6 Power Words That Close Deals

Your words are currency in the trades—every phrase either builds trust or destroys it in seconds. When your technician says "I think this might help" versus "This is the best solution based on what I'm seeing, and here's why," they're not just changing words—they're changing your company's revenue potential.

This powerful episode dives deep into the psychology of service business communication, revealing why customers don't actually buy plumbing or HVAC solutions—they buy certainty, peace of mind, and problems being removed from their plate. When your team sounds uncertain, it triggers customer fear, delays decisions, and costs your company thousands in lost revenue every week.

I share practical training methods you can implement immediately, including how to upgrade your team's common phrases, role-play objection handling, and customize language for different customer personality types. The DISC profile breakdown alone will transform how your team communicates—Dominant customers want bottom lines, Influencers need emotional connection, Steady types seek comfort, and Analytical folks crave details.

The results speak for themselves. One plumbing company implemented these language techniques and watched their close rate jump 20% with a 15% ticket size increase in just 60 days—same team, same service, new words. This isn't just about sales; your leadership language shapes your entire company culture and sets the foundation for success.

Ready to transform your service business through the power of words? Start by auditing your team's language, upgrading five key phrases, and implementing weekly role-play sessions. Remember: certainty sells, language leads, and culture starts with the words you train. This is the separator between a million-dollar shop and a $10 million shop—and it begins with the next sentence your technician says at the customer's door.

Leave a review on Apple Podcasts to help us reach more professionals who could benefit from these proven communication strategies. Your support helps us continue providing actionable insights you can implement immediately for real business growth.

https://coreyberrier.gumroad.com/

Chapters

• 0:00 Language as Your Most Powerful Tool
• 5:05 Phrases That Build vs. Erode Trust
• 6:57 Training Your Team's Communication
• 9:01 Handling Objections With Confidence
• 10:07 Tailoring Language to Customer Types
• 11:29 Creating a Language-Driven Culture
• 13:41 Action Plan for Word Improvement

Transcript

Corey Berrier: 1:25

Welcome to the Successful Life Podcast. I'm your host, Corey Berrier, and if you're a plumber, an HVAC tech, a CSR comfort advisor or you run a shop in the trades, today's episode is designed to sharpen the most powerful tool. You've got your words, that's right. Not your drain machine, not your torch, not your tablet your language, because how your team communicates with customers directly impacts whether you close the job, earn trust and drive long-term revenue or walk away with a we'll think about it and a phone that never rings back. So we're going to cover six things today why your words either build or destroy trust in seconds. Real world examples of weak versus strong phrasing. How to train your team to speak with clarity and confidence. How to handle objections with emotional intelligence. How words shape your company culture and the disk profiles of your customers. And what to say based on who you're talking to. Let's dive in. Why language is currency in the trades. Let me just make this clear In this business, your words are currency. Every word is either on investment in trust or a withdrawal from it, and most of the time, the customer doesn't understand the work, but they do understand how you make them feel. They do understand how you make them feel so. When your tech says I think this might help, that teeny phrase sounds unsure and uncertainty is deadly in the sales process. Now compare that to. This is the best solution based on what I'm seeing, and here's why. That phrase sounds like you've done this a thousand times. It sounds like you're in good hands and you haven't even turned a wrench yet. Phrases that erode versus build trust. Let's look at a few more side-by-side examples. I want you to picture your team saying these things in the field I just want I just wanted to follow up Instead of I'm following up to make sure you've got what you need to move forward. What's your budget? What investments are you comfortable making to get this resolved long-term? Yeah, it's a bit pricey. This is a long-term solution that protects your home and saves you money down the line. I guess we could try this. Here's what I recommend, based on my experience, and why it works. I don't know. Let me find out and get you a clear answer. I've got you.

Corey Berrier: 4:43

These aren't just word swaps. They're mindset shifts. They move your team from reactive to proactive, from unsure to certain. Here's the psychology behind it. Let me tell you something most people don't realize. People don't buy plumbing or HVAC solutions. They buy certainty. They buy peace of mind. They buy problems off their plate. When your team sounds unsure, it triggers fear. The customer doesn't know if they're making the right decision and so they delay. That delay costs your company sometimes thousands in lost opportunities per week.

Corey Berrier: 5:32

Here's how you can train the language into your team. Now you might be thinking and nodding along yeah, corey, that makes sense, but how do I actually get my team to use this no-transcript? So write down the 10 most common things your team says during opening a call, presenting a solution, handling objections, asking for the sale, and then, as a group, rewrite them to sound confident, helpful and value-driven. Here's an example I want to see if you're ready to move forward, becomes, let's get this started so you're not dealing with this problem any longer. All right, so let's say you pair two people up with a role-play objection handling exercise. So pair your team One plays the customer, one is the tech or the CSR and use real objections. That's too expensive.

