Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
How To Transition To A New Market Without Losing Your Mind - Dallin Pancheri
74 Plays2 years ago
- How to Be the Top Closer in Your Office (Interview with Dallin Pancheri)
- https://www.youtube.com/@solarpreneurs
- Help Reagan Beat Cancer!!!
- goals.solarpreneurs.com
- oneliners.solarpreneurs.com
- https://solciety.co/ - JOIN SOLCIETY NOW!
- SIRO APP - LEARN MORE!
- Thanks to our sponsor Pi Syndicate for this episode!
- DOWNLOAD THE CHEAT SHEET HERE!: TOP 10 MOST DOWNLOADED EPISODES OF ALL TIME
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction to Taylor Armstrong's Sales Journey
00:00:03
Speaker
Welcome to the Solarpreneur Podcast, where we teach you to take your solar business to the next level.
00:00:08
Speaker
My name is Taylor Armstrong.
00:00:10
Speaker
I went from $50 in my bank account and struggling for groceries to closing 150 deals in a year and cracking the code on why sales reps fail.
Teaching Sales Success and Industry Insights
00:00:19
Speaker
I teach you how to avoid the mistakes I made and bring in the top solar dogs of the industry to let you in on the secrets of generating more leads, falling up like a pro, and closing more deals.
Defining the Solopreneur
00:00:31
Speaker
What is a solopreneur you might ask?
00:00:33
Speaker
A solopreneur is a new breed of solopro that is willing to do whatever it takes to achieve mastery and you are about to become one.
Broadcast Live from Boise with Dallin Pankeri
00:00:42
Speaker
Okay, what's going on?
00:00:43
Speaker
We're back here with another podcast.
00:00:45
Speaker
And for the first time ever, we're doing this podcast live from Idaho.
00:00:50
Speaker
Not the mountains of Idaho, but Boise, Idaho.
00:00:53
Speaker
So we're here with someone that has come on the podcast, but it's been like, what, three years ago?
00:00:58
Speaker
Yeah.
00:01:01
Speaker
I remember when you were first starting this thing.
00:01:02
Speaker
And now look what it's become.
00:01:04
Speaker
Yeah.
00:01:05
Speaker
I know, it's been a long time.
00:01:06
Speaker
So, Mr. Dallin Pankeri, welcome back to the show.
00:01:09
Speaker
Thank you.
00:01:10
Speaker
Thank you for having me.
00:01:12
Speaker
Thank you.
00:01:12
Speaker
Thank you.
00:01:14
Speaker
And yeah, so Dallin and I, we go way back, and you can listen to the first podcast.
00:01:20
Speaker
We'll post it in the show notes.
00:01:22
Speaker
But just a quick introduction.
Solarpreneur Podcast Genesis
00:01:24
Speaker
This guy right here was the one that recruited me in the solar industry.
00:01:29
Speaker
And so we probably wouldn't have the Solar Pruner podcast if it wasn't for Dallin here.
00:01:34
Speaker
Yep.
00:01:34
Speaker
Pretty much everything you've achieved is thanks to me.
00:01:37
Speaker
So kind of nice knowing that.
00:01:39
Speaker
Yep.
00:01:39
Speaker
He's like the grandfather, the Abraham Lincoln.
00:01:42
Speaker
He liberated me from pest control into solar.
00:01:46
Speaker
Yes.
00:01:46
Speaker
Yes.
00:01:47
Speaker
I'd still be running around with those pest guys probably.
00:01:50
Speaker
So, yeah, I'm super grateful for him for getting me in the solar opportunity, giving me the opportunity, and glad that he didn't.
00:01:59
Speaker
I originally tried to recruit him for pest control, so I'm glad that he didn't.
00:02:02
Speaker
It was a battle.
00:02:03
Speaker
Yeah, glad that he didn't come.
00:02:05
Speaker
It took me, maybe we shared this on the last one, but I remember it took me taking you out on a helicopter flying over L.A., and then he finally was like, okay, I'll come.
Joining the Solar Industry: A Helicopter Ride
00:02:17
Speaker
Yeah, he laid out the red carpet.
00:02:19
Speaker
Yeah.
00:02:20
Speaker
I'm like, oh my God, he was literally flying me in a helicopter and giving me steak dinners.
00:02:25
Speaker
I'm like, all right, I'm sold.
00:02:28
Speaker
Anyone knows that free food is like the way to recruit me.
00:02:31
Speaker
I love my free food.
00:02:33
Speaker
The ultimate.
00:02:34
Speaker
Yeah.
00:02:35
Speaker
But anyway, so yeah, again, you can go and listen to that podcast for Dallin's whole story background.
00:02:40
Speaker
But yeah, he's been, he was in California.
00:02:44
Speaker
We sold for probably four years together and then
00:02:49
Speaker
I went to a different company.
00:02:50
Speaker
We've always been in close contact though, still going out, selling together from time to time.
