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95: Virtual Closing Secrets
52 Plays5 years ago
Let no virus stop you from closing sales. Listen to these valuable tips on how to close sales in the middle of a lockdown.
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Transcript
The Shift to Virtual Sales
00:00:00
Speaker
What's up, solarpreneurs?
00:00:02
Speaker
Hope you're surviving the lockdown, the virus, or whatever is going on at the time that you're listening to this.
00:00:07
Speaker
As we all know, closing virtually, it's getting more and more important.
00:00:11
Speaker
People more and more are wanting to do things virtually.
00:00:15
Speaker
So what I did with this, I included my thoughts on closing virtually.
00:00:20
Speaker
I did a Facebook Live on this.
00:00:22
Speaker
So if you're not in the solarpreneurs group, you missed out on this content, go join the group.
00:00:28
Speaker
But here is my thoughts on it.
00:00:29
Speaker
I also went and listened to guys that have been doing this for longer than I have that are doing this consistently.
00:00:36
Speaker
I close, well, I do a virtual, so probably, I don't know, once a month or so typically, but obviously now doing much more.
00:00:45
Speaker
So I went and sifted through all the content I could find, combined the best of it, and dropped it all here.
00:00:50
Speaker
So let me know what you think.
00:00:52
Speaker
And with that said, let's tune into the intro.
Revolutionizing the Solar Industry
00:00:55
Speaker
What do you call an underground group of solar professionals on a mission to create a more sustainable world?
00:01:01
Speaker
We call ourselves solopreneurs.
00:01:03
Speaker
And while some might call us crazy, foolish, and dissatisfied with the status quo, we're the ones taking action to create a better future for ourselves and the world.
00:01:13
Speaker
Solopreneur is dedicated to give you, the solar professional, the tools, skills, technology, and mentorship to take the industry by storm and sell more solar with less effort.
00:01:25
Speaker
We are solopreneurs and this is our story.
00:01:29
Speaker
Start off the day, gonna start this training here in a second.
00:01:34
Speaker
Excited to talk about closing deals virtually.
00:01:38
Speaker
Hear what the top solopreneurs are doing to close deals, survive the virus, and dominate.
00:01:46
Speaker
Post Malone wanted to be here but this is the best he could do.
00:01:49
Speaker
So give me a thumbs up if you can hear.
00:01:53
Speaker
I'm doing this BeLive software so I hope it's working.
00:01:59
Speaker
Anyways, we're going to go ahead and get started here.
00:02:04
Speaker
I know there's been a lot of talk about what to do.
00:02:07
Speaker
People are freaking out.
00:02:08
Speaker
People are losing their minds, including me.
00:02:11
Speaker
I'm used to going to live appointments.
00:02:16
Speaker
I do a deal virtually here and there.
00:02:19
Speaker
Maybe once a month or so I'll do a deal virtually.
00:02:23
Speaker
But it's not my bread and butter.
00:02:25
Speaker
It's not what I'm used to.
00:02:27
Speaker
So I think in some ways, this virus is really helping people learn a new skill and improve on things that they weren't as good at.
00:02:37
Speaker
So virtual closing, it's something that's a necessity right now.
00:02:42
Speaker
I am typically in San Diego.
00:02:43
Speaker
Right now I'm in Utah because I'm not going to any live appointments right now.
00:02:50
Speaker
California as most people know is definitely the hotbed of the coronavirus people really freak out out there and Most people don't want you coming to their house right now Even though I was surprised there has been a couple people that still requested live appointments But anyways, so what do you do about closing virtually?
Learning from Experts
00:03:15
Speaker
Hopefully all of you have started to
00:03:20
Speaker
do some virtual closes some virtual selling and I wanted to get on here and hear what people are doing to you wanted to do it kinda mastermind style so definitely let me know what you've been doing trying to see on here let's see okay I'm gonna type something anyways this is kinda a test
00:03:50
Speaker
so again let me know if you can hear me I thought it would show me what is it here okay well I think people can hear me for some reason I'm not seeing the comments but hopefully you're all are on here okay so I'm going to talk about three things that have been helping me sell virtually I'm not an expert I'm still learning but I have been able to have some success
00:04:21
Speaker
So I want to preface this by saying I have learned from guys that have been doing this for a long time.
00:04:26
Speaker
If you guys haven't heard Curtis Bailey, I know he's been posting a little bit.
00:04:30
Speaker
He's sold a lot virtually.
00:04:33
Speaker
He did a podcast with Frankie on his podcast, I think it's the Solar Success Secrets, something like that.
