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How To Go From Leading A Team To Leading A Region - Tyler Anderson
103 Plays1 year ago
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The SOLARPRENEUR podcast is here to help you close more deals in the solar industry, generate more leads and referrals, and hopefully, have a much better time and situation.
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Transcript
Introduction and Purpose
00:00:03
Speaker
Welcome to the Solarpreneur Podcast, where we teach you to take your solar business to the next level.
00:00:08
Speaker
My name is Taylor Armstrong.
00:00:10
Speaker
I went from $50 in my bank account and struggling for groceries to closing 150 deals in a year and cracking the code on why sales reps fail.
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?
What is a Solopreneur?
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.
00:00:41
Speaker
Okay, I'm excited for this podcast.
00:00:44
Speaker
We got someone that I actually hired back in the day.
00:00:47
Speaker
We worked together a long time and now I'm back working with him and he is actually my manager now.
Meet Tyler Anderson
00:00:52
Speaker
He is a recently newly promoted regional manager over here at Legacy, future probably VP president.
00:01:00
Speaker
This guy's taking off like crazy.
00:01:01
Speaker
Yeah.
00:01:02
Speaker
So such an honor to have the one and only Tyler Anderson on the podcast.
00:01:06
Speaker
Thanks for coming on, my man.
00:01:07
Speaker
Thank you, Taylor.
00:01:08
Speaker
Thank you.
00:01:09
Speaker
Thank you, Mr. Solopreneur, for having me, brother.
00:01:11
Speaker
Of course.
00:01:12
Speaker
Yeah.
00:01:12
Speaker
It's been a long time coming.
Solar Industry Landscape
00:01:14
Speaker
And yeah, it's just, you know, one of those...
00:01:17
Speaker
uh full circle moments like i just remember back in the day i know i tell every person we meet pretty much but you just showing up in the full suit three-piece suits i'm doing the interview for you um brought you on it new power was the company of the time and just from day one i'm like man this guy's a stud he's like the only guy to show up in a suit no doubt he's gonna have successors
00:01:40
Speaker
And yeah, sure enough, you crush it.
00:01:42
Speaker
You know, I think we're kind of capped in your growth.
00:01:45
Speaker
So I know you went on to bigger and better things.
00:01:48
Speaker
But hey, it's like you said, all roads lead to the legacy, I guess, at some point.
00:01:52
Speaker
Yes, sir.
00:01:53
Speaker
Yes, sir.
00:01:53
Speaker
Yeah.
00:01:54
Speaker
I've recently coined that term in this in this, you know, ever evolving industry.
00:01:59
Speaker
Yeah.
00:02:00
Speaker
where much like the cell phone industry, it was somewhat ambiguous while it was taking its hard form.
00:02:08
Speaker
And all the cell phone roads that ended up leading to big players like AT&T, Verizon, yada, yada.
00:02:15
Speaker
And as the solar industry takes its hard form, it appears to me like legacy is the river.
00:02:25
Speaker
And the rest of the solar industry are the estuaries that lead into the Legacy River, right?
00:02:31
Speaker
So all roads in solar lead to Legacy is my recent term.
00:02:36
Speaker
And I promise this wasn't meant to be just a legacy promo, but I think it just goes, especially when we're recording this, 2024 times have changed with solar.
00:02:48
Speaker
We've seen just recently some of the bigger companies just disappear.
00:02:52
Speaker
We just lost some power.
00:02:54
Speaker
Titan was before that.
00:02:56
Speaker
And I think now more than ever, it's important to be with companies that you can put full confidence in that aren't just going to like, you know, go bankrupt, not pay you when the first financial difficulty, however you say that comes up.
00:03:11
Speaker
And so that's part of what attracted me to Legacy.
00:03:13
Speaker
And I think for any rep listening, if you are...
00:03:19
Speaker
seeing some red flags it's not a bad idea to get with a company that has been around and you know can go through this through those struggles yeah yeah so right right the um the so in an evolving newer industry right you see a lot of people come up that want to want to play the game but they don't know how
00:03:42
Speaker
Right.
00:03:42
Speaker
And so there are a lot, I mean, just countless thousands and thousands of sales reps that are working for companies that you're seeing red flags right now.
00:03:51
Speaker
Yeah.
00:03:51
Speaker
Right.
00:03:52
Speaker
But, you know, when you're a loyal person, loyalty comes comes into play big time.
00:03:58
Speaker
Right.
00:03:58
Speaker
With your with your career success, with your success of growing a team, growing roots.
00:04:04
Speaker
Right.
00:04:04
Speaker
You know, we all know about like that watering the soil you stand in.
00:04:07
Speaker
Right.
00:04:07
Speaker
Yeah.
00:04:09
Speaker
The unfortunate part is that you also need, you can't just live like
Tyler's Sales Journey
00:04:15
Speaker
that.
00:04:15
Speaker
You need to look at red flags, right?
00:04:17
Speaker
And red flags will tell a tale, right?
00:04:19
Speaker
And so, you know, we are in a very evolving industry and it's, you know, it's important to look at other industries and how they took their hard form so you can see the pattern of what's going to happen, what will continue to happen in the solar industry, right?
00:04:35
Speaker
Yeah.
00:04:36
Speaker
100%.
00:04:36
Speaker
Yeah.
00:04:38
Speaker
So, yeah.
00:04:39
Speaker
Well, I'm sure we'll talk more about that.
00:04:41
Speaker
But before we get too deep in the weeds here, I wanted to hear just the question I like to ask everyone is how you got into solar.
00:04:48
Speaker
I already kind of gave part of your story.
00:04:51
Speaker
You showed up to the interview.
00:04:52
Speaker
But, yeah, I think what we'll talk about today, we'll see where the conversation takes us.
00:04:56
Speaker
But something I've seen in Tyler, he's really good at just growing his teams,
00:05:02
Speaker
He's really good at just like inspiring other people, helping develop leaders.
00:05:07
Speaker
And that's one of his strengths here at Legacy is he's been the person that can like just help other guys develop.
00:05:14
Speaker
He's helped me develop a lot and he's just like empowered other leaders.
00:05:17
Speaker
And that's one of the ways that I think, you know, well-deserved, promoted as a regional just recently.
00:05:24
Speaker
And so, yeah, we'll definitely talk about that and how other people can help inspire others in their teams, grow their teams.
00:05:30
Speaker
But yeah, you want to give us just your little background for people that maybe don't know too much about you?
00:05:35
Speaker
Yeah.
00:05:35
Speaker
Yeah.
00:05:36
Speaker
So thank you for the intro, by the way.
00:05:38
Speaker
So, so, um, uh, yes.
00:05:42
Speaker
So I, I am in my twenties.
00:05:44
Speaker
I was a personal trainer.
00:05:46
Speaker
going way back.
00:05:49
Speaker
At 22 years old, I decided to do a bodybuilding show.
00:05:53
Speaker
I just wanted to compete in something again.
00:05:55
Speaker
I was always an athlete growing up.
00:05:58
Speaker
Being an athlete, it's important to keep pouring into that athletic part of you and compete in something as an adult.
00:06:09
Speaker
I had been part of sales teams in the past, and so I knew the value of being on a sales team.
00:06:15
Speaker
You can treat your sales career like it's your sport.
00:06:19
Speaker
So I saw solar.
00:06:20
Speaker
I learned about solar.
00:06:21
Speaker
It was an emerging sales industry, sales-based industry.
00:06:24
Speaker
So I got into solar, put on my three-piece suit,
00:06:29
Speaker
showed up to the very first interview I could get in the solar industry.
00:06:32
Speaker
Right.
00:06:33
Speaker
And, um, and, uh, Mr. This, this gentleman, Taylor Armstrong was there, you know, had a lanyard on, had an iPad under his arm and, you know, he was ready to knock on doors.
00:06:46
Speaker
Um, but so, um, you know,
00:06:50
Speaker
I wanted my, here's the crazy thing is that my original plan and when I got into solar was that, you know, my plan was to get into being a boot on the ground on one side of solar.
00:07:03
Speaker
I had a partner that was going to get in through a different avenue so he could learn solar a different way.
00:07:09
Speaker
And then we had a two-year exit plan to where we were in two years, we were going to open our own dealership.
00:07:16
Speaker
Right.
00:07:16
Speaker
And I had come from the mortgage industry as well.
00:07:18
Speaker
Yeah.
00:07:20
Speaker
So I understood being a broker of different services.
Building and Leading Teams
00:07:24
Speaker
Right.
00:07:25
Speaker
And being a broker in the mortgage industry, you're a broker of, you know, you're not a mortgage broker, but you're deciding, you know,
00:07:32
Speaker
who you're, you know, which bank is going to finance your customer, right?
00:07:38
Speaker
And then you're finding the best solution for them.
00:07:40
Speaker
And so when I found the solar industry, it just made sense to me, right?
00:07:44
Speaker
And so the one thing that doesn't make sense to me, and, you know, we quickly learned at our first company was that it doesn't make sense to...
00:07:52
Speaker
It doesn't make sense to do everything in one house, right?
00:07:57
Speaker
To do the installations, to manage the sales teams, and then to also have the financial relationships with the financing partners.
