Transcript
Speaker: Welcome to the Solarpreneur Podcast where we teach you to take your solar business to the next level.
Speaker: My name is Taylor Armstrong.
Speaker: I went from $50 in my bank account and struggling for groceries to closing 150 deals in a year and cracking the code on why sales reps fell.
Speaker: I teach you to avoid the mistakes I made and bring in the top solar dogs of the industry to let you in on the secrets of generating more leads, falling up like a pro and closing more deals.
Speaker: What is a solopreneur, you might ask?
Speaker: A solopreneur is a new breed of solopro that is willing to do whatever it takes to achieve mastery, and you are about to become one.
Speaker: Okay, what's up everybody?
Speaker: Taylor Armstrong here, and we're back with another amazing podcast.
Speaker: I'm stoked today because we've got someone that is not from our industry, but is doing crazy things.
Speaker: Got Mr. James Schlosser on the podcast with us today.
Speaker: James, thanks for coming on.
Speaker: Thanks for having me, Taylor.
Speaker: I'm stoked to be here to chat with you for a little bit.
Speaker: Yeah, it's going to be fun.
Speaker: And James, just to give a tiny introduction, then we let you maybe introduce yourself more.
Speaker: But he's been on multiple podcasts now.
Speaker: If you're looking at the video version, he's got a golden door.
Speaker: right behind them for roofing and has done just sold insane amounts of roofs and i thought it would be valuable how to have them on because as we know in solar there's a lot of opportunities for us to sell roofs to upsell people a lot of projects
Speaker: We have to include roofs.
Speaker: And also he has just a lot of cool things he's doing with referrals.
Speaker: And he's a family man just like myself.
Speaker: So we're going to hear how he kind of balances just getting Golden Door Awards and also taking care of his family and all that.
Speaker: So it's going to be an awesome podcast.
Speaker: But yeah, James, anything you want to add to that?
Speaker: Maybe how long you've been in roofing or you want to give us any other details besides those?
Speaker: Yes, I've been in roofing for five and a half going on six years now.
Speaker: And I started my first year working as a third party inspector for basically a bunch of different insurance companies doing hail and wind inspection.
Speaker: And then for the past now four and a half years, I've been actually in roofing selling roofs.
Speaker: So yeah, so I've been at it for a while, but it's, uh, it's good stuff, man.
Speaker: So, and then, yeah, last year got, got the, uh, the golden door award, which was, which is pretty awesome.
Speaker: Definitely has opened up, you know, opportunities to be on some podcasts like you were mentioning before.
Speaker: So it's a lot of fun.
Speaker: Awesome.
Speaker: Well, the biggest question I had before we get into sell stuff, what's it going to take to recruit you to solar, man?
Speaker: We need to get you selling the best thing.
Speaker: Yeah, no, it's so funny.
Speaker: So I actually, we actually have people out in our neighborhood knocking doors.
Speaker: I don't have solar, but I did look into it briefly.
Speaker: And apparently, I don't know, they use like, there's all sorts of stuff I don't know about solar, but they were just like, man, your back slope of your roof is like totally clean.
Speaker: You got like two pipe jacks, like we could throw so many panels up there and you would be saving so much money.
Speaker: So apparently my roof has solar, has a good outline, which would be perfect for solar.
Speaker: So.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: But, you know, I mean, at the end of the day, I think I just need to find a really good company to go with, you know, one that can earn my trust, you know?
Speaker: So maybe that's you, Taylor.
Speaker: Who knows?
Speaker: Who knows?
Speaker: The jury is out.
Speaker: I don't have solar yet.
Speaker: So at some point I should probably get it.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: OK, well, we'll talk after this.
Speaker: We brought you on the podcast so you could be a solar leads for me and a recruit.
Speaker: Sneaky.
Speaker: I like it.
Speaker: No, I'm joking.
Speaker: But no.
Speaker: Yeah, solar is great.
Speaker: I'll be honest.
Speaker: I don't know too much about solar in Virginia, but I'm sure it's still a good thing.
Speaker: And so I guess everyone listening, hopefully we don't have 50 people hitting you up to sell your solar after this.
Speaker: Yeah, right.
Speaker: So people listening, he's my lead first.
Speaker: Don't be stealing.
Speaker: Don't be still with me.
Speaker: Exactly.
Speaker: But cool.
Speaker: Well, yeah.
Speaker: So as far as roofs go, I listen to your podcast on Golden Road to the Golden Door with Mikey Lucas, which we both were kind of recently on that podcast.
Speaker: But yeah, how many roofs did you do again when you got your Golden Door?
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: So the way I guess that the golden door is measured for the roofing industry versus solar is it's actually revenue based.
Speaker: So for solar, I think it's actual like, you know, the amount of lead gens that you get or the amount of, you know, jobs that you set.
Speaker: But for roofing, it's not so much about the quantity of roofs, but it's about the revenue that you close.
Speaker: And so I closed about three point I closed just under three point one million in revenue.
Speaker: Uh, I think the entry to golden door is 2.5.
Speaker: So, um, yeah.
Speaker: So for me, it was really just about finding, finding really big houses that I could, you know, capitalize and just blow up as far as the revenue on those and also the profit.
Speaker: And so I just had to be very specific about the types of jobs that I was getting.
Speaker: It wasn't just like, go find your closest neighborhood and start knocking doors.
Speaker: Uh, for me, it was, I had to be very, very specific about the kind of house that I wanted to get, the kind of neighborhood that I wanted to be in.
Speaker: which is usually the more wealthier neighborhoods.
Speaker: And then from there, I was able to really scale up and have a really successful year.
Speaker: I love that.
Speaker: Well, yeah, let's talk about that a little bit because that's actually something that applies, I think, a lot to solar too.
Speaker: You probably know, but pretty much the same thing applies in solar.
Speaker: As we get these bigger houses that are using way more power, we can sell them bigger systems.
Speaker: And then commissions are usually a lot greater on those versus these tiny ones.
Speaker: And that's something that we struggle with a little bit in San Diego where I sell is because a lot of homes out here don't even have AC.
Speaker: So they're not using too much power.
Speaker: So it's like these little eight, 10 panel systems and they're not quite as profitable.
Speaker: So that's a strategy that I know a lot of guys that are making a killing in solar do too, is just finding bigger homes, kind of researching where they want to go, go into homes where they think they're going to use a lot more power.
Speaker: So yeah, do you have any advice on that?
Speaker: Like for you, what type of research goes into like areas in your knock-ins?
Speaker: Just pull up Google Maps or I don't know if you're like searching homes with your areas or do you need any research for knocking areas like that?
Speaker: Yeah, so I mean, for us, at least we kind of have to follow the storm.
Speaker: So if there's been like a hail storm, then generally contractors kind of flood to that area.
Speaker: For me, you know, I mean, there's storms kind of all over the place, kind of wherever you go, the most likely you're going to have hail damage, you just have to find a good storm date for that.
Speaker: So for me, I what I did last year big time was I just kind of took like this massive swath of an area.
Speaker: And then I just started to zoom out and zoom in on my iPad and look for like those those specific neighborhoods that had a really big roof.
Speaker: So a lot of time it's not going to be in an urban area.
