Sales Training. Close It Now!

Hosted by Sam Wakefield

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300

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Oct 2026

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About the show

Closing sales in home services can feel overwhelming and high-pressure. In every episode, we break down the key components of a successful sales conversation and guide you all the way to the close. From building a winning appointment structure to overcoming real-world objections, we cover it all. Whether you’re brand new or a seasoned pro, this show is your blueprint for selling with confidence and clarity.

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60 recent

October 22, 202644 min

The Bucket Method: How to Get Homeowners Unstuck

You’re mid-appointment. The homeowner should know the answer. Instead they go quiet, deer in the headlights, repeating themselves, qualifying what they just said. It’s not resistance. It’s confusion, and pushing harder from here only makes it worse. Sam breaks down the exact tool to get them unstuck: the Bucket Method. In this episode: Why “ask more open-ended questions” is the wrong move the moment someone freezes The real difference between resistance and confusion in an appointment Why “I need to think about it” isn’t always a stall tactic The exact moment to shift from open-ended to closed-ended questions Why people correct a wrong label faster than they’ll build their own answer from nothing The Bucket Method explained, and why an imperfect bucket still works A full walkthrough of the repair vs replace conversation using this method A four-bucket approach for handling hesitation at the close Why this tool works in any conversation where someone’s stuck deciding, not just sales Connect with Sam Wakefield: Website: https://www.closeitnow.net Email: sam@closeitnow.net Instagram: @therealcloseitnow Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/samuel.l.wakefield LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/closeitnow/ Join the Community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/closeitnow Beyond the Sales Script, December 8 & 9 in Round Rock, Texas: This episode is a preview of what Sam and Scott Sylvan Bell are teaching live this December, the skills that live past the script, the ones that separate a rep who’s mastered the process from one who can read the person in front of them in real time. Capped at 30 seats. Watch the free training replay: https://www.beyondthesalesscript.com Register: https://www.closeitnow.net Bring This Training to Your Team: Sam travels nationwide to deliver on-site training for home services companies serious about raising their close rate and average ticket. Half day classroom, half day ride-alongs. Your team, your market, your systems. Book a call with Sam: https://www.closeitnow.net/contact Leave a review on Apple Podcasts or Google. Every review gets read, and if yours gets read on air you earn a no-charge one-on-one coaching session with Sam directly. Google: https://g.page/r/CbfnnDqTCwQdEAE/review

October 9, 20261 hr 8 min

From Addiction to Top 5% Sales Rep: Kenny Long’s Recovery Story

From Addiction to Top 5% Sales Rep: Kenny Long’s Recovery Story Kenny Long has 26 years in the trades and is a top 5 percent earner in HVAC sales. He is also in recovery, and the two are not separate stories. They are the same one. Sam sits down with Kenny for a conversation that goes beyond sales technique into the place most trades conversations never go: addiction, identity, and what it actually takes to rebuild a life and a career at the same time. Kenny talks openly about the rock bottom that nearly cost him everything, the moment he realized he couldn’t do it alone, and how that same lesson reshaped the way he sells and serves customers today. This episode also gets into what predatory sales practices look like from the inside, why Kenny walked away from a company that was grinding him down even while he was making great money there, and what it means to build a sales career on honesty instead of pressure. What you’ll learn: Kenny’s 26 years across HVAC, electrical, and plumbing, and how he became a top 5 percent earner in the industry The rock bottom moment that led him into recovery, and why he couldn’t do it alone How the shift from self-centered to service-focused changed the way he sells What JCPenney pricing and other predatory sales tactics look like from inside a company Why burnout and grind culture in the trades can quietly cost people everything What it means to build a sales career you can actually be proud of Kenny’s advice for anyone in the trades who’s in that dark place right now If this episode helped you, share it with someone who needs to hear it, in or outside the trades. Leave a review on Apple Podcasts or Google, and if yours gets read on air, you earn a no-charge one-on-one coaching session with Sam directly. Review link: https://g.page/r/CbfnnDqTCwQdEAE/review Connect with Kenny Long: Facebook: facebook.com/kenny.long.946517 Instagram: instagram.com/heelyeah82 Work with Sam: Website: closeitnow.net Coaching & Training: closeitnow.net/coaching Email: sam@closeitnow.net Go be somebody worth buying from.

