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Pest Control Executive Turned Solar Market Leader - Jaxon Junior
247 Plays4 days ago
Jaxon Junior is a new face in the solar industry, but he's already making waves as one of the fastest growing producers of this generation. Coming from discipline and hard work in pest control, he's redefining growth in the industry: using a different approach towards recruiting and his team's work-life balance.
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Transcript
Introduction and Taylor's Journey
00:00:03
Speaker
Welcome to the Solarpreneur Podcast, where we teach you to take your solar business to the next level. My name is Taylor Armstrong. I went from $50 in my bank account and struggling for groceries to closing 150 deals in the year and cracking the code on why sales reps fail.
00:00:19
Speaker
I teach you avoid the mistakes I made and bring in the top solar dogs of the industry to let you in on the secrets of generating more leads, falling up like a pro, and closing more deals.
Defining Solopreneurship
00:00:31
Speaker
What is a solopreneur you might ask? 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. So some of you already know that I run my own door to door sales team here in San Diego.
00:00:46
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. But if I want to increase my deal flow, I need to do something different to get an advantage.
Solar Scout App Discovery
00:00:57
Speaker
Then we discovered an app called Solar Scout, but it's not door knocking app. It's a data platform that shows us who is likely to go solar in our market. 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.
00:01:16
Speaker
It's been working for a lot of teams across the country, and now I'm on board too. I'm going to be one of the first to use SolarScout in San Diego, so I decided to partner up. But I told them, hey, I'm going to talk about SolarScout on my show, you need give my listeners a great deal. And they did.
00:01:31
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 That's solarscout.app forward slash Taylor. Okay, back to
Meet Jackson Jr. at Sunrun
00:01:45
Speaker
the show.
00:01:45
Speaker
Okay, what's going on, everybody? We have got another Southern Californian here on the show, best market in solar. and But I'm excited to have someone that is actually pretty recent um coming over to solar, but he's been making waves. He is literally and figuratively making waves.
00:02:04
Speaker
um He is one of the market leaders. Over at Sunrun, all of Southern California, correct me if I'm wrong, we've got a Jackson Jr. coming on the show with us today. Thanks for ah hopping on for a podcast today, Jackson. Yeah, man, appreciate it. I wish I was the leader for all of Southern California. um We work in Newport Beach and ah Orange County, part of Corona. I love ah San Diego, love North County, love the guys out in Los Angeles. So shout out to all those guys here Sunrun holding it down there as well. Yeah, grateful that you took the time to chat with me, man.
00:02:35
Speaker
Excited to have you on. And yeah, I know you guys got lots offices in Sunrun, but we've had some, um you know, Ty Williams, he's super high level guest we've had on. Always fun talking with him. I know you work closely with him and um guys are just doing some big things over at Sunrun.
Jackson's Transition from Pest Control
00:02:52
Speaker
But ah what ah before we get into the solar part of it,
00:02:55
Speaker
Before we started recording here, Jackson, you said that you were running in pest control and it's been actually kind of a shorter time that you've been in solar. So, I mean, how long have you been in solar now?
00:03:07
Speaker
So I've only been in solar now for four months, is kind of crazy. Wow. Looking back, i I don't know how I didn't come into solar earlier. You know, i kind of came in, I guess, when everything started going crazy tax credits and, you know, government legislation and just changes in the market. So it's been it' been fun kind of coming in at a time of like disruption and um challenges because I think it's allowed me to see the pros and cons to solar and maybe some of the things that ah I think are really misunderstood in the industry. But yeah, man, it's it's been a ride the last four months and really excited to be in it with you guys.
00:03:43
Speaker
No doubt. You picked a crazy time to come into solar, but... But yeah that being said, i think it's a yeah I think it's one of the best times to come into solar too because um you know lots of urgency with some of these tax credits, um lots of reps that need leaders, don't know what's going on. And I know you got a unique perspective too coming from a pest control.
00:04:04
Speaker
But um yeah, I mean, I guess first of all, what made you decide to, after all those years being in pest control, of that background, what made you decide to make the switch um and come over to solar? Yeah, so i' mean I've been pest control for almost a decade. and So done, you know, I think what most people will hope to achieve in that career, you know, started out selling on a team, um you know, and selling at a high level and then transitioning to,
00:04:30
Speaker
managing teams and then recruiting and you know becoming a regional and then a senior regional and eventually my final title is I was the chief growth officer um for Grit Marketing. I oversaw you know our entire sales force and all the recruiting efforts um that we had nationwide.
00:04:47
Speaker
um had worked with some of the you know very top reps in pest control and and seeing kind of what it took to be successful in you know that industry. And i think that ultimately like the thing that really clicked for me was one, just alignment and like what I wanted out of my career.
00:05:03
Speaker
I wanted longevity and career and I recognized that in pest control there's only two ways to do that. One is you can obviously like recruit your way off the doors and ae be a recruiter, be a you know regional manager, and oversee an organization. um There's pros and cons to that. you know the The pros to that is that ah you don't have to knock doors, you don't have to sell.
00:05:27
Speaker
So your whole focus is you know running a team, running an organization. um However, i kind of recognize that there's just like a lifespan... of pest control reps, you know they just don't really... in In the way that it's a low ticket sale and effort required to sell at a high level, you get guys burning out you know within five to six years.
00:05:47
Speaker
And so when you're recruiting guys that are 18 to 20 years old, you know you can work with them for four to six years. Unless they can find a way to recruit themselves off the doors and and build a large organization, then it's kind of the end of their career in that space. And so you invest you know four to six years of your life developing this super high-level skill set, and then you can't really use it anymore. um Just because you know life moves on, and to move across the country to Ohio for six months and live in an extended, say, hotel or a condo, um you can't necessarily do once you...
