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Here’s What It Takes To Close 60+ Deals In A Month - Sam Manley
114 Plays2 years ago
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Transcript
Introduction to the Solarpreneur Podcast
00:00:03
Speaker
Welcome to the Solarpreneur Podcast, where we teach you to take your solar business to the next level.
00:00:08
Speaker
My name is Taylor Armstrong.
Taylor Armstrong's Journey from $50 to 150 Deals
00:00:10
Speaker
I went from $50 in my bank account and struggling for groceries to closing 150 deals in a year and cracking the code on why sales reps fell.
00:00:19
Speaker
I teach you how to avoid the mistakes I made and bring in the top solar dogs of the industry to let you in on the secrets of generating more leads, falling up like a pro, and closing more deals.
00:00:31
Speaker
What is a solopreneur you might ask?
00:00:33
Speaker
A solopreneur is a new breed of solopro that is willing to do whatever it takes to achieve mastery and you are about to become one.
00:00:41
Speaker
Okay, what's going on?
00:00:42
Speaker
We are back with another episode.
00:00:44
Speaker
I'm super excited for this because we got someone that's doing some incredible things out in the Florida market.
Introducing Sam Manley, Solar Market Top Performer
00:00:51
Speaker
And we were talking before the show, he's definitely like top three highest producing guys, at least for a month that we've had on the podcast.
00:01:00
Speaker
So we're going to be hearing from the one, the only Sam Manley.
00:01:04
Speaker
Thanks for coming on the show with us today, Sam.
00:01:06
Speaker
I appreciate you having me.
00:01:08
Speaker
When I first got into solar about 11 months ago, it was your podcast that I started listening to, trying to figure out how to do this.
00:01:15
Speaker
So it's kind of surreal to be on it now.
00:01:18
Speaker
Thank you.
00:01:19
Speaker
It's an honor.
00:01:19
Speaker
Yeah.
00:01:20
Speaker
No, I'm super excited.
00:01:21
Speaker
And one mutual person, Colin, that's in our coaching program right now, he connected us.
00:01:28
Speaker
And he was just talking about you.
00:01:29
Speaker
He's like, yeah, this guy did 62 in a month.
00:01:33
Speaker
Team did like 180 in a month.
00:01:36
Speaker
Was that in the month too?
00:01:38
Speaker
Yeah, team finished with us here in 84.
00:01:41
Speaker
So just like video game numbers, you know, I'm like, all right, yeah, connect me with this guy.
00:01:47
Speaker
Let's get him on the podcast.
00:01:48
Speaker
Not too many people doing numbers like that.
00:01:51
Speaker
And then as we were talking, you were you're like, oh, I just thought that was like regular.
00:01:56
Speaker
I didn't know that was like a huge month.
00:01:58
Speaker
So that's what's really cool is guys that come from, you know, Sam, he was doing real estate before this.
00:02:03
Speaker
So we'll hear about the transition and everything.
00:02:06
Speaker
But I think it's cool that guys come in and just make like, you know, 60 deals in a month.
Sam Manley's Transition from Real Estate to Solar
00:02:12
Speaker
They're normal.
00:02:13
Speaker
It's like, yeah, I don't know any better.
00:02:14
Speaker
Yeah, dude, I literally, my first month I threw 30 and I called Alex Smith or, you know, the owner of Spire.
00:02:21
Speaker
And I was like, is that good?
00:02:22
Speaker
He's like, yeah, it's pretty good, man.
00:02:24
Speaker
Yeah.
00:02:26
Speaker
That's awesome.
00:02:27
Speaker
Yeah.
00:02:28
Speaker
So, uh, yeah, I'm excited to hear what it's been like transitioning over from real estate and yeah, really just what you've been able to do.
00:02:34
Speaker
So, uh, and then, yeah, we're going to talk a little bit about team building.
00:02:37
Speaker
I know you guys are, have built like, you know, a massive team in a very short amount of time too.
00:02:43
Speaker
So I'm jamming on high producing, building teams and a whole lot more.
00:02:48
Speaker
So buckle up.
00:02:49
Speaker
Um, but yeah, Sam, do you want to give us like your background, how you went from, uh,
00:02:53
Speaker
real estates into solar and how that transition and everything went?
00:02:58
Speaker
Yeah, man.
00:02:58
Speaker
So I'm from Tallahassee and moved over to St.
00:03:01
Speaker
Augustine, Florida and, you know, had some friends whose parents were in real estate, kind of saw the success.
00:03:06
Speaker
And I was like, Hey, this sounds cool.
00:03:08
Speaker
I'll give this a try.
00:03:10
Speaker
Moved over to St.
00:03:11
Speaker
Augustine and figured out it was a lot harder than I thought it was going to be.
00:03:15
Speaker
I paid like $800 my first year, but really taught me how to hustle, like get after it.
00:03:20
Speaker
But over the course of time, I became a top producer in the market over here.
00:03:25
Speaker
And I loved it for a little bit, but I just wasn't super passionate about it.
00:03:29
Speaker
Made great money and all the stuff that comes with that.
00:03:32
Speaker
But I just didn't love it.
00:03:34
Speaker
I got to a point where I was just a little burnt out.
00:03:37
Speaker
Didn't feel like getting up anymore.
00:03:39
Speaker
And it felt like a disservice to the clients I was serving because I wasn't truly in it.
00:03:45
Speaker
Decided to have my exit out of real estate and retired for a couple months and got really, really bored.
00:03:53
Speaker
And one of my buddies, his name's Mike, he called me and was like, hey, I'm knocking doors for solar.
00:03:58
Speaker
And I was like, man, this sounds fun.
00:04:00
Speaker
Like, I don't know, this seems like a cool challenge.
00:04:02
Speaker
Like, let's see how good at sales I actually am.
00:04:07
Speaker
So I just started knocking doors, man, like really just winging it.
00:04:11
Speaker
My first month, my door approach was I'm doing solar.
00:04:15
Speaker
Have you ever looked into it?
00:04:17
Speaker
And then I quickly learned that that wasn't their out and worked for a couple of companies and just found my home over here at Spartan.
00:04:26
Speaker
So that's kind of how the transition went.
00:04:29
Speaker
Yeah, that's awesome.
00:04:31
Speaker
So how long you been in solar total now?
00:04:34
Speaker
Around 11 months.
00:04:36
Speaker
Wow.
00:04:37
Speaker
So not even a year.
00:04:38
Speaker
And yeah, that's awesome.
00:04:41
Speaker
Then how long you been with Spartan at this point?
00:04:44
Speaker
This is my fifth month with Spartan.
00:04:46
Speaker
Yeah, that's incredible, man.
00:04:49
Speaker
And yeah, it's cool because I think just people from other industries, sounds like maybe it was a little bit of this too.
00:04:56
Speaker
Like when you're hustling with real estates, I think maybe, I mean, correct me if I'm wrong, but maybe it's like all that hustle you had to put into real estate, you just brought over here and worked at probably like his real estate, just hustled and, you know, probably put in full hours because I think the mistake I see a lot of guys making is
00:05:15
Speaker
especially if they're coming into solar, um, without any background like that.
The Mindset and Work Ethic Behind Sales Success
00:05:21
Speaker
Some of these people are just like, Oh, I'm just going to treat it like a part-time job.
00:05:25
Speaker
Um, they see that they can go make five, 10 grand on a single commission.
00:05:30
Speaker
They're clocking out for the month when they see one big check or all around, you know what I mean?
00:05:34
Speaker
Yeah.
00:05:34
Speaker
So, um,
00:05:36
Speaker
It blows my mind.
00:05:37
Speaker
Like only a certain amount of people can buy homes.
00:05:40
Speaker
Like, you know, we're buying leads online and they're expensive, but like you go into a city and there's endless amount of leads.
00:05:48
Speaker
Like it's still, I have trouble fathoming that I can wake up and make 70 grand in a day.
00:05:54
Speaker
And so once I realized that, that I could just work like crazy and sun up to sun down and make as much money as I wanted in a day, it really just clicked in me and I just kept pushing it.
00:06:06
Speaker
Yeah, that's awesome.
00:06:08
Speaker
And yeah, I think that's a key thing that I see with a lot of guys of the top producers I interview on the podcast.
00:06:14
Speaker
It's just like there it's a game to them.
00:06:16
Speaker
It's a sport.
00:06:17
Speaker
Right.
00:06:18
Speaker
And it's it doesn't really matter if you made a 70 grand yesterday.
00:06:23
Speaker
where you made $0, it's like you're putting in the hustle, you're grinding every day, and then you're not letting off the gas.