October 2, 20261 hr 27 min

The First Electrician Episode of Close It Now (with Homer Coffman)

The First Electrician Episode of Close It Now (with Homer Coffman) Electricians get almost no training content built for them, and most of what does exist is the same rigid script every other trade has been handed for years. That's not what this episode is. Sam sits down with Homer Coffman, owner of HIT (Highly Intuitive Technician Training), for the first electrician-focused episode in over 300 episodes of this podcast. Homer built his entire training model around ride-alongs instead of classrooms, because the guys who struggle most in a sit-down training session are often the same guys who are brilliant once they're actually in the house. What you'll learn: Why Homer stopped calling it sales training and started calling it a service call The statistic on how rarely homeowners call an electrician, and why that makes follow-up non-negotiable The "expand" method: how to open up a call without turning it into a sales pitch The who/what/when/where/why framework for questions that actually get answers The scale of 1 to 10 question that uncovers what a homeowner really wants fixed A simple AI trick that shows a customer exactly what better lighting would look like before they buy it Staying in the house versus going out to the truck to build options, and why "it depends" is the honest answer Why personality, not a script, is what actually makes a technician great at this Leave a review on Apple Podcasts or Google, and if yours gets read on air, you earn a no-charge one-on-one coaching session with Sam directly. Review link: https://g.page/r/CbfnnDqTCwQdEAE/review Connect with Homer Coffman: HIT — Highly Intuitive Technician Training Website: getyourhitt.com Facebook: facebook.com/HLCoffmanjr Instagram: instagram.com/getyourhitt LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/highly-intuitive-technician-training Email: homer@getyourhitt.com Work with Sam: Website: closeitnow.net Coaching & Training: closeitnow.net/coaching Email: sam@closeitnow.net Go be somebody worth buying from.

September 28, 20261 hr 12 min

Private Equity, AI, and the Future of Home Services with Everett Lippel

Private Equity, AI, and the Future of Home Services with Everett Lippel Everyone in this industry is chasing the same buzzwords right now. Provide value. Automate everything. Scale fast. Almost nobody is asking what gets lost along the way. Sam sits down with Everett Lippel, host of So I Was In This House, for a wide-open conversation on where home services is headed. Two guys who have been in this industry for close to two decades, comparing notes on private equity roll-ups, AI in sales and service, and why candor and human connection might be the real competitive edge as the industry gets more automated. What you'll learn: Why "provide value" became a punchline, and what real, authentic content actually looks like Everett's philosophy: don't trip over bags of cash on the way to your process Why a phone tree built for office convenience can cost you the customer Private equity roll-ups, market consolidation, and what happens when companies chase percentage points instead of dollars Where AI and virtual sales genuinely help, and where they gut the humanity out of a business Sam's announcement on the Sales Agoge, a two-day live in-person training with Scott Sylvan Bell, capped at 12 people, this December Leave a review on Apple Podcasts or Google, and if yours gets read on air, you earn a no-charge one-on-one coaching session with Sam directly. Review link: https://g.page/r/CbfnnDqTCwQdEAE/review Connect with Everett Lippel: So I Was In This House — Service and Sales Tales YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@soiwasinthishouse Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/soiwasinthishouse/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/soiwasinthishouse Work with Sam: Website: closeitnow.net Coaching & Training: closeitnow.net/coaching Email: sam@closeitnow.net Go be somebody worth buying from.

September 23, 202633 min

The 3 Bid Objection: What to Say When They Push Back at the Door

The 3 Bid Objection: What to Say When They Push Back at the Door "We're getting three bids" is not rejection. It is a smoke screen, and most reps fall for it in the first ten seconds. In this episode, Sam breaks down what is actually happening the moment a homeowner tries to take control of the appointment before it starts, and the exact word tracks for handling it. This is the psychology of prizing, why you are the prize and not the homeowner, and how to hold your posture without begging for the business. What you'll learn: Why "what can we do to earn your business" destroys your posture before you even start The concept of prizing, and why remembering who called who changes everything The exact word track for handling "we're getting three bids" at the door How to ask questions that get the homeowner reselling themselves on why they called you The power question that reopens a closed door without sounding pushy A logic-path word track for sales resistance, usable anywhere in the appointment Why "I hear you" works better than "I understand" How to hold your frame and still serve at the highest level without begging Leave a review on Apple Podcasts or Google, and if yours gets read on air, you earn a no-charge one-on-one coaching session with Sam directly. Review link: https://g.page/r/CbfnnDqTCwQdEAE/review Work with Sam: Website: closeitnow.net Coaching & Training: closeitnow.net/coaching Email: sam@closeitnow.net Go be somebody worth buying from.

