Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
This Solar CEO is Dominating the Market in Arizona - Tyler Mcallister
76 Plays4 years ago
SOLARCON April 21st - 23rd, 2022
GET YOUR TICKETS HERE: https://attendsolarcon.com/tickets/
DISCOUNT CODE: solarpreneur25
GET FREE SOLCIETY ACCESS!
HOW: Send a screenshot of your receipt to taylor@solarpreneurs.com or support@solarpreneurs.com
Thanks to our sponsor Pi Syndicate for this episode!
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction and Personal Journey
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.
00:00:31
Speaker
What is a solopreneur, you might ask?
00:00:33
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.
00:00:42
Speaker
What's going on, solopreneurs?
Guest Introduction: Tyler McAllister
00:00:44
Speaker
We are here live on another episode.
00:00:47
Speaker
I guess you won't be hearing this live, but I am live with the one, the only Tyler McAllister.
00:00:52
Speaker
Thanks for coming on the show with us today, Tyler.
00:00:55
Speaker
Yeah, thanks for having me on, Taylor.
00:00:57
Speaker
Yeah, I'm excited for it.
00:00:58
Speaker
And anyone that I always tell people, my grandma calls me Tyler because I have like a cousin that's Tyler.
00:01:05
Speaker
And so anyone that sounds close to my name, I know they're going to be a quality guest.
00:01:11
Speaker
So it's going to be a good time.
00:01:12
Speaker
But Tyler, he started Fusion Power.
00:01:15
Speaker
And correct me if I'm saying anything wrong here, Tyler, but 2017, you started the company, right?
00:01:21
Speaker
Yeah.
00:01:23
Speaker
Okay.
00:01:23
Speaker
And you guys have been dominating out there in Arizona and you guys are just in Arizona.
00:01:28
Speaker
Is that right?
00:01:29
Speaker
Any other markets that you're in?
00:01:30
Speaker
We're in Texas, but we're in Texas through a remote inside sales center.
00:01:36
Speaker
Okay.
00:01:37
Speaker
Gotcha.
00:01:38
Speaker
So yeah, I know you guys have been crushing it and I first heard you speak, Tyler.
00:01:42
Speaker
I know you, I don't think you remember this, but I heard you speak a few years back at door to door con.
00:01:48
Speaker
And, uh, yeah, blew my socks off.
00:01:49
Speaker
I think a lot of guys had some really good takeaways from it.
00:01:53
Speaker
So, uh, we appreciated your, your presentation there at door to door con.
00:01:57
Speaker
And I know you've been training tons of reps.
00:02:00
Speaker
Um, I've gotten a ton of value over just seeing, I know you've posted like a door approaches on a lot of the Facebook groups.
00:02:08
Speaker
You're always adding a lot of valuable comments.
00:02:10
Speaker
So, uh, yeah, we appreciate you.
00:02:12
Speaker
And thanks for all the value you're, you're sharing with the industry.
00:02:16
Speaker
And to you, man, thank you for all that you've done to share in the industry as well.
00:02:20
Speaker
Solarpreneurs has been a great value to the industry.
00:02:23
Speaker
Appreciate that.
00:02:24
Speaker
That's what it's all about.
00:02:26
Speaker
And so, yeah, I want to jump
Tyler's Sales Journey
00:02:28
Speaker
into it.
00:02:28
Speaker
Tyler, just kind of hear about how I know you were selling alarms before, but can you give us kind of your background and why you decided to start Fusion Power and transition into solar and all that good stuff?
00:02:39
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely.
00:02:40
Speaker
Well, I never thought I'd be in sales.
00:02:45
Speaker
I never thought I'd be a salesman.
00:02:46
Speaker
I had this perception of what a salesperson was and I never thought that was me.
00:02:53
Speaker
But
00:02:54
Speaker
I found out I'm very good at sales and really all sales is, is building a relationship with someone of trust and re-educating somebody to help them make a new decision than what they felt, than however they thought before was.
00:03:08
Speaker
So I've really gained a passion and a love just for the one-on-one consultation type experience that we get to have on a daily basis.
00:03:19
Speaker
It's really an intimate experience.
00:03:22
Speaker
Whenever you can go into someone's home, they invite you to their dinner table and you get to sit down and learn about someone's life.
00:03:29
Speaker
and you create a friendship and a relationship there that becomes a customer.
00:03:33
Speaker
So early on, I enjoyed that process.
00:03:36
Speaker
I mean, we do that in alarms as well.
00:03:38
Speaker
We do it on, on steroids at a much faster rate.
00:03:41
Speaker
You have to build rapport and trust really quick.
00:03:45
Speaker
And that was super awesome for me whenever I was just married, didn't have kids, got into leadership management, started running sales teams.
00:03:54
Speaker
And the, um,
00:03:57
Speaker
Made amazing money and made me the salesman that I am today.
00:04:03
Speaker
And it created a really great lifestyle for me.
00:04:06
Speaker
But the summer program was taxing as...
00:04:11
Speaker
my family was needing to start to have a little bit more stability in their life.
00:04:15
Speaker
And, you know, the on schedule, off schedule of summer sales was difficult to balance from just having a long-term lifestyle.
00:04:26
Speaker
And so I started maturing in the industry.
00:04:28
Speaker
I had been at Vivint for eight years and I started to think like, man, what else can I do?
00:04:35
Speaker
Because this is what I'm really good at.
00:04:37
Speaker
And I had heard about people transitioning into solar.
00:04:42
Speaker
And so I started telling my buddy to go do solar.
00:04:44
Speaker
Not that I wanted to do it, but like, dude, you should go check this thing out.
00:04:47
Speaker
Everyone's like, you know, saying it's really awesome.
00:04:50
Speaker
I hear all these people doing really well.
00:04:51
Speaker
And he was like, well, why don't you do it?
00:04:53
Speaker
I was like, hmm, I don't know.
00:04:55
Speaker
So then I pulled myself out there, ended up getting recruited to an office out in New York, Albany, New York, upstate New York.
Entrepreneurial Path: Founding Fusion Power
00:05:06
Speaker
And found myself going out to do solar and just leaving behind everything that I had built over in the alarm side and just wanted to start something new and fresh.
00:05:15
Speaker
And it gave me like new life.
00:05:18
Speaker
There was this new zest about selling and the whole sales process, what I was doing.
00:05:24
Speaker
And it just woke me up.
00:05:26
Speaker
And so I realized that this is what I want to do.
00:05:30
Speaker
I like helping people.
00:05:31
Speaker
I like the product and I like the sale.
00:05:34
Speaker
And it kind of fit me more as I had matured and really became a sales professional.
00:05:39
Speaker
It was a larger sale, a bigger contract.
00:05:41
Speaker
So I enjoyed that process.
00:05:44
Speaker
I got really good at solar and I started again, building teams, recruiting and training.
00:05:49
Speaker
And I got to the point where I was like, you know, I've been doing this for a decade and I really want to have the responsibility of owning the entire process.
00:05:58
Speaker
And that was a step for me and kind of a step in my growth and maturity and progression in the process.
00:06:06
Speaker
And I feel like that kind of gave credit to everything that had been taught in the industry.
00:06:11
Speaker
I've been mentored by very phenomenal people.
00:06:14
Speaker
who today that are very meaningful and very close to me.
00:06:19
Speaker
And I just felt like I, it was kind of a tribute to everything that had been shared and taught to me to become an entrepreneur and to take that risk, which is what we're programmed to do in this industry is, you know, we live in a high risk lane where everybody else wants a paycheck.
00:06:34
Speaker
We go out and we make the paycheck.
00:06:35
Speaker
So as I went through that, that journey, I ended up
00:06:39
Speaker
founding Fusion Power and decided to build my future and my destiny with this company and that it would become whatever I chose to make it and partnered with some really good people.
00:06:52
Speaker
And we've had a very successful run.
00:06:55
Speaker
So I feel very grateful and blessed for the industry and for the day and age that we live in.
00:07:00
Speaker
So...
00:07:01
Speaker
Yeah, that's awesome today.
00:07:03
Speaker
Yeah, let's go.
00:07:04
Speaker
Now and I can tell you guys are doing some incredible things.
00:07:07
Speaker
So something I wanted to ask you, Tyler, you said you found out pretty quick that you're really good at sales.
00:07:13
Speaker
So how did you how would you say that you kind of found that out?
00:07:18
Speaker
Like what click for you?
00:07:19
Speaker
You were like, wow, I'm I'm like super good at this.
00:07:22
Speaker
I don't know if it's like at a door where you're selling alarms.
00:07:25
Speaker
Was there like a moment where, I don't know, maybe it's a super tough customer and you switch them over and you're just like, wow, I'm the man.
00:07:31
Speaker
This is like my calling, my destiny.
00:07:34
Speaker
Any stories with that?
00:07:36
Speaker
Yeah.
00:07:36
Speaker
So...
00:07:39
Speaker
Those thoughts kind of happened before I ever did door to door.
00:07:42
Speaker
It actually happened.
00:07:44
Speaker
So I went on an LDS mission.
00:07:45
Speaker
I came home.
00:07:45
Speaker
My dad got me a job at RC Willis in Boise, Idaho at this retail store.
00:07:52
Speaker
It was a furniture and electronics store.
00:07:54
Speaker
And I got a job in the car audio section.