00:08:11
Speaker
And that's what we've seen happening in the solar industry.
00:08:13
Speaker
But so fast forward.
00:08:16
Speaker
About a year into solar at the in-house shop that we came from, I decided, hey, you know, I want to break out into this solar brokering atmosphere.
00:08:26
Speaker
I heard about, you know, I heard about these things called PPAs, right?
00:08:31
Speaker
And so, you know, I wanted to become a solar broker.
00:08:35
Speaker
So I ventured out, you know, and that was when a lot of us kind of went different ways, right?
00:08:41
Speaker
And then came back, right?
00:08:43
Speaker
Our rather big group of us that are all working together again.
00:08:48
Speaker
But so, you know, the crazy thing is that when you decide to become a solar broker, you have to change.
00:08:56
Speaker
You have to elevate, right?
00:08:58
Speaker
You just jumped out of a pond that you can see all the edges.
00:09:03
Speaker
You know where all the land is, right?
00:09:05
Speaker
You're selling one thing and one thing only.
00:09:07
Speaker
Right.
00:09:08
Speaker
If I sell Fords, all I have to know is about Fords.
00:09:12
Speaker
Right.
00:09:12
Speaker
Right.
00:09:13
Speaker
But if but so now when you get into the solar brokering atmosphere, all of a sudden you have this thing called optionality.
00:09:20
Speaker
Right.
00:09:21
Speaker
Yeah.
00:09:22
Speaker
And optionality will, you know, it can it can, you know, it can start to break you mentally if you let it, but it will ultimately make your career.
00:09:33
Speaker
Right.
00:09:34
Speaker
because every time you find a customer that can't go to, you know, can't go through finance or a, B or C, well, Hey Jim, Sally, I have finance or D that you do fit into.
00:09:44
Speaker
Right.
00:09:45
Speaker
And that's where it all made sense to me a lot like the mortgage industry.
00:09:48
Speaker
Yeah.
00:09:49
Speaker
And so, um, so now, you know,
00:09:53
Speaker
The only problem with that was when I got into solar brokering, I went to the wrong brokerage.
00:09:58
Speaker
All right.
00:10:00
Speaker
And so, you know, one of the funny parts about about any sales team and, you know, you have to be in sales for a little while to understand this and really, truly let it let it absorb into you.
00:10:14
Speaker
The success of the team can only be as big as the dream, the vision, the drive and the motivation, the support of the leadership that leads that team.
00:10:26
Speaker
So, you know, came to Legacy about three years ago.
00:10:30
Speaker
You know, our senior director, John Soriano, recruited me and my team over to Legacy Power.
00:10:36
Speaker
At that time, there were only three of us, right?
00:10:39
Speaker
Myself and one closer and one setter that I was leading at the time.
00:10:45
Speaker
Now, three years later, I have three teams.
00:10:49
Speaker
We've developed three teams, one in Atlantic City, one in Chicago, and then we have our mega team here in San Diego, right?
00:10:56
Speaker
Where we're roughly around 230 sales reps.
00:11:01
Speaker
uh doing doing uh approaching 300 sales a month it's blowing up man yeah but no i definitely agree with that and i think that's one piece of advice i give a lot of people that are saying oh which company should i join and all that because yeah it's it's nice having the brokerage stuff but also in my opinion i think even more you should look like who's behind the wheel who's driving the
00:11:23
Speaker
the ship, right?
00:11:24
Speaker
Who's the pilot?
00:11:25
Speaker
Yes, sir.
00:11:25
Speaker
Because for me, it's like, you know, I had always had this kind of stigma.
00:11:29
Speaker
I don't want to go join like a bigger company.
00:11:31
Speaker
I want to be like the big fish in the small pond.
00:11:35
Speaker
And that held me back for a long time.
00:11:37
Speaker
And then, of course, I'm like, oh, why would I come?
00:11:39
Speaker
I hired Tyler.
00:11:40
Speaker
Why would I come work like under Tyler now?
00:11:43
Speaker
So I think a lot of us, we let like, you know, pride, ego get in the way.
00:11:47
Speaker
But I think for me, once I like, you know, looked at the situation and saw, you know, you crushing it, saw General John, guys like Jake Ransom, Mike Brand, a lot of people that just have a ton of success, can sell at a really high level.
00:12:04
Speaker
And so, yeah, for me, it's more of like, who's who?
00:12:07
Speaker
What's the company?
00:12:08
Speaker
Where are the people who you want to strive to be like or we want to try to become more like?
00:12:13
Speaker
And I saw in what a lot of you guys were doing.
00:12:15
Speaker
So, yeah, yeah.
00:12:17
Speaker
You know, good thing for people maybe to consider.
00:12:19
Speaker
My man, my man.
00:12:20
Speaker
Come work with us.
00:12:21
Speaker
Yeah, that was that was a huge blessing when you decided to plant your flag with us, brother.
00:12:25
Speaker
You know, and, you know, so it's it.
00:12:29
Speaker
And that's the wild thing about it.
00:12:30
Speaker
Right.
00:12:31
Speaker
Is that
00:12:32
Speaker
Is that, you know, I was a big fish in my very first pond in solar, right?
00:12:38
Speaker
Our first company together.
00:12:39
Speaker
My second company was the first solar brokerage that I worked at, right?
00:12:44
Speaker
And I have some things to say about that.
00:12:45
Speaker
It wasn't a true solar brokerage because you didn't have multiple installers.
00:12:49
Speaker
Without multiple installers, doesn't matter if you have multiple financers, without multiple installers, you're not a true solar broker because that one installer is controlling whether or not you get installs, right?
00:13:03
Speaker
But so besides that, you know, when I first, you know, to go back on what we were talking about, so...
00:13:09
Speaker
When I first stepped into the solar industry, and you interviewed me, hired me.
00:13:15
Speaker
Thank you for that, by the way.
00:13:16
Speaker
It's been a good seven years.
00:13:20
Speaker
I was hired under a 19-year-old first manager, and we both know the man well.
00:13:27
Speaker
I also had to really put my ego away.
00:13:30
Speaker
At this time, I was 30 years old.
00:13:33
Speaker
I was a top Mr. Olympia contender in professional bodybuilding.
00:13:39
Speaker
When I do things, I win.
00:13:41
Speaker
I have this champion mindset of when I do something, I'm setting out to dominate it.
00:13:46
Speaker
Not just compete, but to dominate.
00:13:49
Speaker
It's really crazy, these times that you look back in your career and
00:13:54
Speaker
And you can be incredibly grateful that you put the ego aside.
00:13:57
Speaker
And I put that ego aside when I first stepped into solar and that's the only way I got here now.
00:14:02
Speaker
And so it's really big that, you know, it's really big when someone
00:14:09
Speaker
puts the ego aside, maybe puts the preconceived notion of, hey, I want to be a bigger fish in a small pond.
00:14:16
Speaker
And it's funny how much bigger of a fish you become because you need the ocean.
Systems and Promotions at Legacy
00:14:21
Speaker
You need that growing room, right?
00:14:24
Speaker
And that's what's happened with us over here, right?
00:14:26
Speaker
Yeah, no, it's been good.
00:14:27
Speaker
Yeah, just like, yeah, you don't know what you don't know, but it's like you don't really know the growth you can have till you step into it.
00:14:34
Speaker
And so I'm glad I did because, yeah, it's just been a lot easier to grow a team.
00:14:37
Speaker
Well, yeah, when I came on, I was just trying to do everything myself, too.
00:14:41
Speaker
It's like I was recruiting, I was training, hiring, trying to train new setters, run all the closers.
00:14:47
Speaker
So I don't know that I think that's really valuable, especially the times we're in now, just to have like help with all that.
00:14:53
Speaker
Like I don't have to do everything.
00:14:54
Speaker
There's systems in place.
00:14:57
Speaker
And so I don't know, maybe people are listening where they're a smaller company, but I think for us, it's helped a lot.
00:15:01
Speaker
We have like boot camps for new people to come into.
00:15:05
Speaker
I don't have to run these boot camps.
00:15:06
Speaker
Like I just hired a new setter today.
00:15:08
Speaker
I can send him tomorrow and he can get trained A to Z, the steps for solar.
00:15:13
Speaker
So yeah, it's just like helps a lot with the systems processes we have in place.
00:15:17
Speaker
And yeah, I think that's something that you've set up pretty, pretty well within our team.
00:15:22
Speaker
Been able to organize it.
00:15:23
Speaker
Thank you.
00:15:24
Speaker
Thank you, brother.
00:15:25
Speaker
The systems, you know, the, there are, there are always going to be pinch points in your development process.
00:15:32
Speaker
right and the only way to overcome a pinch point is to create a system around it right and so yeah it's i mean that's another big factor of being at a being at the um you know being the the fish whatever size fish you are but choosing to be in the ocean rather than in a small pond um you know when you're in the ocean guess what there are a lot more other fish around
00:15:56
Speaker
Right.
00:15:56
Speaker
And, and so, you know, for our team meetings, um, you know, I've, I've also been at shops where.
00:16:03
Speaker
where I was running the entire meeting, training, closing, running setters, doing it all.