00:04:42
Speaker
So that's a good podcast to listen to if you want to dive deeper into it.
00:04:45
Speaker
Another guy that I've learned from,
00:04:48
Speaker
is blank Ben Claybrook he's been on the solar printer podcast he's a master marketer and sells pretty much exclusive exclusively virtually so I've been able to learn a lot from him too and just yeah a lot of guys in the industry I was on a webinar with some people from loan pal loan pal there I mean their biggest or finance are now they've done all their
00:05:17
Speaker
sells through inside they have inside cells team they built it up so they're good resources listen to those guys so bottom line go listen to experts go see what other people are doing that's pretty much what it's about we're all learning in this together we're all trying to improve day by day so you got to learn from the people that are already having success
00:05:39
Speaker
So a lot of these things that I'm going to share are things that I learned from Ben, things that I learned from Curtis, things that I learned from the guys over at Lone Pal.
Essential Tips for Virtual Sales
00:05:49
Speaker
And it's just kind of my own thoughts on them too.
00:05:52
Speaker
So we'll jump into it.
00:05:53
Speaker
I got three things to share, jotted down some notes here.
00:05:58
Speaker
So we're going to jump into it.
00:05:59
Speaker
So point number one is be prepared.
00:06:03
Speaker
Number two, we're going to talk about treating it like you normally would sell, not trying to reinvent the wheel.
00:06:09
Speaker
Number three, really learn how to use your resources.
00:06:14
Speaker
So let's jump into it.
00:06:15
Speaker
Point number one is be prepared.
00:06:19
Speaker
So part of that is figuring out what software you're going to use.
00:06:22
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Now I did a Facebook Live, actually about an hour before this.
00:06:27
Speaker
I don't do a ton of Facebook Live, so let me know if you want more of these.
00:06:33
Speaker
Okay, good.
00:06:34
Speaker
I did see a comment and someone said they didn't hear me.
00:06:37
Speaker
Thank you.
00:06:38
Speaker
Getting nervous there.
00:06:38
Speaker
Okay, but figure out what software you want to use.
00:06:44
Speaker
A lot of people use Zoom and Zoom can be good, but if you want to hear my thoughts on it, go check out my Facebook Live that I did earlier.
00:06:54
Speaker
Basically, I just prefer a software called Join Me and the reason for that is because people that use Join Me, they don't have to download anything.
00:07:03
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They can go to a computer and instantly log on and they can start seeing your content, seeing what you're sharing.
00:07:10
Speaker
So speaking of that, I will try to share a little bit of Join Me.
00:07:19
Speaker
Let's see if I can share my screen.
00:07:20
Speaker
OK.
00:07:22
Speaker
It's downloading something.
00:07:25
Speaker
But Join Me, it's the software.
00:07:28
Speaker
So if you type in join.me,
00:07:32
Speaker
That's going to take you to this, the, yeah, the software joined on me and you can use their free version.
00:07:42
Speaker
They have a paid version, but their free version is good.
00:07:45
Speaker
They did change some things.
00:07:46
Speaker
So it's not quite as good as it was, but with the free version, you can still share your screen.
00:07:53
Speaker
I think there's like a 45 minutes or an hour limitation, but if you're doing virtual deals, you should be able to wrap them up quicker.
00:08:03
Speaker
And the thing with it, I don't believe it lets you use the computer audio in the free version.
00:08:11
Speaker
So what you're going to do is you're going to use your phone, just put it on speaker, and then you communicate with people just from phone audio.
00:08:20
Speaker
And in my opinion, being in especially solar cells, you're going to close more deals 100% of the time when you're making things simple.
00:08:28
Speaker
So if you can simplify things as much as possible, including software, it's going to give you that much of an edge.
00:08:34
Speaker
It's going to help you close more deals.
00:08:35
Speaker
So that's why I like Join Me.
00:08:37
Speaker
It's just simpler.
00:08:40
Speaker
You can use it with older folks.
00:08:42
Speaker
They can hop on.
00:08:43
Speaker
They don't have to download software.
00:08:45
Speaker
They don't have to figure out computer audio because they can just...
00:08:49
Speaker
I mean, you just put your phone on speaker and then you see your screen.
00:08:54
Speaker
OK, I know there's argument.
00:08:57
Speaker
Some people like being seen face to face.
00:09:01
Speaker
I don't know.
00:09:01
Speaker
That has its advantages too.
00:09:05
Speaker
So join me.
00:09:05
Speaker
I don't believe it lets you do that unless you have the paid version.
