Transcript
Speaker: Welcome to the Solarpreneur Podcast, where we teach you to take your solar business to the next level.
Speaker: My name is Taylor Armstrong.
Speaker: I went from $50 in my bank account and struggling for groceries to closing 150 deals in a year and cracking the code on why sales reps fell.
Speaker: I teach you how to avoid the mistakes I made and bring in the top solar dogs of the industry to let you in on the secrets of generating more leads, falling up like a pro, and closing more deals.
Speaker: What is a solopreneur, you might ask?
Speaker: A solopreneur is a new breed of solopro that is willing to do whatever it takes to achieve mastery, and you are about to become one.
Speaker: How's it going, everybody?
Speaker: We are live here with another podcast, and this is someone that did a podcast, I think, what, two years ago?
Speaker: Two years ago, yeah.
Speaker: And so we've got Rich Fiel in the house.
Speaker: He is CEO over at Solar Exclusive.
Speaker: The top guys in the game right now as far as getting leads for your solar business.
Speaker: So I'm excited to do a little follow-up episode here.
Speaker: We're going to talk about how it's changed in the past couple of years.
Speaker: Obviously, things have gone nuts with just AI and things like that.
Speaker: So we're going to jam on that, how we can use it in our solar businesses.
Speaker: So, yeah, man, thanks for coming on the show with us.
Speaker: Yeah, definitely.
Speaker: Thank you.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: So, yeah, I think two years ago, you know, the industry was in a much different place.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: You know, but now I think there's some exciting stuff on the horizon because there's this new law that was just passed by the Federal Communications Commission.
Speaker: And basically it's saying that you can't generate a lead going forward, like starting in a few months.
Speaker: It's already been passed.
Speaker: Starting in a few months, you can't generate a lead unless you have exclusive consent.
Speaker: All right.
Speaker: Basically, all the companies that do shared leads or do work age leads and all these things, like throwing them into auto dialers, cold calling homeowner data, all that stuff's going to become illegal with this new law.
Speaker: It basically positions Solar Exclusive as one of the only go-to companies
Speaker: to buy leads from going forward in 2025 and beyond because it's gonna be really tough to get shared leads anymore because people have to literally fill out the form like multiple times for every company they want to call them.
Speaker: And like, so the lead costs for shared leads are gonna go way up.
Speaker: And so, you know, seven years ago when I started Solar Exclusive, I really had the option to go two ways.
Speaker: I could either be like everyone else and be a lead aggregator where we just funnel all the leads from like one page and then just distribute the leads afterwards.
Speaker: So you don't know who you're going to sell the lead to until you generate it and then sell it.
Speaker: But the way we did it was that we set up exclusive campaigns for every client.
Speaker: So every client has their own dedicated campaign, dedicated marketing, so that it's exclusive to them.
Speaker: And I didn't know seven years ago when I built that model that that's how it would be when the federal government bans all the other models.
Speaker: So it's kind of like, it's good for us, but a lot of lead gen companies are going to have to adapt and change, and solar companies are going to have to adapt and change because they're so used to cold calling and using dialers.
Speaker: I know a lot of people in your podcast, in your world, they doorknog.
Speaker: Well, obviously, that's not going to be impacted.
Speaker: But like cold calling through dialers, robo dialing, like it's going to be totally changed, which is actually going to make the lead quality better for exclusive leads.
Speaker: Because now when people actually fill out a form, they're not going to be getting blown up multiple times from like just random people calling them through dialers.
Speaker: Because right now, like, everyone says, oh, there's no, there's not really truly an exclusive lead.
Speaker: Like, they're all shared with multiple companies.
Speaker: That's not really the case.
Speaker: The reality is that people are just filling out multiple forms, and they're getting multiple quotes, and they're getting called by multiple companies.
Speaker: And, like, everyone and their mom is, like, cold calling every single number, like, in America right now, selling them solar.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: So, like, all these big dialers and these call centers are doing this, and, like,
Speaker: If your lead filled out a form online, that's your exclusive lead.
Speaker: But if they get a million calls from some cold caller, that doesn't mean the lead would have shared.
Speaker: It just means that there's big competition.
Speaker: But now that cold calling is going to stop because it's illegal with a robo-dialer.
Speaker: So now the exclusive leads are going to be a lot more, they're going to seem a lot more exclusive than they ever have been because they're not going to be getting blown up by so many other people.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: So it's kind of like a cool thing that's happening.
Speaker: I think it's a good thing for the industry.