00:16:11
Speaker
And then it's like, hey, you turn around and you're like, wow, my day is gone.
00:16:15
Speaker
And I needed to go spend some time recruiting.
00:16:18
Speaker
I needed to spend some time on this system or developing this sales rep.
00:16:23
Speaker
And there are just so many hours in the day for one human.
00:16:26
Speaker
and um you know that's been a huge part of our explosive growth uh here in southern california for legacy power under under valor um you know with john soriano is is that um you know here in our san diego office for example you know we have six leaders that are running the show and so um you know
00:16:50
Speaker
what that does is it frees up time for you to live out one of our Valor values, which is you can have it all right.
00:16:57
Speaker
And, you know, faith, family, fitness and finances, you can't, you can't keep all four of those afloat, you know, without without some help along the way.
00:17:07
Speaker
And, you know, so
00:17:12
Speaker
A lot like how we built this great team around you.
00:17:16
Speaker
And now the responsibilities that you take care of free me up to recruit and get more people in to build around you and whatnot.
00:17:26
Speaker
Yeah.
00:17:28
Speaker
Yeah, but the systems will pave the way.
00:17:31
Speaker
Yeah, for sure.
00:17:33
Speaker
So, yeah, I want to talk about, because you started at Legacy, what, in 2021, was it?
00:17:38
Speaker
Three years ago now.
00:17:39
Speaker
Three years.
00:17:40
Speaker
Yeah.
00:17:40
Speaker
So, and if people know stuff about Legacy, especially here in San Diego, I mean, I know the team was smaller when you joined, but...
00:17:50
Speaker
Something that I've come to respect here, it's like you don't just get given a title.
00:17:54
Speaker
And that's why actually some people leave Legacies because it's not easy to be a manager, it's not easy to get promoted in these next levels.
00:18:03
Speaker
And you actually have to like, there's a lot of people fighting and you have to hit some pretty higher metrics than most other companies.
00:18:12
Speaker
So for you, three years, I mean, that's pretty impressive to already be like running an entire region, got three teams.
00:18:20
Speaker
So I don't know, maybe from like a higher level, what are some things that you think have really helped you to grow your teams and just like progress probably a lot quicker than most people would?
00:18:30
Speaker
What are some main things that have helped?
00:18:32
Speaker
So like one, the biggest thing that I think really like carried me through
00:18:38
Speaker
through this fast of growth, right, and this explosive of growth is to never let your
00:18:48
Speaker
You know, never let your main thing stop being your main thing.
00:18:53
Speaker
Right?
00:18:53
Speaker
And so, um, you see a lot of leaders, a lot of, you see a lot of great sales reps that become an ADM and then they're, you know, you're an assistant manager.
00:19:04
Speaker
So, you know, you have some responsibility and then they stop selling solar.
00:19:10
Speaker
Right.
00:19:11
Speaker
And, you know, or, or, hey, maybe the ADM kept selling solar and then, and, you know, and leading their team and, but then they got that DM promotion, district manager, and then now they're, so, you know, and then now they're not selling solar anymore.
00:19:25
Speaker
So the, you know, one thing I think, you know,
00:19:29
Speaker
that we do really well here in Valor, right?
00:19:32
Speaker
Valor being our division within Legacy Power.
00:19:35
Speaker
Yeah.
00:19:37
Speaker
Is that to become a leader in Valor, you still have your sales metrics, right?
00:19:43
Speaker
And they're not easy metrics.
00:19:45
Speaker
To be an assistant district manager in Valor is essentially the same metric as a regional manager at most other sales companies.
00:19:54
Speaker
Yeah.
00:19:54
Speaker
right and so you know with that said we know that when you have a title here you've earned it you have earned earned it right and so um you know what you've also earned is you know you've earned your your place among a ring of incredibly you know incredibly high performing people high temperature people right you know uh ed mulett's thermostat right um but so
00:20:21
Speaker
With that being said, to work your way into leadership at a typical company, you're not really getting yourself around in that room of people.
00:20:31
Speaker
But when you work your way into leadership here, it's a room.
00:20:35
Speaker
It is high temperature.
00:20:37
Speaker
These are high performing people.
00:20:38
Speaker
They want to do bigger, greater things together.
00:20:41
Speaker
And so it's really wild, you know, when you make it hard to get into it, right?
00:20:48
Speaker
It makes the quality of that room so much better, right?
00:20:52
Speaker
And so what does it do?
00:20:53
Speaker
In turn, it makes people that are not in that room yet fight harder to get there because they know there's more value in that room, right?
00:21:01
Speaker
So, you know, we've done a really great thing how we've set up our metrics.
00:21:04
Speaker
And the great thing here in Valor, our division, is that, you know, within Legacy, is that we don't prevent promotion.
00:21:14
Speaker
Right?
00:21:14
Speaker
There's no emotion behind your promotion, right, is what we like to say.
00:21:20
Speaker
So what that is, is we took just a short note out of, you know, out of the, like,
00:21:27
Speaker
uh, network marketing structures, right?
00:21:30
Speaker
Where, you know, network marketing, you invite people in, um, one, they have to pay to, they have to pay to join, right?
00:21:37
Speaker
Network marketing kind of thing.
00:21:38
Speaker
Like there's none of that here, you know, that, but, um, so, you know, we just took the, the ability to promote yourself, right?
00:21:45
Speaker
Network marketing, you bring people in, you help them learn how to sell and that's now your team.
00:21:50
Speaker
Right.
00:21:51
Speaker
And so the more you build that you, the more you, the more you elevate yourself,
00:21:56
Speaker
Now, in most companies, most solar companies, most sales organizations, you know, realty shops, real estate, anything, you know, that's a high ticket sale.
00:22:10
Speaker
To become a leader, you have to wait for someone to quit or change industries or pass on or something crazy, but you have to wait for a spot to open up.
00:22:21
Speaker
And you know this very well, what we've done is we take away the emotion and the subjectivity behind your promotion by opening up room.
00:22:33
Speaker
We create room for you to grow.
00:22:36
Speaker
And then as you grow, once you hit those metrics, that's now you're that leader, right?
00:22:42
Speaker
Now, there are some other organizations that I've seen that have this type of model.
00:22:46
Speaker
You know, one really big organization that we, you know, that we also sell their product.
00:22:51
Speaker
You know, you can DM us to get the name of that company.
00:22:55
Speaker
But...
00:22:57
Speaker
What they do is they're very, very hard on you once you make it to that level.
00:23:03
Speaker
Once you hit leadership, they're almost looking for every way to pull you out of leadership.
00:23:09
Speaker
And that is not a healthy place to be either.
00:23:11
Speaker
So what we do, we make it incredibly, it's a good number.
00:23:15
Speaker
You gotta be like a leader.
00:23:21
Speaker
to be a leader in legacy power, right?
00:23:23
Speaker
And you know that.
00:23:23
Speaker
And so the one thing I think we also do really well that I don't see other shops do is we support you in keeping you there, right?
00:23:33
Speaker
I've seen that other company, you know, DM us, right?
00:23:38
Speaker
I've seen that other company remove people from leadership as soon as they got there.
00:23:42
Speaker
And what that did is that made that high performing, very good leader in solar, this person that should be celebrated, should be leading other people in that way.
00:23:57
Speaker
I've seen that person get removed from leadership right away and then run away.
00:24:02
Speaker
Right.
00:24:02
Speaker
So what are they going to do there?
00:24:03
Speaker
That's because like they weren't kept in leadership because they weren't supported by their leaders.
00:24:09
Speaker
And so, you know, that's one of the most phenomenal parts about Valor, legacy Valor is that our directors.
00:24:16
Speaker
do an incredible job of supporting your management career so that the managers can do an incredible job of supporting their closers careers.
00:24:25
Speaker
And then the closers can do an incredible job of supporting their setters careers, you know?
00:24:29
Speaker
And so we have this very strong, like very strong, strong from, you know, from the top to the bottom, from the bottom to the top, you know, shoulder to shoulder working and, you know, QT.
00:24:42
Speaker
Yeah.
00:24:45
Speaker
Love it.
00:24:45
Speaker
And yeah, like just to echo that, I think what's really huge here is other companies I've been with.
00:24:52
Speaker
It's like you're not really leading any other any anyone else unless you're actually a manager or something.
00:24:58
Speaker
But here it's really cool.
00:24:59
Speaker
You have squads and everyone's learning how to be a leader, even if they're not there yet.
00:25:05
Speaker
Um, just cause yeah, I mean, we got 150, 200 guys coming in meetings and all that.
00:25:10
Speaker
So obviously you can't lead all these people too.
00:25:14
Speaker
Um, yeah, it's really cool.
00:25:15
Speaker
We take a page out of, uh, uh, extreme ownership and I read that book, but he talks about one person usually can't effectively lead more than like nine or 10 guys, something like that.
00:25:26
Speaker
He talks about.
00:25:28
Speaker
So, yeah, even when I stepped in, it's not like I came from managing a team.
00:25:33
Speaker
I technically got, you know, I guess demoted.
