Access the webinar

A homeowner staring at a $35,000 foundation repair quote has sticker shock. They can't see the problem under their house, or imagine why it costs that much. They can't picture a helical pier going into the ground. A verbal pitch asks them to take your rep's word for it.
Straightline Construction stopped struggling to explain something verbally that could be explained so easily with a visual. Their reps hand customers a scaled drawing of the home with the repair plan laid on top, and the team closed 15% more deals and grew average tickets 25% across six locations.
Patrick Harmsen of Straightline Construction and RAM Jack Colorado walks host Nicole Kelly through the rollout, from the veteran reps who pushed back hard to the quieter ones who became top closers.
You'll learn:
- How a visual proposal lets reps read the customer instead of running a script
- The trust signals that get homeowners to choose the full recommendation over the cheapest option
- Three changes you can make to your own sales process this week
Field Notes: Make Trust Tangible
ArcSite webinar with Patrick Harmsen, Director of Sales Operations, Straightline Construction and RAM Jack
Host: Nicole Kelly
Timestamps every 90 seconds
Nicole Kelly:
[00:00]
Hi everyone. Welcome to Field Notes, a series from ArcSite where we sit down with real pros doing real work and discuss how other home services pros have solved a thorny business challenge. I'm Nicole Kelly and today's episode is called Make Trust Tangible. We're talking about what happens when a customer is being asked to spend real money on something that they can't fully see for themselves yet, and what changes once you give them something that's more than just a verbal sales pitch? We have someone here today who didn't fix this with a better sales team. He fixed it by changing what the customer gets to see. So before I bring on our guest, I want to talk about what we're going to be covering today. So first, "Just trust me": what a purely verbal sales pitch is actually asking a customer to do. Earning trust: what changes when customers have something to look at, not just listen to. Trust pays off: what that shift was worth. Sneak peek: 15% more closes, 25% bigger average tickets. And finally, what this means going forward for your own sales process as you prep for next year's busy season. Some housekeeping. We're recording this. The replay will go out soon. [01:30] Drop your questions into the Q&A panel on the right-hand side of your screen. We'll work through as many as we can at the end. Okay. Ready? But before I bring out Patrick, I want to ask you a question and be honest with yourself. When a rep leaves your customer's site, has that customer seen proof or just heard a sales pitch? If the answer is just heard a pitch, that's exactly why we're here today. If the answer is seen proof, great. You're about to hear how someone else built that into their process at scale. But also hit me up so I can feature you on a future episode of Field Notes. Okay, I'm super excited. Patrick, welcome to Field Notes. I'm really glad to have you here. For folks who don't know you yet, give us the 30-second version. Who are you and what does Straightline Construction do?
Patrick Harmsen: So I'm Patrick Harmsen. I am the director of sales operations for Straightline Construction and RAM Jack companies. We cover three different states. We're in Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico with several locations. I've been with the company for 11 years now in a couple of different roles. I started out actually in the field doing sales, moved into that sales manager role, and now oversee kind of the sales operations side of things. A lot of our computer systems and working with different vendors like ArcSite and others to actually provide the tools that our sales team needs to be successful.
Nicole Kelly: And thank you so much [03:00] for that really quick overview. But just so people have context on the scale here, because I think it's really important to understand Straightline Construction is family-owned, started back in 1982 in Southern Colorado and today runs five locations, you said.
Patrick Harmsen: We actually just opened the sixth.
Nicole Kelly: Congratulations on the sixth. So you you specialize in foundation repair, and the sales team has grown from about four reps to about 9 or 10. Probably more now with the new location, right?
Patrick Harmsen: We currently have nine residential reps and a few other commercial reps.
Nicole Kelly: So definitely it's the team has basically doubled. And then from what I've heard, markets like Arizona are up 100, 200% and Denver over 100% since COVID. Correct?
Patrick Harmsen: Since COVID, yes. We've increased sales substantially since then.