Speaker: It's going to be kind of outside of like a town.
Speaker: or outside of the city.
Speaker: And then you just kind of want to focus in on that area.
Speaker: So I found probably two or three neighborhoods.
Speaker: And then I just, I was able to kind of get my foot in the door.
Speaker: And the really cool thing, the thing that I use big time, and this is sort of how I got referrals as well, was when you go to like a specific neighborhood, let's say it has 30 or 40 houses, like your goal is to get one job.
Speaker: Your goal is to get one job.
Speaker: And a lot of times you have to cultivate these neighborhoods over the course of like a year to a year and a
Speaker: half.
Speaker: So what I did, specifically with one neighborhood that I'm in now, I've done 75% of the roofs in the neighborhood is I just I knocked all the doors and I got one guy who was like, Okay, cool, let's go for it.
Speaker: And then we just try to give him the best experience that we could.
Speaker: And when we were installing his roof, that's when he said, Hey, my neighbor from across the street is interested.
Speaker: So now I have two, right?
Speaker: And then I get that guy approved and we do his roof.
Speaker: And then I start knocking the neighbors and I said, Hey, look, I got a John's roof approved.
Speaker: I got Ted's roof approved.
Speaker: Cause there's damage here.
Speaker: So there's a good chance you can get damage on, on your roofs.
Speaker: And I was watching this thing on Instagram yesterday by Danny Pesci.
Speaker: And he was saying like using the art of story.
Speaker: So when I go up to a door where I literally have done two roofs in the neighborhood now, I just say, Hey, sorry to bother you.
Speaker: I just was, you know,
Speaker: working with John over there.
Speaker: And I went up to his house about six months ago and said, hey, you might have damage.
Speaker: And I basically start pitching the person through telling them a story of what I did with their neighbor.
Speaker: Because I mean, it's the same thing, you know, with everybody.
Speaker: And then I sort of add in their reactions to I said, hey, you might be able to get a new roof of the cost, your deductible, right?
Speaker: Which is sort of the value of what I'm selling, right?
Speaker: For you is you get to lower the energy bill and you get the tax deductions, all that kind of stuff.
Speaker: What I do is I tell the homeowner, hey, here's what I did with your neighbor.
Speaker: And your neighbor was just like, oh, that's really cool.
Speaker: Sure.
Speaker: You know what?
Speaker: Let's give it a shot.
Speaker: I don't say that they were like, you know, just totally all about it and just like, you know, over the moon happy before I even provided them anything.
Speaker: They were just like, OK, cool.
Speaker: Yeah, let's go for it.
Speaker: And I said, OK, cool.
Speaker: So we went for it.
Speaker: Got them approved.
Speaker: Turns out now they have a, you know, whatever the number is, 20, 30, 40, $50,000 roof and they paid their deductible.
Speaker: So I thought since I was able to do that for him, maybe I can do it for you too.
Speaker: And now you've, you've sort of engaged them in the story of what you did for their, for their neighbor.
Speaker: And now it's like everything, you know, any type of, um, uh, you know, like just defense systems that they sort of have up against you because you're a stranger knocking on their door, probably interrupting something going on.
Speaker: All those things are down now because now they're engaged in the story.
Speaker: Hmm.
Speaker: Now they're like, oh, cool.
Speaker: I kind of want to be a part of maybe chapter two of this story.
Speaker: And let's see what we can do in the neighborhood.
Speaker: And then what happens is now that's three roofs in the neighborhood.
Speaker: And you just rinse, wash, repeat the whole neighborhood.
Speaker: And it's like this domino effect where it's like eventually I had people calling me and say, hey, apparently you're the roofing guy in the neighborhood.
Speaker: Can you come check it out?
Speaker: And it's like this massive job.
Speaker: The profit's insane.
Speaker: And they're calling me being like, hey, you're the roofing guy.
Speaker: you know, cause you get all these other reefs approved and then it's just from there, it's like, you can just set sail and let that, you know, the wind of those referrals just kind of carry you, uh, through, through a really, a really solid month or week or whatever it is.
Speaker: So, yeah, that's awesome.
Speaker: Super powerful.
Speaker: And yeah, it's funny because so many of these things, the top guys in solar, they're doing the exact same stuff.
Speaker: It's like, I don't know, we call it becoming the mayor of your neighborhood, right?
Speaker: Where it's like everyone knows you, dropping tons of names.
Speaker: And for me, when I got my Golden Door Award, those are things that 100% I did too, is just sticking in a neighborhood, just dropping it.
Speaker: Like the line I always use is, hey, I'm friends with John across the street.
Speaker: Did he mention anything that I was coming by?
Speaker: just kind of grabbing their attention.
Speaker: And then, like you said, throwing in a story of what we helped them out with.
Speaker: And these things help so much.
Speaker: And even if you don't get these people, I'm sure there's guys that you went to the first time, but then as they see you in the area more and more and for like, I don't know, six months at a time or whatever, they're like, okay, this guy, he wasn't just some fly by the night guy that came one time to our neighborhood.
Speaker: He's like literally helping 20 people here in our neighborhood.
Speaker: And maybe it's worth at least checking this out and seeing what's going on.
Speaker: So yeah.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah, exactly.
Speaker: So one other thing that I want to kind of add is just about those defense mechanisms with the homeowner.
Speaker: So I work for a really good roofing company.
Speaker: When I was doing insurance work, I had four different roofers try to recruit me to sell for them and eventually went with the last one.
Speaker: And what's great, I mean, is they're just a very transparent company.
Speaker: They have a lot of integrity.
Speaker: Honesty is best policy is kind of their M.O.,
Speaker: And one of the things that I do is, is I let them know that I let them know, like I work for one of the best roofing companies in the area.
Speaker: Because look, at the end of the day, if you have some roofer come knock on your door, if I put myself in their shoes, I'm going to be skeptical, like automatically.
Speaker: So a lot of times I'll get people that will say, hey, maybe not right now.
Speaker: Like, like, they'll give you that line, right?
Speaker: Like the door knockers, like this is just sort of a line that deflates so many people.
Speaker: Let me think about it.
Speaker: Yeah, exactly.
Speaker: Let me talk to my wife about it, right?
Speaker: And you're just like, ah, come on, let's do this now.
Speaker: This is supposed to be great.
Speaker: And they're like, give me some time.
Speaker: What I found is rather than sort of pulling out your sword and trying to like hit them with new lines or whatever, which sometimes works, but sometimes it's almost better to just sort of
Speaker: um, kind of go along their current.
Speaker: And a lot of times what I'll do is I will say, um, you know, Hey, you know, would love to give you an inspection now.
Speaker: And I'll say, you know what, let me talk with my wife about it.
Speaker: And, um, and we'll get back to you.
Speaker: I'm like, Hey, cool.
Speaker: You know what?
Speaker: I, I totally get that.
Speaker: You know, roofer comes not and knocks on your door and you're kind of unsure.
Speaker: And like, to be honest with you, like I have to deal with this a lot of times, a lot of bad roofers out there, a lot of people who are trying to rip you off.
Speaker: So I get it.
Speaker: So, uh, if you want to talk to your wife, I totally understand that.