00:06:20
Speaker
you know kind graduate from that phase of life when you're ready to have a family, get married, settle down. And so I saw that kind of as a gap just in that industry in general and just kind of in that model that um there was only maybe 1% of all reps actually getting themselves off the doors. And so the business is kind of built more for owning Owners you know that own those accounts that are being put on every single year, that's like where they get the longevity is to actually own those accounts and the equity value. Or it's the the guys that are positioned to be off the doors and just kind of rinse and repeat every year, replacing the fall off of rep. and The guys that expire, it's like what I like to call it now, they can just replace those guys and kind of try to continue develop leadership. I just felt like that was an exhausting model long-term. Didn't really make a lot of sense to me, especially once you get to a certain high amount of volume.
00:07:07
Speaker
when you're producing 30, 40, $50 million dollars in revenue, if you're losing 30% your reps to attrition every year, then you know that's hundreds of reps you have to replace every year just to make the same amount of income.
00:07:19
Speaker
It just didn't seem super sustainable. And so looking you know kind of at solar, Obviously, the first thing that's attractive is it's a high ticket sale, and so there is longevity of career. You can be in this job until you're 50, 60 years old because the commission you know per account is just so much higher, and it doesn't require the same amount of volume, which brings like a level of lifestyle you know to the sale. And also, obviously, if you bring that same amount of hustle, then there's not reps in pest control that make seven figures in their personal sales.
00:07:49
Speaker
Hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of reps in solar that make seven figures in their personal sales before even having a team. And so i felt like, you know, if your entire model is designed to recruit sales reps, then why not put the sales rep in the best position where they can actually maximize their earnings, have longevity, and then i mature you know in their their sales process and scale sales set through
Balancing Sales and Recruitment
00:08:10
Speaker
a different product. Love that. um Yeah. And pest control is a great industry. That's where I came from, actually. Did two summers of pest control. i was I was never managing a team or high-level stuff like you were doing. But ah you got to appreciate the grind that teaches in pest control. I'm sure it's something you've noticed here. It's like, ah there's a lot of
00:08:28
Speaker
There's more like part-time rep in solar. And it's sometimes tough to like replicate that because guys make such good commission on one deal that they can be set for the whole month off of one deal lot of times. You know, we kind of call that the curse of solar. Yeah, it's definitely a different pace. um It's, I can see why, you know, both sides ah of it like, the Often I heard in pest control that like solar reps were lazy and then often that I would hear that you know they don't actually make as much as they do. And in a lot of cases, I think it's because the guys that make the same amount as pest reps are the guys that work half the amount of time. If they worked the same amount of time, they would make substantially more, but they just don't put in the effort or work. And so it's almost like ah You have to find those guys that are really disciplined, I think, to really crush it in this industry. Definitely. That's crazy you were that high up. And I mean, grit, that's a it's probably sales wise. All the guys that are like breaking records and stuff like that, seems like they're always from grit.
00:09:22
Speaker
I know they got some ah savages over there. So yeah was that awesome awesome company? I mean, was that pretty tough to like leave that role and everything? Was it a pretty tough decision? yeah i don't know, did it come pretty easy? Yeah, I mean, I haven't really talked about it but publicly too much.
00:09:38
Speaker
But yeah, definitely like a challenging, hardest decision of my career. Obviously, had been there for years, developed with a lot of those leaders, and was really grateful for the time that I'd been with them. But um just didn't feel aligned in the role and didn't feel aligned you know with... ah the direction of the company and just felt like it was a time to pivot it and maximize my career in a different way and was really excited about the opportunity is solar, especially at Sunrun.
00:10:05
Speaker
That leadership, um you mentioned Ty Williams, Taylor Turnbull, I mean, couldn't have asked for like better mentors and guys to learn from. They've just done it at such a high level and have developed at such a high level. One of the things Taylor always says to me about Ty is like, Ty is the most developed human being he's ever been around. Then it was interesting just seeing that perspective over the last few months especially.
00:10:28
Speaker
There's just so much respect for the leadership because they've put in the work, they've put in the time, they continue to like push themselves and grow no matter how much success they've had. And they just say really care about leadership. like They really care about being the best human beings that they can be. and so That's really inspiring. I think that's kind of been the main things for me as to like why the transition. i I wanted to be inspired. I wanted to be pushed. and I wanted to be developed.
Leadership Growth in Solar
00:10:50
Speaker
Really excited that I'm in that position now. You know, obviously, you know, it comes with challenges, comes with ups and downs. You like I said, the beginning coming into an industry when you're new and you're learning and, you know, there's a lot of change. Then obviously that comes with challenges. But I think that's where leadership's built is there wouldn't be opportunities for leadership if there weren't challenges. And, you know, you kind of see who shows up.
00:11:09
Speaker
when those opportunities arise so for sure and probably helped that now you're you know like on the beach surfing and coming from utah it's not not a bad trade you're sitting under a palm tree doing this yeah no it's uh pretty hard to uh hard to complain when it's like i went from living in utah um you know summers and falls were great winters not so much uh to now 75 degrees it's like no matter uh No matter how bad your day is, it it's really not that bad.
00:11:35
Speaker
That's awesome. And did you bring over like a team with you when you left? Did lots of guys from PES come over with you? Or was it kind of just starting from scratch? Just you came over and now you're building with them? um So I came over just myself. And then obviously, you know we've recruited since then.
00:11:51
Speaker
Worked with a lot of like really high-talented reps um from the PES space. Obviously now, like we're starting to recruit more guys from the solar space and other industries. And so it's been a lot of fun. Almost getting to have a do-over in a way like in your career where like I think sometimes you you go through like this process and maybe like you skip some steps or you...
00:12:14
Speaker
I just didn't have the experience to know like how you wanted to build it the first time. And so it just builds organically, maybe with a little bit less like intention or design behind it. Where this time we kind of get a do-over of like, we're really building exactly the team that we want. I'm i'm not really interested in working with low performers or mid performers at all.
00:12:34
Speaker
um I want to work with the highest performers and guys that want the same things out of life as me. Because I kind of realized it just, business is a long game. Like you're gonna be, in most cases, in a career for 10, 15 years, I think if you do it right. And so I want to be around guys that I want to be a part of my life.
00:12:50
Speaker
and that enjoy some more things to me that you know want to work out, that want to surf, that want to golf, that like care about all aspects of life. And our career is just merely an extension of ourselves. It's not like our entire life.
