Welcome to the Barry Farah Show, serving you to sell more. Follow at Barry Farah. Hello, I hope you're doing well. Welcome back. Today's single skill is explaining the mandatory repair or replacement clearly without blending it into the upgrades. Here's where we are in the process. You've built rapport, you've discovered the issues from the customer, your diagnostics and your analysis, and you're seated at the table of the customer's choosing. You have respectfully requested that time be honored for a decision today. You've explained the problem. Now you're explaining the solutions. The concept at this stage of the sales call is quite simple. It's just to create a mental pause around the budget-friendly option. It's not going to be the least expensive option in the whole marketplace, but it is the least expensive option that you have available that you're confident will get the job done. That may be a mandatory repair, it may be a mandatory replacement. It's not going to be the most efficient system, it's not going to be the quietest, but it solves the required problem. Selling with integrity has three values. We respect the person, we complete the process, and we elevate the standard. By explaining the budget-friendly option first, we're not presuming on the customer. We're not giving a partial picture, and we're not doing just an adequate job. We don't overstate it or over-justify it. We simply explain what must be done and why this is the lowest cost option that we would feel comfortable standing behind. That anchors the customer in a place of safety. You've handled everything well up to this point. Keep supporting that prefrontal cortex where the logic and the reasoning can do their job. People are really cautious when someone's trying to sell them something in their home. That's natural. The part of the brain that detects threat, that amygdala, it needs to stay relaxed. To do that, we need to answer this question really early. How much is this going to cost? By being direct and upfront with the budget option, you earn credibility. It's the opposite of the approach that many recommend where they start high and then they work down from there. Selling with integrity starts with what's required and builds up honestly. Then, after the customer understands the mandatory option, we're set up to explain optional repairs or upgrades or a better and best package. Those upgrades will stand all by themselves. They're distinct from the mandatory or the good option. They shouldn't be lumped in or blended into that mandatory repair or replacement moment, because that's what it is. It's a moment. Here's an example. Let's say that you're dealing with an obvious unit replacement. The homeowner has this old single stage unit. And even if they didn't explicitly say that they want to know what it would take for a straight-up replacement for that inferior product, honor that spoken or unspoken request. So in that same sales call, you're going to explain in just a few minutes how the variable system provides a better comfort with continuous adaptive climate control and everything else. But the upgrade has way more weight when you first explain the mandatory single stage replacement that they already have. So if you use a computer to provide an efficiency calculation or to prove out your diagnostics, lean into that. You might say, based on the computerized analysis, here are the mandatory repairs. Or based on the computerized analysis, your system's not likely to make it through the summer. If the system is right at the edge but could be extended, be direct. You might say, you're at the brink of needing a new system. There is a repair option, but it's expensive and it carries some warranty risk. Would you like me to explain those repairs? Or would you prefer that I focus on replacement and start with the budget option? Here's how I'd say it. Based on what I found today, there's a mandatory option. This is the lowest cost solution I'd feel comfortable standing behind. It's not the quietest, it's not the most efficient system, and it doesn't include some optional upgrades, but it does solve the required problem, and I want you to see that first before we talk about anything more. Just pause. Let the customer catch up. Don't rush into those upgrades. The mandatory option deserves really its own space. Then once the required option's understood, you can say, now that you've seen the mandatory option, I can also show you the better and best options. When they understand that they're optional upgrades, they can sense that everything hasn't just been lumped together. They might not understand every component, but they know when a conversation feels muddy. Clarity builds trust. And there's a whole bunch of brain science behind this, of course. A customer who feels trapped will look for a way out. A customer who feels oriented can think. When you start with the lowest cost option you're comfortable recommending, then you reduce defensiveness. Then, when you explain better or best, they can compare value instead of feeling pushed. I learned this the hard way. I used to assume the company executive wanted the top option that IBM had to offer. After all, it was IBM. That created suspicion. I had to learn to explain the more modest solution first, when that was applicable, before I became more effective. The micro steps are simple. Start with the mandatory repair or replacement. State that it's the lowest cost option that you would feel comfortable recommending. Show the evidence. Explain it in plain language. Keep the upgrades separate. Then ask whether they would like to see the better and best options. They always do. The takeaway is this: don't hide the lowest cost option and don't dress it up as something it's not. Just explain it, honestly. Then explain the upgrades truthfully as well. Selling with integrity means the customer can clearly see what's required and what's optional. Next time we're going to move from the mandatory option we just discussed into the better and best packages. Until then, start with that lowest cost option, the lowest cost option that you can stand behind, and then keep the upgrades separate and elevate the standard. I hope this equips you to go make a difference today. Thank you for listening. Follow Barry Farah on your favorite podcast platform at Barry Farah.