Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
How To Set Up Killer Referral Partnerships
70 Plays2 years ago
- https://www.youtube.com/@solarpreneurs
- goals.solarpreneurs.com
- oneliners.solarpreneurs.com
- https://solciety.co/ - JOIN SOLCIETY NOW!
- SIRO APP - LEARN MORE!
- Thanks to our sponsor Pi Syndicate for this episode!
- DOWNLOAD THE CHEAT SHEET HERE!: TOP 10 MOST DOWNLOADED EPISODES OF ALL TIME
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction to the Solarpreneur Podcast
00:00:03
Speaker
to the solarpreneur podcast where we teach you to take your solar business to the next level my name is taylor armstrong 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 i teach you 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 and
00:00:27
Speaker
falling up like a pro and closing more deals.
00:00:31
Speaker
What is a solopreneur, you might ask?
00:00:33
Speaker
A solopreneur is a new breed of solopreneur that is willing to do whatever it takes to achieve mastery, and you are about to become one.
The Power of Referral Partnerships in Solar Sales
00:00:42
Speaker
Hey, what's going on, solarpreneurs?
00:00:43
Speaker
Taylor Armstrong here.
00:00:44
Speaker
We are back with another episode.
00:00:46
Speaker
Today we're going to be talking about how you can set up rock solid referral partnerships.
00:00:52
Speaker
If you are wanting more referrals in your business, in your solar sales game, it is essential to set up referral partnerships.
00:01:01
Speaker
So we're going to be talking about that and a whole lot more.
00:01:04
Speaker
Welcome to the podcast.
00:01:06
Speaker
If you are new, if you have been here for a while now, welcome back.
00:01:11
Speaker
We're here to help you close more deals, generate more leads and referrals, and have a much better time in the solar industry.
00:01:18
Speaker
Hopefully you don't get me saying that.
00:01:20
Speaker
Okay, but just got to remind people what we're doing.
00:01:24
Speaker
And just, you know, a little update.
00:01:27
Speaker
Last week, we did a replay of a few podcasts.
00:01:33
Speaker
And just being transparent, you know, we're in a competition, and
00:01:38
Speaker
And I'm like, you know what?
00:01:40
Speaker
I'm going to focus my time on the competition this week.
00:01:44
Speaker
So I thought I'd just replay some of the old episodes that I thought were really valuable rather than just leaving guys hanging.
00:01:54
Speaker
So let me know what you thought of that.
00:01:57
Speaker
I'm curious to know, would you rather have...
00:02:00
Speaker
a break in the podcast, not publish for a week, or would you rather repost some older content?
00:02:08
Speaker
I just thought there's so much older content that we've done that probably people either forgot what we talked about,
00:02:16
Speaker
They haven't heard it.
00:02:16
Speaker
So why not repost some older episodes?
00:02:20
Speaker
But if that annoyed you, let me know.
00:02:22
Speaker
Maybe we'll just have a break in the podcast on weeks like that.
00:02:26
Speaker
Because I know some weeks it's not always going to be possible doing two episodes a week.
00:02:33
Speaker
But for the most part, we're coming at you every Tuesday and Friday, bringing fresh new content.
Upcoming Episode Preview: Solar Mike
00:02:39
Speaker
And the other thing that happened last week, we actually were supposed to publish an interview that I did.
00:02:45
Speaker
However, we had some technical technical difficulties and went to open the folder.
00:02:50
Speaker
The recording was nowhere to be found.
00:02:53
Speaker
So I actually redid the podcast.
00:02:55
Speaker
I think it came out even better.
00:02:56
Speaker
You guys are going to hear it on the next episode.
00:02:59
Speaker
It's with Solar Mike, Mike Winter.
00:03:02
Speaker
If you don't follow this guy on Instagram, go give him a follow.
00:03:05
Speaker
He is absolutely crushing.
00:03:07
Speaker
And he is actually a little bit what inspired this current episode right now on the referral partnerships.
00:03:15
Speaker
because he does basically all his business through referral partnerships.
00:03:21
Speaker
He doesn't really knock anymore.
