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How To Develop Reps Into Million Dollar Earners - Alex Ross
241 Plays4 days ago
Alex Ross is on today's podcast to share how he built himself and others into reps who know how to sell benefits and build the confidence of homeowners on the doors. Alex has a deep focus on balancing the emotional and logical sides of presentations, and it translates not only as closes but a genuine commitment to going solar.
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Transcript
Podcast Introduction
00:00:03
Speaker
Welcome to the Solarpreneur podcast where we teach you to take your solar business to the next level. My name is Taylor Armstrong.
Taylor Armstrong's Financial Journey
00:00:10
Speaker
I went from $50 in my bank account and struggling for groceries to closing 150 deals in the year and cracking the code on why sales reps fell. I teach you to avoid the mistakes I made and bring in the top solar dogs of the industry to let you in on the secrets of generating more leads, following up like a pro and closing more deals.
00:00:31
Speaker
What is a solar printer? You might ask a solar printer is a new breed of solar pro that is willing to do whatever it takes to achieve mastery. And you are about to become one. Okay. What's going on?
Guest Introduction: Alex Ross
00:00:43
Speaker
Solar printers. We are back with another episode and we got someone that I got referred to by a good friend of mine. Um, one of the best in the industry. Uh, Ashton Buzzwall. I, I went up to him and I'm like, Hey, who can we, uh, who do you know that could do a killer podcast?
00:00:59
Speaker
Henry here this was like the first guy here for me too so excited to have on the co-founder and ceo o of flex power mister alex ross thanks for coming on the show with us today my man. Yeah i'm excited to be here.
00:01:16
Speaker
Yeah, should be a, should be a good time. Anyone that Ashton recommends, you know, they're going to bring the fireworks, you know, they're going to bring the heat. So you got high expectations, man. you're i'm I'm flattered. He thought of me, you know, at at the very beginning, meeting him go way back. And, um, yeah, I'm excited to be here and share my thoughts and, you know, make the space a little bit better. Yeah.
00:01:41
Speaker
Well, good. So yeah, we're going to get into your story. And, um, I know flex power is going for about, has been going for about three years. So I'm excited to hear how you guys got going with that. And you know, your vision and everything. Um, so yeah, let's
Alex Ross's Transition to Solar
00:01:55
Speaker
just start it off. What was, I guess, before we get into the flex power stuff, what was like your background? How'd you get into door to door? I don't know if you did other um I think you did pest and drool if I remember right, but yeah, it's how did you get it? I've dabbed in it now for for a while. like Obviously, you know my story is pretty similar to probably a lot of people out there. um Grew up in Utah, you know served in LDS mission, did that whole shindig, um served in New Zealand, came back and did a year with Vivid. so Had a couple of buddies of mine from high school, you know sold on the dream, like, hey man, you come out. and
00:02:32
Speaker
You can make 60 grand in the summer. and Being ah a naive kid coming back from a mission, it was like, oh, you bet. like I could go do this. and um To just be completely transparent and a little bit more direct, like I sucked so bad. I was so terrible.
00:02:50
Speaker
um I think i I chalk it up to like being one foot in, one foot out. I didn't really take like the trainings very super seriously. you know just figured i could just I'll figure it out when I get into area and kind of do that thing. and so I ended up being one of the worst in the offices, quit, you know left left early, um came back and I remember driving back from Cheyenne, Wyoming, which is where we sold that summer.
00:03:18
Speaker
and just basically having that internal promise to myself that I was never going to go do this again. right like I'm not going to do door to door. This is awful. um Took a little bit of a hiatus. Two years, obviously met my wife during that time, um got married, was up at BYU-Idaho going to school for a social works degree. um I wanted to be like an LCSW therapy, something in that realm.
00:03:47
Speaker
I ended up running to ah an old college basketball buddy of mine. and He was selling pest control at the time and just kind of re-pitched me on the vision. um you know pitch Pest is a little bit of an easier sell. It's a little bit of a shorter process. You can make quicker money.
00:04:07
Speaker
um and i was I was a hard recruit man. like I probably had five, six meetings with this guy, pulled my wife in to have conversations with him. and I think the reason why I was entertaining the thought is I always had that what if monkey on my back of like, hey, what if you did stick it out? like What if you did do the training and you know guys are making stupid money and living this lifestyle, it looks all really great.
00:04:35
Speaker
Yeah. um And so I i did call it divine intervention or just intuition or whatever you want to call it, but I was driving out to my job at the time. I was working at the juvenile corrections facility in St. Anthony, Idaho, and just had this thought just like, bro, you've got to do it, right? Just do it.
00:04:55
Speaker
um And so I remember calling my buddy at the time, driving out to my job and basically saying, like, all right, dude, I'm in. like Let's do it. It was two weeks after the summer had just ended. So I had like a whole eight months before next summer. um And so I remember doing trainings. like I was doing one-on-ones with my manager and looking up stuff on YouTube and reading the videos. and doing everything that they had told me to do. and Once again, like my internal motivation for doing all that was because I wanted like a fail-safe that if I went out into the summer and I sucked again, that I could call my manager and be like, dude, I did everything you asked me to do and I still sucked.
00:05:40
Speaker
right It was kind of my way out. What ended up happening was the complete opposite. right I ended up just selling my lights out. um I was the top 20 rookie year at my my you know rookie year, was the top rookie in the office that year, became a manager and then you know worked my way up into a regional position and did about four years of pest control.
00:06:04
Speaker
My last pest control year was the COVID year. and That was a fun year for all of us and trying to figure out how to navigate the country being shut down. and I remember knocking in Florida with you know gloves and a mask and you're sweating, just dripping down your back and all the fun memories. It was after that year that um I graduated with my master's degree.
00:06:27
Speaker
and just hit that crossroads. right i was I was bored of pests. I really didn't want to do it anymore. The solar train was starting to take off really well. and I remember having a conversation with my wife that was like, hey, I want to give this solar thing a try. and Let's give it 12 months. and If we're not where we want to be within 12 months, like I will quit and I'll go you know start climbing the corporate ladder.
00:06:54
Speaker
um I made a switch from social work to business, so I just got my MBA. um so yeah i I started talking with a few companies. Legacy was one of them. um you know I know Doug and Chris really well over there. and Ended up getting a call from one of my bosses here at the original company I was working with, which was Vantage.
Founding Flex Power
00:07:17
Speaker
They were like, hey, we're going to start our own solar division.
00:07:21
Speaker
Right? To stay here and and help us create a solar division. you know For me personally, like I didn't really want to leave the company I was with. I really liked the people that I was working with. I just was bored of pests. I had grown out of it, I guess you could say. Yeah. and so i I jumped all in on solar with those guys. and I did it kind of in an unorthodox way. I didn't really have a training manual. you know We were a bunch of pest guys that were like, hey, let's go sell solar. and so i Trial by fire just had to knock. I think I knocked for like three weeks before I even set my first deployment.
