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How To Crush The Solar Blitz Model - James Wood
171 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 Personal Journey
00:00:03
Speaker
Welcome to the Solarpreneur Podcast, where we teach you to take your solar business to the next level.
00:00:08
Speaker
My name is Taylor Armstrong.
00:00:10
Speaker
I went from $50 in my bank account and struggling for groceries to closing 150 deals in a year and cracking the code on why sales reps 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?
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
All right, good morning, everybody.
00:00:43
Speaker
We are back with another amazing podcast.
00:00:46
Speaker
And this is a newfound friend of mine we have on the podcast today actually just got done at a little men's retreat and event with this man.
00:00:53
Speaker
And super powerful.
00:00:55
Speaker
This guy brings the heat whenever he talks.
James Wood and the Power of Retreats
00:00:57
Speaker
So I'm excited to have the one the only Mr. James would thanks for coming on the podcast with us today, James.
00:01:02
Speaker
Yeah, thanks for having me, Taylor.
00:01:03
Speaker
It was a blast.
00:01:04
Speaker
We finally met.
00:01:06
Speaker
Somehow we've managed to not meet all this time despite us both being active in the social circles.
00:01:11
Speaker
So it's about time it happened.
00:01:13
Speaker
I know.
00:01:14
Speaker
I know.
00:01:14
Speaker
It was pretty, pretty interesting.
00:01:16
Speaker
We both were like, oh, we're in solar and we've been at like probably 10 of the same events.
00:01:21
Speaker
Yeah.
00:01:22
Speaker
somehow hadn't met each other.
00:01:23
Speaker
I know we're both at solar con.
00:01:25
Speaker
I was like moderating some of the stuff and you were running around with all the speakers.
00:01:29
Speaker
I'm like, how did we not meet each other?
00:01:30
Speaker
At least to that.
00:01:31
Speaker
I'm sure we saw each other, but I know you're a popular guy.
00:01:34
Speaker
So probably, probably I couldn't get your attention.
00:01:38
Speaker
Right.
00:01:38
Speaker
Well, right back at you.
00:01:39
Speaker
I think you're more popular than me.
00:01:41
Speaker
Uh,
00:01:42
Speaker
No, but I can tell because, yeah, James is so many that we just got done with this momentous man retreat with James Bunnell.
00:01:50
Speaker
Super good at retreat.
00:01:51
Speaker
We'll probably talk a little bit about her in a minute.
00:01:53
Speaker
But no, I could tell James is someone that's really good at connecting with people.
00:01:57
Speaker
It's networking.
00:01:59
Speaker
And you can tell he's just a guy that everyone wants to learn from and be around.
00:02:02
Speaker
So I'm excited to talk a lot about that stuff.
00:02:04
Speaker
Yeah.
00:02:05
Speaker
his background in solar and how he trains his team.
00:02:08
Speaker
But yes, we'll introduce you a little bit, James.
00:02:10
Speaker
But he is the VP of sales at a company called E-Eagles.
00:02:15
Speaker
I know you guys are what in three states?
00:02:17
Speaker
Is that right?
00:02:18
Speaker
Two states?
00:02:19
Speaker
Right now, just Illinois.
00:02:20
Speaker
We've done some other states in the past, but our main focus has been Illinois.
00:02:23
Speaker
We just recently opened up Ohio and we're looking to expand into a couple other potential markets as well.
00:02:28
Speaker
So, yeah, I want to get into your background and everything, James.
00:02:30
Speaker
But before that, I guess while it's fresh around our mind, we just got done with this men's retreat, Momentous Man, and had a good time there.
00:02:39
Speaker
So, yeah, what were your thoughts on the events?
00:02:42
Speaker
And I guess would you recommend people do events like that?
00:02:45
Speaker
But I'm curious to hear your thoughts on the event we just got done doing.
00:02:50
Speaker
Yeah, I, um, so I'd never done anything like that before.
00:02:53
Speaker
Um, but I've known Jens for a couple of years.
00:02:55
Speaker
Again, seen him, met him at a event I was emceeing for, for the SolarCon guys when they were doing those solar bootcamps.
00:03:01
Speaker
Um, and he hit me up and asked if I would, uh, want to join.
00:03:05
Speaker
And I was like, well, I'm going to be a dad in February.
00:03:07
Speaker
So it seems like a good time to like try to grow and develop.
00:03:10
Speaker
Um, and, uh,
00:03:14
Speaker
I don't know if you did like the little exit interview thing with Carlos where they like, you know, they recorded like a testimonial sort of thing.
00:03:20
Speaker
And it's like, I want to encourage people to go, but I also feel like if you tell people too much, like half of the, I think half of the benefit of it is just kind of going in blind and trusting the process.
Challenges and Growth in Solar Sales
00:03:29
Speaker
But yeah, it was, I would highly recommend it.
00:03:31
Speaker
It was really cool.
00:03:32
Speaker
Jen's definitely knows his stuff and knows what he's doing and,
00:03:36
Speaker
Got to meet a lot of cool people.
00:03:37
Speaker
And I think there was a lot of growth that happened with a lot of people and then a lot of fun activities too.
00:03:41
Speaker
Taking out those.
00:03:41
Speaker
I've never done like doing side-by-sides or shotguns before, Taylor.
00:03:45
Speaker
That's fun.
00:03:46
Speaker
I mean, you're getting in the cold plunge with other guys.
00:03:50
Speaker
Yeah, we did cold plunge, sauna, side-by-sides.
00:03:56
Speaker
So yeah, it was fun.
00:03:58
Speaker
I will say, I did feel pretty cool when I beat you and your brother in our little skeet shooting elimination game.
00:04:05
Speaker
That made me feel pretty cool.
00:04:09
Speaker
Wasn't that your first time?
00:04:13
Speaker
Yeah, literally the first time shooting a shotgun.
00:04:17
Speaker
So yeah, pretty embarrassing.
00:04:18
Speaker
I grew up in a small town where that's like what we did every weekend practically.
00:04:22
Speaker
Yeah.
00:04:23
Speaker
um yeah beginner's luck is definitely a thing yeah so no it's fun though um and yeah for those that aren't like familiar with jen's bundle his company is momentum i think it's called but uh yeah he runs a lot of events like that where it's just kind of like you know the emotional side he's getting his like phd in um psychology i think and
00:04:46
Speaker
And so he's really good at just like tapping in.
00:04:48
Speaker
It's not sales training, but it's, you know, just like mental, emotional, improving relationships.
00:04:55
Speaker
So I actually think it's something that a lot of guys neglect in sales because everyone's like, oh, more sales, more.
00:05:03
Speaker
this and that.
00:05:03
Speaker
But, um, a lot of times we don't think about what's this other part.
00:05:07
Speaker
So many sales guys have like problems with maybe addiction or like, you know, issues, emotional issues and, uh, need to master that side of it.
00:05:15
Speaker
And, um, it's like Jen's talks about his events.
00:05:19
Speaker
Um, just, um,
00:05:20
Speaker
just focusing on those things not even sales training as he's seen a huge increase in guys uh sales numbers just by like focusing not even on sales training but on just like you know the mental emotional um psychological stuff going on so yeah that's what i think is really well man i don't know if the same i know you manage people too but if uh if the same is true for you as it is for me it's like sometimes your top sales guys uh but it's like the better they are at selling the more dysfunctional their personal lives are
00:05:49
Speaker
Yeah, definitely seen that.
00:05:52
Speaker
So it was definitely, I thought it was really cool just to go.
00:05:57
Speaker
And I guess that I'd encourage anyone, whether you're just a salesman, you interviewed him.
00:06:00
Speaker
You had a podcast with him not too long ago, right?
00:06:02
Speaker
Yeah.
00:06:03
Speaker
Yeah.
00:06:03
Speaker
Really good.
00:06:05
Speaker
So, I mean, I'd say if you, uh, if you're all curious about it, check out that interview that Taylor did.
00:06:10
Speaker
Uh, and if you like what you hear, cause, um, like you said, just kind of, you know, especially if you're in management, you know, you're spending a lot of time always like coaching other people on mindset stuff or whatever.
00:06:19
Speaker
So I went into it and I was like, I know I'm going to learn something, but I don't know what I'm going to learn.
00:06:23
Speaker
Cause it's like, Hey, I've read all the books and done this stuff.
00:06:26
Speaker
And like, I kind of know that, but it was so really cool.
00:06:28
Speaker
Like I learned a lot of stuff that I,
00:06:30
Speaker
I told Jen's it felt like it was like some missing pieces that I didn't know were missing and then it just kind of made for a better collective picture after filling those gaps.
00:06:40
Speaker
Yeah, no, super powerful being able to connect with, you know, a group of like, like-minded people that are all trying to improve in their relationships and their businesses and work on that side of things.
00:06:50
Speaker
So definitely cool.
00:06:51
Speaker
And there's a lot of non-solar people too.
00:06:53
Speaker
I'm sure you're a lot like me where it's like, hey, I love everybody in solar, but sometimes it feels like everyone I know is in solar.
00:06:59
Speaker
So it's like meetings of people outside of that world.
