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The 4 Pillars to Solar Domination (interview with James Ramos)
90 Plays7 years ago
James is a family guy who has seen the importance of doing the things you are passionate about to spend more quality time with the people that matters. He knows the pain points in working 12-13 hours a day chasing money. He was not happy with the old process and most of the time it’s not working for him. But after he has cracked the code, he is now able to generate thousands of leads and spend time with his family. James is now using the power of technology to get sale and talk with leads since the traffic is bad in the Bay Area.
On this episode, James will show us why it’s important to invest in yourself in the things that you are passionate about. He will also discuss the 4 pillars of solar sales that will not only help you improve sales efficiency, but also in generating leads through social media and referrals. We will also discuss different techniques in targetting customers and adding value to the homeowners and fellow solar salespeople.
Things mentioned in this episode:
Zoom Meeting
Goto Meeting
Pat Flynn
Russel Brunson
4 Pillar of Sales: https://jamesthesolarenergyexpert.clickfunnels.com/webinar-registration
YouTube
About James:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-ramos-16685baa
https://www.facebook.com/JamesTheSolarEnergyExpert/
https://jamesthesolarenergyexpert.weebly.com/
Quotable Quote:
Invest in yourself! -James Ramos
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction to Solarpreneur Success
00:00:00
Speaker
Look, in the solar business, there's really only two types of people.
00:00:04
Speaker
There's the ones that crush it, make six, seven, and eight figures, and then there's everyone else.
00:00:08
Speaker
The question is, which one will you be?
00:00:12
Speaker
Over the last four years, we've studied the sharpest solar sales and marketing professionals and how they build multi-million dollar incomes using only the best sales and marketing strategies.
00:00:23
Speaker
So how do these solarpreneurs do what they do and what makes them so successful?
00:00:28
Speaker
This podcast is your answer.
00:00:31
Speaker
Join us and thousands of sales pros, marketers, and entrepreneurs as we take the solar industry by storm and uncover what it takes to sell more solar with less effort.
00:00:42
Speaker
Welcome to the Solarpreneur Podcast.
00:00:52
Speaker
What's shaking, solarpreneurs?
00:00:55
Speaker
Today we're approaching the end of springtime.
00:00:58
Speaker
It's getting warm out here.
00:01:00
Speaker
We're in San Diego, California, and I'm stoked today because we have got on the podcast my friendly neighbor and solar energy expert, James.
James' Background and Challenges
00:01:10
Speaker
So James, thanks for coming on the show, my man.
00:01:12
Speaker
What's up, Taylor?
00:01:13
Speaker
Thanks for having me, man.
00:01:14
Speaker
It's a pleasure.
00:01:15
Speaker
Thank you for having me.
00:01:16
Speaker
Yeah, super happy to have you on.
00:01:18
Speaker
And it's been a long time coming.
00:01:20
Speaker
I didn't even realize this, but we're probably live within, I don't know, 15, 20 minutes of each other.
00:01:25
Speaker
So, uh, yeah, and, um, yeah, just happy to have you on the show.
00:01:32
Speaker
So, James, you've been in the industry a while, and you were actually, I think, the first guys, you were probably one of the first ads I started seeing on Facebook about, like, you know, the whole online marketing stuff with solar.
00:01:45
Speaker
So, as far as I'm concerned, you kind of, like, sparked my interest, piqued my interest, and got me going.
00:01:51
Speaker
So, how, and I mean, first of all, fun fact about you, you got, what, seven kids, or is it 12?
00:01:57
Speaker
Wow.
00:01:59
Speaker
close man that's really close but uh eight of them dude a lot of mouths to feed that's for sure but two was already college so two's in college that kind of shows you like how old i am you know so two's in college already back in the bay area that's where we basically originated from but yeah man so six in the house total right now okay fun fact about james that's insane man you don't hear that too often in california
00:02:24
Speaker
So we're going to have to do a separate podcast on that, how to have eight kids, because that is impressive.
00:02:33
Speaker
But you have one coming, don't you?
00:02:35
Speaker
Yeah, I got one on the way.
00:02:37
Speaker
There you go.
00:02:38
Speaker
You better catch up, bro.
00:02:40
Speaker
Yeah, I don't know about that.
00:02:41
Speaker
I just saw a lot of solar to be able to feed eight kids.
00:02:46
Speaker
You can tell he's dominating, because anyone that can have eight kids in California, you got to have some money.
00:02:52
Speaker
Yeah.
00:02:53
Speaker
Kudos to you on that.
00:02:54
Speaker
Or no money.
00:02:56
Speaker
Exactly.
00:02:57
Speaker
Okay.
00:02:59
Speaker
Yeah.
00:02:59
Speaker
It's good.
00:02:59
Speaker
He's in the solar industry though, because we all know that solar industry is where the money's at.
00:03:04
Speaker
It's how you make it rain.
00:03:06
Speaker
So James, let's get into your background.
00:03:09
Speaker
How did you get into this industry?
00:03:11
Speaker
I know you're from the Bay area and we talked a little bit before, but let's hear your kind of background in the industry.
00:03:17
Speaker
Absolutely, man.
00:03:19
Speaker
So I've been in the energy industry for like nine years now.
00:03:22
Speaker
So I'm like old school, right?
00:03:23
Speaker
Compared to like some of these newer guys coming out, which is amazing, right?
00:03:27
Speaker
So I've been in the energy industry for nine years, had my own energy consulting company back in the Bay Area.
00:03:33
Speaker
That's how this whole thing kind of started.
00:03:36
Speaker
So I did that for a few years.
00:03:38
Speaker
And over the last about six years, I've been in the solar industry.
00:03:42
Speaker
So when I had my energy consulting company, I helped local utilities and local governments, you know, do their rebate programs.
00:03:49
Speaker
I sat in like the board and things like that.
00:03:52
Speaker
I helped literally like hundreds of homeowners and saved them thousands and thousands of dollars in their electric bill.
00:04:00
Speaker
But, you know, my most important credential like over the last few years is,
00:04:05
Speaker
I used to be a solar consultant as well.
00:04:07
Speaker
Right.
00:04:07
Speaker
So that's where I kind of started.
00:04:08
Speaker
That's where my roots are or were right when I first got started.
00:04:13
Speaker
So I know like all the pains that the guys go through because I was there.
00:04:16
Speaker
Right.
00:04:17
Speaker
So that's what really drove me into like online marketing and looking for other strategies.
00:04:22
Speaker
Right.
00:04:22
Speaker
So like six years ago, if I can like jump in my DeLorean, right, this is kind of old school, right?
00:04:28
Speaker
Like back to the future kind of thing.
00:04:29
Speaker
Yeah.
00:04:29
Speaker
Yeah.
00:04:31
Speaker
Yeah, that's another, you know, age reveal, like how
From Struggle to Success in Solar Marketing
00:04:34
Speaker
old I am.
00:04:34
Speaker
But anyways, like if I jumped in that DeLorean, I went back about six and a half years ago, like life was different, dude.
00:04:40
Speaker
I was super excited.
00:04:42
Speaker
I got in the solar industry.
00:04:43
Speaker
I was like, dude, they're going to pay me to literally like change the world.
00:04:45
Speaker
And what?
00:04:46
Speaker
There's no like upfront cost to this whole thing, right?
00:04:48
Speaker
So I was like, dude, it's going to be cakewalk, right?
00:04:50
Speaker
I want to sell this thing to everyone.
00:04:52
Speaker
Yeah.
00:04:52
Speaker
Yeah.
00:04:53
Speaker
That's when, like, I realized, like, that's where, like, my nightmare, like, started, right?
00:04:58
Speaker
So I did all the right things.
00:04:59
Speaker
I did all the training from, like, my sales managers.
00:05:03
Speaker
And basically what they're teaching is it's kind of all the old strategies, which they still work, right?
00:05:07
Speaker
They told me to knock on doors, do tabling events, cold call people, like Hank's street signs, door flyers, I mean.
00:05:15
Speaker
And after a few months of that, dude, I was like, there's just no way this thing is not working.
00:05:20
Speaker
Right.
00:05:20
Speaker
And I was meeting literally with homeowners, like almost every single day for 12, maybe 13 plus hours every day.
00:05:27
Speaker
And when I got home or when I got that check, I was like, holy crap, dude, this wasn't enough to like pay for, I think we're renting an apartment at the time.
00:05:36
Speaker
And I was like, dude, my wife's like, what happened?