Nicole Kelly: Yeah. So that's this. So people who are on this call, this isn't a small operation. So when Patrick talks about what changed in the sales process, this has been tested at real scale across real growth. Okay. So Patrick, you've had a really interesting path to this this seat yourself, too, right? Mortgages, telecom, home sales and now running the systems and training for the whole sales organization at Straightline. So let me ask you a question. Does that outside perspective change how you think about what a customer needs to hear from a rep to be able to build some trust?
Patrick Harmsen: [04:30] Not necessarily changes, but it just clarifies things. You're more in tune with what a customer is really looking for in that sales process, to help them be confident in the decision that they're about to make.
Nicole Kelly: That makes a lot of sense. And what I really love is looking at these numbers, right. And that's the first thing we want to establish is what's being asked of a customer in a purely verbal sales process, because foundation repair or landscaping or roofing or fencing or gutters or one of the many other verticals that ArcSite services, these aren't small purchases. It affects someone's home, and for most people, that's their biggest asset. So this slide shows two super impactful numbers. 15% increase in the close rate and 25% increase in the average ticket size. And both came from one really underlying shift: giving the customer something to look at instead of just something to hear. So, Patrick, let's back up before any of your current process existed, before documentation was part of the sales conversation, how important was it speaking salesy for a rep to be successful, regardless of the knowledge that they possessed?
Patrick Harmsen: It was extremely important. You needed to go through all of the steps. You needed to build rapport with that customer. You needed to understand their needs. [06:00] You need to understand what they're looking for and then be able to put together a professional approach. And, you know, for lack of a better term, a pitch to help communicate to them the things that you can offer and how you can meet the the questions or desires or demands that they're looking for, in a professional manner and help them to understand what it is that you're going to provide them.
Nicole Kelly: Yeah. And that sounds like not only needing to have the knowledge of what might be best for the customer in their situation, but then also being able to have the really strong communication skills from a verbal perspective. So thinking about now, you opened up a new location. When you're training a new rep today, what do you tell them about why a customer says, "Let me think about it." Like, what's what's really going on when a customer says that?
Patrick Harmsen: Oftentimes they're looking to do additional research. The sales process itself has evolved tremendously just in the last few years, especially now that we have AI. But over the last ten years, I've seen a substantial change. We used to work strictly off of hand drawings. We had graph paper, and you were out there with a pencil and ruler, and you were drawing things out to come up with a little bit of a sketch, and you had at least some type of, of small visual to communicate with customers. But with ArcSite, we have taken that to a whole new level. We've been able to [07:30] professionally draw the house. People can really understand the different rooms. They know where the front door is, they know where their fireplace is. They can really visualize that, based on the drawing, the professional drawing that we're able to communicate with them. Then for our solutions, we can overlay those on top of that ArcSite drawing. So they really get a sense and they can walk through. Even if we're not there, they can take that drawing and they can get with their spouse and they can have that discussion, that important discussion, especially given the the price of of these repairs. And they can really be confident that they're making the right decision going forward.
Nicole Kelly: Yeah. And, you know, thinking about being a homeowner, I'm being a homeowner myself. Like it's my biggest asset. And so in your business, homeowners are really trusting you with their biggest asset. What's the hardest part of earning that kind of trust with words alone, no matter how good the rep is?
Patrick Harmsen: You you really need that customer to, to understand that you're not just there to pitch them something, that you do have a viable solution, and that you are going to solve their problems. You know, most people are not necessarily buying just a number. They're looking for value, and they want to make sure that the sale or the products and services that you're offering them truly have the value of the dollars that are on the bottom of that service quote that you're you're pitching them. So one of the ways that you can really communicate [09:00] that across to them is having a nice, professional presentation so that they can understand if I'm going to do concrete lifting, if I'm going to do piers, I know exactly where those are going to be. It's going to address the problems that I have, and they can get that visual and they can connect the dots and put everything together.
