Stop Saying "Only" and "Just": The Words That Kill Your Value

Welcome to FOSITNAL.

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Let's get to work.

Now you're host, Sam Wakefield.

Let me ask you a question.

When was the last time you heard a Mercedes commercial say it's only $95,000, or a Porsche

salesperson tell you it's just $120,000 for the base model?

Never.

Because premium brands don't justify their price.

So why are you?

Every time you say only or just in front of a number, you're telling the homeowner two

things.

One, you don't believe in your value, and two, they probably shouldn't either.

Hey, I'm Sam Wakefield.

This is Closet Now.

Welcome to another episode of Drive Time University.

Welcome back.

I am glad you're here.

Got a couple quick announcements before we get into this content.

This is going to be a good one today.

We're talking about the power of language.

You're talking about your word choice and how not even realizing it, you can completely

dismantle the every bit of the posture and the value that you've been working so hard

to build throughout your entire presentation.

So that is what is in store today.

Before we get into that, I have a review I want to read and I want to cover a quick announcement

and then we're going to hop on in and get going here.

First of all, thanks for everybody for hanging in.

I know we didn't have an episode last week because I was on spring break.

Can I share a win with everybody?

I had four the first time and there's something, a choice that was made for most of my life

of clearly, but now I'm making the right choices.

There comes a time in your life when you actually have to do what you say.

You have to live what you preach and so last week was spring break for my kids and we

took a family vacation for the first time ever that was not work related, which was awesome.

So I hope you do the same thing for you and your family.

Remember, the reason we do this is for them, not so we can miss life with them.

So take that moment, do the thing that you've been putting off because I will tell you,

your kids are not going to look back and remember that big business deal that you did

or that big sell that you made, but they are going to go look back and remember those

memories and those moments that you had with them.

And so just remember that, make the choices today to move your life forward in the way

it needs to, not the way you have been planning or we should or we're going to.

So do that.

So got a quick review, Mr. Ryan Shartrand, you have, this is one of my actually coaching

client of mine.

He came to my event in Boston in 2025 in May of 2025 and enrolled in my coaching program

at the time.

And so we've basically wrapped up nine months of coaching now and here's his review.

It was a poster a week ago.

It says, working with Sam and Closet now has been an incredible experience and investment

in my career.

I experienced a huge amount of growth in every area of my sales appointments from developing

a pre appointment introduction video to closing and working through the most difficult objections.

While working with Sam, I grew my yearly sales and income 30% over the previous year and

cannot wait to see how that growth continues this year.

So thank you, Ryan, that is awesome five star review.

I appreciate it as, sir, it is only the beginning.

And for everybody else out there, if you've ever gotten value from this podcast, then I'd

love if you left me a review, go to Google and leave me a review on Google or on Apple

podcast, either one, I appreciate it five stars.

And if I read your review on the show and you hear me, you will get a message me and we'll

do a free one hour coaching session.

So that is my gift to you for a leaving review because I'm grateful for every single one

of you who'd listen.

And yeah, and that's totally the numbers that happen almost every time.

It depends on where you're at or what it looks like growing.

If you're already doing crazy numbers, a 30% growth is pretty substantial, right?

And so I love helping people and that's where my heart is, which is really, really fun.

So which takes me to the next announcement or just a, just a quick little spot here,

the big focus right now in growing this business, in growing your business, helping you grow

your business is in a business optimization.

It's if they're, if they're, here's a fun way to say it.

If I could show you how you could get sales training for your team for free, would you

want to know about it?

And if the answer is yes, then reach out to me because there is a way that we can show

you how you already have both the money in your company that should have gone to the bottom

line.

So take what, if you're the owner, take whatever size of company or art, it doesn't matter.

Look at your numbers, get your calculator out.

And what is 15% of that number?

What's 20% of that number?

Because that's how much money we find every single time we look at a company that should

have gone into your operating capital, it should have gone into your pocketbook, should have

gone into your own bank account that didn't.

And so from that, that's where you have the money, you already have the money to grow

to invest to scale, to invest in sales training, to invest in all of the things that you need

to do to build your business, to get rid of the overwhelm.

So right now, if it feels like you keep bumping up against that same wall, like you are running

on fumes because you're living an overwhelm, because you have to do all the things.

Or if you, even if you have some managers in place, but it's like you just can't seem

to get past that wall that you've floated within that same range for year after year, reach

out, or you're only seeing incremental growth, reach out because this is what we do is optimize

your business and sales training is a huge portion of it.

And so you can email me, sam at closeitnow.net.

We just did an evaluation for a bath and kitchen remodeling company yesterday, in fact.

