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 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.
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 what's up solarpreneurs, Taylor Armstrong here live.
Speaker: I guess you won't be hearing this live, but I am here currently in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, doing an episode.
Speaker: I wanted to show up for my peeps, for my solopreneurs, because I know you guys are pushing out there.
Speaker: You're fighting to close deals, and I'm coming at you with some sales tips, even from Mexico.
Speaker: So I apologize if you hear a little bit of background noise.
Speaker: I'm out here with the monkeys in the...
Speaker: wildlife here here on the balcony of our little resort so you might hear a few little animal sounds some wind going through the trees but i hope that inspires you to push hard and close the well i guess start this next quarter strong so you can go out and plan for your next trip had this plan since uh december
Speaker: So it's important to give yourself those pushes, those ebbs and those flows.
Speaker: Last month I had a big push.
Speaker: I was competing in the Noxstar competition.
Speaker: Had my best month in probably last year, close, 12 deals.
Speaker: Which I know for some of you that's probably nothing, some of you that's a lot.
Speaker: So for me that was my best month in about the last year.
Speaker: 12 deals, about 4 of them were...
Speaker: leads and then eight of them were self-generated deals knocking on doors so let that be a lesson if you have a big trip planned use it to motivate you I knew this trip was coming so that's part of the reason why I decided to do the knock start competition for the previous month thought what a better time then to push myself close out the quarter strong and
Speaker: and get in some extra deals before I go on the little Mexican vacation here.
Speaker: So that leads to the episode of today.
Speaker: I'm actually doing an episode on what I have learned while I'm here in Mexico.
Speaker: Guess what?
Speaker: There's cells everywhere.
Speaker: And if you've been to Mexico, you know these guys, some of the best, most aggressive salespeople in the world are in Mexico.
Speaker: You take one foot out of the airport and you are hounded by these guys.
Speaker: These guys are some of the most persistent, I would say, persistent canvassers you could find.
Speaker: I mean, they're hounding you for everything.
Speaker: They got their kids selling you stuff.
Speaker: You go out on the streets, there's Mexican kids coming up and selling your bracelets.
Speaker: There's people selling you, whatever you can think of out here.
Speaker: So I got it handed to the Mexican people.
Speaker: They fight for what they got, and they are not afraid.
Speaker: to go out and approach you and sell you whatever they're trying to sell that day.
Speaker: Okay, so the reason I'm doing an episode is because we're staying at a resort here in Puerto Vallarta.
Speaker: And if any of you have been to resorts, you know that's another big thing that they sell down here is these timeshares.
Speaker: Okay, so my parents, they got this timeshare, this Mexican timeshare.
Speaker: I think they've had it 10 years or so now.
Speaker: It's been awesome.
Speaker: We go to Cancun.
Speaker: We go to...
Speaker: Yeah, this is actually our first time coming down here, but you know, part of the Openasco, they give you like a few locations, you can trade them and swap them out.
Speaker: So we usually come once every couple of years to one of these Mexican locations.
Speaker: Great time.
Speaker: But if you've been to a timeshare, you probably know that they're constantly trying to upsell you on their next package.
Speaker: My parents, they have one of the more basic locations.
Speaker: and timeshare packages.
Speaker: So first thing they do when you step on the resort, they're putting pressure on the whole time.
Speaker: Hey, have you seen what benefits you can get with our next package up?
Speaker: And they're pushing for you to book an appointment.
Speaker: Yeah, so that's nothing new.
Speaker: And my parents, as you can imagine, get super sick of being pitched the next timeshare.
Speaker: They come
Speaker: Yeah, like I said, about once every couple years.
Speaker: So it's not something that they've wanted to really upgrade.
Speaker: And they've been to plenty of the timeshare presentations.
Speaker: So they're kind of over all that.
Speaker: This time was a little bit different.
Speaker: We got here, and I'm going to share the lessons behind this.
Speaker: First is a little story, and then I'm going to share some lessons that actually apply to Solr too.