Nicole Kelly: Yeah. And I think that that as, as a homeowner myself, somebody with like a sketch on a napkin might not be quite as impactful or build as much trust for me as somebody who's really got my house down to the exact dimensions and showing me exactly where they were going to make changes. So I do I do agree with you on that, that that makes a huge difference to build that trust. And thinking back before you had ArcSite, how often did a rep leave a customer's home without a yes back then? And what, what did chasing down customers afterwards, what does that look like day to day for your sales reps?
Patrick Harmsen: Our sales process is, given the the type of services that we provide. We don't always do a one-call close. We do have some services that actually offer that. And with ArcSite, we actually can be successful for the, the the straightforward, simple repairs that don't require an engineer or additional research to be able to get all of the detailed information and do the calculations that are necessary. But if you're going to do simple stem wall repair, if you want to fix some cracks in the driveway [10:30] or flooring, those are simple solutions that we can actually present a quote in a bid right there in the house before we actually leave.
Nicole Kelly: Yeah, that's the one. The one-call close sale is pretty awesome. When you think about the the the time that the salespeople spent on follow-up before ArcSite, give me a little bit of insight into how much that might have impacted your reps' ability to close sales during the week.
Patrick Harmsen: It's time. I mean, a normal sales rep wanting to work, you know, kind of a typical 40-hour workweek. If you throw in a couple extra appointments and now you've got to do the follow-up on all of those particular customers. And, you know, sometimes your pipeline is going to expand to, you know, anywhere from 50 to 100 customers. It varies depending on industry and who that sales rep in the territory that they have. I mean, you can spend a full day just doing follow-up.
Nicole Kelly: Well, that's that's a lot of time taken out. Okay. So now that we've kind of talked about like what changed when you introduced like the professional-looking documentation into the sales process, let's, let's move into like what what it looks like when you earn trust. So, you know, thinking about how to earn trust, this really breaks down into four shifts that you've identified that turned a verbal pitch into something that customers could see for themselves, that built trust along the way. So I'm going to I'm [12:00] going to run through these four pillars pretty quickly. And then I'm going to ask you some questions to expand on it, Patrick. But the first is the old way, that verbal pitch. You know, somebody standing there telling a customer like, "Hey, this is what we need to do." But then that shift happened: giving the customer something that they can see. And then the quiet closers, the reps who actually changed into top performers once you introduced documentation. And then finally, the result: trust made visible, visible. So, Patrick, this process has a lot to unpack. So let's start. First of all, you mentioned that some of your best salespeople today weren't your smoothest talkers. So what changed for them specifically, once the customer had something in their hands to look at?
Patrick Harmsen: I would say the the biggest shift that I saw and I noticed this even in myself, is your confidence actually goes up because you know that you have a professional document, you've dotted the i's, you've crossed the t's, and as you're sitting there talking to that customer, you can focus on overcoming objections. You can focus on uncovering hidden objections that you didn't even know were there. Instead of worrying about, gosh, did I, did I communicate right? Did I? Did they understand what it is that I'm trying to sell them? All that's already there. It's already baked in. It's on paper. So you can actually take a better approach and really understand your customer and focus on them, instead of just the products [13:30] and your your pitch.
Nicole Kelly: Yeah, that makes a lot of sense when you're when you've got something where you feel more confident and you, you don't have to worry about, like running the script. It definitely helps for you to be able to observe. And I'm, I'm actually kind of curious when you think about, like, a customer in front of a rep who's more confident and knows what they're talking about. What do you think is different about a customer's body language? Or maybe the questions they ask once they look at something documented, rather than just listening to a verbal walkthrough?
Patrick Harmsen: I think for that customer, you can you can kind of gauge whether or not they understand what it is that you're communicating to them. When you hand them a document, when you go through the diagram and you walk them through everything that's on there and the solutions and stuff that you're offering them, you can get a sense as to whether or not they comprehend what's going on, and it's way easier for them to understand it versus just walking around with, you know, your pen pointing at different things like, we're going to do this to fix that crack type of thing. You can actually show them on that diagram, which can be difficult because in our industry, unlike some of the others that are out there, it's not common knowledge to understand what it is that we're going to do. So when you start talking about a thing like a helical pier that's going to go in the ground and a bracket that goes underneath the foundation. Those are hard things for them [15:00] to visualize and picture. So we do have some visuals to help them understand that. But then when you really start putting that plan together and you show them a detailed, comprehensive plan, it really starts to build that trust. And again, like I said before, now that you're not focusing on your presentation, you can actually read your customer. You can see, do they, are they getting it? Do they understand what it is that you're actually presenting to them? And then again, you can move on to the next step in the in the sales process.