00:05:40
Speaker
Because you're like out early every day.
00:05:41
Speaker
We don't ever see you.
00:05:43
Speaker
Like, where's the money, bro?
00:05:47
Speaker
Yeah.
00:05:47
Speaker
So my wife was like, you know, we would love for you to be home.
00:05:51
Speaker
You know, you're missing a lot of time with the kids and, you know, with her as well.
00:05:55
Speaker
That's where I really like, we're really sunk in, right?
00:05:58
Speaker
Because she kind of felt disappointed.
00:06:00
Speaker
And as a guy, we're like the providers, right?
00:06:04
Speaker
So we were the hunters.
00:06:05
Speaker
So I was like, crap, man, I'm freaking letting her down.
00:06:08
Speaker
You know what I mean?
00:06:09
Speaker
So I was like, I got to do something.
00:06:10
Speaker
So she was like, James, I know you love the industry.
00:06:15
Speaker
But dude, loving it and making money is like two different things, right?
00:06:19
Speaker
So I knew I had to like crack the code somehow.
00:06:22
Speaker
And that's where I started in this wild journey as far as like online marketing, right?
00:06:27
Speaker
That's where it started.
00:06:28
Speaker
So yeah.
00:06:30
Speaker
After like months of like research, tweaking and taking courses and spending nearly probably about 18 grand later, right?
00:06:41
Speaker
So I was even in the doghouse, even more my wife, she's like, dude, what are you doing?
00:06:45
Speaker
I literally like cracked that code, right?
00:06:48
Speaker
So I remember too, I think it was maybe like a Tuesday or Wednesday morning, I was running ads.
00:06:54
Speaker
I was like literally blowing off all our money, right?
00:06:56
Speaker
I was like, I know this is gonna work.
00:06:58
Speaker
It has to work, right?
00:06:59
Speaker
Yeah.
00:07:00
Speaker
So it was like a Tuesday morning, early morning, you know, I, ideally I don't check my phone too often anymore in the morning.
00:07:06
Speaker
Right.
00:07:06
Speaker
That's one thing I try to avoid.
00:07:08
Speaker
But back then I was like, is this thing working?
00:07:10
Speaker
Cause I was looking for like a notification that somebody opted in.
00:07:14
Speaker
So that particular morning though, that's when everything changed.
00:07:17
Speaker
Right.
00:07:17
Speaker
I was like,
00:07:18
Speaker
Looked at it.
00:07:19
Speaker
I was like, holy crap.
00:07:20
Speaker
I actually got somebody to opt into this thing.
00:07:23
Speaker
Right?
00:07:23
Speaker
After like six months and about almost 20 grand in a hole and a whole bunch of money to ad spend.
00:07:29
Speaker
I was like, this is amazing.
00:07:30
Speaker
I was like literally jumping around telling my wife like, this is freaking amazing.
00:07:34
Speaker
She was like, what?
00:07:34
Speaker
There's only one.
00:07:35
Speaker
Right.
00:07:36
Speaker
But for me, and I think a lot of people as well, once you see one, I know it's going to be scalable.
00:07:43
Speaker
Right.
00:07:43
Speaker
So I was like, okay, so this is what it took to get one lead.
00:07:46
Speaker
It took like 20 grand to get one lead.
00:07:48
Speaker
Right.
00:07:48
Speaker
Yeah.
00:07:49
Speaker
Including all the courses.
00:07:50
Speaker
I was like, I have to like somehow like bring down the ad spend and start generating leads.
00:07:56
Speaker
Right.
00:07:56
Speaker
So that's basically where I started, man.
00:07:58
Speaker
I literally spent a lot of money, a lot of arguments with a wife, a lot of time away from the family, but it was just, it was just my journey.
00:08:08
Speaker
Right.
00:08:09
Speaker
I had to go through that.
00:08:10
Speaker
Just like any entrepreneur or solopreneur right now that's going through the hustle, you have to go through that.
00:08:17
Speaker
Because if you don't go through the pain, you don't know how to fix that pain, right?
00:08:21
Speaker
You don't know what you need until you freaking start feeling those pains,
Keys to Success: Passion, Education, and Respect
00:08:25
Speaker
right?
00:08:25
Speaker
So yeah, that's, I guess, the short version of how I got started in this industry, man.
00:08:31
Speaker
Okay.
00:08:32
Speaker
Yeah.
00:08:32
Speaker
I love it.
00:08:33
Speaker
And yeah, every successful guy we're noticing on the podcast, James included for our solopreneurs.
00:08:39
Speaker
I think there's a common thing in all this.
00:08:41
Speaker
Pretty much everyone has dropped a lot of money to get where they're at.
00:08:44
Speaker
They've learned from the best they've invested in the courses.
00:08:47
Speaker
And, yeah, we're on the video feed here, but James has got his whole background to just books, courses, stuff like that.
00:08:54
Speaker
So I think that's a huge secret, and I love hearing stuff like that because then it makes me feel better about dropping the money on the courses when my wife is coming after me and saying we need to save up for the kid and everything.
00:09:06
Speaker
But, I mean, you got no excuses because James, I mean, you got eight kids, and he's still doing it.
00:09:11
Speaker
So if he can afford it, if he can do it, then –
00:09:14
Speaker
It's one of those things, Taylor, you just got to keep chucking at it, right?
00:09:16
Speaker
If you really believe in it, man, you just got to keep going.
00:09:19
Speaker
It's kind of cliche, right?
00:09:21
Speaker
But at the end of the day, dude, if you never give up, you're going to get there, right?
00:09:25
Speaker
And it takes a lot of tweaking.
00:09:26
Speaker
It takes a lot of headaches.
00:09:27
Speaker
And you know how many times, like literally, man, over the last few years, how many times I said, I'm done.
00:09:34
Speaker
I'm just done with this whole thing, right?
00:09:36
Speaker
I'm not getting any traction, right?
00:09:37
Speaker
I know there's other people like online, like killing it.
00:09:40
Speaker
Right.
00:09:41
Speaker
And I was like, maybe I just need to switch like my own industry.
00:09:44
Speaker
But when I, well, actually my wife, right.
00:09:47
Speaker
My wife is my coach, man.
00:09:48
Speaker
She's my rock.
00:09:49
Speaker
She's everything.
00:09:49
Speaker
I give it all to her.
00:09:50
Speaker
Right.
00:09:51
Speaker
But anyway, she was like, dude,
00:09:53
Speaker
If you start chasing the money, that's going to be a problem, right?
00:09:56
Speaker
So it's one of those things that, you know what, I know it's taking a bit longer than usual, but if you can pursue your passion and the thing that you love and that gift, that God-given gift that you're supposed to be doing here on earth, right?
00:10:11
Speaker
Once you crack that code, that's more meaningful than just making some money, right?
00:10:15
Speaker
Obviously, making money is what we need to do.
00:10:17
Speaker
We need to support our family.
00:10:19
Speaker
We need to put food on the table.
00:10:20
Speaker
We got a volume of clothes, especially for me, right?
00:10:22
Speaker
There's eight of them.
00:10:23
Speaker
Yeah.
00:10:23
Speaker
So, but the thing was, my wife's like, don't just switch because you want to chase the money.
00:10:27
Speaker
Right.
00:10:28
Speaker
So she believed in me.
00:10:29
Speaker
She knew that one day, one day, right.
00:10:32
Speaker
One day I'm going to crack this thing.
00:10:34
Speaker
And it did.
00:10:35
Speaker
Right.
00:10:35
Speaker
It wasn't overnight, but believe it or not, it seems like overnight.
00:10:40
Speaker
You know what I mean?
00:10:40
Speaker
So the great thing, Taylor, nowadays is there's a lot of people that can teach you, right?
00:10:46
Speaker
That can get you to where you want to be faster.
00:10:49
Speaker
Unfortunately, back then there wasn't, right?
00:10:51
Speaker
But there's so many other people to learn from.
00:10:53
Speaker
And like you said, invest in yourself because at the end of the day, that's what's going to take you to the next level.
00:10:59
Speaker
Yeah, super important.
00:11:01
Speaker
So thanks for touching on that, James.
00:11:04
Speaker
Something I've noticed with your content.
00:11:06
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, I've been on your website and everything.
00:11:09
Speaker
But what's really interesting is you're all about kind of educating the homeowners.
00:11:14
Speaker
You're explaining differences between PPAs, leases, stuff like that.
