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Welcome to the Barry Farah Show, serving you to sell more. Follow at Berry Farah. Hello, I hope you're doing well. And welcome back. Today's single skill is to explain the optional upgraded repair or replacement. Now, in the last episode, we focused on presenting the mandatory solution clearly and respectfully. Today, we're taking the next step. How to explain optional upgrades without pressure and without losing the customer's trust. We're in the solutions phase. By this point, you've built rapport, discovered the customer's concerns, completed your diagnostics, asked for a decision, explained the problem, and presented the first solution. Now you ask a simple question: may I share the optional upgrade choices with you? They'll almost always say yes, even just out of curiosity. But if they say no, you can say, I'm happy to respect that, but it's only going to take a few minutes, and then at least you'll know the value of each choice before you decide. If they still say no, and that's a very small percentage, respect it and move toward the company differentiators that we'll discuss in the next podcast. This is about serving the customer with clarity, respect, and a complete picture of their choices. And it helps them make a better decision. Selling with integrity means that you explain the better options honestly without hiding them, but without pushing them at the same time. Now you've already explained a good option, it solves the problem, and your company is going to stand behind it. Now you can explain the better and best options. In some cases, you may only explain two choices, but almost never more than three. Let's just take an example with an air conditioner replacement. The homeowner may have a single-stage unit now, and you've already explained the straight replacement option. It improves their current situation, it's new, but now you can explain how a variable system might provide a lot more comfort with more continuous adaptive climate control. You can talk about utility savings, quieter operation, stronger humidity control, fewer temperature swings, better air quality, and fewer hot spots. It's important to take one upgrade at a time. Keep things moving, but when the customer indicates a particular value is important to them, make sure you pause long enough to explain it. For example, let's say the customer is interested in utility savings. Maybe they're suspicious about how that really works. Well, dive into that with your company's worksheet. Here's how that might sound you're the comfort consultant. We have a worksheet that helps estimate utility savings. May I show it to you and spend a minute to look at an estimate of savings for each option? Then methodically go through the worksheet. Don't overstate the savings and don't understate them. Whether you do that manually or on your CRM, just be as careful and precise as you can. That builds credibility. The customer may also be interested in the comfort difference between nearly continuous airflow from a variable system and the start-stop operation of a single stage system. Here's how that could sound. The comfort consultant says, you know, a single stage unit is either on or off. It runs at full capacity until the thermostat's satisfied and then kind of gets a little bit over or above that, and then it shuts off. That can create more temperature swings. A variable system can slow down or speed up in real small increments, so it keeps air moving more steadily. That usually means a quieter home. That's more even temperatures as well, and better humidity control, and more comfortable feel. So the customer might say, wow, so the variable system is just really more about comfort than anything else. Then the comfort consultant could say, uh, sure, uh, comfort is really a big part of it. The single stage system will cool the home and it may be the right choice, but the variable system is going to give you a more steady flow. So the home will usually feel more even, quieter, and really just better balanced for humidity. Often that better option is the sweet spot. It usually includes a whole bunch of benefits that are not part of that mandatory option, but it doesn't carry that top-tier pricing. Having said that, the best option should be explained, that top tier. It helps anchor the customer to what's reasonable for them, and you're not presuming on them. They might be in an older home and have lots of resources you don't know about. Or they might be in an upscale home and really tight on cash. So the point is to just remain an advocate for the customer and an honest consultant for all the options throughout the process, not too biased in one way or the other. This goes back to the mindset that we discussed in the first few episodes. Positive persuasion is good, especially when it helps the homeowner. It's going to help them make a clear decision. Then they can move on with the rest of their day and do other things. Respecting the customer includes giving them a complete process. And that approach helps customers feel more comfortable. You'll have fewer cancellations because the customer understands the options, understands all the trade-offs, and feels respected. And the decision is theirs. So we remain unbiased as we lay out the solutions. If they say budget's not a constraint, don't overplay the best option. You may still sell that, but if you remain true to the complete process, the customer will be more settled in the decision. Sometimes there are special promotional offers that come from the manufacturer that make upgrading especially attractive, and that's fine. Just remain even keeled and consultative. There's brain science behind all this, of course. When you honor the customer's authority, they are more likely to trust you and your company. A customer who feels pushed will look for a way out. A customer who feels oriented can compare value and decide with confidence. I learned this the hard way back in my early days at IBM. I was real excited about the level of automation and how much it could help the business, but I pushed way too hard for that top tier. And it wasn't until I treated the options more objectively, with less bias, that the executive, who was often old enough to be my father, would accept the solution. The micro steps are simple. Ask permission, explain one upgrade, connect it to the customer's concern, show the evidence, and pause for understanding. Take one option at a time, use plain language, then pause long enough to let the customer process what they just heard. The takeaway is this: people don't like to be pushed around, but they do want all the information they can get so that they can make a smart decision and they want to feel good about it. So next time, we'll move to your company's differentiators. That's really an important part of the solution. Until then, explain each solution with equal respect and explain each one completely. That elevates 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.