Speaker: I'm
Speaker: honestly be in the same position as you.
Speaker: So I respect you for that.
Speaker: Here's what I'm going to ask you to do.
Speaker: Here's my card.
Speaker: Check out our reviews online.
Speaker: Do some homework.
Speaker: Research me to make sure that you can trust me.
Speaker: Do that.
Speaker: And then how about I follow up with you in like, you know, two or three days and then we can have a conversation then.
Speaker: So I get, literally like if they want to go that route of let me talk to my wife, I'm going to give them homework.
Speaker: I'm going to say, check me out.
Speaker: I'm going to let them know I'm super transparent.
Speaker: Look at my reviews.
Speaker: You know, do some digging into me.
Speaker: And then I'll follow up with you in a couple of days because I guarantee you I'm one of the best roofers in this area.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: I guarantee you that I can help you out.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: That's awesome.
Speaker: And your satisfaction is my priority.
Speaker: And I do this consistently.
Speaker: And I want you to know that.
Speaker: And then I'll check your roof out.
Speaker: And you want to talk about getting a five-star client is you just sort of break down all of those barriers and
Speaker: Just like, what do I got to do to get up on the roof?
Speaker: And I get that.
Speaker: And I use that too.
Speaker: And sometimes that works.
Speaker: But if there is this sort of like uncertainty on their end, just deflate the situation and get in their lane and walk alongside them rather than trying to walk in the opposite direction of where they're going.
Speaker: Yeah, I love that.
Speaker: And just like being real with them like that.
Speaker: Like most people, when they get those objections, they don't have that conviction like you just did.
Speaker: Like, hey, I guarantee you this is going to help you out.
Speaker: And as people see that, people feel it.
Speaker: And then, I don't know, another cool line is like, hey, level with me.
Speaker: How much of what I said do you actually believe?
Speaker: Just getting kind of like on a personal level with them and be like, look, I get it.
Speaker: There's a lot of scams going around.
Speaker: There's stuff that's not legit, but we've taken care of John.
Speaker: We've taken care of
Speaker: Frank, you know, just dropping all the people.
Speaker: And I think that makes it way more believable.
Speaker: And combine that with positive reviews, that's powerful.
Speaker: So that's something to consider for people who are selling with maybe companies that aren't great.
Speaker: It definitely makes your life a lot easier when you have...
Speaker: companies that are well-reviewed, that you can trust people who are going up on there.
Speaker: So unfortunately, my story is I've been with several, well, a few installers now that have gone out of business.
Speaker: I've had a few installers who have done
Speaker: you know, bad, pretty bad work up there.
Speaker: And that's been killing me too, just on referrals.
Speaker: Cause for example, my first company I sold with for like my first four years in solar, they're out of business now.
Speaker: And all the people that call me up for like to go service their system, I just have to tell them, oh yeah, they don't, they're not in business.
Speaker: Sorry, we can't really do anything.
Speaker: I'll still try and help them.
Speaker: They still have warranties, but it's definitely a lot harder to get referrals and all that.
Speaker: when you know the company's out of business because it's kind of a little bit of lost trust there um but that's cool here you do it so how much i wanted to ask james how much is like um follow-up then with these people is do you get a lot where it's like a bunch of follow-up you have to do to actually get people to commit to this or is it pretty often where you just get people do an inspection and get them like kind of one touch close right on the door there yeah
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: So, um, I do some one touch.
Speaker: I mean, it's kind of all over the map so that I can do some, uh, one touch closes.
Speaker: Sometimes it's three or four touches where, you know, it's going to take a couple of times coming back.
Speaker: Um, encouraging is to go talk to the client, my clients in the neighborhood, which I do as well.
Speaker: I don't just say, I don't just hide my client list.
Speaker: I'm just like, yeah, Hey, Jackie's roof over there.
Speaker: I did her roof.
Speaker: Hey, you should go talk to her.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: and ask her about her experience.
Speaker: Like literally, it's just I like I will just I will just put myself out there and just say, you know what, don't take my word for it, go take others.
Speaker: Because I know I have to earn everybody's trust.
Speaker: I have to do a really good job for everybody.
Speaker: And that's a super tough thing.
Speaker: I don't say I'm like perfect with it.
Speaker: But but but I mean, that's a I feel like when you do that, that's just something that in the contracting world, or even in the solar world, most people never experienced something like that.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Cause they're always experienced with somebody trying to rip them off, you know?
Speaker: And so when you give them that sort of, um, approach and dialogue, it just kind of throws them off and they're like, okay, wait a minute.
Speaker: Like this guy is something different and you want to be something different.
Speaker: You want to stick out.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: So, and do you, so with these roofs, typically you're saying like they get the roof covered, they just have to pay the deductible just depending on the roof damage or whatever.
Speaker: Yeah, exactly.
Speaker: So yeah, I mean, basically the way that it works is if they have hail damage, then we can get their roof approved.
Speaker: If we get it approved, they only pay their deductibles.
Speaker: So a lot of times the deductible is like a thousand bucks or something like that.
Speaker: And we'll get 20, 30, $40,000 worth of work done.
Speaker: They just pay their deductible and we get the rest from insurance.
Speaker: So it's a pretty sweet deal.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: That's, yeah.
Speaker: It's like a no brainer.
Speaker: It's almost like solar panels in California.
Speaker: Exactly.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: That's cool.
Speaker: And when you go to these neighborhoods, do you have to look for the ones that just have like damage up there then?
Speaker: Because it's typically like the insurance will only cover that if there's quite a bit of damage or how like choosy do you have to be in these neighborhoods?
Speaker: Yeah, I mean, generally speaking, when a hailstorm comes through, it's going to hit a whole area.
Speaker: And so there's different software that you can use to kind of track the storm and how big was the hail and where did it hit and all that sort of thing.
Speaker: So you basically go to the neighborhood and you just any roof that doesn't look like it's five years old, you just hit those hit those doors and start knocking and and pitching to them and doing the inspections.
Speaker: But yeah, I mean, it's more based off of area than anything.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: OK.
Speaker: Something that I've heard from other roofing guys is just...
Speaker: I don't know how it is out there in Virginia, but I have some friends that have done this in Texas where the hell storms hit.
Speaker: And then I've heard there'll literally be 10 different companies knocking that neighborhood at the same time trying to get this business.
Speaker: So I know we already talked about a couple of things that you're using to differentiate yourself.
Speaker: You got the good reviews.
Speaker: You're helping out multiple people.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: What other advice?
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: I don't know if that's a thing where it's like there's tons of competition after these hell storms, but if there is, what do you use to kind of set yourself apart and, you know, get the cell?
Speaker: I'm giving away all my secrets here, man.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: So, I mean, I think for me, when a storm hits, there's going to be a ton of people out there.
Speaker: So unless you're out there like an hour or two after the storm, you're going to be running into a bunch of contractors.
Speaker: So that can be super difficult.
Speaker: Generally speaking, there's a two-year statute of limitations.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: So that means that after a storm hits, you have two years to claim it to your insurance.
Speaker: So that's a kind of a long time.
Speaker: So when a storm hits, you know, day one, two, three, four, all the way into like, you know, two or three months, you have, you know, 20, 30 different contractors kind of duking it out.
