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How to Build Unbreakable Trust with Your Customers
66 Plays4 years ago
SOLARCON April 21st - 23rd, 2022
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Thanks to our sponsor Pi Syndicate for this episode!
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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.
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 fell.
00:00:19
Speaker
I teach you how to avoid the mistakes I made and bring in the top solar dogs of the industry to let you in on the secrets of generating more leads, falling up like a pro, and closing more deals.
Defining the Solarpreneur and Podcast Goals
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.
Recording Challenges and Background Noise
00:00:41
Speaker
What's up solarpreneurs?
00:00:43
Speaker
My name is Taylor Armstrong, here to help you close more deals, generate more leads and referrals, and have a much better time in the solar industry.
00:00:52
Speaker
We're coming to you live from a neighborhood, so I apologize, you're going to hear some cars driving around, probably some dogs barking, things like that.
00:01:04
Speaker
Hopefully it's not too crazy out here.
Lessons from a Lost Deal in Trust Building
00:01:06
Speaker
But the reason we're doing it in a neighborhood is because, I'll be honest,
00:01:11
Speaker
was a little bit behind schedule this week.
00:01:14
Speaker
We got a season passes to Disneyland.
00:01:18
Speaker
My kid is two years old and so we thought what better time to get season passes than right now because we still get him for free.
00:01:26
Speaker
We still get him in for free I should say until he's three.
00:01:30
Speaker
So long story short we went to Disneyland on Monday which is
00:01:36
Speaker
My or Tuesday, but anyways it took up the time that I usually it would record a podcast for a day So doing out here between appointments.
Building Trust: Tips from an Instagram Poll
00:01:47
Speaker
I got 20 minutes till my next appointment Probably should be hitting a few doors, but I thought hey, I'm gonna hop on a podcast share some secrets so this week we're gonna be talking about how to build trust and
00:02:02
Speaker
A few of you that have followed on Instagram, you saw me, I recently lost a deal.
00:02:09
Speaker
I didn't sign them.
00:02:11
Speaker
And the main reason I didn't is because I couldn't build enough trust.
00:02:16
Speaker
At the end they liked what they saw.
00:02:19
Speaker
They liked the numbers, there was awesome savings, but they didn't fully believe what I was saying.
00:02:25
Speaker
And this guy, he was an engineer.
00:02:28
Speaker
I am not the greatest at selling these engineers.
00:02:31
Speaker
I need to get a little bit better selling the engineers.
00:02:34
Speaker
They're very analytical.
00:02:37
Speaker
They like to crunch numbers themselves.
00:02:39
Speaker
They like to research things, research the facts and the figures.
00:02:43
Speaker
So I couldn't sell them.
00:02:45
Speaker
And after this deal, I'm just like, man, why couldn't I get it done?
00:02:49
Speaker
What was holding them back?
00:02:51
Speaker
He liked everything I was saying.
00:02:54
Speaker
And so I sent out a little poll.
00:02:57
Speaker
on Instagram, got a lot of awesome responses.
00:03:01
Speaker
So what we're going to do today, I'm going to talk about some of the responses we got.
00:03:06
Speaker
So thanks to everyone who responded to that.
00:03:09
Speaker
And then just give a little, I don't know, things that I think I could have done a little bit better.
00:03:14
Speaker
And hopefully you don't repeat some of these mistakes I made.
00:03:17
Speaker
Hopefully you are better than I am at building trust in your deals because at the end of the day if people trusted you 100% you wouldn't have to explain anything You could say sign this If there's full trust they wouldn't question anything they'd sign it right?
The Power of Testimonials and Personal Connection
00:03:34
Speaker
So that's the level of trust we want to try to achieve is to where they don't even need to know all the details they trust you they like you and they'll just sign up
00:03:44
Speaker
Okay, so let's go through a couple of the responses that I got on Instagram here.
00:03:52
Speaker
And then at the end, I'm going to give my two cents as well.
00:03:57
Speaker
So here's just a couple.
00:03:58
Speaker
This is from Jacob.
00:04:01
Speaker
He says, say things and then pull up on the internet and show that it's true.
00:04:06
Speaker
This is great advice here and actually something I have talked about but I haven't been doing as much lately.
00:04:13
Speaker
So in the podcast we've talked about keeping a folder of all the links and articles and testimonials, whatever other content you have, keeping a folder of that content.