September 9, 20261 hr 9 min

From 412 Pounds to the Bodybuilding Stage and $21M | Discipline, Business, and the Power of Small Wins | Ruben Sanchez

At 412 pounds, Ruben Sanchez was waking up in the middle of the night gasping for air. Pre-diabetic. Sleep apnea so severe his wife begged him to do something. And running a second generation HVAC company at the southern tip of Texas that his father started in a garage in 1985. He decided not to wait for the CPAP machine. He decided to start moving. Four years later Ruben is nine and a half percent body fat, two weeks out from stepping on a bodybuilding stage in Houston, and leading Colair Inc. to a projected $21 million year across two locations. And everything he learned about discipline, tracking, plateaus, and stacking small wins maps directly onto what it took to build a business that dominates its market. In this episode: How waking up gasping for air became the tipping point that changed everything Why Ruben started moving before the CPAP machine arrived The connection between tracking calories and knowing your business numbers Why you are not hitting a plateau, your metabolism just slowed down and what to do about it The reverse diet strategy that breaks a fat loss stall and how it mirrors a business pivot From 412 pounds to sub ten percent body fat, what the journey actually looked like Why measuring in grams instead of ounces changes everything The all or nothing mindset that keeps most people stuck and how to break out of it How Colair grew from under a million to a projected $21M with two locations Their best month ever, $2.3 million in August, and what made it possible The one question their CSRs started asking that Ruben estimates has added $20 million in revenue over the years How they use donut and free tune up days at RV parks to dominate the winter snowbird market Why green fielding a second location from scratch is harder than acquiring a book of business Stack small wins, the one piece of advice that runs through every part of this conversation What competing in bodybuilding at 41 has to do with being a market dominator in business Connect with Ruben Sanchez: Instagram (fitness journey): @rusty_nayls Instagram (business): @mr.ruben Facebook: Ruben Sanchez Company: Colair HVAC, South Texas Connect with Sam Wakefield: Website: https://www.closeitnow.net Email: sam@closeitnow.net Instagram: @therealcloseitnow Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/samuel.l.wakefield LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/closeitnow/ Join the Community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/closeitnow Bring This Training to Your Team: Sam travels nationwide to deliver on-site training for home services companies serious about raising their close rate and average ticket. Half day classroom, half day ride-alongs. Your team, your market, your systems. Book a call with Sam: calendar.app.google/KZH1j2Q1MAXTKbT38 Leave a review on Apple Podcasts or Google. Every review gets read, and if yours gets read on air you earn a no-charge one-on-one coaching session with Sam directly. Google: https://g.page/r/CbfnnDqTCwQdEAE/review

September 1, 20261 hr 19 min

They Said Nothing Would Change,Then Everything Did. The PE episode. | Josh Baca

They said nothing would change. Then everything did. Sam Wakefield and Josh Baca have both lived the private equity acquisition from the front lines. Not from the boardroom. Not from the highlight reel. From the trucks, the sales calls, and the moments when you realize the company you believed in has become something you no longer recognize. Josh spent three and a half years and closed $10.6 million in sales before making his exit. Sam lasted six weeks after the sale before handing in his notice the same afternoon a GM suggested offering a homeowner a box of filters instead of fixing the drywall his crew cracked. This is that conversation. In this episode: How Sam found out his company sold in an all hands meeting disguised as an insurance enrollment Why 80% turnover in the first year after a PE sale is more common than anyone admits What private equity does well and where it consistently breaks down Why the culture always fractures from the top down and what could be done differently How lead quality and qualification standards quietly erode after an acquisition Why the people who were there from the beginning feel it the hardest The comment that was the straw that broke the camel's back for Josh What it looks like to exit professionally when everything in you wants to walk out Why your skill set in this industry is repeatable, scalable, and fully portable How to channel frustration into your next move instead of burning bridges on the way out Connect with Josh Baca: TikTok: @joshbaca5 Instagram: josh.baca.716 Facebook: Josh Baca Email: boss76.jb@gmail.com Connect with Sam Wakefield: Website: https://www.closeitnow.net Email: sam@closeitnow.net Instagram: @therealcloseitnow Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/samuel.l.wakefield LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/closeitnow/ Join the Community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/closeitnow Want Sam and Josh at your company for a full day of training and ride-alongs? Loop both in on the same email. sam@closeitnow.net | boss76.jb@gmail.com Book with Sam: calendar.app.google/KZH1j2Q1MAXTKbT38 Leave a review on Apple Podcasts or Google. Every review gets read, and if yours gets read on air you earn a no-charge one-on-one coaching session with Sam directly. Google: https://g.page/r/CbfnnDqTCwQdEAE/review

