When you stop sounding smart, customers start buying

Welcome to the Successful Life Podcast with Corey Berrier. In this episode, Corey addresses service technicians and comfort advisors about the critical issue of using technical jargon in customer interactions. He emphasizes that confusing customers with complex terminology can significantly hinder sales. Corey's main message is to replace technical jargon with clear, relatable language to build trust, increase sales, and ensure customer retention. Through real-life examples and practical tips, Corey illustrates the power of metaphors and simple language. He encourages technicians to become translators who make complex HVAC concepts understandable. By doing so, technicians can create long-term customer relationships and grow their business. Corey concludes with a challenge: rethink how you explain technical concepts to homeowners, test it out, and watch the difference it makes. Don't forget to share this episode and leave a five-star review!

00:00 Introduction to the Successful Life Podcast
00:16 The Invisible Sales Killer: Technical Jargon
02:00 The Power of Clear Communication
02:35 Real-World Examples and Metaphors
04:56 The Importance of Customer-Friendly Language
10:31 Ego and the Technician's Language
14:19 Recap and Easy Wins
15:51 Challenge and Conclusion

https://coreyberrier.gumroad.com/

Chapters

• 0:00 Technical Jargon: The Invisible Sales Killer
• 5:30 The Power of Metaphor and Translation
• 9:09 Making Customers Feel the Problem
• 12:40 Three Rules for Customer-Friendly Language
• 15:32 Ego vs. Clarity in Technical Communication
• 18:55 Building Trust and Becoming Their Guide

Transcript

Corey Berrier: 1:25

Welcome to the Successful Life Podcast. I'm your host, Corey Berrier, and I want to welcome you back to the show. I appreciate you all listening. So this episode is going to be directed towards and about service technicians and comfort advisors. So the topic today is technical jargon, which is the number one invisible sales killer in the trades. Technical jargon. More importantly, how can you replace it with clear, relatable language that builds trust and increases sales and keeps customers coming back? Because here's the truth: You're not just a technician, you're a translator, and when you learn how to translate the language of HVAC into human, your results change forever. Because if people don't understand what you're trying to sell them, they can't really buy it.

Corey Berrier: 2:39

A confused mind makes no decision. So let me paint a picture. If you're in the home, the system's struggling, you diagnose a bad TXV. You tell the customer the thermostat expansion valve is restricting refrigerant flow, causing low superheat and starving your evaporator coil. The truth you might feel smart, you might feel super smart and that, technically, is the right answer. But what did they hear? What did the customer hear? Noise, confusion, maybe even a reason to call somebody else. So let me say something directly. You know, if you confuse the customer, you lose the customer. People don't buy what they don't understand and in that moment the customer isn't buying your explanation. They're buying your confidence, your clarity and their own peace of mind and their own peace of mind. So if you sell that peace of mind, opposed to that technical jargon, your results are going to be exponentially better. So let's shift this for a second.

Corey Berrier: 4:05

So let me give you an example from the field. A tech and I was. We were having some trouble closing, or the tech was having trouble closing jobs, and so I rode with him and, sure enough, he's dropping terms like high, sub-cool, superheat, variance, piston, metering issues. So I asked him to pause and rephrase and I said try this. You know, the part that controls how much cooling your system gets is clogged and it's like a clogged artery in your heart. It's restricting flow and if we don't fix it you're going to wear down your entire system. So he used it and the customer nodded, actually understood what he was saying, and she said yeah, that makes sense, let's do it.

Corey Berrier: 4:57

So the point there is the power of metaphor, that's the power of simple language, and you can use this with. You know, if you're in any industry really and you're so technically proficient you've got to think about are you losing customers because you're too technically proficient? And again, you know, I know you want to sound smart. I get that, everybody wants to sound smart, but this is just not the right time and there is a time and place for that, but this is not it. So, again, you're not just a technician, you're a translator. So you take a complex system, you identify the problem and translate that into a story the customer understands. When you do that, something magical happens. They don't just see you as a guy who fixes stuff, they see you as someone who they can trust, someone who explains things in a way that can help them make a smart decision. So technically, you're an influencer. Because that's influence. When you're influencing their decision by giving them clear-cut directions, it leads to bigger tickets, more approved work and long-term customers.

Corey Berrier: 6:22

So I'll take another common one superheat. How many times have you said this as a technician? Just ask yourself. Hit pause on the thing and say how many times throughout the day do I say the word superheat? The superheat's too high, we've got a restriction or a low charge. They nod, the customer nods, they're. They're saying yeah, yeah, yeah. But they don't get it and listen. Most of the time we're talking to men not always, but most of the time and you think, because it's another dude, that he understands the superheat's too high. He has absolutely no idea. And here's the other side of that that dude has pride, he has ego, and so instead of saying, hey, james, you know, I don't, uh, you know, I don't know what the hell super heat means, they just nod. They don't get it. So why don't you try this instead? Your system's cooling power is weak. It's like trying to cook dinner on a stove that isn't quite getting enough gas. It works, but it's slow and wasteful and it's going to drive your energy bills through the roof. And it's going to drive your energy bills through the roof. Suddenly they feel the problem and that then, in turn, makes them want the solution. We repeat that Suddenly they feel You've got to make that customer feel the problem. If they don't feel the problem, they're not going to want the solution.

