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The $2M Sales Philosophy - Zac Hayward
74 Plays11 hours ago
Zac Hayward is on today's podcast to teach us how to rewire our sales talk beyond memorizing and sensationalization. Through organic growth from door-knocking to leading teams, he's grounded on a high-trust and transparent framework for presentations that will give customers more concrete reasons to sign.
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Transcript
Introduction to the Solarpreneur Podcast
00:00:03
Speaker
Welcome to the Solarpreneur Podcast, where we teach you to take your solar business to the next level. My name is Taylor Armstrong.
Taylor's Journey to Solar Sales Success
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 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.
What is a Solarpreneur?
00:00:31
Speaker
What is a Solarpreneur you might ask? Solarpreneur is a new breed of Solar Pro that is willing to do whatever it takes to achieve mastery and you are about to become one.
Introducing Zach Hayward
00:00:41
Speaker
All right, what's going on, everybody? We've got another great guest in the house. and This is someone that was referred to me by a mutual friend that is not only dominated in alarms, but then moved to solar and then now is started a successful coaching ah business, helping coaching other solar sales reps to have ah a lot of success in solar and in life.
Books vs. Audiobooks Debate
00:01:03
Speaker
So we got Mr. Zach Hayward on the show with us today. Thanks for coming on today, Zach. Thanks for having me, Taylor. Yeah, should be a good time. And, um, you got lots of books, man. So anyone that has that, that many books, you know, they're going to be a great guest. Very, very well educated. I know. I just gotta, gotta show how, intellectual i am. Um, yeah, I've, I've read a couple of them, uh, way that's that's how mine are too i got i got not that many but you know it's nice to have something to pick and choose from and and depending on what you're struggling with pick up the book and do there's some there's something to just having like physical books i don't know like i i'll listen a lot of audiobooks it's so much more convenient but i don't know i gotta stay like grounded that way just picking up ah a good old-fashioned book yeah yeah i don't know
Zach's Background and Transition to Solar
00:01:56
Speaker
I know. For me, I'm more of a visual learner, too. So I like the audio books like we're driving all the time. so I'm all about the books and podcasts. Audio book. Yeah, it's i definitely get more out of it when I can have it in my hands and read it and everything.
00:02:10
Speaker
Yeah. awesome Yeah. I get it. here But, um, well, cool, man. So yeah. and Um, yeah, we've heard great things about, about you Got referred by our mutual friend, um, Scott. Yeah. He had nothing but good to say about you. So, uh, do you want to give us your, uh, background, Zach? Let us know just kind of your journey up to this point, um, in alarms, how you got into solar and all that and why you decided to get into coaching too.
00:02:34
Speaker
Yeah, of course. So i started, i guess, door to door back in 2014, selling alarms out in Texas. My wife and I had like just gotten married and drove out not knowing what we were getting into. And this was like during college. but Realized, had a knack for it. I was like, top rookie of the year or whatever. This alarm company was with them for a couple years. And then Skyline Security, and then went to Vivint for a couple of years. And it was great. I just got like so tired of door-to-door, burned out. And it was just like a summer program. So everyone knows like it's just you're hustling. I actually dropped out of college to like do it full time, like recruit a team, like built up teams, ran those. And then I got into software sales. I was ah selling software for a tech company for a couple years and then a buddy of mine told me what guys were making in solar. There's no way. like I knew I could i could like do well in solar because I had top 1% rep in alarms. um So i was like, dude, that's crazy. That guys are making like 8, 10 plus grand like per deal. like Yeah, right. And so I went and did the whole Topgolf meetup and Fast forward and I'm out in Southern California, I guess like on a blitz, like I left like my cushy tech job and, but it was kind of like, I just felt like I wanted to like break out. Like I missed doing my own thing, you know, 100% commission role, ah that flexibility.
Storytelling in Sales
00:04:05
Speaker
But my wife was still in Utah. I drove out to California and it was like, it was rough at first. Like I had all this sales experience, but we were like, apart. My deals were canceling. I felt like I was doing everything right. But ah yeah, you know, deals were were still canceling. I remember being in my apartment. This was in Marietta, California. I had great, great leadership, like Scott, awesome. Jason, like learning from like some of the best in the industry. And I'm in my apartment. I'm like sleeping on this this mattress. Like I got like a candle on the floor. It's like your typical like door to door rep scene. And my buddy, it's like one of my best friends just moved out to sell with me.
00:04:49
Speaker
And he was like, dude, get a two bedroom apartment. It's like expensive, you know? and And I'm like, okay, whatever. And then he quits the the week of. And so I'm just out there alone. Wife's back in Utah. I'm like, what am I doing? And things just like aren't aren't like sticking. I'm just like grinding and I'd like left my tech job to like go all in on this. And i remember one night, this is silly, but ah it's not silly, but it's I think it's kind of nerdy. I was so sick of all like the self help books. I was I was reading Lord of the Rings the Fellowship. You Lord of the Rings fan? Yeah, I love, lord I haven't read all the books all the way through, but love Lord of the Rings. Yeah, classic. Hell yeah, I know it is. So I'm reading it and I, it like hits me and I'm like, you know, I had just like woken up to two cancellation texts. It was like 14K in my pipeline. It's like down to zero. And I'm like, no, like, yeah.