Speaker: I usually go find another area.
Speaker: where it's like a hailstorm hit last year and all the contractors were there because there's leftover stuff everywhere because most of the time people don't want pressure from 20 contractors in one day.
Speaker: So I just let it sit for like six to nine months and then hit the storm later.
Speaker: And dude, I will cash out on that because now there's no pressure.
Speaker: Now that you're not talking to a billion different people, now you can go in there and flex really hard.
Speaker: in an area and you start picking stuff up, man.
Speaker: So that's, that's sort of one of my things that I do because yeah, it's like, what's different between me and you know, 20 other contractors.
Speaker: It's like, well, we all just kind of want to get paid.
Speaker: They're probably selling the same warranties and same shingles and same this and same that.
Speaker: And there's a few things that are different than me, but to the homeowner, it's like, again, when you put yourself in their shoes, they're just being bombarded by 20 different contractors.
Speaker: And it's just overwhelming.
Speaker: So they're just like, no, I don't want to do anything.
Speaker: I don't know who to trust.
Speaker: Everybody's coming at my door.
Speaker: I don't know who to trust.
Speaker: And again, I get that.
Speaker: If 20 contractors knocked on your door, what would you do?
Speaker: Yeah, it makes a lot of sense.
Speaker: And don't worry, I don't think we have too many...
Speaker: I don't know, at least than I have.
Speaker: I don't think we have too many roofers, especially in Virginia, listening to the Solarpreneur podcast.
Speaker: Sure.
Speaker: Yeah, exactly.
Speaker: Exactly.
Speaker: Abundance mindset, right?
Speaker: That's right.
Speaker: That's right.
Speaker: I mean, look, at the end of the day, there's plenty out there for everybody.
Speaker: And the roofing industry out here is growing.
Speaker: I mean, there's so many different companies.
Speaker: It's like everybody's uncle starting a roofing company every summer, you know, so these new companies that pop up.
Speaker: So, but that's one of the things about working for, um, what I consider to be a really elite roofing company that's been around for a while is our brand has been building now for, you know, eight, nine years.
Speaker: So it's awesome.
Speaker: Yeah, it's fire.
Speaker: But yeah, I think like in solar, obviously we're not necessarily knocking after hailstorms or whatever.
Speaker: At least we don't get those out in California.
Speaker: But I think a way we can apply that in solar too for our listeners is something I've talked about on our podcast is just going to like new move-ins, people to just move in.
Speaker: But it's funny because we sometimes deal with the same thing with people that just move in.
Speaker: There's like a mad rush.
Speaker: There's 10 companies that are going to these lists of new homeowners.
Speaker: In exact same scenario, they don't know who to trust.
Speaker: They get overwhelmed.
Speaker: So that's actually a cool strategy we've used in solar is just instead of going right when they move in, go like a year after because they're still considering a new move in.
Speaker: But same principle applies.
Speaker: It's like they're not getting hit up quite as much now and things have calmed down a little bit.
Speaker: they've seen what their utility bills are going to be like.
Speaker: So yeah, I think that's, you know, we can also play, you know, something else that kind of crosses my mind for anybody kind of listening to this doing door to door sales is approaching the door.
Speaker: This is something that a buddy of mine said, who actually works at my company as well, but he's like, approach the door.
Speaker: Like you, you don't need their business.
Speaker: You want the business, but you don't need their business.
Speaker: And it kind of just makes me I think there's this this correlation just makes me think of this correlation between knocking doors and and, you know, dating or pursuing women.
Speaker: It's like if you're going after somebody like you need it, like you like they're going to be turned off by that, you know, but if you go in confident, be like, hey, you know, I'd love to take you out on a date.
Speaker: Don't need to got plenty of other stuff I can do, but I'd like to do that.
Speaker: Like your likelihood of taking them out on a date or them saying yes is so much higher than if you go be like, man, I really need this date.
Speaker: Like, you know, like I really need something to do on Friday night.
Speaker: You know, like, can you please go on a date with me?
Speaker: It's like that like no girl's going to like that.
Speaker: So if you're able to go in there and especially for new guys, that's so hard because like, you know, like you're scrapping, you're hungry, you, you know, you need jobs, you need to build that pipeline.
Speaker: So it can be really hard.
Speaker: But if you can get to a point where you can go in just confidently be like, I'd love, I would love to work with you.
Speaker: Don't need to, but I would love to do this for you.
Speaker: Your close ratio is going to be so much higher.
Speaker: Yeah, that's fire right there.
Speaker: And it's funny because people can sense that too.
Speaker: Even if you think you're not acting that way, if you have it back in the back of your head, oh, I really need this seller.
Speaker: Oh, I need this money so bad.
Speaker: It's like, you got to get that out of your head because people smell that stuff in my way.
Speaker: They sure do, man.
Speaker: And yeah, it's just like so much more powerful when you come in a place where it's like, Hey, I have like 10 other people that are lined up to do this.
Speaker: That's not that big of a deal.
Speaker: You guys can do it or not do it.
Speaker: But yeah, if you want to do it, let's see if the home qualifies.
Speaker: And that's yeah.
Speaker: That line right there is made me way more money than trying to be like, Hey,
Speaker: come on like really need you to do this to do it for me and some of those yeah cardone closes and stuff like that right so right yeah it's powerful yeah um i mean if you make it about them if you make the sale about them then you're just going to be better off and i mean like at the end of the day there's the old proverb you know it's better to give than to receive instead of going there trying to take something for yourself go and offer something for them like go make it about them i want to do this for you
Speaker: And you end up just benefiting so much more than you're just out there being like, you know, give me this roof.
Speaker: Like, give me your roof.
Speaker: Let me do all this for me.
Speaker: You know, it's just your likelihood of getting screwed over by that guy so much higher because he's just thinking about himself.
Speaker: So you really need to come at it from, I think, a servant's heart.
Speaker: And if you can do that, you're just going to be more successful.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: And people don't care really much about like, I don't know, some people act like they care by the end of the day.
Speaker: Um, like always goes back to, I think Brian, uh, I think it was Brian Tracy.
Speaker: It's like WW, I think it's WIFM.
Speaker: What's in it for me.
Speaker: And that's what people care about more than anything.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: It's like, what are we going to get out of it?
Speaker: So yeah, exactly.
Speaker: Something to think about.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Well, James, something I wanted to ask you, you got your Golden Door Award right behind you.
Speaker: And so for those people that are wanting to get their first Golden Door Award, was this something, was it like a big goal of yours to get that award and something you're making a huge push towards or was it just kind of, oh, I sold this many roofs, I actually hit it.
Speaker: What was that like for you?
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: So for me, you know, there's a pretty big incentive that kind of came came through our company and I kind of wanted to hit it.
Speaker: And so I just come off of a really, really difficult year.
Speaker: There's a lot going on personally for me and my family.
Speaker: And I just kind of came in, you know, really, really struggling a lot, struggling a lot financially and just had to go out there and just really make it happen.
Speaker: And so for me, it came down to some math.