00:13:01
Speaker
And so it's been fun this time, you know kind of rebuilding where like I'm excited about the growth, excited about you know my career, but at the same time, I'm more excited about my life. you know No, love that. And that's, yeah, that's huge. That's something I've always noticed on like the best teams I've been on is, ah you know, everyone's like, probably even more connected outside of work, we're doing stuff with each other, going to the beach. and something that I think a lot of guys don't and think about too is for married people.
00:13:27
Speaker
It's like the wives are bought into. And I think that's something a little bit underrated is we've got some of our regionals over here at my company, our guys, they have their they make sure they're super connected with the wives because they know if they can get the wives of the sales reps bought in girlfriend, boyfriend, whatever significant other, then ah that reps going to perform better and going to be way um way more bought into the culture and everything.
00:13:52
Speaker
Yeah. Stuff like that. think that's a huge point though. But yeah, I want to get into a little bit ah of recruiting with you, Jackson, because know that's been kind of like your, your superpower, your big thing that um you did at an extremely high level.
00:14:05
Speaker
at a Grit and now you're bringing it over to Solar. So I guess just so people can know, how many do you know how many career recruits, how many people you recruited in the cells at this point in your career, if you had to say a number?
00:14:16
Speaker
Over the last seven years, probably try a couple of thousand. As far as like each summer finishing the summer, I think are i think we so i think we had like around 600 show up to market um on my teams, and we had probably close to 400 finish the summer, give or take. i mean I'd have to look at like the actual stats. But as far as like signed paperwork, i mean we've signed thousands and thousands of reps over the years. So you know I'd have to like pull that exact data to see those numbers. But yeah, probably thousands that have signed paperwork with or run meetings with over the years. so
00:14:47
Speaker
That's crazy. um So recruiting that many people, is but the big numbers, it come from like recruiting teams? or yeah i mean How do you get and to get such big numbers?
00:14:58
Speaker
Is it bringing teams over? Yeah. yeah So i i actually, um interesting enough, I'm never really brought over a team. I think that like all recruiting stems from leadership development.
00:15:09
Speaker
When I usually train guys on recruiting, the the main focus is kind of like, you read the books, The Five Levels of Leadership. John Maxwell. yeah So there's like you know five types of leaders. There's someone whose position um just has a you know a title. and Then there's people that have results.
00:15:27
Speaker
And so they're able to lead people based off the results that they have. Then you develop to level three where um you can teach others how to get results. Level four you know is like you're able to develop leaders that can teach others how to get results.
00:15:41
Speaker
And then level five is you know kind of pinnacle. It's what you stand for. It's more like value-based. So I think in every industry that applies, and I think that's like the easiest way you can look at recruiting. When you first start recruiting, you know you're given kind of this like stewardship or this kind of opportunity to go out and sell and recruit.
00:15:57
Speaker
It's kind of just like a title. It's like a level one leader. you know You might recruit somewhat well just by reaching out to like friends and family or people that you have trust with, but no one's gonna follow you based off you know your competency in the job yet.
00:16:10
Speaker
It's gonna come down to more just their belief in you as a person. And so that's like your rookies or guys that are just starting out, you know, where where they want to like really tap in recruiting is just like into kind of like those friends and family. I think the easiest way to start with that is like make a list of five different, uh, categories, like groups of, you know, people in your life.
00:16:32
Speaker
And I'll give some examples. Like you might have, you know, friends and family, you might have people you went to high school or college with, you might have, uh, peers or coworkers in past jobs.
00:16:43
Speaker
Maybe it's like you know people you just meet in your day-to-day life you know at the golf course or you know at the beach or grocery store or wherever you talk to people, you know at your church or at some sort of organized um group that you're a part of, maybe a mastermind or you know something that you're involved in maybe it's a sports league locally but have kind of like five different categories and then just write down five names people that are in each one of those categories and that gives you a list of 25 people kind of spread out and you know different parts of your network and reach out to those people and you know see if they want to hear about an opportunity that's how you're gonna like get your first kind of couple people in
00:17:16
Speaker
Now, in order to like progress in recruiting, you have to go and get results.
Recruiting with Leadership Insights
00:17:20
Speaker
So that's like obviously just like level two leadership. You got to go out and sell at a high level, um perform at a high level, and and ultimately but ultimately perform higher than other opportunities out there. like No one's going to join an opportunity that's not better than their current one.
00:17:34
Speaker
So whether you're in solar or you're in pest control or any other industry roofing, like you've got to go and dominate your competitors and you've got to go and dominate other opportunities that you know your network is in.
00:17:45
Speaker
Because that's going to give you the credibility um and trust to now like recruit those kinds of people. I think that's like where most of recruiting is kind of just this organic climbing up this ladder kind of of those five stages of leadership. like The next part is like obviously now teaching others to get results. and Now you're developing leaders. Stage four is now you're developing those leaders to create more leaders.
00:18:05
Speaker
And that's where all the growth comes from is this compound effect of... You take two people and turn them into four by helping them each get a recruit. You develop one of those people to become a leader to be able to manage you know more and continue that process.
00:18:19
Speaker
And then four turns into eight, and eight turns into 16, and 16 turns into 32, and 32 turns into 64. thirty two turns of sixty four and like Every year is just this compounding. And so when I was recruiting at my peak, you know, what's interesting is like I looked back on, you know, quote unquote downline or like where it all stemmed from.
00:18:35
Speaker
And those thousands of recruits that I was meeting with, like those meetings that I was having every single day, all stemmed from seven people. That was it. Only seven people. But those seven people you know were able to recruit three or four people, and those three or four people were able to recruit four or five people. And over time, you just start to tap into all of these networks and use systems um to keep yourself organized and just honestly build a machine.
00:19:00
Speaker
Sets up meetings for you and allows you to focus on continuing to develop leaders and continue to you know manage pipeline. Well, so yeah, I want to dive into that a little bit. um Some of these levels you're talking about.
00:19:13
Speaker
Because what I've noticed for me personally is um I'll do okay with recruiting. But I think the times where I've recruited the most has been where I'm not i'm not like selling all day every day. i'm not I'm still a good producer, but I'm not like you know top of the leaderboards and all that. But yes I've had other times like this quarter, for example, I've been kind of like the top of where ourselves leaderboards producing at a really high level.