00:05:39
Speaker
Just the solar coaster was feeling real. And, um, but I'm reading, and I'm like, you know what, like stories captivate people, right? Like dopamine, oxytocin, like you, you, you make emotional connections, um, using story, like more powerfully than just like dishing out facts. And every great story, like follows the same structure. You've got like the main character, like a hero who,
00:06:04
Speaker
faces a problem, and then meets a guide that moves them towards like success or they you know or failure. And I realized I was like playing the main character in this in all these conversations with customers, like sharing more about my company. And you know I'm with like one of the top solar like leading solar companies, all the accolades. And that creates like ah a dynamic with the customer where you're trying to convince and like persuade and force to close. or just like assuming, assuming, and then like hoping they don't cancel. um But a lot of homeowners were shutting down. So anyway, um you're getting the full, you're getting the full story. i like it So ah I stopped pitching, like I stopped trying to sell and I started positioning the customer as like the main person in this is in this story who's facing all these problems with like rising rates and unpredictable bills and like the unreliable grid and And so my my job just became like guiding customers through understanding like the problem when it comes to energy and removing that friction and ultimately letting them sell themselves rather than me and like doing that through story and like loss aversion. um
00:07:16
Speaker
and like forecasting every steps before
Zach's Sales Success and Wealth Building
00:07:19
Speaker
every step before they... So there were like no surprises, addressing objections like before they come up so that the close... I just like things started clicking where like I would... I reframed my whole approach to where customers would just like close themselves. Like the deal would just fall in my lap naturally with like...
00:07:35
Speaker
very little friction. They weren't canceling anymore. So I felt like I picked up on, like discovered something. And so that you know that first year, despite like a really tough learning curve for several months, and I was setting more appointments than anyone in our West Coast region. This is like hundreds and hundreds of reps, but like very little to show for it.
00:07:55
Speaker
um And it's like 60% of my deals were canceling. I'm like doing all this work, nothing's like clicking. But once figured this out, um I made over 400 grand that first year working ah even less than I was before. i was working like four, maybe five days a week. But I was traveling back and forth from California, Utah every week. So I would go and sell in California from like Tuesday to Friday.
00:08:24
Speaker
And then I'd be back home on the weekends in Utah, just like racking up SkyMiles. And, um but it was cool to see, yeah, close rate improves. so I wasn't working as much, um but I was closing more. And, um you know, fast forward, like four and a half years later, I made over $2 million dollars in like
Challenges and Opportunities in Solar
00:08:41
Speaker
commissions. It was like over hundreds and hundreds, you know, like closes, like it was, It was just pretty cool to see that happen. So door-to-door was always like a means to an end for me.
00:08:53
Speaker
um and we were able to build some like rental properties in San Diego, up on the coast and like NorCal where we like split time. And um and now I coach reps one-on-one, door-to-door reps who are facing some of these, you all the problems that we have when it comes like door-to-door and helping them achieve like their goals or what I wanted in a fraction of the time that it took me um so that they can like create financial freedom or start their own business. like That's what we're doing now is like starting ah ah a CPG, consumer packaged good beverage company. We have like hospitality brand. like The job, Solar, like provides like so much opportunity and helping reps like unlock that and do stuff that's in alignment with what they what they want. So anyway, that's um long-winded yeah answer to your question. No, I love it. And ah yeah, I mean, true to your training, you kept it in in a story and that's what we love because I was like, I mean, even I just hearing that, I was like, man, Lord of the Rings, what's happening next? How is this going to tie into solar? So yeah, I mean, get me engaged.
00:09:59
Speaker
But ah no, I love that, man. And a lot of good stuff for sure. And that's what's so awesome about solar is there's such great commissions and such a great opportunity that, like you said, I think people can identify their goals and um and it can provide for pretty much every goal that someone would have, whether it's someone that just wants to You know, like make their six figures, have more freedom or people don't want to go crush and make a million dollars a year. It's like where you can do.
00:10:25
Speaker
ah There's a lot of opportunities in solar to and do a lot of cool things depending on what people's goals are. Yeah. And yeah, I want to talk about that a little bit more too in a minute. But um yeah, I loved how you talk about the stories too. And looking back on my solar journey, that was one of my struggles too starting out is my first company. They just gave us like a slideshow presentation to go like walk the customer through. Mm-hmm.
00:10:49
Speaker
and And similar to like you were saying, I would go through all these slides about how awesome our company is, how we got like a on Better be Business Bureau. And then, yeah, like people were canceling. I couldn't figure out what was going on. But then the second I pretty much the second I started and stopped using these slides and just started focusing more on like, what does the customer want? What are the bigger problems facing the customer breaking down their bill? That's when I started closing more and seeing less cancellations too. So yeah. You know, I think for anyone listening, maybe that's something you got to identify. It's always about the customer more. and Totally. Yeah. I love what you said about making them the hero in the journey for sure. Yeah. and
00:11:28
Speaker
And yeah, maybe we're just like the Gandalfs, right? Leading the leading them on their hero journey. There you go. making the photos or whatever right it's uh it works man but uh yeah and so when you left so was that the goal for you zach with solar when you the day you started was always kind of a means to an end or is this something that like develops more as you're a little bit further and yeah we're worried we yeah i mean it was since i had done like alarms at you know earlier on um i yeah i knew that i mean to start out i wanted to do this and like ride this wave as long as it you know as long as i could as long as it was good um i think that's what a lot of reps have in mind at the start like they you know they're pitched by whoever's recruiting them or the company and it's like there's a ton of money you can make um and but i think i i
00:12:21
Speaker
quickly learned like, wow, there's, there's a lot of reps just like grinding and, um, they're, they're super high, super low.