00:07:56
Speaker
Wow. Just because I didn't know it. I had to just like figure out the pitch on my own and um you know YouTube videos were great and you know we were paying for a few of those those training programs, you know the door to who are you and stuff like that that we were kind of using. But yeah, I remember setting my first appointment within two weeks and I was thrown right into closing just because That's the way that we had to grow. and Yeah, so built that up for about two years and then got ready you know to to a positional point where it was, I'm starting to look at some other options and then that's kind of when Flex was born. right Had a couple of old colleagues of mine that I worked with on the pesticide advantage, caught wind that they were you know trying to maybe going to go start their own thing. and
00:08:42
Speaker
ended up calling those guys and saying, hey, like you're going to need someone that knows solar and I'm that guy and you know I'm ready in the position mentally and financially that I can take this gamble and let's go build this thing. And that's kind of the inception of Flex. right that was We're going on year three, so we just finished our second summer. but yeah so that That's a little bit about like my background. I've been in the door to door space. for This will be my ninth year, going on nine years, almost
Comparing Sales Skills: Pest Control vs. Solar
00:09:08
Speaker
10. If you count the mission, I'm at 11 years. so love yeah let's Let's count that. we're We're over the decade space, but loved every second of it. I think there's a love-hate with with it. Yeah, about the same as me.
00:09:22
Speaker
So yeah, it's you you love it and you hate it. you know it's It's the golden handcuffs that everyone talks about, but it's it's been a tremendous blessing for sure.
00:09:32
Speaker
Yeah, no, that's cool, man. it's It's funny. It's a pretty similar story to me, except the one difference was as as I was terrible in pest control, I never figured pest control out. So um I got respect for you guys that actually like where the top reps in pest control, I'm figuring it out.
Motivation and Overcoming Challenges
00:09:49
Speaker
Bro, I mean, it's a quick sell, like just super fast. I mean, don't get me wrong, dude, it was fun. And obviously I was able to sell in Florida there selling bugs and dude, there's bugs everywhere. So.
00:10:01
Speaker
it's ah It's a different cell, that's for sure. A lot of training went into it. I attributed it to eight months I had to train. I see a lot of good guys come out of Vantage too. and and We just had ah Tom Caron actually on the podcast a few weeks ago and yeah super cool. yeahp Cool hearing his story. I don't know if you know ah Logan LaFevre. He's out here in ah i do San Diego too. yeah I know he came from Vantage.
00:10:41
Speaker
guys and then we just built them from there i know he ended up you know kind of ventureturing off and doing his own thing and having success with that and yeah logan and i go go back and tom's obviously a super good good role model great friend of mine and yes well an og legend in the space so yeah there's a lot of good guys that yeah that come out of that, that'll work. But, uh, no, I think it's, uh, applies to anything. Like it's no wonder you had so much success in pest control. Um, because I think just the drive and I don't know, it sounds like maybe just from kind of not having as much success in alarms. It sounds like you just kind of took it with like a chip on your shoulder and we're just like, kind of had the all or nothing mindset. Cause if you wouldn't have that success pest control, do you think you would have just, I think you said that you were just going to go to like corporate job.
00:11:29
Speaker
If it didn't pan out that summer, what do you think happened? Yeah, that was the plan. I was going to school, Rexburg. I was doing my social work thing. I was kind of gearing up mentally, emotionally to go into the counseling space. I was working out of the juvenile corrections. I was dealing with the hardcore kids, the kids that had committed murder.
00:11:53
Speaker
They were sentenced to to prison. and um so i I was like mentally emotionally preparing for that space. and yeah i think i attributed like I still had my friends that originally recruited me to Vinit and they were they were unsuccess they were doing great things. and you know I think they were going on year two or three and they were re recruiting and and managing and they had great summers. and I think for me, it was I don't know if it was a chip on my shoulder or if it was a comparison thing, but I was looking at that going like, man, like if I would have stuck it out or like maybe if I would have worked harder or might maybe taken the training a little bit more seriously, like could that have been me? and i mean I was doing that and I know it's not a healthy coping mechanism, but I would do that comparison. I'm like, these are really good friends of mine. like If you can go do it, like I can go do it.
00:12:48
Speaker
right I'm just as good as you at that. that like There's no reason why you should have success and I and i don't. and so um i mean i also chalk it up to like i I wasn't the biggest fan of just the whole like the overall situation.
00:13:06
Speaker
I'm with vivint and the team and the management and obviously going into that first test control year having a connection outside of like just being recruited at a booth or some random dude text you or dms you um i actually had like.
Influence of Personal Relationships
00:13:25
Speaker
an emotional relationship with the person who ended up recruiting me. There was already some trust there outside of the space. yeah and yeah like i Although my motivation at the time was like, I don't want to have any excuses that if I quit again, like I can justify quitting.
00:13:44
Speaker
But like I said, like it was it was a healthy backfire because I ended up going out there. and I remember going on our first preseason trip and selling three pest accounts in my first day within two hours in Utah. They recruited it as like, dude, Utah is a really hard place to sell. like If you can sell in Utah, you can sell anywhere because it's the door-to-door Mecca. and all these other random things. and I remember getting back in the car and I'm like, dude, okay, I just sold three in my first couple hours of knocking. I'm about to go sell in Florida where it's buggy as crap. like this could be This could be great. and so and and Then it just took off from there. and I think I have the same struggles that everyone else has as a first year rep of the second guessing and like, bro, what the crap did I sign myself up for? and
00:14:31
Speaker
all all of that that mental battle that you continually have. I mean, I had those two. um And i'm I'm not that type of person that's like, oh, I never bagled. You get those managers that are, oh, I've never bagled. And I'm like, dude, no, I've bagled plenty of times. And there was a lot of days where you know emotionally, mentally, I wasn't in it, but you just find this groove and then you just put your head down and you try and zone everything else out and you just go, you just go just work. and yeah you know Then and when you come back into consciousness, you'll look at your watch and six hours have gone by and you've got six cells on the board.
00:15:08
Speaker
I love that. And yeah, I wish more solar guys would treat it that way. Cause you look at solar, there's not too many guys that are knocking, that are putting their heads down and knocking like that. Uh, you know, we just, we're so used to making big commissions and you got some lazy guys in solar compared to pest control. So I almost think every score guys should go. Yeah. Every guy should probably go to a summer pest control.
00:15:33
Speaker
and come back and I think they would i think they would blow the top off. Hey, I would easily put as far as like the door-to-door skill goes, I would easily say that pest controls require... I mean, they've just got the skillful guys because it is reliant on just pounding doors.
00:15:50
Speaker
Yeah, a hundred percent. But yeah, so I'm curious cause you said, uh, sounds like solar took you a minute to adjust and have success. Yeah. And I'm actually kind of surprised by that. Cause most guys that killed it in pest control. Um, I don't, at least that I see a lot of them come over and are at least pretty good at the setting part of it. Just because I think that's kind of like, I dunno, in my head, I kind of equate like a solar set a little bit similar to like a pest control cell.
00:16:19
Speaker
Cause it's like, you know, down at the door. Um, yeah, it's just kind of a quicker interaction and everything. So for you, um, you said it took you a couple of weeks to even start like setting consistent appointments, I think. So what was like the toughest adjustments for you or why do you think it took you mean it like a justice setting appointments and solar?