00:06:30
Speaker
So I'm sure that's how it was when you had a huge month.
00:06:33
Speaker
Like when you hit the 62 deals, were you ever, I don't know, did you ever look back and you're like, I've closed 40 this month, maybe I can go take a break?
00:06:42
Speaker
Or were you just like, all gas, no breaks?
00:06:44
Speaker
Let's keep it rolling.
00:06:46
Speaker
We, uh, luckily with Spartan, we have like a ton of people that throw like pretty high volume.
00:06:51
Speaker
So like I came in and we had Alex Soriano who runs the South Florida team, absolute savage.
00:06:57
Speaker
And I'm really competitive and he hit 50 the month prior.
00:07:01
Speaker
And I was like, dude, I've got to blow that out of the water.
00:07:03
Speaker
Like we just, we go back and forth.
00:07:05
Speaker
We're good friends, but I just kept my head down.
00:07:08
Speaker
But I mean, really like, I think on the 14th of the month, I was only at like 13 or 14 deals.
00:07:15
Speaker
And it was like, dude, there's no way I can do this.
00:07:18
Speaker
And a lot of the team got behind me and they're like, dude, you've got this.
00:07:21
Speaker
Like, just put your head down.
00:07:23
Speaker
And it was a big team effort.
00:07:24
Speaker
Everyone got behind me, which was super cool as a leader to see like your team actually get behind like me.
00:07:31
Speaker
And I threw 10 days in a row of a hat trick or more.
00:07:34
Speaker
And just like just kept the gas going the rest of the month.
00:07:38
Speaker
Yeah.
00:07:38
Speaker
It's insane.
00:07:40
Speaker
That's awesome.
00:07:41
Speaker
Yeah.
00:07:42
Speaker
So I want to dig into that a little bit more.
00:07:43
Speaker
But before we do that, I think you've got a unique perspective being in real estate.
00:07:49
Speaker
And I know you mentioned a few things before this, but do you feel like
Strategies for Building Customer Relationships
00:07:53
Speaker
there's anything you did in real estate?
00:07:55
Speaker
Like something I see a lot of guys is they treat it more referral based that I've talked to guys in real estate.
00:08:02
Speaker
But is there any like, I don't know, tips or tricks you picked up from real estate that you feel like are really helping you in solar or anything that you could apply from real estate that you can recommend to people listening to the podcast?
00:08:14
Speaker
Yeah, really building like a relationship based business.
00:08:17
Speaker
That's huge on the real estate side.
00:08:19
Speaker
Like there's an app called Handwritten that I like to use.
00:08:23
Speaker
And what I do is I'll put in, you know, all the customer's information, their birthday, and then set it for like holidays, like New Year's, Christmas.
00:08:32
Speaker
And it sends them a handwritten note automatically.
00:08:35
Speaker
And it looks just like handwriting.
00:08:36
Speaker
This is automatic.
00:08:37
Speaker
So I don't really have to think about it.
00:08:40
Speaker
And it costs 97 cents a letter.
00:08:42
Speaker
So you're hitting people three, four times through the year and those referrals start flooding in.
00:08:48
Speaker
So that's definitely something that I've implemented that anyone really could do.
00:08:52
Speaker
And just like not being afraid to follow back up with people.
00:08:56
Speaker
I feel like, you know, sometimes people in solar are scared to call them and see how things are going.
00:08:59
Speaker
Yeah.
00:09:01
Speaker
But I like to do that.
00:09:03
Speaker
Yeah, I love that.
00:09:05
Speaker
And that's something I'm trying to implement, too, because I didn't really know this.
00:09:09
Speaker
I came from door-to-door pest control.
00:09:12
Speaker
And then just when I got into solar, I pretty much treated the same thing as pest control.
00:09:16
Speaker
Just signed it and thought I never needed to talk to these people again.
00:09:20
Speaker
But probably took me three, four years to realize, like, oh,
00:09:23
Speaker
The top guys and the guys that are getting tons of referrals, they're actually like talking to their customers after they sign them up.
00:09:29
Speaker
Maybe I should like try to actually build a relationship with these people and not just one and done.
00:09:34
Speaker
So I missed out on it.
00:09:36
Speaker
I think a huge opportunity in my first three, four years in solar.
00:09:39
Speaker
And even now I dropped the ball a lot of times.
00:09:43
Speaker
But yeah, that's good.
00:09:43
Speaker
I use one called send out cards.
00:09:45
Speaker
It's a similar thing.
00:09:46
Speaker
But it sounds like this one is just automatic.
00:09:48
Speaker
You just you set the birthday in there and it just can just send out cards to people.
00:09:52
Speaker
You don't even have to think about it.
00:09:54
Speaker
Yep.
00:09:54
Speaker
Yeah.
00:09:55
Speaker
And it handwrites them and shoots it to their, and you just get an email saying that was shot over so you can keep track of it.
00:10:00
Speaker
And I usually shoot them a text and say, Hey, you know, just sent a card your way.
00:10:04
Speaker
Just be on the lookout for it.
00:10:05
Speaker
Nice.
00:10:06
Speaker
That's cool.
00:10:07
Speaker
How do you see, do you get people's birthdays?
00:10:09
Speaker
Do you have a trick for, uh, like you just, I don't know, write down their birthday when you signed the credit app, fill out the credit application and keep track of it or.
00:10:19
Speaker
One of our backend things, we have to upload a picture of the driver's license.
00:10:22
Speaker
So I'll snag it off there.
00:10:24
Speaker
Okay.
00:10:25
Speaker
That's smart.
00:10:26
Speaker
Yeah.
00:10:26
Speaker
Another trick I've, I've done the one where you're just like, you're filling out their credit application and I don't know, maybe some guys will argue that that's not like ethical writing it down at the same time you're doing their, their credit application.
00:10:39
Speaker
But I'm like, Hey, I'm going to, you know, screenshot that.
00:10:43
Speaker
It's not like I'm keeping a hold of their social or anything, but just hanging on in their date of birth.
00:10:48
Speaker
Send them a card.
00:10:49
Speaker
Yeah.
00:10:50
Speaker
That's good.
00:10:51
Speaker
Yeah.
00:10:52
Speaker
That's good.
00:10:53
Speaker
And so how much this the month you did 60, do you feel like, well, you've been in solar a short amount of time, too.
00:10:59
Speaker
So like a lot of people I see crushing referral games are, you know, they've been in solar like two, three, four years and they have to build up a pretty big.
00:11:10
Speaker
customer base, which you do in 60 deals, you already have, I'm sure a pretty, pretty large customer base.
00:11:17
Speaker
So are you seeing the effects of that already?
00:11:19
Speaker
Do you see quite a bit of referrals come in as you've done some little things like that?
00:11:24
Speaker
Yeah, they're starting to build up.
00:11:25
Speaker
I would say like out of the volume last month, five or six of them were referrals.
00:11:30
Speaker
But this month's where I'm really starting to get blown up.
00:11:33
Speaker
You know, hey, I have a customer here.
00:11:35
Speaker
And then setting up a good referral program.
00:11:37
Speaker
That's what I've been good on is just like explaining like, hey, you know, if you have anyone that wants to go solar, I'd be more than happy to, you know, benefit you for that.
00:11:47
Speaker
So just setting that up and touching them.
00:11:49
Speaker
But the referrals really just started like flooding and flooding in.
00:11:53
Speaker
Yeah.
00:11:54
Speaker
Okay.
00:11:55
Speaker
That's awesome.
00:11:56
Speaker
So you think, are you asking for referrals at like the point of sale saying, Hey, who do you know?
00:12:02
Speaker
Trying to get them to give them then or anything else you're doing?
00:12:05
Speaker
I'll do it once like at the point of sale.
00:12:07
Speaker
And then I like coming over on install date when everything's smooth and I'll ask.
00:12:12
Speaker
And then a big thing is, you know, 60 days after make a time to go over there and knock, just see how things are going.
00:12:19
Speaker
And that's another point where I can, you know, feel around and see if anyone's talked about it.
00:12:23
Speaker
Yeah, that's good.
00:12:24
Speaker
Well, and I mean, if you're doing like 30, 40, 50, 60 deals in a month, I imagine that's got to be tough to like keep track of all these
Challenges and Growth in Sales Performance
00:12:33
Speaker
people.
00:12:33
Speaker
And I'm sure it's got to be tough even going to all these installs.
00:12:38
Speaker
You probably have like, I don't know, at that point, I'm sure you got 10 installs going in a week sometimes.
00:12:45
Speaker
And so like, yeah, does that get tough?