00:09:08
Speaker
That's where Zoom comes in.
00:09:11
Speaker
But for me, I just like keeping it simple using join me.
00:09:14
Speaker
OK, so figure out your software.
00:09:17
Speaker
So here is my screen.
00:09:20
Speaker
Join me, this is the software.
00:09:23
Speaker
Pretty straightforward.
00:09:25
Speaker
Once you have it downloaded, you just click start and people can just hop on your link.
00:09:30
Speaker
It's all free, you can get a paid version.
00:09:33
Speaker
You can get the light version, but you can get it free, crush it with that.
00:09:37
Speaker
Okay, so there's that software.
00:09:44
Speaker
I'll do a couple other screen shares.
00:09:47
Speaker
So be prepared to figure out what software you're going to use.
00:09:51
Speaker
And the other piece to that is just getting as much information as you can before the deal.
00:09:57
Speaker
So just like if you were to sell live, you want to have all the information gathered, their electric bill, their usage.
00:10:06
Speaker
I like to do discovery calls.
00:10:08
Speaker
So I know some people, Ben Claybrook, I was telling you about, he has a whole call center set up where he had somebody call beforehand and they figure out all this information before they set up the appointment, which is genius.
00:10:22
Speaker
So even if you don't have a call center, even if you don't have a team doing this, do some type of discovery call where you set the expectations just like you would in a regular deal.
00:10:33
Speaker
where you gather their energy usage, where you ask them how old their roof is, where you ask them what their estimated credit score is, which is key.
00:10:44
Speaker
Here in California, we have PACE programs.
00:10:47
Speaker
So if they don't have 650 or above, we know that we need to run them through a PACE program, which goes on the property tax and doesn't require
00:11:00
Speaker
Good credit score.
00:11:01
Speaker
So I'm going to figure out the estimated credit score You want to figure out how old their roof is what type of roof it is you want to figure out how many watts their panel is Depending on what company you're with these are all going to be adders sometimes So it's best when you have these things figured out beforehand and then you have them all plugged in the proposal all plugged in the deal So that way when you get to the appointment boom, you don't have to go beating around the bush you can just get straight down to
00:11:26
Speaker
Straight down to the nitty and gritty and closing them up So figure all those things out beforehand be prepared another tip I heard from the guys over at Lone Pal is I mean if you think about it you're taking Probably at least 15 to 20 minutes most people are taking 15 to 20 minutes to drive to appointments So why not take that same 15 to 20 minutes now use that same time?
00:11:54
Speaker
you're going to go to and
00:11:58
Speaker
You're going to be driving use that same time now to prepare for the deal Make sure you all that have all the tabs pulled up I'm just as many things as you can figure out beforehand.
00:12:09
Speaker
It's that way the deal is as smooth as possible Okay, so that's step
Maintaining Sales Standards Virtually
00:12:13
Speaker
number one.
00:12:13
Speaker
That's my first tip be prepared Get all the things figured out beforehand Be ready for the deal number two is treat these appointments like any other appointment that you normally go to
00:12:28
Speaker
I think guys get so caught up sometimes saying, oh, it's virtual.
00:12:31
Speaker
I got to figure out the technology.
00:12:34
Speaker
I got to, I don't know, figure out exactly what I'm going to do.
00:12:38
Speaker
No, if you've been selling, just sell like you normally would.
00:12:42
Speaker
Be yourself, be a human.
00:12:45
Speaker
I mean, get all the decision makers there.
00:12:48
Speaker
That's along with being prepared.
00:12:50
Speaker
Make sure they know to have all the decision makers there.
00:12:53
Speaker
Just all the things you would normally do before a live deal.
00:12:57
Speaker
do those same things to prepare for the virtual deals.
00:13:02
Speaker
The other thing is know the utility rates in the market.
00:13:05
Speaker
I made this mistake.
00:13:07
Speaker
I had a referral in Colorado.
00:13:10
Speaker
As many you know, I'm in San Diego.
00:13:12
Speaker
I had a referral in Colorado a couple months back.
00:13:17
Speaker
And I was trying to explain to her about how solar works.
00:13:21
Speaker
And truth is, I had no idea about the rates, about the net metering over in Colorado.
00:13:28
Speaker
I didn't do my homework beforehand.
00:13:31
Speaker
And she definitely could tell.
00:13:33
Speaker
I was trying to explain it, but I was just getting antsy.
00:13:37
Speaker
I was starting to ramble, not make as much sense.