Career Sustainability and Personal Challenges
00:12:31
Speaker
And it's, it's tough to find something that is like a pace that's sustainable. Um, so yeah, i think I realized early on that I wanted to make it as, uh, sustainable as possible. So I wasn't experiencing burnout. Um, and, and then eventually it kind of just, yeah, it came up where i realized like I, you know i want to start doing something different but like staying in the industry and using the skills that i had like acquired and all the knowledge to be able to like pass that on um and i think it's i've seen a lot of this where reps they're kind of just doing they don't have so much of a end game um and it's tough to like transition into something different because the income is so good and like the lifestyle the flexibility like there's almost like nothing like it um as long as you have like a good framework and like process you can uh deploy like out the doors um and with customers but transitioning into something else like it's been you know it took a minute to to figure it out but yeah i that's what i want for reps that are in that stage where they're like i call it like bridge reps where it's like hey i'm doing this
00:13:42
Speaker
to get to where i am um to this point whether it's like getting real estate or paying for school or just saving up enough i can start my own thing and helping them like transition into that because we don't know how long like solar is going to be like this good like we're all hoping that it lasts forever um but yeah anyway roundabout way to answer your question but yeah i was kind of always think it means to an end but didn't really know what would happen when I was ready to like move on or things change. So yeah, it's going to be tough to figure out. Right. Yeah. Well, no, and that's one of the challenges with solar. I mean, already the time of this recording, you know, 2026, there's already been a lot of things that have changed in solar, you know, California, you went through the net meeting, changes, batteries and all that. Moving on to the big, beautiful bill stuff. Yeah. um You know, when I first started, it was, we were only selling loans pretty much out here. Now it's on the PPAs and everything.
00:14:39
Speaker
And ah stuff changes very rapidly for sure. But yeah, like you said, I think a lot of guys don't know what they want, don't have the... Yeah, the course of their careers mapped out and don't know exactly. They're just kind of drifting where the wind takes them. And yeah, I think that limits people's potential a lot. Yeah, one of the things that's been hard for me is just like, you know, with a family, you know, you're married and everything. So it's tough. Like my kids are in school now.
00:15:04
Speaker
And, ah you know, we got our work hours. It's like ah we're going out right when kids are getting home from school and then we're in appointments. Last night, I didn't get home to almost 10 o'clock from appointments.
00:15:15
Speaker
yeah So, of course, I'm missing like a lot of stuff with kids and everything. So, yeah, it's it's a it can be a grind for sure. And it's something I'm trying to like constantly figure out how to balance that work life and There's seasons for everything, but um it's taking
Mentorship and Sales Systems
00:15:29
Speaker
me tough. So yeah I'm curious for you. did your Did your wife, did she ever end up coming out or did you guys keep the whole thing? Like she was in Utah and you're doing that whole flying back and forth. happened with that? I'm still back and forth every day. No, I'm just kidding. No, we did that for five months. um
00:15:46
Speaker
She was finishing her school in Utah and it was rough, to be honest. I mean, being apart, we didn't have, we have an almost three-year-old now, no kids at the time. i think like whatever, if you want to make it big in anything, like it just requires sacrifice. like whether you're going to school for a long time or you're putting in 80 hour weeks and like private equity or whatever, like you've got to yeah, you've got to make those trade-offs that sacrifice. So yeah, when we first started, i mean, she, she eventually came out. and We were living in Salon Beach, just like,
00:16:19
Speaker
North County, San Diego. And it was much easier when she when she came out with us and with me and yeah bought a place out there. And along the way, it was like travel was always ah ah like a high value for us and um loved, again, the flexibility and like income that the job provided to create experiences like that early on. But yeah, i mean, I think I see that a lot with reps who, no matter what stage you're in, whether they're like a rookie or they've been doing a while, they're single, they've got you know, their partner, they're, they've got kids in school, like being able to adapt to the market legislation changing, like it's challenging for sure. And I think the through line that I've seen reps that like go through my like 12 week mentoring program is giving them like what the feedback or what I hear them coming in with is like, yeah, I just don't, I don't have like a proven system. I've got all these different, you know like one-liners or approaches or trainings that are very fragmented and like putting them all into one that aligns with like my personality type is, is tough where it's like, I don't want to just like grind and like live to work. You want to have like more autonomy or I want to be able to go out and know that I'm the most like effective version of myself on the door so that I'm not just like wasting time or seeing my jobs cancel through the pipeline. So giving them the same framework that worked for me that I built so that they can do the job, like work the least amount you as possible and like use that so that they can... make, you know, hit their, hit their goals. And I'm not saying like work the least amount. It's ah just working smart.
00:17:55
Speaker
So like if you have kids and you want to be there during those hours of the day, when you do go out for however long, like you're the most effective version of yourself because you're running a system that is like proven and it, it makes you just more magnetic to customers. Like you unlock referrals. So that was big for me. It's like, i want to be the most efficient version so I can spend the most time, most of my time, like with family.
00:18:18
Speaker
Yeah, I think some people think that solar always has to be, you know, from like 3 p.m. to 9 p.m. whatever you like have to be out. But um we've actually seen one of our top appointment setters in our company right now. He literally just goes out from 9 a.m. m to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. And you think about that, that's a good amount of hours on the doors, right? I mean, that's he's getting like eight hours of knocking in Monday through Friday. It's like people would argue, oh, that's like the worst time to go out. You're not even getting like the the prime time the evening.
00:18:49
Speaker
You know, he probably would have more conversations, but just that he's like consistent and going out those eight hours every
Scheduling and Autonomy in Sales
00:18:54
Speaker
day. Right. He's like one of our top reps. He's eating usually the top rep. like wow Because that eight hours consistent is going to be and reps that go out, you know, inconsistently, even in the evening hours. So i think that's the cool part about the job is we, um yeah know, for the most part, have a lot more flexibility and you can plan things around that. um You know, we run like setter closer. So I do run a lot of appointments for guys. So um I guess my schedule can kind of be subject to when appointments are and everything when I'm. taking appointments and things like that. But especially if you're just like setting appointments or um self-gen, then I think there's quite a bit of flexibility and um control you do have over it.