00:12:48
Speaker
How do you manage that?
00:12:49
Speaker
Like running around when you're doing volume like that?
00:12:52
Speaker
Yeah, it gets pretty rough.
00:12:53
Speaker
Like right now I'm running it off a spreadsheet, which has kind of gotten a little overloaded.
00:12:57
Speaker
So I've really started to think, you know, in real estate, we have CRM softwares to really automatically touch people, but also, you know, keep me accountable for going over there and reminding me.
00:13:07
Speaker
So I've really started thinking about, you know, there's one called follow-up boss that I use forever.
00:13:12
Speaker
That's really good.
00:13:12
Speaker
It's more real estate geared, but you can customize it to be solar.
00:13:16
Speaker
So I'm about to start implementing stuff like that.
00:13:19
Speaker
Good.
00:13:20
Speaker
And yeah, we can, I got some good CRMs I can recommend, recommend you after the podcast if you want, but for another show.
00:13:30
Speaker
But cool, man.
00:13:31
Speaker
So yeah, let's talk about your big months.
00:13:34
Speaker
So leading up to this month where you did 60, what was the most you'd done before that, up to that point?
00:13:39
Speaker
So my biggest month was 30 and 28, I believe 14 and then 62.
00:13:46
Speaker
Yeah.
00:13:47
Speaker
Awesome.
00:13:48
Speaker
Okay.
00:13:49
Speaker
So like a lot of people, my, myself included, sometimes I struggle with just like believing that it's possible for me to, especially where it's, you go from 30 to 60, that's literally like doubling, um,
00:14:02
Speaker
Um, so for me, I mean, my biggest month up to the point, I think is like 27, um, which is good.
00:14:09
Speaker
It's no 60 in a month, but like something that I bat all my head is I'm like, uh, 27 in a month.
00:14:15
Speaker
I was like working a ton.
00:14:17
Speaker
Um, and so I had a big team of setters then, so that helps.
00:14:23
Speaker
Um, so like for you, did you encounter these like limiting beliefs or like, did you ever get excuses in your head?
00:14:28
Speaker
Like, Oh, there's no way I'm going to be able to literally double what I did.
00:14:32
Speaker
Um, and it was because it happens to, I think to the best of us.
00:14:35
Speaker
So I'm sure you did have those, but, um, tell me about that.
00:14:39
Speaker
Like, what was it like just with, on the mental side of things, really like believing that you could actually hit a big number like that?
00:14:46
Speaker
Dude, it was tough.
00:14:46
Speaker
I'd be lying if I said that I didn't doubt myself a couple of times through the month are like, and, and I'm big on making goals public.
00:14:54
Speaker
So I was in our group chat, like, Hey, I'm going to hit 50.
00:14:56
Speaker
I'm going to beat 50.
00:14:58
Speaker
And then I was pacing for more and I pushed it to 70.
00:15:01
Speaker
So I was more mad that I didn't hit 70 than I hit 60.
00:15:06
Speaker
But just saying like, I really can't take all the credit because my team really stayed on top of me here.
00:15:13
Speaker
Like anytime I was doubting myself, I could kind of vent that to a couple of people on the team and they could hype me back up.
00:15:19
Speaker
But really having like this, I have this like delusional confidence that I talk about a lot where like,
00:15:25
Speaker
You know, I was running a training the other day and asked the kid, you know, how many deals do you think you can throw in a day?
00:15:31
Speaker
And he said three.
00:15:32
Speaker
And I was like, well, then you can't compete with me because in my mind, I truly believe I can throw 10 a day.
00:15:36
Speaker
Now.
00:15:38
Speaker
If I throw 10 a day, that's cool.
00:15:41
Speaker
I haven't done it yet.
00:15:42
Speaker
I think my most is seven or eight.
00:15:44
Speaker
I really do wake up and I'm like, man, I could throw 10 a day today.
00:15:47
Speaker
And that's really the mindset every day.
00:15:52
Speaker
I do believe that 100 a month is very attainable, especially for guys like you and Sori and killers in the industry.
00:15:58
Speaker
And really taking the initiative to set the bar for your team.
00:16:02
Speaker
Like I really wanted to go back to the team and say, hey guys, like you can really push yourself to these heights.
00:16:08
Speaker
And I'm just a normal guy.
00:16:09
Speaker
You guys watch me every day.
00:16:11
Speaker
I wake up, I work out and I just grind all day.
00:16:14
Speaker
And like you can do it too.
00:16:16
Speaker
But like just really instilling the belief into the team of like, hey, these lids, you can keep pushing them up and it becomes your new normal.
00:16:23
Speaker
Yeah, that's huge.
00:16:25
Speaker
Yeah.
00:16:26
Speaker
And I think like to some people, I see some of these guys like yourself and other dudes that are doing like insane amounts of deals.
00:16:35
Speaker
And the one thing I noticed is they just have like this confidence that's almost sometimes can seem like ridiculous, like unbelievable, but it's like you guys believe that you can do it.
00:16:45
Speaker
And like, like you said, manifest it.
00:16:47
Speaker
And then it just happens.
00:16:49
Speaker
So I think that's been a big learning lesson for me as I've had
00:16:53
Speaker
top producers on the podcast it's just like you got to believe it in your head first manifest it like you're saying and then just put in the actual work to do it because it's one thing to say it there's guys that say i'm gonna go hit 50 deals in a month and then you get out there they're on the doors for like three four hours it's like no if you want to actually like hit a big number then you need to align your actions with actual goal
00:17:17
Speaker
And not just like say you're going to hit it, but then you're working this like a part-time job.
00:17:21
Speaker
I mean, because I've seen that side of it too, where people are all talk and then they don't work like they actually want to hit that number.
00:17:28
Speaker
And I always laugh.
00:17:30
Speaker
I'm like, you know, everything you're telling me sounds cool, but like, just go do it.
00:17:34
Speaker
Like, you don't really have to admit to me.
00:17:35
Speaker
You have these big goals, just go make them happen.
00:17:39
Speaker
But like, I feel like the confidence just comes from, you know, repetition.
Spartan's Culture of Competition and Accountability
00:17:43
Speaker
But like I said, just being delusional and Spartan really does a good job.
00:17:46
Speaker
You know, Alex and Anthony, Florentine, of building this culture of like competitiveness.
00:17:52
Speaker
And like our group chat is wild.
00:17:54
Speaker
Like it's a wild place to be.
00:17:57
Speaker
And you get exposed or you get the accolades very quickly.
00:18:00
Speaker
So, you know, making that goal public, even on Instagram and having Alex share it to everyone, really put me in a place of like, I either hit this or I get embarrassed and I don't want to get embarrassed.
00:18:11
Speaker
So it was really working out of a lot of fear, like a fear of being exposed.
00:18:16
Speaker
Yeah, that's good.
00:18:18
Speaker
It's good to have multiple motivations because, yeah, I mean, the more the more motivation you have to hit it, more likely you're going to get it.
00:18:26
Speaker
So I like that post on social media.
00:18:29
Speaker
But yeah, for guys that do want to hit big numbers like this, can you talk about like what was your schedule, Sam?
00:18:35
Speaker
Like you said you went to the gym, just went out and worked all day.
00:18:39
Speaker
So what was like a daily schedule for you to actually hit big numbers like that?
00:18:45
Speaker
Yeah, man.
00:18:45
Speaker
So, um, I got really big in it with fitness again with Spartan and something that they're really big on.
00:18:51
Speaker
So working out at 6 AM and then, you know, coming home, having family time, cause that's big, especially in this industry.
00:18:58
Speaker
I feel like it's very easy to kind of let the family side go.
00:19:03
Speaker
Um, then meeting with like the leaders on the team, kind of aligning in the morning and then run the meeting from about 10 to 11, 1130.
00:19:09
Speaker
And then it's right out to turf.
00:19:12
Speaker
But the big thing was having a calculated plan of attack.
00:19:15
Speaker
So it wasn't like driving out there and then just saying like, oh, this neighborhood's good.
00:19:20
Speaker
I had our center manager over here, like putting people in pockets.
00:19:23
Speaker
So we're, you know, being calculated and truly working a turf.
00:19:27
Speaker
I feel like what I've noticed is a lot of people will hit a turf for a little bit and just say, oh, this turf is shot and move to the next.
00:19:34
Speaker
And, you know, we fall to that too, but we really sort of adapt the mindset of like, let's absolutely, you know, drain everything out of this neighborhood.
00:19:42
Speaker
We had one neighborhood in the turf we were working in that I think we threw like 15 or 16 deals in and it was seven streets.