00:13:40
Speaker
And what happened is, is after me beating around the bush for so long,
00:13:47
Speaker
She just kind of said, okay, yeah, we'll get back to you.
00:13:51
Speaker
And then, haven't heard from her since, been following up.
00:13:55
Speaker
So you got to know your market, know the rates.
00:13:58
Speaker
So if you have leads you're trying to close virtually in other states, talk to someone.
00:14:03
Speaker
I mean, we have a great resource in the Facebook group.
00:14:09
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, just people you network with.
00:14:12
Speaker
You can always ask people, who do you know in this state
00:14:16
Speaker
Maybe talk to them.
00:14:17
Speaker
Just Google search it.
00:14:19
Speaker
So figure all that stuff out beforehand.
00:14:21
Speaker
Treat it like you'd normally sell.
00:14:23
Speaker
Then the other thing, when I'm in live deals, I always sell with a pen and paper.
00:14:30
Speaker
I think it's something everyone should be doing.
00:14:33
Speaker
Grant Cardone, he talks about it in the Closer Survival Guide.
00:14:36
Speaker
Always write down your points.
00:14:38
Speaker
Always write down your value proposition.
00:14:42
Speaker
So this should be no different in virtual selling, even though maybe...
00:14:45
Speaker
they're not necessarily seeing the notes you're taking you're still going to be writing down your points you're going to be writing down the questions that they have so you can address them you're going to go through the fact-finding with them figure out what their concerns are figure out what their hot buttons are and write all that down okay so do all do all these things treat it like you normally sell don't be a robot
00:15:11
Speaker
build rapport especially I mean you got an advantage with the virus you got an instant point to talk about so I've been starting out every deal with that say hey how's it going you guys surviving the virus you guys know diseases there yet no one's dying joke around with them although want to be careful the jokes right now can't yeah we see it's pretty serious situation so don't want to be
00:15:41
Speaker
too jokey about it.
00:15:45
Speaker
But yeah, think of ways you can joke around, build that rapport, use the virus to your advantage.
00:15:50
Speaker
So that's tip number two.
00:15:54
Speaker
Treat it like you'd normally sell, pre-frame it, get all the decision makers there.
00:15:59
Speaker
OK?
00:16:02
Speaker
So last tip is, grab a drink of water.
00:16:13
Speaker
is use your resources to your advantage so if you don't already what i do is i have bookmark tabs hope you guys can see but i have a whole tab of bookmarked links so what you want to do you want to use your resources to your advantage especially in these virtual deals bookmark anything that has to do with solar
00:16:42
Speaker
Especially things that people will be concerned about Want to have all those ready?
00:16:48
Speaker
So for example if I have someone that's asking It's saying oh, I'm worried about selling my home with solar Boom you got a link right here solar home sold 20% faster for 17% more You just want to have all your ammo Ready all your arrows in your quiver if you will Have it already so any concern they come up with
00:17:12
Speaker
you can take them straight to a link show them proof that that objection isn't a concern just a complaint as Grant Cardamon would say so have everything linked okay for your state obviously I'm in California so most of these have to do with California but whatever market you're in just create a bookmarked folder of anything you could use to help you in the deals
00:17:41
Speaker
Other resource I use is something like this is just a little solar calculator.
00:17:47
Speaker
Where I can type in what their bill will be.
00:17:51
Speaker
I can show them the comparisons with the rate hikes in San Diego and show them what they'd save over time and show them that they're getting equity.
00:18:00
Speaker
So there's all sorts of calculators like this.
00:18:04
Speaker
Let me know and I can.
00:18:07
Speaker
Give you a link to some.
00:18:08
Speaker
OK, but do that.
00:18:13
Speaker
Let me hide this.
00:18:15
Speaker
Have everything linked out.
00:18:16
Speaker
Have your resources ready.
Maximizing Sales Impact with Customer Bills
00:18:19
Speaker
If you can, get a copy of their electric bill.
00:18:21
Speaker
And then when you're going through the appointment, that's another thing you can show them.
00:18:32
Speaker
You can show them the rates.
00:18:35
Speaker
I don't have a bill here, but if you don't have a bill, go online.
00:18:43
Speaker
pull up the PDF of the rates, or pull up an example bill.
00:18:52
Speaker
Best case scenario is you want to have a bill.
00:18:53
Speaker
OK, but second best case is pull up a chart of the rates, pull up an example bill, show them that the rates have been increasing.
00:19:08
Speaker
Again, show them articles approve this.
00:19:11
Speaker
Just show them the resources.