00:19:37
Speaker
Totally. But yeah, I'm curious for you, Zach, what was yeah the other years you were having the most success in solar? What was your schedule? Because it sounds like you're a guy that was able to like balance things pretty well and still travel, still spend time with the family. What was kind of like a typical schedule for you when you were um grinding in Solwarn? Yeah. Having success? Yeah. um I would say like, I mean, I was out because typically I'd be doing some kind of trainings or like, you know, managing my team as well. I was setting and closing. That was the model that our our company had. Um,
00:20:11
Speaker
But how's going out like mid afternoon you know, dark, like so longer hours in the summer. So kind of your typical like, yeah, two to three PM to when it starts getting dark. Um, okay. And mean, most, most reps know this, but setting just like optimizing your day, obviously like you're qualifying so that you're meeting with both to sit, know, all decision makers, not wasting time, like trying to get a set or a bill with, uh,
00:20:40
Speaker
just like one spouse to then have to like repeat your whole process later on like um and then prioritizing those knocking hours so that you're going out in the summer setting appointments personally i would set appointments for earlier as early as the customer could because i knew that the evening hours it stays light longer and that's when most decision makers are going to be home after after work i mean post covid like There's so many people working from home now that those guys going out from like nine to four going to see a ton of success. But yeah, setting in the summer, setting appointments earlier in the day so I can knock ah after, you know, five and catch people. And then in the winter with it getting dark, you know, five or 6 p.m. setting my appointments for later when it's, you know, maybe a little less comfortable for people to answer the door or knock after dark just mentally. um Yeah. yeah. That's how I structured my day. But like, honestly, and this is like, I don't know, this is a hot take.
00:21:37
Speaker
It depends on the company you're working with. But like when my i just feel like there should be more autonomy with the job. And I get you have to have structure and their, you know, management has to like, because a lot of reps need that. um Yeah.
00:21:52
Speaker
For me personally, it's like I knew what I was doing. i was like, whole i I was a like accountable to myself. So, you know, we'd go travel and be gone for a week or two and like come back and get back into where my daughter was born, took off like six months. and my managers were like, dude, what do you doing? You got to come back. And it's like different 1099. Like it kind of just like, I'm like your top rep. Like this we're good. Like it's fine. Like, don't worry about it. Um, But I get like maybe some managers will ah well i hate that. but um But that worked for me. So if you can find, i think, again, it's just finding a system that you trust, that you know works. And then, yeah, just being consistent so that you avoid that burnout when you're like, oh, Jobs are are slow right now. i just had a bunch get installed and then my pipeline is like empty. I got to go out and like grind and hustle. That's super stressful. and that's going to show up on the door with a customer.
Mindset and Personal Development in Sales
00:22:44
Speaker
It's going to show up in every aspect of your life. like With a yeah know your spouse or partner and getting you know stressed, you show up to the the customer's house. If you're grinding too hard, you're going to sound desperate, which...
00:22:56
Speaker
comes across as pushy that doesn't foster trust they're not going to let you in it's just this like vicious cycle so but whatever you're doing just make sure that it's something that you can do sustainably throughout the week month quarter almost like a you know a good paced marathon rather than a sprint um yeah that's worked for me anyway Yeah, no, that's good. That's good advice for sure. Yeah. And you talked about um like your end game. You sounds like you, for the most part, knew what you wanted from solar, and knew that you wanted to get, you know, house in SoCal, house in NorCal and Utah.
00:23:29
Speaker
So for guys coming in your, you know, your coaching groups and everything, we were talking just before we started recording that that's something you help a lot of your coaching clients and students with is just breaking down what what do they really want from solar and what's kind of like, you know, the map of their life. What do they want to do with the money and everything? So, yeah. Do you have any advice um around that? Maybe people listening, they're like, yeah, I'm making decent money, but I don't know if I want to stay in solar forever or I don't know what I want to do. Yeah. Wow. Did you... Yeah. um Make those decisions in your life and what do you how do you coach people like that? Right. That's ah that's a good question. um the The first thing that I'll look at when reps, when I start meeting with reps is like they typically want like a, what's your like silver bullet for handling objections or getting the clothes or, know,
00:24:20
Speaker
you know making 100k and a quarter like whatever and it's you have to break it down you have to go back to like what is like let's figure out like the mindset identity like energy stuff before we get into like the tactical like um so I'll first work with reps on mindset and energy um so they can have like infinite energy when they're on the doors um They're on, they're discovering like what's holding them back, like subconsciously.
00:24:47
Speaker
And this gets, this may sound like a little woo woo. Um, but like, I believe that whatever God universe source, like wants the best, it's like conspiring for the best thing for us. Like, and,
00:24:59
Speaker
like manifesting those things like tapping into something greater than just ourselves and being able to unblock those subconscious beliefs that we have that are holding us back or it's like i just don't think i can i deserve to make over half a million dollars this year or like you know i haven't i didn't come from money And, um, therefore, like, I don't know if that's like in the cards for me, um, or know whatever it is, like relationships with like your career, um, goals, like unblock helping reps unblock that so that they be, they start like attracting those things. And it's crazy to see how this starts to happen. They can get so detailed, like writing things out, like journaling, just like So anyway, without going into too much detail, like that's the first phase. um Things start to enter their life. They start setting more appointments, closing more than they ever have and experiencing this transformation. it's it's amazing. um And then we get into the high trust sales framework part of it. Mm hmm.
00:26:00
Speaker
And I have a, there's like a training course with like hours of footage of like me breaking down my whole approach from door approach all the way to signing docs, live recordings of me like with customers, all the psychology behind it, like the how. So they'll have access to that and we get into like,
00:26:17
Speaker
my process and then the third phase is um designing their life that's in alignment with like their values like what they want um and that could look very different for for everybody whether it's yeah investments or um just yeah you know creating more more financial freedom basically so how it is So if I come to you, I'm like, Zach, man, I don't know. I've been in solar for a while, made good money. Like, what do I, i don't know what I do. So what do you tell that rep? Is it just like, you know, journal this, do this. Do you have like, i don't know, a framework you put people through or some like deep meditation stuff and figure it out? Or i don't know there's, you know, like a process that you put people through.