Speaker: But we get here, and to my surprise, we got here after my family was here.
Speaker: To my surprise, my mom says, Taylor, we actually...
Speaker: We have a time set up to go talk about the time share tomorrow.
Speaker: I'm like, really, Mom?
Speaker: You guys hate those things.
Speaker: Why did you sign up for that?
Speaker: And she said, oh, well, the lady, she was super cute, super nice.
Speaker: And she says it wasn't even like a presentation.
Speaker: It's just they're going to show me the benefits we're missing out on.
Speaker: She just said, oh, you guys aren't even maximizing your current timeshare plan.
Speaker: So what I want to do is just give you guys a free session.
Speaker: We're going to just meet up, answer any of your questions, and we're going to show you about the benefits you're not using.
Speaker: So you have quite a few things you're not even taking advantage of.
Speaker: So my mom, she thought that was cool.
Speaker: It was different.
Speaker: And usually, if you're familiar, the timeshares, like my wife and I, we've been to Vegas.
Speaker: They give you usually some type of bonus.
Speaker: They say we'll give you the free two-night stay.
Speaker: All you have to do is listen to the timeshare presentation.
Speaker: So what impressed me about this one, and this is what I thought was really good, somewhat sneaky, but really good.
Speaker: They didn't say anything about it being a presentation.
Speaker: They didn't say anything about it being showing the benefits of the next level up.
Speaker: They framed it as just something that they're going to answer the questions.
Speaker: They're going to show the benefits they weren't currently using.
Speaker: And they made it not a big deal.
Speaker: They made it seem like it's going to be super quick, painless, harmless.
Speaker: We're just going to meet up, go over some questions, and show you what the benefits you're not currently using.
Speaker: But little to my mom know, this was just a way of getting the foot in the door.
Speaker: I mean, it's going to be the same presentation.
Speaker: You know they're going to try and upsell you on the next thing.
Speaker: But what was really cool is they didn't say anything about that.
Speaker: Okay, so that leads me to something they did really well is they made it, again, painless.
Speaker: They made it something that was not a big deal at all.
Speaker: And because of that, my mom, she books the appointment.
Speaker: She set up the appointment with these people to go hear the presentation when she is basically sworn every other time we've come she's not going to go to another one of these presentations.
Speaker: And the other thing that was impressive about it
Speaker: They didn't throw out any of these incentives, any of these gimmicks.
Speaker: Usually they're like, oh, we'll give you the free excursion.
Speaker: We're going to give you breakfast on us for the rest of your stay if you come check out the presentation.
Speaker: But what does that do for people like my mom?
Speaker: That's an instant trigger.
Speaker: She's thinking, okay, well, if they're giving me something, then it's just because they're going to sell me on the next thing.
Speaker: So what this sweet little Mexican lady did really nice is she didn't say anything about these gimmicks.
Speaker: She framed it in the way it's just a conversation.
Speaker: We're not throwing out these gimmicks because if they would have thrown those things out, guess what?
Speaker: For someone like my mom, that would have been an instant trigger in it.
Speaker: Okay, they're selling me something.
Speaker: No, let's not do it.
Speaker: So those were the good things that these people did, that this lady did.
Speaker: Got to hand it to her.
Speaker: We need to get her selling some solar, setting some appointments for solar because she did a great job on that aspect.
Speaker: And now we're going to get into the mistakes.
Speaker: So the story continues.
Speaker: My mom, later that night, I was kind of talking to her, and she was asking all of us.
Speaker: She's like, I guess I've got to go listen to this.
Speaker: And she started thinking about it again.
Speaker: I think it started to dawn on her.
Speaker: I didn't really say anything, but it started to dawn on her that it was probably just going to be another presentation.
Speaker: So she's been texting this lady that they set up the appointment with back and forth.
Speaker: And then my mom, as this happened to all of us in solar, she starts just expressing some doubts, saying, uh, is this going to take a long time?
Speaker: You know, I don't know if this is really worth our time because we're not planning on upgrading to the next, uh, timeshare.