00:16:40
Speaker
Yeah, dude, it's a great question. um and It's something that I teach our new reps. Obviously, coming from a pest background and even all my partners, we all come from a pest background. so We get a lot of pest guys coming through the doors just because that's our networks and that's you know that's the people that we know.
00:16:58
Speaker
i am I know for me, and obviously I can't speak for everyone, but for me, it was learning the difference between the pest cell, which is very, very emotional. It's very quick. It's very like, hey, here's the problem. Here's the solution. Let's get this going. My guy's going to be here tomorrow. Go grab your credit or debit card. like We're doing this right now.
00:17:23
Speaker
Yeah. And so having to learn that difference between like just super high emotions, cell cycle, loop and loop and loop and K cell to a solar set, which is like, okay, like I can't really even help you out today. like I don't even know if this is really going to make sense for you. And so having to learn that difference between, okay, just cell, cell, cell, cell push and and trying to find that happy mix of It still needs to be an emotional set, but there's a lot of logic in it as well and you've got to do it in a very...
00:17:59
Speaker
sophisticated way that actually piques interest into the homeowner, and then you're actually setting an
Learning and Adaptability in Sales
00:18:05
Speaker
appointment. So it's like, you're not really closing it yet. The deal is not done. I'm teeing it up for the closer to then come in um and sell it. And so I think for me, that transitional process of of learning those two different skill sets is what took me a minute to learn.
00:18:22
Speaker
Right? I also didn't really have like a trainer. um I didn't really have like someone that had sat down and, hey, I've been in solar for X plus years and I'm going to take you through what this pitch sounds like and what it's supposed to look like and the process. and so I really did have to kind of learn it on my own, going out and knocking and going, okay, I'm a pest guy. I've done really well in pests. I've sold hundreds of it hundreds of accounts and have generated hundreds of thousands of dollars in revenue. Now I've got to go do a solar set and I'm going to be honest, I have no idea what the crap I'm saying. right I'm just i'm just kind of going through the motions and we'll figure it out. like I'm a good enough door knocker and and I felt like I had a good enough work ethic that if I just
00:19:09
Speaker
hit enough doors and had enough conversations that like I would figure it out. Yeah. Yeah, for sure. Yeah. And I think anyone can, if they have that work ethic, then. that's a That's what's missing more than anything I think in solar. It's because anyone can go out and hit enough homeowners and eventually find one person that's like, okay, I'll sit down and check this out and look at saving money on the power bill. So yeah, I'm sure that carried you um probably for a long time until you. Yeah, dude, the the pitch itself was super... it What's the word I'm looking for? it was It was refreshing, right? Because I was used to selling pest control where I genuinely felt that a little bit over half the time, the homeowner didn't wake up wanting pest control. They weren't really interested in pest control, but I was just really good at at my job at creating enough need for it and then obviously being skilled enough to sell it to them.
00:20:05
Speaker
Right? um With solar, it was very refreshing because yeah you're hitting on a pain, a pinpoint that a lot of people just naturally feel because they pay the electric bill. It's you know it's it's biblical. They pay it every month. and 90% of all people have it on auto pay. There was already enough pain there that like having the conversation and walking away from doors and going, oh my gosh, like people are actually really interested in this was very refreshing instead of having to feel like I was being maybe overly pushy sometimes. and you know Dude, I don't even know if this guy really needs pest control. I'm just really good at my job at selling it to him.
00:20:48
Speaker
yeah Right. Um, so it was, it was definitely refreshing for sure. Yeah. And what about closing? Cause that's where I see more pest control guys, maybe struggle a little bit because you know, you guys are all killers on the doors can talk to anyone on the doors, but pest control.
00:21:04
Speaker
I mean, you're not really, um, at least when I was in PES, we weren't typically like going in homes and doing, you know, long presentations, you know, it's quick sell and everything. So was there any adjustment or anything that you feel like a big different learning, like actual in-home presentation? Yeah, there was more of an adjustment for closing. And I feel like there was for setting.
00:21:27
Speaker
ah Yeah, can i imagine. Once again, like going into my solar experience, I i kind of had to just figure it out. um I remember watching YouTube videos on the clothes and you know I'm going to give a shout out. Michael Donald was a big a big you know influence on YouTube of me like, okay, this is kind of how you close and watching some of those videos were were a great help. and you know I had a few guys that I was able to kind of lean on and ask some questions. Logan being one of them, right? Having having Logan, you know at the time, I think he had been selling for a couple of months. so Our most experienced guy had been selling solar for you know five months, six months. um and so Being able to figure out a little bit of just the outline with some of those guys was super helpful. but I remember when I first started learning how to close, I had to learn how to close really quickly.
00:22:22
Speaker
i I went on that first splits that we planned and I set and like I said, it took me something like two and a half weeks to actually get consistent sets. and um That next splits, which was the next month, it was like, all right, dude, like you got to close. right You're one of our most seasoned guys you know from the door to door perspective and we need closers. I need you to close. and so I remember actually, I felt like I thrived more in the closing process. I felt like it was a little bit more towards my selling style. um I felt more comfortable in the close and maybe it was bringing back my skillset from the Vivint days. Like I said, I wasn't super good at at the Vivint, but it was you know getting in the house, sit at the table. um Those are where the deals are made. right The couch or the table. and
00:23:18
Speaker
and Over my obviously now becoming you know a co-founder and a business owner and um being responsible for all of the training process, something that I'll train our reps on as far as the difference is Stolar is a two-sale process.
00:23:36
Speaker
you've got an emotional cell which is done by the center because that's all we ask them to do is create enough emotion that there's enough pain there for them to set the appointment and then there's the logical cell which is done by the closer.
00:23:51
Speaker
right I genuinely believe that if you have a closer that is selling too heavy on the emotional side, that they don't see a lot of success, that they do have a high cancellation rate. Their pull-through rate isn't as good because although the emotional cell in solar is important,
00:24:09
Speaker
It needs to have a healthy balance because logically it has to make sense for a homeowner. They've got to see the actual value that solar can provide for themselves. Mix that with the emotion and you've got a really solid, solid customer.
00:24:25
Speaker
and so I thrived really well with the logical side of it. right Trying to eliminate the emotion because that had already been set by the setter, but then just basically laying it out and saying, all emotion removed logically, here's the options. Here's what you're in. Here's what solar can provide. and Logically, this is why it makes a lot of sense.
00:24:47
Speaker
It took me about seven months before I walked out of a close and mentally was like, all right, I got the close down. right yeah I had a lot of appointments that I walked out and I was like, dude, I botched that. like I sucked at that and I could pinpoint to where I messed up. right Whether it was the way I presented something or, man, i answered that the customer had a question and I i used it as a concern.
00:25:19
Speaker
right I turned it into a concern when it was just a genuine question. and I obviously had a lot of that, but like I said, it was about six, seven months before I was like, hey, I feel really comfortable and confident in the actual closed process that I can go in and close at a high level.