00:07:01
Speaker
Yeah.
00:07:02
Speaker
yeah yeah yeah sometimes you get sick of solar guys yeah for sure no super cool but yeah no so jen's he didn't pay us to make a testimonial form or anything but but no we just um wanted to talk about jensen jensen pay jensen pay you he sent me like 10 grand for this okay
00:07:24
Speaker
Taylor and I literally were talking at the retreat.
00:07:26
Speaker
I was like, hey, we should definitely do a podcast.
00:07:28
Speaker
And I was like, yeah, I think that we should definitely give Jen the shout out for it.
00:07:31
Speaker
Because again, if you're listening to this, you're obviously the type of person that likes learning new stuff and growing.
00:07:36
Speaker
And I would just go into a blind, just do it.
00:07:40
Speaker
You won't regret it.
00:07:40
Speaker
If you regret it, I'll cover the cost.
00:07:44
Speaker
I'm that confident that people will enjoy it.
00:07:47
Speaker
Well, money back guarantee.
00:07:49
Speaker
Okay.
00:07:50
Speaker
Cool.
00:07:51
Speaker
Well, yeah, so that was great events.
00:07:53
Speaker
So yeah, let's get into your background a little bit, James.
00:07:56
Speaker
Like how'd you get into solar?
00:07:58
Speaker
What were you doing before this?
00:08:00
Speaker
Yeah, because I actually don't even know that.
00:08:02
Speaker
I didn't ask you that at the event.
00:08:03
Speaker
So yeah.
00:08:04
Speaker
What's your background?
00:08:05
Speaker
I've been in solar since 2018.
00:08:09
Speaker
Before that, I was doing cemetery sales.
00:08:11
Speaker
So I was literally at the cemetery selling headstones and burial plots and stuff like that.
00:08:17
Speaker
Our customers were dying to see us.
00:08:19
Speaker
And I was doing that and I had a buddy that was doing sales, solar sales.
00:08:24
Speaker
And he basically said, he was like, dude, I don't care what you're doing right now.
00:08:27
Speaker
You can definitely make more money selling solar.
00:08:30
Speaker
Like there's this going on, blah, blah, blah.
00:08:32
Speaker
So I kind of got into doing that.
00:08:34
Speaker
I actually was trying to get into like life insurance, I think.
00:08:37
Speaker
They ended up rejecting me, which was very disappointing because at the time I was dealing with legal issues.
00:08:44
Speaker
They were like, yeah, we can't do this while this is still pending.
00:08:46
Speaker
I made some poor choices in 2015, 2016.
00:08:48
Speaker
It still had a pending DUI on there.
00:08:51
Speaker
They were like, yeah, we won't hire you with this.
00:08:53
Speaker
Okay.
00:08:54
Speaker
I thought you were going to say because you were doing cemetery cells before, so it was like conflict of interest.
00:09:00
Speaker
Oh, conflict of interest.
00:09:02
Speaker
That's really funny.
00:09:06
Speaker
Yes, I got into that and the company was kind of a similar story.
00:09:09
Speaker
And I know it sounds like we had similar sort of journeys in solar with the whole started off, did a little bit of setting, but really got into closing really quickly because I had sales experience and they had a bunch of setters and a lot of appointments.
00:09:21
Speaker
So really, I shadowed two appointments and then I was like, all right, well, here's appointments, go close.
00:09:27
Speaker
I had really no idea.
00:09:28
Speaker
At first, I was very doubtful.
00:09:29
Speaker
I was like, there's no way people are signing these contracts and doing this and whatever else.
00:09:33
Speaker
But sure enough, that company was not one of the best companies.
00:09:36
Speaker
It was one of the
Market Fluctuations and Cost of Living
00:09:37
Speaker
ones doing...
00:09:39
Speaker
I won't name any names, but doing the whole... I'm grateful for the opportunity, learned a lot, got me into solar.
00:09:44
Speaker
And at the time, I was like, this is so much money.
00:09:47
Speaker
This is amazing.
00:09:47
Speaker
This is so much better than what I was doing.
00:09:49
Speaker
But looking back on it, we were doing the whole selling a 70% offset and saying that it was 30 because... Or saying it was 100 because of light bulbs and thermostat and selling it like 650 a watt and then getting paid like $200 a kilowatt.
00:10:04
Speaker
I've been like... And this was before the crazy dealer fee days and all that stuff.
00:10:09
Speaker
So I ended up... I got into... I went to the Solar Cheat Code event in Key West with Bill Murphy and met a bunch of people there.
00:10:18
Speaker
And then got into doing the online marketing stuff to generate leads.
00:10:21
Speaker
And this was back in the winter wonderland days where you could get Facebook leads for $7 a lead.
00:10:27
Speaker
And then half of them... You would call them and half of them would answer.
00:10:31
Speaker
And then half of those would set an appointment.
00:10:32
Speaker
And I was like, this is the best.
00:10:33
Speaker
thing ever um but but the company only wanted to there they were like because i was like well this is going to get paid as a self-gen and then i'm just going to split it with whoever closes it if i don't close it and they're like oh no we're going to pay you as a setter on this and i was like oh no i don't think that's how it's going to work but basically just from there branched off i ended up having starting a sales org uh with uh my business partner's i'm austin and just built it from there covid hit right after we started doing that and uh
00:11:01
Speaker
That's how we got into blitzing was we were like, well, we can't sell here, but Florida is like, you have no fuck zone, so you can go do whatever you want down there.
00:11:09
Speaker
So we started going down to Florida just to get around the COVID stuff.
00:11:13
Speaker
It's funny looking back on that where it's like everyone's like, well, make sure you stay at home and don't talk to strangers and don't travel.
00:11:18
Speaker
We were traveling and putting a bunch of dudes in a blitz house and going and talking to strangers and sitting in their homes.
00:11:24
Speaker
So we did have like really strict quarantine rules though.
00:11:27
Speaker
Like if someone got the sniffles or anything like that, they either stayed in the room all day or they went home.
00:11:31
Speaker
Cause I was like, listen, I don't want to be getting sick.
00:11:34
Speaker
That's cool.
00:11:35
Speaker
Were you in Houston though?
00:11:36
Speaker
You've always been in Houston or did you start solar in a different market before?
00:11:40
Speaker
No, I started in, I was living in upstate South Carolina in Greenville.
00:11:44
Speaker
And then we, I was selling primarily in like the Asheville, North Carolina area.
00:11:49
Speaker
So I was like driving up an hour, uh,
00:11:53
Speaker
And then an hour back for every day for appointments and stuff.
00:11:57
Speaker
And then we... And then ended up... Like I said, once we moved away from that company and couldn't really sell in South Carolina, North Carolina very well, started doing Florida.
00:12:07
Speaker
Basically started a sales org.
00:12:09
Speaker
And then we were like...
00:12:11
Speaker
a dealer through SET, which was one of the companies for Lumia, which is how I met Cody Thiel.
00:12:18
Speaker
We were basically doing the same sort of stuff you were doing, where it's like putting jobs through whatever, Palmetto and Empire and whoever else was in the area.
00:12:28
Speaker
And some of those worked out and some of them did not work out.
00:12:33
Speaker
Yep, we're joking that until you haven't been paid in solar, you haven't actually been in solar.
00:12:38
Speaker
Until you've been having been paid on five figures in jobs, then you're like an initiate.
00:12:45
Speaker
And once it's six figures, then it's like, okay, now you're a solar rep.
00:12:48
Speaker
Yeah.
00:12:51
Speaker
Which, honestly, is really sad when you think about it.
00:12:53
Speaker
Like, we joke about it because, like, what else is there to do?
00:12:56
Speaker
But the fact that that's something that's even a joke is such a consistent experience is kind of... I'm hoping that this kind of, like, solar winter that we've been going through kind of weeds out a lot of that nonsense and, you know, we end up in a more... I know you've been at Legacy for a little while now, and that's been pretty stable for you, right?
00:13:13
Speaker
Yeah.
00:13:14
Speaker
Yeah.
00:13:14
Speaker
It's been much better.
00:13:15
Speaker
And that's one of the reasons why I like, you know, switch to them and just cause I was sick of being a smaller dealer is not getting paid out and just so many ups and downs.
00:13:25
Speaker
And yeah, there's going to be ups and downs at any company, I think.
00:13:28
Speaker
Um, but you know, that's at this point in my career, it's like when you have kids and all that and mortgage to pay, I'm just like, I want to, I'm, I'm over this, not getting paid.
00:13:39
Speaker
And
00:13:40
Speaker
Maybe higher payout, but yeah, risk sometimes a lot higher.
00:13:44
Speaker
Yeah, I can't speak for everybody in every market.
00:13:46
Speaker
There's still people out there that I know that have been in solar as long as I have and they haven't had issues.
00:13:52
Speaker
It's pretty rare to be in solar.
00:13:56
Speaker
So I guess it can be done, but yeah, no, I think it's definitely a
00:14:00
Speaker
more common to have some ups and downs and hopefully we'll look back in five years from now and hopefully there'll be much less cases of companies going on a business and everything.
