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Top Tricks For Effective Referral Partnerships
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The SOLARPRENEUR podcast is here to help you close more deals in the solar industry, generate more leads and referrals, and hopefully, have a much better time and situation.
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Transcript
Introduction to Taylor Armstrong and Sales Success
00:00:03
Speaker
Welcome to the Solarpreneur Podcast, where we teach you to take your solar business to the next level.
00:00:08
Speaker
My name is Taylor Armstrong.
00:00:10
Speaker
I went from $50 in my bank account and struggling for groceries to closing 150 deals in a year and cracking the code on why sales reps fail.
Purpose of the Solarpreneur Podcast
00:00:19
Speaker
I teach you how to avoid the mistakes I made and bring in the top solar dogs of the industry to let you in on the secrets of generating more leads, falling up like a pro, and closing more deals.
00:00:31
Speaker
What is a solarpreneur, you might ask?
00:00:33
Speaker
A 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.
Focus on Referral Processes
00:00:41
Speaker
Hey, what's going on, solopreneurs?
00:00:43
Speaker
We are back with another episode.
00:00:45
Speaker
We're going to be jamming on some referral processes, how to help you get more referrals this year when you're selling solar panels.
00:00:54
Speaker
Welcome back to the show.
00:00:55
Speaker
We are here to help you close more deals and generate more leads and referrals and have a much better time in the solar industry.
00:01:03
Speaker
And I hope you are enjoying the recent episodes.
00:01:05
Speaker
We've got some awesome guests and I've been having a great time.
00:01:09
Speaker
As usual, we are coming at you free and available on Apple, iTunes, Spotify, YouTube, wherever you can find the podcast.
00:01:19
Speaker
And if you are watching the video version of this, you'll notice I got a little shiner, got a little Backeye.
00:01:24
Speaker
So in case you're wondering, watching the video version.
00:01:28
Speaker
I got mugged by someone on the doors.
00:01:31
Speaker
No, I'm just kidding.
00:01:31
Speaker
I go to these Jiu-Jitsu classes and just got nailed in the face.
00:01:36
Speaker
And usually it happens every couple weeks, but I got lucky this time.
00:01:40
Speaker
It's been a couple months since I've gotten a black eye.
00:01:43
Speaker
So happy about that.
00:01:45
Speaker
But anyways, that's what that's all about.
00:01:47
Speaker
Hey, and if you missed the recent...
Announcement of Live Solarpreneur Event
00:01:49
Speaker
Big announcement we had, it is that we are having the first ever live Solarpreneur event.
00:01:55
Speaker
The date is set for April 17th, the day before SolarCon starts.
00:02:01
Speaker
And very simple way to come to the event.
00:02:04
Speaker
Two ways to get it.
00:02:05
Speaker
We're going to be publishing an event page pretty soon here.
00:02:08
Speaker
And you can buy a ticket.
00:02:11
Speaker
The second way is you can purchase a ticket to SolarCon.
00:02:15
Speaker
through our solopreneur link, which we will post in the show notes, the coupon code is just Taylor gets you I think an extra 15% off.
00:02:24
Speaker
If you use that coupon code, you're also going to get access to the events for free.
00:02:31
Speaker
So I hope to see you all at the event.
00:02:33
Speaker
We're just locking down the venue very soon.
00:02:36
Speaker
So I'm going to have an announcement on that.
00:02:38
Speaker
I'm so excited.
00:02:39
Speaker
It's going to be a really cool venue if everything goes as planned, but don't want to announce it quite yet in case things don't work out with the planned venue, but it's going to be
Building a Sustainable Referral System
00:02:51
Speaker
awesome.
00:02:51
Speaker
All right, so let's jump into the podcast.
00:02:54
Speaker
And we are doing a little bit about referrals today.
00:02:58
Speaker
It's a topic that I'm just fascinated with.
00:03:00
Speaker
And I was just talking to one of one of the guys in our coaching program about this today.