00:03:23
Speaker
And that's the dream for a lot of people.
00:03:25
Speaker
Like, how can we increase referrals?
00:03:27
Speaker
How can we set up solid partnerships?
00:03:30
Speaker
So I'm going to be given a few of my thoughts on that today.
00:03:33
Speaker
And then next episode, you're going to hear even more from a master.
00:03:38
Speaker
And just a disclaimer,
00:03:40
Speaker
I am doing most of my leads, most of my business through door knocking, which is why you hear me talk about it so much.
00:03:47
Speaker
But I am constantly trying to improve my referral process.
00:03:51
Speaker
I do have a few referral partners right now, so I am not claiming to be a master at this.
00:03:56
Speaker
But Mike, Solar Mike, that you're going to hear on the next podcast has been doing this for a long time.
00:04:04
Speaker
And I think he's really mastered or close to master the referral partnerships.
00:04:09
Speaker
So that's why I bring in guests, because guess what?
00:04:12
Speaker
I'm not a master of everything in solar.
00:04:14
Speaker
But hey, we're all learning together.
00:04:16
Speaker
So I'm going to share some of my thoughts on it.
00:04:18
Speaker
And then next episode, you're going to hear even
What is a Referral Partnership?
00:04:20
Speaker
more.
00:04:20
Speaker
Yeah.
00:04:20
Speaker
But a referral partnership is someone that you have a relationship set up with where they give you leads, they give you referrals and maybe you split commission with them.
00:04:32
Speaker
Uh, however you're paying them out, but typically it's someone that's not necessarily a customer.
00:04:38
Speaker
It can be a current customer, but when I think of referral partnerships, um, it's more like maybe you have a buddy that's in real estate that's sending you leads.
00:04:48
Speaker
Maybe you got someone that has like an HVAC company that sends you leads, um,
00:04:54
Speaker
So that's more of what I would think is a typical referral partnership.
00:04:59
Speaker
Okay, so let's talk a little bit.
00:05:02
Speaker
How do you set these things up?
00:05:04
Speaker
How do you go about finding them?
00:05:06
Speaker
What are some things you can do to make them more effective?
00:05:09
Speaker
So we're going to be talking about today.
00:05:11
Speaker
All right.
00:05:11
Speaker
So first things first.
00:05:13
Speaker
we need to identify who is also servicing your ideal customers.
00:05:17
Speaker
Okay.
00:05:19
Speaker
And there's the obvious ones like roofers, they're on roofs.
00:05:22
Speaker
They're probably dealing with your ideal customers.
00:05:26
Speaker
Uh, people that do HVAC real estate agents, uh,
00:05:32
Speaker
So those are probably ones that people think of more often than not.
00:05:35
Speaker
But also, I want you to think outside the box here.
00:05:38
Speaker
Maybe it's house cleaning businesses, people that are going into homes with that.
00:05:42
Speaker
Maybe it's your Amazon delivery guy.
00:05:45
Speaker
That would be creative.
00:05:47
Speaker
Never heard of that.
00:05:48
Speaker
Maybe it's your pizza.
00:05:49
Speaker
Maybe it's your Domino's delivery driver.
00:05:51
Speaker
And people that are crushing it in this, they're thinking outside the box like that.
00:05:58
Speaker
They are looking everywhere for who has my money, who has my clients, who is going to potential customers.
00:06:06
Speaker
And I recently was out with a buddy of mine, a buddy of mine.
00:06:09
Speaker
We're knocking on some doors.
00:06:11
Speaker
We see someone.
00:06:12
Speaker
He's like a handyman guy.
00:06:14
Speaker
He's parked in his truck.
00:06:16
Speaker
And we're driving to area and I would have thought nothing, nothing of this.
00:06:20
Speaker
But my buddy that I'm with, he stops his truck, rolls down the window.
00:06:24
Speaker
He's like, hey, what are you doing here?
00:06:26
Speaker
The guy's a handyman.
00:06:27
Speaker
He's fixing something.
00:06:29
Speaker
And immediately my buddy starts pitching him on.
