Transcript
Speaker: Welcome to the Solarpreneur Podcast, where we teach you to take your solar business to the next level.
Speaker: My name is Taylor Armstrong.
Speaker: I went from $50 in my bank account and struggling for groceries to closing 150 deals in a year and cracking the code on why sales reps fell.
Speaker: I teach you 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.
Speaker: What is a solarpreneur you might ask?
Speaker: A solarpreneur is a new breed of solar pro that is willing to do whatever it takes to achieve mastery and you are about to become one.
Speaker: Hey, solopreneurs.
Speaker: Today, we're going to be talking about five lessons I've learned from doing jiu-jitsu for about two and a half years now at the time of this recording.
Speaker: And excited to hear some just relationships I've made between cells and jiu-jitsu.
Speaker: I think they're actually more similar than you think.
Speaker: So if you hate jiu-jitsu or like martial arts stuff, don't worry.
Speaker: We're going to be tying it into cells.
Speaker: So bear with me.
Speaker: But welcome to the podcast.
Speaker: My name is Taylor Armstrong.
Speaker: We're here to help you close more deals, generate more leads and referrals and have a much better time in the solar sales industry.
Speaker: And I hope you can also have some pay.
Speaker: I'm getting over a cold here.
Speaker: So sorry if it sounds like I just came out of like a deep sleep because yeah, lungs are a little bit.
Speaker: jarred up right now.
Speaker: I'm coughing and all that.
Speaker: So might hear some coughs.
Speaker: We'll try to edit them out.
Speaker: But as always, want to show up for my peeps here on the podcast and bring some value for you.
Speaker: So I hope you get some value today.
Speaker: And if you have not left us a review or shared the podcast, please do that.
Speaker: That is the price we ask.
Speaker: So it would be much appreciated if you have not done that already.
Speaker: And the other thing, if you are looking for a team to join or you want to come try out solar in San Diego, California, where I'm located, click the link below in the show notes.
Speaker: We actually have an application and we are bringing on a few killers to come unite with our team and learn from the best in the industry.
Speaker: So check those out if you haven't already.
Speaker: OK, so let's get into this.
Speaker: the jujitsu talk here if you follow me on social media you've probably seen that i post you know photos of me going and doing jujitsu again been doing it about two and a half years and it's been cool to just develop something outside of cells i see progress in something some of you know i actually was a music major growing up or in college rather and one of the things i liked about music is you would practice it you'd see incremental progress
Speaker: you to get instructed and just see those gains almost on like a daily basis, just mastering the next little piece of the song we're learning or whatever it was.
Speaker: So I feel like jujitsu is similar.
Speaker: You show up, it's super frustrating, you see slow progress, but then once you've been doing it for a while, you start to see incremental progress and it's just cool to see the progression.
Speaker: So some of you might ask, how does that relate to cells?
Speaker: Why are we talking about jujitsu?
Speaker: So I narrowed it down to five things that I've learned after doing jujitsu for a couple years now that I think have all the applications in cells.
Speaker: So let's jump right into it.
Speaker: The first thing is, is this.
Speaker: A block belt is just a white belt who did not quit.
Speaker: I'll say it one more time.
Speaker: A block belt is just a white belt who didn't give up.
Speaker: So it's a saying that you say in jiu-jitsu.
Speaker: It's like there's only the people who give up.
Speaker: They're not going to get the block belt.
Speaker: But there's some people that just stick with this thing that become jiu-jitsu block belts.
Speaker: And separating things, they just don't give up.
Speaker: So I did some research on this and according to chat GPT, I was like asking at what percent of people quit from white belt to blue belt.
Speaker: Blue belt is the second level in jujitsu because white belt and blue belt.
Speaker: And I knew it was high because just goes with anything in life.
Speaker: A lot of people quit when things get hard.
Speaker: You look at any sports, any musical instrument, whatever, there's just an extreme level of drop off.
Speaker: even within the first six months because people don't see fast progress.
Speaker: They quit.