00:19:49
Speaker
So just not jumping around and having a plan of attack, but also like, I mean, there were a lot of nights I would, I would leave the house at six and I wasn't getting back till midnight, one in the morning.
00:19:59
Speaker
So it was, it was just hours,
Importance of Fitness and Health in Sales
00:20:02
Speaker
dude.
00:20:02
Speaker
I tell everyone, you know, if you, if you knock enough, you're bound to trip and fall into something like this is a numbers game at the end of the day.
00:20:10
Speaker
just really like adapting the mindset of like knowing that the whole team could do it.
00:20:14
Speaker
Yeah, that's huge.
00:20:16
Speaker
And yeah, I know you guys have, um, you know, teams of setters and all that.
00:20:21
Speaker
So, um, when you did your 60 plus deals, were you, uh, I guess what's like some advice you have working with your setters.
00:20:31
Speaker
It sounds like you're getting them bought in and everything.
00:20:33
Speaker
And, um, they were like rooting for you to hit this big goal.
00:20:37
Speaker
Um, but yeah, how many, do you know how many of those came from setters?
00:20:41
Speaker
The deal of the 60 you did, the 62 you did?
00:20:45
Speaker
A lot of them.
00:20:46
Speaker
I would say there were about eight self-gens in there.
00:20:50
Speaker
The rest came from setters.
00:20:52
Speaker
Um, they did a really good job of, you know, working hard.
00:20:55
Speaker
That was, what was cool is to have them buy in.
00:20:58
Speaker
Like they all decided since, you know, I set this goal, they were going to set really big goals and make pushes for them.
00:21:04
Speaker
And they did a great job of keeping me in five plus appointments a day.
00:21:08
Speaker
Yeah, and that's, yeah, it's like really at that point, because I know you can do more self-chance, but it's like a lot of guys that are doing volumes, if you just have your schedule stacked like that and your setter's cranking, then the idea is that you're just in appointments all day long.
00:21:24
Speaker
And yeah, I think that's how huge numbers get hit.
00:21:29
Speaker
I try to knock when I get a chance.
00:21:31
Speaker
I think it's important as a leader to still lead from the front.
00:21:34
Speaker
I feel like especially.
00:21:35
Speaker
Especially in solar, just from what I've seen, a lot of leaders expect, like in the position I am, where I have a great team of setters, kind of sit back and wait for the appointment.
00:21:44
Speaker
But every time I could knock, I was knocking and like taking selfies on the doors, really showing them that like I was grinding too with them.
00:21:51
Speaker
Yeah, because I've seen to your point, I've seen offices where the people just wait for deals and they're just treating their setters like they're lesser than.
00:22:00
Speaker
But really, we got to realize that setters are the lifeblood of all this.
00:22:04
Speaker
And so something I hate when I go into offices sometimes is where the setters are treated like.
00:22:09
Speaker
much lower position and that they shouldn't they should be like almost ashamed that they're setting for more than like four or five, six months.
00:22:19
Speaker
Like some people are just meant to set deals and that's where they're going to make more money.
00:22:23
Speaker
Not to like hold them back or anything.
00:22:25
Speaker
I think if guys want to close and
00:22:27
Speaker
put in the work and they should close too.
00:22:28
Speaker
But yeah, it's like, I think we need to change that thinking around the industry that setters are, I don't know, somehow lower than closers.
00:22:38
Speaker
I would argue that sometimes they're more important than the closers, right?
00:22:41
Speaker
It's like, we got no deals to close.
00:22:44
Speaker
And that's another thing.
00:22:47
Speaker
Like, you know, we split all the commission with the setters.
00:22:49
Speaker
Like I don't, I don't view them as like, you know, my appointment setter.
00:22:53
Speaker
I view them as like, we're in the trenches together.
00:22:55
Speaker
It's just as much of their deal as it is my deal.
00:22:59
Speaker
And I've got a ton of people that just want to set because now they can have four or five closes going on at once where I can only be in one spot at one time.
00:23:06
Speaker
Right.
00:23:08
Speaker
So yeah, yeah, that's big.
00:23:10
Speaker
Yeah.
00:23:11
Speaker
So do you, do you have any advice for like getting your setters bought in?
00:23:15
Speaker
Um, I, I know you said you guys have like a setter manager, but, uh, yeah.
00:23:19
Speaker
How did you get your setters to buy into this, uh, big goal that you had and how do you like, I don't know, work more synergistically with them?
00:23:27
Speaker
Would you say?
00:23:29
Speaker
Yeah.
00:23:29
Speaker
I feel like it comes from a place of like, they, they truly trust that like,
00:23:34
Speaker
You know, me and there's a guy named Ali who runs the team.
00:23:36
Speaker
Like we have their best interests in mind.
00:23:39
Speaker
Like we truly want to see them be super successful.
00:23:42
Speaker
And we've worked really hard to relay that message and help them get there.
00:23:47
Speaker
You know, I tell everyone on the team that like, hey, if you buy into us and, you know, and trust us, you'll be a millionaire.
00:23:55
Speaker
Like I promise we'll do whatever it takes to get you there.
00:23:58
Speaker
And I feel like it was a lot of give, give, give.
00:24:00
Speaker
And then when I asked for this big goal, they really had no problem with it because we had given so much and tried to provide so much value that when it was time to ask for something, you know, they were all bought in, but also getting them to tie it to their own goals.
00:24:14
Speaker
So like Amory and Josiah, they're two of my top setters and Anthony, they had these huge goals of all hitting 30.
00:24:21
Speaker
And I'm like, well, if you all hit 30, I'll hit 90.
00:24:24
Speaker
So like, let's do it.
00:24:25
Speaker
Let's all do it together.
00:24:27
Speaker
and really push their ceilings and push the lid up.
00:24:31
Speaker
Yeah, I love that.
00:24:34
Speaker
Yeah, that's great.
00:24:36
Speaker
Getting them bought in and you guys got some real competitive people.
00:24:41
Speaker
I mean, I've had Alex on the show too.
00:24:43
Speaker
And yeah, Alex is a beast.
00:24:46
Speaker
I know he's a super competitive guy.
00:24:47
Speaker
And, you know, I guess not everyone knows.
00:24:52
Speaker
He does not stop.
00:24:53
Speaker
I just got back from a trip in Arizona with him and Anthony Florentine's like at the same caliber.
00:24:58
Speaker
And I never thought I could be so sore in my life, like working out two, three times a day, eating nothing but salmon and rice.
00:25:05
Speaker
I was like, this is, this is.
00:25:08
Speaker
Yeah.
00:25:08
Speaker
You guys are going to the, I mean, you're working with like Anthony Elliott and, or sorry, Andy Elliott and those guys, right?
00:25:16
Speaker
Yeah.
00:25:17
Speaker
Yeah.
00:25:17
Speaker
Yeah.
00:25:18
Speaker
Yeah, we did a partnership with Andy and it's been really cool to be surrounded by such high caliber people all the time.
00:25:25
Speaker
Because it makes you realize that you just have so much more in the tank and that you just don't know as much as you thought you did.
00:25:31
Speaker
So it's really started to push the mindset, at least from what I can see over here at Spartan, where everyone's like, hey, this is like half of what we could actually do.
00:25:39
Speaker
Yeah.
00:25:41
Speaker
Yeah.
00:25:41
Speaker
I love that.
00:25:42
Speaker
And so not everyone has to have a six pack to work with Spartan.
00:25:46
Speaker
Or is that a requirement part of the job?
00:25:49
Speaker
Not yet.
00:25:50
Speaker
Not yet.
00:25:50
Speaker
All we ask is that you buy in and at least try to work out.
00:25:55
Speaker
I don't have to do that by any means.
00:25:58
Speaker
Yeah.
00:25:59
Speaker
Yeah.
00:26:00
Speaker
I'm like, man, if we all have to look like Alex to work for Spartan, then I'm doomed, man.
00:26:05
Speaker
I'm never going to be able to work for Spartan.
00:26:09
Speaker
I told him that in a couple months I'm going to beat him.
00:26:12
Speaker
Yeah, that's good.
00:26:15
Speaker
But I like it.
00:26:16
Speaker
And there's something to be said about like the fitness side of things.
00:26:20
Speaker
I mean, I think it should just be common knowledge.
00:26:22
Speaker
Like if you're yeah, if you can get yourself to the gym, then it's going to make you that much more mentally tough.
00:26:29
Speaker
And like all the physical benefits aside, I think it takes a mentally tough
00:26:35
Speaker
tough person to like be able to go to the gym consistent and, you know, eat good stuff consistently, not feed yourself garbage.