Nicole Kelly: Yeah, that's I think being able to watch and and understand the clarity or confusion in a customer's either body language or the questions that they start asking that, that definitely particularly in your industry, I wouldn't know if somebody came and talked to me about a helical pier. Well, I would, but maybe not in my house. Yeah. When you think about training new reps, like, what do you watch for or tell them to watch for to to know that, hey, this customer is really starting to trust you. They're starting to trust what you're telling them. showing them what they're looking at. What, what do you tell a rep, like, "Hey, this is the moment where understanding and trust starts building"?
Patrick Harmsen: You typically get that through the questioning phase. You know, you start with those open-ended questions. You get that customer to, to kind of start communicating what it is that they're looking for. And then you switch over to those close-ended questions and ask for confirmation. Do you? Is this what it is that you want? Is this what you need? [16:30] And then you can transition into the solution. You can then start to present them with the different products and services that we offer that are going to meet those, those desires and those demands that they had. And again, having a professional document that you can constantly reference back to it helps keep you on track. It helps keep your pitch and stuff in line so that you're not just randomly all over the place. You can just walk right through the solutions and stuff that you have right there. So if for a new rep, it's, you know, it's that it, you know, it's that blanket, you know, that safety blanket that they have with them. So it's something that they can use for direction, for understanding. And it helps them to understand the overall sales process because I mean, we've all been there. We all started out at one point in time being a new rep, and you were so focused on your pitch, you never even looked at the customer. You didn't understand, you know, the, the, the, the facial expressions that they had as to whether or not they were just completely checked out, or if they were just nodding their head along with you, just understanding what it was that you were saying.
Nicole Kelly: Yeah. Very true, very true. And this process, like, it's when you look at it, you're like, that makes a lot of sense. But, you know, take us back to rolling this out. You said some of your more hesitant, less tech-savvy reps pushed back hard, like, "This takes me forever. I'm not selling." When they have the documentation in their hand and they were presenting it [18:00] to their customers, like, what changed their mind?
Patrick Harmsen: You get, you know, it's the old dog, new tricks type of thing. You get that hesitation like, oh, here we go again. You're going to change my process. I've been successful. I've, I've been one of our top sales guys. Why do I need to change my process type of thing. So you have to get some buy-in from those guys. You have to show them how this is actually, in the long run, it can potentially save them time. When you were standing there in front of a customer and you're handing them a hand drawing versus a really nice, clean, professional digital drawing where all the lines are straight, you've got everything on there, it's easy to read. It actually helped them, and they started to slowly see the benefits of the labor of actually learning the process and going through, when you put something like that out to a guy who's not really tech-savvy, it takes a little bit of time for them to learn the system. But they picked it up really quick, and once they picked it up, they, they started to run with it and they understood how valuable the tool was. You know, we had to do a little bit of prodding and kind of push them in that direction. But, I would say, to a man, there's not a single person out there that would would go back to the old way right now if, if we gave them an option. Everybody wants to use the digital drawings and actually it's probably saved them time in the long run from sitting down. I did it myself, with colored pencils and a ruler, you know, [19:30] trying to make a nice, clean, pretty drawing for a customer so they could understand what it was that I was talking about.
Nicole Kelly: Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. Okay. You know, let's, we know the sales close is the... that sales do close when a customer trusts you and they trust your company to do what you say you're going to do. So I want to bring up a quote that you mentioned. And I just want to reinforce this, that, you know, when if we're working on their house, most of the time it's their biggest asset. And Patrick, this is the real stakes in the conversation. So when the ask is that big, "Trust me" is never going to be enough on its own. So going back to the and I'm sorry, but I love these numbers. 15% more closes and 25% bigger average tickets. Like that's the price of trust, right? So what do you think trust really actually has to do with those numbers and how they they change those numbers once you rolled out that process?
