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Should You Ask for Referrals Before or After Install?
73 Plays3 years ago
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Transcript
Taylor's Journey to Solar Success
00:00:03
Speaker
Welcome to the Solarpreneur Podcast where we teach you to take your solar business to the next level.
00:00:08
Speaker
My name is Taylor Armstrong.
00:00:10
Speaker
I went from $50 in my bank account and struggling for groceries to closing 150 deals in the year and cracking the code on why sales reps fell.
00:00:19
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.
Understanding Solopreneurship in Solar
00:00:31
Speaker
What is a solopreneur, you might ask?
00:00:33
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.
00:00:43
Speaker
What's up, solopreneurs?
00:00:44
Speaker
My name is Taylor Armstrong.
00:00:45
Speaker
Welcome back to the Solopreneur podcast, or if you're joining us for the first time,
Podcast Goals and Schedule
00:00:50
Speaker
welcome.
00:00:50
Speaker
This podcast is here to help you close more deals, generate more leads and referrals, and have a much better time in the solar industry.
00:00:57
Speaker
Hope you're doing great.
00:00:58
Speaker
Thanks for making the podcast the first listen of every Tuesday and Friday.
00:01:03
Speaker
And I wanted to address a couple of things before we jump into today's topic, which is when should you ask for a referral before or after install?
Addressing Ad Feedback
00:01:13
Speaker
Very intriguing, very interesting topic we're going to jump into.
00:01:17
Speaker
Before that, though, I got an interesting question on Instagram the other day, or should I say just a bit of feedback I wanted to address.
00:01:25
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So I'm not going to call any names, obviously, but this comment, someone sent me a message.
00:01:30
Speaker
They said, hey, man, love the podcast, but there's just way too many ads in it.
00:01:36
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So if you can't cool on the ads, then you're going to lose a listener right here.
00:01:41
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So I appreciated the comment, appreciated the feedback.
Introduction to Free Sales Audits
00:01:45
Speaker
And with that, yes, you may have noticed I have been doing a few more just calls to action, a few more invitations in the podcast.
00:01:54
Speaker
The most recent one being that we are doing free sales audits.
00:01:58
Speaker
But so first of all, yeah, I said thanks for the feedback.
00:02:02
Speaker
And to be fair, I did put a few too many in some of the recent episodes.
00:02:07
Speaker
So some of the shorter episodes, I get it.
00:02:09
Speaker
If you're hearing a, you know, ad or little shout out every five minutes, I get it.
00:02:15
Speaker
I get it.
00:02:15
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That can be annoying.
00:02:16
Speaker
You know, I'm not Joe Rogan or anything.
00:02:19
Speaker
I'm not, I'm not someone who's doing 10 minutes of ads to start a podcast, but, um, yeah, I will quote on those.
00:02:26
Speaker
Okay.
00:02:27
Speaker
So we've made the adjustment.
00:02:28
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We're not going to bombard you with ads, especially in the shorter ones.
00:02:31
Speaker
Okay.
00:02:32
Speaker
But at the same time, I also wanted to just, um, you know, defend my side.
00:02:37
Speaker
We have been doing this podcast for about, I think over three years now.
00:02:42
Speaker
And about the first 200 episodes, there were very few ads, if any.
00:02:47
Speaker
We had a long stretch where I don't think there was a single ad run.
00:02:50
Speaker
So for that person, I mean, you can go back, go listen the first couple hundred.
00:02:55
Speaker
We didn't really have ads for most of them, some exceptions.
00:02:58
Speaker
But now what we're doing, I have, yes, we have started including some of these sales audits because we are starting to work with people on a more one-on-one basis.
00:03:09
Speaker
And in order to justify doing this podcast going on almost 300 episodes now, I think that it is, I think it's fair to start working with people and, you know, ask for, I'm not charging for the podcast.
00:03:20
Speaker
You can listen to it all you want.
00:03:22
Speaker
But during these free sell audits, if it makes sense, then yeah, there is an invitation to work more together.
00:03:28
Speaker
Okay.
00:03:29
Speaker
I feel like these audits do have a ton of value in them just doing that.
00:03:33
Speaker
So even if, even if you don't want to work more and, you know, get one-on-one coaching help, then by all means, still book an audit.
00:03:40
Speaker
I think we can dive into your numbers and I've gotten feedback that's even just going through the audit is something that's been super powerful, been helping people identify just holes in their process.