00:26:42
Speaker
And then just being able to be out there too.
00:26:44
Speaker
Like I go to the gym and all that and I feel like I'm in decent shape, but sometimes, I mean, I'll go like four hours on the doors sometimes and be exhausted.
00:26:54
Speaker
I'm like, man, if I was like in terrible shape, I literally don't know how someone can do this job.
00:26:59
Speaker
Like
00:27:02
Speaker
I was super overweight.
00:27:03
Speaker
Like we did an event with Andy Elliott.
00:27:05
Speaker
It was right after I'd had the month of 30 and we did a workout with him in the parking lot.
00:27:10
Speaker
I'm like puking and dry heaving on the, on the pavement.
00:27:13
Speaker
It was a really good like thing to expose me.
00:27:16
Speaker
And I think that's what it was there for because I had people that like looked up to me on the team, like trying to pick me up.
00:27:22
Speaker
And it really bothered me.
00:27:24
Speaker
So I was weighing like 264 ish when we did that event and I've lost like almost 40 pounds now.
00:27:29
Speaker
So what's cool about sparring is like, we say like positive peer pressure and like, Hey, like if we can hold you accountable, then we're going to push you with as much positive peer pressure as possible.
00:27:41
Speaker
And we really do that in the gym.
00:27:43
Speaker
Like I'm sure a lot of people get annoyed by how many gym posts I have on Instagram.
00:27:48
Speaker
but it's just showing how everyone's buying into to being successful in other avenues besides knocking doors.
00:27:54
Speaker
Yeah, that's so cool.
00:27:56
Speaker
Yeah, I love that.
00:27:57
Speaker
Not only you changing your financial outlook, you're changing your body.
00:28:01
Speaker
And that's what I think the solar cell space should be.
00:28:04
Speaker
It's like we have so many more different things we can improve than just like our financial outlook.
00:28:10
Speaker
It's like we should be working on mental, we should be working on family,
00:28:14
Speaker
should be working on a spiritual and physical.
00:28:17
Speaker
And I think the best companies and most successful guys, they're not just successful in solar, but they're also really successful in these other areas of life as well.
00:28:26
Speaker
So yeah, I love that huge thing.
00:28:29
Speaker
Well, yeah.
00:28:30
Speaker
So Sam, I want to transition a little bit and talk.
00:28:32
Speaker
I'm sure we have people listening to this that are like, man, I want to hear some secret sauce.
00:28:37
Speaker
What is this guy saying to close 62 deals?
00:28:40
Speaker
And I'm sure you get asked that all the time.
00:28:42
Speaker
Like, what's the magic bullet?
00:28:43
Speaker
What are you saying?
00:28:44
Speaker
Just get everybody to sign.
00:28:45
Speaker
There's got to be some secret close or something like that.
00:28:50
Speaker
So I'm sure you're going to say the same thing as the rest of the high producers I've had on.
00:28:54
Speaker
There's not like some magic secret line, but I know there's stuff you can do that helps.
Building Trust and Handling Client Objections
00:29:01
Speaker
So what was like your closing ratio?
00:29:03
Speaker
Do you know about how many appointments you had to sit in to get the 62 close?
00:29:08
Speaker
I don't know exactly.
00:29:09
Speaker
I had one of the guys that helps you on the back end calculate it.
00:29:14
Speaker
And for last month, it was 87% close ratio.
00:29:18
Speaker
So let's count all of it.
00:29:21
Speaker
I don't know like about secret sauce.
00:29:23
Speaker
I think, you know, it comes from my personality is very blunt and convicted.
00:29:27
Speaker
Like when I really believe something, it's pretty much impossible, whether it's good or bad to sway me from that.
00:29:34
Speaker
And especially like the company that I work for, I'm completely bought in.
00:29:38
Speaker
Like I know I'm going to get paid.
00:29:40
Speaker
I know the installers are good.
00:29:41
Speaker
I know the backend team's solid.
00:29:43
Speaker
I know that the client's going to get a good service.
00:29:46
Speaker
And so I speak to a lot of conviction.
00:29:48
Speaker
Like my opening line is like, Hey, I sit in about 10 of these a day.
00:29:52
Speaker
Everyone I sit with wants to do this.
00:29:55
Speaker
Everybody.
00:29:55
Speaker
It just makes sense.
00:29:57
Speaker
Hardest part of my job on the front end is credit.
00:30:00
Speaker
Do you roughly know where the credit score is sitting?
00:30:02
Speaker
That way, you know, if you're running this many appointments, you have to be efficient with your time.
00:30:07
Speaker
So now I'm pulling out any, you know, credit fails or any discrepancies on the front end before I've even started diving.
00:30:14
Speaker
I think something I like to do too is I feel like when people sit with solar reps, they just hear about how solar is so great.
00:30:22
Speaker
And it's this magic pill that you swallow and you never get a bill again.
00:30:26
Speaker
I like to build credibility with telling them things that are bad about solar.
00:30:30
Speaker
Like, hey, you know, this isn't a pill you swallow and never get a bill again.
00:30:34
Speaker
Like if your consumption stays the same, sure.
00:30:36
Speaker
But if you have family over in town for Christmas or get a Tesla, like obviously if you're using more than the panels produced, you would get a bill.
00:30:45
Speaker
I like to bring up double bill.
00:30:46
Speaker
And like we have a process on the back end of Spartan where they actually double check us to make sure that we're selling ethically.
00:30:53
Speaker
So I know that if they give me a passing grade that that family's in a good position.
00:30:57
Speaker
So I think, you know, making yourself sound different by just not talking about how great this is.
00:31:03
Speaker
Like, this isn't just like God's gift to earth.
00:31:05
Speaker
Like this is, there's problems with this, but we have a way to solve them.
00:31:09
Speaker
Yeah, yeah.
00:31:11
Speaker
Yeah.
00:31:11
Speaker
And I love that because that builds when you do that, that like shows, OK, this guy's willing to tell me the bad and the good, not just all the good.
00:31:20
Speaker
So I'm sure that builds more trust with the people you're sitting with.
00:31:23
Speaker
They're like, well, this guy's actually giving me the full story here, not just all the positive things about it.
00:31:30
Speaker
And then, yeah, I like what you're saying, too, about that line is money right there.
00:31:33
Speaker
I'm going to have to listen to that on repeat.
00:31:36
Speaker
But you're like you're saying you sit in 10 of these a day.
00:31:39
Speaker
And it's cool because that just creates the frame that it's like, hey, if you guys don't want to do this, that's fine.
00:31:44
Speaker
I'm literally going to be in nine other of these.
00:31:47
Speaker
And so what's your credit at?
00:31:49
Speaker
I think that's such a powerful way to approach it.
00:31:51
Speaker
Because again, it's like you're not begging them for the sale.
00:31:54
Speaker
You're letting them know that this train is leaving the station, whether you want to get on or not.
00:31:59
Speaker
It's like, if you want to be part of it, what's the credit score?
00:32:02
Speaker
And then like I'm doing you a privilege by being here and giving you the opportunity for it.
00:32:08
Speaker
Yeah, yeah.
00:32:10
Speaker
A place of, I guess, conviction and like being needed, not needy.
00:32:14
Speaker
I feel like when I hear a lot of people in their closes, they sound really needy, like they're hoping for it.
00:32:20
Speaker
I kind of go in with the attitude of like, hey, you're going to want to do this either way.
00:32:25
Speaker
It's just if I can qualify you and if our engineers say this is a good fit for you.
00:32:31
Speaker
Yeah.
00:32:32
Speaker
I guess one little nugget that I like to do that I know some guys have gotten some value from is I actually like to get a no to get a yes.
00:32:41
Speaker
So when I go for the close, I'm not going to ask for the close until all objections have been handled because I feel like a lot of people do that.
00:32:50
Speaker
But another thing is, you know, my mentor told me when I first started in sales that people want to say no to you.
00:32:56
Speaker
Like they're looking for a reason to say no.
00:32:58
Speaker
So let's give them a no that benefits us.
00:33:01
Speaker
So like I like to use the car analogy, like, hey, Taylor, you know, you've got a nice F-250 in the driveway.
00:33:07
Speaker
Let's just say you went to the finance manager's office and you said, hey, everything looks great.
00:33:11
Speaker
Your payment's going to be $300 a month, but I just want to let you know you're never going to pay this truck off and I can raise your payment whenever I want to.
00:33:19
Speaker
Would you ever sign that agreement?
00:33:21
Speaker
The answer is no.