00:26:56
Speaker
Yeah. i mean, there's, there's a few, i mean, we should set up a call. I can take you through the whole, the whole thing. yeah taylor it's It's a loaded question for the podcast. Yeah. No, it's proprietary. I can't get into too much. No, no. And and i I will post like conversations of me with clients like on my on my Instagram page just to like see what yeah some of the stuff like sounds like what we talk about. um ah But yeah, I mean, a lot of it is just doing that personal work.
00:27:26
Speaker
first and figuring out like what is yeah like what's blocking you from where you are now and like what goals you want to get to it's writing out like all the call like your your bag of why is that iron cowboy James Lawrence he did like 50 Ironmans back to back he talks about that a lot remember him coming to talk to us at that way back in the day and just having like a bag full of why is like why you're doing the job like job is so challenging like rejection sucks And if you don't have several reasons why you're doing something so tough, you're going to go home early.
Overcoming Mental Barriers
00:28:00
Speaker
Um, so figuring out what like all those things are. yeah There's like journaling there's, uh, yeah, like meditation stuff, just like reading, um, action items that I'll, I'll give reps. And then they also have access to this whole like training course that I put together. They can dive into, um, from the start and then we'll, we'll meet one-on-one, um,
00:28:23
Speaker
Every week they can like send me a voice recordings of like their pitch or customer interactions. We'll dive into it, give them feedback. I don't know if that answers your question, but. Well, no, that's some good stuff. Just wanted to, you know, give some people and that are listening, maybe some and ideas at least. Yeah, I know. Obviously you go way more in depth than this. if People were to work with you and. and That's probably the easiest way. But um yeah, I know there's things like that. I think journaling is good. All the meditation is good. Just digging deep on the whys and the goals probably helps a lot. um But yeah, another thing you mentioned too, i was curious about is just the energy on the door stuff.
00:28:59
Speaker
and Because yeah, most people listening to this are probably like, what do you mean, Zach? It's just, you just chug a monster and you take your Adderall and you're good. ye Endless energy. Yeah. but this energy i'm talking talking a little a little bit different than uh that kind of endless energy although hey it works it works for some people and uh i'm not gonna knock knock that i personally don't go that route um
00:29:29
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, again, I think that's where like just understanding like you you know, why you're doing something opposed just going out because like someone's telling you knock. And I'm trying to pull this up here. But yeah. Yeah, there's just understanding the why behind what you're doing and not just like an income goal, but like what's behind that figure that you want to make. Like a lot of guys get into sales or door to door for the money.
00:30:05
Speaker
But it's like what's driving that. Like I talked with somebody today, client. Yeah. you know, he, he's got kid and like wants to, he's like apart from his family, like wants to be able to create better opportunity for his, his kid than he had. It's like, that's what we all want. Right. Um, but being able to like really articulate that and,
00:30:26
Speaker
writing it down so that it's not just like a number, but it's like, oh, this is like tied to family or like giving back or and that is like that really like drives people and gives you like sustained energy throughout your day, like when it gets when it gets tough. That's that's that's an example. um And other things like even like we get a lot of just different work where you discover like things that are holding you back called like shadow work like that's things that are like triggering to you you just like kind of hate and figuring out like why that is so that it removes like so much conflict in your life. Cause most people like with your, ah you know yourself like identity, it's really tough to go out as that version of yourself. Cause when you get rejected, how can you not take that personally? And that like eats it away at your confidence. It's like, oh, should I get a real job? Like, yeah, door to door does suck. Like i'm just kind of this just test, just bugging people. Being able to do some of the work that I'll take my clients through to where they like almost put on this mask where they go out on the door, take on this like different persona to where rejection doesn't affect them anymore. They're able to just like see past that and they're just living
00:31:43
Speaker
at like a higher level lack of better term you call like karma it's like putting out into the world like what you want and so not being like stingy it's like investing in yourself expecting the best things for yourself and like you'll see like you'll start attracting customers who want to do the same thing for them and their families it's like yeah i see the point in investing and taking time talking to this person who just came to my door switching over to solar um And like you're you're bringing those things into your life because you're doing the same thing for yourself.
Authenticity and Customer Trust
00:32:12
Speaker
Like it all starts with yourself. The whole like as above, so below, like that mirroring. um And ah yeah, dude, we get deep. It's like quantum, quantum physics, quantum entanglement. There's a little bit of that in there, but it's... a
00:32:26
Speaker
f It's not that deep, but it's, um yeah, it's just a different perspective. When the reps break through that, they're like, yeah, they just become like, yeah, like unstoppable when they're on the doors and like other areas of their lives. Well, yeah, that's what I've seen. i think most reps, it's like, at least that in our office, guys that come on our team, it's like most of the time people have the skill, but it's more just like the things holding them back or the limitations in their head and all that. Is that what you've seen too through coaching? It's like they have the skill, but it's more just like totally, you know, the other stuff in their head going on. Yeah. More mental and everything. Totally. Like anyone can learn a pitch and like memorize a script. Um, and it's even beyond just like the, well it's not the what it's like the, how you do it's like, yeah, of course. But it's more, yeah. Like internal, like building that confidence up so that you're not just running on this like hype, an energy that you get from like a monster drink or like, you know, some raw, raw, like cheering in the office. And again, I'm, I mean, height, like the, the hype energy, it's never worked for me. Like I grew up playing sports all throughout, like, but again, like I think the, some of the top reps, most of the top ships you see like are very grounded. They're like even keeled.
00:33:41
Speaker
Um, they may not be the loudest in the office, but like, they're just like killers on the door. Cause they, they show up from, instead of borrowing this like hypey energy that let's be honest, just like fades after you leave the meeting and get to your first door and you're like, I can't get out of my car. Um, yeah. I've been there, we've all experienced that.
00:34:00
Speaker
But finding that like within, so that you're like grounded throughout the whole the whole day and you're showing up as like you know a version of like your like authentic self, almost, like who you want to become. And that's a lot more sustainable on the doors. And customers prefer that, I think. When you're like not being fake or just robotic, it's like you're having an actual conversation with them. You're human to human.