Speaker: I think it's going to help improve the industry, but it's going to force people to have to have some type of exclusive lead partner, you know, starting in 2025.
Speaker: Yeah, that's crazy.
Speaker: Now that reminds me, you're like, I think that's where you see some insanely successful businesses come is where they kind of like, you know, start something before it's like a trans business.
Speaker: I don't know, that makes me think of like, I don't know, Netflix or something where they're starting to first like ship out the DVDs and all that.
Speaker: And probably like people that are going to Blockbuster, they're like, what are these idiots doing?
Speaker: Yeah, yeah, exactly.
Speaker: It's like, okay, jokes on Blockbuster.
Speaker: You're the ones that didn't adjust quick enough.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: So that's cool.
Speaker: And no, I mean, super smart and obviously puts you guys in a good position.
Speaker: Yeah, yeah, exactly.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: That's cool.
Speaker: Well, so yeah, I want to talk about like before we hit record, we were talking about just, you know, like how AI has changed things.
Speaker: And this podcast, it's like we have a lot of just I think sales reps that listen, maybe managers.
Speaker: And so I think there's definitely some things we could talk about even if maybe they're not like buying their own leads.
Speaker: Like how could you maybe use that just if you're like, you know, a dealer running with your own appointments, whatever.
Speaker: So, yeah, like when did you guys start using AI and what does that look like?
Speaker: I guess in two years when we first talked, how has maybe like the lead gem process changed?
Speaker: How have you started using AI or maybe other things have changed in the process?
Speaker: Yeah, we started using it last year for like text message marketing.
Speaker: So like when leads would opt in, like we would reach out to them via text and AI would like kind of have a conversation with them and get them to schedule an appointment automatically.
Speaker: So that was really effective.
Speaker: You got to be really careful about how you use AI because now it's blowing up so big.
Speaker: And a lot of people are like talking about just like throwing in a bunch of numbers that are like homeowner data and then just blasting it with like an AI voice bot.
Speaker: But that actually was just made illegal by the Federal Communications Commission like two months ago.
Speaker: So two months ago is because like someone like took Joe Biden's voice and like blasted like every American in the country and like said all this untrue stuff.
Speaker: You know, so like they're like, all right, we got to ban this.
Speaker: So they just banned it.
Speaker: Like you can't call anyone without exclusive consent with AI.
Speaker: So that's the one thing about like AI.
Speaker: Like there's a lot of ways you could use it, like tools and stuff to use it to like maybe, you know, help your business, like create like responses to emails, maybe from customers or like create like a support platform.
Speaker: Box like on your website or something where people can chat with support and that has like its program with all like the most common questions like post sale Before their install comes or something like that like that's kind of stuff you could probably play around with But I mean for us on the lead gen side, you know, we use it a lot for like scheduling appointments So like once someone opts in like our call center will call them but also we'll have like the AI bot call them like a couple days later just to like
Speaker: on like two, three day old age data and just have it dial and set appointments for people.
Speaker: So, you know, you can use it, but you have to use it carefully because you don't want to just like just upload a bunch of numbers to it and then just like let it go crazy.
Speaker: Like you'll get shut down because like it's now illegal.
Speaker: But yeah, so there's other ways that AI can benefit solar professionals.
Speaker: Like I think with...
Speaker: When it comes to setting up an AI assistant, you could easily set up a high level account, which is this software called Go High Level, where you create this bot where basically you ask the homeowner when you're knocking on a door or you're in a home or something, and you get their phone number or ask them to text your assistant to answer any questions that they have.
Speaker: And they just text the number.
Speaker: And then the AI bot will just answer any questions they have about solar and schedule an appointment for you.
Speaker: So you can go back to the house after you knocked, you know, like that's a really cool thing like You know Nito AI is like talking all about that, but you know, they have a really cool software You know, we've tested out a little bit But I mean AI is advanced so much that you could easily do that with like your own software like you can do it with your own account and high-level I guess I mean, I know they have some like specific differences that they claim they have but
Speaker: I mean, it's pretty much all conversational AI.
Speaker: It's all ChatGPT, the latest version of ChatGPT, right?
Speaker: So it's not tough to duplicate on a very low budget.
Speaker: Like you don't have to pay thousands upon thousands of dollars to do it.
Speaker: You could just set up a go high level account, set up a phone number and just have your leads at the door, just text that number and they can answer.
Speaker: Like you could program it with like,
Speaker: every single most commonly asked question about solar, and then they could schedule an appointment for a follow-up for you to come out, call them, or come back to their house.