00:25:38
Speaker
And I remember from that point, that's when my closing skill really took off, right? I think that next blitz I went on, I closed 17 in a week and that was like, oh crap, okay, i I can really do this. I can do this at a high level. so um But it took me a while to get there, right? Like it took me more than it more time than it should. Let's put it that way. yeah yeah Well, that's incredible. And, uh, you know, i I think probably newer reps are listening to this because it's funny when I started in solar too, it was a similar thing. We didn't have enough closers and like, you know, guys were consistently missing my appointments. So finally they're just like, dude, you got to go just show up to your own appointments. Otherwise no one's going to go to it.
00:26:21
Speaker
And so I'm like, all right, and just got thrown into the flames. And, uh, I think that's how a lot of us, you know, maybe old school people started as we just had to go figure it out. absolutely and oh Yeah, I look at all the training and resources and most companies, you know, they get like a ton of good training and can shadow some super solid closers before they start going and closing their own deals. And, uh, yeah, guys just don't realize how, how much of an advantage they have now being able to like actually dial it in and.
00:26:50
Speaker
Not just going there and kind of like trial by trial trial and try on error until they figure it out. So, uh, anyone listening to this, it's take advantage of all this kind of like solid guys. And you know I'm sure there's still companies where guys get thrown in, but yeah, it's much more common to have, you know, like some, the least solid exposure. And I mean, I want to echo that with like, I, I, I obviously wouldn't change my experience.
00:27:17
Speaker
But obviously having the training and having guys that have gone through it, like lean on those guys because they're going to make the learning curve that much quicker, that much faster. and you know Coming into the space where we're at as as an industry,
00:27:34
Speaker
you know You don't have seven months. You don't have eight months, nine months to sit back and try and figure it out. right like Obviously, with with pay timelines and financers going through it and installers going through it, like there's too many moving parts for you to play the gamble game. I felt like I could because of the success that I had in Pest. I had a little bit of a nest egg financially that i could have I could take the risk.
00:28:01
Speaker
right um but Most guys don't. and so i agree you man You got to lean ah super heavy into the training, super heavy into you know those those goats in each and every single company. um and If you do that, the learning curve will do be cut half, man.
00:28:21
Speaker
Yeah, for sure. So yeah, I want to, I want to get into your story of, you know, how you guys started flex power and all that here in a second. But before that, just speaking of closing, um, I think a lot of guys do struggle with like getting that balance of, you know, like emotion versus logic. And especially on California, you know, our teams really struggle with like just the retention, just getting glass to roof close the install. Um, a lot of cancellations.
00:28:51
Speaker
And, uh, you know, I think industry average is probably less than 50% for sure. Getting like, um, at least in California, getting like, yeah. So some of you already know that I run my own door-to- door to door sales team here in San Diego. And as we were gearing up for the summer, I realized if we do the same thing we always did, we're going to get the same results.
Innovations in Solar: The Solar Scout App
00:29:12
Speaker
But if I want to increase my deal flow, I need to do something different to get an advantage. Then we discovered an app called solar scout.
00:29:20
Speaker
but it's not a door knocking app, it's a data platform that shows us who is likely to go solar in our market. It shows us who has previously applied for solar but later cancelled the deal, who has moved in recently, and even how much electricity the homes are using in a given neighborhood.
00:29:35
Speaker
It's been working for a lot of teams across the country and now I'm on board too. I'm going to be one of the first to Solar Scout in San Diego, so I decided to partner up. But I told them, hey, I'm going to talk about Solar Scout on my show. You need to get my listeners a great deal. And they did. So go to Solar Scout dot app forward slash Taylor and book a demo with them and you'll get 10 percent off your first month when you sign up. That's Solar Scout dot app forward slash Taylor. OK, back to the show.
00:30:06
Speaker
So, uh, yeah, is there anything that like, as you learn to tie a logic into it, um, do you have any advice for maybe like newer closers getting that balance of emotion versus versus logic and reducing cancellations or things like that? Yeah. So when I, I want to preface this with like, uh,
00:30:25
Speaker
I'm not perfect. right like I still have cancels. I still have pull-through rates that that that vary. and so on I'm in the same boat that everyone else is. I feel like I do have a little bit of a higher pull-through rate.
00:30:39
Speaker
um And there's things you can do. Ashton teaches, I mean, he's the best at referral game, right? And so I'm sure Ashton's talked about that, about, you know, the thank you cards and the birthday cards and, you know, get, you know, maybe you give them a crumble cookie after they've closed the deal. Like, all that stuff helps.
00:30:57
Speaker
But something that I feel like has been lost, I guess you could say over time. Some of us OG guys, right? And I don't even know if I would really consider myself an OG, right? There's guys that have been in the space for 10, 15, 20 years. I'm going on year six in the sports floor space, right?
00:31:17
Speaker
But yeah the reason why I say I wouldn't change my story or my upbringing in the space is because I really had to learn how to sell solar. right I feel like a lot of new closures come into it. and They either get thrown in it you know before they're ready or they get taught one way to to sell solar. and i mean I hate to say it, 90% of the way that they're taught is to sell on savings. right Go into the appointment, you're going to save the homeowner 100 bucks or 50 bucks.
00:31:54
Speaker
and just sell that. right Sell savings. I'm going to cut your bill in half. i'm going to you know We're going to save you 30 bucks a month. and Don't get me wrong, that is obviously a massive piece to the benefit of solar. yeah But I learned very early in my phase that if I go into an appointment, now keep in mind, I learned how to sell solar in Florida.
00:32:21
Speaker
I also attribute that to a very like to the way that I sell because in California, they're paying 30, 40 cents. Even you know down in San Diego, SDG, they're like 50, 55 cents. like It's crazy. I can go in and sell a PPA at 20 cents and save the homeowner 300 bucks and still make a crap ton of money. um I learned to sell in Florida where the kilowatt hour rate was $0.11 at the time. wow and so i'm I'm walking into these solar appointments where I'm like, okay, for me to make any money, like I'm not going to be able to sell on saving the homeowner $50 a month just because it's not possible.
00:33:07
Speaker
right um and so And that's maybe why it took me a little bit longer to learn the closing process because I really had to you know peel back my close process layer by layer and really find out what the benefits of solar were more than just saving the homeowner money. I had to really dig into you know the home value side and okay, well, does solar really add value to the home? And I need to educate myself on that as much as possible.
00:33:37
Speaker
Okay, really, how how does this federal tax credit really work? And what can the homeowner do with that tax credit? right um and so I was able to really dig into the tax credit side of things and learn how solar is a benefit on that side, um you know digging into the economics of the solar industry. That's something that I feel like is lost is I i deep-dived into the paul political side of solar. and you know Why are the rates going up to begin with? right I remember sitting in some appointments and
00:34:14
Speaker
you know The way that I was originally kind of selling it was like, oh yeah, our rates are going to increase. and you know You get those homeowners that are like, I don't think they're going to increase. They haven't increased in 50 years or whatever. um and so I really had to like figure out, okay, when I save that stuff, when I'm selling this idea, I want to be able to have hard facts that I can back it with. that I'm not just saying it to go through the motions.
00:34:40
Speaker
yeah um And so I think the biggest difference on at least my selling style and what I've really tried to teach our closers was how to sell the value of solar. And if we can save them money, that's just the cherry on top. That's just a bonus. But if I can sell them on, hey, switching the bill from this from point A to point B is a benefit and here's why.