00:03:04
Speaker
But the reason why just building out referrals fascinates me and, you know, trying to get more referral partners,
00:03:12
Speaker
is because if you're anything like me, like, I don't really want to be knocking on doors when I'm 60 years old.
00:03:20
Speaker
And no offense to old guys out there hustling, grinding, knocking doors.
00:03:24
Speaker
You have my respect.
00:03:25
Speaker
You got Michael O'Donnell that I, I know he still knocks a little bit and he's, uh, he's still young, but, um, I don't want to be knocking doors when I'm like 60, 70 years old.
00:03:36
Speaker
Okay.
00:03:37
Speaker
And hopefully like I
00:03:39
Speaker
I don't have to work at all, but either way, when I get up there, even, you know, forties, fifties, I don't really want to have to, uh, be required to go knock on doors to make the money.
00:03:50
Speaker
I want to have things built out to where I have a referral system in place, uh,
00:03:55
Speaker
I have referral partners and I'm sure I still will go knock doors, but I want to have it set up where I get so many leads just organically from these systems and processes that I knock doors because I want to, not because I have to.
00:04:09
Speaker
I always like, yeah, I do enjoy knocking doors here and there sometimes.
00:04:13
Speaker
I'm not going to say I love knocking doors all the time.
00:04:16
Speaker
I think people have got to be lying if you are just in love with knocking doors all the time, because let's be real, it can suck at times.
00:04:24
Speaker
But yeah, I think you should be in the position to not have to knock doors, to just get out there because you want to and to train.
00:04:35
Speaker
And that's my dream.
00:04:36
Speaker
I hope it can be your reality someday.
00:04:39
Speaker
So that's why we talk about building systems, processes,
00:04:43
Speaker
working with referral partners, setting up referral systems.
00:04:47
Speaker
And so this is a bit of a demo because next podcast, we're going to have someone that actually is living that reality.
Upcoming Episode Teaser with Referral Success Story
00:04:54
Speaker
This guy, he doesn't knock doors anymore, but he has built out a really cool system for his referrals that he's going to break down step by step by step.
00:05:04
Speaker
And including he actually sold Kawhi Leonard's grandma and got like, I think 40, 50 referrals from her.
00:05:12
Speaker
So really cool story.
00:05:14
Speaker
You don't want to miss out on this guy.
00:05:15
Speaker
It's going to be dropping on the next episode.
00:05:18
Speaker
But just to preface a couple things that we, you know, mentioned a little bit in the show.
00:05:26
Speaker
coming up and just to dive a little bit deeper and give you guys wet the pallets.
Best Practices for Managing Referral Partners
00:05:30
Speaker
So you're licking at the chops ready to, um, to dive into this next episode is number one, we need to treat our referral partners more like setters and we need to treat the homeowners we work with like setters.
00:05:45
Speaker
What do I mean by that?
00:05:47
Speaker
If anyone has been a setter in solar, one of the most frustrating things, and I was actually reminded of this, I sent a deal I was going to be on vacation or I think I was headed maybe to door to door con one of the events.
00:06:01
Speaker
So I actually sent a lead to someone else on our team and I didn't get an update about what happened with this lead for, it was like, I think a week or so.
00:06:15
Speaker
And I had to send like five, six texts call, which I know I get it.
00:06:19
Speaker
People are busy, but I was reminded, man, it's extremely frustrating as a setter to not know what's going on with your appointments.
00:06:29
Speaker
You send someone an appointment, you don't hear back.
00:06:31
Speaker
So let that be the lesson.
00:06:32
Speaker
If you are closing and have setters, don't be like that.
00:06:35
Speaker
Make sure you give them updates right away.
00:06:38
Speaker
Make sure you're getting them paid on time.
00:06:41
Speaker
when they're expecting it.
00:06:42
Speaker
Because that can be one of the most frustrating things for anybody, but especially for setters.
00:06:47
Speaker
Because setters coming into solar, a lot of times they're relying on money coming in.
00:06:53
Speaker
Like a lot of setters are broke.