00:19:37
Speaker
but Because I've been so busy with the sales, closing deals, I haven't had near as much time to recruit and like you know follow up with recruits, things like that. And so it's kind of done gone down a little bit with that. So what do you do? I don't know if if you have like any systems in place.
00:19:54
Speaker
um When you were like also selling at a high level, how do you also maintain the recruiting? Or do you have any advice on that for people in solar that are trying to... like but also recruit build a team but they're producing at a high level what would you say yeah i think what's interesting is um this has been like one of the biggest uh changes for me coming into solar so pest control you work in seasons so like you focus on the summer time that's kind of your execution and production time and then when you finish you know in october you spend kind of the critical off season which you're still working you're just focusing on recruiting so your attention's
00:20:29
Speaker
different, right? There's a time where your attention is focused on selling and production, and then there's a time where your attention is focused on recruiting and building and training. um So it makes it easier to kind of get in the flow of selling and not have any distractions, and then get into a flow of recruiting but without any distractions.
00:20:45
Speaker
However, the challenge is you go and build this big machine, and then you watch 50% of it, it fall off. right before you start the summer and a lot of guys in alarms have experienced that as well um and it's kind of same with sales like if you just only focus on sales in a lot of cases like you get so intense and so hyper focused on you know your personal production that every other area of your life kind of falls apart right like you're not focused maybe as much on your health or your relationships or you know the growth of your team or these other aspects and so that's like a downfall to some of these like summer models um
00:21:24
Speaker
is you know there's not the kind of this balance right to everything. So what I like about solar is that you can have that balance. You can have a day that instead of being hyper-focused on recruiting, hyper-focused on selling, or hyper-focused on you know different parts of your life and kind of compartmentalizing your life, you can just live life. You can just totally live your life like a normal person.
00:21:44
Speaker
You just have to be more disciplined and actually, you know a lot of ways, grow up in time block. So you know for example, like your morning, In my case, like my morning routine is totally dedicated to like personal time and taking care of myself.
00:21:57
Speaker
Then there's time you know like in the early afternoon that I'm focused on recruiting, building. So I have to you know set up certain time each day like in my calendar to hop on Instagram or to hop on social media or hop on LinkedIn or you know send that person a text, however you do your recruiting. like Make sure that you're getting that time to reaching out to recruits. you know Even if it's 30 minutes a day, just time lock it in for 30 minutes a day versus scrolling on your phone.
00:22:23
Speaker
Then from there, it's like you have that time for you know your sales, which you know most people in solar, I would say, are working like 2 to 8, maybe, um obviously, those that are you know more lax, it's probably closer to 4 to 8.
00:22:38
Speaker
But having that time to set aside for your personal sales. And then, i you know just like how you put an hour in for pipeline management for your personal sales, put in an hour for recruiting pipeline management, right?
00:22:50
Speaker
And so I think it all just comes down to time blocking, right? like Making sure that you're putting in the time you know each week and each day to consistently build your team. It's three different flows. like It's the lead generation, which is just reaching out and generating the meetings.
00:23:07
Speaker
It's running the meetings. And then it's obviously like the follow-up. um and transitioning those reps into an office, their training and development. But that's where I think like you can kind of build that in with solar, which is cool because like you're going out and selling every day.
00:23:20
Speaker
All those new recruits just bring them out with you, put them on your hip and you're recruiting and training while you're also selling. Like you can kind of just, you know, lump it into one thing and make your time more efficient. And yeah, i mean, something that i was thinking about as you're saying that is just, I don't think Sunrun does as much setter, closer, where you have appointment setters, from what I've heard.
00:23:41
Speaker
But ah you know over here where I'm at, we have more of like a setter-closer model. Setters go out. And so I was just thinking while you're saying that, it's like for me, I've got some setters that are cranking out so many appointments that it's like a lot of days my calendar will be full of appointments.
00:23:58
Speaker
And it's like, I don't have time to knock. I just have time to go to appointments and then manage deals. And that's that's what that's about it. So I think for some people, maybe it comes down to... I know.
00:24:08
Speaker
Yeah. but Can't complain. but it's like... I think in a way, as you're saying that, it's almost like people that are in that model, maybe we in order to grow, maybe we need to be more willing to be like, hey, we have some closers because they could also take some of those those appointments.
00:24:25
Speaker
And maybe it's like not being, I don't know, not being afraid to like delegate someone's appointments. So you have more time to recruit and do some of the other higher higher level stuff because...
00:24:36
Speaker
um Yeah, it's been my issue this quarter is I probably could delegate some appointments to have more time to like focus on some of the team stuff and recruiting stuff. But it's, it's tempting because, you know, like the quicker money that short term money, you know, you can go out get a deal, get paid out within a month or whatever.
00:24:55
Speaker
We're recruiting. yeah um Sometimes I get mad. I'm like god it's like, it's not like you're going to see the money right now from recruiting. It's more of like a long term thing. And so, you know, maybe that's something that guys have a hard time seeing past you. Would you agree?
00:25:11
Speaker
I've totally noticed that is like the difference in low ticket versus high ticket, like selling pests versus selling solar. In low ticket and pests, there's just such an incentive to recruit because people can't stand the job.
00:25:24
Speaker
like They want to get off the doors and stop knocking doors as fast as possible. That's just the reality. And I'll call it point blank as it is, like call any pest control guy and that is the facts, right?
00:25:35
Speaker
They won't do it longer than four or five or six years. They just won't. like And if they do, like they might have a couple screws loose. um But you'll see like that's just you know that's just the case. Most guys, they don't enjoy that kind of sale. But you'll find guys that they they would love to just sell solar for 15 years and just be left alone.
00:25:54
Speaker
And so... I think because you know the sale does have such a high upside and guys can make a million dollars a year in their personal sales, they kind of recognize like in pest control, there's no way you make a million dollars without building a massive team.