00:07:57
Speaker
I didn't know anything about car audio, but I
00:08:00
Speaker
I had an interest for it.
00:08:02
Speaker
And so I learned all about it.
00:08:03
Speaker
And we obviously in that area, I grew up in Boise.
00:08:07
Speaker
And so tons of friends and family came to RC Willys to buy stuff.
00:08:11
Speaker
And I saw them all and people would ask me questions like,
00:08:14
Speaker
hey, I want this car stereo system, I want this or that.
00:08:17
Speaker
And they would look at something on the shelf that was really shiny and expensive.
00:08:21
Speaker
I would say, I mean, you can buy that, you don't need that.
00:08:24
Speaker
And I would ask them a bunch of questions like, what kind of music do you like to listen to?
00:08:28
Speaker
Are you gonna do a sub?
00:08:29
Speaker
Are you gonna do amps?
00:08:30
Speaker
Are you putting speakers in your
Customer Connection and Training Philosophy
00:08:31
Speaker
car?
00:08:31
Speaker
Is this a new car, old car?
00:08:32
Speaker
I was like, well, based on all that, this right here is exactly what you'd need.
00:08:36
Speaker
And if you want something that looks fancy, you can go that route, but this is all that you need.
00:08:40
Speaker
This is super simple.
00:08:42
Speaker
And had a family friend tell me, he's like, man, you know what?
00:08:45
Speaker
I've been at a lot of car shops and no one has asked me all the questions that you asked me and really pinpointed what it is that I need.
00:08:53
Speaker
I feel like everyone's trying to sell me what they want, but no one has cared about what I wanted or what I needed.
00:08:59
Speaker
And like, you really helped me feel good about this process.
00:09:04
Speaker
And that kind of landed with me because I was like, to me, that was just second nature.
00:09:08
Speaker
Like, okay, this person wants this thing.
00:09:10
Speaker
Let me find out what they need.
00:09:12
Speaker
And then I'll direct them.
00:09:14
Speaker
And then that attitude just carried on further into sales.
00:09:18
Speaker
And what it was is I was learning that I was naturally building rapport and trust with people.
00:09:23
Speaker
And then I was actually putting people first.
00:09:26
Speaker
I wasn't putting my commission first.
00:09:27
Speaker
You could definitely feel a difference of the sales guys on the floor that are known as the sharks.
00:09:32
Speaker
And those guys would just go for the jugular.
00:09:34
Speaker
They shove you out of the way as they run to the customer, walk into the door.
00:09:38
Speaker
Learn very quickly that I am not that person.
00:09:42
Speaker
I do not want to be that person.
00:09:43
Speaker
That's not how I tick.
00:09:44
Speaker
I don't, I don't, I don't enjoy life that way.
00:09:49
Speaker
I like helping people and feeling like I'm adding value to someone's life.
00:09:53
Speaker
And I really enjoy the process of connecting with someone by asking them really good questions.
00:09:58
Speaker
And so as I translated into the door-to-door sales,
00:10:02
Speaker
Right out the gate, I did really well, because I think I carried that sentiment and that mentality of like, hey, I want to connect with these people and ask good questions to find out what their needs are, because that's all that we do.
00:10:16
Speaker
in the service industry or what you can call a sales industry.
00:10:20
Speaker
We're there to serve people.
00:10:22
Speaker
We're there to serve solutions to their problems.
00:10:27
Speaker
And if I'm not asking the questions or I'm not helping that person become present to what their problems or their needs are and how my product can give you a solution, then I'm just not going to land that.
00:10:39
Speaker
on their landing pad.
00:10:41
Speaker
And it's a very uncomfortable feeling as a sales rep to just throw a bunch of darts in the dark and hope that something lands.
00:10:47
Speaker
Like I really wanna have as much influence on who I can help as I can.
00:10:53
Speaker
And so having the mentality of connecting with people, helping people asking questions
00:11:00
Speaker
Because when I take that approach, Taylor, I can be very tenacious because I believe in what I'm doing and the process works.
00:11:09
Speaker
It makes sense.
00:11:10
Speaker
And so I can be way more tenacious with that approach and that attitude than some guy can, some shark shoving a dude out of the way to go grab a customer off the floor, right?
00:11:20
Speaker
And that customer 100% sees and feels that from that person.
00:11:26
Speaker
And people are very quickly judging you to see if they want to do business with you or not.
00:11:31
Speaker
And so that's kind of how I discovered that.
00:11:35
Speaker
Before I did my first summer sales thing, I went to a Zig Ziglar training.
00:11:45
Speaker
One of the training, the quote that always stuck out with me was, you can never change someone's mind.
00:11:51
Speaker
And then everyone's like, well, Ziggy, we're here to sell people stuff.
00:11:55
Speaker
And he's like, but with new information comes a new decision.
00:12:01
Speaker
And that's all we do is we help people.
00:12:03
Speaker
Yes, I know you think this way.
00:12:05
Speaker
So therefore you've made choices in your life this way, but I'm going to pull back the curtain on this new information.
00:12:12
Speaker
And together today, we're going to make a new decision.
00:12:14
Speaker
If you see this the way I see it,
00:12:17
Speaker
By default, you're going to make the same decisions that I would make because I've arrived here.
00:12:21
Speaker
So I think it's the attitude of helping people come along the journey with you when you're selling somebody or helping them through a product.
00:12:28
Speaker
It's just really being aware of where that person's at and how they're feeling.
00:12:34
Speaker
And I just I saw early on that I was selling more than other people as a rookie at Apex.
00:12:40
Speaker
I was the top rookie in my region my first year doing alarms.
00:12:43
Speaker
And to me, it was just like, why aren't, why isn't everybody selling like this?
00:12:47
Speaker
It doesn't make sense.
00:12:48
Speaker
It's, it's kind of an easy thing, right?
00:12:51
Speaker
It was just something I learned about myself early on that I ask good questions and can connect with people.
00:12:58
Speaker
And I'm, I don't consider myself like the best salesman in the world, but I can get people to trust me and make decisions with me.
00:13:08
Speaker
Yeah, no.
00:13:09
Speaker
And I can tell you're not, you're just super genuine person.
00:13:11
Speaker
Like, I don't know when, when people think of salesmen, they think of like, I think a lot of guys think of bouncing off the walls, super energy, all that.
00:13:20
Speaker
But I can tell you're just like a chill guy.
00:13:21
Speaker
And even in videos I've seen of you, you're just, you know, asking questions, building some relations, being super chill out there and, uh, works.
00:13:29
Speaker
And I love what you said though, just about really like believing in what you're doing and like benefiting people because, um,
00:13:35
Speaker
um i'm sure you'd agree we both did i did you know the two-year mission too and that's one of the big things is we had to sell ourselves so much that we're bringing people like salvation right like saving their souls yeah and so it gives you it gives you i guess that extra like boost you need to like hang in that deal if you know okay i'm literally saving this person's soul right now and obviously we'd have probably not to that level when we're uh selling solar alarms whatever but
00:14:03
Speaker
if we can have that level of belief that we're like genuinely helping people that we love the product that we're not screwing them over then, uh, yeah, I think, I don't know.
00:14:14
Speaker
I don't know how sharks do it if they don't have that level of belief and they're not benefiting the customer, but yeah, for me, I know you too.
00:14:21
Speaker
I think that helps a ton, you know, the hanging the deal like that.
00:14:24
Speaker
Right.
00:14:25
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely.
00:14:26
Speaker
Having higher motives and just the commission is, is helpful.
00:14:30
Speaker
Yeah.
00:14:30
Speaker
You got to make fun, but definitely you can also care about people.
00:14:35
Speaker
Yeah.
00:14:36
Speaker
Love that.
00:14:37
Speaker
And so Tyler, I want to transition kind of like how you started a fusion.
Adapting to Market Changes and Ethics
00:14:41
Speaker
And so you started it in Arizona.
00:14:43
Speaker
Was there a reason you picked to go into Arizona versus like California or any of these other markets?
00:14:48
Speaker
Yeah.
00:14:49
Speaker
Um, I, I've lived all over the country doing door to door and my wife and I thought we'd never live anywhere besides Idaho because I was freaking awesome.
00:14:59
Speaker
That's where we grew up.
00:15:00
Speaker
And, um, we moved to upstate New York and six months out of the year, that place is just freezing cold gray and everything is dead.
00:15:11
Speaker
And my wife started getting depressed and her brother lived here in Arizona and asked me to come help run a
00:15:18
Speaker
manage a team for him with him and um I was like I don't want to live in the freaking desert so hot there there's no greenery everything rocks that's what I thought and so but I told my brother-in-law I'd come check it out and I talked to I went knock doors with him and everybody I talked to in Arizona was like we love it here
00:15:38
Speaker
I was like, all right, well, there's something I don't know.
00:15:41
Speaker
But anyway, we prayed about it.
00:15:43
Speaker
We just trusted that this is where we're supposed to be.
00:15:46
Speaker
We moved here.
00:15:47
Speaker
And my wife fell in love.
00:15:49
Speaker
I fell in love.
00:15:50
Speaker
It's just a fantastic place to raise a family.
00:15:52
Speaker
And when I started a business here, it makes a ton of sense because there's just sunshine everywhere.