00:04:26
Speaker
and then using it as ammo, you think of your bows, or your arrows, and your quiver, right?
00:04:32
Speaker
So anytime someone throws something at you, you should have a supporting article, supporting evidence, to back that up.
00:04:39
Speaker
So I love that tip, and this is something I look back, I did not do in this deal.
00:04:45
Speaker
Especially with your engineer types, especially with people that are skeptical.
00:04:50
Speaker
show them proof, right?
00:04:51
Speaker
Like Grant Cardone says, people believe what they see, not what they hear.
00:04:55
Speaker
So if you can show them and they actually see it, much more likely that you're going to get the deal signed.
00:05:01
Speaker
Great tip right there.
00:05:03
Speaker
So from Marshall Tootin, my friend Marshall, he said it's all about the first three minutes.
00:05:13
Speaker
And...
00:05:15
Speaker
I think that's true, that's actually all he said, but what I think he meant by that is you gotta get in, you gotta establish that trust right off the bat.
00:05:24
Speaker
You gotta act like your friend.
00:05:26
Speaker
Think how many times have you been in a social situation, at least for me, if I go to a party and someone says, hey what's up Taylor, what's going on homie, acts like they've known me all their life,
00:05:37
Speaker
I'm instantly
Effective Sales Strategies and Humanizing Techniques
00:05:38
Speaker
connected to that person.
00:05:39
Speaker
I'm like, wow, this guy's cool.
00:05:40
Speaker
I didn't even think we were friends, but I feel like I'm best friends with this guy.
00:05:44
Speaker
So how can you create that with your customers?
00:05:47
Speaker
Are you going in the deal?
00:05:48
Speaker
Are you treating them like family?
00:05:49
Speaker
Are you treating them like you've known each other?
00:05:51
Speaker
People want to have that connection and people want to mirror.
00:05:55
Speaker
So I agree it is all about the first three minutes if you can get in there quick, build that connection.
00:06:02
Speaker
Janie Escobedo, she had an advice, she says, to build trust, call a customer you've had and it's already installed that is having a great experience.
00:06:13
Speaker
don't do it with their approval either just say hey let me earn your trust off this call with one of my previous friends I've signed up and call them.
00:06:21
Speaker
One, you're hinting to them that you want to be friends.
00:06:24
Speaker
Two, the credibility grows from the homeowner talking you up.
00:06:27
Speaker
Then say after so there's one I can call more I'm only here to help.
00:06:31
Speaker
If they don't bite give them time and on to the next.
00:06:35
Speaker
That's good stuff.
00:06:36
Speaker
So I agree this is something that I have yet to do
00:06:42
Speaker
but I should say I haven't built a referral list or a reference list because that's what it's called but I think that's something powerful if you can have past customers that you can actually call that could get you the deal right there and a substitute for that is of course some testimonial videos I think those help but I agree that would probably be even more powerful actually calling a customer and getting them to
00:07:11
Speaker
Um, give you a testimonial on the spot.
00:07:16
Speaker
great advice what else we got Harry Gold he says Taylor I take pics and videos with my customers because I saw you do that show those videos during your presentation and then show a pic of your guys on their roof and they got to do it today because the tax credit will be gone tomorrow good stuff right there not only are you showing them video evidence of the people you're helping but you're building the urgency by showing them the tax credit
00:07:46
Speaker
And remember, when you talk about the tax credit going down, things like that, show them it written too, right?
00:07:54
Speaker
I use one of the Noxstar slicks, and it shows the tax credit going down, you know, the following year.
00:08:02
Speaker
So I mean, that's a great piece of advice right there, getting those testimonial videos.
00:08:08
Speaker
What else we got?
00:08:10
Speaker
Josh Bitten, he says, one of the first questions I like to ask, why did you buy your house?
00:08:16
Speaker
They always say ownership.
00:08:17
Speaker
Then you tell them going solar, you will keep your...
00:08:23
Speaker
You will own your power plant, then keep reminding them the ownership of power.
00:08:27
Speaker
Ask them how much the power went up the last five years, keep talking about inflation, then just remind them about ownership of power again.
Engaging Customers with Personal Stories
00:08:35
Speaker
Good stuff.