00:35:04
Speaker
It's a fixed rate. It's a payoff amount. right you can You can stop paying the utility bill in a future day. I can circle but the day on the calendar when you can stop paying the bill. Oh, you're going to get this federal tax credit and here's all the really cool things that if you know how to leverage it, you can do with it. And so selling more on that, what I've noticed, when people buy from me, they're bought in on solar, not just saving 10 bucks a month. I think what you find sometimes is... Yeah.
00:35:31
Speaker
A homeowner gets really excited emotionally about saving $20 a month, but then once the closer leaves and the emotion level comes down and they start thinking about it logically, they're looking at it going, $20 a month savings is not worth the headache of solar. It's not worth the yeah the gamble of going through all this and putting holes in my roof and you know what if I want to sell it? It's just not worth me saving $20, so I'm going to cancel.
00:36:00
Speaker
Whereas in, if they were bought in on the overall picture, the pull through your rates higher. That's so good. And I think some of the best closers I've seen, like they know all this stuff and they've done the research, understanding like the finer points, but, uh, they explain it super simple. They're not like going insanely in depth with the homeowner.
00:36:19
Speaker
um You know, maybe I have like some more analytical people because that's another thing that I see and guys I'm trying to like sometimes they go on this research mode, figure out all these things. um But especially setters, sometimes they struggle more with this because they'll research all these things and they'll try to like talk about these points as they're setting appointments on the doors.
00:36:38
Speaker
And it's like homeowners just get confused and in the weeds and all this stuff. I'm like, no, okay, man, it's good that you know all this stuff. but but It's like, keep it simple. Don't like hunt it don't go into it. And something that I told our guys is I'm like, look fellas, like in the grand scheme of things, unless they're like an engineer or someone who really thrives on like the nitty gritty,
00:37:01
Speaker
They don't care why their electric bill is going up 20%. They don't care. All they see is I'm paying X amount of money and I need a really good reason as to why I should take that money and put it somewhere else.
00:37:18
Speaker
right and so I echo that. like i Obviously, I don't think I'm the know-it-all in the space. I think I know a lot more than you know yeah the average shows and probably a lot more than most people do in the space.
00:37:32
Speaker
but It's taken me a while to learn like, hey, I don't want to word vomit on these people. Obviously, I have this wealth of research and this wealth of knowledge that I've done and I want to be able to pull it out when I need to. But if you don't need to and you've been able to accomplish what you're trying to accomplish within each section of your clothes, don't don't keep going down the rabbit hole. right like Make your point and if you can tell that the homeowner gets it, then keep going.
00:38:01
Speaker
Um, and so I, yeah I noticed that as well in guys that I train, I'll have to pull them aside and I'll be like, dude, you made the point and you actually saw a facial expression that he got the point. I don't keep going down that point, make the point with as little information as necessary and then keep going. Yeah. Yeah, for sure. And then, yeah, I think for people that can understand that too, for me, it brings me like more confidence. Like I'm more confident when I understand.
00:38:30
Speaker
You know, like the reasons why behind it, like why are the rates going up? Where are that? Then I can like tell the homeowner more confidently. And I think, uh, I think it just comes across more like subconscious to, um, you know, just confidence that you under actually understand that it really is going up, that it's not just like.
00:38:48
Speaker
You know what? Our manager said, Hey, tell everyone the rates are going to go up. But, uh, yeah, for me, it like brings more confidence in knowing all those reasons. Why? Because I think that's a big reason reps fell was, um, you know, I had a buddy come out the stump pest control too. And we told him all the points like, Hey, Tom rates are going up to increase the home value.
00:39:07
Speaker
but he just didn't like fully buy it himself. He's like, okay, that's cool. And then the second the homeowner kind of like doubts him on that, then he was like getting in his head and be like, Oh, maybe the homeowner's right. And he was like getting sold on why it's not like, you know, why there wasn't not that and all that. I'm like, dude, you gotta like,
00:39:25
Speaker
You got to believe what you're saying. Don't just tell them it's going to go up and then not fully believe it. There's got to be some conviction in what you're selling. Yeah, you've got to be sold on the product that you're selling. If you don't believe it, how are you going to portray that to the homeowner to get them to believe it? I mean, I encourage all those guys who might be listening. If you're that guy,
00:39:48
Speaker
Go ask questions. right like Go ask questions to your manager. not Not the basic questions of like, oh, how do I sell this better? But honestly, like sit down and say, walk me through this. right like I want to believe in this product just as much as you do, just as much as these homeowners do. right When they can get to a point where they're sold on solar, it becomes so much easier to sell.
00:40:13
Speaker
right 100%. Yeah. It's like Grant Cardone says, sell or be sold. Right. Got to be fully sold on what we're offering people. So very important. Um, so yeah, cool. o So before we run out of time, I want to hear just about like flex power or two. We didn't get into into that too much, but yeah. Like, why did you guys decide to start flex power?
Motivations Behind Flex Power
00:40:34
Speaker
Why not just stay with, uh, you know, like vantage or whatever the original yeah guys you're selling with, what, what like led you down that road?
00:40:43
Speaker
Yeah. i mean it's kind of i mean there's There's a lot of angles. right Obviously, starting your own company and um starting your own business. and Like I said, I can't take all the credit. I've got a ah wonderful group of partners that I work with. and um you As a co-founder, I didn't have to shoulder the weight all alone.
00:41:06
Speaker
But I think we had gotten to a point, i know and I can only probably speak for me personally, um and this has no knock on on any of the other people that I was working with, but I just felt like I was i was capped in my growth. I felt like I had a lot more to give. and I had felt like I had mastered um you know the pitch and the process. and Obviously, there was a lot more that I still had to learn, but I felt like I wasn't um in the position to really thrive and come into my own, if you know what I'm talking about.
00:41:44
Speaker
um and so i There was a period there for a couple of months, you know a month or two where I was maybe looking at other companies to see if I was finding you know my value there. and Nothing really felt right.
00:41:59
Speaker
until the idea of flex came out. right and Like I said, there was some um old test colleagues of mine that I caught wind that, hey, we want to start this flex, you know this this solar thing and we don't you know we want to be our own. and I remember calling, you know he's one of my partners now, but I remember calling him and basically saying, hey, I'm hearing that you're going to go do this. and i mean i you know um I saw it as an opportunity and said, hey, like you're going to need someone who knows the solar space.
00:42:36
Speaker
right You're going to need someone to help you guys navigate the ins and outs of the industry from dealer fees to financing options to different proposal softwares to the ever-encompassing challenges that the solar space offers. and I remember hopping on a call with what's now my partner group.
00:42:57
Speaker
um And just asking those basic basic questions. And at the time, you know it was a little bit of a deer in the head like look from those guys of like, okay, we actually really do need someone that that comes from this space and and knows this space.