And they're sitting on some massive, massive opportunity that he couldn't even see.

It's like you can't see the forest for the trees because you're in it.

So we did the diagnostic and holy moly, he's sitting on a, on a fortune that should have

gone into his, into his bank account, literally we're, we're looking at with a couple simple

adjustments, he was going to triple the amount of net that was going into his bank account.

So it happens all the time.

So reach out to me, sam at closeitnow.net or go to closeitnow.net, fill out the form.

And we'll get back to you that way or join the Facebook group, go do, go find close

it now on Facebook, join the group, pop me a message on Facebook.

And we can have a serious conversation, no, no pressure to see if it's a fit.

And if it is, then you know, you'll see some serious, serious income coming in that you're,

you're already doing the work for, you're just not realizing it.

So with that being said, that so that is the growth catalyst program, which I have now

brought team in with massive experience in growing companies and, and of course, when

we combine both of us, it's just unsolvable.

So pretty exciting, between my experience and his experience, it's fun stuff.

So, yeah, so let's get into the content today.

I am excited about this episode because this is, we're building on the last couple episodes

that we, this is a standalone.

But if you want to get a little more context, go listen to the last couple of episodes,

and that'll give you more context into what we're going.

So at the last couple of weeks, we've talked about honoring the tipping point,

how how homeowners have already said yes by the time you show up.

And we talked about showing your work, building, you know, building the bridge,

they can see how you got to your solution.

Today, we're going to talk about something that undermines both of those things,

the language you use.

Specifically, two words that are killing your value before you ever present your number,

only and just.

Now, and now some of you are thinking, Sam, come on, it's just a word.

It doesn't matter that much, right?

It's like, come on, bro.

Because how you talk about your value reveals whether you actually believe in it.

And if you don't believe in it, why should they?

So here's the thing, words do matter.

Not because homeowners are sitting there, analyzing every syllable,

but because language comes from frames.

And so I'm going to do a whole series on frames and frame stacking coming up,

but frames create expectations.

Expectations determine how people perceive the value that you're presenting.

So when you say it's only $89 for the service call,

or it's just $3,500 for the install, you're not making it sound affordable,

you're making it sound like an apology.

And I want you to hear this because we get this idea from commercials.

When you listen to retail and they're hurry in, it's only $89 right now,

or hurry in, we're talking about a retail store.

They're talking about a shirt or something that you might see advertised on TV or radio.

And we hear it, and we hear it, and we hear it.

So it becomes part of our language, but what happens is your homeowners hear it too.

So let me explain what I mean, because this is, it's really, really,

really crucial that you start to get this so you can get your posture right.

So you can get your, everything about presentation,

because it's all about the frame of the presentation that determines the value.

It's not the value itself, it's how people perceive it.

A great example is a baseball card, or any kind of sports trading card.

I remember growing up, I had this huge set of baseball cards, and in my 13-year-old self's mind,

they were worth so much. But then when I got older, and I realized I don't really have

room to store these anymore, I need to get rid of them.

Imagine what happened with, you know, I remember having my old Beckett books and looking at the

values and just over and over and over, and they were all in order. I had them sorted by team and

by players. I could tell you all their stats. Then I got older and realized that,

man, I don't want to carry these things around my whole life. And surely they're worth something,

because the books said they are. And when I started to post them on eBay,

well, low and behold, they weren't worth nearly as much as I thought they would be,

because the value is only worth as much as someone will pay for it.

Well, you get to decide what the value is by how you present it. And it starts with how you

think about it. So think about it. When you use the word only, when you're trying to make something

sound smaller than it is, it's only a scratch. It's only a few miles out of the way. It's only

going to take a minute. You're minimizing. And that's fine when you're talking about an inconvenience

or a small thing. But when you use only in front of your price, you're telling the homeowner,

I know this sounds like a lot. So let me make it sound smaller. So you feel better about it.

That's not confidence. That's an apology. And the same thing happens with just. It's just 500

off. It's just a basic tune up. It's just a standard option. Every time you say just, you're shrinking

the value of what you're offering. You're saying, don't worry. It's not that big of a deal.

The thing is, it's not, if it's not a big deal to you, why would they invest in it?

People don't spend money on things that aren't a big deal. They spend money on things that matter.

Remember, we don't sell to the house. We sell to the person. The house doesn't write the check.

How does it pay the bill? The people pay the bill. And if your language is telling them it doesn't

matter, they won't buy it. So let's break this down. Why do we use these words in the first place?