00:25:35
Speaker
I wasn't managing people when I came here, but I realized pretty quickly that even though I don't have the title, that doesn't mean I'm not able to lead people.
Leadership Principles
00:25:44
Speaker
And also having those higher requirements to actually hit numbers to become a manager, to become a leader.
00:25:51
Speaker
It forces you because you can't really hit those numbers by accident.
00:25:55
Speaker
I don't think anyone here is just like accidentally recruit enough people and hit this sales metrics to become a leader.
00:26:01
Speaker
So I'm like, okay, well, if I actually want the title, then I actually have to like be conscious about this and be doing the stuff that the managers are already doing.
00:26:09
Speaker
So it's like, even though I don't have the title necessarily, it's like we're still running weekly meetings for our squad.
00:26:17
Speaker
We're still have like a separate group chat for all our guys.
00:26:21
Speaker
I'm still doing check ins.
00:26:23
Speaker
Yeah, because I think that was a big mistake that probably stunted my growth area a little bit is I'm just like, oh, I'm not a manager.
00:26:29
Speaker
So cool.
00:26:29
Speaker
I don't have to like check in with anybody.
00:26:31
Speaker
I don't have to do squad calls with my guys.
00:26:34
Speaker
I don't have to report it.
00:26:36
Speaker
I just have to report to Tyler.
00:26:37
Speaker
That's it.
00:26:38
Speaker
Yeah.
00:26:41
Speaker
I'm sure it was fun when you first came over to let someone else run.
00:26:44
Speaker
It's like, sweet, I'm a free agent.
00:26:45
Speaker
It's funny, I've seen that a ton when we first bring a leader over from another company.
00:26:49
Speaker
Very, very rarely have brought someone a leader from another company and then just given them the title.
00:27:07
Speaker
They have to come over with a very, very big team in order for that to happen.
00:27:13
Speaker
So what we most often do is we recruit a leader over with their team, and then they're a...
00:27:25
Speaker
more or less like an interim manager, right?
00:27:27
Speaker
They have six months to hit a certain metric and then become the full-fledged manager.
00:27:32
Speaker
But what that does is it maintains that earned, not given form of growth within us.
00:27:38
Speaker
And so now, so what, you know, one incredible thing that we've done together is, you know, we've broken up our Valor Wolf Pack, you know, and we've broken that up into, you know,
00:27:52
Speaker
into captain's teams.
00:27:53
Speaker
And so one of the greatest ways, you know, it's, I love, I love when people talk about, you know, how Jesus only had 12 disciples, right?
00:28:02
Speaker
And he only had 12 disciples because that's what he as one man was meant to take, meant to share the message with those 12.
00:28:10
Speaker
And then those 12 were meant to share the message with, you know, 12 each and so on and so forth.
00:28:15
Speaker
And that's how you get the message across to the masses.
00:28:18
Speaker
And, um,
00:28:20
Speaker
you know it's also how the military is run right and um and so you know our senior leader uh john soriano marine and uh you know and that's why we're the valor division i love that i get to wear valor on my chest but one you know i i love taking notes out of both of those books right you know and um
00:28:41
Speaker
I hope everybody takes notes out of the Bible, right?
00:28:45
Speaker
But those two books, right?
00:28:46
Speaker
The, you know, how the greatest organization in the human, the greatest, largest organization in human history is Christianity, right?
00:28:59
Speaker
And it started with one man, 12 disciples, right?
00:29:05
Speaker
That's the greatest, largest organization in human history, right?
00:29:11
Speaker
If you're not taking some page out of that book, you're missing out.
00:29:15
Speaker
Yeah.
00:29:15
Speaker
Right?
00:29:16
Speaker
Hopefully you take all the pages.
00:29:19
Speaker
But so now let's look at the strongest force in the world today is the American military.
00:29:27
Speaker
Right?
00:29:28
Speaker
If we're looking at the strongest force on the planet,
00:29:33
Speaker
you know, take some notes out of that book, right?
00:29:36
Speaker
And so what do they do?
00:29:37
Speaker
They also have a chain of command.
00:29:39
Speaker
They also have, they don't have any one person taking care of more than, you know, more individuals than they can handle, right?
00:29:49
Speaker
And so the way the military works is you generally only have like three to five people that you're leading.
00:29:54
Speaker
And then those three to five people might have three to five people themselves, right?
00:30:00
Speaker
Each.
00:30:00
Speaker
And so
00:30:03
Speaker
You know, and I could be off.
00:30:05
Speaker
I wasn't in the military.
00:30:07
Speaker
Don't let the haircut fool you.
00:30:10
Speaker
But so, you know, I just grew up in San Diego.
00:30:13
Speaker
But so the, you know, the greatest page from that book is just that you should not be trying to get your message across to more people than you can fully communicate with people.
00:30:27
Speaker
and have a very good, fulfilling relationship with.
00:30:36
Speaker
As I was becoming a leader that could build other leaders, it was important that whatever I had done to get to that point was gifted down and gifted to my people that I'm leading.
00:30:50
Speaker
And, you know, and then that transfer of knowledge, that transfer of ability gets transferred to the people that they bring in, so on and so forth.
00:30:59
Speaker
And what that does is it alleviates time, energy, and passion, right?
00:31:05
Speaker
Like, you know, you only have so much passion each day.
00:31:07
Speaker
Yeah.
00:31:08
Speaker
Until you're spent.
00:31:10
Speaker
But all those ingredients that it takes to develop a new skill, it freed me up to develop the skill of now expanding my recruiting so that I can feed more into our captain's teams and becoming more innovative, thinking outside of the box.
00:31:28
Speaker
Hey, we're a door-to-door industry.
00:31:29
Speaker
We'll never not be a door-to-door.
00:31:31
Speaker
Yeah.
00:31:32
Speaker
Right.
00:31:32
Speaker
But there are some other ways that we can maybe feed some fun, feed some appointments, you know, drive up some business as the solar industry is becoming more evolved.
00:31:42
Speaker
But it all starts.
00:31:43
Speaker
I can't do that unless I transfer my abilities to the people that I'm leading.
00:31:48
Speaker
And it's that that like discipleship, right?
00:31:51
Speaker
Like your disciples.
00:31:52
Speaker
Yeah.
00:31:53
Speaker
And then as long as you take great care of those disciples, you're also learning how to take great care of their disciples.
00:32:00
Speaker
The U.S. military, you know, each branch of the military started with a handful of people, you know.
00:32:06
Speaker
And so that handful of people is now up in the thousands and thousands, you know, and has become the strongest force on the planet.
00:32:13
Speaker
So that along with the, you know, the biggest following on earth, right?
00:32:18
Speaker
The biggest following in human history, right?
00:32:21
Speaker
If Jesus only had an Instagram.
00:32:26
Speaker
But, but yeah, so, you know, I really love those two ideals when we're thinking about how we delegate, how we, you know, grow rings and how we transfer the knowledge and education and ability to our, to the people we're leading.
00:32:38
Speaker
So some of you already know that I run my own door-to-door sales team here in San Diego.
00:32:43
Speaker
And as we were gearing up for the summer, I realized if we do the same thing we always did, we're going to get the same results.
00:32:49
Speaker
But if I want to increase my deal flow, I need to do something different to get an advantage.
00:32:54
Speaker
Then we discovered an app called SolarScout.
00:32:56
Speaker
But it's not a door knocking app.
00:32:58
Speaker
It's a data platform that shows us who is likely to go solar in our market.
00:33:03
Speaker
It shows us who has previously applied for solar but later canceled the deal, who has moved in recently, and even how much electricity the homes are using in a given neighborhood.
00:33:12
Speaker
It's been working for a lot of teams across the country, and now I'm on board too.
00:33:17
Speaker
I'm going to be one of the first two SolarScout in San Diego, so I decided to partner up.
00:33:21
Speaker
But I told them, hey, if I'm going to talk about SolarScout on my show, you need to give my listeners a great deal.
00:33:26
Speaker
And they did.
00:33:27
Speaker
So go to solarscout.app forward slash Taylor and book a demo with them, and you'll get 10% off your first month when you sign up.
00:33:37
Speaker
That's solarscout.app forward slash Taylor.
00:33:40
Speaker
Okay, back to the show.
00:33:43
Speaker
Yeah, that's so good.
00:33:45
Speaker
And yeah, so I think for those listening, just the lesson I had to learn was you got to start acting like the leader before you become the leader.
00:33:52
Speaker
At least you should.
00:33:53
Speaker
Because yeah, that's otherwise be put in a leadership position, you're gonna have to start from scratch, learn everything.
00:34:01
Speaker
So I think anyone listening, wherever you're at, you should definitely start leading other people, even if you haven't been told to because that's the people want to be led, right?
00:34:09
Speaker
They want to they want someone to follow.
00:34:11
Speaker
Mm hmm.
00:34:11
Speaker
And so if you can show that you're that person, it's only going to help you grow.
00:34:14
Speaker
And then I think it's going to help you sell way more too, because whenever I feel like I'm responsible for people are leading it, I'm sure same for you.
00:34:22
Speaker
You feel like you got to get out there and also lead from the front.
00:34:25
Speaker
So I know the times where I'm not producing as much are times when I feel like I don't have to show up for anybody.