Speaker: like just and then just I mean consistency that the amount of times that I hear the word consistency on these different podcasts which is great because like we need to hammer it into everybody's head like if you want results you have to be consistent with what you're doing so for me it really just came down to and I'm doing it again this year you know literally to the point where I'm just blocking out like different shifts I'm gonna go out and knock and how many doors I need to hit so um
Speaker: Taylor, you use a canvassing app, right?
Speaker: Just to sort of keep track of your territories.
Speaker: Okay, great.
Speaker: So in your canvassing app, you should be able to look at how many doors you knock versus how many doors you close.
Speaker: So if you're out there and you're crushing and you're grinding, right?
Speaker: And then you can figure out your conversion rate.
Speaker: So for roofing, the standard, at least where I'm in here in Virginia, is 40 doors to assign as your average.
Speaker: So you got to go knock 40 doors, you'll get a job.
Speaker: Generally speaking, that's what it is.
Speaker: So from there, all you have to do is the math, right?
Speaker: So if you want to get...
Speaker: you know, 100 solar leads a year or something like that.
Speaker: I mean, you know, whatever it is for you guy, you just start doing the math.
Speaker: So if we go, so you just figure out how many you have to do in a year, right?
Speaker: Let's say you have to knock 40,000 doors in a year.
Speaker: Great.
Speaker: Let's divide that by 12.
Speaker: And actually, I'm going to pull out my calendar or my calculator, I'm going to go 40,000 divided by 12.
Speaker: Every month, you got to hit 3,333 doors.
Speaker: Okay, let's divide that by four.
Speaker: So every week I got to hit 833 doors.
Speaker: Yeah, these numbers are crazy.
Speaker: This is way too high.
Speaker: But then it's like, great, we knock four days a week.
Speaker: So we divide that by four, you're coming down to 200 doors a day.
Speaker: And then we take 200 doors a day.
Speaker: And so you knock for four hours.
Speaker: So divide 200 by 450 doors an hour, right?
Speaker: So that's the mentality that that I use.
Speaker: So for me, it's 40 doors to assign if I want to get 10 jobs a month,
Speaker: you know, which generally speaking, and I mean, it's it's a pretty long, you know, pipeline.
Speaker: So there's a lot to manage there.
Speaker: But if I want to get 10 jobs a month, I got to hit 400 doors every single month, divide 400 by four weeks, that's 100 doors a week, divide that into two or three shifts or whatever you do.
Speaker: For me right now, it's going to be two, I got to hit 50 doors
Speaker: Every shift I go on, if I go out for a four hour shift, that's 12.5 doors every hour that I got to hit.
Speaker: So I'm getting I'm going to get a scooter, I'm going to make sure I knock at least 12.5 doors.
Speaker: And then I you know, I run into somebody doing inspection, all that time counts, but then you just be consistent with that block it
Speaker: out in your calendar.
Speaker: You know, I'm going to hit, I'm going to hit 50 doors on this day at this time.
Speaker: And I'm going to do it for eight days this month.
Speaker: And at the end of the month, I'll have 400 doors and I should have 10 signs.
Speaker: And if I have more than, and again, if you have more than stay on schedule and just do better, you know, stay on schedule and do better.
Speaker: And by the end of the year, it's, you know, I mean, you created something huge for yourself.
Speaker: You know, it was like Rome wasn't built in a day.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: It was one, one shovel, one scoop at a time.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: That's yeah.
Speaker: So but you do that consistently.
Speaker: And you just you I mean, you just keep pounding the pavement consistently like that, then you'll have a golden door.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: But but do the math.
Speaker: So so whatever that is, whatever, like, whatever your conversion rate is, and whatever your goal is for the year, just start splitting it up.
Speaker: Here's one hit in the year.
Speaker: Here's I got to hit every single month by divided by 12.
Speaker: I have to hit this every month.
Speaker: What do I have to hit in a week?
Speaker: If I have to hit this in a week, what do I have to do every single day?
Speaker: And then block it out in your calendar, you know, and then the rest of your time is the rest of your time, you know, but have that set and then be accountable to your calendar.
Speaker: That's awesome.
Speaker: Yeah, it's so cool.
Speaker: And most guys, I think they overcomplicate it because I think a lot of people know this, but it's like how many people have actually broken it down to this level day by day, hour by hour, where you know how many doors you need it.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: And I don't think it's too many, right?
Speaker: It's like, no, it's not.
Speaker: And I mean, even if you're a new guy, I mean, when I started, it wasn't this mentality at all.
Speaker: It was just like, just go as hard and fast as you can.
Speaker: And, you know, I did that for six months.
Speaker: And then we actually we took a vacation to San Diego.
Speaker: And I remember as the first time in six months, I allowed myself to rest.
Speaker: And I was in bed for three days with a fever because I was burned out.
Speaker: And I worked really, really hard.
Speaker: I just pushed myself because there's, you know, 100% commission and
Speaker: you know, I needed to provide for my family.
Speaker: And so I didn't really have much of it.
Speaker: So I didn't give myself much of a choice.
Speaker: But being able to come in and, you know, talking with like some of your senior sales reps and be like, Hey, like, you know, what's a standard conversion rate?
Speaker: You know, like, what can I start doing?
Speaker: And then just literally just start doing the math, you know, and then be consistent with that.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: And the funny thing is, like, as tough as it sounds to some people to get a Golden Door Award, some people it's like, oh, that sounds impossible.
Speaker: But if you break it down to that level, that far, if you just said, hey, to get a Golden Door Award, all you need to do is go knock 12 doors in an hour.
Speaker: Yep.
Speaker: Like most guys, that sounds much more doable than like go down.
Speaker: It is.
Speaker: Millions of the roofs.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: And what's crazy is that belief supersedes whatever rejection you get to.
Speaker: So literally, like you can take that rejection that you get.
Speaker: Oh, I went out not for four hours and I got rejected, you know, at every door.
Speaker: And it was just like, man, so many guys, you and I have both been there.
Speaker: We're just like, man, you go home at the end of the day, like you got knocked around the ring, man, like you're beat up and it's hard.
Speaker: But if you can have the perspective of like, no, 400 doors a month, then every rejection you get, you can use as a benefit and say, sweet, I got to know that is one, like one door closer to a yes.
Speaker: That's one door closer to a sign.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: You know, and you like that rejection can be your best friend, you know, because you have to trust the system.
Speaker: You got to trust the process.
Speaker: You know, and if there are guys that have gone out there before you and have gotten their golden doors and been successful and they followed that method, figure out what that method is and then do exactly that.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: And you'll get it.
Speaker: It's not it's not rocket science.
Speaker: Yeah, I love that.
Speaker: And yeah, I think it's super powerful to break it down.
Speaker: Same ways one knows that much closer to yes.
Speaker: It's like you can literally break down how much you're making per hour doing this to you.
Speaker: It's like, oh, I know every no, every no I get.
Speaker: I think Michael O'Donnell talks about this in solar, but it's like every no he gets, if you break it down, if you figure out how much you're making, that no could be worth 50, 100 bucks.
Speaker: Just every single no you get, maybe not that much, but it's like there's big commissions in roofing and solar.
Speaker: So making a lot of money as you take these no's, figure that out.
Speaker: So yeah, anyone that's listening to this, if you have not figured out your ratios like that, I think that's what it takes to really dial down and make your life a lot easier too.