00:11:18
Speaker
Where a lot of guys I see, myself included, it's more like we're just trying to get a quick lead, not really educate the homeowners and just get in and out of the house and everything.
00:11:28
Speaker
So I look on your website and you're saying stuff like, make sure you read the contract in depth before you sign up, stuff like that.
00:11:35
Speaker
Right.
00:11:35
Speaker
Where I'm in the house just saying, no, no, no, you don't need to read it.
00:11:38
Speaker
Let's go.
00:11:38
Speaker
Let's go.
00:11:38
Speaker
Let's do this.
00:11:40
Speaker
Hurry up and sign this thing before you change your mind.
00:11:41
Speaker
Right.
00:11:42
Speaker
Exactly.
00:11:42
Speaker
Exactly.
00:11:44
Speaker
So what's kind of what's your take on that?
00:11:46
Speaker
What with educating?
00:11:49
Speaker
Are you trying to just draw kind of the more educated homeowners or what's your strategy with all the education you put out for homeowners and stuff like that?
00:11:58
Speaker
That is an amazing question, man.
00:12:00
Speaker
So it's all about giving value at the end of the day, right?
00:12:03
Speaker
It doesn't really matter what niche or what market you're in.
00:12:06
Speaker
So when you give value and you position yourself as that expert, homeowners are going to start trusting you, right?
00:12:13
Speaker
Building that know, like, and trust factor.
00:12:15
Speaker
So the idea with that is to position yourself as an expert, just like myself, I did that.
00:12:20
Speaker
And nobody really taught me that, right?
00:12:22
Speaker
I was just like, I kind of saw other people in different markets, like giving a lot of value.
00:12:26
Speaker
And I was like, huh, let me just start giving value as well.
00:12:29
Speaker
Making videos and helping homeowners.
00:12:30
Speaker
And sometimes I may shoot myself in the foot because, you know, I disclose a little too much.
00:12:35
Speaker
But at the end of the day, I knew that as much value as I can give, I'm going to be able to get a lot of that more in return, right?
00:12:41
Speaker
As far as getting the homeowner's trust.
00:12:43
Speaker
So basically once you position yourself as that person, authority, a person of, of expert as an expert in solar, when you ask for something, basically when you ask them to sign up for a solar consultation and when they do that lead is going to be a lot more solid, right?
00:13:00
Speaker
Because they basically went through a bunch of videos that you already posted, whether it's on YouTube or maybe you're creating videos on Facebook, right?
00:13:09
Speaker
it's just a lot more um a vetted lead right they're they're more committed they literally like know you already right when you jump on a meeting with them they're like hey what's up james like hey what's up man so it's like it's like you're part of you're like a family already at that point right you're not just this stranger throwing up an opt-in page somewhere and then when they opt in they don't really know you right so sure so that's the key basically man if you really want to
00:13:35
Speaker
have longevity and dig like deep roots in this industry you have to position yourself as an expert and it takes a little bit of time right it takes a little bit of time but a lot of guys you know they're just throwing up often pages which which is fine but for me i knew that i wanted to be here for for a while man to really do other things as well as far as energy efficiency maybe later down the future i might be talking about you know
00:14:00
Speaker
HVACs or whatnot, just whatever it's going to take to save homeowners money.
00:14:04
Speaker
Right.
00:14:04
Speaker
Because at the end of the day, homeowners want to install solar because they want to save money.
00:14:09
Speaker
Right.
00:14:10
Speaker
So if you can save them money in any way, as far as reducing their bill, whether that's windows, insulation, HVAC, condensers, whatever that may be, that's basically saving the money.
00:14:20
Speaker
Right.
00:14:20
Speaker
So it provides like a long time, you know, a lifetime value for these homeowners where I could, or the company we can monetize on in the future as well.
00:14:29
Speaker
Okay.
00:14:30
Speaker
Yeah.
00:14:30
Speaker
And it makes sense.
00:14:31
Speaker
Cause I mean, you see it guys, you see guys do it all the time.
00:14:33
Speaker
We were just talking about Pat Flynn before this, but yeah,
00:14:36
Speaker
podcasters or people that have this following, you see guys like Pat Flynn or any of these big name podcasters when they put out a course, just because they've built such a loyal audience and they already have the trust.
00:14:47
Speaker
It's like, boom, you got rabid wolves out there trying to get their hands on this course because they already know it's going to be good.
00:14:54
Speaker
So yeah, I think it's super interesting and super important that we learn how to do that in this industry too, because it doesn't happen just going door to door.
00:15:03
Speaker
We're out, uh, you know, twisting people's arms a lot of times.
00:15:06
Speaker
So I think that's key.
00:15:07
Speaker
And I'm sure you're getting a lot more referrals from it too.
00:15:10
Speaker
Right.
00:15:10
Speaker
If you have that kind of loyal audience and.
00:15:13
Speaker
Absolutely.
00:15:14
Speaker
I mean, once you're that expert and to top it off, I think you hit the key.
00:15:17
Speaker
I mean, uh, uh, uh, the nail right in the head.
00:15:20
Speaker
It's like,
00:15:21
Speaker
you know, it's really treating these homeowners with the utmost respect as if they're like your wife or they're your, you know, mother.
00:15:28
Speaker
Well, not sound like mother-in-law, but I love my mother-in-law.
00:15:30
Speaker
This is recorded, right?
00:15:32
Speaker
I love you.
00:15:32
Speaker
I love you, mother-in-law.
00:15:33
Speaker
But anyways, like if they're like your parents or whatnot, right?
00:15:36
Speaker
Like a close friend.
00:15:38
Speaker
So you don't, you're not going to burn those guys.
00:15:40
Speaker
Right.
00:15:40
Speaker
So at the end of the day, a lot of times, too, we're so desperate to make money.
00:15:44
Speaker
Right.
00:15:44
Speaker
And I totally understand.
00:15:45
Speaker
We got to make money.
00:15:46
Speaker
But if you just treat them with the utmost respect and you be truthfully honest with them, there's so much more benefits.
00:15:53
Speaker
I mean, obviously, first of all, you're in you're within integrity.
00:15:55
Speaker
Right.
00:15:56
Speaker
But there's so many more benefits you're going to get out of that later in the future when they say, dude, I love Taylor.
00:16:03
Speaker
He gave me all the information.
00:16:05
Speaker
He even told me things like why I shouldn't move forward certain options or not to move forward with this panel or whatever.
00:16:12
Speaker
Just giving so much value because –
00:16:14
Speaker
they're gonna refer their friends and family to you.
00:16:17
Speaker
And then eventually, if you're currently knocking on doors right now, or maybe you're doing things that you don't like as far as marketing, you know, tabling events and things like that, eventually, once you build a big enough pipeline, you don't have to do those things anymore, right?
00:16:32
Speaker
So a lot of guys wanna burn people, like, oh, just one time, burn them really quick, make my money.
00:16:36
Speaker
And then now you're gonna continue this like,
00:16:39
Speaker
rat race of insanity every month to get leads or new leads every single month versus treat them right because they're going to be a referral source and eventually you can transition from what you're currently doing to just getting referrals.
00:16:54
Speaker
And you know how it is, man.
00:16:55
Speaker
Those are the easiest jobs to sell.
00:16:57
Speaker
Yeah.
00:16:59
Speaker
100%.
00:16:59
Speaker
Yeah, just to get our solopreneurs excited about this, James, what are some results that you've gotten just from putting out this content?
The Power of Online Marketing and Virtual Meetings
00:17:07
Speaker
Or do you have any maybe stories of even people like emailing you or calling you and just saying, James, loved your video.
00:17:13
Speaker
Hook me up with solar.
00:17:14
Speaker
Do you have any stuff like that happening with this?
00:17:16
Speaker
Absolutely.
00:17:18
Speaker
Absolutely.
00:17:18
Speaker
Because, um,
00:17:19
Speaker
Well, as far as results, right, online marketing is the way to go.
00:17:23
Speaker
I mean, we generate literally thousands of leads every single year, right?
00:17:27
Speaker
I wish we could generate every single month.
00:17:29
Speaker
Our budget's not quite there yet, but it will be, right?
00:17:32
Speaker
But yeah, we're generating thousands of leads every single month.
00:17:34
Speaker
And the great thing is as well is like,
00:17:37
Speaker
I teach, you know, I'm also a coach, right?