00:14:10
Speaker
So it seems to me like solar's hopefully, hopefully it's kind of been at more of a rock bottom coming up, but I don't know.
00:14:16
Speaker
What are your predictions?
00:14:17
Speaker
Do you think it's, are you, are you predicting that it'll start coming up and things are going to get a lot better?
00:14:22
Speaker
What are you seeing?
00:14:26
Speaker
I think the things my general sentiment is so we've been very fortunate.
00:14:29
Speaker
You know, we were in a good market and we were able to kind of weather the storm.
00:14:33
Speaker
And so we were one of the companies that's really been kind of growing month over month over the last year or so.
00:14:37
Speaker
When a lot of companies are really struggling, not to say we haven't had our struggles, but, you know, we've been very fortunate.
00:14:43
Speaker
Yes.
00:14:44
Speaker
I think that it feels like things are kind of stabilizing.
00:14:47
Speaker
And I think that like the general prediction is that, you know, we're going to keep kind of seeing companies fall off and there's going to be a consolidation.
00:14:53
Speaker
We're going to have like the companies that survived and probably still be some small and medium sized companies and then a couple of larger companies.
00:15:00
Speaker
And if you look at what the markets did in Europe and Australia and all that, assuming we follow that same pattern, the cost of the customer is going to keep going down and more people will do it.
00:15:13
Speaker
So I think that over the next several years, the
00:15:17
Speaker
The profit and the commissions on it is going to go down and it's going to shrink, but I think it's going to get cheaper to install and easier to sell.
00:15:23
Speaker
So it's going to be... I think it's going to drop down to where it's as low as fiber or pest control or something like that.
00:15:29
Speaker
But it's going to be more of a volume sort of play to where, hey, you're not making as much, but you can sell two, three accounts a day pretty easily as opposed to...
00:15:40
Speaker
I don't know what the average is in solar these days.
00:15:43
Speaker
A little while back, I had on pretty good authority that the average across all the companies was something like 1.8 deals per month per rep or something like that.
00:15:51
Speaker
So it's pretty low.
00:15:52
Speaker
Yeah.
00:15:54
Speaker
When people can make, especially in certain markets, when people can make $4,000 or $5,000 off of a couple deals, there's a lot of people that just like, they're happy making $80,000 to $120,000 a year and only working 15 hours a month or whatever.
00:16:11
Speaker
I always tell people, it's like, listen, are you able to survive off of just passive income right now?
00:16:17
Speaker
I was like, no.
00:16:18
Speaker
Okay.
00:16:18
Speaker
Well, then you still got more money.
00:16:20
Speaker
You need to make more money.
00:16:21
Speaker
Yeah.
00:16:22
Speaker
I know.
00:16:23
Speaker
Yeah.
00:16:24
Speaker
Some managers have like the keep their reps broke strategy.
00:16:27
Speaker
Just tell them to, you know, go out and blow all their money.
00:16:30
Speaker
So they'll constantly be broke.
00:16:32
Speaker
So they'll have to come back and work.
00:16:33
Speaker
So.
00:16:34
Speaker
I made that joke, but I think it's a lot better to encourage them to like, you know, invest their money into like properties and stuff like that.
00:16:39
Speaker
So they're able to earn passive income.
00:16:41
Speaker
So if you want to buy a Lambo, that's fine, but just put it on Turo or something.
00:16:45
Speaker
Yeah, it's like stay broke because you have it all in investments, you know, then...
00:16:50
Speaker
You're still broke.
00:16:52
Speaker
I admire the people.
00:16:53
Speaker
If I was going to buy a Lambo or something and then put it on Turo, it would have to just be a Turo car.
00:16:59
Speaker
The people are like, oh yeah, I have this and then I rent it out 10 days a month and that covers that and I make a little bit of money off it.
00:17:06
Speaker
I don't think I could let other people drive my car if I was also driving the Lambo because people aren't going to take care of it.
00:17:11
Speaker
I would get it back and I'd be like, there's a scratch on this and there's a stuff on the seat.
00:17:15
Speaker
I'd be like... I might be able to do both.
00:17:18
Speaker
I would have to pick one or the other.
00:17:20
Speaker
Yeah, that'd be hard.
00:17:22
Speaker
Yeah, especially because we actually do that with our house here in San Diego.
00:17:27
Speaker
We rent, we Airbnb or rent out.
00:17:29
Speaker
We have like a little casita, a little ADU extra unit.
00:17:33
Speaker
So we rent out.
00:17:34
Speaker
But even that's like hard because, you know, one person brought a cat in and cat just like tore up the couch we had in there.
00:17:42
Speaker
And, you know, other people it's like broke the toilet.
00:17:46
Speaker
Maybe it wasn't their fault, but it's just like, man, I didn't think about all this stuff that
00:17:51
Speaker
In California, it's really hard to evict someone if they're causing nonsense, isn't it?
Blitz Sales Strategies and Team Management
00:17:56
Speaker
Oh, yeah.
00:17:58
Speaker
You can just end up with a squatter living in your house.
00:18:01
Speaker
Yeah, pretty much.
00:18:03
Speaker
During COVID, they made it illegal to evict people.
00:18:06
Speaker
I don't think it's that way now, but I know during COVID, literally people would just not pay their...
00:18:12
Speaker
their uh rent the entire time and they couldn't evict him so is it so is it like a whole separate it's like a separate it's attached to the house and it's just like hey you go up these stairs and it's like a separate unit sort of thing yeah it's just on the side of our house it's still like attached to the house but it has its like separate entrance it's just basically like a studio apartment has a little kitchenette and
00:18:33
Speaker
you know, bed.
00:18:34
Speaker
So we rent that out.
00:18:36
Speaker
I'm sure that helps a lot because I've never looked at San Diego property values, but I'm assuming that it's extremely expensive.
00:18:44
Speaker
Yeah.
00:18:44
Speaker
Well, and so many people were surprised.
00:18:46
Speaker
So many people are like looking for places here.
00:18:48
Speaker
Like we get messages every month saying, hey, is your place of open?
00:18:51
Speaker
I got a buddy that's looking for a place.
00:18:54
Speaker
So it's like constantly there's people looking.
00:18:56
Speaker
I'm like, man, it's expensive as stuff is.
00:18:59
Speaker
What do you rent out the additional unit for?
00:19:01
Speaker
Like what does it cost per month?
00:19:02
Speaker
We're doing it for $1,400 a month, which that's, yeah.
00:19:07
Speaker
And that's like where, yeah, we're giving them a good deal.
00:19:10
Speaker
So I guess don't be hitting me up asking for the same deal.
00:19:13
Speaker
Like, yeah, I heard you're cutting people a deal.
00:19:16
Speaker
Yeah.
00:19:21
Speaker
Like, no, it's 2,400 now.
00:19:23
Speaker
That's funny.
00:19:24
Speaker
Yeah.
00:19:24
Speaker
Well, part of it is the person we have, it's this lady we go to church with and she babysits our kids and stuff like that sometimes.
00:19:30
Speaker
So, cause I think we could probably hit 1,500 or 1,600 a month maybe, but at the time of this recording at least.
00:19:37
Speaker
Yeah.
00:19:38
Speaker
Having a low maintenance tenant is worth a little, maybe make it a little bit less.
00:19:42
Speaker
But yeah, no, it's sad because she has her daughter in there and, you know, it's just like a one, there's just one bed in there.
00:19:48
Speaker
So I think her daughter actually like sleeps on the floor on like yoga mats.
00:19:54
Speaker
So it's like, man, I guess we're helping them out, but it's sad to see that like some, the housing, people get so desperate for housing out here that they'll almost do anything.
00:20:04
Speaker
So yeah, it's a tough place, but.
00:20:06
Speaker
But yeah, lots of money to pay.
00:20:11
Speaker
Compared to Houston or something like that where you can get an extremely nice house for like a half mil.
00:20:18
Speaker
I imagine a half mil in San Diego gets you like a shack on the beach.
00:20:22
Speaker
Not on the beach, like a shack somewhere very far from the beach.
00:20:25
Speaker
Like in the desert.
00:20:29
Speaker
I know.
00:20:29
Speaker
I have a buddy that's in Houston, actually, that's come out and done blitzes with us.
00:20:34
Speaker
He's just shocked at how much everything is when he's out here.
00:20:36
Speaker
It's like gas, food.
00:20:39
Speaker
Yeah, for sure.
00:20:40
Speaker
It's an expensive place.
00:20:41
Speaker
It's kind of a mess, but hey, lots of money in solar out here.
00:20:43
Speaker
So don't let that scare you away from the solar market if you want to come.
00:20:46
Speaker
And great weather.
00:20:47
Speaker
Yeah.
00:20:50
Speaker
Well, cool.
00:20:51
Speaker
So yeah, I want to get back to I know your VP at the E equals there.
00:20:56
Speaker
So how did you get into that role?
00:20:57
Speaker
Was that something where you just contacted by the owners or we're looking for someone or?
00:21:02
Speaker
Had you been with that company for a little bit and kind of built your way up?
00:21:06
Speaker
Or how did you get in there?