Speaker: We're not planning on upgrading our timeshare.
Speaker: So she expressed some doubts and this is where things started to go south for this lovely appointment setter.
Speaker: Right when my mom expresses doubts, instead of understanding, instead of empathizing with my mom, she goes straight to the aggressive approach.
Speaker: And basically she's like, well, you already set up the appointments.
Speaker: We actually can't cancel it.
Speaker: And then she didn't have that understanding mindset at all with my mom.
Speaker: Okay.
Speaker: Okay.
Speaker: And so my mom, once she saw that this lady was getting a little aggressive, she starts kind of making some excuses about why we can't go to the presentation tomorrow, to the question and answer session, if you will.
Speaker: And then we were planning to get up, go to the pool early.
Speaker: So my mom, she's like, okay, I'll go, but only if we can do it at 8 a.m.
Speaker: And then we have some stuff planned on the day we can't do it.
Speaker: And this lady, again, she doesn't understand at all.
Speaker: And so this lady starts throwing out that we can't change the appointments.
Speaker: And then my mom, she had already actually scheduled us to change rooms the next day.
Speaker: My brother was coming in.
Speaker: So we switched to a room with a couple extra beds.
Speaker: And that was one of her excuses for trying to reschedule appointments.
Speaker: So my mom tells the lady, look, we can't meet later.
Speaker: We have to do it at 8 because we're scheduled to change rooms.
Speaker: And then this lady, she starts at this point trying to save face and saying, oh, well, I actually already talked to housekeeping.
Speaker: And yeah, they said that we actually have to change it.
Speaker: We have to switch a room later.
Speaker: We can't do it at that time.
Speaker: Because they won't have the room ready.
Speaker: So basically she starts throwing out these lies and trying to save face in order to get the appointments.
Speaker: And at that point, it just freterates my mom and she cancels the appointment altogether.
Speaker: Okay, so kind of a disaster.
Speaker: Felt bad for this appointment setter.
Speaker: Probably lost out on her commission.
Speaker: But what were key mistakes?
Speaker: If people are trying to reschedule an appointment, don't be difficult.
Speaker: Work with them and then be assumptive.
Speaker: Okay, if this lady would just been like, okay, eight, yeah, that's more than enough time.
Speaker: We actually have to be pretty quick.
Speaker: Eight works, we'll see you there tomorrow and then that's it.
Speaker: My mom would have showed up, no questions asked.
Speaker: So it's the same thing as you are setting up appointments with the people that you're on the doors with or you're on the phone as you're having these texting conversations.
Speaker: Number one, make sure you get this conversation set up with the homeowners.
Speaker: If you are going to have a texting conversation, get it started beforehand.
Speaker: Make sure these people have your number saved.
Speaker: Say, hey, Mr. Jones, can you text me just a thumbs up emoji so I have your number?
Speaker: Get that emoji relationship going.
Speaker: And then don't make it difficult.
Speaker: If people need to reschedule, if people need to, people have concerns,
Speaker: Number one, be assumptive with it.
Speaker: Empathize with whatever they are going through and have templates, have scripts set up.
Speaker: What are you going to say?
Speaker: Have you trained your team on this?
Speaker: More importantly, if you're a manager.
Speaker: If you don't have scripts, if you don't have templates set up, you're losing out sales.
Speaker: You need to know exactly what to say.
Speaker: If someone texts you XYZ, you should have a response written out for all these things.
Speaker: And that goes for your team too.
Speaker: Right now, my wife and I were watching a show called Undercover Billionaire, which I highly recommend.
Speaker: Our friend Grant Cardone is on it.
Speaker: And this is something he does.
Speaker: He's out there training people.
Speaker: This gym he's working with in the show, you can go watch it.
Speaker: It's obviously just going to give you the reader's digest here.
Speaker: But he is training basically his gym team to get more gym memberships.
Speaker: I think they're a Snap Fitness or something.
Speaker: They're in Playbill, Colorado.
