39):
just like your gauges, just likeyour wrenches, and the way you
explain a repair or presentoptions matter.
If you say, as an example, thisis your only choice, that
creates resistance.
But if you say, let me walk youthrough a couple of options,

(05:04):
you then invite collaboration.
You're asking that individualto work with you.
That's what collaboration means.
Opposed to, you only have onechoice, and I hear this quite a
bit with look.
I'll tell you a story.
I hear this quite a bit withlook, I'll tell you a story.

(05:31):
When I first started workingwith a local company and I'm not
going to mention their name, Iguess it was about a year and a
half ago One of the things thatI did as the sales manager is I
called the six people that wewere in competition with.
I called them out to my house.
I used a fake name because Iwanted to understand what my
competition was like in theRaleigh area and I was blown

(05:56):
away at the amount of timepeople were here.
I was blown away at theirpresentation.
I was blown away by the waythey showed up in terms of what
they look like.
I was blown away at theineffective sales process that

(06:24):
they used.
And so, out of those six people, one of which worked for the
company that I was working for,but, like I said, I used a fake
name, so he didn't know he wascoming to my house until I
opened the front door and I andhe went, and I made him go

(06:47):
through the entire process justlike he would in the home, and
his name was Caleb Hawley.
And out of those six people,Caleb was the only person that
crawled under my house, in mycrawl space, and this is how I
know and this was key how he didthis.
It was perfect.

(07:08):
So what Caleb said was he saidI'm curious if you, I'm curious
how many people showed youpictures under the crawl space
and talked about your duct work.
And I said oh, I don't know ifthey showed me any pictures, but
they said that my duct work wasokay, that it would be okay.

(07:29):
He said let me show you apicture, Corey.
He said you see this picture ofyour crawl space door.
He said do you see how thatcobweb goes from the top to the
bottom?
I said yeah.
He said there's no wayanybody's been under your house

(07:51):
because there's no way theycould have gotten in that crawl
space without going through thatcobweb.
And what he did there was heearned my business because he
showed me that he was honest,that he did all the steps that
he said he was going to do andthat he was going to be able to
give me a fair price option toreplace my system and my duct

(08:19):
work was messed up, actually,and so the importance of being
honest I know I went off on atangent here is so important.
I had one of the guys come in.
From the time he stepped in mydoor to the time he walked out
of my door was 21 minutes.
21 minutes, 21 minutes.

(08:41):
Now, if you know anything aboutrunning an HVAC call which you
should if you're out to replacea system, you need to be there,
probably on average.
If I'm not mistaken, theaverage is about an hour and a
half to be effective.
I had another guy from Blanton's, will super, super great dude,

(09:05):
and he came in, ran the process,ran the Nextar process to an
absolute T.
Now the reason Will didn't gounder the house is because he
recognized me from this podcast,so I didn't really.
He knew who I was as soon as hewalked in the door and he asked

(09:28):
me so wow, you look reallyfamiliar.
I'm like, yeah, no chance thatwe know each other.
He kind of looked at me funnyand he kept talking, kept going
through the process, even thoughhis brain was saying I know
this dude and so I.
So we went outside and checkFacebook and we were friends on
Facebook and he comes back in.

(09:50):
He was like he said you look alot like this guy named Corey
barrier that I follow onFacebook.
I'm like, okay, I'm dead in thewater.
He realized what I was doing,so there was no, he would have
went out of the house if itwouldn't have been a different
scenario.
Then I had four other guys comeout three, I guess three other

(10:10):
guys at this point and none ofthem.
None of them, they were rushed,except for one guy.
He did a really good job and,ironically, his name is Jacob.
I wound up hiring Jacob at thecompany I was working for, and
I'll tell you why Because Jacobwas.

(10:32):
He was so disarming, he wasjust super kind.
He was so disarming, he wasjust super kind, he was
empathetic, he didn't rush, hewent over the information, he
wasn't pushy.
And I'm going to tell you rightnow he is the number one guy at

(10:54):
the company I used to work foras we speak.
His name is Jacob Harper.
He is a phenomenal sales guy,phenomenal sales guy just like
Caleb.
Caleb is a phenomenal sales guyfor two different reasons, but
both of their communication isspot on is spot on.

(11:19):
So if you have intentionalspeech, it builds confidence, it
puts the homeowner at ease and,most importantly, it opens the
door to decisions based on value, not just price.
So if you're in the trades, ifyou're in plumbing, hvac or

(11:44):
electrical or roofing, for thatmatter here's the three
takeaways from this podcastEmpathy and communication.
Assume there's more going onthan what you see.
Approach the conversation withpatience, not pressure the power

(12:04):
of words.
Use language that empowers.
Replace you need to with.
Here's what I'd recommendChoose clarity over jargon.
Make it easy for the customerto say yes and do business with

(12:27):
you.
Number three have intentionaldialogue.
Your goal isn't to just talk.
It's to understand.
Ask questions that show you'relistening.
Frame your solutions in a waythat makes sense to them, not

(12:53):
just you.
In-home sales is not aboutpushing products.
It's about buildingrelationships.
When you approach everyconversation with empathy,
choose your words carefully andaim to understand, you transform
your role.
You're not just fixing problems, you're creating comfort,

(13:15):
security, security and peace ofmind in someone's home.
So thank you very much forjoining us today on the
https://successfullifepodcast.
com .
If you could take 30 seconds,if you're on Apple, scroll down
to the middle of where you findall the podcasts.
Leave us a five-star review.

(13:36):
Leave us a review.
Let me know what you'd like tohear, let me know who you'd like
for me to bring on.
But it's really important thatyou leave us a review because it
really helps other people findthe podcast and so it helps more

(14:00):
service people level up, justlike you, and it helps level up
their communication.
Close more calls, the right way.
We'll see you guys next week.