00:34:30
Speaker
I just have to lead myself.
00:34:32
Speaker
I can disappoint myself, but I can't disappoint other people.
00:34:36
Speaker
It's easy.
00:34:37
Speaker
So good.
00:34:38
Speaker
So good.
00:34:39
Speaker
Very important.
00:34:40
Speaker
I'm curious to hear for you, Ty, what's it been like?
00:34:42
Speaker
I know it's pretty recent that you, you know, are over a whole region now.
00:34:47
Speaker
So is there any, have there been any adjustments you've had to make, like stepping into leading more people, more teams?
00:34:53
Speaker
What's that transition been like for you?
00:34:55
Speaker
So, yeah, I love that.
00:34:57
Speaker
Yeah.
00:35:00
Speaker
that question because that's been one of the newer challenges right and so i i would say as any as a growing leader um one of the biggest challenges is understanding how how and when to transition yourself away from uh being the sales rabbit being the highest volume on your team right because to develop um
00:35:24
Speaker
to develop the fellowship with the people you lead, where you no longer are looked at as the person that can be like the high salesperson, right?
00:35:36
Speaker
Because, you know, the five levels of leadership,
00:35:40
Speaker
One of the greatest ways to build your following and for people to buy into your leadership is to go do the thing.
00:35:49
Speaker
Now, as a regional manager, I'm still selling solar.
00:35:53
Speaker
A lot of solar companies, the district managers aren't selling solar, let alone the regionals.
00:36:00
Speaker
I still think it's funny when a setter calls me and I answer and he goes, wow,
00:36:06
Speaker
Yeah.
00:36:07
Speaker
And I go, hey, I'm not in some ivory tower.
00:36:09
Speaker
I'm a boot on the ground with you guys.
00:36:11
Speaker
Right.
00:36:12
Speaker
And that's how I've always that's how I've grown the biggest like the biggest brotherhood, the biggest like buy in in both directions.
00:36:18
Speaker
Right.
00:36:19
Speaker
Loyalty and honor amongst us.
00:36:21
Speaker
Right.
00:36:22
Speaker
And so I would say one of the hardest transitions has been has been actually transitioning away from that mindset.
00:36:29
Speaker
Now, as a growing leader, when you're growing your team and like people follow somebody they want to be like, if you stop selling solar, they don't want to be like you.
00:36:39
Speaker
Right.
00:36:41
Speaker
They don't want to be the sit at home and text type manager.
00:36:45
Speaker
Right.
00:36:45
Speaker
Because they're not a manager anyway.
00:36:46
Speaker
They want to see what you're doing and do what you're doing.
00:36:48
Speaker
And so that's a very tricky transition.
00:36:51
Speaker
Right.
00:36:52
Speaker
Because, you know, a lot of a lot of like the like senior leaders in companies, they get way too disconnected from the actual sale.
00:37:00
Speaker
Yeah.
00:37:01
Speaker
Right.
00:37:01
Speaker
And where you have your middle management, you know, your ADMs and DMs actually teaching the regionals and directors how to sell the product because the product has changed.
00:37:12
Speaker
Right.
00:37:12
Speaker
Right.
00:37:12
Speaker
And so that's one thing, you know, and the biggest thing for me has been, you know, in order to stay relevant.
00:37:18
Speaker
Right.
00:37:18
Speaker
You need to stay relevant with the people you lead.
00:37:21
Speaker
Yeah.
00:37:22
Speaker
And so to stay relevant and still be able to pull back on your sales, you need to be giving value in other ways.
00:37:28
Speaker
Right.
00:37:28
Speaker
And you're not giving value by just being the guy that comes in and runs correlations.
00:37:32
Speaker
Right.
00:37:32
Speaker
And so you need to be the one that's that that is you need to be the one recruiting for them.
00:37:37
Speaker
Right.
00:37:38
Speaker
And you need to be the one stacking your team, stacking their teams.
00:37:42
Speaker
Right.
00:37:42
Speaker
If you want to be a leader of leaders, you need to be adding the value in the other ways.
00:37:46
Speaker
Right.
00:37:46
Speaker
Maybe maybe filling you guys up with solar appointments, filling you guys up with sales reps, teaching you guys how to sell the new product.
00:37:53
Speaker
Right.
00:37:54
Speaker
Every time we get a new PPA under our belt, everyone's like, how do I sell that thing?
00:37:58
Speaker
And yeah.
00:37:59
Speaker
And so the leaders didn't need to go to action because it's our job to equip you guys.
00:38:03
Speaker
And so that's that's been a, you know, and it's been a humbling experience.
00:38:09
Speaker
I think every level up has been humbling in solar.
00:38:11
Speaker
But like you said, it's really important that you're developing your leadership skills for the next level before you have the title.
00:38:18
Speaker
Right.
00:38:19
Speaker
You don't you don't get given a title and then learn how to do the job.
00:38:22
Speaker
You get given the title because you've been doing the job.
00:38:25
Speaker
Right.
00:38:25
Speaker
Right.
00:38:25
Speaker
And so like yourself, you know, I mean, Taylor's just just phenomenal at running a team, phenomenal at bringing people in, teaching them the way, you know, keeping your sales volume very high.
00:38:38
Speaker
Right.
00:38:39
Speaker
And, you know, and it shows because more and more people just want to keep coming in and doing life with you, you know, and so.
00:38:48
Speaker
What it all starts with, and the phrase that I like to use when I'm talking about developing leadership skills is I tell each person, I go, don't
00:38:57
Speaker
Don't develop your leadership skills.
00:39:00
Speaker
Don't ask for your leadership skills.
00:39:03
Speaker
Take, okay?
00:39:05
Speaker
Every time you're in that room, every time you're in the room, your entire correlation, you know, if you just come in and sit down and just look at the, you know, like you're acting like a student, right?
00:39:15
Speaker
And, but if you come in and you go, you walk around and, Hey, Hey, Hey, say hi to everybody.
00:39:20
Speaker
Don't be fake, be genuine, you know, but, but, but put some passion into your people.
00:39:24
Speaker
Ask how the job is going.
00:39:26
Speaker
Hey, how are you doing?
00:39:27
Speaker
How was knocking yesterday?
00:39:29
Speaker
What's that one objection that keeps catching you off guard?
00:39:33
Speaker
Let's fix it right now.
00:39:34
Speaker
And so what are you doing is you're not waiting for someone to tell you you're a leader so you can go lead others.
00:39:40
Speaker
You're taking your leadership.
00:39:42
Speaker
And so, yep, I always say, don't wait for it.
00:39:44
Speaker
Take it.
00:39:45
Speaker
Take your leadership.
00:39:47
Speaker
Nobody comes up and gives me an electric bill in the neighborhood.
00:39:49
Speaker
Yeah.
00:39:51
Speaker
Right.
00:39:52
Speaker
Nobody comes up and says, hey, you, I need a lower electric bill.
00:39:55
Speaker
Right.
00:39:55
Speaker
And so what do we do?
00:39:56
Speaker
We go out and we take our business.
00:39:58
Speaker
Right.
00:39:58
Speaker
And it's not it's not done in a negative way.
00:40:00
Speaker
It's not done.
00:40:01
Speaker
You know, it's very empowering and it builds us up because, you know, we're not fishermen.
00:40:07
Speaker
Right.
00:40:07
Speaker
Fishermen wait for a fish to bite their line.
00:40:09
Speaker
Yeah.
00:40:10
Speaker
Hunters go out and find what they're looking for.
00:40:13
Speaker
They go find their meal.
00:40:14
Speaker
They find their way to eat.
00:40:17
Speaker
And so it's the same thing in leadership.
00:40:19
Speaker
You know, you don't wait for it.
00:40:20
Speaker
You take it.
00:40:20
Speaker
Yeah, I love that.
00:40:22
Speaker
So, so good.
00:40:23
Speaker
But yeah, and I think it's to your point, like I know now you're dealing with way more responsibilities leading other people.
00:40:30
Speaker
So you have a lot less time to sell personally.
00:40:34
Speaker
I know you're still out there and everything, but something I see you add a lot of value into is just
00:40:39
Speaker
Knowing being a master at all the, you know, technical stuff, you're kind of the guy seems like I know everyone in the office when there's like something we don't know about a certain portal or whatever document.
00:40:50
Speaker
It's like everyone reaches up to Tyler and you're like the guy for that.
00:40:54
Speaker
Yeah.
00:40:55
Speaker
So yeah, I think carving out like kind of your niche too, because we got a massive team, there's other managers and all that.
00:41:01
Speaker
So you don't necessarily have to be the guy that's still selling lights out the sells rabbit.
00:41:06
Speaker
Because I know I'm not there's lots of people that sell me in this office.
00:41:09
Speaker
But I think you have to still sell at a good level.
00:41:12
Speaker
You can't like not sell, but you still sell at a good level, but then carve out like how else can you add value?
00:41:18
Speaker
Maybe it's mastering the technical side.
00:41:20
Speaker
So everyone knows, okay, I'm going to go to Tyler when I have a question about this specific thing.
00:41:24
Speaker
or, you know, maybe it's like motivating people really well.
