This YouTube segment (Adam Bensman) teaches roofers how to overcome homeowner distrust by using an elicitation technique: make assumptive statements that invite correction and validation to obtain information and build rapport (examples: eliciting wedding/anniversary details; a doorstep script that acknowledges homeowner suspicion). The speaker emphasizes joining the homeowner’s internal conversation, disarming objections by telling people what they’re already thinking, and using bold, confident phrasing to build trust.
Chapters
How do we compete with the mindset that homeowners have of your scumbag? And then showing up and trying to communicate the fact that you're not a scumbag. You guys deal with this because you're like, I'm not like the rest. Like, they all say that. Technique called elicitation. I also learned this from Jack Schaefer and his other book called the Truth Detector. Also worth a read. And this technique many of you guys might be using, and I want to teach you it and then show you the application. In roofing sales, for example, if I see someone wearing a wedding ring, Melissa, let's say, oh, wedding ring, beautiful. How long you been married? That's a fair question, right? How long have you been married? Now, I could ask anybody that question, but what I couldn't ask a stranger is, Melissa, what's your anniversary? If Melissa was a stranger, you're like, what the. Why do you want to know my anniversary? Well, anniversaries are a common number that's included in people's passwords. So if I wanted to, like, crack someone's passwords, I. I'd get birth dates and anniversary dates. And those are things that you can't ask for. But if Melissa says, oh, I was married for 10 years, I'd be like, ah, beautiful. Fall wedding must have been gorgeous. Then either one of two paths is going to happen. One, she's going to validate that it was fall. Yeah, it was gorgeous. Now I know it's a fall wedding, okay? Or she'll say, no, it was in the summer, or it was in spring or it was in winter. So it's using an assumptive statement. So, ah, fall wedding sounds gorgeous. Actually, no, it was in the summer. Ah, summer weddings equally as beautiful. Little hot. July 4th. My cousin got married and it was beautiful. Oh, mine's actually in August. August. Oh, that's too funny. My mom's birthday's August 8th. Oh, my anniversary is August 2nd. Fantastic. August 2nd. 10 years ago. I now have her anniversary date, and I never asked her one question. Likewise, people validate it. Now, I did this in front of a group without prefacing it that I was training the dude did it in one question. I'm like, oh, oh, cool, man. How long you been married? 10 years. Ah, fall wedding must have been gorgeous. Yeah, it was December 13th. I was like, for fantastic. We got it. This use of assumptive statements allows us to be bold in sales because if we're wrong, people will correct you. So tell people what they're thinking. That's the application. Here's how that would work. I knock on the door, hey, Mr. Homeowner, my name is John. And listen, I know you probably want to kick me off your doorstep because you watch the news, you see con artists everywhere, and you think every single one of us is a total snake out to grab your money. Do you think that's what most people are thinking? Yeah. Instead of disagreeing with you, be like, that's right. And Mr. Homeowner, I don't want to blame you. I don't blame you for that. Listen, the reason I'm stopping by today, and then I go into my pitch. So if you open up, telling people what they're thinking changes the game. And it shows a tremendous amount of boldness, confidence and trust. And we can also do this on the retail side. So, Mr. Homeowner, listen, I know as you're getting retail estimates, you're probably looking for a contractor first that you like and that you trust who's going to provide a fair value to the roof because you don't want to feel like you're being taken or overpaying if you. And you want to work with a company who's actually going to do a good job and stand behind the roof so you're not featured in the news being taken by some other roofing scam artist here in Texas. And they're going to go, that's exactly what I'm looking for. And now I'm not telling them that. I'm not that. I'm just addressing them head on and what they're thinking. And you'll find that when you do this, it disarms them. It's a strategy of joining the conversation that is already going on in their mind. Don't fight it. Don't pretend you're not it. Tell them their own story. Like earlier when I opened this up, I told a lot of you, your own story. Coming into this business, not doing well, wanting to find a better life for yourself, wanting to earn a real living, maybe it was the only place that would give you a shot. Now, I know that's not everybody's story, but for those that are their story, doesn't that hit home hard? You're like, that's fricking me. Yeah, it's personal. Does that answer your question? Yeah. Yeah. The things that are scary, we face head on.