Speaker: So that's some pretty cool stuff that you could do with AI.
Speaker: And yeah, so on the lead gen side, it's just drastically improved our conversion rates from leads to appointments.
Speaker: Because a lot of leads go dead.
Speaker: They just don't pick up the phone.
Speaker: But if we're texting them via AI and calling them via AI,
Speaker: It's like we don't need a lot of manpower because like we have limited people in our call center, right?
Speaker: So like we have to be calling the freshest leads at all times But like after leads like go three days five days seven days old like a lot of those other leads are neglected So like it's good for AI to like, you know go through those and like because there's no it's not gonna get tired, you know, it's just gonna keep going So it's pretty cool
Speaker: Yeah, and that's what's cool.
Speaker: Like, even if you're, you know, maybe we got like a new rep listening to this that's like, what are these guys talking about right now?
Speaker: But I think like, even if you don't know any of this stuff, like everyone probably have sort of chat GPT at this point.
Speaker: So even like a new rep, I think it's super useful.
Speaker: Just like maybe it'd be like, okay, this appointment didn't show up to the schedule.
Speaker: I went and knocked their door.
Speaker: Then they weren't there for their appointment.
Speaker: A lot of guys don't even know how to follow up or what to text or whatever.
Speaker: So I think on a very basic level, even if you're new at all this stuff, just go on ChatGPT and say, hey, my solar appointment didn't show up.
Speaker: What are some, I don't know, some texts or emails I could send to follow up with them?
Speaker: And then this is how I've started using it.
Speaker: It can literally give you...
Speaker: you know, 10 different interesting things to like follow up with them to like try to book a new appointment.
Speaker: Yeah, exactly.
Speaker: If you don't have a CRM or anything, like you can just copy paste what it told you and then send it out yourself.
Speaker: But obviously it gets a lot easier and better if you can't have like a high level or whatever and like automate a lot of these things.
Speaker: Right, right.
Speaker: Um, but yeah, like, is there, I don't know, is there any, maybe for like newer reps or people that are new, new to these things, do you have any other, like, I don't know, ideas or ways that would be easy for like a newer guy to start using AI or even just like chat GPT to maybe follow up or like help out?
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: So, I mean, like you could ask ChatCBG to set up like a 10 email sequence for like old leads that like you knock on their door, like you got their info, but like they didn't book an appointment.
Speaker: You could like send out 10 emails automatically through that.
Speaker: You could have it say like, hey, create me a, you know,
Speaker: Create me a text sequence over the course of the next, you know, 14 days.
Speaker: Like, what should I say over the next 14 days in the text sequence to like get people interested again in solar, you know?
Speaker: And then you could just create this automated text sequence, have it be sent out with other software and stuff like that.
Speaker: Or you could just do it manually if you know like your hottest leads like you want to do, you know, you could use that.
Speaker: Or you could just test drive solar exclusive.
Speaker: We're doing a 30-day trial right now where we don't charge anything.
Speaker: We don't charge any fees except we only have to pay YouTube for the ad costs.
Speaker: And literally, we won't charge you for the first 30 days.
Speaker: We'll give you all this software to test out.
Speaker: So it's pretty sweet.
Speaker: I mean, it is an investment, a minimum of three to five grand for YouTube ads per month.
Speaker: So it's not for brand new reps.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: But I mean we add in the AI stuff we give you all that stuff like included in our service and we're not charging for the first month It does expire soon, but I'm not sure when you're posting this but we're gonna do a 30-day trial offer like a lot Just because we're so confident in our results at this point They're like we don't have to lock people into long contracts.
Speaker: So we used to lock people in like six-month contracts but now like
Speaker: We literally are confident because 85% of people after the first month are going to make sales and are going to continue.
Speaker: So we just say, hey, try it out for a month, test it out.
Speaker: And we won't even charge you for the first month.
Speaker: Just totally test drive it.
Speaker: Just pay YouTube because we can't get around that.
Speaker: We've got to pay YouTube.
Speaker: But yeah, try it out for a month.
Speaker: You make sales, then keep it going.
Speaker: If not, you tried it.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Well, I think that's super valuable even if you're just going to be like, okay, try it, cancel it after a month.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Then probably just the things you're going to learn alone from testing out their system.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: I mean, not that they're going to like steal it all and like hack it, but like, I'm sure there's like maybe just like principles and things you see it doing.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Like, okay, well, at least I kind of know like a more basic level and I can now apply this even if I don't continue with using the services.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: So, yeah, I definitely recommend people go try that out, give it a shot.