00:08:37
Speaker
So, yeah, I think if you can make the utility, the enemy, right, gives you someone common to stand up against, right there.
00:08:48
Speaker
So maybe not as much building trust, but yeah, you do have to make the utility the enemy for sure and talk about the ownership aspect.
00:08:58
Speaker
We got from Josue.
00:09:03
Speaker
Josue Phillips, he has been on the podcast, so definitely a good person to listen to advice.
00:09:09
Speaker
He says, ask them two to three questions, then share something about me.
00:09:12
Speaker
It makes them feel it's a conversation, not a questionnaire.
00:09:17
Speaker
Have fun, drop some jokes, make it interesting.
00:09:20
Speaker
Love that.
00:09:21
Speaker
And yeah, this is a mistake I made, especially starting out.
00:09:25
Speaker
So I was really good at asking questions, but it would almost turn into a, like an interrogation, right?
00:09:33
Speaker
I was asking so many questions, I wasn't really talking, having a conversation between the questions.
00:09:41
Speaker
So there needs to be a balance.
00:09:43
Speaker
Think 70% of them, 30% you.
00:09:46
Speaker
They should be talking more, but how can you make it a conversation?
00:09:50
Speaker
And I like to throw in little fun facts about you because if they can see you as a human, that's ultimately what's going to
Confidence and Communication in Sales
00:09:56
Speaker
build trust.
00:09:57
Speaker
So what can you talk about yourself that makes you seem like a human?
00:10:01
Speaker
One of my favorite ways to do that is show them pictures.
00:10:06
Speaker
So on my walk screen on my phone, I got a picture of my wife, my two kids.
00:10:12
Speaker
This is one of the first things I show them.
00:10:15
Speaker
and then I ask them about advice.
00:10:17
Speaker
I say, hey, you guys got kids, right?
00:10:19
Speaker
Do you have any advice for a new parent like myself?
00:10:22
Speaker
Seems like your kid's pretty successful.
00:10:24
Speaker
What's your advice?
00:10:26
Speaker
People love giving advice, and then all of a sudden you're a human to them, right?
00:10:30
Speaker
You're not a sales guy coming in.
00:10:33
Speaker
If you don't have kids, maybe you show them a picture of your dog,
00:10:37
Speaker
Maybe you show them, I don't know, where you grew up.
00:10:42
Speaker
Google Maps, whatever.
00:10:44
Speaker
Show them the small town you grew up in.
00:10:47
Speaker
Maybe you have an accent, like myself.
00:10:49
Speaker
Maybe you're talking like a Canadian.
00:10:51
Speaker
So maybe you talk about that, right?
00:10:53
Speaker
Anything that can make you more human, this is going to build big trust.
00:11:00
Speaker
Good stuff right there.
00:11:03
Speaker
And let's see Jorge Luis Rojas, he says be more their friend Ask about family, work, make them laugh, trust is belong connection Going right along with that Something I like to remember is the acronym FORM
00:11:20
Speaker
Family, occupation, recreation, and what's the M stand for?
00:11:28
Speaker
I think it stands for materialistic.
00:11:30
Speaker
Okay, I forgot what the M is for.
00:11:33
Speaker
But anyways, family, occupation, recreation.
00:11:36
Speaker
You can never go wrong with those types of questions.
00:11:42
Speaker
Colin Grandma, he says, keeping it simple and talking with confidence.
00:11:47
Speaker
It's a big thing, confidence.
00:11:49
Speaker
make sure to have the right body posture make sure you keep it simple and especially with your people are analytical you need to give them the detail also make it seem super simple because people do not make a confused brain always says no right gotta be keeping it simple we had Tyler Breskin he says trust in you trust in the company trust in the program you're offering
00:12:17
Speaker
so this is huge the three T's right they got a trust in you they got a trust in your offering your product and they got trust in the company so if those three things are not at a 10
Addressing Client Concerns and Overcoming Objections
00:12:31
Speaker
then they're probably not going to do it so that's a great question I should have asked and looking back on the deal that I didn't sign this is something I could have done I did ask him I said hey how
00:12:47
Speaker
I think I asked him on a scale of 10, 1 to 10.
00:12:50
Speaker
10 being you would do it today, 1 being there's no way you would go solar.
00:12:57
Speaker
What would you rate yourself?
00:13:00
Speaker
And he told me 50, 60%.