00:21:08
Speaker
I knew Cody Teal from like the pre-Lumio days.
00:21:11
Speaker
We worked together for a little bit.
00:21:14
Speaker
And after I left Lumio for a number of reasons, I honestly kind of like went into a little bit of a funk and wasn't really sure what to do.
00:21:25
Speaker
So I kind of took like, I don't know if it was at least six months off or something like that trying to find my...
00:21:31
Speaker
find myself or something.
00:21:32
Speaker
But, uh, I was just talking with Cody and he was like, well, just come out and sell in Illinois for a little bit until you figure out what, uh, what you want to do.
00:21:39
Speaker
He's like, you can just come out here and not worry about the managing thing or whatever else.
00:21:42
Speaker
Just bring out some setters and go close and close to deals, make some money.
00:21:46
Speaker
Um,
00:21:46
Speaker
And then from there, I was like, oh, wow, this market is amazing, blah, blah, blah.
00:21:50
Speaker
So we just kind of talked and, you know, he was looking for someone to kind of take over managing the sales side of things so that he could focus on the growth element.
00:21:59
Speaker
You know, because they were doing, I think it was like 30, 40 a month.
00:22:03
Speaker
And he wanted to obviously get it bigger than that.
00:22:04
Speaker
So came on and just started, you know, I've got a really talented setter manager who manages the setter side of things.
00:22:10
Speaker
And he, you know, we just went to work recruiting closers, recruiting setters and growing it out and,
00:22:16
Speaker
Now we do between like 120, 150 a month now.
00:22:19
Speaker
So pretty solid growth for the last year or so.
00:22:24
Speaker
And especially in Illinois, which is a great market, obviously changing quite a bit with the NEM 1.0 going away, shifting to a lot more like what California is now with in terms of like the only offsetting the supply charges and you're gonna have to set up a battery to export and all that.
00:22:42
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I heard that.
00:22:45
Speaker
That's cool.
00:22:46
Speaker
So I didn't even know that was Cody at Teal's company.
00:22:48
Speaker
Yeah, he's been on the podcast here.
00:22:50
Speaker
I knew he was in the company.
00:22:51
Speaker
Oh, really?
00:22:52
Speaker
Oh, cool.
00:22:53
Speaker
I didn't know that's what it was called, actually.
00:22:55
Speaker
So yeah, Cody's a great guy.
00:22:56
Speaker
Good stuff.
00:22:57
Speaker
He was for sure.
00:22:59
Speaker
Yeah, that's cool, though.
00:23:01
Speaker
So were you managing?
00:23:03
Speaker
Did you come on as like the VP or were you just kind of like running with setters, closing deals?
00:23:08
Speaker
And eventually he's like, oh, okay, you know what?
00:23:09
Speaker
Just run.
00:23:10
Speaker
Let's have you just take over a little sales.
00:23:12
Speaker
I think it was.
00:23:13
Speaker
I teased Cody and said that it was a very clever recruiting strategy.
00:23:16
Speaker
And he was like, I wasn't trying to recruit you.
00:23:18
Speaker
I was helping a friend out.
00:23:19
Speaker
I was like, maybe a little bit of both.
00:23:20
Speaker
Because I told him at the time, I was like, I don't even know if I want to manage anymore.
00:23:24
Speaker
I was like, you know, you look at this and I mean, you know, where it's like sometimes...
00:23:29
Speaker
For me, what I get the most meaning out of life and everything is by helping other people have success and whatever.
00:23:35
Speaker
But at the time, I was really frustrated.
00:23:36
Speaker
I was like, dude, I've got people with closers or whatever that are making more money.
00:23:42
Speaker
It's no stress or whatever.
00:23:45
Speaker
You go out and close some deals, blah, blah, blah.
00:23:47
Speaker
Then you're making six figures and none of the nonsense.
00:23:50
Speaker
I thought maybe I wanted to do that.
00:23:51
Speaker
But it wasn't very long before I was like, you know what?
00:23:54
Speaker
Yeah.
00:23:54
Speaker
It was because it was already growing really, really quickly.
00:23:59
Speaker
Once I sent out some messages to people and said, hey, I took some time off when I'm back.
00:24:03
Speaker
Who wants to join up and do round two?
00:24:06
Speaker
We call the team the Solar Mafia.
00:24:08
Speaker
So it was like, well, we're going to do 2.0.
00:24:10
Speaker
Solar Mafia 2.0, who's down?
00:24:12
Speaker
And then just took Cody from there.
00:24:14
Speaker
And that's how the VP rolls.
00:24:16
Speaker
So it didn't take too long.
00:24:16
Speaker
It was probably a couple months.
00:24:18
Speaker
Yeah.
00:24:19
Speaker
Okay.
00:24:20
Speaker
And then were you guys always just a blitz model?
00:24:23
Speaker
Do you have reps like in the market the whole time?
00:24:25
Speaker
Are you guys a hundred percent, a hundred percent just blitz in these markets?
00:24:27
Speaker
It's, it's vast majority blitzing, but we do have a handful of people that are local to the Illinois market.
00:24:34
Speaker
Um, blitzing has been what I've been doing since like 2020 or thereabouts.
00:24:38
Speaker
So that's been kind of my bread and butter for better or worse.
00:24:42
Speaker
Um, I love it cause it's like, it's nice cause you get, uh,
00:24:45
Speaker
It's a really fun environment to bring people into and especially with bringing in new people and whatnot.
00:24:50
Speaker
I think it adds a social element and stuff that doesn't really exist in a lot of places.
00:24:55
Speaker
You get to hang out with your friends, whatever else, but you're just basically working.
00:25:01
Speaker
It's a lot easier to get people to work really long days and get full effort and they're just living and breathing the sales stuff for that 12 days that they're out there.
00:25:09
Speaker
And when you're trying to bring on new people and train them, just like having that kind of that super immersive aspect to it, I think really helps shorten training times quite a bit.
00:25:19
Speaker
Yeah, that's true.
00:25:20
Speaker
Yeah, there's definitely some good pros with blitzing.
00:25:23
Speaker
It's like, like you said, you get people bought in, they're going to work way more, put in the long days.
00:25:29
Speaker
But yeah, some of the cons I've seen, I'm curious to know how you guys maybe...
00:25:34
Speaker
like get past some of this stuff.
00:25:35
Speaker
But I hear from companies that only do the blitzing model and it's like, they have this huge influx of sales and then no one does anything till the next blitz.
00:25:44
Speaker
Even if, because some companies, they're not strictly blitz models, but they do.
00:25:49
Speaker
Maybe they'll do like a blitz a month.
00:25:51
Speaker
And the idea is that they'll push hard, but then they'll still keep selling a little bit.
00:25:55
Speaker
But most of the time I hear that, oh, they go hard for the blitz, but then they basically just take the next, you know, two and a half weeks off after the blitz is over and don't work the rest of the month when that's not what they wanted them to do.
00:26:07
Speaker
So I guess that's the first question.
00:26:10
Speaker
How do you guys overcome that?
00:26:12
Speaker
I don't know how often you do blitzes, but
00:26:16
Speaker
I don't know.
00:26:16
Speaker
What's your thoughts on that?
00:26:17
Speaker
How do you get people to like maybe the people that are working locally?
00:26:20
Speaker
How do you get them to still keep producing?
00:26:23
Speaker
Right.
00:26:24
Speaker
Not just work during the blitz times.
00:26:27
Speaker
So some of you already know that I run my own door to door sales team here in San Diego.
00:26:32
Speaker
And as we are gearing up for the summer, I realized if we do the same thing we always did, we're going to get the same results.
00:26:38
Speaker
But if I want to increase my deal flow, I need to do something different to get an advantage.
00:26:43
Speaker
Then we discovered an app called Solar Scout.
00:26:45
Speaker
But it's not a door knocking app.
00:26:47
Speaker
It's a data platform that shows us who is likely to go solar in our market.
00:26:52
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.
00:27:01
Speaker
It's been working for a lot of teams across the country, and now I'm on board too.
00:27:06
Speaker
I'm going to be one of the first to use SolarScout in San Diego, so I decided to partner up.
00:27:10
Speaker
But I told them, hey, I'm going to talk about SolarScout on my show.
00:27:13
Speaker
You need to give my listeners a great deal, and they did.
00:27:16
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.
00:27:26
Speaker
That's solarscout.app forward slash Taylor.
00:27:29
Speaker
Okay, back to the show.
00:27:31
Speaker
Yeah, because you're exactly right.
00:27:33
Speaker
And the ops teams will hate that because it's like... So if you're doing 200 deals in 2 weeks, it's not preferable over 50 deals a week consistently because then it's a lot... It's the same number of deals per month, but you're just having 50 coming a week.
00:27:48
Speaker
It's a lot easier for ops to handle and it keeps the install crews consistent and all that.
00:27:53
Speaker
The way we got around that, so it's like if you're a smaller team, that can be tough to deal with.
00:27:59
Speaker
But as long as you're large enough to split up into two groups... So what we do is we basically run 12-day blitzes, and then there's a travel day on each end, so it's 10 days in market.