00:33:23
Speaker
I think you and I can agree that if an agreement's in place and there to protect your family, that it's a good thing.
00:33:29
Speaker
My question is when did the utility company come and knock on your door and get you to sign that agreement?
00:33:35
Speaker
Well, they did it.
00:33:37
Speaker
They did it.
00:33:38
Speaker
It's the only option.
00:33:39
Speaker
Taylor, solar in the simplest form is taking a bill you're never going to cancel, locking it at a rate and giving you and your family the peace of mind, knowing that you're protected.
00:33:48
Speaker
Now, my question to you, Taylor, is do you see any reason why paying $350 that keeps going up versus $280 that's locked in wouldn't benefit you and your family?
00:33:58
Speaker
No.
00:33:59
Speaker
Looks good to me.
00:34:00
Speaker
And then you just assume the clothes.
00:34:03
Speaker
That's, I guess, my sauce that I like to use at the end.
00:34:06
Speaker
Nice.
00:34:07
Speaker
That's so good.
00:34:08
Speaker
That's awesome.
00:34:09
Speaker
Yeah.
00:34:10
Speaker
So guys, anyone listening to this podcast right now, if you don't have a closing ratio where you want it to be, I would go listen to that on repeat 10 times and just literally copy that because Sam just gave you one of the secrets to closing 60 plus in a month.
00:34:26
Speaker
I know there's a lot of other things you do.
00:34:27
Speaker
Okay.
00:34:28
Speaker
And some people are like, think it's all about what he's saying at the end.
00:34:32
Speaker
But really like the top guys I see,
00:34:35
Speaker
It's the stuff they're doing in the deal because really closing should be really easy and natural, right?
00:34:40
Speaker
If you have to fight them at the end of the close, then, you know, it's probably like you didn't overcome this objection.
00:34:46
Speaker
There are unspoken, you know, concerns or whatever they didn't bring up.
00:34:51
Speaker
So, yeah.
00:34:51
Speaker
Do you find that like at that point when you get in that closing line, it's usually pretty smooth?
00:34:56
Speaker
They're usually pretty, pretty sold or do you have like stuff that comes up a lot of times as you're going through that?
00:35:03
Speaker
Yeah, I think, you know, I'm not going to use that.
00:35:05
Speaker
That's kind of like my last bullet in the clip.
00:35:07
Speaker
I'm not going to really use it unless I know that like, hey, they've kind of submitted to this idea of solar.
00:35:13
Speaker
They've told me a couple of times this makes sense.
00:35:16
Speaker
If there's still some apprehension or I can feel like sales tension going on or that there's objections that haven't been addressed, I'm going to keep digging.
00:35:25
Speaker
I think a big thing is a lot of people are machine guns.
00:35:29
Speaker
So they hear an objection and they just spray back.
00:35:32
Speaker
and handle the objection.
00:35:34
Speaker
I like to dig a little deeper on the objection.
00:35:36
Speaker
So like if someone says, Hey, I don't want holes in my roof.
00:35:39
Speaker
Well, that is an objection, but it's like, Hey Taylor, I, so I understand your roof is probably your baby, right?
00:35:46
Speaker
You paid a lot of money for it.
00:35:48
Speaker
And I assume that really the whole concern is that you want peace of mind knowing that if there was ever a problem with this, you and your baby, your roof would be protected.
00:35:58
Speaker
Right?
00:35:59
Speaker
So if I could show you a way, like really digging in because the objection isn't holes in the roof.
00:36:04
Speaker
The objection actually is the peace of mind if something happens.
00:36:09
Speaker
Yeah, that's really good.
00:36:12
Speaker
And then it's like after that way, if I can show you a way where it would be covered, where that wouldn't have to be an issue for you, then do you see any other reason why you wouldn't do it?
00:36:21
Speaker
Something like that?
00:36:23
Speaker
Yeah, just going along with it.
00:36:25
Speaker
I like to really dig on the objection because the customer one feels heard and sympathized with.
00:36:31
Speaker
But now I'm handling the real objection, which is peace of mind.
00:36:34
Speaker
Yeah.
00:36:35
Speaker
Yeah.
00:36:36
Speaker
I like that.
00:36:37
Speaker
Let's fire right there.
00:36:39
Speaker
Awesome.
00:36:40
Speaker
So, yeah.
00:36:41
Speaker
And then before we talk about, I want to talk about some of the team building stuff before we run out of time.
00:36:47
Speaker
Because I know you guys have built some massive teams.
00:36:50
Speaker
Before I ask you about that, do you have any like, I don't know, stories of like,
00:36:55
Speaker
some insane deals or like, I don't know, maybe the toughest deal you've ever had to close took like three, four hours or any crazy stories that my entertainer audience listened to the show today?
00:37:09
Speaker
Nothing like super crazy.
00:37:10
Speaker
Be honest.
00:37:11
Speaker
I'd say the toughest guy ever closed was a nuclear physicist.
00:37:16
Speaker
And I actually like couldn't close him the first time.
00:37:19
Speaker
It was the second time I had to go around, but I had
00:37:22
Speaker
Amory with me, who's my center manager.
00:37:24
Speaker
She was sitting with me on the deal.
00:37:26
Speaker
And there was just so much tension.
00:37:28
Speaker
You could tell this guy thought I was an idiot.
00:37:30
Speaker
I didn't know what I was talking about.
00:37:32
Speaker
I look over, she's sweating.
00:37:34
Speaker
So I've been in a couple where you have those standoffs of awkward silence.
00:37:41
Speaker
But I don't have any real crazy stories, to be honest with you.
00:37:45
Speaker
Yeah, that's good.
00:37:47
Speaker
Well, I am sure we do another podcast in a couple of years.
00:37:50
Speaker
I'm sure you'll have some crazy ones, but you're still pretty new to solar.
00:37:56
Speaker
You'll get there.
00:37:57
Speaker
But no, that's that's good.
00:37:58
Speaker
And yeah, those scientists and physicists can be tough for sure.
00:38:03
Speaker
Super analytical people.
00:38:05
Speaker
It's like.
00:38:06
Speaker
Yeah, we have down here in San Diego where I'm at, we have a ton of like Indian engineers that are working for, you know, Qualcomm and stuff like that.
00:38:15
Speaker
And anytime I go into one of those, I know it's just going to be like a battle.
00:38:18
Speaker
Just like, yeah, you're just like mentally preparing in the car.
00:38:22
Speaker
Yeah, it's like cut.
00:38:24
Speaker
Yeah, cut through there, cut through the tension in there.
00:38:26
Speaker
There's just like...
00:38:28
Speaker
They want to like see every spreadsheet and crunch every number.
00:38:31
Speaker
It's like, come on.
00:38:34
Speaker
Got to learn to close them all.
00:38:37
Speaker
Well, cool, man.
00:38:37
Speaker
So yeah, talk to me about, you guys have built a big team now.
00:38:41
Speaker
You did 180 plus as a team for the month.
00:38:46
Speaker
And so you're over like three teams.
00:38:48
Speaker
I think you said before we started one in a couple in Florida and then one in Texas.
00:38:53
Speaker
Is that right?
00:38:54
Speaker
Yeah, I've got a team in St.
00:38:56
Speaker
Augustine area where I'm at.
00:38:58
Speaker
And then I've got a team in Tampa, Bradenton, and then a team out in Texas.
00:39:03
Speaker
Okay, that's awesome.
00:39:05
Speaker
And then you said you were able to build these teams.
00:39:07
Speaker
So what was the timeline like?
00:39:09
Speaker
What did you guys start at?
00:39:10
Speaker
And then what have you helped build those teams to?
00:39:14
Speaker
Yeah, so the first month, there were four of us.
00:39:17
Speaker
It was Josiah, Amory, me, and Ali.
00:39:20
Speaker
And we did, I think, 42-ish deals.
00:39:23
Speaker
And then we scaled it to about 15.
00:39:26
Speaker
We did 56, scaled it to about 25, did around 60.
00:39:32
Speaker
And then this is when we made the big push last month.
00:39:35
Speaker
We got up to around 67-ish reps, and then we did 184.
00:39:43
Speaker
Yeah.
00:39:43
Speaker
And that's like building extremely fast.
00:39:46
Speaker
Most people would be happy to build that over like multiple years.
00:39:49
Speaker
And you guys did it in like months, essentially.
00:39:52
Speaker
So that's pretty incredible.
00:39:55
Speaker
But yeah, how did you like build it that fast?
00:39:58
Speaker
And the other thing I want to ask you about is just like maintaining the culture, because that's what I've noticed.