Speaker: And then another thing we're talking about before, Rich, is just like, I think a big problem, like, you know, my background is door to door.
Speaker: A lot of guys come to this knowing nothing about like Online Legion or...
Speaker: automation or like AI, none of this stuff.
Speaker: So another big problem I see and I talk about in my podcast a lot is just like how can we be better at delegating things in the solar business?
Speaker: That's one of my favorite topics.
Speaker: We actually just did the referral boot camp a couple of days ago and talked about all these referral strategies, but it can be overwhelming if you don't know how to like delegate, automate a lot of this stuff.
Speaker: Because like getting referrals takes a lot of follow up and setting up systems and everything.
Speaker: So, yeah, like what are some, I don't know, mistakes you see in guys or maybe clients you've worked with?
Speaker: What do you like coach them on as far as like, OK, here's some things you can like delegate, make your life easier.
Speaker: What are maybe some things you guys help out with or see mistakes made in that?
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: I mean, I think just general business principles is like there's like four like things that you could be working on any given time.
Speaker: There's like the urgent stuff that you have to be doing, like revenue generating activities, like the most important things that like pay the bills.
Speaker: And then there's like semi important things that could probably like be done like later.
Speaker: I mean, there's some things that you just hate to do that you're not good at because that's why you hate it because you're not good at it.
Speaker: That should be delegated.
Speaker: I mean, there's stuff that's probably important but not your expertise.
Speaker: You might like to do it, but it's not your strong suit.
Speaker: So those things have to be delegated too.
Speaker: So I mean I'm always trying to like focus on the things that are like most primary for me where my strengths are and like my team members as well and like if they're not strong in those areas to delegate but I think with solar reps and stuff like we just started using the get the referral app which has been awesome.
Speaker: Highly recommend their service.
Speaker: They set up a whole app for us so now you know you could actually be an affiliate of solar exclusive so if you're a solar sales rep and like you
Speaker: don't even have the money to buy a lease from Solar Exclusive, but you know other sales managers or solar companies that could use us.
Speaker: We pay $500 a month for every time they renew.
Speaker: So it's really cool.
Speaker: They just download the app, they just submit a referral, it goes to one of our account managers.
Speaker: You could actually track to see when it gets closed.
Speaker: and then we just pay the 500 bucks out every month and it connects with your bank so you just get a deposit every month that they renew and we do that unlimited for as many clients as you we normally only did the referral program for like people who were existing customers right and we would just reduce their fees by the 500 bucks a month but now we're like like branching it out to like all affiliates and i think that's like another thing like i think solar companies probably focus too much on like their existing client base to get referrals from
Speaker: But like if you're at an appointment and like they're unqualified, like they don't pass credit or like their roof just doesn't have enough space and they don't have a, you can't do a ground mount.
Speaker: Like just use that, get the referral app and just be like, Hey, like, can you refer your neighbors, like your friends, your family?
Speaker: And just like, I'll pay you 500 bucks every time they sign up, you know, like, like literally like you just connect your bank account.
Speaker: It's totally secure.
Speaker: And like, it's like, it's a no brainer.
Speaker: I think, you know, it's like,
Speaker: I think it's huge, but I think it's going to be a great way to grow our business because we've never done affiliates before.
Speaker: We've only ever given referral bonuses to existing clients.
Speaker: But now we can just literally, like, you have so many contacts in the industry.
Speaker: Like, you could just, all right, $500, $500, $500, $500 every time you, like, refer someone, right?
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: So, you know, I think that's going to be kind of cool.
Speaker: So I would try to set up some type of system for that, you know, to get more referrals.
Speaker: And, you know,
Speaker: As far as delegation is concerned, I think a big thing that we're helping with now is project management.
Speaker: So we have a partnership.
Speaker: One of our clients, who's been a client for four years, they've closed thousands of deals with Solar Exclusive.
Speaker: They have a company called Project Pros, and they're walking around Solarcon here in pink outfits or whatever.
Speaker: They do like project management.
Speaker: So like we had a couple clients who like were struggling with like some deals getting through.
Speaker: One was in the state of Maine.
Speaker: One was in the state of Virginia, I think.
Speaker: And like they were struggling to get deals through the pipeline.
Speaker: So like they came in and like took over the paperwork, resubmitted the paperwork for them.
Speaker: They didn't have to contact customers at all.
Speaker: They did everything.