00:28:12
Speaker
We basically, and then there's like two days between a blitz.
00:28:15
Speaker
So basically, there's almost always a blitz going on.
00:28:18
Speaker
There's like some off week.
00:28:19
Speaker
We basically have like some bi-weeks like worked into the schedule where there's no blitz going just to give like managers and stuff a break.
00:28:26
Speaker
Because if you're managing and stuff, like there's no, you know, the reps are getting that time off, but the management isn't.
00:28:32
Speaker
So when it's just constantly going.
00:28:34
Speaker
And then it's up to people.
00:28:36
Speaker
Everyone does at least one blitz a month.
00:28:37
Speaker
And then some people will be like, hey, I'm going to stick around for the next.
00:28:40
Speaker
I'm going to do two this month.
00:28:41
Speaker
So they'll have that two days of downtime in between.
00:28:44
Speaker
And they can like, you know, so like in Illinois, sometimes people like go up to Chicago for two days and have some fun up there or whatever, and then come back down.
00:28:51
Speaker
So that's what we did is we just basically split it up so that we're doing two blitzes a month.
00:28:56
Speaker
And that just allows it to be a lot more consistent as opposed to like all the volume coming in during just two weeks of time.
00:29:02
Speaker
That makes sense.
00:29:02
Speaker
You have kind of like the AAC, then the second team comes in for a blitz.
00:29:06
Speaker
So it's like fresh guys and they're keeping it rolling.
00:29:09
Speaker
Okay.
00:29:10
Speaker
Yep.
00:29:10
Speaker
That's cool.
00:29:12
Speaker
How do you, and then are these guys, are they all coming from like out of state, different markets?
00:29:17
Speaker
They're all like non-local or some guys like living in the market and then they're just working on the blitzes.
00:29:23
Speaker
What does that look like for you guys?
00:29:25
Speaker
Most of the time, people mostly just stick to the blitz schedule, whether they're in market or not.
00:29:29
Speaker
But the vast majority are coming from other states.
00:29:31
Speaker
So we've got a bunch of people from Virginia, Denver, the Carolinas.
00:29:36
Speaker
I think we have someone in Florida, a couple from Utah.
00:29:40
Speaker
So they're from all over the place.
00:29:42
Speaker
And then we, for new people, will often cover their first plane ticket out.
00:29:47
Speaker
But other than that, people have to... I think you've got to have a little bit of buy-in on that.
00:29:51
Speaker
So it's just... And trying to coordinate travel and booking plane tickets for stuff is just a complete mess, especially if there's delays and all that stuff.
00:29:57
Speaker
So I've experimented with doing that.
00:29:59
Speaker
And in my opinion, it's like, if people aren't willing to pay $500, $600 to come out to market for the opportunity to make five figures in 12 days, then no.
00:30:08
Speaker
Okay, go do something else then.
00:30:10
Speaker
I think that little bit of buy-in just makes it, it makes it a lot easier.
00:30:13
Speaker
It makes people more invested, you know, it's like they're more likely to push harder and to, you know, and then just like that kind of step of like self-belief of like, hey, I'm willing to like put down 500 bucks because I know I'm going to make this back.
00:30:25
Speaker
You know, it just, in my opinion, it helps a lot.
Team Dynamics and Retention Strategies
00:30:28
Speaker
Yeah, I agree.
00:30:30
Speaker
Yeah, definitely a huge difference of reps putting some money on the line.
00:30:33
Speaker
It's like they say, people that pay, pay attention.
00:30:36
Speaker
So I think same thing.
00:30:38
Speaker
I haven't heard that before.
00:30:40
Speaker
That's good.
00:30:41
Speaker
I'm going to steal that.
00:30:42
Speaker
Tell that to your guys.
00:30:42
Speaker
I mean, there's literally like psychology behind it where it's like, if you don't pay for something, we don't value it as much, you know?
00:30:48
Speaker
So it's like...
00:30:50
Speaker
If you just give someone a Ferrari for free, they're not going to take care of it as much as the person who bought the Ferrari.
00:30:56
Speaker
They're just going to treat it.
00:30:57
Speaker
They're just going to beat on it, whatever else.
00:30:58
Speaker
But the person who paid a quarter mil for that Ferrari, I guess that's a really cheap Ferrari.
00:31:03
Speaker
Yeah.
00:31:07
Speaker
Are you a car guy?
00:31:08
Speaker
Did you see that new F80 that they announced?
00:31:10
Speaker
I didn't see it.
00:31:11
Speaker
I'm not a huge car guy.
00:31:12
Speaker
I mean, I appreciate them.
00:31:15
Speaker
It's a beautiful car.
00:31:16
Speaker
Really cool.
00:31:17
Speaker
It's insanely expensive.
00:31:18
Speaker
But it's still a six-cylinder hybrid now.
00:31:22
Speaker
So it's cool.
00:31:24
Speaker
But it'd be cool if it was a V8 or V10, V12.
00:31:28
Speaker
That's cool.
00:31:29
Speaker
I don't know if you've done the incentives where you take the guys to the...
00:31:33
Speaker
the racetracks or whatever where you can rant like the, you know, Ferraris and, you know, Audis.
00:31:38
Speaker
I've done that a few times and that's super cool.
00:31:42
Speaker
I think I drove the R8 last time and a couple other ones.
00:31:46
Speaker
So I like doing that.
00:31:47
Speaker
Those R8s are super cool.
00:31:49
Speaker
Yeah, but I don't know much.
00:31:50
Speaker
I know the names of a few of them, but besides that, not much.
00:31:55
Speaker
No, we're doing... We like to do... It's actually Cody's big thing.
00:31:58
Speaker
He likes to do experiences because people just remember that stuff a lot more.
00:32:02
Speaker
So a lot of our competitions tend to be...
00:32:05
Speaker
experience based so we're doing like a trip to we went to New Zealand our company trip that you could win last year was a trip to New Zealand this year the trip you can compete for is a trip to South Korea we took everyone we were in Ohio so we took everyone to Cedar Point have you heard of Cedar Point
00:32:25
Speaker
Oh, yeah.
00:32:25
Speaker
Isn't that a huge theme park?
00:32:28
Speaker
Yeah, so I was teasing people because people were like, oh, it's the roller coaster capital of the world.
00:32:33
Speaker
And I was like, ain't no way the roller coaster capital of the world is in Sandusky, Ohio.
00:32:37
Speaker
I was like, I refuse to believe this.
00:32:39
Speaker
But then, like, so I was fully expecting... I don't know why I didn't just Google it.
00:32:43
Speaker
But, like, we got there, and I was expecting, like, a somewhat larger state fair or something like that.
00:32:49
Speaker
And this thing is huge.
00:32:50
Speaker
And apparently it has, like...
00:32:52
Speaker
I think like of the top 10 roller coasters in the world, like five of them are there.
00:32:56
Speaker
And I've never been on a roller coaster that goes 105 miles per hour.
00:32:59
Speaker
Like that was just, it was insanity.
00:33:02
Speaker
Super fun.
00:33:03
Speaker
I highly recommend it.
00:33:04
Speaker
That's cool.
00:33:05
Speaker
You'll have to check that out.
00:33:07
Speaker
Yeah, no, I love the experiences too.
00:33:09
Speaker
But yeah, like another thing I've seen with blitzes is, especially when you're bringing in guys from maybe outside the market, if they don't have maybe a great blitz, maybe they didn't make hit their goals, make as much as they wanted.
00:33:23
Speaker
I see just like a lot of turnover where they're like, I'm not coming back or whatever.
00:33:27
Speaker
So what do you guys do to like keep the reps bought in and not just like come on one blitz and be like, uh, maybe I'll do one next year, but actually have them be a part of the company and fit in the culture.
00:33:38
Speaker
What's some, I don't know, things you guys have done to be successful with that.
00:33:43
Speaker
So I think that, uh, you got to give people opportunity for advancement.
00:33:46
Speaker
We, um,
00:33:49
Speaker
And so we basically have a few paths.
00:33:50
Speaker
It's like, hey, you can either go down and become a really good setter and then get into setter managing and stuff if you want.
00:33:55
Speaker
Because there's pros and cons.
00:33:56
Speaker
So a lot of people view, oh, well, after I'm a setter for a little while, I have to become a closer.
00:34:00
Speaker
And it's two different things there.
00:34:03
Speaker
And as long as there's not a huge pay differential there, it's like, honestly, being a setter is a lot.
00:34:08
Speaker
Don't get me wrong.
00:34:09
Speaker
The setting of the appointment is really hard.
00:34:11
Speaker
But what's nice is that you're able to go out and blitz, you set appointments, someone else closes them.
00:34:15
Speaker
And you can pretty much just wash your hands of it.
00:34:17
Speaker
You're not having to manage the accounts or stay on top of the customers and make sure they stay in the deal for 30 days while you get the install and all that stuff.
00:34:25
Speaker
So it's a lot lower stress.
00:34:28
Speaker
But some people, if they want to move into like the self-genning or whatever, you kind of have to give people those options.