00:06:54
Speaker
And then they want to know what's happening with their deals.
00:06:57
Speaker
So make sure you're not like that.
00:06:59
Speaker
So how does that relate to referrals and referral partners?
00:07:02
Speaker
Well, you got to give...
00:07:03
Speaker
your refers you gotta give your partners an update on what's happening with the referrals they gave you is number one and then number two you gotta get them paid as quick as possible get them that money so they can taste it they can experience it just like setters coming in the industry I think it's
00:07:20
Speaker
some crazy stats.
00:07:22
Speaker
I actually did a podcast with Alex Hall.
00:07:24
Speaker
She talked about this.
00:07:25
Speaker
We can link to that.
00:07:26
Speaker
She's there.
00:07:27
Speaker
They're over it.
00:07:28
Speaker
Shut the fluff up.
00:07:29
Speaker
I think it is and do a lot in recruiting.
00:07:31
Speaker
But she told me a stat and I think it's something like reps are, I don't know, 60, 70, 80% more likely to stay in solar.
00:07:40
Speaker
if they can taste that money, if they can get paid quick, if they can get a deal within their first 15 days, I think it was, or 30 days.
00:07:49
Speaker
So same thing with your referral partners.
00:07:51
Speaker
How can you get them to have quick success and see that money as quick as possible?
00:07:57
Speaker
Because if they can see it, if they can actually have that money coming in their bank account, then it becomes real.
00:08:02
Speaker
And they're like, oh, wow.
00:08:03
Speaker
Taylor wasn't just telling me I was going to get paid for being a referral partner.
00:08:08
Speaker
He's actually delivering.
00:08:09
Speaker
This is real.
00:08:10
Speaker
Okay, maybe I'll work a little bit harder on contacting these other people I referred.
00:08:14
Speaker
Hey, so that's just an important principle.
00:08:17
Speaker
Make sure you do everything to give these people updates and to get them
Maintaining Customer Relationships Post-Sale
00:08:21
Speaker
paid.
00:08:21
Speaker
Hey, and then just another couple things I've been thinking about lately is a mistake we're all responsible of in solar, especially if you've been in door to door, is we sell these deals.
00:08:33
Speaker
And then a lot of us, we don't even contact the customers after the fact.
00:08:38
Speaker
I've said many times before, but I came from pest control where you knock on a door, you get them to sign the year contract for pest service.
00:08:46
Speaker
then you don't talk to them ever again.
00:08:48
Speaker
So the mistake I made is I treated solar the exact same way for my first several years in the industry.
00:08:55
Speaker
And what I'm realizing now is that if we want people to refer business to us, we need to be in contact with them.
00:09:03
Speaker
So what does that look like?
00:09:05
Speaker
A process I'm setting up, a system I'm setting up is...
00:09:09
Speaker
After the install, after the customer gets permission to operate, I contact them after the first 30 days when they get their first bill.
00:09:18
Speaker
And then after three months, six months, and then a year mark, I'm doing a check-in with them.
00:09:24
Speaker
Why?
00:09:24
Speaker
Because, well, they need to know how solar is working.
00:09:27
Speaker
They need to see their statement from the utility.
00:09:31
Speaker
And they're probably going to have questions about that.
00:09:32
Speaker
So it's a good time to just check in to serve them.
00:09:35
Speaker
Help them understand what's going on now that they have solar up and producing.
00:09:39
Speaker
But number two, it's a great time to refresh their memory on your referral program.
00:09:44
Speaker
How many people are actually doing that?
00:09:47
Speaker
How many people are checking in with their customers after the fact?
00:09:50
Speaker
And you can automate this.
00:09:52
Speaker
I was talking with, again, the guy in our coaching group is, you can reach out to me, shoot me a DM, shoot me an email.
Automating Follow-Ups with CRM Tools
00:09:59
Speaker
If I can make an introduction, the CRM I use, you can send out voicemails to these customers.