00:17:39
Speaker
So I teach my students how to build that know, like, and trust factor from the get go, right?
00:17:43
Speaker
So basically what I teach my guys is we send out automated messages to our homeowners, which is via email before our consultation.
00:17:52
Speaker
So I always encourage my guys to jump on a quick video.
00:17:56
Speaker
The first video is basically introducing yourself.
00:17:59
Speaker
Like, Hey, my name is James Ramos.
00:18:00
Speaker
I've been in the energy industry for nine years.
00:18:02
Speaker
I have eight kids.
00:18:03
Speaker
And these videos go out prior to consultation, right?
00:18:07
Speaker
And what we're doing is literally, man, building that know, like, and trust factor.
00:18:11
Speaker
And then from there, we send out more videos about our company.
00:18:14
Speaker
And in the day of, we send testimonials.
00:18:16
Speaker
But anyways, what happens is there's so many referrals you're going to get from that kind of strategy because they're literally knowing and liking and trusting you before you even get to the homeowner's house, right?
00:18:29
Speaker
Because as soon as you knock on that door,
00:18:31
Speaker
They're like, oh crap, it's James.
00:18:33
Speaker
You know what I mean?
00:18:33
Speaker
They're freaking knowing you already, right?
00:18:35
Speaker
As far as like referrals and results, dude, you get so many results using these types of strategies.
00:18:42
Speaker
So many strategies, right?
00:18:44
Speaker
So I guess it has to be more specific until like whether it's lead generation or closing deals because as far as results with closing deals,
00:18:54
Speaker
I literally close all my deals online, just like what we're doing right now.
00:18:57
Speaker
Uh, I don't sell as much anymore, but when I do, or when I did everything is done online, right?
00:19:05
Speaker
Because you know how it is, man.
00:19:06
Speaker
It's especially when I used to do to sell solar, um,
00:19:11
Speaker
I was in a Bay Area and the traffic there was freaking horrendous, dude.
00:19:16
Speaker
So I was like, there's no way I'm gonna be able to meet like with as many homeowners as I want to meet with so I can reach my financial goal without like learning how to sell this thing a lot faster.
00:19:26
Speaker
Right?
00:19:27
Speaker
Like, oh, how can I scale this thing?
00:19:29
Speaker
How can I sell more like faster?
00:19:31
Speaker
So ran into Zoom, right?
00:19:33
Speaker
We're actually doing Zoom meetings.
00:19:34
Speaker
I think it was GoToMeeting back then.
00:19:36
Speaker
I think they're still around.
00:19:37
Speaker
We're doing GoToMeeting with our energy consulting company.
00:19:39
Speaker
I said, dude, let me just try this thing with solar.
00:19:43
Speaker
And it worked.
00:19:44
Speaker
It's the same exact thing.
00:19:45
Speaker
And a lot of consultants, they're a little afraid to do Zoom meetings, but it's basically how you set it up with a homeowner.
00:19:52
Speaker
I mean, if you could set it up correctly and just let the homeowner know, hey, you know, you don't got to be tech savvy to jump on a Zoom meeting.
00:19:57
Speaker
Literally, if you have an email and you can click a link in the email, you're in a Zoom, bro.
00:20:02
Speaker
You know what I mean?
00:20:03
Speaker
So it's literally that simple.
00:20:05
Speaker
Yeah.
00:20:06
Speaker
Yeah, no, I think it's where the future is headed, especially, I mean, a lot of advantages.
00:20:11
Speaker
You can talk with way more people.
00:20:13
Speaker
You don't have to be traveling because, yeah, I mean, in our company, we spend hundreds of hours a week, I'm sure, just driving the deals.
00:20:22
Speaker
So I think it's definitely where the future is headed.
00:20:24
Speaker
And a lot of people are afraid of it because, yeah, they think it lowers the chances of closing the deal.
00:20:29
Speaker
But I say just gets 10 times more leads than you have way more people to work with.
00:20:35
Speaker
Or get referrals.
00:20:37
Speaker
You know what I mean?
00:20:37
Speaker
Those referrals, they don't care.
00:20:38
Speaker
Because if you've already done an online meeting with a homeowner or their friend or their family, they already know the expectation, right?
00:20:45
Speaker
They're like, oh, shoot, yeah, let's just jump on a quick Zoom, right?
00:20:48
Speaker
Because the other thing, too, is like, you know, when you have the one-leggers, I have no excuse for one-leggers, right?
00:20:52
Speaker
When you have a Zoom meeting, it's like, okay, I know that you both are working.
00:20:56
Speaker
Let's do this.
00:20:56
Speaker
I'll send both of you guys the link.
00:20:58
Speaker
You could jump on, you know, at your lunch break, and you could jump on at your lunch break, too, and then we could all be together on a Zoom meeting.
Mastering Solar Sales: The Four Pillars
00:21:05
Speaker
Right.
00:21:05
Speaker
Cause, uh, you know, those one leggers are going to be a tough one, man.
00:21:08
Speaker
Yeah.
00:21:09
Speaker
Yeah.
00:21:09
Speaker
Yeah.
00:21:10
Speaker
Yep.
00:21:11
Speaker
We've definitely had our fair share of one leggers.
00:21:14
Speaker
We actually had a guy in our office.
00:21:16
Speaker
He actually, he met with an actual one leger, like his, his wife was gone and he only had one leg.
00:21:21
Speaker
So, uh,
00:21:23
Speaker
That's extra bad luck.
00:21:25
Speaker
Hopefully you don't get too many of those.
00:21:27
Speaker
Right.
00:21:28
Speaker
That's like the easy excuse out right after the consultation.
00:21:31
Speaker
Hey, I've got to talk to my wife.
00:21:33
Speaker
Oh, darn.
00:21:34
Speaker
I knew that one was coming.
00:21:36
Speaker
Exactly.
00:21:38
Speaker
Well, James, we'll jump into some of your content here.
00:21:41
Speaker
And I know what we're going to talk about today.
00:21:43
Speaker
James, part of what he teaches, I'm sure you've done plenty of a...
00:21:48
Speaker
courses, stuff like that.
00:21:49
Speaker
Talk to people about this, but you have your four pillars of solar cells.
00:21:54
Speaker
Is that how you usually kind of roll it out?
00:21:57
Speaker
Four pillars?
00:21:58
Speaker
Absolutely, man.
00:21:59
Speaker
Absolutely.
00:22:00
Speaker
Okay.
00:22:01
Speaker
So I know we don't have a ton of time, so let's jump straight into the four pillars and that's what we're going to focus on today.
00:22:07
Speaker
So what is pillar number one of your four pillars, James?
00:22:10
Speaker
Good question, man.
00:22:11
Speaker
Pillar number one is basically learning how to sell, right?
00:22:15
Speaker
Sell efficiently.
00:22:15
Speaker
Because a lot of guys, when they jump into my course or when I do my strategy calls, the conversation always leads to, hey, James, you know why I need leads?
00:22:24
Speaker
And my next question or my question after that is like, what's your close rate first?
00:22:29
Speaker
Because if you tell me that your close rate is like 40, 50, 60 plus percent, right?
00:22:34
Speaker
And those are pretty high numbers.
00:22:35
Speaker
Those are really high numbers.
00:22:37
Speaker
But if you're up there, right, if you're telling me, dude, I'm closing like 40% of my jobs, I'm going to say, okay, let's get you some leads.
00:22:43
Speaker
But if you tell me otherwise that, you know, you're closing maybe like 18%, 20%, at the end of the day, let's work on your sales process first, right?
00:22:51
Speaker
Because there's a lot of strategies or sales psychology that a lot of consultants don't use.
00:22:57
Speaker
And what I've noticed is they jump right into the proposal, right?
00:23:00
Speaker
They do a little bit of rapport building and then they just jump right into the proposal and they're wondering why they're not closing any deals, right?
00:23:06
Speaker
Because there's...
00:23:08
Speaker
Sales psychology involved, right?
00:23:10
Speaker
You have to inception them a bit, right?
00:23:12
Speaker
Because like before we got done, before we got started with a podcast, we talked about like Russell Brunson and some of these guys that use a lot of sales psychology in their marketing, right?
00:23:23
Speaker
So that's what I use.
00:23:24
Speaker
I literally infused some of the,
00:23:27
Speaker
online sales strategies that top leaders are doing online and just infused it in the sales pitch.
00:23:35
Speaker
So that's pillar number one, man.