00:26:09
Speaker
There's just no possible way. That's just the model. um Unless you you know you own the branch and you own all those accounts and there's residual, which again, you've got to go build those teams to do so. I think there's kind of this natural incentive in PEST where people, like they recruit like bonkers, because they're just like, man, I'll hit up anyone and everyone if it means I don't have to go knock doors next summer. right In solar, it's kind of like, dude, I can just keep taking appointments, and I can just keep closing deals, and I can self-gen, and I can make $500,000 to a million dollars this year in my personal production, and I just don't have the headache of having to manage people.
00:26:42
Speaker
like I don't have to go recruit, I don't have to build something. But on the flip side, you know then you miss out on those opportunities for that really high income and you miss out opportunities for you know um just impact on human beings and like that next level of leadership development that like you need. right like You can stay a sales rep for a long time, but you're going to hit a point where you kind of plateau in what you can accomplish as a sales rep because there's just only so much production that you can do.
00:27:07
Speaker
And that's where that skill set that you have, like you're going to want to pass off onto others. I think that's just a natural phase of life where you want to mentor and develop um and pass off wisdom. Right. And so I think that's where if the ozone solar don't make recruiting a priority, then ah eventually they'll just kind of recognize that like they're never going to be able to step into a role where they can really, I think, maximize their career.
00:27:32
Speaker
They'll just, you know, have a great sales job that they'll be able to make great income doing. But if they can kind of get in that next level, um that's where, you know, obviously the income is outrageous, but also just the opportunity to to scale an organization.
00:27:48
Speaker
um really, really exciting, you know? And so that's, that's what more like fires me up is like building an organization, building a community, building a, a yeah ah culture of individuals that I want to be around and that excites me every day versus, you know, obviously i love selling solar. it's been a lot of fun, but um I would, I would much rather develop individuals than, know, sell a product.
00:28:14
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, I love that. Yeah, and some of the best leaders I've seen probably in any industry is like they can see other people um for like the potential they have, you know, because it's like a lot of times we come in, we don't see that we can be a future leader.
00:28:29
Speaker
But ah there's been leaders around me that have kind of helped me be like, yeah, you got a lot of potential. Like, yeah I can see you leading a big team. I can see you being really high level person. And we've got to credit some leaders like that for helping me progress in my solar career too.
00:28:45
Speaker
So ah for you, anything you've you've seen or done, like, because like you said, in solar, that is one of the challenges that's probably a little bit tougher to get get people to see the potential being a leader and want to recruit as much when there's not quite as much incentive and when there's such good commission, just personal selling.
00:29:02
Speaker
So I don't know any advice you have on that and helping people like kind of inspire the reps underneath them to want to be leaders and to want to recruit and do all those things at a higher level.
00:29:15
Speaker
Yeah, it's been really fun and learning from Ty and Taylor and and Dave Madsen here at Sunrun. um They've shared a lot of things over the last few weeks that have been super impactful for me and I think really impactful for our reps as well. So you know I'll share kind of some of those things.
00:29:30
Speaker
I think the first thing is just having a vision. like Sometimes but people don't even have a vision for themselves and that's like the responsibility of the leader is to like help them craft that vision for themselves.
00:29:42
Speaker
and That's kind of i think what you're alluding to of like... leaders can see something in someone else and then help them to see it. just It comes down to like you know leadership is meeting people where they're at right and so some Some people, like where they're at, is they need to learn accountability and they need to learn discipline and they need to learn um structure. right Some people, they need like self-confidence. Some people um you know they need training. Maybe they just need like skill development. so It's kind of recognizing like what that person needs and diving into
00:30:13
Speaker
where they're at and helping them kind of get to that next level, um, and giving them a vision of like why they should, you know? And so sometimes it's because you believe in them and that's as simple as it needs to be, is that like them feeling believed in gives them like a vision to perform higher. Sometimes it's because of, you know, extrinsic opportunities to open themselves up, you know, for example, like, um,
00:30:38
Speaker
if If they're able to perform, then you know if they have the financial ah means to be able to invest or to you know live a more glamorous or enjoyable or you know ah comfortable life. right And so that might be what you have to lay out for people.
00:30:52
Speaker
um I've found like you know for the very best people, if you can show them a vision of how they'll develop as a human being, And how they'll develop into leadership and what those opportunities will look like for their life.
00:31:06
Speaker
That's where, you know, you can create a motor that just, um, that just goes, you know, you can find people that will push that car harder than about anyone because they, they can see like what it will turn into.
00:31:19
Speaker
yeah. And that's like that's what gets me fired up is with those kind of people that like have you know have vision, have excitement for their future, um and are dead set on getting there. you know I have this guy we work with right now in our office. His name's Preston.
00:31:34
Speaker
He's 20 years old. I think he's about to be 21. um He's been in solar for, I think, 14 months. He started you know a little over a year ago. um he made a half million dollars his first year selling solar.
00:31:48
Speaker
and this year, you know, he'll make, he'll probably make seven figures. He, two weeks ago, he did 10 self-gen closes himself. It was like $134,000 his pipeline in one week.
00:32:03
Speaker
This last week, he did seven self-gens. Like the kid's just on fire right now. oh like um And he has, you know, such a strong vision for his future.
00:32:15
Speaker
not only because of like the leadership that's poured into him, but also like he knows what he wants. And so, you know, you look at everything from his phone screen saver of all his goals to you go into his house and he has like affirmations everywhere, like to just the way that he, you know, speaks about himself and speaks, you know, to the team about his goals. Like he's just so committed. So I think that's like one thing is just giving people vision um and teaching them how to like,
00:32:43
Speaker
you know, affirm that vision consistently. i think the second thing that I've noticed, um, is people look through, you know, the lens that they choose to look through in life. Like everyone's perspective, um, is a choice.
00:32:58
Speaker
And so sometimes like our perspective magnifies things and makes it a bigger deal than they are. And sometimes our perspective minimizes things and makes it not as big of a deal as they are. Um, so teaching people like perspective, like,
00:33:12
Speaker
you know the The way that we frame things um and the way that our mindset approaches things determines a lot of times the outcomes that we receive. And so a lot of times like we end up just attracting like you know what we perceive. Or in a lot of cases, like what we don't want just because we have this you know this mindset or perspective that's jaded.