00:15:58
Speaker
So there's this secret combination in this secret combo in Arizona that makes Arizona fantastic for solar.
00:16:06
Speaker
It's very low cost of living.
00:16:09
Speaker
you have very large rooftops and huge utility bills and tons of sun.
00:16:16
Speaker
And so one equals a need.
00:16:19
Speaker
We have a solution.
00:16:20
Speaker
And because homes are newer, you don't have a ton of MPUs.
00:16:25
Speaker
We don't have shade issues.
00:16:26
Speaker
We don't have roof issues.
00:16:27
Speaker
Everyone's got concrete tiles.
00:16:29
Speaker
I mean, you have some roof issues, but just as a market in general, it's an amazing place to come make money, raise a family, live year round.
00:16:37
Speaker
We can knock year round.
00:16:39
Speaker
We don't shovel snow off panels.
00:16:40
Speaker
So I freaking love it.
00:16:43
Speaker
Sounds awesome.
00:16:44
Speaker
Well, Idaho, isn't that pretty much the same as New York?
00:16:47
Speaker
Cold and gloomy six months of the year?
00:16:48
Speaker
Or is Idaho sunny and gloomy, but just cold.
00:16:53
Speaker
It's a different cold in New York when you have all that humidity flowing off the ocean, it's just frigid.
00:16:58
Speaker
So, like in Idaho, I would walk around my neighborhood for 45 minutes, I pace while I'm on the phone, and I could be in a t-shirt and shorts in Idaho and 30 degrees and be fine, but New York's a little different.
00:17:12
Speaker
Yeah, I guess that's true.
00:17:14
Speaker
Yeah, I love me, I know.
00:17:17
Speaker
No, that's awesome though.
00:17:18
Speaker
Arizona, yeah, I know it's an awesome market.
00:17:20
Speaker
In 2017, so I know there's been some changes with like the net metering and I don't know, rates, stuff like that.
00:17:25
Speaker
So yeah, I was just asking, 2017 is when you guys started it there.
00:17:31
Speaker
So since then, I know Arizona has had like some changes, I've heard with, I don't know, rates, net metering, stuff like that.
00:17:37
Speaker
Has there been any big changes since then that you guys have had to like pivot or adjust how you sell or anything like that?
00:17:44
Speaker
Yeah.
00:17:45
Speaker
So shortly after I moved to Arizona, half the entire market shut down.
00:17:49
Speaker
So SRP changed their policy and their rate plans and to where we basically couldn't sell here or sell an SRP, which was amazing because it created a massive vacuum in the market and a ton of solar companies and solar guys left.
00:18:05
Speaker
And they're like, well, the market's screwed.
00:18:06
Speaker
We're out of here.
00:18:08
Speaker
And, um, like Vivint completely vacated and, um,
00:18:13
Speaker
And it really just left SolarCity and a couple other companies, but nobody was doing business here really.
00:18:19
Speaker
And APS was the best market.
00:18:22
Speaker
APS was a phenomenal market, still is.
00:18:25
Speaker
Big homes, pure net metering, and tons of people were
00:18:31
Speaker
buying solar and it's a very pro solar state.
00:18:34
Speaker
So we basically abandoned half of the utility market out here and just started focusing on APS and had a phenomenal start.
00:18:43
Speaker
So we were selling lights out, big systems and very easy to sell.
00:18:49
Speaker
And then over time, the utilities have changed.
00:18:53
Speaker
They got rid of net metering and put in place a buyback rate plan.
00:18:59
Speaker
And every time the utility company makes a move that's detrimental to solar, it's detrimental to solar, but it's not detrimental to the sales part of it because all they're doing is creating a need to go solar now before it gets worse and then...
00:19:18
Speaker
here's evidence it's getting worse so let's go again solar before it gets worse because nobody's going solar and APS to lose money and then recently SRP opened up some rate plans again that we figured out the math on how to do it and how to sell an SRP and be successful so our volume actually has shifted we were
00:19:41
Speaker
100% APS and now we're 70% SRP and about 30% APS.
00:19:47
Speaker
So it's, I think we're really, really good at adapting, especially when COVID hit.
00:19:53
Speaker
We're just, you know, I'm partnered with some very tenacious people and people in our company are really willing to adapt and we figured out.
00:20:03
Speaker
Yeah.
00:20:03
Speaker
So I feel like we've done better at,
00:20:06
Speaker
at transitioning and market climates than other companies have and have been really successful at it.
00:20:13
Speaker
That sounds like it's almost beneficial to you guys because all these bigger companies just hung up shop and you guys still stayed there and you're like, all right, sweet.
00:20:21
Speaker
More doors for us, right?
00:20:22
Speaker
Yeah.
00:20:23
Speaker
I didn't like sharing that because it was like this perfect storm that worked in our favor.
00:20:28
Speaker
And I was like, all right, I don't want other people coming here because it's so good.
00:20:32
Speaker
And people are flooding into Arizona a little bit now, but they're also kind of occupied by all the new markets that are open.
00:20:38
Speaker
So Arizona is still a phenomenal place.
00:20:41
Speaker
Yeah, that's awesome.
00:20:42
Speaker
Yeah, the reason I ask is because as I'm sure you might know, and I'm in San Diego in California, they're trying to pass the whole net metering 3.0 thing and supposed to get worse and a lot of solar guys are kind of like losing their heads over it.
00:20:56
Speaker
Oh, we're not going to be able to sell it's not going to work anymore.
00:20:59
Speaker
So just for people like that, I don't
00:21:02
Speaker
I don't know if you guys were like super worried when all this was happening, but would you say it's almost more like a mindset thing and you guys just stayed calm and kept going or just, uh, I don't know, any tips on kind of knowing how to just deal with all that and maybe helping your reps transition to if I don't know, reps are nervous about not being able to sell anymore.
00:21:21
Speaker
Yeah.
00:21:22
Speaker
Well, I think it's really important to, um,
00:21:28
Speaker
have really strong market awareness at all times.
00:21:30
Speaker
So when these things happen, I don't think they should ever come upon you as a surprise.
00:21:34
Speaker
If you're keeping updated on what's happening in policies and in the market and kind of where the winds of the solar product are moving, I think there's
00:21:46
Speaker
you know, having a five-year plan with some expectations of what could and will happen down the road prevents you from, you know, being caught in this tornado with no wind shelter.
00:21:57
Speaker
So I think we've been really good at that, being aware.
00:22:00
Speaker
So we don't have these panic freak out modes where we're making really bad frantic business decisions and having...
00:22:06
Speaker
Matt Bolian, You know, massive decisions happening in short periods of time, I think we're really stable so one thing that can kind of help you guys with all of that is just understanding what that you know what your options are and either how to sell around it or.
00:22:24
Speaker
Matt Bolian, um.
00:22:26
Speaker
how to work with it really.
00:22:27
Speaker
I mean, I don't think anything's going to stop the solar industry from moving forward.
00:22:32
Speaker
People want solar.
00:22:33
Speaker
It's been very well, um, accepted and adopted.
00:22:38
Speaker
People want to go solar.
00:22:39
Speaker
They're going to go solar.
00:22:40
Speaker
Um, it's just a matter of how they're going to do it and who they're going to go with.
00:22:44
Speaker
And, um, like we're seeing right now, SRP, that utility company, their rate plans were pried open by, um,
00:22:52
Speaker
you know, federal legislation.
00:22:53
Speaker
And there's another big case right now that's going up against the SRP was just found guilty for creating hostile rate plans that were specifically designed to help
00:23:05
Speaker
snuff out solar.
00:23:06
Speaker
And so these plans might be opening back up again, but so just, just understanding what's happening in the market, being aware of what your options are.
00:23:16
Speaker
But the other thing is, is making hay while the sun shines.
00:23:20
Speaker
I think a lot of guys are kind of sleeping on this opportunity.
00:23:23
Speaker
And the last five years have been phenomenal for solar.
00:23:27
Speaker
And the next five years are going to be really good for solar too.
00:23:29
Speaker
But I think you guys got to really take advantage of what you have right now, because what we have right now is super unique.
00:23:36
Speaker
You guys are basically selling the value of a brand new car or a boat.
00:23:41
Speaker
So maybe you guys have...
00:23:43
Speaker
you know, $50,000 average contract prices and you're making 10%, 10 to 15% of these massive contracts.
00:23:50
Speaker
You got to ask yourself if, you know, how long is that sustainable and how much money do you guys want to be able to, you know, what kind of value do you want to extract from this industry while it's here and how much value you can add to people while it's, while it's on the table.
00:24:02
Speaker
So yeah.
00:24:04
Speaker
The people that have made their millions in the industry so far, yes, they care about what the future looks like, but they're really making the most of every day that they can.
00:24:14
Speaker
And if you're tenacious, you'll just pivot, you'll figure it out and work through it.
00:24:19
Speaker
Yeah, no, so true.
00:24:21
Speaker
And yeah, I mean, there's, it's like you said, there's guys that are literally making like five, 10, 15, 20 grand on single, single deals on their commissions.
00:24:29
Speaker
Yeah.
00:24:30
Speaker
And so that's where I'm at too.
00:24:32
Speaker
I'm hearing from a lot smarter people than me, guys like you and all that solar commissions.
00:24:36
Speaker
They're probably not going to be as high as they are right now.