00:23:37
Speaker
So pillar number two.
00:23:40
Speaker
What are some of these, just real quick, what are some of the things you infuse in your sales process then?
00:23:45
Speaker
What are some examples of that, James?
00:23:47
Speaker
Yeah, so basically, man, when you're doing a consultation,
00:23:52
Speaker
Um, you want to touch on everything, right?
00:23:55
Speaker
And you don't want any guesswork that, oh, maybe, you know what, maybe I touched on everything.
00:23:59
Speaker
Maybe I told Taylor everything, maybe answered all his questions.
00:24:02
Speaker
Right.
00:24:03
Speaker
But enable for you to really understand that at the end of consultation that you did touch on everything.
00:24:08
Speaker
And for you to know, a hundred percent sure is you need to ask the homeowner.
00:24:12
Speaker
First and foremost, you ask them if and when you decide to move forward with solar, what would be some of those deciding factors, right?
00:24:20
Speaker
Instead of like guessing what some of those are, because if the homeowner is not going to move forward, say, for example, if you install the solar panels in front of the house and you're going to show that homeowner, you know,
00:24:34
Speaker
proposal with a soul with the solar panels in front of their house right because you didn't ask like questions beforehand to see what they want right so if you literally ask the homeowner what do you want right what do you what are your deciding factors they're gonna tell you exactly what they want
00:24:55
Speaker
And if you listen, because as consultants or sales guys, dude, we're like thinking about something else, right?
00:25:01
Speaker
It's literally like the conversation kind of goes in one ear, not the other, but that's something that we really need to work on because if you know how to listen and you know how to ask the right questions,
00:25:12
Speaker
You're going to close some serious deals, man.
00:25:14
Speaker
You will close serious deals because you're literally asking.
00:25:18
Speaker
It's like a doctor, right?
00:25:21
Speaker
They ask you, they don't know what's wrong with you when you go into the hospital, right?
00:25:25
Speaker
You may be, you know, maybe you have pains in your stomach, but they start asking you questions like, where does it hurt?
00:25:30
Speaker
Right?
00:25:31
Speaker
If it hurts in the stomach and if they don't, if they don't ask you, Hey Taylor, what does it hurt?
00:25:34
Speaker
They're going to be touching all over the place, right?
00:25:37
Speaker
To try to find out where it hurts.
00:25:38
Speaker
Right?
00:25:39
Speaker
They ask specific questions.
00:25:41
Speaker
Where does it hurt?
00:25:42
Speaker
Hurts right here, right on my side.
00:25:44
Speaker
Then they start honing in on that, right?
00:25:46
Speaker
How long has it been hurting?
00:25:48
Speaker
It's really simple questions that can literally increase your conversion rates significantly if you just know how to ask the right questions and listen.
00:25:59
Speaker
Okay.
00:25:59
Speaker
Love it.
00:26:00
Speaker
Yeah.
00:26:01
Speaker
We call that the fact finding in what we do, but yeah, I think that's helps a lot because they're basically telling you how to close them.
00:26:08
Speaker
If you listen, if you listen, you know, exactly.
00:26:12
Speaker
They're giving you your arrows in the quiver, exactly what you need to actually close them.
00:26:16
Speaker
So I think that's definitely different.
00:26:18
Speaker
Exactly.
00:26:19
Speaker
Anything else specific that you, um, focus on before you move on to pillar number two, James?
00:26:26
Speaker
No, it's just basically sales, man.
00:26:27
Speaker
I mean, to get all the other stuff, you're going to have to message me.
00:26:31
Speaker
Yeah, we'd be here all day.
00:26:34
Speaker
Yeah, we would literally be that this whole entire course, the four pillars of silver sales mastery.
00:26:39
Speaker
When our students run through the course, it literally takes a month.
00:26:41
Speaker
So we would literally like be here all day.
00:26:44
Speaker
Right.
00:26:44
Speaker
So yeah, like all month actually.
00:26:47
Speaker
Yeah.
00:26:47
Speaker
Yes.
00:26:48
Speaker
So keep that in mind.
00:26:48
Speaker
This is just a sample taste of what to expect from James.
00:26:52
Speaker
But with that said, let's get into pillar number two, James.
00:26:55
Speaker
What's pillar number two?
00:26:56
Speaker
Pillar number two, man, is automation, right?
00:26:59
Speaker
Auto-freaking-mation.
00:27:02
Speaker
Because you're literally leaving a lot of money on the table.
00:27:05
Speaker
If you think about it, right?
00:27:07
Speaker
If you think about the sales process, 30% close rate is fairly high.
00:27:11
Speaker
The average close rate right now for cold market, right?
00:27:13
Speaker
Obviously for warmer, I get all the, oh, James, I'm 80% close rate.
00:27:16
Speaker
But they're like your mom and your dad, right?
00:27:18
Speaker
Obviously, yeah.
00:27:19
Speaker
Yeah.
00:27:20
Speaker
For cold market, right?
00:27:21
Speaker
You're looking at right around 20%, maybe a little bit higher, right?
00:27:25
Speaker
So basically, a lot of times, consultants, even myself, I've been guilty of this.
00:27:29
Speaker
I focus on the front end.
00:27:31
Speaker
And if I don't close that, I forget about them, right?
00:27:34
Speaker
Say, for example, I sat down with you one evening and you tell her, you say, you know what, James, it's not quite ready.
00:27:39
Speaker
I got to think about it, whatever it was, right?
00:27:42
Speaker
So I may be able to follow up with you once or twice, maybe a couple of emails, a couple of phone calls, but I'm going to get swamped with leads, right?
00:27:50
Speaker
And if I don't have a machine that can help me follow up my leads, I'm literally leaving a lot of money in the table.
00:27:55
Speaker
So basically what I teach my students is the front end, when you're selling in front of the homeowner, you got that 20, 30%.
00:28:02
Speaker
You're going to close that all day.
00:28:03
Speaker
You're going to close that with literally with your eyes closed, but create a machine that can follow up on the 70% of the leads.
00:28:11
Speaker
Because Taylor said he doesn't want it right now or not interested right now doesn't necessarily mean doesn't want it, right?
00:28:19
Speaker
If you can stay connected with a homeowner, eventually, if you keep on dripping value, right?
00:28:25
Speaker
That's the key word here, man, value, not just calling, you know, Taylor up.
00:28:29
Speaker
Hey, Taylor, you ready to move forward yet?
00:28:30
Speaker
No, okay, I'll call next week.
00:28:31
Speaker
Hey, you ready now?
00:28:32
Speaker
No, I'll call next week.
00:28:34
Speaker
It's literally giving value every time you're reaching out.
00:28:37
Speaker
And when that person is ready to move forward, whether that's a week from now, two weeks, three weeks, three years from now, they're going to call you.
00:28:45
Speaker
They're going to say, dude, I'm going to call Taylor.
00:28:47
Speaker
You're going to be top of mind.
00:28:49
Speaker
And they're going to call you.
00:28:50
Speaker
And then eventually that 20% that you're closing that month, right?
00:28:55
Speaker
Because you're closing that up front of the coffee table.
00:28:57
Speaker
All those other consultations that you had in the past, those are all going to start cultivating and start closing as well.
00:29:05
Speaker
And cumulatively, that's how you're going to freaking crush it.
00:29:08
Speaker
You know what I mean?
00:29:09
Speaker
Cumulatively.
00:29:10
Speaker
Yeah.
00:29:10
Speaker
So yeah, I can't stress that enough, dude.
00:29:12
Speaker
I mean, you know, I always express that or show an example like Apple or all these like, you know, big companies, right?
00:29:20
Speaker
They're always staying connected with you.
00:29:22
Speaker
Because when you are ready, or maybe you got an iPhone, you know, I started with an iPhone like four or something like that, right?
00:29:29
Speaker
And every time like a new iPhone would come out, what do they do?
00:29:32
Speaker
They drop you an email, right?
00:29:34
Speaker
Or maybe you get a text, hey, the iPhone five is coming out, iPhone six, seven, iPhone X, right?
00:29:39
Speaker
Because they know your lifetime value and they know if they stay connected with you, you're going to continue to buy.
00:29:45
Speaker
But if they totally fell off in a face of the earth, they're going to
00:29:50
Speaker
I'll probably buy Samsung.
00:29:53
Speaker
It's the same concept, man.
00:29:54
Speaker
It's just taking it into the solar industry and teaching consultants how to play at a higher level.