00:34:33
Speaker
And then I think as long as you really focus on like the experience side of things, because you're asking people to be away from their homes and all that other stuff.
00:34:40
Speaker
So we always book like
00:34:43
Speaker
higher-end Airbnbs and just make sure it's someplace that you want.
00:34:46
Speaker
I've heard of blitz teams where it's like they're putting people in crappy hotel rooms and putting three or four dudes in a double hotel room.
00:34:53
Speaker
And that's not a fun experience that someone wants to come back to.
00:34:56
Speaker
But if it's in a nice house where it's like, yeah, we're in this badass house where it's got seven bedrooms and seven bathrooms and there's a pool table and whatever else, it just gives a really...
00:35:09
Speaker
It'll keep people coming back for that camaraderie and that experience.
00:35:13
Speaker
And then we do, especially for newer setters, we'll offer some kind of pay-per-sit setup and whatever so that they're making some kind of money right away and are able to see, like, hey, this is real.
00:35:27
Speaker
Because when you're recruiting people in solar, the hardest part of getting them through that first month or two while they're getting their pipeline built up.
00:35:33
Speaker
Because even if they come out and just completely...
00:35:38
Speaker
lights out, it's still going to take them 30 days to get paid, you know, at least.
00:35:43
Speaker
I don't know.
00:35:43
Speaker
In California, it might even be longer.
00:35:45
Speaker
What's your install timelines like out there?
00:35:46
Speaker
I'd imagine they're lengthy.
00:35:48
Speaker
Yeah, yeah.
00:35:50
Speaker
I would say probably 45 days.
00:35:53
Speaker
Pretty good average right now.
00:35:55
Speaker
So not, not bad.
00:35:56
Speaker
There's definitely been.
00:35:57
Speaker
You're looking at two months before someone gets paid.
00:35:59
Speaker
Even if someone, something gets you boom sold 45 days and then a week or two to get paid after the install.
00:36:04
Speaker
Yeah, no, we do something similar.
00:36:06
Speaker
We do, it's called eight and eight where we push guys to all the new guys.
00:36:10
Speaker
They get like, um, it's kind of like a prize every time they hit a sell for their first eight weeks.
00:36:16
Speaker
And if guys, if they do get eight deals in their first eight weeks and they get a company cruise that they do at the end of the year.
00:36:24
Speaker
So it's kind of like, you know, pushing them to like, hey, hit it quick and then get paid.
00:36:29
Speaker
Because I don't know if you've run the stats on it, but I've heard people that have like run the stats and their attention on reps that don't get like, I think it's like a deal in their first two weeks or something.
00:36:42
Speaker
I think it's like, I don't know, less than 5% stick.
00:36:46
Speaker
Yeah.
00:36:46
Speaker
It's like, I'm almost all going to quit.
00:36:49
Speaker
So yeah, I think guys listening to this, it's like, what can you do to get reps some money so they can see some money and get some deals under their belts?
00:36:59
Speaker
Just because also I think they work less.
00:37:01
Speaker
I think people have heard stories of solar too, just that...
00:37:05
Speaker
Companies don't pay out.
00:37:06
Speaker
So I think sometimes I bring on new guys where they've never heard much about solar and the money looks unbelievable.
00:37:12
Speaker
But then they almost don't even believe that they're going to get paid until they get that first paycheck.
00:37:17
Speaker
And their wife or their girlfriend or their parents or whoever is telling them like, oh, this is... I mean, when I first got into 1099 sales, my parents were like, what the heck do you mean they're not paying you?
00:37:27
Speaker
Like, what are you talking about?
00:37:29
Speaker
And someone is like, well, if you sell stuff, it's fine.
00:37:32
Speaker
So it's like any 1099 commission only job, I would tell people it's like, hey, I can say all the best stuff to you in the world, but until your first paycheck hits your account, it's not actually real to you.
00:37:43
Speaker
So making sure that they get that first paycheck as quickly as possible, especially for someone new to sales, because if you can give someone a
00:37:50
Speaker
make it so that their first paycheck is, you know, four or five grand, you know, most people, you know, especially in the early 20s, like they haven't seen a check like that before.
00:37:58
Speaker
So, you know, if you're able to do that, you can get them hooked on it really quickly.
00:38:02
Speaker
Yeah, exactly.
00:38:04
Speaker
But if you don't, like you said, you lose them.
00:38:06
Speaker
Yeah, for sure.
00:38:08
Speaker
Yeah, I've got this 18 year old kid that I go to church with.
00:38:11
Speaker
He's working with us right now and he's done pretty well.
00:38:15
Speaker
He's gotten, I think, four or five deals and he's been with us like a month, month and a half.
00:38:21
Speaker
And yeah, but he just keeps telling me there's been days where like he's actually still in classes and stuff.
00:38:29
Speaker
But he's like, man, once he hasn't gotten an install yet, he's like, man, I promise you once I see that actual money, I'm going to work so much harder.
00:38:36
Speaker
I know I've like fronted him some money.
00:38:37
Speaker
He's like, dude, I got to see that this money is real.
00:38:41
Speaker
Then I'm going to be like all in it for sure.
00:38:43
Speaker
I'm just like, dude, just stick with it, man.
00:38:45
Speaker
It's real.
00:38:46
Speaker
Yeah.
00:38:48
Speaker
Have you ever had to talk to someone's parents before to convince them that it's like, hey, this is real.
00:38:53
Speaker
I'm not trying to scam your son.
00:38:54
Speaker
It's fine.
00:38:56
Speaker
Because I have.
00:38:57
Speaker
Yeah.
00:39:00
Speaker
I've kind of had to do this with this kid.
00:39:01
Speaker
Because actually, you know what?
00:39:02
Speaker
I think he turns 18 in December.
00:39:04
Speaker
So he's not even 18 yet.
00:39:05
Speaker
But his parents, I go to church with his parents.
00:39:09
Speaker
So it's funny.
00:39:11
Speaker
We did this blitz last month.
00:39:13
Speaker
Yeah.
00:39:14
Speaker
His parents were super nervous letting him come out.
00:39:17
Speaker
I'm like, dude, I can talk to your parents.
00:39:21
Speaker
We'll go to church with them, so we'll make sure we're not doing hard drugs.
00:39:26
Speaker
We're not bringing strippers on the puts, nothing like that.
00:39:30
Speaker
We'll keep it clean.
00:39:32
Speaker
Yeah, for sure.
00:39:33
Speaker
It's even just the smaller stuff too when you have someone that's younger like that because it's like...
00:39:37
Speaker
I don't know how strict you are with it, but it's like, you know, California weeds legal and, you know, people like their weed pens or like drinking beers and stuff, stuff that isn't a big deal.
00:39:46
Speaker
You know, if you got everyone who's 24 to 34 or whatever, or 24 up or whatever.
00:39:51
Speaker
But you know, once you have an 18 year old house, you gotta be much more cognizant of those sorts of things for sure.
00:39:56
Speaker
Yeah, I know.
00:39:57
Speaker
You don't think about it.
00:39:58
Speaker
But yeah, that brings up another point for you guys.
00:40:02
Speaker
Because, you know, when we do blitzes, it's almost all people that have been with the company.
00:40:06
Speaker
And we probably should do it more getting like newer guys and guys from out of state coming and stuff like that.
00:40:12
Speaker
But for you guys where there's like, it sounds like there's a lot of like newer reps and maybe reps that people haven't met and things like that.
00:40:19
Speaker
So do you guys do any like vetting and make sure there's not going to be any like knuckleheads or people bringing like, you know, like cocaine to the house and crazy stuff.
00:40:29
Speaker
It's been a while since we've had like a serious incident.
00:40:33
Speaker
There's definitely been some stuff that's happened, but, uh,
00:40:36
Speaker
Definitely just like we do multiple interviews.
00:40:39
Speaker
People are part of like the calls and we talk to them on Zoom.
00:40:42
Speaker
We talk to them on phone.
00:40:43
Speaker
They go through a couple training sessions.
00:40:45
Speaker
So we usually have a pretty good idea if someone's not... I think the biggest thing is just like just trust your gut on people and just be like, yeah, this person's going to be a problem for one reason or another.
00:40:55
Speaker
And then just, you know, you don't want to push things like too underground or whatever.
00:41:00
Speaker
So it's people are welcome to have like beer and stuff at the house, but it's like no hard liquor at a house.
00:41:06
Speaker
That's just too easy for things to get out of hand if you do that.
00:41:09
Speaker
So it's like seltzers and beer, house is fine, but no tequila.
00:41:15
Speaker
makes sense yeah no that's what we've seen too it's like you know guys have their vapes or whatever and it's like okay that's all good but yeah we you know we haven't had any issues either hopefully it's common sense to most people but it's like if you're getting crazy dude you know they're not gonna produce so yeah 100% guys just keep it keep it toned down just for that because it's like we don't want guys sleeping in till one in the afternoon and then rolling out
00:41:42
Speaker
all like hung over and stuff too so yeah for sure and then with the vapes and stuff it's like just don't be like hitting those don't be like sitting in the car vaping when you pull into territory with like you know vape smoke like billowing out of the car getting out smoke's coming out the door that's that's that's a big thing it's just like always just uh
00:42:01
Speaker
We do a lot of things where we loop the neighborhoods multiple times and all that stuff.