00:03:51
Speaker
So even if you don't want that, book a call.
00:03:53
Speaker
But anyways, that is the explanation.
00:03:56
Speaker
Yes, we are doing some of those audits.
00:03:59
Speaker
And yes, I will try to call on them.
00:04:01
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But that is my answer to this comment I received.
00:04:04
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So if you are one of those people that's bugged with how many times we've been repeating that little advertisement, I apologize.
00:04:10
Speaker
But guess what?
00:04:11
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We're here to change the world.
00:04:13
Speaker
And I think the best way to do that...
00:04:15
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on top of listening to podcasts, is hopefully working with some people on a more personal basis in helping you develop your processes.
00:04:22
Speaker
So I'm going to call it out right here.
00:04:24
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If you want to do that free sales audit and you have not yet, shoot me an email, taylor at solarpreneurs.com or DM me, whatever's easiest on Facebook or Instagram.
00:04:34
Speaker
Okay.
00:04:34
Speaker
And we won't do an ad in this podcast.
00:04:36
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You don't have to hear me say that.
00:04:38
Speaker
So anyways, let's jump into the topic and that is referrals.
Referral Timing in Solar Sales
00:04:41
Speaker
Okay.
00:04:42
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Something I've been talking about a little bit more lately and that is because I'm working with a coach that's helping me just really dial in my referral process.
00:04:51
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And the other reason is I had a familiar guest on the podcast that's going to be coming on the next episode.
00:04:57
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I promise there is no recording issue this time.
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So his is going to be next episode.
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His name is Matt Crowther.
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You've heard him here before, but this guy is crushing it with referrals.
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He is a manager over at Sunrun here in Southern California.
00:05:09
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He gets almost half his business from referrals.
00:05:13
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So I don't know anyone that's getting half or probably I don't I don't think anyone's getting even close to that.
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So I was really intrigued how Matt's doing it.
00:05:21
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Asked him a ton of questions.
00:05:22
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You're not going to want to miss out on that episode if you do want to master your referral process.
00:05:27
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But something we talked about a little bit is just when he gets his referrals.
00:05:32
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And so I'll spoil a little bit here.
00:05:34
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I'm not going to give away all his secrets yet.
00:05:36
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You're going to have to tune in next episode.
00:05:38
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But he told me that he never gets...
00:05:41
Speaker
Hey, solarpreneurs, are you sick and tired of spinning your wheels every month and not seeing your cells increase?
00:05:47
Speaker
Well, so was I, and the truth is I was never able to improve it until I figured out what was going wrong.
00:05:53
Speaker
So that's why I'm excited to announce for a limited time, we are doing a free cells diagnostic.
00:05:59
Speaker
We'll break down your cells process
00:06:02
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Figure out the holes in your business and see how we can help you improve.
00:06:06
Speaker
So at now, we have six bucks for this month.
00:06:09
Speaker
So book a call now.
00:06:11
Speaker
Don't miss out.
00:06:12
Speaker
What you're going to do is send an email to taylor at solarpreneurs.com.
00:06:17
Speaker
That's taylor at solarpreneurs with an s dot com.
00:06:21
Speaker
I'll send you out a calendar link and we will figure out the time that works best.
00:06:26
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So shoot that email and let's increase your sales.
00:06:30
Speaker
He never actually contacts referrals until after a customer is installed.
00:06:35
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And his thinking on that is, okay, if I do that, no one's, they can't cancel.
00:06:41
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They're not going to talk to a friend that got solar from somewhere else.
00:06:43
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They're not going to talk to a family member that tells them solar is a terrible thing.
00:06:47
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And it's not going to mess up the cell, which totally see his point with that.
00:06:51
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Okay.
00:06:51
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And my process was my, my school thought was okay.
00:06:55
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People that do that, they're just having more of a scarcity mindset.
00:06:58
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Come on, you get the referral.
00:07:00
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Now you contact them now, and that's how you should do things.
00:07:03
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You should never be afraid to get a referral.
00:07:05
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Not that Matt is, but so what's the right answer here?
00:07:08
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Should you get it before install or should you get it at the time of sale?
00:07:12
Speaker
So here's what I think.
00:07:14
Speaker
If you do have, maybe you're working with a company that does not have the best reviews.
Cultural Factors in Referrals
00:07:20
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Maybe you're working with a company that is figuring out their process.