00:06:33
Speaker
Like, hey, well, here's what we do.
00:06:37
Speaker
You can make a lot of money doing this and not necessarily recruiting him, but he recognized that this handyman was going to a lot of potential solar customers and he capitalized.
00:06:49
Speaker
And I don't know if he's gotten referrals from it, but he gave him a card and
00:06:53
Speaker
He got his number.
00:06:55
Speaker
He told him about what we're doing.
00:06:57
Speaker
He probably should have set up like a meeting with him, make it even more effective, got it even more legit.
00:07:03
Speaker
But I once he did this,
00:07:05
Speaker
I'm like, okay, I'm probably missing out on a huge opportunity here.
00:07:10
Speaker
How many times have we driven past someone that's servicing a home?
00:07:14
Speaker
Maybe there's a roofer.
00:07:16
Speaker
Maybe there's some house cleaner parked out front.
00:07:20
Speaker
Those people could be our potential referral partners.
00:07:23
Speaker
And you're going to hear next episode with Solar Mike.
00:07:26
Speaker
He talks about this and some of the aha moments he had at how instead of just knocking nonstop, why not look for these relationships?
00:07:34
Speaker
Why not look for these referral partnerships?
00:07:37
Speaker
So I think that's step one.
00:07:38
Speaker
Recognize who has who is also visiting my potential clients and
00:07:43
Speaker
And start to open your minds, expand your mindset.
00:07:47
Speaker
Don't be like me.
00:07:48
Speaker
Start to think, okay, all these people that I'm around, could they be referral partners?
00:07:54
Speaker
Most of us aren't thinking like this, but if we did, we probably...
00:07:59
Speaker
probably a lot of a lot of people that could be our referral partners.
00:08:02
Speaker
OK, so that's what I would say.
00:08:05
Speaker
Step one, just start to have that mindset shift.
00:08:09
Speaker
Think like that.
00:08:10
Speaker
Think who can be my referral partner.
00:08:12
Speaker
OK, and then
How to Approach Potential Referral Partners
00:08:13
Speaker
another thing, it's good to have a little presentation, have some printed materials.
00:08:19
Speaker
Cards are good.
00:08:20
Speaker
You can give these people.
00:08:21
Speaker
But really, I think he wants to identify a
00:08:25
Speaker
how you're going to really present to them on what the opportunity is.
00:08:30
Speaker
A story I thought of with this, my previous company I was with, we had someone, he was our VP of sales at the time, but he was really good at selling people on the opportunity.
00:08:42
Speaker
We had a really dialed in setter program.
00:08:45
Speaker
And it wasn't because he did set expectations with them.
00:08:50
Speaker
But the main reason he was able to recruit so many setters and the main reason we had a dialed-in setters team, this is actually the year I got Golden Door in 2019.
00:09:01
Speaker
We had a lot of really dialed-in setters.
00:09:03
Speaker
I think the differentiating factor...
00:09:06
Speaker
for these setters was they were so bought in to the opportunity of solar.
00:09:11
Speaker
They were sold on that.
00:09:13
Speaker
It's like Grant Cardone says, sell or be sold.
00:09:16
Speaker
Most people, they need to be sold on the opportunity and then the rest is going to take care of itself.
00:09:21
Speaker
If someone is so sold that we are doing a great thing for homeowners, that we are saving people tons of money,
00:09:29
Speaker
that the opportunity is absolutely insane, bonkers, then they're probably going to work really hard.
00:09:36
Speaker
So as you're out there trying to set up these potential referral partnerships, how good of a job are you doing at presenting the solar opportunity, at selling them on the vision?
00:09:48
Speaker
Do they really believe in the product?
00:09:51
Speaker
Do you believe in the product?
00:09:52
Speaker
If you don't, it's going to be really tough to get these people to give you referrals.
00:09:56
Speaker
And that goes for getting new set of recruiting setters, recruiting people in your organization.
00:10:02
Speaker
The master recruiters that I see and the masters at setting up referral partnerships, they are doing a great job at selling the vision, at getting people to think how great of an opportunity is.