00:42:06
Speaker
So it's like, you never know when someone's walking.
00:42:08
Speaker
So it's like, always be wave to everyone you see.
00:42:10
Speaker
If you see trash, pick it up and all that stuff.
00:42:12
Speaker
Because it just helps build credibility and trust.
00:42:15
Speaker
And they see you in the same areas over multiple days.
00:42:17
Speaker
Someone sees you.
00:42:18
Speaker
You never know when someone's driving by and they see you picking up trash.
00:42:21
Speaker
And then you toss it away.
00:42:22
Speaker
And then that might be the thing that makes them open the door.
00:42:25
Speaker
Because they're like, oh, this guy picked up the trash or whatever.
00:42:28
Speaker
And
00:42:28
Speaker
Plus, it's just like the right thing to do.
00:42:30
Speaker
I feel like I always pick up trash when I walk by it.
00:42:33
Speaker
Yeah, that's good.
00:42:34
Speaker
That's good.
00:42:35
Speaker
Yeah.
00:42:36
Speaker
Well, and what do you do to because you're in Houston, your teams are all up in these other states blitzing.
00:42:41
Speaker
What are some things you do to like from afar help the teams out?
00:42:45
Speaker
Do you do like calls with them or how what's like your role in helping your teams and everything if you're not like physically at the blitzes?
00:42:52
Speaker
So, yeah, we, so obviously we do like Zoom calls and all that.
00:42:55
Speaker
We have like a, I used WhatsApp for team chat for a long time, but now like we have like a really badass Discord server that has like automations and like ticketing tools and some other stuff that like, so people can like,
00:43:11
Speaker
request proposals and just do other stuff all through discord um so when not there a lot of it's just kind of keeping an eye on those discord channels and people know to tag me or whatever in certain stuff and then obviously emails and project management and keeping stuff moving along and uh you know just having my phone is pretty much always blowing up from a call or a text of some kind so yeah
00:43:36
Speaker
That's good.
00:43:36
Speaker
That was one of my favorite things about the retreat was just two and a half days where I was just like, nope, not going to be available.
00:43:41
Speaker
I know.
00:43:44
Speaker
Nice to disconnect a little bit.
00:43:46
Speaker
Yeah.
00:43:47
Speaker
And that's the other thing.
00:43:48
Speaker
I think sometimes we get so stressed out not being in the business.
00:43:53
Speaker
I tried to not pay attention, but I had to like...
00:43:56
Speaker
try to turn my brain off a little bit at this at this event from like checking all the you know text questions and letting the guys go so i think it's important to disconnect and hopefully uh that's something you guys talk about being blitzes what do your guys do to like recharge between the next blitz or is it are most guys just like kind of disconnecting completely or what do you guys typically do between blitzes uh
00:44:23
Speaker
People do various things.
00:44:24
Speaker
We got a decent number of people that really liked us.
00:44:26
Speaker
We have like some non-work related chats in the Discord.
00:44:29
Speaker
So like we got a handful of people that we were all playing Helldivers 2 on PS5 for a little while, which is fun.
00:44:36
Speaker
I don't know if you're a gamer at all, but Helldivers 2 is a tremendous amount of fun.
00:44:40
Speaker
It's like you get on a team and there's four of you and you're basically... It's like... Do you ever see the movie Starship Troopers?
00:44:45
Speaker
Yeah.
00:44:49
Speaker
Maybe not.
00:44:50
Speaker
Yeah, I don't think I did.
00:44:50
Speaker
So it's like, it's all just like, woo, like super earth democracy.
00:44:54
Speaker
We're taking democracy to the aliens and it's like this sort of thing.
00:44:57
Speaker
So it's just like, you're just out and you're just shooting bugs or there's like automatons, which like robots, you just go out and you just blow stuff up.
00:45:06
Speaker
And then you got a team of four people and it's a lot of fun.
00:45:09
Speaker
We got a bunch of people that do a lot of outdoor stuff.
00:45:11
Speaker
So we have like a chat for that.
00:45:12
Speaker
And then there's like a fitness chat and a memes chat and stuff like that.
00:45:16
Speaker
So just like to kind of keep people kind of connected into the culture and stuff so that it's not just something that they're coming to for work.
00:45:22
Speaker
I think kind of creating an environment where people are being friends and kind of sharing that, you know, that other sort of aspects of life as opposed to like it just being like, oh, I go to work for this.
00:45:32
Speaker
And then I just like completely disconnect for two weeks.
00:45:34
Speaker
And, you know, I think that's a good thing to do.
00:45:37
Speaker
Yeah, I love that.
00:45:38
Speaker
That's good.
00:45:39
Speaker
I think that's when reps stay, even reps that maybe aren't like producing at a high level yet and aren't making a ton of money.
00:45:47
Speaker
I think that's something I see companies when they do a good job.
00:45:50
Speaker
We have a guy, for example, that he's been with us a year and a half now, but hasn't had that much success.
00:45:59
Speaker
A lot of months he's getting, you know, one, maybe two deals.
00:46:03
Speaker
Yeah.
00:46:05
Speaker
Um, not a ton of installs and I've never seen a guy stick around as long as he's had, as he had.
00:46:10
Speaker
And it's just cause of stuff like that.
00:46:12
Speaker
Cause he loves the culture.
00:46:13
Speaker
He's got his friends here and, um, he's starting to improve, but, um, I think that's where you get a lot higher retention too, is even build stuff like that.
00:46:22
Speaker
But that's cool, man.
00:46:23
Speaker
Well, James, I know you got another meeting to get here pretty soon.
00:46:27
Speaker
So before we wrap up, if guys want to like to connect with you more or, you know, maybe looking to even joining up with you guys, what's the best way to connect with you?
00:46:38
Speaker
I need to be more like you when it comes to my social media.
00:46:40
Speaker
The best way is probably to hit me up on Facebook, which would just be facebook.com slash J-A-M-R-W-O-O.
00:46:47
Speaker
And it's the same tag on Instagram.
00:46:50
Speaker
But yeah, I'm not as active in the solar groups and all that other stuff on Facebook.
00:46:54
Speaker
But I'm definitely, I don't have like your online presence and stuff.
00:46:57
Speaker
I probably need to be a little bit better about that.
00:47:00
Speaker
Do you get a lot of recruits and stuff through that?
00:47:02
Speaker
Like the podcast and whatever else?
00:47:05
Speaker
Yeah, we get a decent amount, which, you know, I always plug it.
00:47:08
Speaker
If you want to hit up James or hit up myself, we can get you a good opportunity.
00:47:14
Speaker
Yeah, if you want to check out Cali, definitely hit me up.
00:47:18
Speaker
You know, I've got we've got our squad that I told you I'm running our squad right now and we've got about 15 guys.
00:47:26
Speaker
And I would say, I would say half of them have come from the podcasts, um, directly or indirectly.
00:47:34
Speaker
It's like, you know, we get, um, the guy that, uh, runs a squad with me.
00:47:39
Speaker
He came from knowing me from the podcast, from social media, and then he brought on a few guys.
00:47:44
Speaker
So definitely a great way to recruit in social media.
00:47:47
Speaker
I'm not, I'm not huge on social media.
00:47:49
Speaker
I'm trying to get better.
00:47:50
Speaker
Right.
00:47:51
Speaker
Um, one of the things we learned in this event is like, don't apologize or,
00:47:55
Speaker
Say I'm not good at this thing yet, right?
00:47:58
Speaker
But I'm not good at this thing.
00:47:59
Speaker
I'm not good yet.
00:48:01
Speaker
I'm not doing social media the way I should yet.
00:48:04
Speaker
But no, that's really cool because you can think about it.
00:48:06
Speaker
Someone comes to you through your podcast or whatever.
00:48:07
Speaker
They already know kind of your vibe and what you're about and all
Social Media, Recruitment, and Mental Health
00:48:10
Speaker
that other stuff.
00:48:10
Speaker
So I'd imagine that most of the time it's a pretty good fit.
00:48:14
Speaker
I'm sure that every now and then someone sneaks in and you're like, yeah, so you need to go away.
00:48:18
Speaker
But for the most part, it's probably, you know, they get your vibe and all that.
00:48:22
Speaker
They're down with it.
00:48:22
Speaker
So it probably works out really well.
00:48:25
Speaker
Yeah, no, it's definitely been a good tool.
00:48:29
Speaker
Yeah, that's one of the ways because people ask, oh, do you make money from the podcast and directly from the podcast?
00:48:34
Speaker
Not really.
00:48:35
Speaker
Like, yeah, I have guys I coach and stuff, but it's not like I run a bunch of sponsors or I'm like this Joe Rogan type thing where I make all this insane money.
00:48:44
Speaker
But it's more just like, you know, building the personal brands.
00:48:47
Speaker
You build trust over time.