Speaker: And specifically in jujitsu, they're getting their crap beat out of them.
Speaker: You know, they're getting choked out.
Speaker: They're getting armbarred.
Speaker: And they just don't want to deal with that anymore.
Speaker: So I asked ChatGPT, and according to ChatGPT, about 70% to 90% of people quit before reaching Blue Belt.
Speaker: Can you believe that?
Speaker: 70% to 90%.
Speaker: And Blue Belt, by the way, takes about one to two years.
Speaker: Took me almost two and a half years.
Speaker: So think about that.
Speaker: So many people are just giving up before they truly experience something.
Speaker: When things get difficult,
Speaker: And how many listening to this podcast right now, you're thinking of giving up in sales.
Speaker: You've seen some success.
Speaker: You haven't broken through.
Speaker: You're like, God, maybe I should go get a real job.
Speaker: I promise you, if you stick with it, if you don't join the 70 to 90%, then more than likely you're going to have success with this because there's eight years doing this now.
Speaker: I can count on one hand the amount of people that I've seen.
Speaker: quit just because they never figured it out and they actually put in the time.
Speaker: And by putting in the time, I would say like a year of consistent effort and showing up.
Speaker: That's less than five people that I've seen or heard of.
Speaker: And this is just me hearing of people too.
Speaker: The people that I actually worked with, I'd say even less.
Speaker: But very few people will not have success as long as they keep showing up, as long as they don't give up.
Speaker: So it's the same in jujitsu.
Speaker: It's the same in anything you want to develop.
Speaker: And more than anything, I think in sales too.
Speaker: So keep showing up.
Speaker: Number two, you never know who will be good at jujitsu or sales.
Speaker: Don't judge a book by its cover.
Speaker: So if you've seen people that actually do jujitsu, you see a very wide array of people like there's ultimate nerds doing jujitsu.
Speaker: They're like geeks.
Speaker: There's, you know, like jacked gym guys.
Speaker: There's ladies.
Speaker: There's quite a few ladies that do it too.
Speaker: And in all the spectrum, I would say there's more like, you know, nerdy people, skinny guys.
Speaker: I would say it's more common to see these, you know, slightly nerdy, scrawny, skinny guys doing jujitsu.
Speaker: You see way less of like the jacks, bro type gym guys.
Speaker: You don't see them as much in jujitsu.
Speaker: And what's crazy is these skinny, nerdy types, most of the time, they're going to beat the crap out of you.
Speaker: Okay.
Speaker: It's like so many skinny, scrawny, somewhat nerdy guys.
Speaker: They're like absolute killers on the mats when it comes to Jiu Jitsu.
Speaker: And the reason I compare this to sales is because in my years doing sales, I've seen some people that seem like they have no business having success in solar.
Speaker: actually do pretty good.
Speaker: So the lesson is just don't judge a book by its cover.
Speaker: And if you are someone that feels like, I'm never going to be as good as this guy, or I'm like, not confident, I'm too nerd, whatever, whatever, like stereotype you think you fit, just know that there's people in every walks of life that can be successful in sales.
Speaker: And you know, quick story with that, my first summer of doing solar, there was this kid who actually had Asperger's was like,
Speaker: you know, a form of autism.
Speaker: And he like could not really hold a conversation.
Speaker: You could tell right off the bat that this guy was, you know, a little awkward, just weird talking to.
Speaker: But guess what?
Speaker: He ended up sticking out the summer, first of all, when a lot of guys quit.
Speaker: And then second of all, he probably made a top five on our team.
Speaker: And just in the reason he did, he just put his head down, he worked, he showed up, he memorized the script word for word.
Speaker: right?
Speaker: He didn't try to reinvent the wheel.
Speaker: He just did what he's supposed to and didn't really know how to hold a conversation.
Speaker: But this guy could set appointments like no one's business because he just followed a script and he showed up.
Speaker: And so don't judge a book by its cover.
Speaker: If you think sales is not for you, then think again.
Speaker: Probably is.