Speaker: Because I know before I started doing this, maybe same for you, James.
Speaker: Well, yeah, you talked about how you got burned out.
Speaker: Same thing for me.
Speaker: It's like sometimes you feel like you're spinning your wheels.
Speaker: You're not going anywhere where it's just like I'm much more motivated to be out there if I'm like, oh, all I need to do is go.
Speaker: get you know talk to 10 have 10 conversations so we're here today i know i've had 10 conversations have a good chance of setting up two solar appointments and you have to figure out the ratios from there yeah and then that power of consistency is going to lead to like when you start picking up speed and momentum you know that that ratio drops and now instead of for me 40 doors to assign it's like 30 and then 20 you know and then referrals on top of that and it just gets better and better and better yeah so awesome
Speaker: And then you talked a little bit about accountability, too.
Speaker: For you, when you're doing this, did you have someone or I don't know if it's people like in your office or anything?
Speaker: Did you have any accountability partners or what was your way to kind of keep yourself accountable to these numbers and make sure you weren't slipping on things?
Speaker: Yeah, I think for me, it was more like, what's my goal?
Speaker: Like, why do I want this?
Speaker: You know, because I'm providing for my family, but like, what else do I want?
Speaker: And that's sort of where, you know, I sort of had to approach business and life from a value system.
Speaker: You know, like, why do I want to make all this money?
Speaker: And what do I want to do with it?
Speaker: And what does that mean?
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: And so for me, yeah, I mean, I didn't really have accountability.
Speaker: My company does have accountability.
Speaker: I came on, you know, I mean, we have a lot of reps now.
Speaker: When I came on, we just had a handful.
Speaker: And so they I sort of have a nickname at my company where they call me the lone wolf.
Speaker: Like I kind of just out there.
Speaker: I'm pretty quiet.
Speaker: I do my thing.
Speaker: I go about my job and all of a sudden they look at the board and it's just like what?
Speaker: Like James is getting like these these crazy numbers.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: But it's more so it's less that I do think accountability is super important, especially if you're starting out, like get on with the team, go knock with some guys, make some friends like, like, you know, learn from each other.
Speaker: I think that's huge.
Speaker: So I don't know if my my experience would would echo what other people should do in that regard.
Speaker: But as far as like what keeps me motivated, most people are making, you know, say $50,000, $60,000 a year, right?
Speaker: Living off of that.
Speaker: Well, if you're in our industry, like you hit that really easily.
Speaker: And a lot of times you're 2xing that, 5xing that, 10xing that, right?
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: So you really have to ask yourself, like, what do I really want to do?
Speaker: And I spent a long time just being like, because I never I never came from money, you know, similar to you, I think, but you know, by the time I was 29, like, I mean, I was making, you know, 30k a year, and then you jump into the roofing industry, and you're making
Speaker: you know, six figures.
Speaker: And it's like, well, like, I mean, I talk about a life change.
Speaker: It's just like, holy cow.
Speaker: And you really start asking those questions of just like, what do I want to do with this?
Speaker: And who do I want to be?
Speaker: And so for me, you know, I'm really about living the balanced life.
Speaker: It's one of the things that I talk about a lot.
Speaker: teach on it, all that kind of stuff.
Speaker: But at the end of the day, you have to ask yourself, like, why am I out here making this money?
Speaker: Because there's a lot of dudes making a lot of money and they're toxic people.
Speaker: I hate to say it, but you know, it's not good for them to be making all that money because they're not doing good things with it.
Speaker: You know, money is a tool.
Speaker: It's, it's, it's not a thing in and of itself.
Speaker: And I think there's a lot of people that approach money from the standpoint of like,
Speaker: Oh, now I get to live like this lifestyle, which is really just kind of code for now.
Speaker: I just get a blow money on stupid stuff and, you know, try to make myself feel happy, which only works for for a moment.
Speaker: But you really have to ask yourself, like, what do I who am I and what do I really want?
Speaker: And so for me, it's like,
Speaker: Yeah, I work and I work really hard, but it's not my main thing that I do.
Speaker: It's not who I am.
Speaker: Do you know what I mean?
Speaker: Like so many people would be like, who are you?
Speaker: I'm a roofer.
Speaker: I'm a solar guy.
Speaker: And at the end of the day, it's like, it's not me.
Speaker: Like that's my job.
Speaker: I do roofing, you know, I do solar, do whatever.
Speaker: But for me, it's like my primary thing.
Speaker: It's like, I am a husband.
Speaker: I am a father.
Speaker: That actually is my identity.
Speaker: That's not who I am, right?
Speaker: That's never going to change.
Speaker: I'll always be a husband, always be a father, you know, always be a son of God.
Speaker: And that understanding that and approaching life from that standpoint, I think helps me maintain that consistency, you know.
Speaker: So for me, work does not come first.
Speaker: Like I just had to realize like, yeah, I got the golden door up there.
Speaker: It's not work does not come first.
Speaker: It does not.
Speaker: My three values in order, you know, God, then family broken down to my marriage and my children.
Speaker: And then after that comes work.
Speaker: So literally to the point where when I wake up every day and have my routines, as I wake up and it's like I go to prayer, you know, and then I make sure that, you know, my wife's good and set up for her day.
Speaker: You know, I want to make sure that she has a successful day doing, you know, what she's doing or sometimes what we're doing together.
Speaker: And then after that, I kind of go,
Speaker: go into work and go focus.
Speaker: And what I found is that when you create those boundaries, you know, you don't have your phone on you all the time answering clients at, you know, odd hours of the night.
Speaker: And I'm not perfect in that either.
Speaker: I've done that, you know, plenty.
Speaker: But for me, I found that I can be so focused on those doors if I learn to put things in the correct category.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: So it's like when I'm, you know, I have this rule that I'm really trying to live by and I'm not perfect.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: But I really try to live by it where it's like if I'm home, if I get home at 530 at night, you know, and the kids go to bed a couple hours later than that, I just don't want to have my phone on me.
Speaker: You know, there's nothing so important that my phone needs to distract me from my primary responsibility, which is to be a good husband and father.
Speaker: And, you know, if you want to talk about like changing the world and making society better and all these big conversations that millennials are having, well, the primary thing you need to do is just raise good humans, you know, because they're going to be here when you're gone.
Speaker: So if you want to create a good world, create good humans and then invest in them and do a good job with that.
Speaker: It's like the primary freaking thing we have to do, dude, is just raise good kids.
Speaker: And it's hard and it's a struggle and we fail and we're not perfect.
Speaker: But that has to be our primary thing.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: You know?
Speaker: So true.
Speaker: And I love that because, well, yeah, I'm kind of, you've got two kids, right, James?
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Okay.
Speaker: Yeah, me, you, we're in the same stage right now.
Speaker: I got two kids, three and one.
Speaker: How old are your kids?
Speaker: Four and one.
Speaker: Okay.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: So yeah, exactly.
Speaker: Exactly.
Speaker: So yeah, sleep at night sometimes.
Speaker: I agree a hundred percent with all that.
Speaker: And yeah, it's so true.