00:30:01
Speaker
Yeah.
00:30:02
Speaker
No, and I totally agree.
00:30:03
Speaker
I think there's a huge void in the solar industry with the follow-up and with what you're saying, automation.
00:30:09
Speaker
Not many people do it.
00:30:11
Speaker
And yeah, I mean, half the time we knock on people's doors and stuff like that.
00:30:15
Speaker
They said, oh, we met with someone a year ago, but you reminded us that we want to check out solar again.
00:30:21
Speaker
So think if that person would have been following up.
00:30:23
Speaker
I mean, it happens to everybody.
00:30:25
Speaker
So what are some of the things you do, James?
00:30:27
Speaker
Do you have these people in like a list or are you shooting them off?
00:30:31
Speaker
Do you have like email sequences that are being sent off or...
00:30:34
Speaker
What's something specific you do for it?
00:30:36
Speaker
We do a little bit of texting the first week.
00:30:39
Speaker
So basically, there's a machine that we set up, right?
00:30:43
Speaker
And then from there, we drop in that homeowner's information, right?
00:30:47
Speaker
Say, for example, I just got done meeting with you.
00:30:49
Speaker
You say, you know what?
00:30:50
Speaker
I'm not quite ready.
00:30:52
Speaker
I got to talk to my CPA.
00:30:55
Speaker
So what we have is basically custom emails that back that up, right?
00:31:00
Speaker
Because based on what you told us,
00:31:02
Speaker
So what we do is we literally drop you into our opt-in on basically that's the opt-in for I got to talk to my CPA opt-in and it just sends out text messages.
00:31:13
Speaker
We just do that like the first week, like we kind of hit it hard the first week and then it's also sends out emails and as the weeks go by we kind of spread it out and we don't send as much.
00:31:24
Speaker
But basically all the email autoresponders that go out is going to be customized to what you told me or your objection why you weren't moving forward at the time.
00:31:35
Speaker
So that's the key as well.
00:31:36
Speaker
So it's not just generic emails that goes out.
00:31:40
Speaker
So you want to make it as customized as we can.
00:31:42
Speaker
Got it.
00:31:43
Speaker
Okay.
00:31:44
Speaker
And a lot of people I know aren't quite as in obviously aren't as involved in the technology as you are.
00:31:50
Speaker
But what are some of the tools that you're using for these texts and email sequences?
00:31:55
Speaker
I'm sure ClickFunnels is one.
00:31:56
Speaker
What are some of the other tools?
00:31:58
Speaker
That is it, man.
00:31:59
Speaker
I am a fan of Russell Brunson.
00:32:02
Speaker
ClickFunnels is my thing, man.
00:32:03
Speaker
Over the last four and a half years, that's all I've been using.
00:32:06
Speaker
There's plugins that you can use to send out emails like Zapier and things like that.
00:32:10
Speaker
But basically, ClickFunnels is my one-stop shop.
00:32:15
Speaker
Um, I do use like calendars as well that I attach to emails, uh, which is, uh, was that you can book me.com.
00:32:22
Speaker
Oh yeah.
00:32:22
Speaker
Actually.
00:32:23
Speaker
No, sorry.
00:32:23
Speaker
You can book.me.
00:32:25
Speaker
I use that calendar, but other than that, man, that my go-to platform to send out automated messages, uh, is click funnels.
00:32:33
Speaker
Awesome.
00:32:34
Speaker
Cool.
00:32:35
Speaker
There you have it.
00:32:36
Speaker
Cool.
00:32:37
Speaker
Well, I love it.
00:32:37
Speaker
I think that's super important.
00:32:39
Speaker
So, uh, let's hop into number three.
00:32:40
Speaker
What's pillar number three, James?
00:32:42
Speaker
Pillar number three is what everyone needs is leads, man.
00:32:46
Speaker
So pillar number three is basically social media mastery.
00:32:50
Speaker
So what we do is we teach you how to generate leads.
00:32:52
Speaker
The same strategy that we use to generate leads on YouTube, Facebook.
00:32:55
Speaker
And we also, believe it or not, we still use websites, right?
00:33:00
Speaker
It still converts.
00:33:00
Speaker
We actually drive traffic to a blog and a website.
00:33:05
Speaker
Right.
00:33:05
Speaker
So it's pretty amazing.
00:33:08
Speaker
I mean, all the split testings that we've done, because a lot of times to homeowners want more information.
00:33:15
Speaker
So the way we do that is we give them a little snippet of a blog.
00:33:19
Speaker
And then from there, from like, it's basically a Facebook ad, right?
00:33:22
Speaker
We give them a little snippet.
00:33:23
Speaker
And then from there, if they're intrigued and they want to read more, they click the button to, and it bounces over to our blog and then they're going to read the blog.
00:33:31
Speaker
And then from there, they're going to opt in.
00:33:33
Speaker
Right.
00:33:33
Speaker
So it's another strategy that we use that really works right now.
00:33:37
Speaker
But if you really want to crush it in this industry of lead generation, especially through social media, which you probably already know, it's video marketing, man, all day, like providing value via video.
00:33:50
Speaker
Right.
00:33:50
Speaker
Kind of like we talked about earlier, those videos that I made on YouTube, same thing, man, going live on Facebook, reusing that video and, you know, multi-purposing it on YouTube and things like that.
00:34:01
Speaker
Video marketing is the way to go.
00:34:02
Speaker
I mean, even just think about your behavior, how you consume content, right?
00:34:06
Speaker
For me, I mean, I read books and things like that because my wife kind of forced me like, you better read more and things like that, right?
00:34:12
Speaker
But she's a reader.
00:34:13
Speaker
She's actually a lawyer.
00:34:14
Speaker
So she's like, read, read, read.
00:34:15
Speaker
My gosh, I hate reading, right?
00:34:17
Speaker
But I'm reading a lot more than I normally did when I was, you know, before I was married.
00:34:21
Speaker
But the way I consume content personally is through video.
00:34:25
Speaker
I love videos.
00:34:26
Speaker
And I honestly feel that's the wave of the future.
00:34:29
Speaker
You know what I mean?
00:34:29
Speaker
Because a lot of people are now a little bit lazier than usual.
00:34:33
Speaker
And, you know, they rather either listen to a podcast or listen to audio or watch a video, right?
00:34:40
Speaker
So video marketing and like podcasts like this that you have is amazing tools to get homeowners involved and get them interested in opting in to get a solar consultation.
00:34:53
Speaker
Okay.
00:34:53
Speaker
And so how do you turn a video in an actual lead is a video and create and then you're
00:34:59
Speaker
you're turning it into a Facebook ad or using YouTube for it or what's your strategy with the video question?
00:35:05
Speaker
Yeah.
00:35:05
Speaker
So, um, yeah.
00:35:07
Speaker
So as far as Facebook, you would create what we, what, what I teach my students is we create value videos.
00:35:13
Speaker
Okay.
00:35:14
Speaker
Right.
00:35:14
Speaker
So it's just basically like, Hey, what's the difference from a lease to a finance?
00:35:18
Speaker
What's the best solar companies out there?
00:35:19
Speaker
What's the net energy metering?
00:35:21
Speaker
Ha ha.
00:35:22
Speaker
What is a ITC federal tax credit?
00:35:24
Speaker
So based on those videos, based on our engagements or the engagements that you're getting based on those videos, we retarget every single homeowner, right?
00:35:34
Speaker
Back in the day, or even a lot of ads that people are, um,
00:35:40
Speaker
are using right now, it's what I call them is like a shotgun blast.
00:35:44
Speaker
And I do what we still do this now, right?
00:35:46
Speaker
So basically a shotgun blast kind of ad is you got a picture of a house with some solar panels and you got pretty good copy and you're driving them to an opt-in page and you just shotgun blasting, like say, for example, California homeowners, right?
00:35:59
Speaker
So that still works, but the ad spend cost is a lot of money.
00:36:04
Speaker
So what we're doing is we're taking a sniper approach.
00:36:08
Speaker
I mean, like straight sniper, right?
00:36:10
Speaker
We want to, it's like literally one bullet, one, one, one homework.
00:36:12
Speaker
Obviously we're not killing them, but it's just a figure.
00:36:16
Speaker
But basically, um,
00:36:18
Speaker
what we're doing is we're providing value videos and depending on who's watching them, how long they're watching them, we're retargeting them.