Speaker: So some of you already know that I run my own door-to-door sales team here in San Diego.
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.
Speaker: But if I want to increase my deal flow, I need to do something different to get an advantage.
Speaker: Then we discovered an app called Solar Scout.
Speaker: But it's not a door knocking app.
Speaker: It's a data platform that shows us who is likely to go solar in our market.
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.
Speaker: It's been working for a lot of teams across the country and now I'm on board too.
Speaker: I'm going to be one of the first to use SolarScout in San Diego so I decided to partner up.
Speaker: But I told them, hey, if I'm going to talk about SolarScout on my show, you need to give my listeners a great deal.
Speaker: And they did.
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.
Speaker: That's solarscout.app forward slash Taylor.
Speaker: Okay, back to the show.
Speaker: Okay, number three, there's always going to be someone better.
Speaker: So stop comparing yourself.
Speaker: Jiu-jitsu, again, with these nerdy guys, I've gotten the crap beat out of me, I would say, by a lot of these dudes.
Speaker: And even as I get better, as I train more, I've realized that I can show up to any gym at any given time.
Speaker: And as good as I think I am, there's always going to be someone better than me.
Speaker: And there's always going to be guys who just absolutely hand it to me.
Speaker: So and it's not to get discouraged by that.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: I've been in sales for eight years.
Speaker: There's guys that come their first year and sometimes outsell me.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: So you don't get discouraged by these guys, but you use it as motivation.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: The good news about that on the flip side, there's always someone to chase.
Speaker: There's always someone better.
Speaker: There's always that next level to go to.
Speaker: And if you're the biggest fish in the pond you're in, then you might be in the wrong pond.
Speaker: So remember that.
Speaker: Don't be the biggest fish in the small pond.
Speaker: You know, in in rare cases, I would say you want that.
Speaker: In most cases, you do not want to be the smartest guy in the room.
Speaker: You want to be around people that are better than you, that are up leveling you.
Speaker: And that's how you constantly improve.
Speaker: So don't get discouraged by not being the best guy in the room.
Speaker: Use it as fuel.
Speaker: Use it as motivation.
Speaker: Use it as inspiration.
Speaker: Go chase that person.
Speaker: Get competitive and stop comparing yourself to others because it'll just get you depressed and make you want to quit.
Speaker: That's number three.
Speaker: And number four is to stay calm in the worst circumstances.
Speaker: Hey, how many of us have been in appointments or at doors where people are just freaking out, calling us liars, whatever.
Speaker: I've been in some pretty extreme appointments where people just like do not want to sign.
Speaker: And the way you get these people to move forward is you don't freak out.
Speaker: You remain calm, right?
Speaker: Everyone knows or you should know if you've been in sales for a while that when you get hit with an objection, you don't react.
Speaker: You don't freak out.
Speaker: You agree.
Speaker: And then you transition, you agree, resolve, transition, art, right?
Speaker: Agree, resolve, transition.
Speaker: And you do that as calm as possible.
Speaker: Because if you freak out, if you get defensive, then they're going to walk away.
Speaker: So the way that compares to jujitsu is when you're getting choked out, when you're in an arm bar, typically the people that actually escape these submission attempts is they're extremely calm, right?
Speaker: You look at the best jujitsu practitioners in the world, and
Speaker: They got their back taken.
Speaker: They've got the arm behind them.
Speaker: They're not like freaking out going bananas.
Speaker: Why?
Speaker: Because they're going to like gas themselves out.
Speaker: They're going to burn all their energy.
Speaker: Instead, they remain calm.
Speaker: And the other reason for that is if you're freaking out, your opponent knows that you're in a really bad spot.
Speaker: But if you're calm, your opponent has no idea if they're close to submitting you, could not be feeling the pressure at all.
Speaker: So you remain calm and then you get out of it that way.
Speaker: So so much application in sales is exactly how we should overcome objections.
Speaker: Exactly how we should close is remain calm, then go to the next step.
Speaker: And then last but not least, number five is just don't be afraid to reset sometimes.