00:33:33
Speaker
So that's like a big thing for me with with reps in development is... like helping them to have ah a bigger perspective and have a more abundant perspective. um And then something you know you kind of mentioned was like, I think just letting go. It's like so many people have this kind of scarcity mindset of like they want to just, they know it's right in front of them and it's almost like they they can see it and hold And so they're like, well, I just, you know, I don't want to let go of this opportunity that's in front of me. But sometimes you have to like let go of good for great.
00:34:04
Speaker
And I think that's often what I've seen holds people back from actually scaling their business is they want so much control or they want so much, um, They want so much of like the right now that they're not willing to you know let go and and be abundant for the long term.
00:34:20
Speaker
um And I've seen that especially in solar. like That's been a huge you know ah perspective shift for me. was like I didn't really expect that coming in. like I'd always kind of wondered, like if solar guys make so much more money, like why don't they recruit more? like Why don't they build bigger teams? It was kind of mind-blowing to me. I was like, why don't they? Why don't they? like you know, that the opportunity compared to solar, it's not even close. So like, why, you know, are the pest guys recruiting just as much as the solar guys or in some cases like more?
00:34:48
Speaker
And I think what I realized really quickly was, um, there's much more of a scarcity mentality, I believe, like in the solar industry from what I've seen so far is like, and maybe it's come from, you know, just guys transitioning from other industries and, uh, wanting to make, you know, a big quick buck. You know, I'm not sure where it stems from, but I've, I've definitely recognized that, that, uh,
00:35:08
Speaker
there's kind of this mentality of like, I've got to go get mine now. And I'm going to, you know, maximize my paycheck, you know, this week and next week versus thinking about like a vision or a team or kind of a mission that you can be on that you can go and build something so much bigger that pays everybody so much more if you're abundant. And that's like, what's been super cool at Sunrun is like the guys here are just incredibly abundant and they've built at such a high level, you know, that there is that culture and mentality of like,
00:35:37
Speaker
you know, let's go and sacrifice, um, you know, in some cases, like what could pay me today to get paid for tomorrow. And because of that, like, not only do they get paid more today, but then they also will get paid more tomorrow, you know, just because you're, you are developing more people. you are like taking care of the the whole group. And so then everyone wins. so Yeah, and I agree.
00:35:59
Speaker
Well, yeah, and there's just like every sales job, there's definitely, um you know, broke people, guys that are waiting on commissions to come in. And, you know, sometimes like recruiting is the last thing I should think about when I i need to just pay my rent for next month. and Everything like that. Yeah.
00:36:19
Speaker
So do you think guys should get to like a certain level before they kind of more focus on recruiting? You talked about like, you know, being a leader over yourself and stuff like that.
00:36:29
Speaker
But ah would you say recruiting something that you should get to a certain level before you start doing or what do you think? I think it's kind of like a fine balance because there's like, you know, the airplane analogy of like, you know, put on your own life jacket first.
Longevity and Growth in Solar
00:36:45
Speaker
Right. And so like, yeah I think you have to be able to take care of, it's just like Maslow's hierarchy of needs. Like you have to be able to take care of your basic needs before you can seek fulfillment and purpose to some degree.
00:36:55
Speaker
Right. Like, yeah. I think it's kind of the same in any job. and So yeah, I think you know and solar, there's one side of it that it's like, hey, you should, if you're gonna do this job, you should take it really seriously and you should go out and perform as high as you can. like You should go out and you know be as coachable as possible, work as hard as possible, ask as many questions as possible, and and try to go out and maximize your individual opportunity.
00:37:20
Speaker
naturally that's going to allow you to develop um from kind of that like level one to that level two leader where you're performing and now people trust you and want to work with you and that's what opens up the doors to i think recruiting at a high level um yeah on the flip side of it you know you can make the same argument of like If you're just all in from day one and you're not only like working at your highest level, but you're also recruiting your highest level, like simultaneously and time blocking in of like, know, you have a vision that you're not going to perform, but you're also going to build. I think that, you know, and they'll both happen.
00:37:50
Speaker
Right. So I've seen in both cases, like when I first got into pest control, you know, I had this mindset of like, going to go out and perform and I'm going to recruit. And so I did both simultaneously and was able to, you know, succeed and in both. But obviously the recruiting, you know, side of it didn't really take off until I had developed as a leader.
00:38:10
Speaker
And so I think that's, you know, the the key is making sure that you're just developing. That's good. I love that. Well, last couple of questions, Jackson, before we um start wrapping it up here. But ah you talked about you know the five levels of leadership. And I see a lot of guys and even myself included where they've become high producers. They've started to grow a small team.
00:38:31
Speaker
And um I would say I'm kind of like right there right now, but just getting people to produce, getting your recruits to produce at high level and be able to take care of themselves. So why do you think guys get stuck on just like one of these rungs maybe they've like started to produce on their own but they can't get the guys underneath them to produce now so I don't know if you have any like stories where you've seen that in your career or things you've done to kind of like get out of that rut and get to the next level instead of being stuck at one place um any any tips on that they get stuck in their personal production or they get stuck in like their kind of like organizational growth of like taking their team to the next level I would say taking the team because like that's where I'm at right now. I'm producing high at a personal level, but I actually had some closers that decided to switch to a different industry. They're making like, okay, money, but
00:39:20
Speaker
i couldn't I couldn't help them break past that learning curve to you know like feel like, oh, solar is where it's at I'm making really good money. I don't know. these ads Maybe speaking to my example where I'm at right now personally, like what would you what do you think could help me yeah break out of that and get the guys underneath me to start producing at higher level?
00:39:37
Speaker
So I think there's like... three portions of a business that everyone should be focusing on. So number one, there's like, especially I can set our closer model. There's like lead generation. It's just, but you know, the number of appointments that you have per day and the number of appointments you have in an office, obviously it determines the amount of people you can talk to and, you know, share.