Speaker: And I don't know about you, but when I had my kids, it definitely gives you something greater to focus on.
Speaker: You have that more powerful why.
Speaker: And just like, I think it's way easier working now that you have those things identified for me.
Speaker: I can go out there and, um,
Speaker: Like I remember when I was single, it was way more some days where I wasn't feeling it, sit in my car and do that.
Speaker: But if you want more, yeah, if you want the ultimate motivation, go have kids.
Speaker: Because now all of a sudden you're like, you're a lot less sitting in the car and you're like, well, I'm going to be.
Speaker: this cell is my family's depending on me to go get these cells it's like i have to be out there yeah i've been hearing all these celebrities saying like you know answering this question of just like i want to do something great with my life and like i'm hearing so many like unbelievably successful people be like you want to do something like you're important with your life get married and have just a ton of kids just have a bunch of them yeah you know it's so it's good it's good for you it pulls you out of yourself you know
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Jordan Peterson talks a lot about how each of us have like this thread of narcissism in us.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: And we all have it.
Speaker: But the best way to beat that down is just, you know, get married and have kids and strive to have a really good marriage and strive to be a really good parent, you know, and it'll beat the narcissism out of you real quick if you're doing it right.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Love that.
Speaker: So.
Speaker: Yeah, it's cool.
Speaker: And it's motivating, hopefully for other people to see that, you know, like guys like James, you can be a good father, you can spend a lot of time with your family, you can have work is not even the number one priority, but like, you know, number three on the list and still get a golden door award.
Speaker: So it's like for all those that are like, Oh, I don't have time to get a golden door award.
Speaker: Oh, I don't have time.
Speaker: I'm not motivated enough.
Speaker: It's like, I think that's super motivating to see that you can put God first, you can put family first and still have time for them and still go out and get that golden door award.
Speaker: Um, but yeah, like what, what, what year did you get your golden door by the way?
Speaker: Yeah, it was last year.
Speaker: So 2022.
Speaker: Okay.
Speaker: So yeah, you had your kids and all that.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Oh yeah.
Speaker: Okay.
Speaker: Because for me, I actually, when I got mine, I didn't have kids yet.
Speaker: So that's why I respect you even more because actually, I haven't gotten it since I had kids.
Speaker: And yeah, that's part of like the story I tell myself sometimes, I think I'm like, Oh, well, I don't know if I have time anymore, because now I got kids to focus on got to make time for them.
Speaker: But just seeing you get it, that's inspiring to me to see like, Oh, well, look, he has kids.
Speaker: And he was able to figure out a way to like,
Speaker: balance it and I know it's not going to be a balance all the time like you talked about how I'm sure you're not perfect sometimes you're still gonna have to respond to customers and you know be out late and stuff like that but yeah what does that look like for you James I know there's not like a balance but how do you yeah what would you say to those people are like oh how do you how do you do this get a golden door award with kids how do you like you know still put them first and yeah go get the golden door word yeah
Speaker: Absolutely.
Speaker: I can tell what worked for me.
Speaker: And it really just comes down to like when you're spending time with your kids, spend time with your kids.
Speaker: Don't spend time on your phone with your kids.
Speaker: Don't spend time on social media with your kids.
Speaker: Don't watch YouTube with the kids around.
Speaker: Like just spend time with your kids.
Speaker: Get on their level, get into the little games that they're playing, the little things that they're doing, the fun stuff and do that.
Speaker: And then when you're on the doors, like again, like schedule it out, right?
Speaker: Like you're going to go knock out for four hours, knock for four hours and be an absolute savage for four hours.
Speaker: But then after four hours, stop and then go do something else.
Speaker: You know, Tony Robbins, he talks about like taking his ice bath or whatever.
Speaker: And his big thing is just like, I don't negotiate with myself.
Speaker: You know, mind says body does.
Speaker: And I think if we have that mentality of just like, I'm going to do, I mean, I'm saying I'm going to do something.
Speaker: I'm just going to go do it.
Speaker: Knock for four hours.
Speaker: I knock for four hours.
Speaker: I put my phone down.
Speaker: I put my phone down, you know, going to spend time with the kids, go spend time with the kids, you know?
Speaker: Um, so I, I would say for me, because at the end of the day, it's like, you know, if you're a husband and a father, you, you want to pursue that well, because the confidence that you can get in knowing like I am a good husband.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: that or I am a good father, I am, you know, making sure I'm putting in the time there and making that primary gives you a certain amount of level of confidence just as an individual.
Speaker: And that confidence spreads to every other area of your life.
Speaker: So that when you're on the doors, when you're talking to your customers, it's just like going back to like, hey, I'd love to work with you.
Speaker: Don't need it.
Speaker: I'd love to.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: You know, things I've just found that things kind of work.
Speaker: But yeah, that's that's that's sort of how I did it.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: I love that.
Speaker: And anyone that's like a family guy like yourself and producing at a high level, I think I've heard a similar answer from everyone.
Speaker: You know, we had Ashton Buswell, good friend of mine, but he has like five kids, I think.
Speaker: I think he has multiple golden doors in solar and he says the exact same thing.
Speaker: It's like when he's on the doors, he's 100% in.
Speaker: When he's with his family, he's 100% in.
Speaker: And even as little as something that I changed recently is like, I'll be at the gym.
Speaker: And I remember in the past, customers texted me, things came up at the gym.
Speaker: I would like pause my workout, handle all this stuff.
Speaker: And I started to realize, man, I'm like literally in the gym for two and a half, three hours because like, I'm not working out the whole time.
Speaker: I'm responding to customers, got texts from other people.
Speaker: So even something as little as that, just like, I think the principle of just focusing in on what you do
Speaker: are doing at the time.
Speaker: Number one, it like makes cuts down on the time you have to spend and then you're way more focused doing it.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: So it's like you're way more focused with your kids, way more focused on the doors when that's 100%.
Speaker: And then, yeah, for me, it's like I stopped.
Speaker: I stopped taking customer calls in the gym, even if it's customer that I think calling in to cancel or whatever, like
Speaker: something semi important.
Speaker: I'm like, they can probably wait until after I finish my workout.
Speaker: And that alone, it's like, made me way quicker in the gym now.
Speaker: And I'm getting better workouts just by cutting out some of that stuff.
Speaker: Yeah, I think it's a great principle and really powerful.
Speaker: So anyone listening to this, if you are, yeah, like, you know, checking social media on the doors, even if I don't know, you're with friends, family, whatever, you're not fully present with them.
Speaker: That's a principle that is going to help you out by, I think, just leaps and bounds, especially when you do have a family, when you do have kids.
Speaker: So even if you're single, listen to this, not married or whatever, I think it's a good thing to start practicing now because if I would have been doing this before,
Speaker: Yeah, I think I've definitely had relationships suffer and I haven't been as present for my kids just because these phones are addicting and all that time we're single and all the time when we're distracted by these things.
Speaker: It's a tough, it's almost like an addiction that you have to break when you're married.
Speaker: So yeah.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Actually, can I say something to the single people out there?
Speaker: Because, you know, you and I are both dads and we're husbands and we're talking about this.
Speaker: But for any single people out there looking, I just want to encourage you.
Speaker: Like you are still meant to go out and be a blessing to other people.