Because if you're, if you're like me, if you're, the way my brain works is I have to know why

something before we talk about the thing. I have to know why it's happening or I'm just not

going to pay attention. So the reason we use these words in the first place, it's because we're

it's because you're uncomfortable with your own price. We think, man, that sounds like a lot.

I need to soften it. I need to justify it. I need to make them feel better about spending

this much. So we throw in an only or adjust to cushion the blow. Here's what we're actually doing

is you're undermining your own credibility. Because when you justify your price, you're telling the

homeowner, I'm not sure this is worth it either. And if you're not sure, why would they be?

Now, let me show you what this looks like in the real world. Let's talk about a service call.

And this doesn't matter what industry you're in. This is, you know, it's this blanket. This is

generic. It really doesn't matter. You can literally be, I was talking to my barber about this

today. In fact, it could literally be for a haircut. When the homeowner hears, I know 89 sounds

like a lot for you to have someone come look at your furnace. So I'm going to make it sound smaller.

That's what the homeowner hears. The right way to do it is the service calls 89 dollars.

That includes a full diagnostic safety inspection and a written report of what we find. Does that

work for you? That's the right language. Instead of, I know 89 sounds like a lot. So

right now, we don't need to do that. You say the price and you tell them what it includes.

What the homeowner hears when you say the service call is 89 dollars or enter your price, whatever

it is, the service call is 149 dollars. That includes a full diagnostic safety inspection and a

written report of what we find. Does that work for you? When the homeowner here and what they're hearing

in this, as you do that, is this is a professional service with real value. They are not apologizing

for it. And when you're not apologizing for it, they won't either. Can you start to feel the

difference here? I want you to think through how you talk about your process, about your pricing.

Think about how your phone people are talking about the pricing. So one sounds like you're trying

to convince them that it's not that much. The other sounds like you're confident in what you're

providing. That's a big difference. So let's go through another scenario. Bigger, you know,

bigger number. We're going to use, we'll use a capacity replacement, apply it to whatever your

industry is. It doesn't matter. So the wrong way, it's just $350 to replace the capacitor. Or

let's use another number, depending on where you're at, what part of the world, how you price?

It's just $650 to replace the capacitor. It's just $900 to replace the capacitor. It doesn't

matter. What the homeowner here is, this is a small thing. It's not that important. Maybe I don't

even need to do it right now. Or also what they're hearing. And my friend Doug Wyatt, he actually

talked about this at my event that I was referencing, is the other side of this, when we use a

just or an only, you don't know the people you're talking to. You don't know what their finances are.

And you're also only and applying just to their numbers. Because to you, it might be a small thing.

A $350 or $650, it might be a small amount to you. But to them, that might be a month's worth of

groceries. That might be taking their family to somewhere that they haven't gone in months,

and they finally saved up the amount. And now you're asking them to choose this over that important

thing in their life. And then when you apply a word to it like only or just, now you're making

it inconsequential when in their mind, it might be the biggest thing that's happened in six months

or a year. So there's so many different layers that come into this conversation when you start

trying to diminish things and apologize for that price when you try to reduce it. The fact is,

the price is the price. It doesn't matter what it is. The point is, you have to show,

you have to be confident in your pricing because we can't do the work for free. If we want to help

them, they have to pay us. So you have to be confident in your pricing and you have to be confident

in the value that you bring when you do when you do that work, if it's replacing a part,

if it's a replacement, if it's installation, it doesn't matter. So the right way is like with just

like we said a minute ago for the introductory call for the diagnostic. So I'll use the same

capacitor. We'll go with $650. That seems to be about the average that I see across the country

right now. So the right way would be the investment to replace the capacitor and get your system

running again is $650. That includes the part, the labor, and our warranty. Would you like to move

forward? What they hear now is this is what it takes to solve my problem. They're confident in

the value. Now, yes, absolutely. Before you message me and say, oh, Sam, but we didn't offer

options and all these things. Yes, absolutely. I get it. 100%. I'm a massive believer in options.

We have to have an option close. Let's set that aside for a second and don't hear what I'm not

saying. Hear what I am saying. It does it when you, and it's the same process when you present

options. This is the price. This is what it includes. Do you think this is a fit for you and your

family? This is the price. This is what it includes. Here's how we back it up. Does this seem like

the right option to you? So that's how you present options. It's the same thing. Quick side note,

and I'll do a whole series on options. But you always start. It's top down. Always start with

your largest option. Go through. This is everything it includes. In fact, actually, I would do

flip that. This is everything it includes. This is the price for it. This is how we back it up with

our warranties or guarantees. Do you think this is the right fit for you and your family? They

say, well, I don't know. Let's look at the other options. Okay. So as you step down through those

options, you go, okay, this includes everything. The option above it had except for it doesn't have

this thing. So it won't do this for your life. I'm not going to dive into it right now. I'll do a

whole other series on this. But here what I just said, as you go down through the options, you're

taking away the things it doesn't do. So that this does everything the option above it does

except for it doesn't do this, this, this, because people do not like to have things taken away from

them. And then when you're saying the thing, what it doesn't have, you have to tie it to the

benefit that they're not going to get. So as we move down through these options, here's what it's

not going to do. It's not going to include this aspect of it, which also means it's not going to

affect your life this way. I know this very general and very generic, but I hope you hear what I'm

saying. Well, if you don't, but this is just a teaser, yes, I'll do a whole episode on that.