00:39:57
Speaker
um your pitch with. The second part is kind of like revenue generation. So that's like, obviously the closing side. It's like guys that can actually go and close and they can manage pipeline and get blast to roof. Right. um There's all the KPIs that go with that, right? Like, you know, your sit to close ratio, your timelines, you know, for operations and then, ah you know, just how you manage pipeline, how you work referrals. Like there's so much that you can maximize on that side.
00:40:23
Speaker
And then there's the ah third part, um which is growth, right? Which is recruiting. And i would say more like talent development and retention. Retention and growth have to go handin hand in hand. So it's culture building and some of those things. So what I would recommend is doing a weekly audit of yourself on those three things and actually tracking To begin with, you can look at lead generation.
00:40:43
Speaker
How many appointments did we have set last week? And how many appointments that we set, how many of those are sitting And let's look at why they're not sitting. Maybe it's that in our process, we're not setting good expectations, right?
00:40:56
Speaker
Maybe we should leave like a, you know, some people are against leaving a leave behind. Some people are for leaving a leave behind, you know, so the customer has good expectations. Maybe there's certain things you start to audit like, An appointment's not considered a set unless we have you know both decision makers there.
00:41:10
Speaker
We've confirmed that they're the owner. We've gotten a confirmation text. It was set in a time window, right? like You can come up with you know your process and your system, but ultimately like figure out how you can increase the number of leads that you're generating every single week. Maybe it's you got to knock more hours.
00:41:28
Speaker
um So there's a lot of levers and pulleys kind of just on that first area. And that isn't a necessarily require... like more reps, right? A lot of that's just like maximizing your systems.
00:41:39
Speaker
On the second part, then there's obviously revenue generation. So your closing process, what is your sit to close ratio? Where are you losing people? Adjusting that process. um Working on, you know, again, those kind of levers and pulleys.
00:41:50
Speaker
The whole pipeline process, how you're working with operations, how you're following up with the customer, um how you're working referrals, making sure you have a you know developed process for all those things. And then lastly, then there's the growth and retention. so How do you instill culture into your team to make them feel like they're a part of something that's bigger than themselves and bigger than just the job? How are you giving them vision? you know Do you have one-on-ones with your reps um consistently so that you're aware of their goals and what they're looking for?
00:42:16
Speaker
Have you crafted like an individual vision for each one of your reps and given them individual plans you know for their week and for their month and for their quarter? like Do they know what they're chasing? Do they know what they're working towards? Or are they just kind of a cog in the wheel that's just showing up to meetings and just going through the day-to-day?
00:42:31
Speaker
but Also then from a growth perspective, like how are you recruiting? How are you finding more talent? I think that's really where people hold back is they kind of they look at it from a macro view of like, okay, I've got a couple leaders. We're doing X amount of accounts. like How can I go and get myself to the next level?
00:42:47
Speaker
And it's really not like just this one thing. It's kind of like you just got to go focus on like all of the little micro things that make, you know, the the machine move. And what's going to happen naturally, like, you know, in your example, you're going have guys that leave other industries, you're going to lose leaders along the way, but you're going to be developing so many others that are going to replace those guys. And if they have the right vision, and they have like, you know, the the goals, and they have like, you know, the systems in place to help them scale, that's like where you really go from, you know, two to four to eight to 16 to 32 you name it, right?
00:43:19
Speaker
I think where guys get stuck, they focus on like, all right I've got 15, 20 guys. I'm just gonna try to like milk these 15 and 20 guys and just take care of these 15 to 20 guys. And then when I lose five or seven, gonna go try and like replace them.
00:43:32
Speaker
It's kind of like the same as like selling solar. If you just only go out and sell 10 or 15 deals and then you hope that they install and then replace them once they fall out or install, you're kind of always broke because you're just like never really like getting any momentum.
00:43:46
Speaker
But if every single week and every single day you're just building your pipeline, then your pipeline just gets so full that at some point it's just overflowing. And then the more you keep filling it you know, you just never really have a problem.
00:43:58
Speaker
So I think, I think recruiting kind of goes hand in hand the same way. So my advice to you would be develop, look at an audit of those three categories, the generation, revenue generation and growth and retention. um which obviously is culture, all those things.
00:44:11
Speaker
Audit, like where are you maximizing and missing out on each one of those areas? And then I think that will give you a ah plan to get everyone bought in, you know, as an organization to go take it to the next level.
00:44:22
Speaker
Yeah, I like that a lot. And yeah, I mean, already gave me some ideas based off some of the things things I'm struggling with. and Because yeah, we track most of the metrics, but ah one we don't track as well is just the appointments booked, appointments sat, think stuff like that.
00:44:36
Speaker
um i can do a better job at tracking on my team and then the other thing like you're saying is just having the constant flow recruiting keeping it going because uh like i mentioned before i've been way more focused on sales this quarter but um recruiting hasn't been it's kind of dropped off a little bit just because of the appointment volume and everything And our team is, we've lost some guys and I'm like, all a sudden like, shoot, we've lost three guys. haven't like No one's really close to replacing the closers where like like if I had a been focused on the recruiting, then it's there might have been three more people that were already developed that it wouldn't matter if you know we had some fall off. Yeah.
00:45:16
Speaker
So that's good, man. Yeah, no that's really good stuff. um Well, Jackson, it's been awesome hanging with you today. But before I forget, if people want to connect with you more, maybe see what you guys are doing, ah shoot you a follow or anything like that, what's the best way to connect with you more if you guys want to reach out?
00:45:34
Speaker
Yeah, for sure. So ah my personal Instagram, just my name, J-A-X-O-N-J-U-N-I-O-R, Jackson Jr., You can also check out our team page. It's runX12, spelled out 12, runX12. So yeah, we're out here in Orange County.
00:45:50
Speaker
come to you know We put on events. we're actually putting on an event here in November. I'm really excited about. We do a lot of health and wellness collaborations, just ways that guys can have a good time connecting, you know live a lifestyle that's powered by you clean energy. That's kind of our whole focus. So yeah, they can find me on Instagram, shoot me you know a message on there, and then also come check out some of our events, follow our team page.