00:07:23
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If that's the case, yeah, you might want to consider doing what Matt does, especially if that's the case.
00:07:29
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Or another thing, maybe if you're pricing quite a bit higher than competitors, if you're selling, you know, loans.
00:07:34
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I know Matt primarily does power purchase agreements over its Sunrun, which if you're not in California, you might not have heard of that, but that's just where you sell them.
00:07:43
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The electricity that is produced by the panels at a lower rate than what they pay to the utility, which usually there's less, you know, shopping around involved with that.
00:07:51
Speaker
But those two things, if you are pricing higher or if you are...
00:07:55
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Maybe your company doesn't have the greatest reviews.
00:07:57
Speaker
Okay, it's not that you're having a scarcity mindset.
00:07:59
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100%, you need to be a rock solid with your company.
00:08:02
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You need to have extreme confidence.
00:08:04
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But I have had, to be fair, I have had deals cancel because I asked for a referral.
00:08:09
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And who knows?
00:08:10
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Maybe it wasn't that I asked for a referral.
00:08:12
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They probably would have talked to these people anyways.
00:08:14
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But I remember one girl in specific, she referred me to her parents.
00:08:19
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And then next thing I know, she talks to her parents.
00:08:21
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And they say they already have solar through a different company.
00:08:24
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And she cancels with me.
00:08:25
Speaker
Okay, so probably would have been something that happens either way, but I have noticed that with different cultures, they are way more likely to listen to other people.
00:08:36
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Indians love hearing referrals from other Indians.
00:08:40
Speaker
Hispanics love hearing testimonials and examples from other Hispanics.
00:08:45
Speaker
But
00:08:46
Speaker
I would say probably, you know, people from the US here, like Americans, they probably don't, you know, they're not going to do it as much just based off of like that their friend that's also in the same community did it.
00:08:59
Speaker
So keep that in mind.
00:09:00
Speaker
Okay, but here's my thoughts
Strategies for Asking Referrals
00:09:02
Speaker
on it.
00:09:02
Speaker
Number one, you should be asking for referrals always before and after.
00:09:07
Speaker
And this is something that we talk about with Matt in the next podcast.
00:09:10
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is yeah, he doesn't like contact their referrals until after they install.
00:09:15
Speaker
In fact, I don't even think he gets phone numbers usually.
00:09:17
Speaker
But what he does, he starts planting the seed before they install.
00:09:22
Speaker
At the time of the sale, really in his entire sales process, he's planting seeds.
00:09:26
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His whole goal is to get them to start thinking about people that they can introduce and also help save money, also help save the planet.
00:09:33
Speaker
And as he does this, this is how he contacts the referrals way more effectively at install.
00:09:39
Speaker
So he'll write down his whole process is you'll hear, you know, way more details, obviously, in the next episode here.
00:09:46
Speaker
But he tells him about his little trip incentive that he does.
00:09:49
Speaker
Anyone that refers them 10 people and that go to install, they get an all expense paid vacation, I think up to like three or four grand.
00:09:56
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So he gets some thinking about, hey, what's your dream vacation?
00:10:00
Speaker
Where have you always wanted to go, but you've never been able to make it out to?
00:10:03
Speaker
Awesome.
00:10:04
Speaker
Grease?
00:10:04
Speaker
Sweet.
00:10:05
Speaker
That'd be awesome.
00:10:05
Speaker
What do you think you'd do there?
00:10:06
Speaker
Oh, go see the Coliseum?
00:10:07
Speaker
Yeah, that'd be sweet.
00:10:08
Speaker
Heck yeah.
00:10:09
Speaker
Cool.
00:10:10
Speaker
Well, so what we're doing, we've actually helped several people win their dream vacations from this.
00:10:15
Speaker
Is it okay if I tell you guys how they did it?
00:10:17
Speaker
Awesome.
00:10:18
Speaker
Then he tells them, and then he says, so I want you guys to have...
00:10:22
Speaker
a great experience so obviously you know let's let's show you how good we are first but right now just just thinking in general who do you who do you guys know that owns a home or that's um friend or family that could benefit from this just to start thinking of a few and then we can get in touch with them later oh great martha she's your cousin oh sweet cool greg he's your uncle all right cool
00:10:45
Speaker
So great thing to do there.
00:10:47
Speaker
Great little exercise.