00:41:27
Speaker
And I think we have a good combination of that in our office.
00:41:30
Speaker
Cause you know, you got like Jack Pastrana who's been on the podcast does like 150 installs a year and all that.
00:41:36
Speaker
And it's just ridiculous.
00:41:38
Speaker
And you know, general John that is over all of us, he talks about that too.
00:41:45
Speaker
Like kind of the different leadership types you have in the office.
00:41:47
Speaker
You need someone that's like a sales rabbit.
00:41:50
Speaker
So I can't remember what the other ones are, but just like, you know, you got the sales rabbit, you got the culture creator.
00:41:56
Speaker
He got up there.
00:41:57
Speaker
There's seven, seven of them.
00:41:58
Speaker
Yeah.
00:41:58
Speaker
And so what I've always tried to do is be well balanced in all of those.
00:42:04
Speaker
Um, but you can't, you're right.
00:42:05
Speaker
You can't be the sales rabbit and be well balanced and everything else.
00:42:09
Speaker
And so that was what I realized, uh, about two years ago I started.
00:42:14
Speaker
So, you know, I had been ramping up, ramping up my installs in the year.
00:42:19
Speaker
did 70 installs in 2022, but I had also been putting about 50% of my time into developing people, right?
00:42:29
Speaker
And so it's, you know, if you're putting half of your time into developing people, that's the other half of your installs that you could have got, right?
00:42:37
Speaker
And so that was in 22.
00:42:38
Speaker
And then in 2021, you know, and my team, the teams had been growing and growing.
00:42:44
Speaker
And so, you know, with more responsibility,
00:42:48
Speaker
I just took myself away from the field a little bit more.
00:42:56
Speaker
Now, like you said, being a master of the technical side.
00:43:02
Speaker
If you want to lead a lot of people, you need to answer your phone.
00:43:06
Speaker
You need to know when they're in home.
00:43:08
Speaker
Right.
00:43:08
Speaker
One of the greatest ways that I've developed many, many closers and why I have, you know, we, we, we have some of the, you know, probably, probably the biggest like single leader squad as far as closers.
00:43:21
Speaker
Um, and so, you know, with somewhere around 30 closers now, the, um,
00:43:29
Speaker
the way that I've developed them is educating on, hey, you only really need to know 80% of what you're doing in each one of these portals.
00:43:43
Speaker
But you need to know how to call me when you're in home.
00:43:47
Speaker
Don't be shy.
00:43:48
Speaker
Now, here's the caveat, is that most leaders are not going to answer their phone right like that.
00:43:56
Speaker
But you're in home.
00:43:58
Speaker
And you're sitting across the table from a customer.
00:44:01
Speaker
They want to sign, but, you know, if you got to come back the next day or two days later or whatnot, the ether might have worn off.
00:44:08
Speaker
You normally lose the sale.
00:44:10
Speaker
So one of the greatest things is, hey, like your leader needs to be waiting for that phone call when you're a newer closer.
00:44:17
Speaker
Right.
00:44:18
Speaker
Right.
00:44:18
Speaker
And so for the first like 10 to 15 deals, I have all of my closers specifically just text me when they're going to be in home.
00:44:25
Speaker
You know, hey, Ty, hey, I have I have 2 p.m., 4 p.m.
00:44:28
Speaker
and 6 p.m.
00:44:29
Speaker
today, you know, and I'll text back.
00:44:31
Speaker
Hey, cool.
00:44:32
Speaker
I'll jump on your call if I see it.
00:44:34
Speaker
Boom.
00:44:34
Speaker
You know, we've like I know you and I have had some of those conversations when you were first getting acclimated to legacy.
00:44:39
Speaker
And
00:44:40
Speaker
Um, you know, our, our optionality is, is, uh, can be intense.
00:44:45
Speaker
You know, we now have five PPAs that we offer and, uh, three different installers, five PPAs, you know, some purchase options.
00:44:54
Speaker
Um, if, you know, unless you've been under a rock for the last year, uh, you understand that nobody really buys solar anymore.
00:45:01
Speaker
Yeah.
00:45:01
Speaker
Um, yeah.
00:45:03
Speaker
Especially in California.
00:45:05
Speaker
Yeah, especially in California with the batteries, right?
00:45:09
Speaker
You know, and then the other markets are, of course, going that way as well.
00:45:12
Speaker
But being a master on the technical side is, you know, is a huge part of my job because I don't expect every one of my closers to be a master on the technical side when you have five different PPAs and multiple installers and
00:45:27
Speaker
You know, and then things are constantly changing.
00:45:29
Speaker
You know, Everbride will send us an email that they don't accept A, B, and C anymore.
00:45:33
Speaker
And then Enfin will send us an email that, hey, they now do this.
00:45:37
Speaker
And, you know, credit went up to this.
00:45:39
Speaker
And so, you know, the constantly –
00:45:45
Speaker
Rob Markman, changing.
00:46:04
Speaker
so that they can be a great leader to their closers.
00:46:09
Speaker
That's probably one of the harder disconnects that I see when people leave a company that's all in-house, like say Sunrun, but they come to a company where now it's not Sunrun installing the panels and Sunrun doing the financing and Sunrun selling the product.
00:46:30
Speaker
All you see is just Sunrun on everything.
00:46:34
Speaker
They don't have the option, right?
00:46:36
Speaker
And so it's option A, A, and A. Right?
00:46:42
Speaker
And so you come here, and so let's say if they get a failed credit, someone doesn't pass credit, then that's it.
00:46:49
Speaker
Hey, you know what, Mr. Homeowner, let's see if we can do some credit repair.
00:46:54
Speaker
But now you come over here and when you're working under a model like this, yes, it's taxing to get the technical stuff down.
00:47:00
Speaker
That's why I think it's incredible to be, you know, it's incredibly important for me to be a leader that looks for my phone calls from my sales reps and jumps on those phone calls.
00:47:11
Speaker
I'm well known for standing up out of my own solar appointment to take a phone call from one of my sales reps that's in an appointment because their sale and their development is more important than me signing up another deal.
00:47:23
Speaker
Yeah.
00:47:23
Speaker
Right.
00:47:24
Speaker
And, you know, and the ripple effect that that's going to have into that person's career and then into it, you know, into the people that they recruit, so on and so forth.
00:47:33
Speaker
It's just it's exponential.
00:47:35
Speaker
And so but it all starts with, you know, getting the technical stuff down and then just having really good support when you don't have that like one
Sales Strategies and Techniques
00:47:46
Speaker
thing down.
00:47:46
Speaker
Yeah.
00:47:47
Speaker
Right.
00:47:48
Speaker
Yeah, and I think teaching your guys too because, I don't know, that's something I try to tell my guys is like, hey, hit me up first and then hit up Tyler.
00:47:57
Speaker
Right, right.
00:47:58
Speaker
We don't want 50 people, yeah.
00:48:01
Speaker
That's the military way.
00:48:03
Speaker
Yeah, powering your guys.
00:48:04
Speaker
Yeah.
00:48:05
Speaker
No, that's good stuff, man.
00:48:06
Speaker
And so just to start wrapping this up a little bit, Ty.
00:48:11
Speaker
So I know we're talking about some higher level leadership stuff, but maybe for people that are just starting out in solar that are setting appointments, you've got a pretty unique style for us setting appointments and not a lot of people do it your way.
00:48:24
Speaker
Yeah.
00:48:25
Speaker
And so I don't know, maybe we can wrap up with like some advice for setters and everything.
00:48:29
Speaker
So maybe, I don't know, some setting tips and like how you developed your
00:48:34
Speaker
Kind of unique style for setting appointments.
00:48:36
Speaker
You want to speak on that a little bit?
00:48:38
Speaker
Let's do it.
00:48:38
Speaker
Let's do it.
00:48:39
Speaker
So I normally, you know, as a sales leader, we try to keep a little bit of the sauce in home.
00:48:47
Speaker
Right.
00:48:48
Speaker
And so not going to give you all the sauce.
00:48:50
Speaker
You got to come work with legacy.
00:48:52
Speaker
Yeah.
00:48:54
Speaker
But I'll give some of the sauce.
00:48:55
Speaker
And this has been everything that I've trained every single one of my sales reps to do.
00:48:59
Speaker
And that's how I've had explosive growth in the last three years.
00:49:03
Speaker
So...
00:49:07
Speaker
solar industry we're all knocking the block right we all go door to door hey you know they said no okay i'm gonna go to your neighbor right that that that person just watched you walk to the neighbor and then you know three houses down that person already saw you walking up right they they're just there there's kind of a flow of things there's like a feel that you're creating when you're walking the block and knocking doors right
00:49:34
Speaker
And so what I did is I started just rolling the block.
00:49:38
Speaker
Right.
00:49:38
Speaker
I came from real estate, right.
00:49:40
Speaker
And in real estate, they have this thing called driving for dollars.
00:49:43
Speaker
Right.
00:49:44
Speaker
And those, that's for the, these, like, you know, these kids that try to wholesale properties, they're undercutting the value of a property to, you know, and, um, so, so now, so what I did, I took a, took a page out of that book.