00:40:03
Speaker
I've been running teams for a while, but and I've kind of dropped the ball sometimes to where we didn't have leadership set in place really good.
00:40:11
Speaker
And I'm running around trying to like run with once the team gets over 20 and then you get guys that drop off that get some laziness set in.
00:40:21
Speaker
So it can be tough to like maintain the culture and all that.
00:40:23
Speaker
But yeah, so I guess two questions.
00:40:25
Speaker
How did you guys build it up?
00:40:26
Speaker
Any secrets you have on that?
00:40:27
Speaker
And then just like with the culture as you're growing that fast, too.
00:40:32
Speaker
Yeah, I think the big thing as far as scaling that quickly was really setting the pace personally.
00:40:38
Speaker
Like when I came into Spartan, I knew that I was competitive and could throw down, but didn't really trust the other vehicles I was in.
00:40:46
Speaker
So once I could kind of plug in and have the peace of mind, it was kind of like a dog off the leash.
00:40:52
Speaker
So my whole mindset was like, hey, let's throw as much volume as possible, make as much noise within the company.
00:40:58
Speaker
And then people naturally want to gravitate towards that.
00:41:00
Speaker
So like the first month around 30, then 28, I was starting to make a lot of noise.
00:41:05
Speaker
And then people just naturally wanted to kind of join the movement, see what it was about.
00:41:11
Speaker
And then once we started having the big months, you know, now a lot of people are starting to talk about coming, you know, underneath our division.
00:41:19
Speaker
And it's really about just like setting the pace.
Developing Leadership and Managing Teams
00:41:23
Speaker
I would say, you know, people want to work for somebody that they want to emulate.
00:41:26
Speaker
So if you can become that person and then also build those people within the team, there's no stop to the scaling.
00:41:34
Speaker
You know, I tell everyone on the team, my biggest goal is to give as much value and build as many people into 60 plus a month deal throwers.
00:41:42
Speaker
Because from there you can scale, you can build teams within you.
00:41:46
Speaker
So, you know, personally, like I'm taking a step back from volume and just, you know, going to throw 20, 30 a month, which can be pretty consistent and really start to pour into the team and build up these leaders that I can build underneath.
00:42:02
Speaker
As far as culture, we have a really big competitive environment.
00:42:05
Speaker
So we go at it within the team, we go at it within the company, but also we've created a culture where it's frowned upon not to do the things that we're supposed to do.
00:42:15
Speaker
So if you're not working out, you're probably getting called out.
00:42:18
Speaker
If you're not on the doors, you're getting called out.
00:42:20
Speaker
Like there's just this competitive, you know, type A personality environment that a lot of salespeople are.
00:42:28
Speaker
And if you're not doing what you're supposed to do, other people are calling you out.
00:42:32
Speaker
It's not me.
00:42:33
Speaker
It's people in the group saying, Hey, where are you at?
00:42:35
Speaker
Why aren't you out here?
00:42:37
Speaker
So really building a culture where we have that positive peer pressure, where we're positively peer pressuring everyone to raise the standard.
00:42:46
Speaker
Yeah.
00:42:47
Speaker
Yeah.
00:42:47
Speaker
That's, that's so important, especially as you're growing and starting new offices.
00:42:52
Speaker
Cause one of the toughest things I've seen companies that are growing, if they don't have that culture set in place and then if they don't have leaders fully bought in that are starting up other markets, starting up different territories.
00:43:04
Speaker
Um, it's, it's tough cause yeah, I mean, think about it.
00:43:07
Speaker
You guys are in Florida, you got an office in Texas, um,
00:43:10
Speaker
So if you don't have those people really bought in, I'm sure it's tough.
00:43:14
Speaker
Texas, they could be running around doing their own thing.
00:43:16
Speaker
Has that been tough at all?
00:43:17
Speaker
Having like a team in Texas, like just being able to manage that from afar.
00:43:22
Speaker
And I don't know if that's been challenging at all or any obstacles with that.
00:43:27
Speaker
It's been challenging.
00:43:28
Speaker
Like Alex talks about this, this, you know, being omnipresent where people can feel you, even if you're not there.
00:43:35
Speaker
And I've struggled with that a little bit in Texas, but DJ, the guy that's running that office is on top of it.
00:43:41
Speaker
You know, he's a top producer himself.
00:43:43
Speaker
So I have a lot of trust in like just kind of letting go and letting him run it the way he feels fit and just being there when needed.
00:43:51
Speaker
That's the only way it works is because I can really lean on him.
00:43:54
Speaker
Yeah.
00:43:56
Speaker
Yeah, that's good.
00:43:57
Speaker
Yeah, everyone needs a guy like that for sure.
00:44:00
Speaker
But yeah, like to your first point, though, just success.
00:44:05
Speaker
I know success breeds success.
00:44:07
Speaker
And that's honestly, I think you guys remind me a lot of you might.
00:44:12
Speaker
I've had him on the podcast a few times, Ricardo, Richie and these guys over at Momentous Solar here in California.
00:44:19
Speaker
But they say a lot of the same things you guys are saying.
00:44:21
Speaker
They've been able to recruit a massive team really quick just because people see the momentum they're creating.
00:44:29
Speaker
Like Ricardo, he did, I think, I don't know, 70 to 75 deals.
00:44:33
Speaker
He's the one person that's beat you by a couple, but I'm sure you'll beat him eventually.
00:44:38
Speaker
There's the challenge.
00:44:39
Speaker
You got to call Ricardo out and beat him.
00:44:41
Speaker
Someone needs to beat him.
00:44:43
Speaker
Yeah.
00:44:45
Speaker
But yeah, so like him doing that, though, like he got so many eyeballs, so many people seeing.
00:44:50
Speaker
And then naturally, he just gets tons of people that want to go work for him.
00:44:54
Speaker
And they're like, hey, I want to go set for you, Ricardo, because I know you're going to close almost every deal that I send you.
00:45:00
Speaker
And it's just like momentum just explodes from there.
00:45:03
Speaker
So it sounds like for you guys, there's a lot of the same stuff.
00:45:06
Speaker
You just produce at a super high level and then you get eyeballs on that.
Spartan's Strategy for Market Challenges and Growth
00:45:11
Speaker
You make other people a ton of money.
00:45:13
Speaker
They bring their friends and then it's just, you know, multiplication at that point.
00:45:18
Speaker
Do you agree?
00:45:19
Speaker
Yeah, I would agree.
00:45:20
Speaker
And what's cool is like the culture that we're building over here at Spartan.
00:45:23
Speaker
We're really attracting people that we want to be a part of this.
00:45:27
Speaker
Like it's it.
00:45:28
Speaker
It can be a pretty intimidating environment if you're not competitive or, you know, kind of lazy because it gets exposed.
00:45:35
Speaker
But it's kind of cool to see the whole culture shift and how we're really starting to attract these kids and people that are hungry and want more.
00:45:44
Speaker
and want to be held to like the standard.
00:45:47
Speaker
So I tell everyone like, hey, if I have your permission, like I'm going to hold you to the standard that I see you at and I'm going to make you uncomfortable because that's what's best for you.
00:45:56
Speaker
And if that's not something that you're comfortable with, you can say stop at any time.
00:46:01
Speaker
And, you know, there are other companies that'll get you here, but I want to build you up and Ali wants to build you up into the person that you should be and that we see in you.
00:46:11
Speaker
And we've really adapted that culture.
00:46:12
Speaker
And I think people have latched on or they've kind of weeded themselves out.
00:46:17
Speaker
Yeah, that's good.
00:46:19
Speaker
Yeah.
00:46:19
Speaker
Well, I know you've got a really strong culture because it's funny.
00:46:23
Speaker
A buddy that sells with me out here, he actually has this sister-in-law that lives in San Diego.
00:46:29
Speaker
But we've tried to come get her to work with us in San Diego.
00:46:33
Speaker
But she I don't even know her name.
00:46:36
Speaker
So but she she goes and works with Spartan just because she loves the culture so much.
00:46:41
Speaker
And she loves like blitzing with you guys.
00:46:44
Speaker
And she won't even like she won't even come talk to us or work with us in San Diego.
00:46:48
Speaker
So I'm like, wow, you know, they're doing something right.
00:46:51
Speaker
If she's like living out here and she doesn't even want to work with us, she just wants to be all Spartan.
00:46:56
Speaker
So got to hand it to you guys, I think, get people bought in.
00:47:01
Speaker
It's cool, man.
00:47:01
Speaker
Alex is really, and Anthony have like really built this culture of, they like say, Hey, like we want to build people that are unrecruitable because like, you know, there's so much company culture that like the volume just comes with it.