Speaker: So start asking yourself, who can I bless?
Speaker: Like, you know, you're in the solar industry.
Speaker: You're probably making more money than most.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: And you probably have freedom of time as well.
Speaker: So you're meant to bless.
Speaker: You're meant to give to others.
Speaker: And if you're looking for that fulfillment, I think you're going to find it in the ability to give it to others.
Speaker: You know, there's this a mentor of mine, you know, who works on purpose discovery.
Speaker: He helps people discover their purpose.
Speaker: He defines purpose literally is the best of what you have to help others.
Speaker: That's purpose.
Speaker: the best of what you have to help others.
Speaker: And the end of the day, I think it's good for everybody just to take audit of their life and their gifts and their talents.
Speaker: And where can you use that to bless other people?
Speaker: Yeah, nice.
Speaker: That's huge.
Speaker: So a no to the single people as well as to us, because it's a good reminder for everybody.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Principal prize there applies to everybody.
Speaker: You don't have to be married to start practicing all of these things.
Speaker: So love that.
Speaker: Um, well, James, we're coming up on the hour here.
Speaker: And, um, before we start wrapping up here, if people want to, uh, you know, connect with you more, um, and then we'll get into our last question or two here.
Speaker: But if people, before I forget, if people want to reach out, connect with you, what's the best way to do that and find you and everything?
Speaker: Yeah, so I'm just on Instagram, that.james.guy.
Speaker: And I'm pretty responsive to DMs and all that kind of stuff.
Speaker: So if you want to chat or anything like that, you can hit me up there.
Speaker: Nice, nice.
Speaker: Awesome.
Speaker: We'll put that in the show notes.
Speaker: So everyone go reach out to James.
Speaker: Thank him after you're done listening to this show today.
Speaker: And then last question or two, James.
Speaker: We didn't touch much on referrals.
Speaker: I know you talked about like the neighborhoods.
Speaker: as you're helping people.
Speaker: You start getting more and more referrals.
Speaker: But do you have anything else specifically you do to help you get referrals?
Speaker: I don't know if it's like follow-up.
Speaker: I don't know if you send gifts to customers.
Speaker: Anything else that you do different to kind of set you apart and just get that referral game going?
Speaker: Yeah, I think for me, the first thing is just making sure they have an exceptional experience, like making sure that they are that they're happy.
Speaker: And then I also I mean, there's an incentive that I have, you know, if I end up doing a job, I give them a gift card for a certain amount.
Speaker: And then, um, you know, some people take it and some people don't, but you know, for me, a lot of it just comes down to, uh, making sure they have a good experience.
Speaker: And then even if they don't give you a referral, you can still knock around that area and, um, tell people like, you know, go talk to that guy or, you know, check out the online reviews, making sure you are collecting good five-star reviews as well from customers that are happy, you know, like really helps.
Speaker: And, um,
Speaker: And it's just, I think, an organic way to kind of build up your referral system.
Speaker: So, yeah.
Speaker: Nice.
Speaker: And then for you, the referrals you do get, most of them come at kind of the point of sell, like as you're getting them signed up for the roof or do they come down the road after they've already had the new roof put on.
Speaker: They usually came after the roof was put on.
Speaker: So, you know, the person that will refer after the job's like said and done and everything's closed out, you know, because they're not just looking at like your ability to sell.
Speaker: They're looking at your entire company and the entire process from start to finish.
Speaker: So usually those things will come at, you know, after the fact.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Okay.
Speaker: Yeah, what I've found in solar is I can get more referrals, you know, like when I'm in the house at the point of sale.
Speaker: But the referrals that are the most solid that they've actually talked to and everything and, you know, usually end up converting way better are the ones that come after the solar has been installed and just kind of with more follow up and things like that.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: So I don't know.
Speaker: I think it's good to kind of h ave a combination of both saying as you're signing up, hey, who do you know that can benefit from this?
Speaker: Like I know you guys are going to go through the experience.
Speaker: I know you'll talk to more and more people, but just to kind of like get the, uh, the gear spinning, who do you know right now that could potentially benefit and then, you know, get some names then.
Speaker: And then as you follow up more and more, it's like, hopefully you talk to those people and, um, you know, you get more solid referrals after they've gone through the experience, the process.
Speaker: So a hundred percent good stuff.
Speaker: Cool, James.
Speaker: Well, it's been awesome having you on the show today.
Speaker: And even though you're not in solar, like I think there's so many things we can apply to solar and it's cool to hear what you're doing with the roofs.
Speaker: So just to end here, is there any final advice you'd give to maybe a rep that's struggling or, or I know we talked about a lot about getting your first golden door award, but any final words of wisdom that you would give to our solarpreneur listeners here?
Speaker: Yeah, I would just say be yourself and be authentic and stick to the process.
Speaker: Knocking doors is really, really hard.
Speaker: It's not an easy profession, but there's a process to it.
Speaker: And I think if you stick to it, you can win big.
Speaker: And I think that's part of why we win big is because we're in a really...
Speaker: We're in a really difficult job.
Speaker: Door to door is not easy.
Speaker: So I would definitely suggest that to people is just stay the process, even when it's hard.
Speaker: You know, you may not see it now, but when you're out there getting all that rejection, you're building up an incredibly thick skin.
Speaker: And you're going to be able to take what you learn in door to door and apply it to different areas of your life and experience, you know, some pretty awesome success because of your ability to kind of get through and just punch through that big wall of rejection that you get, especially when you start out.
Speaker: in the industry.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Love that.
Speaker: So powerful.
Speaker: Well, thanks so much for coming on, James.
Speaker: Guys, go out, be authentic, be real, serve your customers, serve the families you help out and be consistent.
Speaker: Everything else will fall into place.
Speaker: So thanks again for coming on, James.
Speaker: And yeah, can't wait to see what you do next.
Speaker: Thanks, brother.
Speaker: Okay.
Speaker: All right.
Speaker: Talk soon.
Speaker: What's up, solopreneurs?
Speaker: Hope you enjoyed the episode.
Speaker: Before you run out and start selling more solar yourself, wanted to let you know about an exciting new cheat sheet we created specifically for you in mind.
Speaker: One of the top questions I get asked on Instagram, on Facebook by our listeners is, Taylor, where should I start?
Speaker: What episodes should I listen to in the podcast?
Speaker: And
Speaker: You got too many podcasts, man, because now we have over 200 episodes.
Speaker: So what we've done, we created the top 10 most downloaded, most listened to, and I would say widely accepted, most useful podcasts that we've done here on Solopreneur.com.
Speaker: We put them together all in one sheet.
Speaker: So you can go, you can hit the ground running, especially if you're new and you do not want to not have this sheet.
Speaker: So go download it right now.
Speaker: It's going to be at top10.solarpreneurs.com.
Speaker: Again, that's top10, the number 10,.solarpreneurs.com.
Speaker: Don't forget the S on solarpreneurs.com.
Speaker: We will have that in the show notes.
Speaker: Go download it right now.
Speaker: And especially if you have not listened to them, go listen to them and you can re-listen to them.
Speaker: That's going to show you how.
Speaker: So go download it and we'll see you on the other side.