Speaker: And they were able to get them a lower red line with the installer and resubmit those deals and get them all approved.
Speaker: Because like before they were getting disapproved and they weren't going to go through.
Speaker: And like they fixed all those problems and gave them a bigger commission even after they took their cut of like 10 cents a watt So it was like incredible.
Speaker: So we're offering that to our clients now who want like to just focus on selling right?
Speaker: Because like when you're a sales rep and you're crushing it in solar like you want to you want to close more deals like you want to focus on closing You don't want to be focusing on like oh I got a call this customer.
Speaker: They have to sign for the main panel upgrade like I got to get them to like
Speaker: Be at the house, like have someone come out and take pictures, like all that stuff, like the site survey, like you don't want to deal with any of that stuff.
Speaker: Like these guys will just handle it all for you and they'll get the deals installed faster than you will by yourself.
Speaker: You'll get paid faster.
Speaker: Who knows?
Speaker: Like they may even be able to get you a better deal.
Speaker: Like they can get you like more commission after all is said and done anyway.
Speaker: So it's kind of like, I think it's a no brainer.
Speaker: So we've been partnering with them for some of our clients and they've been seeing amazing results with them.
Speaker: Check them out, Project Pros, and check out Solar Exclusive, and we'll plug you in with them if you want to learn more about them.
Speaker: Yeah, that's good.
Speaker: Yeah, no, just great principles, even if you don't necessarily hire any of these people or whatever.
Speaker: I actually did this presentation at our event just barely, but just getting in that delegating mindset of thinking of things you could possibly delegate.
Speaker: I remember when I was new in the insurance, I'm going to do everything myself.
Speaker: No one can do it as good as I can.
Speaker: And it's just like you start to see so much time where okay.
Speaker: Instead of like being out prospecting, being in appointments, I just spent like two hours fixing pipeline stuff and going and taking pictures, going and getting missing documents.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: You can never be like a like a phenomenal seller if you're having all that time that's spent on those other tasks.
Speaker: So yeah, I think it's a great principle to just get in the habit of and I'm sure there's tons of stuff you delegate like you're not the one that's going you have a team obviously Yeah, how many how many people you got on your team over it?
Speaker: So we got like 30 people in the States then for running all of our ads we run so many ads We've got like 200 people overseas So we train them on like hey like click this button do this like with a Google Ads and YouTube ads and stuff and
Speaker: But since we're doing so many campaigns, we need like that many people overseas.
Speaker: So it's just cheaper to do it that way than have like 200 people in the States, you know.
Speaker: Yeah, for sure.
Speaker: Then you have to charge a lot more.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: That's where I have my assistant too over in the Philippines.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Great workers.
Speaker: Yeah, but like and then maybe someone that is like, OK, I want to start maybe like hiring more of a team, outsourcing stuff.
Speaker: What are some lessons you learn maybe working with these people overseas?
Speaker: What are some like, I don't know, maybe examples of systems or maybe mistakes you made in hiring?
Speaker: You have any advice on that for people?
Speaker: Yeah, so we have everyone take like this behavioral assessment before we hire them because it kind of shows It's not a disc so like this is a different type of assessment.
Speaker: It's called Harrison assessment and Basically what it does is it measures behavior Because a lot of these like disc assessments are like Myers-Briggs assessments like they measure someone's personality But I don't care like what type of person someone is I care about like what they're gonna do when they work for me.
Speaker: Yeah, I
Speaker: I care about how are they going to act in stressful situations?
Speaker: How are they going to make critical decisions?
Speaker: How are they going to invent new ideas and new initiatives?
Speaker: How are they going to be able to manage a team?
Speaker: Stuff like that.
Speaker: So the behavioral assessment asks a series of questions that rank all these different...
Speaker: categories in a work environment, but it's all based on choices and things you do and your preferences on doing certain things rather than on your preferences of how you feel and what type of person you are.
Speaker: Because that really doesn't matter.
Speaker: Someone could be a total jerk, but be the best worker in the world.
Speaker: They could have a really weird personality profile, but still be a great worker or vice versa.
Speaker: Someone could have a great personality profile, but end up being the worst worker in the world because they don't behave well.
Speaker: So I'd rather track people's behavior
Speaker: So that's like, we try to like avoid bad hiring so that we don't have to like deal with a bunch of training later.
Speaker: I'd rather just hire the right people that I can train easily than like hire people that I have to always be training.
Speaker: And like, it's just a waste of time.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Okay.