00:48:49
Speaker
So I think that's most, most guys that do social media or content, they just don't take the time to be consistent with it long enough because you got to keep in mind, like I've been doing this podcast for four plus years and
00:49:01
Speaker
I don't think I got any recruits for like two years off of it.
00:49:03
Speaker
But it's like, as you do it consistently, as people see you keep showing up, then that's when you start to, you know, get some people reaching out here and there and get some stuff going like that.
00:49:14
Speaker
Yeah, you got to do, get like one of those nose strip things and like some athletic greens and, you know, you can just be, that's what everyone does to make money is there's nose strips and some kind of greens powder, I feel like.
00:49:27
Speaker
Yeah, exactly.
00:49:28
Speaker
Yeah.
00:49:29
Speaker
Or what is it?
00:49:30
Speaker
The better help, like the therapy stuff.
00:49:33
Speaker
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:49:35
Speaker
All over the place.
00:49:36
Speaker
Apparently Facebook really thinks I need therapy.
00:49:42
Speaker
Yeah, we'll keep it going.
00:49:45
Speaker
But cool, James.
00:49:46
Speaker
Well, hey, appreciate you coming on and taking time out of your VP schedule, especially I know you got probably a ton of stuff to catch up on being gone from this event.
00:49:55
Speaker
But yeah, just to wrap up here, any final words of advice, maybe a rep that's struggling or say you get a call from a rep that didn't hit
00:50:06
Speaker
the numbers they wanted to during the blitz.
00:50:08
Speaker
What do you tell that rep for?
00:50:09
Speaker
How do you like get these guys out of a funk?
00:50:11
Speaker
What would you say to them?
00:50:13
Speaker
Um, so I think honestly, the as cheesy of an answer as it might sound, but if you're not producing where you want, you're in a thunk, the best thing you can do, like if you're willing to ask for help, like you've just done like 90% of the work because the biggest issue, again, talk about the retreat where like people isolate and whatever else.
00:50:30
Speaker
Um, but then sales is, you know, it's 90% a head game.
00:50:34
Speaker
You know, if you go out there and don't think you're going to do well, well, guess what?
00:50:37
Speaker
You're not, you're not going to do well.
00:50:40
Speaker
Um,
00:50:40
Speaker
I think the biggest thing you can do is if you're not feeling 100%, whatever, is just make sure you're doing the basics.
00:50:46
Speaker
Whenever my stress levels and stuff are higher than usual, it's usually like I look at it and it's like, okay, what have I been eating?
00:50:52
Speaker
Have I been doing exercise?
00:50:53
Speaker
It's like, oh, well, it's like I had Popeyes two days in a row and then I haven't been to the gym for a week or whatever else.
00:50:59
Speaker
And it's like you get back to doing those basics or even just doing like you don't have to go to the gym, just do a 20-minute walk.
00:51:04
Speaker
That was something that I would
00:51:05
Speaker
A friend of mine told me a long time ago, said, if you're ever feeling stressed, just go walk for 15, 20 minutes.
00:51:08
Speaker
And that's like the best therapy you can ever ask.
00:51:11
Speaker
It's crazy what a 20 minute walk does.
00:51:14
Speaker
So just going and doing that and something I'll do with reps is like if they're asking for help or whatever else is, you know, I'll literally be like, well, what are you doing right now?
00:51:22
Speaker
I'm like, no, I'm sitting on the couch.
00:51:23
Speaker
It's like, okay, well, let's get up.
00:51:24
Speaker
I'm going to go up.
00:51:25
Speaker
I'm going to put my shoes on.
00:51:25
Speaker
We're going to go on a walk.
00:51:27
Speaker
And then just kind of talk and just having like, then you're both going on a walk throughout the walk through the neighborhood or whatever.
00:51:32
Speaker
And you just do like that little pep talk while walking.
00:51:34
Speaker
And it's crazy what a big difference that makes.
00:51:38
Speaker
I love that.
00:51:40
Speaker
Yeah, that's good.
00:51:40
Speaker
I've heard that's good for just like, you know, thinking of ideas and yeah, it helps your brain process.
00:51:45
Speaker
Yeah.
00:51:46
Speaker
Yeah.
00:51:48
Speaker
All that.
00:51:49
Speaker
Yeah.
00:51:49
Speaker
And I guess that's why we go door to door.
00:51:51
Speaker
So people are knocking door to door.
00:51:54
Speaker
Plenty of walking for sure.
00:51:55
Speaker
20 minutes between the next door, maybe.
00:51:58
Speaker
Yeah.
00:51:58
Speaker
Are you trying to make money and trying to have a really sexy calf muscles?
00:52:02
Speaker
Well, have I got the job for you?
00:52:05
Speaker
Yeah.
00:52:06
Speaker
Great for your mental health.
00:52:08
Speaker
Great for your fitness.
00:52:09
Speaker
Yeah, there you go.
00:52:11
Speaker
Love it.
00:52:12
Speaker
Well, no, Taylor, I really enjoyed it.
00:52:13
Speaker
Thanks for having me on.
00:52:14
Speaker
Always a pleasure chatting.
00:52:15
Speaker
Like I said, glad we were finally able to connect.
00:52:17
Speaker
And anytime, if there's ever anything I can help with or whatever, feel free to reach out.
00:52:21
Speaker
And I'm sure that we'll be, now that we've officially met, we'll be running into each other a lot more since we're at all the same events and everything.
00:52:27
Speaker
Yep.
00:52:30
Speaker
100% my friend.
00:52:30
Speaker
Yeah.
00:52:30
Speaker
Can't wait to connect with you more at a, you know, we got some events coming up.
00:52:34
Speaker
SolarCon.
00:52:35
Speaker
James, he was the speaker.
00:52:37
Speaker
What was that?
00:52:38
Speaker
Like speaker, speaker liaison.
00:52:39
Speaker
I think it's what we call it.
00:52:40
Speaker
Okay.
00:52:41
Speaker
Yeah.
00:52:42
Speaker
So yeah, we know he'll be at that.
00:52:44
Speaker
We got that coming up in Vegas.
00:52:45
Speaker
It's in Las Vegas this year.
00:52:46
Speaker
Yeah.
00:52:47
Speaker
Yeah, I know.
00:52:49
Speaker
Are you a slot machine guy?
00:52:53
Speaker
Not too much slot.
00:52:53
Speaker
I'll get on some blackjack a little bit.
00:52:55
Speaker
Blackjack, yeah.
00:52:56
Speaker
Like a little bit of roulette here and there, but no, I try to... I hate losing money, so... Yeah, for sure.
00:53:02
Speaker
No, blackjack's always fun, and then roulette's fun.
00:53:05
Speaker
Do like three rounds and see if the universe is on your side, and after that, just walk away from the roulette.
00:53:10
Speaker
The second you win anything at the roulette table, walk away.
00:53:13
Speaker
Walk away, exactly.
00:53:16
Speaker
So we get a hold of that.
00:53:17
Speaker
But yeah, we'll be hanging out there.
00:53:18
Speaker
And yeah, now that we know each other more, yeah, going to be fun to connect there.
00:53:22
Speaker
So anyone listening, definitely.
00:53:24
Speaker
Hopefully you can make it to those events.
00:53:27
Speaker
But yeah, hit James up.
00:53:28
Speaker
Let him know you appreciate him coming on the podcast.
00:53:30
Speaker
And yeah, thanks for all you're doing for the industry.
00:53:33
Speaker
And yeah, we'll have to do another podcast in the future.
00:53:36
Speaker
But thanks for coming on, my brother.
00:53:38
Speaker
Yeah, let's do it, man.
00:53:38
Speaker
Talk to you soon.
00:53:39
Speaker
All right.
00:53:40
Speaker
Yeah, appreciate it.
00:53:42
Speaker
What's up, Solopreneurs?
00:53:43
Speaker
Hope you enjoyed the episode.
00:53:45
Speaker
Before you run out and start selling more solar yourself, wanted to let you know about an exciting new cheat sheet we created specifically for you in mind.
00:53:56
Speaker
One of the top questions I get asked on Instagram, on Facebook, by our listeners is, Taylor, where should I start?
00:54:03
Speaker
What episodes should I listen to in the podcast?
00:54:06
Speaker
You got too many podcasts, man, because now we have over 200 episodes.
00:54:10
Speaker
So what we've done, we created the top 10 most downloaded, most listened to, and I would say widely accepted, most useful podcasts that we've done here on Solopreneur.
00:54:23
Speaker
We put them together all in one sheet so you can go, you can hit the ground running, especially if you're new, you do not want to not have this sheet.
00:54:32
Speaker
So go download it right now.
00:54:34
Speaker
It's going to be at top10.solarpreneurs.com.
00:54:38
Speaker
Again, that's top10, the number 10,.solarpreneurs.com.
00:54:43
Speaker
Don't forget the S on solarpreneurs.
00:54:45
Speaker
We will have that in the show notes.
00:54:47
Speaker
Go download it right now.
00:54:49
Speaker
And especially if you have not listened to them, go listen to them and you can re-listen to them.
00:54:54
Speaker
That's going to show you how.
00:54:56
Speaker
So go download it and we'll see you on the other side.