00:34:24
Speaker
um connection. and it's not like foolproof, like you're still going to get rejected, but it just doesn't hit the same way. And customers will be like, well, this person like gets me like they're listening to me like I trust this guy or this gal, like, come on in. Yeah, sure. I'll listen to you for a sec. Like that's how it translates. Yeah, yeah, that's good. Yeah. So what do you think are some of the, you know, besides some of that, what are, what do what are some of the biggest mistakes that you see? Maybe guys you're coaching or like breakthroughs that guys have coming in as they do your coaching, maybe have some like success stories of, you know, maybe you got some reps that were really struggling and you were to help them with X, Y, Z. They really turned it, it turned it around, but i don't know if there's some general things you see that have really helped guys or mistakes they're making. Yeah.
00:35:07
Speaker
and yeah You know, like common. Yeah. Um, one guy comes to mind. Um, he, yeah, he started a couple years ago. He had some experience in sales. He was setting a ton of appointments and like all of them were majority of them were canceling. Um, Like he came to me and he was like, dude, I ran out of our company would be, was able to like pre-screen so that you didn't have to like run a soft check, but he was pre-screening like 85 people a day. It's like, I ran out of pre-screens. I was like, dude, what? Like how many people are you talking to? who's like, well, like over a hundred. I'm like, whoa, like he was putting in hours and just not seeing, know, not seeing much. And after working together, it only took like a couple of weeks. He discovered that he was, And again, just kind of, ah I mean, I think some of a lot of guys here is ah is like the push-pull. He was trying to convince and like push homeowners into doing something. like He was obviously desperate. It's 100% a commission job. His deals were canceling and that was showing up to the customer. And...
00:36:13
Speaker
It was just creating resistance. Like no one wants to be sold, but we're taught how to be like salespeople. um And what we worked on was like, hey, reposition yourself instead of a salesperson, but think of yourself as like a guide that we you know talk about or... um Someone who is there just to like listen to the customer's concerns and um and use like other stories or like other customers' experiences rather than you telling them um to do something. Because a customer, this is human behavior. They're always going to believe something if they think it's their own idea rather than what you're telling them. And if they can think that it's their own idea, it's like inception, it's like you're planting this idea, then they're going to be the stickiest, most loyal customer because it's like, no, I came to this conclusion myself. That's why I'm doing solar, not because Taylor or Zach you know pitched me. So showing... helping him show up as someone that could just like you know strategically advise and like use some you know like we everyone knows kind of the pullback it's like oh we can't do this for everybody but embodying that to where customers are like leaning in and pulled towards you um and that really worked for him and like two weeks later he sent me a text this rep where he had ah a deal for like just under two deals that made him just under $46,000. Like it was crazy. And he's like, dude, this this is working. And I've got like two more. um So that was really cool to see that that click for him.
00:37:42
Speaker
And he was putting in the work like that, you know, you've obviously got to be out there. Like it's it's a numbers game. But if you're just like, if you don't have the right system and mindset, you're just burning doors. You've got to have like the right system.
Preventing Cancellations through Transparency
00:37:55
Speaker
Yeah, definitely.
00:37:56
Speaker
Yeah. Well, it's one of the most frustrating things in this job is just, you know, the cancellations, like you said. And I think that helps a lot of it is some of the things we already talked about um doing the pullback and not coming across needy, and being the guide. all that but ah maybe for after you close the deal did you have any ah ah other systems or anything in place to help with reduce the cancellations anything you recommend because that's one of the toughest things especially for new reps and why we see people fall out of this is because all of sudden you know they're expecting 15 grand then it's down to zero and then it's like reset the clock again and they're like yeah gotta go back try all this again totally But yeah, any other systems or anything you did after the deal that you felt helped you get those things to the roof? Yeah, it's a good question. That's such a common one. It's a huge like pain point for for reps is canceled deals, like going through the whole all the effort and then, yeah.
00:38:52
Speaker
Next day, two days later, you get that text or that call. um So usually, if like preventing cancellations, it starts from the the minute you knock on their door. And I know a lot of guys have heard, like, oh, you want to prevent objections from happening rather than like overcoming them. um But it really is true. And I'll give you a couple like things that I actually do for after the close that keeps customers from canceling. um But the biggest thing that I fixed in my own approach when I show reps now is, and just to be clear, like I, I don't recruit for like a team anymore. It's a, you go out, sell on your team, wherever you are. I'm like in your back pocket for, um, as like a one-on-one mentor, but you still have like your, your whole team and everything. Um, but removing friction,
00:39:41
Speaker
from the whole process. So when you get to the close, customers just feel like it's the next logical step. It's supernatural. And this is why you see like top close. Like if you're a new rep and you go in and watch your ah top performer close, it seems so effortless.
00:39:55
Speaker
They just like sign up. You're like, what? Like 25 year contract? Like they're not even like, you know saving like much money but they're getting a ton of value like how did that happen and it's because that rep is removing friction throughout the entire point uh or the entire process up to that point they're not playing defense like after they leave the house to like you know find rebuttals to objections that come up so ways that we do that um and i was on with scott's team yesterday talking about okay how do you remove friction from your process and i
00:40:26
Speaker
Tell reps like a lot of reps will beat around the bush whenever a tough question comes from a customer like, ah you know, what happens if I sell my house or, um you know, like I heard of this, you know, solar, this friend of mine who got solar and they got a big Truett bill at the end of the year. um You have to bring those up before the customer does. um That's my philosophy. It's like, and don't even...
00:40:50
Speaker
Don't just like bring up the the surface level ones. Like talk about like the horror stories with solar, like worst case scenarios. It's like, um and that'll look different depending on where you're knocking. But the big ones I bring up are like, what happens if I move? um What about like the trip bill that people talk about?