00:46:09
Speaker
some of your stuff on Instagram and everything seems like you guys are pretty good, pretty ah big on doing stuff like that. Surfing culture, chill vibe and all that would use. That's a pretty big focus for your team. Just any, anything, any cool things you guys do a part of your team to kind of build that culture.
00:46:24
Speaker
Yeah, our whole brand, we're called 12. So the whole idea is 12 months a year of life that you're excited about. you know There's 12 weeks and a quarter you know after like vacation time is taken out.
00:46:37
Speaker
There's 12 hours in a day that you get to go design your dream life. And we want to provide a platform that people can do so. And obviously, that's you know powered by by clean energy. um The culture is all about lifestyle, merit, you know earning...
00:46:50
Speaker
earning what you have, um authenticity, but having an opportunity to just truly be yourself and live life on your terms. you know Go and maximize every part of your life to live a complete life. um The number 12 is like the most complete number in the world. You have 12 people on a jury, 12 rounds in boxing, 12 apostles, 12 zodiac signs. You'll see 12 in everything. And so that was kind of the inspiration behind it. We want people to live a complete life, financial, mental, spiritual, physical, everything, emotional. and so That starts with making sure that your days are designed in a way that you want to be. So that's kind of our culture, you know, is we have lot of guys that surf and golf and work out and have a good time in the morning, um read, you know, have daily habits and try to keep themselves really disciplined and excited.
00:47:35
Speaker
You know, there's obviously a part of your day that's focused on work. And then there's a time that's focused on, you know, family and other things that really matter. And so we want to help people achieve their goals without sacrificing the things that really matter at the end of it.
00:47:46
Speaker
Love that. That's fire. That's cool. I didn't think about that. Love that. I love that. um Well, cool, man. And last question here. um You being so new in solar, I know you mentioned a few things already that maybe surprise you a little bit, but is there anything coming from pest control to solar where we're like, oh, I did not expect that or this surprised me about the solar industry or this was way different i than I thought?
00:48:10
Speaker
Anything else that yeah that a surprised you? So I think like this is like the biggest, um I'm actually gonna start making a whole series on this for education. So for those listen to it, wanna follow along, check it out, especially if you're in other industries.
Addressing Solar Misconceptions
00:48:21
Speaker
But I've just recognized there's just such a misunderstanding in how solar actually works from the outside perspective. My perspective coming to solar was that everyone was just selling equipment. but It was like, oh, yeah they're just selling panels and batteries um and trying to replace people's bills. And now the interest rates have gone up. like The whole industry's shot. That was like my perspective.
00:48:40
Speaker
I didn't really recognize that. I wish that they stopped calling it solar companies. We're not solar companies in most cases. I mean, some people are, right? Like dealers are guys that are installers. You know, that's kind of just what they are. But the the real companies, you know, they're energy companies.
00:48:53
Speaker
And everyone buys energy every single month. um But they just buy it from a really outdated infrastructure. And there's new technology using renewables and batteries that allow us to purchase our energy in a way that's more predictable and more efficient and more sustainable. And that's what we sell. like We sell people options. We give them the opportunity to be able to purchase power that they're already purchasing in a way that's more reliable, more predictable, and more efficient.
00:49:22
Speaker
And so that industry is never going away. like No matter what happens in legislation or what changes, like that industry is only growing more and more and more because it's an industry that needs to be disrupted. And so that's what really excites me is like, you know, my perspective from the outside was like, oh, solar is on the downhill. What I've realized coming into it is that solar has just begun.
00:49:40
Speaker
And the only reason why people think that solar is on the downhill because you frankly had a lot of really lazy reps from a lot of industries during COVID when interest rates were an all time low. And a lot of companies were selling equipment, go out and cut people's bill in a half and make 10 grand. And they thought that was solar.
00:49:56
Speaker
That's not even close to what it is. I'm super excited to kind of be at like, I view it like I kind of came in at the forefront. Like I kind of feel like I came in at the beginning of the solar wave. And for those that are here at the beginning and are developing and, you know, building teams and really understanding the market in 15 years, their career opportunities and the upside they have just won't even be close to any other industry because the energy industry, you know, it's a,
00:50:22
Speaker
It's multi-trillion dollar industry. I mean, most energy companies have 25 to $30 billion dollars market caps and they're just small energy companies. So when you look at the opportunity to disrupt energy, gets me really excited. So I'm excited to be along for the ride.
00:50:36
Speaker
Love it. So true. Yeah, I think it's a... Can't remember the quote, but something about Warren Buffett saying... and energy is like the next trillion dollar industry, stuff like that. So so good, so good. And ah Jackson, thank you for dropping some bombs for us today. um I can tell you're a person that's ah definitely abundant minded, and not holding stuff back. So we appreciate that that from you. And anyone listening to podcast, please go shoot Jackson in the fall. Let them know you appreciated him coming on the show. And yeah, man, we'll have to do this again soon. And I mean, if you've done this much in four months,
00:51:11
Speaker
I can't, well, probably a year from now, you're going to be h like president of the company or something by then. so that I don't think I'm qualified for that, but ah no, i appreciate it, man. Taylor, it's but been fun chatting and looking forward to get to know you better and stoked to be along for the ride with me here in solar.
00:51:28
Speaker
Let's go, bro. Okay. Well, man, we'll have to hit some ah waves sometime soon. guess we're pretty close, so we'll see you the beach here soon, hopefully. All right, brother. We'll talk soon. Okay. Thanks, brother. Yep. Hey, solopreneurs, quick question. What if you could surround yourself with the industry's top performing sales pros, marketers, and CEOs and learn from their experience and wisdom in less than 20 minutes a day.
00:51:49
Speaker
For the last three years, I've been placed in the fortunate position to interview dozens of elite level solar professionals and learn exactly what they do behind closed doors to build their solar careers to an all-star level. That's why I want to make a truly special announcement about the new learning community exclusively for solar professionals to learn, compete, and win with top performers in the industry. And it's called Solciety. This learning community was designed from the ground up to level the playing field and give solar pros access to proven mentors who want to give back to this community and help you or your team to be held accountable
00:52:27
Speaker
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