00:36:25
Speaker
And if they're not quite ready, say for example, they watched like two seconds of our video, that just shows us they're just not quite ready or they don't like that content.
00:36:34
Speaker
So we serve them something else, right?
00:36:36
Speaker
And we keep serving it to them, serving it to them until they get to watch or they watch a certain amount of our video.
00:36:42
Speaker
And if from there we do the sniper, you know what I mean?
00:36:44
Speaker
After they watch a certain percentage of our video,
00:36:47
Speaker
Perfect.
00:36:48
Speaker
Let's get them.
00:36:48
Speaker
Right.
00:36:49
Speaker
So in that situation, when somebody watches a certain percentage of our video, we change the video from an offer to, excuse me, from a value video to an offer.
00:36:58
Speaker
Right.
00:36:59
Speaker
So now we're giving them an offer.
00:37:00
Speaker
Right.
00:37:01
Speaker
Hey, Mr. Homeowner, it looks like you've been watching our videos.
00:37:03
Speaker
Okay.
00:37:03
Speaker
So, you know, click the link below to get a free solar consultation.
00:37:07
Speaker
Right.
00:37:07
Speaker
So that's when we're serving the offer.
00:37:09
Speaker
We're not serving it every single time.
00:37:11
Speaker
Okay.
00:37:12
Speaker
Love it.
00:37:12
Speaker
Sniper approach.
00:37:14
Speaker
I love that idea.
00:37:16
Speaker
I like it.
00:37:17
Speaker
And how much is a paid versus like organic?
00:37:20
Speaker
Like are you, every time you create a video, is it actual page kind of Facebook ads that you're doing?
00:37:26
Speaker
Good question.
00:37:27
Speaker
Yes, it's paid, right?
00:37:29
Speaker
So if you're looking for organic free traffic, that's when you drive those videos into YouTube because those are the guys or homeowners that's searching, right?
00:37:38
Speaker
What's the best solar company?
00:37:39
Speaker
What are the best solar panels?
00:37:41
Speaker
Yeah.
00:37:41
Speaker
Right.
00:37:41
Speaker
So organic traffic would definitely come from, from YouTube.
00:37:44
Speaker
Obviously you can still pay for Google ad ad words.
00:37:47
Speaker
Um, but, uh, if you just want to get in front of homeowners with your advertisements, um, you're going to have to pay for it.
00:37:54
Speaker
Yeah.
00:37:54
Speaker
Unfortunately, uh, in, in, in Facebook.
00:37:56
Speaker
Yeah.
00:37:57
Speaker
Okay.
00:37:57
Speaker
Well worth the cost though, if you can get those consistent leads.
00:38:01
Speaker
Absolutely.
00:38:02
Speaker
And I just literally just made a video before this is, you know, my message is as a solar consultant or a solopreneur, you have to have an ad spend budget, right?
00:38:14
Speaker
20% of what you make should always go back to ads or go back to like, you know, personal development, go back to investing into, you know, going to events, have some sort of budget to do that.
00:38:27
Speaker
Because a lot of times, yeah, we get this big pop.
00:38:29
Speaker
And now instead of like putting it,
00:38:32
Speaker
reinvesting it into your business, you go out and freaking blow it off at the bar or some of the buddies, right?
00:38:37
Speaker
Which is cool.
00:38:38
Speaker
I mean, do that too, right?
00:38:39
Speaker
If that's what you like to do.
00:38:41
Speaker
But always remember that I need to grow my business.
00:38:45
Speaker
I need to grow my business.
00:38:47
Speaker
And the way to do that is allocating money for marketing.
00:38:52
Speaker
Right.
00:38:52
Speaker
Allocate money for marketing.
00:38:54
Speaker
Unless you're waiting for, you know, your company to give you their leads, which is a lot less.
00:39:00
Speaker
Right.
00:39:00
Speaker
Especially for the guys that are creating like EPC dealerships.
00:39:04
Speaker
You're on your own.
00:39:05
Speaker
Right.
00:39:05
Speaker
You're on your own.
00:39:06
Speaker
So save the money, allocate it and reuse it for marketing, man.
00:39:11
Speaker
Yeah.
00:39:12
Speaker
I'm super important.
00:39:13
Speaker
I totally agree with that.
00:39:14
Speaker
And that's what we're trying to create with this solarpreneur podcast movement is people that treat themselves as entrepreneurs.
00:39:21
Speaker
Cause yeah, you look at a sales rep, if you're just a sales rep, yeah, I mean, typically those guys probably aren't going to invest themselves, but you're, if you're an entrepreneur, if you're treating yourselves as a business, yeah, you're going to invest into your employees.
00:39:35
Speaker
You're going to invest in ad spend.
00:39:36
Speaker
You're going to invest in your marketing.
00:39:37
Speaker
You're going to invest in your personal development.
00:39:39
Speaker
Yeah.
00:39:40
Speaker
So I completely agree with that.
00:39:43
Speaker
I think that's super important.
00:39:45
Speaker
So James, let's get into the last pillar.
00:39:47
Speaker
What is pillar number four?
00:39:49
Speaker
Pillar four, man.
00:39:50
Speaker
Pillar four, you're tapping into the mastery level now, right?
00:39:53
Speaker
So basically, I always compare it to like, if you're doing like jiu-jitsu or martial arts, you're literally in a black belt or like red belt status now, right?
00:40:01
Speaker
So now you know how to sell, right?
00:40:03
Speaker
Because that's pillar number one.
00:40:05
Speaker
Now you automate your sales process.
00:40:07
Speaker
That's pillar number two.
00:40:09
Speaker
The third pillar is now you know how to generate leads.
00:40:12
Speaker
The fourth pillar is now let's sell this thing online, right?
00:40:16
Speaker
Sell it online so you can be around your family, around your friends, or wherever you want to be.
00:40:22
Speaker
And we also give you an access for a platform where you can sell this thing online.
00:40:28
Speaker
Right.
00:40:28
Speaker
So imagine now how powerful that is.
00:40:31
Speaker
I mean, it's great to have consultations and your calendar booked and you're meeting homeowners and you're driving around.
00:40:36
Speaker
That's amazing.
00:40:38
Speaker
But at the end of the day, dude, you're going to burn yourself out and you're never going to see your family because I've been there.
00:40:43
Speaker
Right.
00:40:43
Speaker
It's like, oh, damn, I cracked the code.
00:40:45
Speaker
Right.
00:40:45
Speaker
I'm getting all these leads, closing deals.
00:40:47
Speaker
Right.
00:40:48
Speaker
But after a while, you're like, dude, I'm just burning myself out.
00:40:52
Speaker
So how can I do this thing literally around my family?
00:40:55
Speaker
I'm really literally at home now.
00:40:57
Speaker
And even my coaching calls and things like that, I'm always home.
00:41:00
Speaker
Or if I wanted to take a vacation, I can just literally grab my laptop and a Wi-Fi connection.
00:41:06
Speaker
And just as long as I have the proposal, I'm ready to rock and roll.
00:41:09
Speaker
Right.
00:41:10
Speaker
So you're going to be able to have freedom, right?
00:41:13
Speaker
Literally like freedom.
00:41:15
Speaker
Once you know how to sell online and have the ability to actually use a platform where you can sell literally anywhere in the country.
00:41:23
Speaker
Right.
00:41:24
Speaker
So it's really, really powerful.
00:41:26
Speaker
Really, really, really powerful.
00:41:26
Speaker
When you put all four of these together, you have a recipe for success, man, in this industry.
00:41:32
Speaker
Yeah.
00:41:33
Speaker
And that's, I like the sound of that because I was just talking with a buddy.
00:41:37
Speaker
Matter of fact, we're just talking about how typically anyone in the solar industry, if you decide to go on vacation or something like that, I mean, it's potentially you're spending thousands of dollars because think about it.
00:41:49
Speaker
If you can't sell online, well, number one, you're spending what it costs you to go on that vacation.
00:41:54
Speaker
But number two, if you can't work, I mean, if you can only work in San Diego or wherever you're at,
00:42:00
Speaker
then you potentially missed out on five appointments.
00:42:03
Speaker
Maybe all five of them closing.
00:42:05
Speaker
Maybe that would have made you 10 grand that you missed out on, you know, huge opportunity cost.
00:42:11
Speaker
So I like the sound of that super interesting.
00:42:13
Speaker
Interesting.
00:42:14
Speaker
So it can be done, man.