Corey Berrier: 8:14

And this is all in the tonality that you use. It's all in your body language, your hands, your facial expressions and, quite frankly, the words that you use really don't matter that much, except for when you're using words they don't understand, because if you're talking to me about some kind of craziness. Some engineer is talking to me about some kind of project he's working on. The second. He says something I don't understand. I'm sitting here in my brain while he's still telling me about this thing. I'm stuck on that very first thing in the first sentence that I don't understand. I'm trying to rack my brain, trying to figure out what this transformer he's talking about that powers the whole city. I can't really picture that, but I'm trying to. I'm trying to understand what he's talking about and therefore I've tuned out the rest of that conversation and therefore I've tuned out the rest of that conversation. And so if your customers are tuning out at the beginning of the conversation, then there's a very high chance, if not almost a guaranteed chance. But you're going to lose that customer. So you've got to make people feel the problem and want the solution.

Corey Berrier: 9:42

So three rules that you can go by of using customer friendly language. Let me just give you three quick ones uh and uh, just when you're explaining hvac problems to customers. So stuck in heating mode, instead of saying stuck in heating mode because I don't, you know that people don't know what that means. It's like a car stuck in reverse, you can't go forward until we fix the switch. You see how easy that is. You don't even have to be a car person to understand that. If your car is stuck in reverse and you can't go forward until they till we fix the switch, you got to fix the switch, right. But if you say stuck in heating mode, well I don't. You know the customer doesn't know what that means. You know what it means, but they have no idea what that means.

Corey Berrier: 10:32

Uh, so here's another one. Don't say replace your capacitor, say we'll get your system back to running efficiently and reliably before it fails on the hottest day of the year, right. Don't say replace capacitor, say we'll get your system back up and running effectively or efficiently, rather and reliably, before it fails on the hottest day of the year. Do you see what I just did there? I made you feel this was going to fail on the hottest day of the year. And after you explain you can say hey, did that make sense? And this shows that you care. It builds a connection and it gives them space to ask questions. And so, unfortunately, because I'm in this industry and I asked that question, did that make sense? So many times my girlfriend is like dude. If you ask me if that makes sense, again, I'm going to wring your neck because I'm in such, I'm in such a such. I'm so used to saying it so much. I say it to her all the time. So let's talk about, let's talk about, let's talk about techs in the ego, your ego. As Joe Crescero says, your ego is not your amigo. So I'm going to talk to the veteran technicians.

Corey Berrier: 12:06

Sometimes we hang on to jargon because it makes us feel smart and, let's be honest, it is part of the craft. It took you years to learn this stuff, but clarity isn't dumbing it down, it's lifting them up to your level. You're, you know, you're a, you're an expert in the field. You've been around for 10, 12, 15 years, whatever it is 20 years, 30 years. But when you clarify and help dumb it down, it's not making you look stupid, it's making that customer. It's bringing them up to your level by giving them these analogies. And you know, the best people in the business, the best people in the business can make complicated things sound simple. But the real mastery here is that's what sets you apart.

Corey Berrier: 13:21

And if you can't do that, if you can't change your technical jargon, if you can't change your language patterns, then you sound like everybody else. I mean, this is absolutely key to being different. If five guys are going to show up to sell a system, right, this happens often three guys, whatever it is, and all three of you, or four of you, or five of you sound exactly the same. Well, then it comes down to price, because you're all the same it, even if you've got a you know the top shelf, whatever Daikin system or Gree ion system or whatever it is right, the most efficient, the most everything. If you sound like everybody else, then you're going to sound just like the guy selling the cheapest Goodman or the cheapest uh, whatever, fill in the blank. So I've coached hundreds of technicians and comfort advisors and leaders and the ones who grow fast in revenue, repeat customers and referrals. All share this one thing in common. All share this one thing in common they communicate clearly.

Corey Berrier: 14:36

When the homeowner says you're the first person who ever made this make sense to me, you've already won the sale and you've probably got a fan for life, because they can relate to you and if you're relatable, they want to do business with you. If you're unrelatable, if you're talking in jargon, you're, you know. If you want to sound smart, that's fine, but you're going to lose maybe not every time, but you're going to lose more times than you want to, for sure. And listen, you want, as Tony Robbins says, you want raving fans. You want a fan for life, because that means it's a customer for life. It means they're going to call the company and ask for you personally, right. So that's what you're looking for, that's what you want, that's what I want. Repeat customers, repeat happy customers. You know it's really nice going to a home that you've been to before that they called you for you specifically. Whatever their problem is, they're going to accept whatever you say, because you're the professional and you've built a relationship with them and you've helped them not feel stupid.

Corey Berrier: 15:45

So let's recap some easy wins Stop using phrases like superheat or TXV restriction or piston metering. Start saying things like not cooling right, blocked cooling valve, older part causing inefficiency. Use analogies cars, stoves, clogged arteries, traffic jams, anything that paints the picture. See, here's the idea. You've got to paint the picture of the problem, and painting the picture means you've got to have relatable verbiage that can make sense, and in that you've got to paint the pain in that same picture. Remember I said earlier. You know your system's going to die on the hottest day of the year. Well, that doesn't sound very fun to anybody, right? So just remember, you're the guide, you are the hero. You're helping them understand the monster, their system that's broken, so they can overcome it.

Corey Berrier: 16:50

And you know, hvac is a technical field, but communication is an emotional one.

Corey Berrier: 17:00

And when you learn how to speak to a customer's, you know at a customer's level, they'll not only trust you but they'll buy from you, which is what we want. You know, if you build trust, people will buy from you, I promise you. So here's my challenge to you this week just pick one technical concept, rewrite how you explain it to the homeowner, put it in chat, gpt, try it on your next call and watch how it changes the conversation. And I promise you, I promise you it's going to feel a little bit awkward, it's going to feel a little bit weird and you're going to feel like you're dumbing it down because you're smart. You're the smartest guy in the room, but you don't need to be the smartest guy in the room. So look, if this episode was good for you, do me a favor. Share it on social media. Give us a five-star review. It really helps more people find the podcast and I appreciate you listening to the Successful Life Podcast and we'll see you next Friday.