Corey Berrier: 6:51

I need to talk to my spouse, I don't know if it's the right time. Then respond first with the old way, then the new power language. Totally understand. Let's walk through the value so you can make a confident decision. When you do talk to your spouse, do it in the meeting, make it fun, make it fast, repeat until it feels natural. And it's so important to do this within the organization, with your team members, because then you're not losing money practicing on your customers.

Corey Berrier: 7:31

Objections are opportunities if you use the right words. Let's break that down. Here's how to reframe five of the most common objections your team faces. That's more than I was expecting. Here's a weak response. Yeah, I get that it is a bit high, opposed to absolutely. And here's why it's worth every penny. It saves you $500 a year in utilities and comes with a full 10-year warranty.

Corey Berrier: 8:03

I need to talk to my spouse? Here's a weak way. No problem, just let me know. Here's the right way, of course. And would it be helpful if I gave you a simple summary or even jumped on a quick call with you both to answer any questions you might have? Well, what if it doesn't work? A weak response. We hope it will. It usually does. Here's the right response. We're confident because we've done this dozens of times with the same issue. And if it doesn't solve the root, we'll credit it towards the next step.

Corey Berrier: 8:42

Know who you're talking to. And this is like disk profile stuff. So just to break disk profile down if you're not familiar with that. So different customers need to hear things differently and here's kind of a quick breakdown. So disk, the disk traits, the disk type traits, I should say, are made up of four items, hence why it says disk D-I-S-C, dominant. You know dominant is like. Here's the bottom line. This will fix the issue fast and right. Influencer, you got to have an emotional connection. You're going to love how smooth this is. We make it easy. Here's a steady Trust and comfort. This is a proven solution we've done for hundreds of homes just like yours Compliant. There weren't details like your analytical people, data. Here's a breakdown of what we're doing, why it works and how it compares to other options.

Corey Berrier: 9:50

Train your team to read the room and adjust their tone and phrasing. That's pro-level communication. So your words, owners, shape your culture. Let me just take this beyond sales for a minute. The language your leadership uses sets the tone for the entire business. If your ops manager walks into a meeting and says I just need a quick update, the word just signals apology, weakness. Instead they should say give me a quick update so we can stay on schedule. See the difference there. Words also impact how your team respects each other, how they report problems, how confident they feel bringing ideas to the table. Strong, respectful, intentional language doesn't just sell more, it builds culture.

Corey Berrier: 10:52

Real example from the field. Let me give you a real world example here. I talked with a plumbing company doing about 200K a month in revenue. They were leaving another 250K on the table every single month. Why? Because their techs were afraid to sound confident. They'd say I'm not sure, maybe this will help. They got ghosted constantly. We trained them for 30 days on power language. Fast forward 60 days. Their close rate jumped by 20% and their ticket size increased by 15%. Same team, same service, new words.

Corey Berrier: 11:32

Next, I want you to think about auditing your words. Here's an action plan for the week. Listen to three service calls and write down the week language. Pick five phrases your team says and upgrade them. Practice one role play a week or, if you want to be real good, do it two or three times a week. So if you want to take this further, then you want to make a plan. You want to make a plan and stick with it. You want to make a plan and make sure that you follow that plan. So let's land this plane In the trades. Words build trust. Trust drives action. Action drives revenue. Your team already has the technical skills. Now it's time to give them the language that matters, or that matches, rather. Remember certainty sells. Language leads. Culture starts with the words you allow and the ones you train. So train it. This is the edge. This is the separator between a million-dollar shop and a $10 million shop. And it all starts with the next sentence your tech says at the door Look, thanks for tuning in this week.

Corey Berrier: 12:56

I appreciate you sticking around. I appreciate you subscribing to the door. Look, thanks for tuning in this week. I appreciate you sticking around. I appreciate you subscribing to the podcast. I appreciate the reviews that you leave and I appreciate the messages that I get about how it's helped your team. Do me a favor If you're one of those people that haven't left a review yet, go to Apple Podcasts, go to Spotify. You can't leave a review on Spotify, but you can certainly leave one on Apple Podcasts, and that helps us to reach more people, and so this is vitally important to the show, and I do this show because I really enjoy it. I really enjoy giving information that you can actually put into practice and work on, and all I ask is that you help me out with the review. Could you do that? I would really appreciate it. So, listen, we'll see you next week and thank you for listening.