Patrick Harmsen: There are several factors I would say that came into play. You know, first the confidence that it gave our sales reps. Again, having a nice professional, clean drawing, the anytime you're more confident in your approach, whether you're answering questions, whether you're asking questions during the sales pitch, having more confidence as a sales rep really is something that the customer can read. [21:00] If you're not confident in the products and services that you're offering, it's going to be very difficult to get that customer to trust you. So that was the first part. The second, again, when you have a nice, professional, clean presentation, the customer really starts to understand they're no longer focusing on, you know, does this guy have his shirt tucked in? Does he have a nice, you know, is is it clean, type of thing. You know, they're, they're focusing on products and services in the solution. They're not wondering if this is just a fly-by-night type of guy in a truck that's, you know, going to take my money, and you hear all the horror stories on the news about people that come in, contractors that walk in and take it upon it and then run. Yeah. So having really professional presentation that you can give that customer helps them to understand that you're not just here for, a quick, quick, solution. And off to the next, that you're actually are interested in doing a full presentation and understanding what their desires are, what their true needs are, and being able to to, to solve that for them.
Nicole Kelly: Yeah. And, you know, thinking about that, that 25% average ticket lift, do you think it's mostly customers saying yes to the full recommendation instead of the cheapest option? Once they have that trust. And, "Hey, I'm looking at something that makes sense, and I trust that you're you're recommending the option that makes the most sense for me." [22:30] Do you really think that, that lift has come from building trust with the customers through that?
Patrick Harmsen: It's part of it. It is a very important part. The trust was why we started to get customers to, you know, customers that we were sending out tens of thousands of dollars in quotes, were agreeing to those quotes and moving forward. But again, it's back to that sales rep and having their confidence. So you're not sitting there and you're like, oh, if I give them this quote for $25,000, they're going to freak out. But when you actually put together a clean presentation and you're having that conversation with them and communicating, and you're getting the nods and you're getting the buy in from them, and you hand them a quote for $35,000 and they don't even blink at it. It again, it helps you with your confidence as a sales rep. And that's where, you know, it was everything together. It wasn't just one simple thing. It's the combination of everything, by having really clean, professional presentations to work with. You know, it's it it impacts so many different aspects of the sales process.
Nicole Kelly: Yeah, it's it's amazing. This, this webinar is really about building trust with customers. But I maybe should have said and also building confidence in your sales team. And you mentioned that the reps are seeing more customers without working more hours because they're not spending as much time rebuilding bids back at the office. And, you know, thinking about that extra time for your team, like, [24:00] what did it do from a business impact when your team got more time back to actually do sales?
Patrick Harmsen: We're not seeing a ton more customers. I mean, just with with our volume and everything, you definitely are getting a few more customers. But what I don't hear anymore is the quality of life comments from these, from the sales team. We had some guys that were working 50, 60-plus hours in a week just to try to meet the demands, get their bids out, do the follow up that was required. And we're, we're not seeing that as much anymore. Those guys are working pretty much a standard workweek. They're able to, you know, close out at the end of their Friday afternoon and be able to enjoy themselves and their family for the weekend.
Nicole Kelly: Yeah, that's that's huge. That's huge. And you know, you're talking about the sales process. And before we get into Q&A, I want I want to just reiterate, like, right, like, what this process actually requires. It requires something to see, not just something to hear. Right. A personality is can only take you so far, but a process, plus the personality. You get more value. And so the thing that's that's great about this process that you've built, Patrick, is that none none of the sales depends on exactly how persuasive any one rep is. And that, I think, is really important to understand. Right. [25:30] Because sales reps come in all shapes and sizes, and some are really good at listening to the customers and understanding what the process is, but aren't the smoothest talkers, and some of them are the smooth talkers. But maybe they need some guardrails to understand, like, okay, here's the products and services that you want to recommend in this situation. And and I love that you built a process that everyone can thrive. I think it's I think it's a really awesome process. And so looking at like what makes trust building work. You've got three things that you really highlighted in your your calls with us. You know, something to see, not just hear, a process, not a personality, and more value from the leads you already have. And as you look at these three things, Patrick, is there, Is there any one in particular that you're like that is more important than the other three, or are they all equally important?