August 21, 20261 hr 15 min

Branding Won't Save a Broken Business | Dan Antonelli, Kickcharge Creative

Great branding will never fix poor operations. It will only make poor operations more visible, more expensive, and harder to recover from. Dan Antonelli has been in the branding world for over 40 years. He started hand lettering trucks at 15 years old, built Kickcharge Creative into the most recognized branding company in home services, added a full digital marketing division serving 60 to 70 home service companies, and now owns a vehicle wrap company. Branding, start to finish, under one roof. He has seen what happens when a brand is done right and rolled out correctly. And he has seen what happens when a company invests in a great brand and then does nothing with it. In this episode he and Sam pull back the curtain on both. In this episode: Why great branding accelerates good operations and destroys bad ones The number one mistake contractors make when naming their company Why visibility is only one piece of what a brand is supposed to do How Economy Plumbing rebranded as Plumbing Pals and increased average tickets by $200 per call Why a sales rep went from a $12,000 average ticket to $18,500 after a rebrand What branding does to consumer psychology and why it has not changed in 100 years Why your brand should be built for her, not for you The difference between a brand that becomes culture and a brand that becomes eye candy How bad rollout kills a good brand before it ever gets a chance to work Why you should fix your systems before investing in branding if you only have one set of dollars When a startup should invest in branding and what needs to be in place first When an existing company is ready to rebrand and what has to be dialed in before they pull the trigger Why AI is not part of their process and what 200 combined years of experience actually brings to a project Connect with Dan Antonelli and Kickcharge Creative: Website: kickchargecreative.com Book: Branded Not Blanded, available on Amazon Connect with Sam Wakefield: Website: https://www.closeitnow.net Email: sam@closeitnow.net Instagram: @therealcloseitnow Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/samuel.l.wakefield LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/closeitnow/ Join the Community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/closeitnow Bring This Training to Your Team: Sam travels nationwide to deliver on-site training for home services companies serious about raising their close rate and average ticket. Half day classroom, half day ride-alongs. Your team, your market, your systems. Book a call with Sam: calendar.app.google/KZH1j2Q1MAXTKbT38 Leave a review on Apple Podcasts or Google. Every review gets read, and if yours gets read on air you earn a no-charge one-on-one coaching session with Sam directly. Google: https://g.page/r/CbfnnDqTCwQdEAE/review

August 14, 20261 hr 19 min

ADHD, Autism, and the Trades | Normalizing Neurodiversity in Home Services | Dr. Matt Vorell

One in five people are neurodivergent. Half of them do not know it. And in home services and the trades, the number is likely even higher. The autonomy, the problem solving, the independence, the hands-on nature of the work attracts a certain kind of brain. And that brain, whether it carries an ADHD diagnosis, an autism spectrum disorder, or just a lifelong feeling of being wired differently, is showing up every day in your trucks, on your sales calls, and in your leadership seats. Dr. Matt Vorell is a PhD in Organizational Communication from the University of Colorado and a professor at St. Cloud State University. He is autistic, academically credentialed, and deeply passionate about normalizing this conversation in the workplace. His message is simple: different, not less. In this episode: Why the trades attract a higher likelihood of neurodivergent individuals than most industries What autism spectrum disorder actually is and what it is not The difference between top-down and bottom-up thinking and what it reveals about your team Why 90% of autistic individuals are either under or unemployed Why 75 to 80% of autistic individuals never disclose their status at work How masking works and the toll it takes on the people doing it every day The vaccine and Tylenol claims debunked directly by someone who has studied this for decades The double empathy problem and why communication responsibility has to go both ways How to give instructions, write emails, and assign tasks in ways that actually land How one manager turned her lowest performing employee into her top performer in two months Practical tools including AI as a communication translator for neurodivergent individuals Books and resources to go deeper Recommended Resources: Temple Grandin - Different, Not Less Neurodiversity at Work by Theo Smith Kaylin Partlow on TikTok Professor Saul on TikTok Connect with Dr. Matt Vorell: LinkedIn: search Dr. Matt Vorell, Connect with Sam Wakefield: Website: https://www.closeitnow.net Email: sam@closeitnow.net Instagram: @therealcloseitnow Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/samuel.l.wakefield LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/closeitnow/ Join the Community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/closeitnow Bring This Training to Your Team: Sam travels nationwide to deliver on-site training for home services companies serious about building a culture people want to stay in. Half day classroom, half day ride-alongs. Your team, your market, your systems. Book a call with Sam: calendar.app.google/KZH1j2Q1MAXTKbT38 Leave a review on Apple Podcasts or Google. Every review gets read, and if yours gets read on air you earn a no-charge one-on-one coaching session with Sam directly. Google: https://g.page/r/CbfnnDqTCwQdEAE/review