00:24:39
Speaker
And so I think the guys that are having the success, they're just, you know, it's like the gold, gold area.
00:24:44
Speaker
They're just digging the gold while it's still there.
00:24:47
Speaker
Cause yeah, who knows?
00:24:48
Speaker
So we're still going to, going to be there.
00:24:49
Speaker
I'm sure.
00:24:50
Speaker
But yeah, I think that's a great point.
00:24:53
Speaker
Maybe commissions go way down.
00:24:54
Speaker
Maybe it gets more regulated.
00:24:56
Speaker
Who knows what could happen.
00:24:58
Speaker
And in a large margin product, customer education is always going to drive down margin.
00:25:04
Speaker
Yeah.
00:25:04
Speaker
And so we're seeing that happening across the market.
00:25:07
Speaker
I mean, you guys are still making plenty of money in California on these deals.
00:25:10
Speaker
There's a lot of value there still to be had, but just understanding that when margins like that exist and customer product IQ is going to grow, the margins are going to adjust.
00:25:24
Speaker
And on top of that,
00:25:27
Speaker
The big players in these industries, um, again, these are just, these are just Tyler thoughts.
00:25:34
Speaker
I'm not speaking for the industry and anyone specifically, but, um, when the largest cost in the entire system, the entire acquisition of, of gaining a customer to go solar is the sales rep commission.
00:25:50
Speaker
Um,
00:25:51
Speaker
you know, the big players in the industry are going to try to find out how to reduce the expense.
00:25:56
Speaker
And so I think it's really important to sell ethically, sell the right way, to not gouge a customer and to keep it a fair customer experience.
00:26:06
Speaker
Because when,
00:26:09
Speaker
you know when that stops being a fair ethical experience for the customer there's opportunities for things to get adjusted so it's in everyone's best interest just to treat everyone the right way yeah no i agree around yeah 100 because yeah in california i don't think arizona has this yet but california we got the consumer protection guide that every solar customer has to sign now and
00:26:33
Speaker
where it's, you know, telling them to go get three quotes.
00:26:36
Speaker
It's telling them all the fair practice and stuff.
00:26:39
Speaker
And we still sell a ton.
00:26:41
Speaker
But yeah, I think as you hear more shady people out there and, you know, I see on some of these Facebook groups, these solar groups, people like posting their commissions and all that and saying stuff.
00:26:52
Speaker
And there's customers in the same group.
00:26:53
Speaker
There's customers that are going on these groups too.
00:26:57
Speaker
It's like, guys, you got to be careful, like what you're posting.
00:27:00
Speaker
I don't think you should be.
00:27:01
Speaker
talking about gouging people or just a lot of stuff we talk about and you never know there's customers on these groups there's um there's people getting more awareness so yeah i think that's it's got to be equitable all the way around for it to be sustainable and yeah sure
00:27:17
Speaker
Yeah, for sure.
00:27:18
Speaker
It's a great point.
Innovative Leadership and Company Culture
00:27:20
Speaker
And so, so yeah, for those who don't know Tyler, he just did a solar objections training.
00:27:25
Speaker
It's on the solar objections Facebook group.
00:27:28
Speaker
So I was actually just listening to that before we did the podcast here.
00:27:32
Speaker
So that's a great, Tyler grows in a bunch of objection handlings, sells training on that.
00:27:37
Speaker
So go listen to that if you haven't already, when we released this podcast might be a month or two back, but definitely a great resource with that.
00:27:46
Speaker
And then the other thing that's really cool, as I was talking about, kind of as we started the podcast is I see you posting all the time, especially lately, Tyler, in a lot of these groups, posting your videos, giving just fire comments, taking a lot from it.
00:28:01
Speaker
But something I saw the other day that I was like, whoa, I've never seen that before.
00:28:05
Speaker
Someone made a comment asking, I don't know if it's about meetings or something or how you get guys like fired up.
00:28:12
Speaker
And you posted a picture of like your office and you have like a fog machine in there.
00:28:17
Speaker
You had like these huge speakers, all that.
00:28:19
Speaker
I'm like, is this a, is this a sales office or just like a Metallica concert or something?
00:28:25
Speaker
I don't know.
00:28:26
Speaker
I've never seen fog machines running at a, at sales trainings.
00:28:30
Speaker
So I'm like, wow, that's freaking awesome.
00:28:32
Speaker
I want to go to one of the meetings just to, just to hear about that.
00:28:36
Speaker
And so, yeah, I'm going to have to.
00:28:39
Speaker
And so can you tell us a little bit about like,
00:28:41
Speaker
I've never seen anyone like take it to that level of, of going all.
00:28:45
Speaker
So can you tell us all about that and how you guys decided to like, I don't know, get all that high production going?
00:28:52
Speaker
Yeah, for sure.
00:28:52
Speaker
Well, I think, I think it's fun to keep things interesting in life.
00:28:56
Speaker
It's fun to keep things from being monotonous and boring.
00:29:01
Speaker
Um,
00:29:02
Speaker
I come from a very creative background.
00:29:04
Speaker
My, you know, I thought I was going to go to school for art and all of that.
00:29:09
Speaker
In high school, I was, I was voted as best artist.
00:29:14
Speaker
And I was, I've just always been very, very creative.
00:29:16
Speaker
And I think, and I don't like when things get really stale and repetitive and boring.
00:29:20
Speaker
I think sales meetings can be a challenge to keep engaging and
00:29:27
Speaker
people want to be a part of your company because of the way that you make them feel.
00:29:31
Speaker
And they want to feel proud and excited about what they do.
00:29:34
Speaker
And, and they want to feel that whoever is in there, you know, the stewardship that's watching over them is putting consideration and thought into their experience and how we make these people feel.
00:29:47
Speaker
And so, you know, we've had, we've had, um,
00:29:52
Speaker
sales reps and employees bring their kids to the office and like dance around in the fog machine and turn the music on and they just want to see that it's a fun environment and it really sets the pace for a fun environment a fun meeting to start and so when people come in we've got these crazy disco lights that are dancing the music on the ceiling we've got loud music subwoofers and i found this low-lying fog machine really expensive but we piped it in through the wall
00:30:22
Speaker
and it's all automated so that when the sales meeting starts, you've got the fog going and lights and people just get jazzed up, but it creates this environment where people can connect.
00:30:32
Speaker
People are coming in, it raises their heartbeat, their endorphins, and they just feel happier.
00:30:38
Speaker
They're talking to the neighbors, they're connecting.
00:30:41
Speaker
And then we start out the meeting with just a lot of energy and we start with the Kings of the week and
00:30:48
Speaker
One of our guys, his name is Jason Gallagher.
00:30:50
Speaker
He's super energetic and very loud and he'll start the meeting by yelling and everyone comes in and comes together.
00:30:57
Speaker
So it's just fun.
00:30:58
Speaker
I think you got to invest some time just into thought.
00:31:01
Speaker
You don't have to do what I'm doing, but just showing your people that you're investing into them and investing into the culture of what you want to build and keeping it on, I think is very important.
00:31:12
Speaker
Yeah, that's so cool.
00:31:13
Speaker
And then what do you have like big chairs that the Kings of the Week sit in or something like that?
00:31:18
Speaker
Get them their favorite drink.
00:31:19
Speaker
Yeah, for sure.
00:31:20
Speaker
Yep.
00:31:20
Speaker
We got a, we have a closer fridge.
00:31:24
Speaker
So yeah, for closers, but the people that when the King chairs, we have their favorite drink ready and I hand it to them and just make them feel special and really feel acknowledged.
00:31:36
Speaker
I think, you know, what you, you might feel super important.
00:31:39
Speaker
If you're the owner of a company, you might feel super awesome, but none of that is important at all.
00:31:46
Speaker
The only thing that matters is how you make your people feel.
00:31:48
Speaker
And when you make someone feel good and important about themselves and you ask them questions about themselves and, you know, the value that they're bringing to your life and that you're grateful for them, I think it goes a million miles.
00:32:01
Speaker
So I think it's worthy to invest in that.
00:32:04
Speaker
We hired a designer to come build out our whole space.
00:32:06
Speaker
And the whole thought on the whole design process was around our people.
00:32:10
Speaker
And, you know, what can we do to make these guys feel at home, feel fun and,
00:32:14
Speaker
and appreciated for what they do because everything that we we have is because of them so really a tribute yeah that's awesome yeah gotta give respect to the guys out there working and yeah you guys are doing that that's awesome high production i set up you got there thanks um like and so how often do you guys do meetings is this like a daily thing you're doing or is it just like once a week you pick a king and all that do you guys have daily meetings
00:32:41
Speaker
No, we have one meeting a week.
00:32:43
Speaker
So we have a lot of people in our company that have kids and they're running appointments.
00:32:48
Speaker
The city of Phoenix, like the metropolitan area in Phoenix is huge.
00:32:51
Speaker
So it's some guys are coming in 45 minutes, sometimes an hour to get there and we just don't want to interrupt their week.
00:32:58
Speaker
And
00:32:59
Speaker
We have one powerhouse meeting and then we have good connection with them throughout the whole week.
00:33:03
Speaker
So we have a, you know, an app that everyone is constantly chatting on every single day posting and we have a really good connection.
00:33:13
Speaker
And then we have closer training once a week on Thursday morning.