Speaker: So that's kind of the first step before you even like interview someone you're like, yeah, take
Speaker: No, it's usually like the last step.
Speaker: So we'll interview a bunch of people.
Speaker: We'll weed through a bunch of candidates and then we'll give them this assessment at the end, like with the top candidates and like just make sure that they're like a true A player.
Speaker: And you'll be surprised.
Speaker: Like sometimes we see like, oh yeah, this person is like not a good fit.
Speaker: They interviewed really well, but like they're not a good fit.
Speaker: So like we're not going to hire them, you know?
Speaker: Yeah, that's good.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah, no, so important.
Speaker: And yeah, I think that's a, yeah, because I made a lot of mistakes.
Speaker: I mean, I have a virtual assistant right now, nothing crazy, but these are things that if you are hiring someone for the first time, it's like, yeah, they can look good on paper, they can say the right things.
Speaker: But something that I learned too is just putting people on like, I don't know if you guys do this, but putting them kind of like a trial period or whatever.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Saying, okay.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: We're going to see how it works, bring you on for a month or whatever.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: And then continue after that.
Speaker: Because when I first hired my assistants, I was like, all right, you're hired.
Speaker: You sound awesome.
Speaker: You're going to crush it in this.
Speaker: And they're like, sweet.
Speaker: And then they worked for like two days and didn't show up.
Speaker: Right, right.
Speaker: I'm like, okay, maybe I should say, hey, we're going to test it out and then...
Speaker: you know, kind of like make it official after that.
Speaker: Right, right.
Speaker: Exactly.
Speaker: In principle.
Speaker: But no, cool.
Speaker: And then last couple of things, Rich, I know you guys just rolled out a new thing where you're actually helping people basically create their own marketing department.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Which is super awesome.
Speaker: And I know this is maybe like a higher level thing.
Speaker: This isn't going to be for like a new rep listening or whatever, but
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: What made you guys decide to like offer that to just because I know for you guys, you're like, you're probably like, oh, I want to we just want to keep people and do all the marketing for them.
Speaker: So what gave you that idea of helping companies like create their own in-house marketing department?
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: So for companies doing like 50 deals a month minimum, like 100 deals a month, 200 deals a month.
Speaker: Like they're just tired of rotating through a bunch of lead vendors, right?
Speaker: Like they always have to be hiring new lead vendors always be buying leads all these different places a lot of them do a lot on the doors too, but like they're trying to get like an in-house marketing team going right or like they're trying to do some leads like to feed their virtual sales team to do an inside sales team, you know and The problem is is that a lot of these bigger companies They just spend a little bit of money like five grand ten grand twenty grand that might not seem like a little bit of money, but
Speaker: In the grand scheme of like running ads like running five grand or ten grand or twenty grand for like a month or two Like is not a good litmus test on whether it can really work because like it takes time for these campaigns to dial in so Rather than like having them throw a little bit of money at like so many different lead vendors saying like oh Which one sticks which one does the best like you really have to go all in on like one strategy so we're gonna teach
Speaker: Companies how to build their own in-house marketing team for Google Ads YouTube ads Facebook Ads and like it's a significant investment But we're gonna actually provide a director of marketing for them for as little as a thousand dollars a month So they can fire all their other lead vendors because once they commit to it and they're like yeah We're gonna like invest in this we're gonna actually like commit the time necessary to like make sure this works and they actually like
Speaker: build it all out and they own everything.
Speaker: We download all of our data from $140 million worth of ads that we've run over seven years, 4.7 million leads that we've generated.
Speaker: We download it all into their accounts so they own it.
Speaker: And because a lot of these bigger organizations, they need to bring it in-house because with these new regulations passing,
Speaker: They're not going to be able to afford to keep paying premiums to all these different lead vendors.
Speaker: They're going to have to bring their marketing in-house.
Speaker: So rather than just like have a big company like come to Solar Exclusive and be like, hey, like we're going to throw 10 grand at this for like a month or two and see if it works.
Speaker: Like, all right, why don't we like actually like get down and dirty and like actually build this in your business?
Speaker: And like, why don't you spend 100 grand, 200 grand?
Speaker: Like, why don't you really go to like town with this?
Speaker: But like if it's in your business, you're going to feel a lot more comfortable about spending that kind of money.
Speaker: Then like just like testing out a lead vendor because if we build a department in your business, you can start at that 10 grand, 20 grand.
Speaker: Then once you see the results because your CAC is going to be way lower because you're not paying us retainer fees.