00:19:14
Speaker
And you don't need to go overboard.
00:19:15
Speaker
Like I said, you want to keep it simple.
00:19:19
Speaker
But that's the point of the fact finding to figure out what their concerns are.
00:19:24
Speaker
If possible, try to figure out how much selling they need.
00:19:27
Speaker
Some people are going to need a lot more selling than others.
00:19:29
Speaker
So that's where others, that's where you pull up more links, pull up more proof.
00:19:36
Speaker
I'm given more resources for other people there already sold once they see the numbers are done so you those people in close quick but use these resources bookmark them go through their electric bill with them that's something that I learned from the lone pal people is you can really help them see their specific bill and it's becoming real to them that's why I think it's so important to have their actual bill
00:20:04
Speaker
the truth is in my experience 99% well 90% of people didn't even know how much they're paying they're usually surprised when I'm showing their electric bill so being shown what their bill is help them realize that their specific bill has gone up over time it's gonna make it real to them and they're gonna realize the problem and then yeah pull up satellite image of their roof
00:20:29
Speaker
Hopefully you already have a design ready and whatever proposal software you're using.
00:20:35
Speaker
If you're looking for one solo.
00:20:37
Speaker
You guys use solo.
00:20:40
Speaker
It has a really slick kind of design, let's you show customers where the solar would go.
00:20:46
Speaker
But if anything, I always start out the deals lately.
00:20:49
Speaker
Just pull up on Google Earth, Google images, pull up a picture of their house and say, hey, is this your house?
00:20:57
Speaker
And then as you're doing that, it's going to help you build rapport.
00:21:01
Speaker
You can say, oh, is this your car?
00:21:02
Speaker
Is this your Mustang out front?
00:21:05
Speaker
I'll let you guys add that.
00:21:07
Speaker
You can point out specific things.
00:21:08
Speaker
It's also going to help you build some rapport virtually.
00:21:13
Speaker
So three tips.
Staying Motivated and Strategic
00:21:14
Speaker
Hey, what's up, Cody?
00:21:17
Speaker
Thanks for hopping on, man.
00:21:18
Speaker
You got any tips for our peeps here about closing virtually?
00:21:23
Speaker
I know you've done it a lot.
00:21:25
Speaker
Anyways, hopefully some other people chime in and share what's been helping them to close virtually.
00:21:31
Speaker
I'm learning from all you guys.
00:21:33
Speaker
I'm taking this day by day.
00:21:35
Speaker
But I've been able to have success and that's been the key for me.
00:21:39
Speaker
It's just being prepared.
00:21:40
Speaker
Treating it like I would any other deal.
00:21:44
Speaker
And then number three, using the resources.
00:21:48
Speaker
So I hope this was a value to you guys let me know in the comments if you would like more live trainings like this.
00:21:56
Speaker
We're doing the podcast.
00:21:58
Speaker
We're trying to bring on quality guests, quality content every week to help you guys crush it even when the rest of the market is down.
00:22:06
Speaker
But this shouldn't be a time to be down.
00:22:08
Speaker
While everyone else is zigging, you zag.
00:22:12
Speaker
You do the opposite of the market and you're going to do it by following these steps by closing virtually.
00:22:18
Speaker
So hopefully this was of value, guys.
00:22:20
Speaker
Share this with anyone who could use some help closing virtually.
00:22:26
Speaker
This will probably be reposted as a podcast as well eventually.
00:22:30
Speaker
So keep crushing it.
00:22:32
Speaker
Dominate in the recession.
00:22:35
Speaker
And stay healthy.
00:22:37
Speaker
Peace out.
Podcast Value and Listener Engagement
00:22:38
Speaker
Wow, what another value-packed episode of The Solarpreneur.
00:22:42
Speaker
Guys, if you couldn't tell, we spend a lot of time and energy to put these episodes out to hopefully give you just one strategy, one golden nugget that's going to launch your solar career to the next level.
00:22:52
Speaker
And we do it all for free.
00:22:54
Speaker
And if you found any value in this episode or it's helped you in any way, all I ask in return is that you just take 30 seconds of your time and leave us a review on iTunes.
00:23:03
Speaker
so that we can help more solopreneurs like you to change the world.
00:23:07
Speaker
And as a gift for leaving us a review, we have a special training package exclusive for solopreneur listeners over at solopreneurs.com.
00:23:16
Speaker
Remember, you need to leave us a review on iTunes to qualify for the training package.
00:23:20
Speaker
So take care of that now, and we'll see you on the next episode.