00:33:17
Speaker
Okay.
00:33:19
Speaker
Historically I've ran those, but so we have a door knocking training.
00:33:22
Speaker
That's part of our company correlation at 9am on Thursday.
00:33:26
Speaker
on Mondays.
00:33:27
Speaker
And then we have a closer training at 9am on Thursday for everybody that wants to come.
00:33:32
Speaker
So those are very voluntary, but okay.
00:33:35
Speaker
We keep it simple.
00:33:37
Speaker
Yeah.
00:33:37
Speaker
Like do what they do.
00:33:38
Speaker
Yeah.
00:33:39
Speaker
Love it.
00:33:39
Speaker
Love it.
00:33:40
Speaker
How many reps do you guys have now in your, in your Phoenix area?
00:33:45
Speaker
So on the books, it's a revolving door.
00:33:49
Speaker
It's between 70 to 80 active reps that actually have accounts on the books, probably 50-ish, 50 to 60, depending.
00:34:00
Speaker
So it's changing often.
00:34:03
Speaker
And one of our challenges is continuing to grow that number and grow into other markets and help other leaders rise up.
00:34:12
Speaker
Yeah, that's awesome.
00:34:14
Speaker
Yeah, no, what's cool is, um, you were saying that, is it you that usually runs the meeting or do you kind of switch off with people or do you still run the meetings yourself and give trainings and all that?
00:34:24
Speaker
So for the last five years, I've ran those trainings myself.
00:34:27
Speaker
Um, um, I have a passion for it and a love for it, but at the same time, I think it, it, um,
00:34:36
Speaker
keeps others in our organization from being able to rise up and have those opportunities as well.
00:34:41
Speaker
So this year we've restructured and we've delegated and are allowing other people to participate in those trainings.
00:34:50
Speaker
So I'm there to help support always, but we want other people to have those opportunities and focusing on leadership growth this year.
00:34:58
Speaker
Yeah, I think that's that's huge helping people grow themselves.
00:35:02
Speaker
And I've been leading teams here in San Diego for a while to something that I struggle with at times.
00:35:07
Speaker
Maybe have some advice on this.
00:35:08
Speaker
Tyler is just like as you're running these trainings over and over and you guys do it once a week.
00:35:13
Speaker
So it's not as much.
00:35:15
Speaker
But the team I'm on now, we're we're having meetings every single day.
00:35:19
Speaker
And yeah, it's like some days you show up, there's like fire trainings, but some days it's kind of like the same stuff over and over.
00:35:26
Speaker
So how do you, I know that's cool what you guys are doing with all the production fog machines and all that.
00:35:31
Speaker
But as far as like trainings and really helping guys improve and focusing on the needs of like all 60 people.
00:35:39
Speaker
how do you guys kind of identify, oh, okay, this is what's going to be super valuable training for the team this week, or this, this is going to be still, I don't know, how do you keep it like fresh and like new trainings?
00:35:50
Speaker
And you've been doing this five years straight.
00:35:51
Speaker
So do you have any tips on maybe for like managers or company owners that just like, man, I don't know how to keep training on something new.
00:35:58
Speaker
I've trained on this 20 times now, but so what would you say to that?
00:36:03
Speaker
So this might be unique to me, but I come with nothing prepared.
00:36:08
Speaker
Interesting.
00:36:09
Speaker
I, I show up and, um, so the, the way the training starts is I just say, Hey, let's, let's hear one good story, one bad story.
00:36:16
Speaker
So someone shares a victory.
00:36:17
Speaker
We clap.
00:36:18
Speaker
Someone shares a challenge and, um, we just work through that.
00:36:22
Speaker
And then I just put myself out there and say, Hey, what do you guys need me for today?
00:36:25
Speaker
So if it's a closer training, I'm not going to have some new guy there that is going to ask really basic, you know, door questions or things that everyone in the, in the audience knows, cause then I'm going to lose 99% participation.
00:36:37
Speaker
And so the trainings are split out into, Hey, these are door trainings for newer guys.
00:36:42
Speaker
These are closer trainings for the people in the home or people that want to get to closer and have already, you
00:36:47
Speaker
put in the time and the work to get past the door part.
00:36:49
Speaker
Now they want to focus.
00:36:50
Speaker
So they're split up right there, but that way I'm very accessible and I don't come with any agenda other than I say, hey, let's go through and everyone raise your hand on what you want to talk about today.
00:37:03
Speaker
And we'll take five topics, I'll put them on the whiteboard and say, hey, we can get three of these.
00:37:07
Speaker
What do you guys want to hit?
00:37:08
Speaker
So we'll hit three of those.
00:37:10
Speaker
And then we'll just jump into it and I'll just pull guys up.
00:37:13
Speaker
I'm like, all right, we'll talk to you about this.
00:37:14
Speaker
What are you seeing?
00:37:15
Speaker
And then I'll put it to the audience.
00:37:17
Speaker
What do you guys feel about all this?
00:37:18
Speaker
What are you guys seeing happen here?
00:37:20
Speaker
What would you guys do?
00:37:22
Speaker
And then we'll just hit that one and we'll do a super solid, you know, 20 minutes of just crushing it on that one.
00:37:29
Speaker
And then we'll move to the next one, the next one.
00:37:31
Speaker
And so every, I really want to make sure that when people are showing up to the training,
00:37:36
Speaker
that they're getting heard and they're getting exactly what they need because there's no point in training if what I'm sharing with them doesn't translate onto the door.
00:37:45
Speaker
It doesn't translate into them making money.
00:37:48
Speaker
And so I just try to keep it extremely relevant
00:37:52
Speaker
I can train on the fly on anything.
00:37:54
Speaker
And so whatever they throw at me at that moment, we're just going to train on it.
00:37:59
Speaker
I just feel like people are really receptive to that.
00:38:02
Speaker
Yeah.
00:38:02
Speaker
So this sounds like you're almost doing your training the same way you sell.
00:38:06
Speaker
You're asking them, Hey, what's your needs?
00:38:07
Speaker
What do you need to focus on?
00:38:09
Speaker
And just boom, go from there.
00:38:10
Speaker
Right.
00:38:11
Speaker
Yeah.
00:38:11
Speaker
I mean, I've, I've done it myself for over a decade constantly.
00:38:16
Speaker
So I just, I don't feel like,
00:38:18
Speaker
they're going to run into everything I've been through and we're just gonna smash it out together.
00:38:23
Speaker
Yeah.
00:38:23
Speaker
That's awesome.
00:38:25
Speaker
Yeah.
00:38:25
Speaker
And so other thing that's really cool is, um, well, obviously you're not doing this every day, but you're still posting these videos of you out there, you know, knocking doors with your reps.
00:38:35
Speaker
I saw one just the other day.
00:38:36
Speaker
So how often are you still going out and knocking with your guys and giving them like that hands-on stuff too?
00:38:42
Speaker
It's that pretty often still.
00:38:44
Speaker
Um, I'm, I'm doing it less and less, but, um, I go out on occasion.
00:38:51
Speaker
So, um, I mean, I used to be the one out selling with, with my whole office, but I'm not at that point anymore, but, um, um, I probably go out
00:39:06
Speaker
maybe once a quarter okay yeah good we'll make sure you get the camera crew when you do go out because yeah get some good footage out there i love it yeah that's a challenge sometimes but when i do go out and i have amazing doors i'm looking back wait did you record that and i'm like no dang it
00:39:25
Speaker
I definitely, I need a, if anyone has a recording solution, I've messed with like 10 or 15 different, I've looked at the pens.
00:39:32
Speaker
I've looked at the hats with the hidden cameras in them.
00:39:34
Speaker
And somehow I need to record myself because people forget to record stuff.
00:39:40
Speaker
I think there's like glasses or something.
00:39:42
Speaker
I remember in California, it's a, well, it's a league.
00:39:45
Speaker
I don't know if it's how the laws are in Arizona, but California, I guess it's illegal to like record people without them knowing or something.
00:39:53
Speaker
So the previous company I worked for, they got, I think it was like glasses, sunglasses or something, or just little glasses that had the cameras in them.
00:40:01
Speaker
And they drove out to just some tiny town in Nevada, like cross the border by like five minutes or something and went into Nevada and got a bunch of footage there because they knew they couldn't do it in California.
00:40:14
Speaker
So yeah, ways to do it.
00:40:17
Speaker
But no, that's good.
00:40:18
Speaker
And so, yeah, obviously you've trained tons of reps, Tyler, you've helped out your teams, you guys have grown.
00:40:24
Speaker
And so what would you say, do you guys have like a blueprint?
00:40:27
Speaker
Say you take a new hire, someone that just comes in, what do you see?
00:40:30
Speaker
What's like the blueprint for success that you give people?
00:40:32
Speaker
It's like, hey, do this.
00:40:33
Speaker
Maybe, I don't know if it's like set this many deals and we'll have you start closing or for your company, what's like the blueprint for success and seeing guys really hit like big numbers and standards that you walk them through.
00:40:47
Speaker
Yeah.
00:40:52
Speaker
Well, there's very different types of recruits.
00:40:54
Speaker
So if I have an experienced guy that's in the industry and I'm sitting down with him, it's going to be a very different approach and conversation than if we're trying to bring in, you know, we have a recruiting service and so we have recruiting meetings every single week.