August 7, 20261 hr 3 min

Recognize the 7 Mind Types - How Top Performers Speak Their Customer's Language

Recognize the 7 Mind Types - How Top Performers Speak Their Customer's Language Most salespeople treat every customer the same way. They use one pitch. One approach. One way of communicating. And it doesn't work for everyone. The problem isn't you. The problem is you're not reading the person in front of you. You're not recognizing their mind type. Today Sam sits down with Ridgely Goldsborough, a serial entrepreneur who's started forty-five companies, authored twenty books, and was Jim Rohn's voice in Latin America for decades. In this episode, Ridgely teaches you how to recognize the seven different mind types so you can adapt your communication and close more deals. What You'll Learn: The seven mind types and how to spot them instantly. The Giver loves to make a difference. The Connector values trust above all else. The Problem Solver needs data to make sense of things. The Innovator always wants a better way. The Perfectionist does things right. The Rebel challenges everything. The Master wants depth. Each one is wired differently. Each one communicates differently. Why knowing someone's mind type changes everything. Once you know their mind type, you know their communication keywords. Use those words and they respond as strongly as they respond to their own name. That builds trust. That closes deals. How each mind type has a superpower and a kryptonite. The Giver's superpower is causes. Their kryptonite is overcommitment. The Connector's superpower is trust. Their kryptonite is waste. The Problem Solver's superpower is solutions. Their kryptonite is paralysis when they don't have enough data. Every mind type is exceptional at something and struggles with something else. Knowing yours means you can play to your strength and manage your weakness. Why people who think like you are easy to work with, and why everyone else is difficult. When you don't understand someone's mind type, you clash. The Giver overwhelms the Connector. The Problem Solver frustrates the Innovator. The Perfectionist stifles the Rebel. But when you understand each other's mind type, everything changes. How your personal philosophy shapes which mind type you are. What you read, listen to, watch, and who you hang around with forges who you become. That determines your mind type. That determines how you communicate. That determines your results. Potential beats talent every single time. Someone twenty percent good making one hundred calls talks to twenty people. Someone fifty percent good making ten calls talks to five. Effort beats talent. Volume beats skill. The person willing to work is the person who wins. Why This Matters: If you're struggling to close deals, you probably already know how to sell. The problem is you're not reading the person in front of you. You're using the wrong approach for the wrong mind type. This episode teaches you to recognize the seven mind types so you can adapt your communication instantly. That skill changes your close rate. About Ridgely Goldsborough: Serial entrepreneur who's started forty-five companies. Author of twenty books. Studied alongside Jim Rohn as his voice in Latin America. Two master's degrees. Studied Buddhism, personal development, and human psychology. Now runs Local Market Dominator, helping contractors and home service businesses get found online and convert prospects into customers. Ridgely's Resources: Mind Types Framework and Communication Keywords List: Search "Mind Types" online or email Sam at sam@closeitnow.net and he'll send you everything Ridgely has created. Free AI and Online Visibility Audit: Go to https://www.localmarketdominator.com . Understand how people are finding you online and what happens when they do. Ridgely offers free audits on traffic and conversion for any business. Work with Sam: Website: https://www.closeitnow.net Coaching and training: https://www.closeitnow.net/coaching Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/closeitnow Email: sam@closeitnow.net Book a call: https://calendar.app.google/KZH1j2Q1MAXTKbT38 Three Ways to Work with Sam: One: On-site training. Half-day classroom plus half-day ride-alongs with your team. Two: Virtual training. Same frameworks, delivered remotely for teams or individuals. Three: The Build. Company scaling partnership with Doug C. Brown. You built the revenue. We help you build the business. Leave a Review: Five-star review on Apple Podcasts gets you a free one-hour coaching session with Sam. Message Sam with your review and you're in. Google Review Link: https://g.page/r/CbfnnDqTCwQdEAE/review

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