So what the homeowner here is is getting back to it when we do it the right way. The

investment to replace is this. You get your system running again. It's this much that includes

the part the labor or warranty. Would you like to move forward? Would you like to go ahead and get

it going? What the homeowner here is this is what it takes to solve my problem. They're confident

in the value. Notice I didn't say price said investment because that's what it is. You never have

a price. You don't have a cost. You have an investment. Whatever it is, whatever you do, it's an

investment. So it's your total investment and monthly investment and investment in their comfort

and their safety and their peace of mind. And you don't apologize for investments. No one

apologizes for an investment. An investment is something that is a good thing that's a positive

thing. Nobody thinks negative about an investment. And this is truly what it is because they're investing

in their future. They're investing in peace of mind. They're investing in their comfort or

safety or whatever it is that you do, they are investing in it. So you present them. So let's do

a couple of rule, rule examples of how to eliminate only in just from your language. Is this

good? Raise your hand if this is good. Or if you're driving down the road, just raise one hand,

not two. Don't only take one off the wheel. So instead of it's only $2,500 for the new

XYZ for the new garage door opener. It's only $2,500 for the lighting on the outside of your

home. It's only $2,500. Well, first of all, don't say $2,500. Say it's $2,500. Be accurate. If there's

change, say the change. If it's $2,512.63, that's how you say it. Don't shortcut it because the

second people hear a shortcut, even if it's in the little things, they're starting to think what

else are they get a shortcut? Because how you do anything is how you do everything. So instead of

it's only $2,500 for the new system, the investment for the new system is $2,500. That includes

installation, startup, and our 10-year parts and labor warranty. Instead of it's just the basic

maintenance package, they, this is our essential maintenance package. It covers two visits per year,

priority scheduling, and a 15% discount on any repairs needed. Instead of it's only going to take an

hour, say the installation will take about an hour. I'll walk you through everything when we're done.

Do you see what's happening? We're not changing the substance. We're not changing what we're

talking about. We're changing the frame around it because it's never the thing. It's how we frame

the thing and the frame changes how they perceive the value. So if we were to boil this down this

episode and talk about it differently, this is a frame conversation. Now, I know some of you are

thinking, hey, Sam, right? What if they say that seems like a lot? Because I know we get it. We

get price objections all the time. Let them say it. Good. Because that's not an objection. It's

just commentary. Here's how you handle it. Homeowner goes, wow, that's a lot. You say, I get it.

Prices have definitely gone up in the last few years. The good news is this solves the problem

completely and it comes with our warranty so you won't have to worry about it again. Hard stop.

You don't justify. You don't apologize. You acknowledge their comment and you move forward.

Here's what you don't do. Yeah, I know it's a lot. It's only $2,500 though. Other companies

charge way more. Now, I know some of you say this. I used to say it myself. Now, what's happening

though is you're apologizing and you're throwing other companies under the bus. Neither of those

are going to build confidence. So here's the rule. If you believe in your value, you don't need to

justify it. You just present it. And if the homeowner has questions, you answer them.

But you don't shrink what you're offering. What? Whistle there. You don't shrink what you're

offering just to make them feel better. Because premium brands don't apologize for their price.

Mercedes doesn't. Porsche doesn't. Apple doesn't. Rolex doesn't. It doesn't matter. If you

strive to be a premium brand in your market, treat it the same. So why should you apologize

if they don't? And don't do it. So here's what I need you to understand on a deeper level.

So the word you use, what's happening here is the word you use, reveal what you believe about

yourself. As a return in the corner into some emotional things here, because you've got to get

this, your belief, your thought, your how you believe about yourself and who you think you are

as the communicator that can bring value, it absolutely the words you use reveal what you believe

about yourself. So when you say only or just you're you're not just minimizing the price,

you're also minimizing you, you're minimizing yourself. And you're saying, I'm not confident that

what I'm offering is worth it. And your homeowners can feel that they might not consciously think,

oh, this person doesn't believe in their value. But what's happening is subconsciously they're

picking up on it. We did a whole episode on this. It's called mirror neurons. And it makes them

hesitate. Because if you don't believe in what you're selling, why should they? On the flip side,

other side of the same coin here, when you eliminate only ingest from your language,

something starts to shift. You present prices with confidence. You stop apologizing for doing good work.