00:41:08
Speaker
And these are people that we're pulling in from Indeed and whatnot, and they have no knocking experience and
00:41:14
Speaker
you know, they're learning what it is that we do from scratch.
00:41:17
Speaker
So I would say the number one thing is, is I don't try to talk anyone into the job.
00:41:23
Speaker
I asked them a lot of questions on, you know, what are you, what are you trying to accomplish right now?
00:41:27
Speaker
Where are you at in life?
00:41:28
Speaker
Like, what is it that's important to you?
00:41:32
Speaker
And when I'm recruiting fresh blood into my business,
00:41:37
Speaker
I don't hide anything.
00:41:38
Speaker
I let them know like, hey, this is a marketing job.
00:41:40
Speaker
This is a door-to-door thing.
00:41:41
Speaker
We're gonna, you know, here's what an in-person consultation looks like.
00:41:46
Speaker
And I just say, hey, there's a lot of fallout in this industry.
00:41:48
Speaker
And do you know why that is?
00:41:50
Speaker
Why is it?
00:41:50
Speaker
It's because,
00:41:52
Speaker
These are the reasons, you know, how do you feel like you would handle this and this and this, you know, but then I also show the upside very clearly.
00:42:00
Speaker
And so I don't want to waste my time with onboarding a ton of people that I just know are upfront, aren't going to work out.
00:42:06
Speaker
So I think being really transparent is important.
00:42:08
Speaker
Um, but also don't do yourself a disservice and talk people out of the opportunity, show them the,
00:42:15
Speaker
you know, the beautiful part of the job and how important it is.
00:42:18
Speaker
So, and I also make it very clear that we are looking for and attract entrepreneur minded people.
00:42:25
Speaker
This isn't a clock in clock out job, you know, people that aren't afraid of X, Y, and Z. And then maybe to answer more about the blueprint is our company core values are very well known inside of our business.
00:42:42
Speaker
And so,
00:42:43
Speaker
We have three of them.
00:42:44
Speaker
Our number one core value is family first.
00:42:47
Speaker
Number two is add value.
00:42:49
Speaker
And then number three is tenacious grit.
00:42:52
Speaker
And that's really what I think makes Fusion Power what it is.
00:42:55
Speaker
And so as we're bringing in people, especially if they're experienced or whatnot, if we don't feel like they're willing to align with those core values, we really talk about and talk through and bring those values to the table and see how they align with those.
00:43:11
Speaker
So as I talked about earlier in our podcast, the sharks on the floor, shoving people out of the way to get to the jugular.
00:43:19
Speaker
Like that's not family first.
00:43:20
Speaker
That's a guy going after himself.
00:43:21
Speaker
That's a guy that creates lawsuits for my company that creates lawsuits for himself that, you know, we have to dig through his accounts and, you know, clear out fraudulent activity.
00:43:31
Speaker
We don't want those people, though.
00:43:33
Speaker
That's not a family first attitude.
00:43:35
Speaker
And so if we know what it is that we're looking for, I'm not just looking for a guy.
00:43:39
Speaker
We're not just throwing mud against the wall and seeing what sticks like.
00:43:42
Speaker
We're looking for people that fit our core values.
00:43:44
Speaker
They can maintain our identity as a business.
00:43:47
Speaker
Um, our presence is really important online.
00:43:50
Speaker
Our, our customer reviews are very important.
00:43:52
Speaker
The experience that we're providing as a business, I care about that customer as a business owner, as much as I care about that guy having success and be able to feed his family and meet his goals.
00:44:04
Speaker
And so we're really filtering through those core values to make sure we're bringing on the right kind of people.
00:44:10
Speaker
And you can have that conversation a million ways, but it's, it's problem to solution.
00:44:15
Speaker
You know, I don't know what you can, what you can do right now to make more dollars per hour.
00:44:20
Speaker
Yeah.
00:44:20
Speaker
A hundred percent.
00:44:22
Speaker
That's awesome.
00:44:22
Speaker
And then for like new guys coming in with meeting one time a week, do you have your guys follow like, like a set schedule or say like, I don't know things they do to, I don't know if you guys do like set or closer or like set trainings or set steps are going to go through to kind of progress and start closing their own deals.
00:44:39
Speaker
Yeah.
00:44:40
Speaker
You guys do anything like that?
00:44:41
Speaker
It's a super regimented structure.
00:44:43
Speaker
Guys know exactly where they're supposed to be at, at what times, um, what resources they have, what's expected.
00:44:50
Speaker
So, um, Tuesday morning at 9am, we have orientation where they come in and they have access to all the passwords, all the software it's explained to them.
00:45:00
Speaker
Um,
00:45:01
Speaker
Bootcamp is Wednesday, Thursday, Friday from 10 30 AM to noon.
00:45:05
Speaker
And there they're going to give a, get a crash course on what fusion is, what solar is, how all this works.
00:45:11
Speaker
And then they're going to be paired up with a mentor where they're going to go out for three days that week, um, to make sure that this is a job for them.
00:45:18
Speaker
So they have a chance to experience the doors.
00:45:20
Speaker
And then if they're sticking around and they're going to show up Monday meeting at 9 AM for correlation and, um,
00:45:29
Speaker
You know, if they're there at Monday at 9 a.m.
00:45:31
Speaker
and they've gone through all of that,
00:45:33
Speaker
then our goal is to make sure that person gets a lead within two weeks of being on board with our company.
00:45:39
Speaker
So they're seeing a paycheck the following week and they're seeing success and that faith is built that they can do this job.
00:45:45
Speaker
So there's a lot.
00:45:46
Speaker
And then the mentor who is mentoring that person has mentor training so that they know exactly what's expected from them, how to treat this person, how to go out and lead.
00:45:56
Speaker
And then we also have leadership training once a week in our company for the leaders.
00:46:00
Speaker
Sorry, it's actually bi-weekly every other week.
00:46:03
Speaker
Um, so that they know how to step up and lead.
00:46:07
Speaker
Yeah.
00:46:07
Speaker
Our team.
00:46:08
Speaker
So that's awesome.
00:46:09
Speaker
Yeah, no, I think that's so important because I mean, guys can use these recruiting services, ZipRecruiter indeed, but if you don't have that backend set up and good training, good steps to follow.
00:46:19
Speaker
Um, I've been with companies where we didn't have that set up and it was just like trying to bring in, it's still hard enough as it is even having all that set up, but yeah.
00:46:27
Speaker
Imagine not doing any of that.
00:46:29
Speaker
It was like pouring the, I don't know, pouring water in a bucket with holes all over the place, you know, it's just like falling through like one out of the guys that are responsible that are.
00:46:38
Speaker
Yeah, totally.
00:46:39
Speaker
And the guys inside of our organization that are responsible, that show up to our recruiting events with us that are showing consistent work and leadership.
00:46:47
Speaker
We actually recruit for them.
00:46:49
Speaker
We, we put people underneath them all the time.
00:46:52
Speaker
And so we help them build their organizations and,
00:46:54
Speaker
We have an inside call center.
00:46:56
Speaker
Those guys have good closing percentages.
00:46:59
Speaker
we'll throw a bunch of leads to these guys are getting a bunch of closes from that.
00:47:03
Speaker
Um, so we really, I feel like go the 10th mile to make sure people are successful that are showing up.
00:47:09
Speaker
Yeah.
00:47:10
Speaker
That's awesome.
00:47:11
Speaker
So important.
00:47:12
Speaker
So yeah, great stuff.
00:47:13
Speaker
And so, um, Tyler, last thing I kind of wanted to hit on before we kind of start wrapping up here, I know you did your training, um, more specific on closing, um, things that door to door con, I know you talked a lot about that and,
00:47:27
Speaker
um, your closing deals galore
Sales Strategies and Overcoming Challenges
00:47:29
Speaker
out there.
00:47:29
Speaker
So I want to get some advice for you just on like the clothes, um, maybe some key things that you see mistakes made, uh, maybe like a little bit of how you structure it.
00:47:39
Speaker
So I know, uh, you did in the objections training on, uh, the solar objections group, kind of more specific stuff, how you handle objections, um,
00:47:48
Speaker
Things like that.
00:47:48
Speaker
But yeah, can you tell us about, um, I guess maybe just start with kind of how you structure your clothes and then, uh, maybe just some advice or mistakes that you see being made by, uh, you know, people that aren't having as much success.
00:48:02
Speaker
Yeah.
00:48:03
Speaker
Cool.
00:48:04
Speaker
I think number one mistake is closer is going in to sit down with the customer and going right into a pitch, going right into the sales flow, the process.
00:48:14
Speaker
Here's how solar works, you know, blah, blah, blah.
00:48:16
Speaker
Here's your options.
00:48:17
Speaker
And then they go to numbers really fast and design and they go up and they open their laptop right away.
00:48:23
Speaker
And when someone opens their laptop right away, what's the customer thinking?
00:48:28
Speaker
What's on that laptop?
00:48:29
Speaker
Yeah.
00:48:31
Speaker
So the whole time they're not like listening and they just want to get to numbers and they're going to, you know, jump past all the value.
00:48:38
Speaker
And by the time you get to that point, you haven't had a chance to really ask them any questions to see what is it they want.
00:48:45
Speaker
And so I train my guys when you go into the house, leave your laptop closed and to take control right off the bat.