00:10:48
Speaker
Great thing to role play and start putting into practice.
00:10:51
Speaker
Whether you ask for referrals then or after the cell, whether you contact them, you should 100% always be planting that seed and at least getting names at the cell.
00:11:00
Speaker
Come on, at least get some names.
00:11:01
Speaker
Then you can always follow up and contact them later.
00:11:04
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So this is Matt's process.
00:11:05
Speaker
I thought it was a really great idea.
00:11:07
Speaker
And what I was doing, what I've been doing is getting names and numbers and then just trying to kind of bombard the people.
00:11:13
Speaker
But Matt's school of thought is more like, hey, let your homeowners talk to the people first, get them excited about it, and then contact them later.
00:11:21
Speaker
Okay, so interesting topic.
00:11:23
Speaker
So that's my
Importance of Referral Requests
00:11:24
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answer.
00:11:24
Speaker
If you do want to answer that question, when should you get a referral before or after install?
00:11:29
Speaker
Get it before.
00:11:30
Speaker
You don't have to contact them.
00:11:31
Speaker
Get the names before.
00:11:32
Speaker
Plant the seed.
00:11:33
Speaker
In fact, when you first step into fact-finding your appointments, plant the seed then.
00:11:37
Speaker
Hey, so Mr. Customer, what we're doing today is
00:11:40
Speaker
Obviously, we're going to talk about solar savings, if it makes sense.
00:11:43
Speaker
We'll help you see if your home's qualified and can participate in the program.
00:11:47
Speaker
But really, our main goal more than anything is just to spread the word, spread the awareness, because most people want to do this.
00:11:53
Speaker
They just haven't heard about it.
00:11:54
Speaker
So we work through word of mouth marketing.
00:11:56
Speaker
You familiar with that?
00:11:57
Speaker
Cool.
00:11:58
Speaker
Are you the type of person that likes to share your experiences, if they're good ones, with services and stuff you purchase?
00:12:05
Speaker
Great.
00:12:05
Speaker
So are you open to doing that if this program did work out?
00:12:09
Speaker
Awesome.
00:12:09
Speaker
Okay, number one, if they're referring people, guess what, they're probably sold on what you they're not, they're not going to give out names if they're not sold.
00:12:16
Speaker
So really, at the end, by asking for referrals and getting names, you're solidifying your customer.
00:12:21
Speaker
But number two, you're planting the seed, you're getting them set up to hopefully become a referral partner and give you way more referrals in the future.
00:12:28
Speaker
Okay, so I'm going to be talking more and more about referrals.
00:12:30
Speaker
Let me know if you like this type of content.
Episode Wrap-Up and Next Guest
00:12:33
Speaker
If you like getting referrals, I think they're awesome.
00:12:35
Speaker
Warm leads, right?
00:12:37
Speaker
Let me know.
00:12:37
Speaker
Shoot me a DM.
00:12:38
Speaker
Reviews would be much appreciated.
00:12:40
Speaker
If you have not left us a review on Apple, iTunes, or Spotify, or shared the podcast, please, would greatly appreciate it.
00:12:47
Speaker
Love you guys.
00:12:48
Speaker
And don't forget, tune in next episode.
00:12:50
Speaker
We're going to hear Matt Crowther, who has mastered this process.
00:12:53
Speaker
You're going to want to take notes.
00:12:54
Speaker
Trust me, it's a fabulous episode.
00:12:56
Speaker
So we'll see you next time.
00:12:58
Speaker
Hey, solarpreneurs, are you sick and tired of spinning your wheels every month and not seeing your sales increase?
00:13:04
Speaker
Well, so was I, and the truth is I was never able to improve it until I figured out what was going wrong.
00:13:11
Speaker
So that's why I'm excited to announce for a limited time, we are doing a free sales diagnostic.
00:13:16
Speaker
We'll break down your sales process, figure out the holes in your business and see how we can help you improve.
00:13:24
Speaker
So at now, we have six bucks for this month.
00:13:26
Speaker
So book a call now.
00:13:28
Speaker
Don't miss out.
00:13:29
Speaker
What you're going to do is send an email to taylor at solarpreneurs.com.
00:13:34
Speaker
That's taylor at solarpreneurs with an S dot com.
00:13:38
Speaker
I'll send you out a calendar link and we will figure out the time that works best.
00:13:43
Speaker
So shoot that email and let's increase your sales.