Patrick Harmsen: I would say they're all equally important. Again, when it comes to sales, there's not just one thing. It's it's a combination. You know, you need to be confident. You need to have a professional presentation that's easy for you to go through. And you need to be able to communicate that to a customer, you know, having something that they can, a visual aid or something that's going to help them to really, truly understand the solutions that you're presenting with them. And a lot of that comes from a structured process. You don't have to be a robot and use a pitch or a script, but understanding that there is a sales cycle, [27:00] you know, and if you skip those steps in that sales cycle, you're not going to be as successful as somebody who actually goes through that process. And, you know, building trust, building rapport with that customer are very important parts of that sales cycle before you ever ask them for for the sale. You know, and being able to get the most out of those leads in, in our industry, it's not just about adding more services, it's actually about doing the proper services for that particular customer in that home to truly address the needs so that, you know, we minimize any type of warranty calls or anything where we have to go back to, to a house. You know, we really we really, we really strive to, to make sure that we're doing the proper solution for that particular customer.
Nicole Kelly: Yeah, that makes a lot of sense, particularly in your industry. So I want to go back to one thing that you had mentioned and that was, you know, those same guys who were hesitant at first are now top salesmen. Change management is a real hurdle. Like, we know that, right? But you're saying that while most people would assume the smoothest talkers would always be the top salesman, you're saying it went the other way. So, like, walk us through that. And when you think about change management, particularly that process, what was what was different for those reps, what clicked once the the sales conversations changed with that documentation?
Patrick Harmsen: [28:30] Again, it's a a confidence thing for those particular sales reps. You can have a really charismatic sales rep, but if he can't communicate to the customer what services we're actually trying to provide, they had a hard time being successful in those situations. Now that we've got a really good presentation, by using a tool like ArcSite to where you can easily communicate, that part of the sales process is a no-brainer now. So you get a guy that sells a car, you can walk that person out on the lot and you can put them in the car. You can put them behind the wheel. They can visualize themselves driving up and down the street in that brand new car. The ArcSite tool is, is is as close as we can get to that sales process where we can put them in the car. You know, we're standing in the house, but we can actually show them on a diagram. This is exactly where we're actually going to do the work and provide the solutions. And it's going to address that crack that's right there, in your house. So it helps them with that part of it. So now you're not focused on just trying to communicate what it is that you're trying to do. You can actually focus on, you know, making sure that you're building that that rapport and that trust with the customer.
Nicole Kelly: Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. And I'm sure that the sales reps appreciate being able to have a process to follow, [30:00] and documentation to reference. So, you know, thinking about your process and how you rolled it out. And then somebody who's watching this, you know, how do I get started? How do I help build confidence in my sales team? How do I build trust with my customers? We we kind of came up with three things that you can do this week. And obviously you don't want to overhaul everything, right? Patrick spent years like perfecting this process. But, you know, find the find the moment that "trust me" breaks down in your own sales process and then, you know, think about your least salesy rep. Like, they're not the ones that have what the kids call "rizz," right? Like they're not the most charismatic, but they're they're doing something that works. Ask them what what's working for them. And then finally, like, do the math on the leads you already have. I'm going to go back to those those numbers, right. But like 15% more closes. What would that mean for you and your business? Or a 25% increase in the tickets? What would that mean for your business? So when you think about the three things that you can do this week, you could start small. You can start by implementing and looking at just your your own sales process, and what works and maybe what it could be. You know, Patrick, if you're thinking about starting from scratch, would you do any of these three or would you do something different?