00:10:07
Speaker
So it's like, a lot of these things, when I first heard this, I'm like, okay, it's going to take so much time to stay in touch with these customers.
00:10:14
Speaker
to follow up with them.
00:10:16
Speaker
Yeah, it'd be nice to talk to them, but it's just a lot of work.
00:10:21
Speaker
You have to be organized, first of all.
00:10:24
Speaker
But then if you can automate some of these things, what I'm setting up as a voicemail can go out to your customer three months down the road and say, hey, this is Taylor.
00:10:35
Speaker
Just checking in on the solar system.
00:10:37
Speaker
Give me a call back.
00:10:38
Speaker
You can have a text automatically go to them as well without lifting a finger.
00:10:43
Speaker
You just have to set it up one time.
00:10:46
Speaker
So take advantage of some of the tools we have.
00:10:48
Speaker
If you don't have a CRM, you can use a spreadsheet.
00:10:51
Speaker
But that's why I like using some of these cool features on the CRMs is you can set up autoresponders like that.
00:10:58
Speaker
You can set up automations in place.
00:11:00
Speaker
So you don't have to be doing all this for your customers.
00:11:03
Speaker
You can have it go out.
00:11:05
Speaker
You can have it text them.
00:11:07
Speaker
link to your calendar to book a call to review their bill to review their system production.
00:11:12
Speaker
And then they're reaching out to you even better.
00:11:14
Speaker
So just a couple thoughts I had as we're going into some referral talk.
Long-Term Referral Network Strategy
00:11:20
Speaker
So again, make sure you're on the next episode.
00:11:23
Speaker
This guy breaks it down A to Z what he's done to get an extra 40 deals, 40 plus deals from pure referrals.
00:11:32
Speaker
So definitely a lot of things I'm going to be implementing.
00:11:35
Speaker
I hope you can do the same and I hope you can start to think more long-term, right?
00:11:40
Speaker
We're not in solar to make a quick buck.
00:11:42
Speaker
Hopefully we can be servant minded and we can be in solar for the long haul.
00:11:47
Speaker
And that's how we're going to do it is by working with other people and getting good referral partners.
00:11:52
Speaker
Hey, so check out next episode.
00:11:55
Speaker
We got Jonathan Wilson coming on.
00:11:57
Speaker
And then again, grab your ticket for SolarCon so you can also get access to our event coming up.
00:12:03
Speaker
I'm hoping I can have details ready for that in the next couple of days or the next podcast episode coming out.
00:12:09
Speaker
So make sure you tune in for that.
00:12:11
Speaker
I've got some exciting stuff coming up.
00:12:13
Speaker
Go crush it this weekend or whenever you're listening to this podcast and we'll see you on the next one.
00:12:18
Speaker
Peace.
Launch of Solcite Learning Community
00:12:20
Speaker
Hey, solopreneurs, quick question.
00:12:22
Speaker
What if you could surround yourself with the industry's top performing sales pros, marketers, and CEOs and learn from their experience and wisdom in less than 20 minutes a day.
00:12:32
Speaker
For the last three years, I've been placed in the fortunate position to interview dozens of elite level solar professionals and learn exactly what they do behind closed doors to build their solar careers to an all-star level.
00:12:44
Speaker
That's why I want to make a truly special announcement about the new learning community exclusively for solar professionals to learn, compete, and win with top performers in the industry.
00:12:55
Speaker
And it's called a Solcite.
00:12:57
Speaker
This learning community was designed from the ground up to level the playing field and give Solar Pros access to proven mentors who want to give back to this community and help you or your team to be held accountable by the industry's brightest minds for, are you ready for it, less than $3.45 a day.
00:13:16
Speaker
Currently, SoulCity is open, launched, and ready to be enrolled.
00:13:22
Speaker
So go to SoulCity.co to learn more and join the learning experience now.
00:13:30
Speaker
This is exclusively for solopreneur listeners, so be sure to go to SoulCity.co and join.
00:13:37
Speaker
We'll see you on the inside.