Speaker: You're not paying us fees.
Speaker: Like you're just paying YouTube only and Google only and Facebook only.
Speaker: And then once they see the results, they're going to be able to max out, spend as much as they want, $100,000, $200,000, $500,000 a month like some of our clients, and they're only paying us $1,000 a month.
Speaker: It's way cheaper to do that than have 10 different lead vendors and pay premiums for everything because then your cost per acquisition goes way up because you're paying those premiums.
Speaker: If you can get the leads at cost because you have an in-house team, that's way more beneficial for a lot of big solar organizations.
Speaker: So we're not trying to...
Speaker: put us out of a job, but at the same time, we're gonna be there to consult them.
Speaker: They pay us $100 an hour just to consult them anytime they need help.
Speaker: So they're still gonna be in our ecosystem, but we're fine.
Speaker: giving them all this value, like $140 million worth of data so they can have like a seasoned account, like ready to go.
Speaker: Because I just think it's a better service to these bigger organizations than like, hey, just pay me 10 grand, 20 grand a month and pay 20 grand a month to 10 other people too.
Speaker: Like, why do that?
Speaker: Like just own it in-house, you know?
Speaker: Yeah, yeah.
Speaker: No, that's power home.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: So if you're a company that does have different, I'm thinking of companies I've worked for where they've got like six, seven, eight different lead providers.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: Like, yeah, I know it's like an investment to have you guys help with that.
Speaker: But yeah, sure.
Speaker: If you add up the cost, if you're paying seven, eight different people yearly, it's like, yeah, it would be super nice to have that in-house.
Speaker: And yeah, I think just that's something I've seen in general.
Speaker: It is nice to get some stuff out because I know there's like, for example, people that want to hire out outsource things or assistants and all that.
Speaker: You know, you can always go to like a Fiverr and Upwork.
Speaker: There's like
Speaker: stuff you can outsource.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: But that's like, I found it a lot more valuable to get my own, you know, virtual assistant in house than constantly like paying people.
Speaker: Cause also they like learn your business, how you're doing things and all that.
Speaker: So it's like, if you bring someone in house, they can learn your style and it's not like you're having to train.
Speaker: your different lead gem partner on maybe how you want things every time.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: Yeah, that's a cool idea.
Speaker: Well, last couple of questions, Rich.
Speaker: So, like, I know things have changed in the couple of years that we last did a podcast.
Speaker: um so for you i don't know do you have any like uh insight on where do you see like the future of legion changing do you think there's going to be any other drastic changes you foresee in the market or any uh i don't know um i think this one for the exclusive leads is going to be a massive one so starting in 2025
Speaker: like solar companies aren't gonna be able to dial like homeowner data or Robo dial age data anymore.
Speaker: So they're gonna need exclusive leads.
Speaker: So everyone's gonna be like yearning for exclusive leads going forward.
Speaker: So like it's like paramount that you know solar companies do invest in this to like figure out how to do exclusive leads that whether in-house or like hire a company to do it for them because like you don't want to get caught with your pants down like you're relying on like cold calling and auto dialing and like all this stuff and
Speaker: Like it's gonna be gone like in just a few short months like eight months from now It's like no more, you know, and like it's crazy like this ruling in the FCC Like I put it up in my presentation at solar con.
Speaker: It's like on page five It says that they gave authority to like Verizon AT&T T-Mobile to just like shut businesses down from like having any of their calls go through and
Speaker: And it's not even just like, oh, I'll just buy another number.
Speaker: It's like the number is like registered with your EIN number.
Speaker: Like they'll just shut down your EIN number.
Speaker: It's like none of your calls will go through, which is like crazy.
Speaker: Like it's just going to shut people down.
Speaker: Like you don't even have to break the law for them to do that.
Speaker: Even if they suspect that you broke the law because you're auto dialing so much they could just not let your calls go through to cell phones like It's just gonna like totally brutal It's gonna emasculate like so many like solar leads because like most of them are done through call centers, you know It's crazy.
Speaker: Yeah, but like I think that's gonna be like the biggest one coming up Yeah, and then I think as far as like the AI stuff we're gonna see a lot more of like
Speaker: AI appointment setters, like we're already building that out and using that for a lot of our campaigns.
Speaker: But I think it's only a matter of time before AI is banned, honestly.
Speaker: I think someone's going to get taken advantage of.
Speaker: There's going to be a series of people scammed from AI, and I feel like they're just going to be like, look, this is too dangerous.
Speaker: I don't know, though.