00:49:59
Speaker
and applied it to solar.
00:50:04
Speaker
We've all seen that garage door that's open, like three houses down, we see a garage door open, we're like, yes, let's go, they're outside, come on.
00:50:13
Speaker
That's warm.
00:50:14
Speaker
That's a warm lead already.
00:50:15
Speaker
They don't even have to answer the door.
00:50:18
Speaker
We've all seen it.
00:50:19
Speaker
And then by the time we walk up to it, the garage is shut.
00:50:22
Speaker
Right.
00:50:23
Speaker
Yeah.
00:50:24
Speaker
Or Sally that was, you know, picking flowers in her front yard.
00:50:27
Speaker
She saw you coming up the block.
00:50:28
Speaker
She doesn't know you're a salesman, but she has an idea.
00:50:32
Speaker
Right.
00:50:33
Speaker
And she's also she's like, that's a polo.
00:50:35
Speaker
I see a clipboard or I see an iPad, right?
00:50:39
Speaker
I see a lanyard on that guy and no, I'm not wanting to talk to him, right?
00:50:43
Speaker
And so, and that's fine.
00:50:44
Speaker
Like people, people just aren't going to engage when they don't want to, like they're not going to choose to, to stay in,
00:50:52
Speaker
Right there and just wait for you to get there.
00:50:55
Speaker
Right.
00:50:55
Speaker
They don't even realize they're doing it.
00:50:56
Speaker
It's, you know, it's this innate thing where it's like, hey, I'm just going to go this way.
00:51:00
Speaker
Yeah.
00:51:00
Speaker
And they just kind of walk to their garage and walk into their house, you know, shut the garage.
00:51:04
Speaker
Yeah.
00:51:05
Speaker
Wave at you.
00:51:06
Speaker
Yeah.
00:51:07
Speaker
I don't care what you're doing.
00:51:08
Speaker
I know.
00:51:09
Speaker
I see a point.
00:51:09
Speaker
They just close the garage.
00:51:11
Speaker
Right, right.
00:51:12
Speaker
Yeah, so I started, what I started doing was I, you know, now as I started growing a team, I had, you know, when I had five, six, seven setters, I didn't have nearly as much time for me to knock doors.
00:51:27
Speaker
And so I had to become very efficient at it.
00:51:29
Speaker
And so what I realized was, hey, if I stay in the car,
00:51:34
Speaker
And I just roll up and I just find people that are hanging out outside, especially on Saturday mornings, Sunday afternoons.
00:51:41
Speaker
Man, people sleep on Sunday afternoons.
00:51:43
Speaker
Everybody just left church.
00:51:45
Speaker
They're in the happiest, most open-minded place.
00:51:48
Speaker
They're going to be all week long.
00:51:49
Speaker
That's true.
00:51:51
Speaker
Go talk to them about a lower electric bill.
00:51:53
Speaker
Right.
00:51:53
Speaker
But so Sundays are great.
00:51:55
Speaker
But so but so I would just roll the neighborhood on the weekends and I would find barbecues, find people like hanging out in the front yard.
00:52:02
Speaker
You know, the kids are like running through the sprinklers.
00:52:04
Speaker
Mom's over there sipping on some lemonade.
00:52:07
Speaker
And you're like you walk up and you're like, hey, mom, how's the lemonade?
00:52:10
Speaker
Right.
00:52:12
Speaker
But, you know, what you didn't have to do in the psychology, the human psychology behind that.
00:52:19
Speaker
is that when a human being is behind a door and they didn't see you coming, or even if they did see you come in, they look through the window or whatnot, they're in their safe space, right?
00:52:33
Speaker
Their home is like the safest space they can be in.
00:52:37
Speaker
Right.
00:52:37
Speaker
Right.
00:52:37
Speaker
And we all feel like, well, you know, it's like when you're on a vacation or you've been working all day, what's on your mind?
00:52:43
Speaker
Like home.
00:52:45
Speaker
I just want to get home.
00:52:46
Speaker
Right.
00:52:46
Speaker
And that's because that's our safe place.
00:52:47
Speaker
And so people, you know, innately on a subconscious level, we feel more protective.
00:52:54
Speaker
Right.
00:52:54
Speaker
We're more on the defense.
00:52:56
Speaker
Like we're more, you know, what do you want now?
00:53:00
Speaker
Now we also might be in our pajamas.
00:53:02
Speaker
Yeah.
00:53:02
Speaker
We're inside.
00:53:03
Speaker
We might have a shirt off.
00:53:04
Speaker
You might be, you know, just got out of the shower.
00:53:06
Speaker
You're hanging out.
00:53:08
Speaker
Your hair's not done.
00:53:10
Speaker
You got food all over your face because you're having dinner or whatever the case may be, right?
00:53:14
Speaker
But you're just not in that state of that place where you say that I'm presenting myself to the world right now.
00:53:22
Speaker
But when you step outside into your front yard, you didn't go out there in your boxers, right?
00:53:28
Speaker
You know, some people might.
00:53:29
Speaker
But you didn't.
00:53:31
Speaker
You know, you didn't leave your hair like just like a mess or whatever.
00:53:34
Speaker
Like you got yourself a little bit more presentable.
00:53:37
Speaker
Right.
00:53:37
Speaker
And what and what that does, what what you are saying to yourself and what you're saying to the world is that, hey, I'm ready to be approached.
00:53:45
Speaker
Right?
00:53:45
Speaker
And even if they don't realize it, it's on a subconscious level that they don't need to realize it.
00:53:50
Speaker
They're just going to react differently to you as a salesperson walking up when you catch them outside.
00:53:56
Speaker
But the only way you can catch them outside is you can't be like, do-do-do-do, coming up the block on your feet.
00:54:03
Speaker
Or...
00:54:05
Speaker
You know, I mean, segues work, but those are, you know, they also think you're, yeah, especially in Southern California.
00:54:12
Speaker
If you're riding a Segway, they think you're a solar salesman, right?
00:54:15
Speaker
Or an alarm salesman.
00:54:16
Speaker
Yeah, pest.
00:54:19
Speaker
But when you're in the car, they can't even see you necessarily.
00:54:22
Speaker
They're seeing the reflection off your windows.
00:54:25
Speaker
They don't see like a hat and a lanyard and a polo shirt and an iPad.
00:54:29
Speaker
And they don't go like, that's definitely a salesman, right?
00:54:32
Speaker
Yeah.
00:54:34
Speaker
And so what I like to do is I know and this is the trick.
00:54:38
Speaker
You always got to stick the nose of your car right right into their driveway.
00:54:41
Speaker
OK.
00:54:43
Speaker
And so you don't just pull up and park like you're a neighbor.
00:54:46
Speaker
Right.
00:54:47
Speaker
That's going to leave their car there all day.
00:54:49
Speaker
Right.
00:54:49
Speaker
If I stick my nose into their driveway or leave like the tail end of your car in the driveway.
00:54:54
Speaker
Right.
00:54:54
Speaker
Yeah.
00:54:55
Speaker
then they know you're going to leave, right?
00:54:59
Speaker
It's just you're creating these feelings, right?
00:55:02
Speaker
And so, you know, and so they know you're going to leave.
00:55:05
Speaker
I also like to leave the car running.
00:55:07
Speaker
I like to leave music on, some light music.
00:55:10
Speaker
Don't be listening to, like, gangster rap, you know, right?
00:55:13
Speaker
Like, make it music that people like, that calm people down, not, like, stress them out, right?
00:55:17
Speaker
Yeah.
00:55:18
Speaker
right because we're we're creating the energy right we're the day makers yeah right and we're there to make sally's day better when sally was already picking flowers having a nice day but i'll you know roll up and ups guy amazon guy ups amazon they all do it right doordat yeah
00:55:34
Speaker
Yeah.
00:55:34
Speaker
So so what happens is seeing that's the psychology is when someone pulls up to your house in their own car and then they hop out like one, they're blocking your driveway.
00:55:44
Speaker
Amazon UPS, you know, Grubhub, Uber Eats.
00:55:48
Speaker
Doesn't matter what it is, but that was it came from somewhere that I chose.
00:55:53
Speaker
I paid money for something to come to my house.
00:55:56
Speaker
And so what is it?
00:55:57
Speaker
So every time someone pulls up in their own car and they don't know who it is, in today's society, it's a good thing.
00:56:03
Speaker
And people are excited about it.
00:56:05
Speaker
Oh, did I order a package?
00:56:07
Speaker
Amazon?
00:56:07
Speaker
Like, you know?
00:56:08
Speaker
And so like, it's crazy, this like this small level of happiness that you're creating in somebody just because you pulled up and parked.
Future of Solar Sales
00:56:17
Speaker
It's the same feeling that we get when we see a box that's wrapped in colorful paper with a ribbon on it.
00:56:21
Speaker
Yeah.
00:56:22
Speaker
That's not a box.
00:56:23
Speaker
That's a gift.
00:56:24
Speaker
Right.
00:56:24
Speaker
And people love to open up gifts.
00:56:26
Speaker
Right.
00:56:26
Speaker
And so, you know, so I love finding people outside.