00:41:07
Speaker
What are the other ones like? Um, yeah. Like if the power goes out, i mean, things like that, help me out. what are big like I mean, the moving is a big one. or is there, what do I have to pay? to a big or like hey my roof That's always like a big one for us. What's the care? Yeah. Yeah. Too good to be true. Yeah. So I will, yeah, I'll bring those up with the customer at the table.
00:41:29
Speaker
Um, and a lot of reps will think like, Oh, well you don't want to like plant an idea in their head. to where now they're gonna cancel. It's like, no, no, no. In 2026, every customer is gonna be Googling, chat GPTing, talking to a neighbor after you leave and asking those questions. And chances are, like algorithms, like Google, like it's gonna bring up the like horror stories with solar.
00:41:52
Speaker
Because everybody who's gone solar, is you know that's what we see online. That's why you see all the like negative reviews. So you have to, as the professional, talk about worst case scenarios with them. So you can tell them why, if they go with you, they're not going to end up as that customer with a bad experience. um And so I'll do that by saying, like yeah, you've probably looked into solar before.
00:42:14
Speaker
um What are reasons you haven't like gone solar yet? like Obviously, I'm not the first person that's talked to you. I mean, knocking California, it's like yeah one of the most saturated markets. Um, and they'll say like, ah, well, you know, I just, I've just heard that, um, people get stuck with like a bill, like they're paying their solar company and their utility company. You want to hear that. It's like thank you. Like they're bringing it up. So now you can address it and get them to like surface a few of these. And if they don't like you bring them up and then you go to work on reasons why they haven't gone solar yet. um Yeah, I mean, that's, that's, no one wants to be stuck with like a huge bill from their utility company and paying for solar. Like that almost sounds like a scam, right? um
00:42:54
Speaker
And then telling them like why that's not going to happen. It's like, yeah, we're oversizing your system or we're attaching one or two batteries to your account. Like, I'm customizing it to your house so we can future proof it. um So when you get that electric car you're still going to have some energy.
00:43:09
Speaker
you're just being very transparent. and Like you're going to come across as the most like knowledgeable person they've talked to, which builds trust. And you're squashing that objection from ever surfacing later when they see some like Google review at 11 PM. They're like, Oh no, Taylor, he talked to me about that. um yeah I know why that's not going to happen to me.
Handling Misinformation and Online Reviews
00:43:26
Speaker
That's the biggest thing. And there's like little things like just making sure they have your number saying like, hey, if any questions come up, like just level with them, like talk to me about it.
00:43:35
Speaker
Like, you know, text me, don't be a stranger, don't be afraid to you know reach out and then staying in that area. So like, you know, yeah they're they're seeing you. um Giving like appropriate timelines, that's another thing. Like, MPUs, at one point, were taking like five months. A lot of reps were not talking about it. This was like years ago. And they were just like, if I talk about it, like they're not gonna wanna go solar, because that's you know too long of a time to wait. I would bring it up um and tell them like, hey, look, just to be honest, like after we get the system set up, it's not going tonna be working.
00:44:07
Speaker
It's going to take like four months, five months to get turned on like utility companies super behind. And it's crazy. But every time the customer is like, oh, yeah, that's no problem because you brought it up. Like you're you're giving them clear expectations, which prevents frustration. and they'll just like chill with it and not cancel. That's good. I know it's funny. I had of one an appointment the other week where I showed up and they were like waiting to, you know, cancel at the door. And I tried to like save it and still make it happen. Oh, no. But they we're in the guy's garage and he's like, no, you know what? um
00:44:38
Speaker
Your company has been scamming people and this and that. I'm like, I'm like, OK, well, where did you hear that? And he's like, oh, no, I researched a ton. And I saw him like pull out a paper and it was just like chat GPT. He basically was like, he's like this.
00:44:53
Speaker
Why is Soler, you know, he like fed it basically what he wanted, like a negative bias on it. And then ChatGPT is just going like tell. Yeah. it's like programmed to tell people pretty much what they want to hear. so I gave him like all this.
00:45:05
Speaker
Totally. Well, I'm like, yeah. I'm like, that looks like, is I'm like, did you get that off ChatGPT? And he like, could even put the paper away. he's like, no, this is just like all my research I did. i did. I can see.
00:45:17
Speaker
Printing off all this stuff that just told them exactly, basically like tell me why solar is a scam or this company is scamming people. like dude of course if you ask him that he's gonna tell you what you want to hear people do not know how the internet works yeah yeah and then he could be like well i actually want to do and then chat be to you and be like oh yeah you totally should it's a great idea so and so like you're so smart i know it's so annoying yeah but yeah i mean that's something think reps just that's part of just preventing it from because they're gonna look it up and they'll probably see something negative so
00:45:53
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. ah Prevent that from happening by talking about it with them. Yeah. Especially, you know, that sucks. so I'm sorry. that yeah Yeah. I'm sorry. They may be canceled. Yeah. That happens, but it's whatever. But yeah, especially if you know, you know, you should know your what's online about your company and ah prep the stuff for ah for what people are going to see. Because I see a lot of guys that don't even know what's written online about their company. And then they're surprised when they don't address these things. And then, of course, the customer, everyone's going to Google it. So,
Maintaining Trust in a Changing Market
00:46:22
Speaker
yeah. You know, and you and I don't know if you started back when it was like Vivint Solar, but you're yeah, Vivint Solar. But man, I remember back in the day, it's like Vivint Solar had terrible reviews, but these guys would still still so sell so many of these things. I'm like, how do you guys do that? And they're just like, yeah, no, it's just all about prepping the customer and like addressing what what they're going to see online. And this guy's sold like crazy. So can still be done. Just set those expectations. Yeah. Yeah. That's good. That's good proof. I mean, it's funny, though, like just seeing how the market has changed. mean, I've been in direct sales for 12 years now, starting alarms in Texas back in 2014. And like do those different times like you could just people just kind of take your word for it. You know, if you're like a stranger on your door, like asking for your social like you don't know me. Like, what do you do? But fewer people were looking stuff up. But I mean, now it's like, yeah, we have to adjust adjust to just, yeah, everyone's going to be looking it up on their phones. um That neighborhood might be further along on that adoption curve. There's more people that have gone solar. Most people have good experiences, but you hear more about the ones that don't. So it's like recognizing that and just prepping them for what they're going see. um Because if you do, it's it's like no big deal to
Connecting with Zach and Future Ventures
00:47:39
Speaker
them. 100%. Oh, yeah. Such good stuff, man. And um yeah, I'm glad we could make the podcast happen. But before I forget, wanted to ask you, Zach, if people do want to and yeah connect with you more, maybe look into more your coaching stuff. and What's the best place to get in touch? I don't know if you drop you want to drop Instagram or your social media, whatever the best place is that people can ah connect with you more.