Speaker: It's like...
Speaker: How involved is the government going to get?
Speaker: But, like, I mean, I used to live on the East Coast, and, like, New York City wanted to, like, make it so you couldn't buy a 32-ounce, like, thing of Coke.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: Like, yeah, like, a big gulp was, like, against the law.
Speaker: Like, 16-ounce was, like, the biggest one.
Speaker: So, like, I don't know.
Speaker: I feel like the government's willing to, like, ban anything that, like, isn't good for people.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: You know?
Speaker: This doesn't stop someone from buying two 16-ounce big gulps, you know?
Speaker: And people are going to use AI, I think, either way.
Speaker: But I think the government's going to have to crack down on it because when it starts to replace salespeople, that's where it's going to be scary.
Speaker: Because then they don't need you anymore as a solar salesperson.
Speaker: These big EPCs or manufacturers are just going to use AI to sell solar, and they're just going to install it directly and cut you out.
Speaker: So I think that it might be a good thing to curtail the AI a little bit.
Speaker: And I think that's probably what's going to happen.
Speaker: I think some people are going to get scammed and like it's going to be too powerful and too scary for a lot of people to like be ripped off by AI.
Speaker: So I think, you know, we might see some changes with that in the coming years.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Okay.
Speaker: Very good.
Speaker: I guess use it while it's here, right?
Speaker: Yeah, exactly.
Speaker: Take advantage now.
Speaker: But no, I mean, I guess that's important.
Speaker: It's important to maybe have like other systems, not put all your eggs in one basket.
Speaker: Exactly.
Speaker: Yeah, exactly.
Speaker: Backup plans.
Speaker: Well, cool.
Speaker: It's been fun jamming with you again, Rich.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: If people want to possibly like, you know, start working with Solar Exclusive or connect with you more, what's the best way to do that?
Speaker: Yeah, so either follow us on Instagram at solarexclusive or check out solarexclusive.com.
Speaker: We're doing a 30-day trial right now.
Speaker: No long-term commitment, cancel any time.
Speaker: Just try it out, make sales, continue.
Speaker: If you don't make sales, just come back later, try it out again.
Speaker: We're always doing these 30-day trials.
Speaker: So solar season's about to ramp up.
Speaker: People are more interested in solar when their electric bills are higher.
Speaker: Our lead costs are gone down so much.
Speaker: So many big solar companies are not spending as much anymore.
Speaker: SunPower's not spending as much.
Speaker: Sunrun's not spending as much.
Speaker: So many of these big companies have cut back their spending because the solar industry is struggling.
Speaker: So it's a great opportunity for you to get in and get leads at lower cost than they've ever been in the last three years.
Speaker: So try it out.
Speaker: Try it out for 30 days.
Speaker: If it doesn't work, cancel.
Speaker: But you can cancel any time, and we're confident we can get you results.
Speaker: So check out solarexclusive.com.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Love it.
Speaker: So guys, go check it out.
Speaker: And yeah, even if you haven't done online leads in a while, like Rich said, it's probably a great time now when these big companies aren't dropping millions.
Speaker: Makes it a little bit easier for the smaller guys.
Speaker: Exactly.
Speaker: Like us.
Speaker: So go check it out and take advantage of the free trial.
Speaker: And how much, if it's like maybe a newer rep, how much should they expect to like, I don't know, spend on ads?
Speaker: Yeah, probably like three grand to like start out.
Speaker: Okay.
Speaker: Yeah, per month.
Speaker: But we won't charge you a setup fee or retainer fee.
Speaker: So it's just the three grand that goes to YouTube and you can get anywhere from like, I don't know 50 to 100 leads off that.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: So good.
Speaker: So, yeah, go check them out.
Speaker: And Rich knows I'm still a big door knocker and all that.
Speaker: But even if you're a door knocker list in this, like still so many things you can apply.
Speaker: And I always, you know, recommend the guys like, yeah.
Speaker: You know, you can supplement your door knocking with a lot of this stuff and still set up these systems.
Speaker: And I think that's what makes, you know, an even better rep and more powerful as you're knocking the doors.
Speaker: Yeah, for sure.
Speaker: Some of these systems in place.
Speaker: So thanks again for coming on with this, Rich.
Speaker: And hopefully we'll do one before two years and hear about some of these trends.
Speaker: We'll see when AA is banned.
Speaker: Okay.
Speaker: Sounds good, man.
Speaker: Thanks, man.
Speaker: Thanks for having me.
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