00:10:14
Speaker
And it is a great opportunity.
00:10:15
Speaker
So make sure you're sold on that.
00:10:17
Speaker
And then just some side
Setting Terms with Referral Partners
00:10:20
Speaker
notes.
00:10:20
Speaker
Be clear on what you will pay.
00:10:23
Speaker
And I think we talk a little bit about this in the coming podcast, but are you splitting commission with these people?
00:10:30
Speaker
I've noticed in myself and my own recruitment of referral partners, I think something that I have not done a great job on is getting clear on what am I paying these people?
00:10:42
Speaker
Because everyone, there's levels to this, right?
00:10:45
Speaker
Maybe some referral partners are just giving you a list of leads that they service and like, hey, call them.
00:10:50
Speaker
And if you get any, let me know.
00:10:52
Speaker
Give me the commission if you get them.
00:10:53
Speaker
OK, but maybe some they're actually in a home.
00:10:57
Speaker
They're talking to a homeowner.
00:10:58
Speaker
They're getting someone's electric bill, sending you that and actually setting an appointment.
00:11:03
Speaker
Is that more valuable than someone that's just giving you a whole list of leads and saying, hey, call my old customers and let me know if you get any from them?
00:11:13
Speaker
Yeah, it's probably a lot more valuable if they're giving you an actual set appointment with a bill.
00:11:18
Speaker
And at that point, you're probably going to treat them like, you know, a setter from your company.
00:11:23
Speaker
So just keep in mind there's different levels and then figure out what you're going to pay.
00:11:28
Speaker
Because the mistake I've made is I've had potential referral partners say, OK, Taylor, what's the deal?
00:11:34
Speaker
What do you pay?
00:11:36
Speaker
What type of partnership we talk in?
00:11:38
Speaker
And I haven't been clear on what I'm paying.
00:11:41
Speaker
I'm like, oh, yeah, well, we'll make sure you get a good portion of it.
00:11:45
Speaker
So I would write out what your plan is.
00:11:47
Speaker
Maybe if they only give you a lead, maybe you're giving them like 20% of the commission.
00:11:53
Speaker
If they're giving you an actual set appointment, maybe you're splitting that.
00:11:57
Speaker
Maybe you're giving 30, 40%.
00:12:00
Speaker
But make sure you pay him well, have a good partnership worked out, and then get clear on what you're actually going to pay him.
00:12:06
Speaker
Because if you're not clear, then it doesn't look the greatest.
00:12:09
Speaker
I think I've probably caused some hesitancy with people wanting to partner up because I didn't give them a clear answer.
00:12:19
Speaker
So you want to be confident.
00:12:20
Speaker
You want to act like you've been doing this for a while.
00:12:23
Speaker
You want to act like you have lots of referral partners, even if you don't.
00:12:27
Speaker
People want that.
00:12:28
Speaker
People want that confidence.
00:12:30
Speaker
Hey, and then, yeah, I mean, just get in front of the decision makers.
00:12:34
Speaker
Maybe you see an HVAC truck in your neighborhood.
00:12:39
Speaker
You talk to them.
00:12:41
Speaker
Maybe you follow that truck back to the headquarters and, you know, you got to get in front of the right people to set up these partnerships.
00:12:48
Speaker
OK, you can message
Networking and Communication for Successful Partnerships
00:12:50
Speaker
them, maybe social media.
00:12:52
Speaker
Just like, hey, do you guys already have a solar company that you work with?
00:12:57
Speaker
Hey, and don't sound spammy, right?
00:12:59
Speaker
But talk to the right person.
00:13:02
Speaker
Make sure you have a good presentation for them.
00:13:06
Speaker
And some of the stuff I haven't tried, but I'm planning on trying.
00:13:10
Speaker
But it's like you probably want to have maybe a little slide deck created.
00:13:15
Speaker
Really just a clear vision on what you're doing and what that partnership is going to look like.
00:13:20
Speaker
Hey, and then besides that, another good resource I've mentioned before in the podcast, I have not gone to these, but I know several people that go to the business, the BNI business, business networking events.