00:43:14
Speaker
um and so I think they saw it as an opportunity to like, hey, we can narrow a lot of the learning curve down. We have this guy that's willing to come over and help us found you know find this company and um you know help with a lot of the the growing pains. They brought you know a lot of the network and a lot and these guys are great. i mean we've got one that recruits like an animal. um you know he's He's the best that I've ever seen do it. um Recruiting, I think we had like 150 interviews last week. It's just it's crazy, right? and so
00:43:48
Speaker
um and so yeah i mean I think we did it because it we had gotten to a point where it was we wanted to kind of have a little bit more control. We wanted to have a little bit more understanding of the back-end process. We wanted to be a little bit more involved in those decision-making processes.
00:44:07
Speaker
and controlling our fate a little bit more. now yeah like I attribute it to the position that I was in because obviously when you get ready to go let your entrepreneurial spirit flourish, it's timing. right it's It's got to be perfect timing. Financially, you've got to be willing to roll that dice and take that gamble. and you know I would always encourage you having really good people in your corner that will be with you through the ups and downs because starting a business, there's a lot more downs than there are ups, especially in those early, early hours. and You've got to make sure that you've got a trustworthy group of guys in your corner that you know your rider dies, the guys that are going to
00:44:56
Speaker
go through it with ya and you solving mindset and they don't shun away from the negativity or the crap that continues to happen in our space. um and Instead of focusing on, oh, well, this problem hit us again. like This sucks. I hate this industry. It's like, hey, here's the problem. How do we fix it? Let's throw it on the board and let's figure out a solution.
00:45:19
Speaker
um And so I think that's what we built Flexon. We're still growing. um you know we We try and be as transparent as possible. um And I know everyone does and there's ins and outs and there's a crap ton of moving pieces. And that that would be my encouragement for any rep out there that feels like the company that they're with may be you know is being shady or this, that, or the other. That's where I'm like, before you start throwing stones, make sure that you actually try and pull back all the layers because there's so many moving parts in the space that I feel like we don't all understand. and Once you get that clear picture, that's when you can really make some good headway. and so That's something that I've noticed being a business owner is
00:46:08
Speaker
Man, i I never really knew the backend processes and all these moving pieces from finance companies to installers and how that install you know how that pipeline process actually takes from NEM agreements to engineering stamps to design completion to PTO achievable. There's so many moving parts that I don't think we really understand.
00:46:30
Speaker
um And we just wanted more control of that, right? we wanted We wanted a little bit more transparency on that. We wanted to create we wanted to create our own narrative. um And so that's that was why we built Flex.
00:46:45
Speaker
Yeah. It's awesome. Yeah. I mean, uh, I don't know. So it's been going three years, right? So this is 2021. You guys started flex. Yeah. So 2021, we started, we did our first blitz in Fort Myers, Florida, and we had 12 reps. Um, and it was a great experience, right? Like I was obviously coming into that blitz and I was the only closer cause I had been closing for a little over two years at this time. And.
00:47:13
Speaker
came in and it was ah it was a lot of sleepless nights, it was a lot of training. I was teaching the guys how to set and closing all the appointments at the same time and running the pipeline and having the relationships. We were using Legacy at the time and having our relationships with Legacy and you know Chris and those guys over there. and It was a lot of work at the very beginning. Obviously, you know my partners at the time were super well versed in the space.
Flex Power's Growth and Culture
00:47:40
Speaker
Obviously, that's changed now. right they've They've gone all in on on solar and they're they're extremely good at what they do and some of the best guys in the industry. right um but yeah Since then, you know we've we've grown and we've had over 300 reps this last year come through our doors. We'll pay out a little over 20 million in commissions. within you know
00:48:03
Speaker
two-year timeframe. That's a massive amount of growth and a short amount of time. um and i I just attribute it to the culture that we've tried to build. We're not perfect. We still have the same operational issues that everyone else has. um We just try and approach it in a little bit of a different way. and um make sure that our guys know that from the top down, they're supported. That's something that we really wanted to build ourselves and pride ourselves in that you know from the top down, they're they're going to get me as ah as a business owner on the blitzes. I'm going to go out, I'm going to knock with the guys and I'm going to be part of these blitzes and I'm going to run some of these blitzes. We've just tried to do it in a little bit of a unique way.
00:48:46
Speaker
that we've seen a lot of success. We really have. It's been it's been an incredible journey. Going on year three, and you know our our goal is to have 500 reps by the end of the year and you know pay out another 30 to 40 million in commission next year. and We're on track to do that, which is great.
00:49:04
Speaker
Yeah, incredible. No, that's, that's awesome, man. Especially now, you know, we're recording this end of 2024, Q4 2024. And yeah you see all these companies disappearing. They're just like, du I don't know, we're dropping like flies. and um you know It wasn't quite as bad, I don't think in 2021. But for me, starting a company now, seeing all the chaos and everything, man I'd be like, man, I don't know about that. Dude, I think we our yeah react our timing wasn't the best. I'll just be direct on that. like we We came into this space on the in the very, very, very beginning of, I guess you could say, Stolar Geddon or whatever you want to call it.
00:49:46
Speaker
um yeah they you know we We came into it and we had some really good install partners that really helped us. like I get to give a huge shout out to Legacy. They were they were great for you know our first partners to work with. Very sound, very stable. and helped us you know really get our feet off the ground. and you know Some of our other install partners that we used at Veo that we're we're using heavily right now, they're great support systems, great great install companies that are phenomenal to work with. I don't think we would be here without some of those good players. um but yeah dude it's It's been an interesting 12 months to navigate, that's for sure, with some some big heavy hitters going under. so yeah it's a good It's a good time to get in space. it's still It's still crazy, but you know crazy times are the best times to to get into companies and starting a business and going and and making something right. so It's the best time.
00:50:45
Speaker
Yeah. and Awesome. We'll shout out to you guys to like thriving because a lot of companies aren't thriving right now. A lot of companies are doing the reverse. So, um, yeah, I think when when all the dust settles, there's probably not going to be a ton of players that are actually like growing and.
00:51:00
Speaker
seeing improvements. so um It's awesome that you guys are coming through all this. oh i can't i can't get i mean we're We're doing our best. so We're making some hard business decisions that maybe are you know part of the norm, but our our main focus has been, hey, you know we might make some reps a little unhappy, but we want to make sure that we're around for the long haul. you know We got to have you know a healthy business to to make it through um the whirlwind. and so i can't I can't take all the credit. We've got an amazing you know ownership group. We've got an amazing partner network. um and We've got amazing reps, dude. like I got to give our reps a freaking huge shout out for working their booty cheeks off and keeping their heads down and focused and um helping us grow through you know helping us grow through the the the industry pains. They've been vocal about you know what works and what doesn't work. and
00:51:56
Speaker
i you know I can't say enough good things about the sales reps that we have. it would It would take me hours to list all of them, but you know we've got ah an amazing group of sales reps and and managers and owners that are that are pulling this thing through.
00:52:12
Speaker
Yeah, so good. Well, speaking of cells reps, um, I actually asked Ashton, if he, if he thought of any good questions, I should ask you because, you know, this is the first time I saw him doing this podcast. let's And he told me something. He's seen you just, ah yeah. So this question from Ashton. Um, but he said he's seen you just be super solid with like growing leaders and growing newer reps. And, uh, you know, obviously it's be, if you guys are doing those types of numbers, then yeah, you gotta be.