00:13:02
Speaker
But my mistake was I didn't ask him what would make it 100%, what would make it a 10.
00:13:09
Speaker
I could not cover his actual objections.
00:13:15
Speaker
And then just to wrap up here, gotta run into this appointment here, in just a second, but just to wrap up, I think the number one thing I could have done is just been straight up with this guy.
00:13:29
Speaker
A line that I love from Taylor McCarthy and the Noxstar guys, is just ask him, hey, level with me, how much of what I said do you actually believe?
00:13:43
Speaker
Just being frank with them, almost calling them out and seeing what their true concern is because a lot of times you can tell people are just running in circles around you.
00:13:52
Speaker
They're not telling you their true concerns.
00:13:54
Speaker
They're not telling you their true objections.
00:13:57
Speaker
So just being frank with them, almost calling them out and seeing what it is.
00:14:04
Speaker
And this is the last comment we'll end the show with.
00:14:09
Speaker
This is from Christian.
00:14:13
Speaker
He said, yeah, Christian Duarte, he said, it's very hard to explain.
00:14:19
Speaker
In my market, it's the biggest hurdle.
00:14:20
Speaker
Too many bad contractors are scammy people.
00:14:23
Speaker
Just got to get straight up with them.
00:14:25
Speaker
Like Taylor says, how much of what I'm telling you do you believe?
00:14:29
Speaker
Or if it was exactly like I'm saying it is, no more, no less would you do it.
00:14:34
Speaker
Kind of skips the whole BS part of playing ping pong back and forth.
00:14:38
Speaker
Or they just need pull back, follow up, save your time.
00:14:43
Speaker
And he says, I'll legit even say that to you.
00:14:44
Speaker
The hardest part is getting through the questions and answers.
00:14:47
Speaker
It can be a 10-minute conversation or a 10-hour conversation.
00:14:51
Speaker
All depends on how many questions you got.
00:14:54
Speaker
Pretty much hints that you're down to discuss into a technical level if need be, but still gives them the opportunity to understand that they don't need to go there unless they have a specific concern.
00:15:08
Speaker
And then he says...
00:15:11
Speaker
The last line he uses, look, some people make this a way bigger decision than it needs to be.
00:15:15
Speaker
It's essentially a bill swap program, like switching internet providers.
00:15:20
Speaker
Thank you, Christian.
00:15:21
Speaker
I thought that was fire.
00:15:23
Speaker
So I hope this helped today.
00:15:26
Speaker
Again, sorry for the background noise, but I think there is some solid advice there for building trust.
00:15:32
Speaker
So if you were having a difficult time, if you notice customers do not trust you, if you're having issues with cancellations, think, how can I create this human element?
00:15:42
Speaker
How can I create more trust in my deals?
Conclusion: Focus on Trust to Close Deals
00:15:46
Speaker
And that's the number one way you're going to prevent all that, right?
00:15:51
Speaker
If people trust you, they'll do anything.
00:15:53
Speaker
So I hope that helps.
00:15:54
Speaker
I'm going to go hop in my appointment here.
00:15:56
Speaker
Hope you close your next deal.
00:15:58
Speaker
And we'll see you on the next podcast.
Introducing Solcitee: A Learning Community
00:16:01
Speaker
Hey, solopreneurs, quick question.
00:16:03
Speaker
What if you could surround yourself with the industry's top performing sales pros, marketers, and CEOs and learn from their experience and wisdom in less than 20 minutes a day.
00:16:12
Speaker
For the last three years, I've been placed in the fortunate position to interview dozens of elite level solar professionals and learn exactly what they do behind closed doors to build their solar careers to an all-star level.
00:16:24
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.
00:16:35
Speaker
And it's called Solcitee.
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Speaker
This learning community was designed from the ground up to level the playing field and give Solar Pros access to proven mentors who want to give back to this community and help you or your team to be held accountable by the industry's brightest minds for, are you ready for it, less than $3.45 a day.
00:16:56
Speaker
Currently, SoulCity is open, launched, and ready to be enrolled.
00:17:02
Speaker
So go to SoulCity.co to learn more and join the learning experience now.
00:17:10
Speaker
This is exclusively for solopreneur listeners, so be sure to go to SoulCity.co and join.
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Speaker
We'll see you on the inside.