00:13:33
Speaker
I probably should try those out and be good.
00:13:36
Speaker
A good good test.
00:13:37
Speaker
See how well that goes.
00:13:38
Speaker
But I know there's B&A groups in pretty much every city.
00:13:42
Speaker
You can go and set up partnerships like this and get referral partners.
00:13:47
Speaker
And then make sure you have regular communication.
00:13:51
Speaker
Nothing drives people more crazy than when they give you a lead and there's not communication.
00:13:56
Speaker
So I would treat these referral partnerships like you're given customer updates.
00:14:02
Speaker
In other words, every time you give you should be giving your customers an update every week.
00:14:07
Speaker
Right.
00:14:07
Speaker
So if you're giving your customers an update every week, why are you not giving your referral partner?
00:14:12
Speaker
an update.
00:14:14
Speaker
And that goes for your setters too.
00:14:15
Speaker
If you are part of a team that has setters, speaking from experience, I get texts all the time from setters at my current company saying, oh, I have no idea what's going on with my deal.
00:14:28
Speaker
Or also people in our coaching group right now that are setting appointments, they get ahold of their closers.
00:14:34
Speaker
They have no idea
00:14:36
Speaker
or they hear like they think they're going to have an install.
00:14:39
Speaker
And then six weeks later, they find out that that deal had canceled like the week after.
00:14:44
Speaker
Nothing could be more discouraging than that.
00:14:46
Speaker
So make sure you are given your referral partners and also your setters, whoever's giving you these leads updates.
00:14:53
Speaker
Regular communication is key with all your people.
00:14:56
Speaker
Okay, so just a few notes.
00:14:59
Speaker
Hopefully that helps.
00:15:00
Speaker
And I'll be sharing my experience as I attempt to set up more of these referral partnerships.
00:15:06
Speaker
As you can probably tell, I don't have all the answers right now, but I'm going to be doing it real time, sharing my experience with it.
00:15:13
Speaker
And hopefully this inspires you to go and try to set up your own referral partnerships, especially we're coming on the holiday season.
00:15:21
Speaker
If you're in a freezing cold market, wouldn't it be nice to have some referrals coming in?
00:15:26
Speaker
instead of knocking in the snow.
00:15:28
Speaker
We're going to be knocking as always, but nice to have some referrals coming in.
00:15:33
Speaker
So tune into the next episode.
00:15:34
Speaker
We're going to be hearing from Solar Mike or Mike Winter.
00:15:38
Speaker
This guy is doing incredible things.
00:15:40
Speaker
We're going to be jamming on social media on more on how to set up these referral partnerships.
00:15:46
Speaker
So make sure you don't miss out on that one.
00:15:48
Speaker
And we will see you on the next episode.
Introducing Solcite: A Community for Solar Professionals
00:15:51
Speaker
Peace.
00:15:53
Speaker
Hey, solopreneurs, quick question.
00:15:54
Speaker
What if you could surround yourself with the industry's top performing sales pros, marketers, and CEOs and learn from their experience and wisdom in less than 20 minutes a day.
00:16:04
Speaker
For the last three years, I've been placed in the fortunate position to interview dozens of elite level solar professionals and learn exactly what they do behind closed doors to build their solar careers to an all-star level.
00:16:16
Speaker
That's why I want to make a truly special announcement about the new learning community exclusively for solar professionals
00:16:23
Speaker
to learn, compete, and win with top performers in the industry.
00:16:27
Speaker
And it's called Solcite.
00:16:29
Speaker
This learning community was designed from the ground up to level the playing field and give Solar Pros access to proven mentors who want to give back to this community and help you or your team to be held accountable by the industry's brightest minds for, are you ready for it, less than $3.45 a day.
00:16:48
Speaker
Currently, SoulCity is open, launched, and ready to be enrolled.
00:16:54
Speaker
So go to SoulCity.co to learn more and join the learning experience now.
00:17:02
Speaker
This is exclusively for solopreneur listeners, so be sure to go to SoulCity.co and join.
00:17:09
Speaker
We'll see you on the inside.