And homeowners, your homeowner's going to respond to that. Confidence is contagious.

Sales is the transfer of enthusiasm, confidence and certainty. When you're confident in your value,

they become confident in your value. When you're confident, they're confident. And that's when

sales becomes easy. This is the easy button for sales. Not because you manipulated them,

but because you believed in what you're offering, it's literally just a belief problem that most

of you have. It's truly this is truly the the biggest thing. If I could take literally take my

belief and put it in a bottle like a you know, I could just a little like energy shot or something

and sell it to you guys or give it away. I would, but I can't because sales is for most of you,

it's a belief problem. You already have the ingredients. It's just a belief problem for most of

you because you you believe what you're offering and they felt your belief. So here's my challenge to

listen to yourself this week. Record your appointments. I can't say this enough. Record your

appointments. Record your appointments and don't just record them. Go back and listen to it.

Don't just record them. Go back and listen to it. Every time you catch yourself saying only

or just in front of a price. Stop literally stop the recording right now. Say it out loud and

rephrase it how it should be in the moment as you're listening to it. If you have to get a rubber

band on your wrist and every time you hear yourself in real time in front of the person, snap

that rubber band on your wrist. It's okay. Do the weird thing because I promise you I promise you

I can guarantee you it will start to change your behavior. So say it with confidence and watch what

happens because the language you use doesn't just change how homeowners homeowners perceive you.

It changes how you perceive yourself and when you start believing in your own value, everything

else starts to fall into place. Okay. I got passionate there for a moment. I hope you can feel how

much how much passion and energy I have for this and how much I want you all to win. So let's

bring it home here. Only in just our justification words. When you use them, you're shrinking your value

and apologizing for your price. You mean brands never do this and neither should you. Instead of

it's only $89 say the service call is $89 or whatever your price is. Instead of it's just a basic

package. Say this is our essential maintenance package or reframe it to whatever applies to you.

The substance doesn't change but the frame does and the frame changes how homeowners perceive

value. If you believe in what you're offering, you don't need to justify it. You just present it

and when you stop apologizing for your price, homeowners stop questioning it. Okay. So that's the recap.

So if this hits home, if you've been using only in just without realizing it, I want you to do

something this week. Eliminate those two words from your vocabulary when you're talking about

price. Not forever, just for one week. And I want you to watch what happens to your close rate.

Watch what happens with the way people respond because the language you use reveals what you believe

and when you start believing in your value, homeowners will too. Now, if you want help with this,

if you want to break down every part of your language and communication, then what's happening is

get join the Facebook group. I literally do a free training every single Friday in the Facebook

group. It's Facebook live. If you want to know more about how to work with us, reach out to me

directly. Again, send me an email, say I'm at ClosetNow.net, go to ClosetNow.net, fill out the form,

go join the Facebook group. And if you've got some value from this, share it with somebody,

share it with somebody that you that you hear use those, that type of language that could benefit

from this value. And also, I make sure to share this up to, I know a lot of you listen, share this

up to your managers and to the owners of your company because we help companies win. I know that

there's a lot of, there's a lot of gross things going on in all of the home improvement, home

service and industry is all over the, all over the country by these so-called gurus, etc., we

are not that. What I do want you to know is we'll bring the receipts and we'll show you how it's

done. And then you decide if it's a good fit for you and your company and your family.

So why would Warren Buffett would sell more systems than you? It's called the credibility

principle. And it's going to change how you think about positioning yourself in the first five

minutes of the appointment. And that is what we're going to dive into next week. So make sure to

tune in next week. And until then, go sell something. And also the most important thing is,

you know, you've got to do this. You have to daily, daily, daily work to become someone worth

buying from because when you have become the person who's worth buying from, the cells will start

to follow. So go be somebody worth buying from today. Human listening to the close-it-down podcast.

Our passion is to dive headfirst into the transformative movement that's reshaping the very

foundation of HVAC and home improvement. And at the same time, covering fitness, nutrition,

relationships, and personal growth, proving that we can indeed have it all. We hope you've enjoyed

the show. If you did, make sure to like, rate, and review. We'll be back soon. But in the meantime,

find the website at closeitnow.net. Find us on Instagram at the real close-it now. And on Facebook

at closeitnow. See you next time.