Speaker: And one of the first things I saw that he did, he goes and sets up all the scripts, all the templates, exactly what to say when people are on the phone and people are having texts and conversations.
Speaker: Okay, because that's a lot of people don't realize it.
Speaker: They think they're saying these right things.
Speaker: When you're losing appointments, you're losing sales just like the people here in Puerto Vallarta.
Speaker: Okay, so don't make the same mistakes as these.
Speaker: Learn from the good things they did.
Speaker: Okay, they made the appointment no big deal, which helped them initially set the appointment.
Speaker: But like we see over and over, people get cold feet.
Speaker: People realize that they are being, that is, you know, a sales presentation.
Speaker: Same thing happened with my mom.
Speaker: When I'm out there on the doors, I do the same thing.
Speaker: Hey, we're just dropping by.
Speaker: Don't use those trigger words.
Speaker: Don't say appointments.
Speaker: Don't say a pitch.
Speaker: None of that.
Speaker: You do be exactly like this little Mexican lady.
Speaker: Say, hey, we're just dropping by, just having a quick conversation.
Speaker: First, our engineer is going to check and see if it benefits the home.
Speaker: prepare some info.
Speaker: And then, yeah, we're just going to drop by as same as the rest of your neighbors, answer a few questions.
Speaker: If it makes sense, great.
Speaker: If it doesn't, no problem.
Speaker: We're not doing anything because if you can make it seem like no big deal, that's going to set you apart because that's one of people's first concerns.
Speaker: If you look in the brains of the homeowners, what are they concerned about?
Speaker: They think it's going to be some long drawn out presentation.
Speaker: They think you're going to do a hard sell on them, that you're going to make them say yes right then.
Speaker: And yeah,
Speaker: They don't want to have to make a quick decision.
Speaker: All those things, it's going through the buyer's head.
Speaker: So you got to understand that these are their thoughts.
Speaker: And then as you are setting up this appointment, cover these things beforehand.
Speaker: Okay.
Speaker: They think it's going to be some long thing.
Speaker: Hey, Mr. Jones, I don't have time.
Speaker: I'm actually meeting with about a dozen of your neighbors.
Speaker: So I have to be pretty quick tomorrow.
Speaker: So don't worry.
Speaker: It's not going to be some long thing.
Speaker: We're just going to look at it and make sure it makes sense.
Speaker: Okay.
Speaker: They think they're going to have to make a yes or no decision.
Speaker: which we all want them to.
Speaker: But my line is, hey, when I come back, you guys can either opt in or opt out.
Speaker: If it doesn't make sense, no worries.
Speaker: We're not going to do anything.
Speaker: If it does, then all we do is submit an application, see if we can qualify the home.
Speaker: Take the pressure off of them buying or deciding.
Speaker: Make the pressure be on.
Speaker: You have to figure out if you can do it for their home because that's the big thing.
Speaker: It's just a couple of lessons I learned from Mexico.
Speaker: Let me know if you guys have had any experiences like that on your travels, on your vacations.
Speaker: Hope you took a few things you can share with your team or a few things you can use as you are setting up appointments.
Speaker: Love the Mexican culture.
Speaker: Support it next time you're here.
Speaker: Support all those guys because they're hungry.
Speaker: They're not afraid to approach next, though, and neither should you.
Speaker: So I'll see you on the next show.
Speaker: Hey Solar printers, 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 solar professionals
Speaker: 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 solar learning community exclusively for solar professionals to learn, compete, and win with the top performers in the industry.
Speaker: and it's called Sol Society.
Speaker: 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 by the industry's brightest minds for, are you ready for it, less than $3.45 a day.
Speaker: Currently Sol Society is closed to the public and membership is by invitation only, but solopreneurs can go to solciety.co to learn more and have the option to join a waitlist when a membership becomes available in your area.
Speaker: Again, this is exclusively for Solopreneur listeners, so be sure to go to www.solciety.co to join the waitlist and learn more now.
Speaker: Thanks again for listening.
Speaker: We'll catch you again in the next episode.