00:56:32
Speaker
I also like to roll the neighborhood and look for bad roofs because in Southern California, we can fit entire roofs into a solar project and still save people a ton of money.
00:56:40
Speaker
Yeah.
00:56:41
Speaker
Um, and that's on a PPA, you know, you know, it's just wild what we do these days.
00:56:46
Speaker
Um, you know, so bad roofs, look for good main panels and whatnot, but, you know, and also in a saturated market where you might pass, you might, you might have to pass, pass 10 houses that have solar on them.
00:56:59
Speaker
Yeah.
00:56:59
Speaker
Right.
00:57:00
Speaker
To get to that 11th house that doesn't have solar.
00:57:03
Speaker
Now, if you're walking the block, you're that's you're going to take a lot more time to get to that house, you know.
00:57:09
Speaker
And so there's that.
00:57:10
Speaker
And then there's, you know, and then let's I mean, let's be real.
00:57:15
Speaker
It's in the dead of summer.
00:57:17
Speaker
Like the best knocking is in 110 degree weather.
00:57:21
Speaker
But you're not going to be your most formidable self if you've been in that 110 degree weather for the last four hours.
00:57:28
Speaker
Yeah.
00:57:29
Speaker
Right.
00:57:29
Speaker
And so in order to be your most formidable self, like, you know, getting back in the AC doesn't hurt.
00:57:37
Speaker
Right.
00:57:38
Speaker
Especially when you're old like us.
00:57:39
Speaker
You know, yeah.
00:57:40
Speaker
Hey, pushing 40.
00:57:41
Speaker
Come on.
00:57:42
Speaker
Yeah.
00:57:42
Speaker
And so.
00:57:44
Speaker
You know, so like, you know, one of the reason I started doing that is this idea, it all came from this idea of using your nature to design your nurture.
00:57:54
Speaker
You know, and I know my nature, my nature is that I'm gonna be a hard working dude if I'm not like sweating, sweating, right?
00:58:02
Speaker
I don't, it's just not comfortable, right?
00:58:06
Speaker
Our job takes a lot of intelligence.
00:58:08
Speaker
We sell solar in Southern California where the customer is educated.
00:58:13
Speaker
Yeah.
00:58:13
Speaker
A lot of the time the customer is more educated than a brand new sales rep.
00:58:17
Speaker
Right.
00:58:17
Speaker
And and so, you know, you have to be a more formidable person with your words, your education, your knowledge, your wittiness.
00:58:27
Speaker
Right.
00:58:27
Speaker
And your ability to use like sales skills to funnel someone into an appointment.
00:58:35
Speaker
But it all comes from like, you need to be in a place of comfort yourself.
00:58:39
Speaker
Yeah.
00:58:40
Speaker
And so, you know, to be your most formidable self.
00:58:43
Speaker
So that's why I like to have the car with me.
00:58:46
Speaker
Now, also...
00:58:49
Speaker
Um, you know, it's just like, you're just, you're, you're going back to one of the biggest things that you hear in sales to overcome, you know, a lack of success is to just be different.
00:59:01
Speaker
Right.
00:59:01
Speaker
And be very different.
00:59:03
Speaker
And so, you know, the world is quickly going to understand that a power purchase agreement is just a utility company.
00:59:12
Speaker
Yeah.
00:59:13
Speaker
It's just a utility service.
00:59:14
Speaker
It's solar as a service.
00:59:17
Speaker
And, you know, traditional utility companies are electricity as a service.
00:59:22
Speaker
Right.
00:59:22
Speaker
And so what are we selling?
00:59:24
Speaker
We're selling utilities.
00:59:25
Speaker
We're selling solar utility service.
00:59:28
Speaker
And so, you know, that's a big piece of sauce that, you know, has really done really well for us and our growth.
00:59:37
Speaker
But I'll share it with the people.
00:59:41
Speaker
is that it's not a ppa guys it's a solar utility yeah yeah good and so you're not a solar salesman you're a solar utility broker yeah love that i mean how many guys are coming and yeah we've seen that it's like is this solar or we're just the utility brokers it's like be different involve solar but so true and um
01:00:02
Speaker
Yeah, I think I've done that.
01:00:03
Speaker
I mean, I don't do it quite to that level.
01:00:05
Speaker
I probably should try it.
01:00:07
Speaker
But just being like, I think the principal is just being pickier about so many, especially new reps, they'll go, they'll knock 10 doors straight and people aren't answering.
01:00:16
Speaker
They're just spinning their wheels and like five o'clock primetime runs, uh, comes around and
01:00:21
Speaker
It's like they barely talk to anybody and then they're gas.
01:00:23
Speaker
They're all sweaty.
01:00:25
Speaker
So, yeah, I've just found it a lot more sustainable to like take at least if you're going to do anything, take some principles.
01:00:32
Speaker
Don't just go door after door after door.
01:00:34
Speaker
Look for people at our home and go.
01:00:36
Speaker
Maybe it's mid afternoon.
01:00:39
Speaker
People aren't answering.
01:00:40
Speaker
Maybe just go to the ones that have their garage doors open.
01:00:43
Speaker
Um, cause yeah, you're going to have way more conversations.
01:00:45
Speaker
And at the end of the day, it's about how many conversations you can have.
01:00:48
Speaker
It's not about the hours worked.
01:00:49
Speaker
So how effective can you be in those hours?
01:00:52
Speaker
How many people can you actually talk to?
01:00:53
Speaker
At some point we, we're not paid, you know, as a 1099 person, you're not trading time for money anymore.
01:00:59
Speaker
You're trading time for skill.
01:01:01
Speaker
And once you can do the skill, it's like, now how can I do the skill more often in less time?
01:01:07
Speaker
Right.
01:01:08
Speaker
And so, you know, um,
01:01:11
Speaker
I mean, I make the same amount of sales as someone that bangs 200 doors in a day.
01:01:16
Speaker
But I also got to keep my sanity and keep a lot of my energy so I can go give that to my fiance.
01:01:21
Speaker
Yeah.
01:01:22
Speaker
Put that toward my fitness and, you know, and then pour into my faith as well.
01:01:26
Speaker
Exactly.
01:01:27
Speaker
Yeah.
01:01:28
Speaker
yeah and yeah we've not everyone at legacy does this but i think you see a lot of our guys on our squads and our teams they're never the most doors knocked at the end of the month but i think a lot of times they're close to the most cells yeah yeah our our be more effective our wolf pack that i that i lead the valor you know valor wolf pack um
01:01:50
Speaker
You know, which is made up of a bunch of teams here, here in Valor.
01:01:56
Speaker
We are, you know, I've always said that we're the most effective door knockers out there because we, you know, because, yeah, we like we get the most sales per door.
01:02:09
Speaker
But that's because we're also using other tactics.
01:02:11
Speaker
We're not just out there working hard.
01:02:13
Speaker
We're working hard and working smart, right?
01:02:17
Speaker
And so that's that whole like we get paid to trade skill for money, right?
01:02:23
Speaker
And if you increase that skill, and part of that skill is just like knowing how to work more efficiently so you can still go live a good life, right?
01:02:33
Speaker
Yeah.
01:02:34
Speaker
A hundred percent.
01:02:35
Speaker
Well, Ty, I know we're at over an hour now.
01:02:38
Speaker
I know you got a whole region to run, so better wrap this up here.
01:02:41
Speaker
But before I forget, if people want to potentially join the Wolfpack or connect more with you, or we didn't even talk about bodybuilding, but maybe picture your six pack or whatever.
01:02:56
Speaker
What's the best way to get in touch with you?
01:02:59
Speaker
So you can follow me on Instagram at Tyler Anderson IFBB.
01:03:04
Speaker
That's for the International Federation of Bodybuilding.
01:03:07
Speaker
I'm a little stuck on my old name from my pro status there.
01:03:14
Speaker
And then you can also reach me at 619-654-3998.
01:03:16
Speaker
Text me anytime if it's about solar.
01:03:23
Speaker
If you text him that you're in home with a customer, he'll probably pick up.
01:03:27
Speaker
Hey, you test me out, right?
01:03:31
Speaker
Cool.
01:03:32
Speaker
Well, Ty, thanks so much for coming on the show.
01:03:34
Speaker
And hey, we'll have to have you on in a future episode when you're like, you know, VP president and then have you more to talk about.
01:03:41
Speaker
So let's go.
01:03:42
Speaker
Levels on levels.
01:03:43
Speaker
Let's go.
01:03:43
Speaker
Okay.
01:03:44
Speaker
Well, thanks again, my man.
01:03:46
Speaker
Hey, Solarpreneurs, quick question.
01:03:48
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?
01:03:57
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.
01:04:10
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.
01:04:20
Speaker
And it's called Solciety.
01:04:22
Speaker
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01:04:35
Speaker
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01:04:38
Speaker
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01:04:42
Speaker
Currently, Soul Society is open, launched, and ready to be enrolled.
01:04:48
Speaker
So go to soulcide.co to learn more and join the learning experience now.
01:04:56
Speaker
This is exclusively for solopreneur listeners, so be sure to go to soulcide.co and join.
01:05:03
Speaker
We'll see you on the inside.