Patrick Harmsen: I would probably follow this list right here, [31:30] you know, and go out and view yourselves and, you know, go and look at the guys who are at the top of the list and go look at the guys who are in the middle, and the guys who are at the bottom. And it's not necessarily getting the guys who are at the bottom of the list to act like the guys at the top of the list. It's to find out what obstacle is preventing them from being successful. And if it's something as simple as just providing them with a tool that's going to give them confidence and it's going to help them build trust. You know, it's a no-brainer to go ahead and take that leap and start moving forward to build that out.
Nicole Kelly: That was that was a great pitch for us, Patrick. That should be our... Anyway, before we move into Q&A, I just want to be able to see, you know, if any of this resonated with you and you want to take the next step. There are three things that you can you can do to keep going. The first is after this webinar and we'll send you the recording next week. We'll send you the trust audit checklist so you can discover for yourself where in your process, you're asking for a customer's trust based on blind faith alone. Two, you can book a demo with us here at ArcSite. As Patrick said, you can have a tool that helps build the confidence in your sales team, but also build trust in your customers and really present professional documentation. So we can show you that in a demo and how that would fit in your sales process. And third, [33:00] if you want to dive further into Patrick's story, you can find it on our website in the resources section. It's a great listen. I actually really enjoyed it myself personally, which is why Patrick's here on our Field Notes. All right. So now we're going to move into Q&A. And forgive me, but I have to put my reading glasses on to be able to see what questions we've got here. So apologize for the glare. But looking at the Q&A and the chat. So if you have any questions, feel free to drop them into the panel on the right-hand side. And the first one is what is the biggest pushback you got from your own reps when it changed? And I'm assuming the sales process changed.
Patrick Harmsen: We, we have, you know, strong personalities as, as any company does, especially with with the sales team. The hesitation was was twofold. We had people who were scared of the new technology and how long it was going to take them to spend the time to actually learn it so they could be effective. The other thing was we had guys that, you know, had claimed like, hey, I've been the top salesman for the last five years, why do I have to to do something different? I've already been successful and come to find out, you can actually gain some time back and be just as or if not more successful by using a really good, clean, professional tool.
Nicole Kelly: [34:30] Makes sense. And we've got another question. What are some of the open-ended questions that you have your team focus on?
Patrick Harmsen: Open-ended questions. Your, your... I always started off with just asking people, tell me the story, you know, why did you call me? Why did you bring me into your house? And you're going to get a variety of things. Sometimes it's going to be something so simple as, "Well, I noticed this crack." and then you're going to get people that will start from the beginning. Like, I bought this house in 1950 and I've lived here for, you know, years, and I've raised my family here and I've always been here. Those are still important things that you can use to build rapport and help, you know, get a little tidbit or something that you can put into your presentation to help people understand that you're actually providing them with the correct solution.
Nicole Kelly: That makes a lot of sense. And some people like myself, if you ask an open ended question, I'm going to talk all day long. So I don't see any other further questions in the Q&A panel. If you do have questions and we don't get a chance to get to them, feel free to email us at ArcSite. It would be sales@arcsite.com. Feel free to ask any questions. Say it's in reference to this webinar. We'll be sure to get back with you for a personalized answer to your question. But thank you so much, Patrick. Thank you so much. This has been really great. What you built at [36:00] Straightline Construction, like turning that verbal sales pitch into something a customer can trust is really, really impactful. And it's the kind of story that I love to tell. So I really appreciate you being on here and and sharing your wisdom and your knowledge with us and, and the work that you did to build this process. We we really appreciate you being here.
Patrick Harmsen: You're very welcome. It was a team effort. We have a lot of great people in the company that have put forth hours and hours of hard work to get us where we're at today, so it definitely was not just one person, but thank you.
Nicole Kelly: A team effort, I know, but we we love having you as the face to tell us about it. And to everyone watching. Thanks for being here. As I said, the replay will go out soon. And we definitely look forward to seeing you the next time on Field Notes. Until then, be safe, take care and we'll see you soon.





