00:48:52
Speaker
I would say, Hey, everything came out really good.
00:48:54
Speaker
I think you guys would be really happy with, um, you know, what all this looks like.
00:48:59
Speaker
And I'm like touching my computer, like, hey, this looks really good.
00:49:01
Speaker
And I have it on my lap, not on the table, and it's not open.
00:49:06
Speaker
And I say, hey, before I jump into this, and so I'm setting the stage and I'm taking control and I'm framing the situation.
00:49:12
Speaker
Before I jump into this, I just have some questions for you guys.
00:49:15
Speaker
I want to go over really quick.
00:49:18
Speaker
And before I actually ask any questions, do you have anything burning in your mind that you want to ask regarding solar?
00:49:26
Speaker
And so any back pressure that's pre-existing, because at this point they've thought about canceling the appointment or they have these like horror stories or these what ifs, they just want to make sure that before they really start doing business with you, that they're in a safe place.
00:49:41
Speaker
And so I want to create a room right off the bat where I can get all those burning questions out of their mind.
00:49:47
Speaker
And they're like, well, what if I move?
00:49:49
Speaker
Or what about the roof?
00:49:50
Speaker
Or we just got our roof done.
00:49:51
Speaker
What happens to the warranty?
00:49:52
Speaker
And I'll answer any of those questions right up front, no matter how hard it is.
00:49:56
Speaker
And I'm just really, really straightforward.
00:49:58
Speaker
And so that's number one.
00:50:00
Speaker
And then number two is I ask a ton of questions right up front that tells me if I'm going to sell this person.
00:50:08
Speaker
And I pretty well know up front if this person is sellable.
00:50:14
Speaker
and how to sell them.
00:50:15
Speaker
Because right up front, if I ask all the questions to show me the exact path to get this person to the end, then at that point, it's just walking the path with them.
00:50:25
Speaker
And I know, okay, here's their hot button.
00:50:27
Speaker
Here's their value.
00:50:28
Speaker
Here's their fear.
00:50:29
Speaker
And here's what the goal is to get to.
00:50:32
Speaker
I'm going to make sure that we get to that goal.
00:50:34
Speaker
I'm going to make sure that we hit that value.
00:50:36
Speaker
I'm going to push that hot button a whole bunch.
00:50:38
Speaker
I'm going to come back.
00:50:39
Speaker
I'm going to true up.
00:50:40
Speaker
I'm going to reiterate the things that they shared.
00:50:42
Speaker
And I'm going to soft close all the way on those little things.
00:50:46
Speaker
So your process can look like whatever you want, but I think it's really important to arm yourself up front with how am I going to add value to this person?
00:50:55
Speaker
What is it they want?
00:50:59
Speaker
And so just an example, Taylor, of some of those questions, it's like, you know, on a scale from one to 10, how much do you guys know about solar?
00:51:07
Speaker
Okay, I like that.
00:51:08
Speaker
And then like right up front, they're like, well, I'm a 10 or I'm a one or whatever.
00:51:12
Speaker
It's like, okay, cool.
00:51:13
Speaker
And if they say one, then we're a zero, it means they might have some fear of making a decision today because they just literally know nothing.
00:51:23
Speaker
And so my comment after that is like, cool.
00:51:24
Speaker
Well, just so you guys know, solar is really simple.
00:51:27
Speaker
It's just, it's simple math.
00:51:29
Speaker
It's black and white.
00:51:30
Speaker
This is going to be really, really easy today.
00:51:33
Speaker
So if you guys have any questions along the way, feel free to interrupt me.
00:51:37
Speaker
But to be honest, solar is really, really simple.
00:51:41
Speaker
I want to ease that fear off the bat because...
00:51:44
Speaker
They're in a position of vulnerability.
00:51:46
Speaker
They don't know anything and they're completely trusting me to be the educator.
00:51:50
Speaker
I just wanna create that trust.
00:51:52
Speaker
And then I'll say, is the solar something you guys have ever looked at before?
00:51:58
Speaker
I'm gonna say yes or no.
00:52:01
Speaker
And if they say no, okay, cool.
00:52:03
Speaker
Why not?
00:52:04
Speaker
What's kept you from looking at solar previous to now?
00:52:07
Speaker
Like, well, you know, whatever that is, something's going to come up and that's going to be very valuable.
00:52:13
Speaker
Yeah.
00:52:14
Speaker
And then I'll say, you know, what is your guys' biggest interest in going solar?
00:52:20
Speaker
Or what are you hoping to get out of solar?
00:52:22
Speaker
What's your expectation?
00:52:22
Speaker
Like, well, savings or environmental or, you know, whatever that is.
00:52:27
Speaker
Yeah.
00:52:28
Speaker
Cool.
00:52:28
Speaker
And so if it's saving money, then I'm going to also ask them, have you guys done anything else in the home to help reduce your guys' energy costs?
00:52:35
Speaker
They might say like, well, we just spent $15,000 on an AC unit.
00:52:39
Speaker
I'm like, okay, 100%, I should sell this person.
00:52:42
Speaker
If some AC guy can sell them a $15,000 AC system, I can't give them basically a...
00:52:48
Speaker
no cost out of pocket solar system will be ashamed.
00:52:52
Speaker
So that's 100%.
00:52:53
Speaker
Or if they're like, well, we changed all our lights in the house to LEDs, we put window tint up or we did whatever.
00:53:02
Speaker
That shows us customers very invested.
00:53:04
Speaker
They've already made buying decisions.
00:53:06
Speaker
They're along the same moral thread as why people go solar.
00:53:10
Speaker
So again, I would profile that person of 100% of sale.
00:53:14
Speaker
What happens is my confidence goes up
00:53:16
Speaker
And I'm going to help that customer self realize that you've already made decisions that align with going solar.
00:53:22
Speaker
You just haven't gone solar yet.
00:53:24
Speaker
And there's like a million of these questions, but it's like, hey, what do you guys like to keep your AC at?
00:53:30
Speaker
In Arizona, people keep it really high because it's hot outside and it's expensive.
00:53:36
Speaker
So like, 81.
00:53:36
Speaker
I'm like, OK, wow.
00:53:39
Speaker
if money was no issue, what would you guys keep it at?
00:53:42
Speaker
Well, 76.
00:53:44
Speaker
Cool.
00:53:45
Speaker
So the only reason you keep it at 81 is because of money.
00:53:48
Speaker
Like, yes.
00:53:48
Speaker
Okay, cool.
00:53:50
Speaker
So again, hot button, right?
00:53:51
Speaker
They're going to self-realize.
00:53:52
Speaker
And so if you can ask all, all these really good questions up front, then you're going to just walk yourself through the clothes a lot stronger and listen really well.
00:54:04
Speaker
And then I guess the last thing I'd say is, is try to have the customer talking as much as you are or more.
00:54:10
Speaker
Yeah.
00:54:11
Speaker
You should be directing all of, all of that conversation through your questions.
00:54:16
Speaker
So your questions should be very intentional.
00:54:19
Speaker
Yeah.
00:54:20
Speaker
Do that really, really well.
00:54:21
Speaker
You'll just, you just will have a high close rate.
00:54:24
Speaker
Yeah.
00:54:24
Speaker
I love that.
00:54:25
Speaker
So important.
00:54:26
Speaker
And so for our solar printer listeners, if you don't already have a good set of questions, go rewind that.
00:54:31
Speaker
Tyler just gave you some questions, some million dollar questions you should be asking your customers.
00:54:36
Speaker
And yeah, it's so important because the other thing too is, um, your help, you're building them the perfect system off of that too.
00:54:44
Speaker
It's like in California where I'm at, sometimes we have their electric bill.
00:54:48
Speaker
We think that they're going to keep using the same amount of energy, but
00:54:52
Speaker
To your point, if they're like, oh, no, we're being super conservative right now.
00:54:55
Speaker
We want to keep the EC down at 75 instead of 82.
00:54:59
Speaker
So that's the other thing that's important.
00:55:01
Speaker
I think guys miss sometimes it's helping you build them the perfect system to maybe instead of the 115% offset, you need to do 150% offset.
00:55:09
Speaker
Totally.
00:55:10
Speaker
And you tie it back to what they said.
00:55:14
Speaker
It's not because you're doing it at the sales guides because of what they said.
00:55:19
Speaker
This is how we're going to set this up.
00:55:21
Speaker
Yeah.
00:55:22
Speaker
Because this is what you want, Mr. Customer.
00:55:24
Speaker
If you want to live in your house at 76, you need to build in a little bit extra energy here.
00:55:29
Speaker
And so this is, you know, X, Y, and Z. Again, it's just trust and rapport.
00:55:33
Speaker
And you were listening to them.
00:55:35
Speaker
You're the doctor.
00:55:36
Speaker
You now have the prescription for them.
00:55:38
Speaker
That's the solution.
00:55:40
Speaker
And they're going to trust that pill you're giving them because you asked them all the questions.
00:55:44
Speaker
And you're like, because you said this, this is what we're going to do here.
00:55:47
Speaker
And I can't argue with myself.
00:55:49
Speaker
Yeah.
00:55:51
Speaker
No question.
00:55:51
Speaker
Yeah.
00:55:51
Speaker
It's so, so important.
00:55:53
Speaker
And something I love too, you kind of jog my memory, just what you're saying.