00:42:15
Speaker
It can be done.
00:42:16
Speaker
A lot of guys are kind of hesitant, obviously, you know, face to face,
00:42:21
Speaker
is a great way to like build rapport and things like that, right?
00:42:24
Speaker
Because you can feel their energy, they can feel you and things like that, right?
00:42:28
Speaker
But if you really tee it up correctly, right from the get go and set proper expectations with the homeowner that this is going to be done online because I want to help you out, right?
00:42:37
Speaker
It's not about you.
00:42:37
Speaker
It's not about us, right?
00:42:38
Speaker
It's about them.
00:42:39
Speaker
We want it to be more convenient for you so you don't have to clean up your house or give the dog a bath, whatever it is, right?
00:42:49
Speaker
You don't literally have to do that.
00:42:50
Speaker
What I'm gonna do, it's this easy.
00:42:53
Speaker
You have an email.
00:42:54
Speaker
Yes.
00:42:55
Speaker
Great.
00:42:56
Speaker
And you're basically tech savvy enough to access this online meeting because I'm going to shoot you over an email, open it up and click a link.
00:43:03
Speaker
Can you do that?
00:43:04
Speaker
Yes.
00:43:05
Speaker
Awesome.
00:43:06
Speaker
We are ready to rock and roll.
00:43:07
Speaker
You know what I mean?
00:43:08
Speaker
So it's literally that easy, man.
00:43:09
Speaker
Yeah.
00:43:10
Speaker
Boom.
00:43:11
Speaker
That's awesome.
00:43:11
Speaker
That's awesome.
00:43:13
Speaker
Oh, cool.
00:43:13
Speaker
So four pillars, definitely some good content.
00:43:16
Speaker
So just to review, you got pillar number one is learning how to sell.
00:43:20
Speaker
Pillar number two is learning the automation piece.
00:43:23
Speaker
Number three is mastering your leads and your social media.
00:43:26
Speaker
And number four is mastery and taking your sales on the road, being able to make money from anywhere.
Personal Development and Next Steps
00:43:33
Speaker
So James, love the content, love what you shared with us today.
00:43:37
Speaker
So I know we barely scratched the surface on this and hopefully people reach out to you and, you know, go through some of your courses and other content you've put out there.
00:43:47
Speaker
But tell us where can people find out more about you and what you're doing?
00:43:52
Speaker
and give us kind of a preview.
00:43:54
Speaker
Absolutely.
00:43:55
Speaker
So I've actually given a free strategy call.
00:43:58
Speaker
So if you want a strategy call, maybe you're using some of these strategies already and you just want someone to look it over like Facebook marketing, or maybe you want to get started in Facebook marketing or even sales or automation or learning how to sell online, schedule a strategy call.
00:44:13
Speaker
It's solarstrategycall.com.
00:44:15
Speaker
It's nearly that easy.
00:44:16
Speaker
And after you, after you schedule a strategy call, jump on my Facebook page and like the page, right?
00:44:21
Speaker
Support the page.
00:44:22
Speaker
It's James, the solar energy expert.
00:44:24
Speaker
Okay.
00:44:25
Speaker
Yeah, definitely.
00:44:26
Speaker
For all our solopreneurs, show James some love with what he shared with us today and appreciation.
00:44:31
Speaker
And we'll link to that in the show notes.
00:44:33
Speaker
That's solarstrategycall.com, right?
00:44:36
Speaker
Right.
00:44:37
Speaker
Cool.
00:44:37
Speaker
And James, we appreciate you sharing what you've shared with us today.
00:44:41
Speaker
And I think for sure you're all people reaching out.
00:44:45
Speaker
So where any final advice that you would give for our solar preneurs, James, before we say goodbye?
00:44:51
Speaker
Absolutely.
00:44:53
Speaker
First and foremost, man, thank you for having me on the show.
00:44:55
Speaker
It's guys like yourself that's literally taking this
00:44:59
Speaker
solar movement and helping their environment and helping other people succeed.
00:45:03
Speaker
So first and foremost, dude, thank you, right?
00:45:06
Speaker
We need a lot more of Taylors out there to start podcasts, to provide value, to help other people make more money.
00:45:12
Speaker
And obviously when consultants make money, that means that we're putting glass on rooftops, right?
00:45:18
Speaker
And we're helping the environment.
00:45:19
Speaker
So thank you, Taylor, for having the podcast.
00:45:22
Speaker
But basically, man, for me, it's literally like investing in yourself.
00:45:27
Speaker
Because if you don't invest in yourself to take your sales game to the next level, next year, you're going to be in the same situation that you're in right now, right?
00:45:36
Speaker
Nothing's going to change.
00:45:37
Speaker
And you probably heard of it, Tony Robbins, right?
00:45:39
Speaker
That's definitely the definition of insanity.
00:45:41
Speaker
He's doing something over and over and over again, expecting a different result.
00:45:45
Speaker
So if you're getting the same results over the last few years, maybe you've been in the solar industry for like two, three, four years, and you're like, dude, I'm making good money.
00:45:53
Speaker
I'm like right around 60K, 80K, 100K, but I really want to take it to the next level.
00:45:59
Speaker
I highly suggest to invest in yourself, right?
00:46:02
Speaker
Regardless if you invest in my courses, maybe Taylor has courses, anyone's courses, just really save the money if you don't have it now.
00:46:10
Speaker
And invest in yourself because that's what's going to take you to the next level of wherever you want to be in life.
00:46:16
Speaker
Whether that's business, whether it's finance, whether, you know, it's a spiritual thing.
00:46:21
Speaker
Maybe you want to, you know, be a better father, a better, you know, husband, wife, whatever it is, right?
00:46:27
Speaker
Invest in yourself.
00:46:28
Speaker
Find somebody that's already doing what you're basically want to do and then go learn from them, right?
00:46:34
Speaker
So that's my suggestion, man.
00:46:36
Speaker
I love it, 100%.
00:46:36
Speaker
Yeah, you got to take the risk.
00:46:38
Speaker
If you don't have money, we'll go out and close the deal.
00:46:42
Speaker
financing because yeah people all the time are going well are putting their money on the line and putting it all out there because if you don't have the skin on the game then very unlikely that you're going to reach that level of success that guys like James have achieved so James thank you for coming on the show and yeah we're definitely going to hopefully maybe have you on in the future too but thanks for sharing your four pillars of success and with that we'll let you go so thanks again James
00:47:10
Speaker
Hey, thank you, Taylor.
00:47:11
Speaker
Thanks for having me, man.
00:47:12
Speaker
Yeah, take care.
00:47:14
Speaker
Yo, solarpreneurs, hopefully you enjoyed today's episode with James Ramos.
00:47:19
Speaker
Go and apply those four pillars in your solar cells.
00:47:22
Speaker
Take your game to another level.
00:47:24
Speaker
And look, all we ask for the podcast, you don't have to pay us.
00:47:28
Speaker
You don't have to do anything crazy.
00:47:30
Speaker
Just go and rate, review it, and share it with one person.
00:47:33
Speaker
If we do that, we're going to take this to another level, and that's how we are able to change people's lives and take the solar industry by storm.
00:47:43
Speaker
Next week, we're going to do something a little bit different.
00:47:45
Speaker
We're going to go through our exact closing process that I've been using currently.
00:47:50
Speaker
We're going to go through exactly how we do it.
00:47:53
Speaker
So if you know anyone who's struggling to close that needs to take their closing percentage up,
00:47:58
Speaker
We're going to go through the closing techniques that we use to maintain around a 50% closing ratio.
00:48:05
Speaker
So tune in to next week's episode.
00:48:07
Speaker
You're not going to want to miss it.
00:48:08
Speaker
It's with Dallin Pankeri, and we're going to go through our exact close process.
00:48:13
Speaker
See you next week.
00:48:15
Speaker
Wow, what another amazing episode of the Solarpreneur Podcast.
00:48:20
Speaker
Now, before we take off here, do us a favor and go leave an honest review on your platform of choice or wherever you're listening to this podcast.
00:48:29
Speaker
It helps us get the word out about the Solarpreneur Movement and impact more entrepreneurs, sales professionals, and marketers just like you.
00:48:37
Speaker
And hey, don't forget to head over to Facebook and join the Solarpreneur Group for more daily content,
00:48:43
Speaker
It's going to impact you and help you take your sales game to the next level.
00:48:47
Speaker
See you guys in the next episode.