00:52:40
Speaker
So, uh, yeah, what would you say is, has been something that's helped you grow, you know, managers, leaders help newer reps grow. What do you think has been like a key thing in helping like lots of newer guys growing?
00:52:53
Speaker
have success. Oh, man. I mean, dude, that we could probably send a whole other podcast on that alone. Yeah. I mean, something that I know, like I can talk from like a business standpoint, um like something that we've tried to do at Flex that's just maybe a little bit different. and I'm not saying that we're the only ones that do this. so I got to preface that. right like I'm sure there's other orgs out there that maybe do what we do. um you know and Hopefully, they're seeing the same success that that we see. um But something that we've done from our onboarding process to like our training to actually implementation into the field, we run it completely different. right and What I mean by that is like from my experience, it was
00:53:37
Speaker
Yeah, you get recruited and then your manager does your trainings and here's the training manual and you know maybe the company's put together a group of videos and you can just watch them. and you know but yeah It's really up to you and you got to hold yourself accountable. and If you're not doing the trainings, no one's really going to like walk your hand through it.
00:53:55
Speaker
um yeah And you might have a company that might, oh, we'll do some company trainings, but there's there's not really any like accountability that I had found when we started GrowingFlex. I guess like I can take a little bit of the credit here because my original role with Inflex was to create our training program, was to create that implementation process.
00:54:20
Speaker
um And so something that we built is we adopted more of like a ah software tech um training idea, which is it doesn't matter who recruits who, they're going to be put into a training group or a training cohort. And then we developed our own LMS and our own training videos and our own quizzes and our own everything.
00:54:46
Speaker
um And we have to like our reps have to go through that program. We have quizzes and assignments that they have to complete um before we let them go on a blitz. right and so cool we're very I feel like we we really tried to like make it more of spoon feeding and baby feeding our reps. But what we noticed is if we held them accountable to the responsibilities that they you know that we had built, that we saw better success quicker.
00:55:16
Speaker
The reps came out into the field more prepared and error see quicker success. um and That just attributed it into our managers. right like We noticed that if our if our you know rookie reps saw quicker success, which means they got paid faster, which means they were able to recruit better, which means they they were able to grow faster, um you know that just spilled over into our management team. and You know, with the support from what we've built with the recruiting prowess, we've, we've just seen a tremendous amount of growth. And like I said, I can't, I can't take all the credit, but it's been a huge, huge thing that I attribute a lot of our, our success to for sure. Love it. Yeah. And I think, especially when you're talking blitz teams, um, yeah, I love that idea of getting guys more trained up before they go on these blitzes. Cause especially if they're new.
00:56:14
Speaker
I see a lot of companies, they just bring new guys onto butts and it's like the first half of the butts. The guys aren't getting anything because they're still learning. They're taking the whole butts just to learn and everything. I think that's a great idea especially when you're talking like new guys. Five, six days before late and for sure. For you business owners out there, maybe some of your managers, yes, it's a lot of work and it's a lot of time, but you got to think about what that does to the business as a whole.
00:56:43
Speaker
right If you spend time actually training those reps and holding them accountable and making sure that they're learning the concepts and the material, you're going to save yourself six, seven, eight days on the blitz. And if and if that rookie rep gets a sale within the first day or two, they're they're on cloud nine.
00:57:04
Speaker
they're they're They're bought into the company. They're bought into the process and they're bought into the company. Whereas in a rookie rep that you know that first day, he's like, dude, I've never knocked a door. I still don't know what my pitch is. like I was told to show up here on this day and that someone would come knock with me and I'd get it figured out. I'm like, dude, this this process is too in depth to to do that and have success.
00:57:30
Speaker
um and It's hard to grow that, man. like Those guys aren't bought in because they got a knock for eight days before they see their first appointment. like That's a hard, hard ass to buy into that for sure. Yeah, that's good.
00:57:45
Speaker
So good. i So are you guys mostly doing blitzes then or do you have do you have guys in market all year round or what's your model? Yeah, so we're a little bit different on that aspect as well. um We obviously have our blitz models. I don't think there's a company out there who doesn't you know do some type of blitz um who model you know where it's you know ah a 10 to 14 day blitz once a month in different market locations.
00:58:13
Speaker
But something that I think we've done very well that I haven't seen um like reproduce at a high level is the summer model. right like that That's pest control to a T. The whole entire pest industry is built around a summer model and you you go recruit and you go out and you sell in a location for five to six months and you just go balls to the walls for that six months and then you take the eight months off. and so We've kind of adopted that pest control model into the solar game. um and It's been our bread and butter, man. like we We run a summer program. um you know We have, good grief, eight, nine, 10, 11 different teams that are all relocating for five months during the summer months and it's all day every day and they go hard.
00:59:04
Speaker
um you know We do 80% to 85% of all of our yearly volume in the five months of the summer. Wow. That's awesome. so that's That's our heavy volume.
00:59:20
Speaker
Okay. And then outside of that guys are just kind of blitzing. So it's mostly summer and then just yeah like, winter so yeah we we have like our, we have our regionals that they'll go run a summer model. Um, and then during the off season, you know, you get, you know, 10, 15 guys from each region that want to go blitz. And so we'll, we'll run corporate blitzes. We let all of our regionals run their own blitzes as well. We help plan those and, um, you know, we plan corporate blitzes once a month and, um,
00:59:48
Speaker
I mean, ah the thing that we've noticed is obviously our recruiting strategy is really heavily focused on you know younger university-age reps, which is a little unique in the solar space because a lot of people focus on like building the year-round market with some older people, more established reps, which I don't want to knock on that because you know As a business owner, financially, that one makes the most sense. um It's a little bit cheaper, it's a little bit more you know easier to control and run, but we've just found our niche in in recruiting some younger talent, more of the college age kids that are stoked to come make 10, 15, 20 grand in the summer. and Then you know august end of August, September 1, they're back to school recruiting their frat buddies and people in their classes. and
01:00:37
Speaker
people that they play pick up basketball with and before you know it that one rep is turned into 30 reps by May and we do it all over again. Yeah, that's good. ah Yeah, I like it. I've seen a few teams run like that and not too many solar companies are doing it that way um just because I know part of it too is um having like that massive influx of sales.
Pipeline Management Techniques
01:01:01
Speaker
Uh, pipeline of you, if you guys run into any issues with that or anything you do to like, um, cause like they instill installers side. I've heard that they like, you know, they would prefer to just have 50 deals a month. like said It's kind of a headache from from the installer side. and Luckily, us being you know sales-only org, we don't have probably as much as the growing pains or the fluctuation pains. But I will hit on this, something that we've done at Flex that's a little bit
01:01:35
Speaker
Different than most cells orbs and once again i'll reiterate this is saying i'm sure there's other cells orbs out there that are doing what we do so i can't i can't sit here and claim that we're the only ones that do this because i'm sure there's others out there but As a sales only org, we've actually gone and created our own pipeline team, which most sales orgs don't have their own pipeline team. right They'll have maybe a one pipeline manager that just checks the deals, but they rely on the installer to do a lot of the project management.