00:55:57
Speaker
Um, I think you actually talked about this in your presentation at door to door con, but just asking those tough questions.
00:56:03
Speaker
I think the example you gave at door to door con was like, Oh, what happens if someone asks, like if they can cancel after the solar is up there.
00:56:11
Speaker
And, um, I think your response was just, I'm like, no, no, you can't cancel.
00:56:16
Speaker
And
00:56:17
Speaker
like this i'm like wow tyler's not afraid to just lay it all out i think they're gonna handle it they're gonna be like okay or they're gonna be like but and then i'll say because what they're thinking is if it doesn't work right yeah and i'll just say it like but what if it doesn't work you know and i'll just finish the sentence and they're like yeah like what if it doesn't produce yeah
00:56:41
Speaker
Well, I'm like, well, that's, it's guaranteed to.
00:56:43
Speaker
So if it doesn't, you get a paycheck.
00:56:45
Speaker
That's on the lease.
00:56:46
Speaker
Right.
00:56:46
Speaker
But it's like, you just say whatever you got to say, be straight up.
00:56:51
Speaker
Yeah.
00:56:52
Speaker
Not being afraid to give the tough answers because I think some reps kind of beat around the bush and, you know, just say, Oh, well, well, no, like, why would you want to cancel?
00:57:00
Speaker
But yeah, I think it's powerful to just have that confidence where you can just give them like, you know, straight answer and going to increase, I think the, or lower your cancellation rate and all that too.
00:57:10
Speaker
If you can just be straight up with the customers for sure.
00:57:13
Speaker
Totally.
00:57:13
Speaker
It's awesome.
00:57:14
Speaker
Well, cool, Tyler.
00:57:16
Speaker
Well, as we start wrapping up here, I don't want to take all day for you.
00:57:19
Speaker
I know we go hours and hours, but real quick, where can guys connect more with you if they want to reach out on social media or hear more about your company?
00:57:28
Speaker
You want to drop your social media in any way that people can connect with you?
00:57:32
Speaker
Facebook is the best way.
00:57:34
Speaker
You can Facebook message me, hit me up on Facebook, Tyler McAllister, founder of Fusion Power.
00:57:41
Speaker
And you guys can call me directly if you want.
00:57:44
Speaker
You can text me.
00:57:46
Speaker
You guys throw their phone number on here, Taylor.
00:57:48
Speaker
Yeah.
00:57:48
Speaker
Sometimes up to you, man, you might get, you might get a thousand text messages.
00:57:52
Speaker
So to your discretion, I'll take the chance.
00:57:56
Speaker
My phone number is 480-395-4907.
00:58:01
Speaker
And just to give you some insight, I asked people to reach out to me on anything that they want on my previous podcast that I did and had a really cool guy from Texas call me.
00:58:11
Speaker
He just started an install company a year ago.
00:58:13
Speaker
They've had some learning experiences and
00:58:18
Speaker
You know, we've, we've figured out a lot of the install side.
00:58:21
Speaker
And so we had a really good conversation.
00:58:22
Speaker
I just opened up like, Hey man, here's how we run an install company.
00:58:25
Speaker
You need to watch out for this and this and hire this person and do this and this that way.
00:58:29
Speaker
And he was taking notes for probably 45 minutes.
00:58:32
Speaker
And, um, we just dropped some super solid nuggets on that guy.
00:58:36
Speaker
That's going to
00:58:37
Speaker
save him hundreds of thousands of dollars.
00:58:39
Speaker
So anything from install to sales to door to door, I'm super happy to chat with you guys about anything.
00:58:46
Speaker
That's awesome.
00:58:46
Speaker
Well, we'll put that in the show notes and make sure you don't blow his phone up too much, but Tyler, we appreciate you being so willing to.
00:58:54
Speaker
you know, share your knowledge and all the lessons you've learned.
00:58:57
Speaker
And so last question here for you, Tyler, if you had one piece of advice for maybe your reps that's struggling, maybe a guy that's in a slump, maybe someone that's wondering if they should keep selling slower when they're not making as much as they thought, what would you, what's the one thing you would tell that person or that rep?
00:59:14
Speaker
Yeah.
00:59:17
Speaker
I would say get a one reach out.
00:59:20
Speaker
So, you know, when you're not your best self or you're not producing what you think you should, or you're letting someone down, the tendency is to hide.
00:59:29
Speaker
And we go within ourself and we hide in this dark little hole and it just, it grows.
00:59:36
Speaker
And so reach out, there's a ton of power in reaching out.
00:59:39
Speaker
the value of having a manager or a mentor or someone in your life that's a leader figure is be vulnerable, be willing to just say, dude, I feel like I'm never going to sell another solar system again.
00:59:53
Speaker
Cause I've felt that way.
00:59:55
Speaker
And I felt that way about alarms, man.
00:59:56
Speaker
I'd sell alarms for years and years and years.
00:59:58
Speaker
And one day I'd wake up and I had three cancels and I had a hard week and I'm like, yeah, I feel like I'm never going to sell again, you know?
01:00:04
Speaker
But yeah,
01:00:05
Speaker
The sun comes back out and you partner up and you just reach out to people that can build you back up.
01:00:11
Speaker
And all it is, is your belief and your faith in yourself in your head and reach out to people that are willing to dedicate their time and their love to you because those people are a godsend in times of challenge.
01:00:24
Speaker
So my encouragement to you guys is to be willing to get vulnerable.
01:00:29
Speaker
share your, your feelings and your thoughts with someone that you trust and is in a circle of high confidence with you and, and be accountable to that person.
01:00:39
Speaker
So that person can help you, you know, put together a plan and check in with that person every couple of days or every week, whatever your plan is, you set up and just do it, man.
01:00:50
Speaker
Cause people are here in this life to help you out.
01:00:53
Speaker
And, and,
01:00:54
Speaker
They can't add value to you as a person if you don't let them.
01:00:58
Speaker
So yeah, nugget.
01:01:01
Speaker
And guys, remember, even if you don't have someone at your company, you can reach out to me, reach out to Tyler.
01:01:06
Speaker
That's what's so cool about selling solar today is when I first started, you can really do that.
01:01:10
Speaker
You can only reach out to guys in your company, but there's so many given guys like Tyler, guys in Facebook groups that are willing to help and lend out a hand.
01:01:20
Speaker
So can I share an example really quick?
01:01:22
Speaker
Oh yeah, go ahead.
01:01:22
Speaker
Sorry to interrupt.
01:01:23
Speaker
Yeah.
01:01:24
Speaker
So I had a rep, I won't mention his name, but we were driving out to area one day and he has a really hard time.
01:01:29
Speaker
And he's like, dude, I think I'm going to go back to fixing cars.
01:01:32
Speaker
And I just like, I feel like I went on this because I'm so passionate about solar.
01:01:39
Speaker
For 30 minutes driving the area, I was just pumping this guy, pumping this guy.
01:01:42
Speaker
I'm like, dude, you can do this.
01:01:43
Speaker
Here's how you do it.
01:01:44
Speaker
This is what you're saying.
01:01:45
Speaker
Tell me what your day's looking like.
01:01:46
Speaker
How are you knocking doors?
01:01:47
Speaker
What's this?
01:01:47
Speaker
Okay, let's follow this plan.
01:01:49
Speaker
That guy owns his own company today.
01:01:51
Speaker
And he's very successful and doing very, very well.
01:01:54
Speaker
So you never know.
01:01:56
Speaker
what's getting what's around the corner for you if if you keep at it reach out and get some guidance and that guy's name is elon musk no i'm just kidding yeah i own 10 of his no that's so cool so yeah i love that no it's super important though have that giving attitude and it's going to add more value to what you're doing
01:02:20
Speaker
So Tyler, thanks again for coming on the show.
01:02:23
Speaker
Guys, don't forget, Tyler, I think you're speaking at SolarCon here in a few months too.
01:02:27
Speaker
Is that right?
01:02:28
Speaker
Yep.
01:02:29
Speaker
Okay.
01:02:30
Speaker
So don't forget to come hear your boys, T. Armstrong and T. McAllister live at SolarCon.
01:02:36
Speaker
Go grab your tickets, use your code SOLARPRINNER25, get your discount.
01:02:40
Speaker
And with that being said, shoot Tyler a message.
01:02:43
Speaker
Let him know you appreciated the words of wisdom he shared with us today on the show.
01:02:47
Speaker
And yeah, appreciate you, Tyler.
01:02:49
Speaker
Thanks again for coming on with us.
01:02:50
Speaker
Appreciate it.
01:02:51
Speaker
Yeah.
01:02:52
Speaker
Thanks, Taylor.
01:02:52
Speaker
Yeah.
01:02:53
Speaker
Peace.
01:02:55
Speaker
Hey, solopreneurs, quick question.
01:02:56
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.
01:03:06
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.
01:03:18
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.
01:03:29
Speaker
And it's called Solcitee.
01:03:31
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.
01:03:50
Speaker
Currently, Soul Society is open, launched, and ready to be enrolled.
01:03:56
Speaker
So go to soulciety.co to learn more and join the learning experience now.
01:04:04
Speaker
This is exclusively for solopreneur listeners, so be sure to go to soulciety.co and join.
01:04:11
Speaker
We'll see you on the inside.