Speaker: Maybe you just butchered your presentation at a door.
Speaker: Maybe your in-home presentation is not going well.
Speaker: Don't be afraid to just burn it, move on to the next one.
Speaker: In jiu-jitsu, it's like sometimes we're getting destroyed.
Speaker: We're just in a situation that might be impossible.
Speaker: We can tap out and we can start over again.
Speaker: I was actually at a men's retreat this last weekend with Jen's Bunnel.
Speaker: Something that I've heard is so many times, whether we're like,
Speaker: depressed or in addiction or trying to learn something new, we mess up.
Speaker: So many of us are like, oh, you know, yeah, we've got to start over now, clear back to square one.
Speaker: Well, how about this?
Speaker: Instead of thinking that you just are going way back to the beginning, think of cells, think of whatever you're in, like Super Mario World.
Speaker: And what I mean by that is if you played Super Mario Bros, if you get killed by Bowser, if you fall off the cliff, whatever, you
Speaker: You're not going back to level one.
Speaker: You're going back to the last checkpoint or maybe at like the start of that level.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: So it's not a complete reset.
Speaker: And too many of us, we think of cells.
Speaker: We think of stuff we're trying to learn or develop like the game Jenga.
Speaker: You play Jenga.
Speaker: You pull out the wooden piece.
Speaker: You lose.
Speaker: You have to start over again.
Speaker: It's not Jenga.
Speaker: It's Super Mario Bros.
Speaker: So keep that in mind when you are learning cells or when you're making improvements or
Speaker: Or if you're just not feeling it, sometimes you got to tap out.
Speaker: And remember, you're not going back to the beginning.
Speaker: You're just going back to the last stage.
Speaker: And that's the same thing in jujitsu.
Speaker: It's like you tap out, you get to start over, you got to try your things in, and you're still making, I would say almost more valuable progression when you're tapping out versus when you're
Speaker: you're just like destroying everybody.
Speaker: So those are five lessons that I've learned from jujitsu.
Speaker: Again, sorry for the out of breath and some coughs.
Speaker: Had to pause a few times to recover a little bit.
Speaker: But just to recap those, number one, a block belt in jujitsu is just a white belt who never gave up.
Speaker: Number two,
Speaker: You never know who will be good at jiu-jitsu or sales.
Speaker: Don't judge a book by its cover.
Speaker: Sometimes the dweebs, they might be the best ones.
Speaker: And number three, there's always going to be someone better than you.
Speaker: Stop comparing yourself.
Speaker: Unless you are the one person that is the best in the world, you're probably not listening to this podcast if you are.
Speaker: But if you, I feel honored if that person is listening to it.
Speaker: Number four, stay calm in awful circumstances.
Speaker: Number five, don't be afraid to tap out and restart.
Speaker: Remember, you're not going back to square one.
Speaker: You're just going back to the last checkpoint.
Speaker: So I hope those things helped.
Speaker: Send this podcast to someone who could use some encouragement today.
Speaker: And remember, if you are...
Speaker: feeling discouraged, if you're feeling like quitting, just take that next step.
Speaker: Don't give up.
Speaker: Make sure you put in the effort.
Speaker: So go get them this week.
Speaker: Hope you close some deals.
Speaker: Fill out the link below on the podcast if you want to be considered or are interested in joining our team.
Speaker: And we'll see you on the next one.
Speaker: Hey, solopreneurs, quick question.
Speaker: What if you could surround yourself with the industry's top performing sales pros, marketers, and CEOs and learn from their experience and wisdom in less than 20 minutes a day?
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.
Speaker: That's why I want to make a truly special announcement about the new learning community exclusively for solar professionals to learn, compete, and win with top performers in the industry.
Speaker: And it's called Solcitee.
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Speaker: Currently, SoulCity is open, launched, and ready to be enrolled.
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Speaker: This is exclusively for solopreneur listeners, so be sure to go to SoulCity.co and join.
Speaker: We'll see you on the inside.