01:02:08
Speaker
um We've invested you know our time and energy and attention and finances into building our own pipeline team. so We actually have an in-house pipeline team of about six people that we help manage our pipeline.
01:02:27
Speaker
um so With those big influxes of deals with specific installers, one of the things that we make sure that our install partners know is, hey, yes, like we're going to run all the pipeline through you guys because that's what is required, but you're not going to be left alone in the dark because we have our pipeline team that's going to be double, triple, quadruple checking deals, working with our sales reps to get deals cleaned out. um you know what ah What sales reps need to know is if they sell a clean deal and they're on their pipeline, it actually moves really fast. right like It's actually pretty dang quick, but you've got to be on top of it as it sells around. You've got to sell it clean to begin with and you've got to make sure that you're on top of your pipeline. and If it needs a change order or you need a scope of work approved, like you can't wait four, five, six, seven days before you approve that scope of work because that delays the whole process.
01:03:25
Speaker
And so we found that out super early and you know as as a as a business owner, we decided, hey, we don't we don't want just to sit back and trust that our ins install partners are doing their job, which most of them are. But it was, hey, we want to take matters into our own hands and make sure that you know we're doing everything we can on our end to you know have the resources to manage our pipeline because it's our deal. So we sold them. and I'm sorry I don't care what installed is no one's gonna care more about our deals than us so yeah no doubt yeah and I've definitely had to learn that the hard way because she had some installers that are on top of it they have account managers
01:04:06
Speaker
Imagine and everything great, but then it's like you switch the installer and you assume that it's going to be a similar thing. And then all of a sudden you're like, Oh, this is supposed to have a change order. And I didn't even hear about it for two weeks. I didn't even hear about it. Correct. been Been on hold. It's the same story. Yeah. I mean, and it happens, like I can't point all the blame at the installers. They got a lot they're working with, but it just goes back to the fact of like, Hey, I'm.
01:04:32
Speaker
That's too much money just to trust with blind eyes that it's goingnna it's going to go through without any problems. so I'm going to build our own fail safe system um and we'll make sure that we catch the deals before the sales reps do and we'll make sure and and keep our our side accountable.
01:04:52
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. So important. And yeah, anyone that doesn't have that, um, yeah, I think that's something that every, almost every closer needs to have their own like account manager, or managing themselves. So if not, like you said, no one cares as much as you do. So it's got to be on top of it. And that's the guys that are having good pull through rates and actually getting paid on the accounts too, because Yeah, they're anal about their pipeline, which is good. It's a good thing to have in our space. Yeah, definitely. Well, Alex has been ah awesome. I know we're just over an hour here or so. I know you got a whole company to run here, but ah before we wrap up, that guy wanna to if guys want to connect with you more or maybe look into, I don't know, doing a blitz with one of your teams or something, what's the best way to connect with you guys and connect with you more?
Connecting with Alex Ross
01:05:42
Speaker
If I'm allowed to give them my phone number, I can give them my phone number. and i mean yeah Call text is the easiest way. um my The number you can catch me at is 801-717-7910. You can also find us on Instagram. right Go to our our Instagram page. It's flexpwr. Send us a DM. um you know We'd love to have a conversation with any of you guys out there. and
01:06:07
Speaker
you know if it's If it's interested in coming to work for us, great. Or if it's even just, hey, you know I've connected really well with my story and would love to just have you know a little bit of a further conversation. I'm i'm always willing to you know make new friends and network in the space because that's what gets you ahead is is just having a really good relationships with a lot of good people. so um yeah but yeah Call me, text me, carry your pigeon me. It doesn't matter, man. I'm an open book.
01:06:37
Speaker
Love it. Well, ah thank you so much for being abundant and not holding back. Cause that's another thing. When I came into this industry, there was not this ah level of abundance and so many guys were like, Oh, I'm not going to, I'll tell you this little piece, but I'm not going to tell you like what we're actually doing. yeah and So always appreciate guys coming on. Sometimes it might bite me in the butt sometimes, but no i'd i'd I'd rather you see the full picture or make a decision. So.
01:07:03
Speaker
Love it. Well, thank you, Alex. So yeah, if you're looking for an opportunity, hit up Alex or myself, we can get you plugged in with a good opportunity in solar or, um, yeah, answer any questions. And then, uh, just last question to wrap wrap up Alex for any rep that's maybe struggling out there.
01:07:20
Speaker
Or maybe they've had like four deals in a row, cancel, question if they should still be in the industry. What would you tell that rep? What do you, what do you tell your guys to keep them pushing forward? Absolutely stay in the space, man. Like I've, I've been doing this a long time. I think it can reiterate a lot of guys that have been doing this for years to come. It happens to every single one of us.
01:07:43
Speaker
I've had more than enough deals cancel. um Everyone has. And if there's someone who tells you that their pull-through rate is immaculate, I call BS. It's just this space, man. like it's It's the solar coaster from what everyone talks about. But I promise you guys, I promise, I promise, I promise, there's nothing that just hard work won't fix.
01:08:04
Speaker
right um The motivation can be up and down sometimes and I totally get that. Take yourself out on a date if you have to. Go buy yourself an energy drink or you you know go go buy a nice real good steak dinner for yourself, but no one is going to be in your corner besides you. You've always, always, always can rely on yourself and there's nothing that just a little bit of hard work won't change. and so Keep your head up, man. like It happens to the best of us.
01:08:33
Speaker
I've been through it. I'm sure Taylor here has been through it. We've all gone through it. um But just to find, you know, find a way to widen that that window of operation, right? Don't let the highs get too high. Don't let the gut lows get too low, but the highs are going to get high and the lows are going to get low. Just just widen that window of operation and and ride those waves when you can and keep your head down and and keep working, man. It's going to work out, I promise.
01:09:00
Speaker
Awesome. 100%. So, so good. Alex, thank you for coming on. And I remember hard work is going to cure pretty much any problem we can have in the industry. You know, cancels going through a gotten and work harder. Use it as motivation. Find the next one. Uh, one more door. do You never know what's what's on the next one. yeahp there you so appreciate it yeah Appreciate you again coming on, Alex. Hopefully we can do a follow-up episode in the, in the future. yeah What's up. sorpreneurs hope you enjoyed the episode my man Before you run out, if you start selling your solar yourself, wanted to let you know about an exciting new cheat sheet. we created specifically for you in mind. One of the top questions I get asked on Instagram, on Facebook, by our listeners is, Taylor, where should I start? What episodes should I listen to in the podcast? You got too many podcasts, man, because now we have over 200 episodes.
01:09:54
Speaker
So what we've done, we created the top 10 most downloaded, most listened to, and I would say widely accepted, most useful podcasts that we've done here on solar printer. We put them together all in one sheet. So you can go, you can hit the ground running, especially if you're new, you do not want to not have this sheet.
01:10:16
Speaker
So go download it right now. It's going to be a top10.solarpreneurs.com. Again, that's top10, the number 10.solarpreneurs.com. Don't forget the S on solarpreneurs. We will have that in the show notes. Go download it right now. And especially if you have not listened to him, go listen to him and you can re-listen to him. That's going to show you how. So go download it and we'll see you on the other side.