00:47:14
Speaker
And you can tell that like, they genuinely care about your success and all the leaders here really want to see everyone succeed.
00:47:21
Speaker
So like me personally, I don't,
00:47:24
Speaker
I don't have a company I would ever go to for any amount of money.
00:47:26
Speaker
And I think that's when you've really built a good culture is when like, there's no red line or money that you could offer me to really get me to move.
00:47:34
Speaker
Like I just wouldn't.
00:47:35
Speaker
I tell Alex and Anthony all the time that I'm here till I die.
00:47:38
Speaker
And once you've built that, you've kind of like created the hack.
00:47:41
Speaker
Yeah, no doubt.
00:47:43
Speaker
Yeah.
00:47:43
Speaker
And I know Andy Elliott talks about that a lot, too.
00:47:46
Speaker
So, yeah, I mean, you guys have a really strong culture and crushing it out there.
00:47:52
Speaker
Well, last thing I wanted to ask you about, Sam, before we start wrapping up here, just talking to Colin that's in our coaching group.
00:47:58
Speaker
He tells me that you guys have some really good blitzes going on, too.
00:48:03
Speaker
I don't know how big that is in your production and everything.
00:48:06
Speaker
Do you guys do a lot of blitzes out there?
00:48:09
Speaker
Yeah, we do.
00:48:10
Speaker
The market that we're in right now isn't the best for solar.
00:48:13
Speaker
Timeframes are long and
00:48:15
Speaker
The utility here is not very solar friendly.
00:48:18
Speaker
So we found that out pretty quickly and realized that, you know, Alex always says the person that can, can pivot and recur, recorrect the quickest because the most success we've adapted to that.
00:48:29
Speaker
Cause it was like, Hey, it's not working here and we could throw a pity party and just say it is what it is.
00:48:34
Speaker
Or we could completely change our strategy and start going to these towns and blitzing.
00:48:38
Speaker
So we've been driving, you know, between an hour, hour and a half away back and forth and just making it happen.
00:48:45
Speaker
But,
00:48:45
Speaker
What's cool about that is when you've driven an hour and a half both ways, now once you're out there, you have to get as much out of it as possible.
00:48:52
Speaker
You just drive three hours out of a day.
00:48:55
Speaker
So it's kind of cool how that mentality has been gripped by the team.
00:49:00
Speaker
But yeah, we're mostly blitzing right now.
00:49:02
Speaker
And then we'll work home turf when we're taking breaks.
00:49:05
Speaker
So yeah, any like advice you have around blitzes?
00:49:08
Speaker
Do you guys just like commute?
00:49:09
Speaker
You're just driving every day or do you get like the Airbnbs and do like really organized planned blitzes or what does that look like for you and your team?
00:49:17
Speaker
We've just been driving for now.
00:49:19
Speaker
We have so much turf around us where we haven't felt the need to go out of state, but we have been talking about it.
00:49:25
Speaker
There are some markets that I've kind of been licking my lips at.
00:49:28
Speaker
So we are going to implement that.
00:49:30
Speaker
Something cool that we're going to do in November,
00:49:33
Speaker
is me and Alex Soriano, the other guy that throws a lot of volume.
00:49:36
Speaker
We're going to pick one market and have our top 10 people there and just go head to head in one market.
00:49:41
Speaker
We're going to start implementing stuff like that when it gets slower, like slow season comes, people take their foot off the gas.
00:49:47
Speaker
Let's figure out ways to move out of the hometown and make this fun and competitive.
00:49:52
Speaker
Love it.
00:49:53
Speaker
Well, cool, man.
00:49:54
Speaker
So before I forget where if people want to like connect with you more, Sam, or hit you up on social media or possibly come work with you guys, what's the best way to get in touch with you?
00:50:05
Speaker
Probably Instagram.
00:50:06
Speaker
You can follow me at Sam, the man zero two one one.
00:50:10
Speaker
And my DMs are always open.
00:50:12
Speaker
I'll respond when I can, but that'd probably be the best route.
00:50:16
Speaker
So anyone, especially if you have a six pack, just send Sam a picture, six pack, and you're instantly hired at Spartan.
00:50:22
Speaker
Everyone else, you got to go through the application process.
00:50:27
Speaker
There's initiation workouts.
00:50:29
Speaker
Sorry about it.
00:50:30
Speaker
Yeah.
00:50:31
Speaker
So start your workouts now if you want to work with these guys.
00:50:35
Speaker
But no, yeah, in all seriousness, definitely hit Sam up.
00:50:39
Speaker
Let him know you appreciate him coming on the show today.
00:50:42
Speaker
We heard a ton of value, a ton of killer closing lines and things that can blow an organization up.
00:50:48
Speaker
So we appreciate you coming on the show, Sam.
00:50:51
Speaker
Before we wrap up, is there any, I don't know, maybe words of advice you'd have for maybe like a struggling rep or someone that's questioning if they can like be in solar?
00:51:03
Speaker
Yeah, man.
00:51:04
Speaker
I think something big is, you know, I was talking to one of our teams about this the other day is if you're struggling or haven't really made it yet, stop thinking like, hey, I'm broke.
00:51:15
Speaker
I'm not making any money.
00:51:16
Speaker
This is hard.
00:51:16
Speaker
And start thinking like, hey, I'm just sharpening my tools.
00:51:19
Speaker
Because like I told this guy, if I gave you a million dollars today, you would blow it all because you didn't earn it.
00:51:25
Speaker
The only thing that separates, you know, someone that just starting out and, and people that, you know, perform at a high caliber is they've sharpened the tool enough and they're continuing to sharpening it.
00:51:36
Speaker
So I tell everyone like, Hey, pay your dues.
00:51:38
Speaker
And even if you've, you've been a high performer and you're starting to decline, like it just means you, you need to pay more dues.
00:51:44
Speaker
Like we're just sharpening the tool.
00:51:46
Speaker
We're getting the tools under our belt to where we can be confident.
00:51:50
Speaker
And then another thing I like to preach is like,
00:51:52
Speaker
I don't believe in goals.
00:51:54
Speaker
I believe in standards.
00:51:55
Speaker
So like a goal is something I wish I could hit, but a standard is something that I don't view myself below.
00:52:01
Speaker
So like 20 deals in a month is my standard.
00:52:04
Speaker
And I refuse to go below the standard.
00:52:07
Speaker
I feel like a lot of people count their commissions and stuff where I just have a unit goal.
00:52:11
Speaker
And I know if I hit that unit standard, then I'm going to make a lot of money on the backend.
00:52:17
Speaker
But
00:52:18
Speaker
Those would, I guess, be two good takeaways.
00:52:20
Speaker
Nice.
00:52:20
Speaker
That's so powerful.
00:52:21
Speaker
Love it.
00:52:22
Speaker
Yeah, really good book, Atomic Habits.
00:52:24
Speaker
I'm sure you've read it, but yeah, he says something about the lever.
00:52:29
Speaker
I think it's your goals fall to the level of your system, something like that.
00:52:33
Speaker
So it's just like you got to have these systems in place.
00:52:36
Speaker
And then, you know, if you just do these daily things, then like the goals are going to happen.
00:52:41
Speaker
It's not not a question of that.
00:52:43
Speaker
Just about doing the small things consistently, having a good system in place.
00:52:46
Speaker
So I appreciate that.
00:52:49
Speaker
Super powerful episode right here, guys.
00:52:52
Speaker
Please share it.
00:52:53
Speaker
And Sam, we appreciate you coming on and we'll we'll probably do a follow up episode here.
00:53:00
Speaker
you know, maybe 11 months, you'll hit 70, 80, a hundred deals.
00:53:03
Speaker
So look forward to hearing what's next.
00:53:05
Speaker
And, um, yeah, thanks again for coming on the show with us.
00:53:08
Speaker
Dude, I appreciate it.
00:53:09
Speaker
We'll be in touch.
00:53:10
Speaker
Okay.
00:53:10
Speaker
Thanks brother.
00:53:13
Speaker
Hey Solarpreneurs, quick question.
00:53:14
Speaker
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00:53:24
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.
00:53:36
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.
00:53:47
Speaker
and it's called Solcite.
00:53:49
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.
00:54:08
Speaker
Currently, SoulCity is open, launched, and ready to be enrolled.
00:54:14
Speaker
So go to SoulCity.co to learn more and join the learning experience now.
00:54:22
Speaker
This is exclusively for solopreneur listeners, so be sure to go to SoulCity.co and join.
00:54:29
Speaker
We'll see you on the inside.