00:48:02
Speaker
I would just say like, yeah, find me on Instagram. There's ah like a link in my bio that talks about like ah the coaching. It's called the Aligned Rep Mentorship. Bringing on a new like group of reps. because I can only meet with so many people at a time just because it's one-on-one. Here's me giving my my my scarcity.
00:48:23
Speaker
tactic right now. I can't do this for everybody, man. Our trucks are in the area right now. You got to do this now. But no, for real though, it's ah calendars fill on ah calor's filling up. um But yeah, reach out to me. um All about helping as many reps as possible. Be a funner,
00:48:39
Speaker
salesman is my and Instagram handle. I like a website, but people just find me there. So yeah, F-U-N-N-E-R salesman. Okay, cool. We'll post that in the show notes. But yeah, speaking of ah being aligned and everything, man, I'm curious. So for you and looking forward in the future, is this kind of your thing um now or what's some What's the next things for you? You're just planning on doing your coaching thing and bouncing back and forth between Utah, California, all that. Or what's what's in the books for you for the future? Zach?
00:49:09
Speaker
Yeah, this coaching has been fun. I mean, just seeing it's super satisfying. Like I i could do this for for a while. um My wife and I are starting up, ah like I mentioned earlier, a CPG company. It's a like a plant based beverage company. um And so we're in like formulation for that.
00:49:32
Speaker
right now and um but yeah that's what we're we're building right now we've got we manage like our hospitality brands like our airbnbs um and know those keep us kind of kind of busy but yeah this this uh plant milk company is is pretty exciting it's a um a pea milk so like a high protein plant-based like clean label ah milk. So hopefully you start seeing it in grocery stores soon, but that's what we're working on right now. Just something we're, we're passionate about, but, and then who knows after, after that, it'll keep us busy for a bit. Yeah.
00:50:10
Speaker
Good.
Satisfaction from Mentoring and Future Collaborations
00:50:11
Speaker
Well, yeah, that's awesome, man. It's cool to be see you be able to align things, you know, with the wife and um really build something that's that's taken off and helping other people. Because I agree, I've done some coaching. I'm not doing as much coaching right now just with how crazy things have been. build my team out here and yeah I'm selling a lot right now. But ah yeah, back when I was doing a lot more of the coaching, it is really satisfying to see people turn it around. And I'm sure you'd say the same thing, but it's it's exciting when you make the money. But when you've made so you know good commissions for a while, um to me, it was a lot more exciting seeing other people make good money.
00:50:48
Speaker
Yeah. I'm like, man, so that's kind of what brought back like you know the first like feelings when I first got that big commission check. yeah But, you know, I don't i don't get excited as excited anymore getting the big commission check is like seeing you guys that I'm helping get their first big commission check. yeah It's almost like more satisfying seeing that.
00:51:06
Speaker
so No, totally. But it sounds like you're doing that now with your team, like yeah helping other reps get to that point, which is which is great. yeah yeah Yeah, it's fun. Well, cool. Well, we can't wait to see what's next. And ah yeah, let us know when that P-Milk is sitting on the shelf. And then it almost feels weird seeing P-Milk. They almost got to come up with like a different name or something.
00:51:28
Speaker
we're gonna we're gonna have some fun marketing around that um just kind of lean into the the the p the p milk uh name of it it's it's big in europe um that's how we got the idea we're in amsterdam couple years ago and um but not much here so yeah man that's cool it's been fun jerry Well, yeah.
00:51:49
Speaker
I'll keep you posted. Excited to see it, man. Well, dude, thank you so much for coming on the show with us today. And yeah, hopefully a lot of guys will reach out. And if anything, shoot you a follow. I'll let you know you appreciated Zach coming on the show today. And um yeah, brother, thank you again for coming on. And we'll have to do this again soon.
00:52:06
Speaker
See what's coming next. Thanks for having me, Taylor. Yeah. All right, man. We'll be in touch. So some of you already know that I run my own door to door sales team here in San Diego. And as we are gearing up for the summer, I realized if we do the same thing we always did, we're going to get the same results.
00:52:22
Speaker
But if I want to increase my deal flow, I need to do something different to get an advantage. Then we discovered an app called Solar Scout, but it's not a door knocking app. It's a data platform that shows us who is likely to go solar in our market. It shows us who has previously applied for solar but later canceled the deal, who has moved in recently, and even how much electricity the homes are using in a given neighborhood.
00:52:46
Speaker
It's been working for a lot of teams across the country and now I'm on board too. I'm going to be one of the first to use SolarScout in San Diego so I decided to partner up. But I told them, hey, I'm going to talk about SolarScout on my show, you need to give my listeners a great deal. And they did.
00:53:00
Speaker
So go to solarscout.app forward slash Taylor and book a demo with them and you'll get 10% off your first month when you sign up. That's solarscout.app forward slash Taylor.
00:53:13
Speaker
Okay, back to the show. Hey Solarpreneurs, quick question. 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.
00:53:27
Speaker
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Speaker
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00:54:11
Speaker
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