00:02:56
Speaker
And now, yeah, we finally sort of came full circle because I decided to come out and do a little blitz in Idaho, hang out with them.
00:03:04
Speaker
So we're going to talk a little bit about that.
00:03:06
Speaker
But, yeah, I mean, last time we're in the podcast, you were selling in California, Dallin.
00:03:13
Speaker
So, yeah, do you want to tell us what it's been like, just transition, maybe why you decided to come back to Idaho, hometown?
Solar Sales in Idaho vs. California
00:03:21
Speaker
Yeah, so I grew up in Idaho, and I remember that was always...
00:03:25
Speaker
kind of the plan when I started in California is I wanted to live back in Idaho and do solar back here.
00:03:33
Speaker
So yeah, it was kind of always the plan.
00:03:35
Speaker
And Idaho, it's really cheap, the electricity here compared to California, especially in Southern California area.
00:03:41
Speaker
So they had been creeping their way up though.
00:03:43
Speaker
And so it finally got to the point where it was making a little bit more sense.
00:03:47
Speaker
So we moved everything up here and
00:03:49
Speaker
Way different.
00:03:50
Speaker
It's a way different experience.
00:03:52
Speaker
Obviously, the people here seem to be like you've been out knocking a few times.
00:03:58
Speaker
They'll tell you no, but it's the nicest way to say no.
00:04:01
Speaker
So you're not getting like California, you're pretty much having to defend yourself like every single door.
00:04:06
Speaker
Yeah, that'd be aggressive.
00:04:09
Speaker
And so that's really nice.
00:04:11
Speaker
The big difference is selling on, you don't have any savings to sell on.
00:04:15
Speaker
And so I think it really, you really have to break down your presentation
00:04:21
Speaker
so that it is magnifying essentially every other problem that we attack in the California market.
00:04:27
Speaker
Because you still mention those things in California, all the other benefits other than the actual savings.
00:04:33
Speaker
So you just really have to magnify it.
00:04:35
Speaker
And so your sales game, I feel like it has to change a tad bit, but ultimately it's the same product, same thing.
00:04:42
Speaker
So people are still wanting to go with it.
00:04:45
Speaker
But it's definitely a different...
00:04:47
Speaker
different presentation.
00:04:48
Speaker
Yeah, for sure.
00:04:49
Speaker
Yeah, we always, sometimes people make fun of solar in California because you don't really need to know how to sell.
00:04:57
Speaker
I guess now a little bit more so because we're in net reading 3.0, which you have to do a battery.
00:05:03
Speaker
But before it was like we were cutting people's bills in half.
00:05:06
Speaker
So you had clowns running around just out there hustling, making $600,000, $300,000, $400,000, $500,000 just selling on these savings.
00:05:17
Speaker
So it's changing.
00:05:18
Speaker
I like markets like this just because California is probably, yes, even still now with the changes, I think it's still probably where people are going to save the most money.
00:05:27
Speaker
Right, yeah.
00:05:28
Speaker
So Idaho is probably more similar to most other markets where you're not...
00:05:33
Speaker
saving as much but you just got to actually know how to sell and build value from these other reasons for going solar but yeah it was funny we were out knocking the other day and we hit some doors together you know for first 45 minutes or something yeah then we went off separate and I'm like wow this is everyone's so nice super easy and then I was telling down the first door I hit
00:05:56
Speaker
It was just some, like, probably some D-bag from California.
00:06:01
Speaker
Get that off his property.
00:06:03
Speaker
I was like, of course.
00:06:06
Speaker
But yeah, later, later, you tell me.
00:06:09
Speaker
It was because he told you no and shut the door, then you re-knocked it.
00:06:12
Speaker
I did knock the door again.
00:06:14
Speaker
So, yeah, I guess the Idaho homes are nice up to a point, but if you do that, maybe they'll get angry.
00:06:22
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, these guys got guns, so everyone probably has a gun right behind their door.
00:06:29
Speaker
Yeah, exactly.
00:06:30
Speaker
But no, it's true.
00:06:31
Speaker
Everyone's super nice.
00:06:32
Speaker
And I think it's a great market.
Challenges of Owning a Solar Dealership
00:06:35
Speaker
Got a bunch of appointments lined up today, so we'll see what happens.
00:06:39
Speaker
But yeah, so last podcast, I think if I remember right, we really broke down your clothes.
00:06:45
Speaker
What's cool is Dallin and I, we both hit our Golden Door Awards in 2019.
00:06:50
Speaker
So both went up on the stage.
00:06:52
Speaker
So Dallin taught me a lot of what I do to this day and really high level closer.
00:06:57
Speaker
But something I wanted to ask you about, Dallin, in California, we were at the company called New Power and you were...
00:07:04
Speaker
kind of like director type guy running a team and everything over there.
00:07:09
Speaker
So now you're running the dealer out here in Idaho.
00:07:12
Speaker
What's it been like transitioning from just being more like manager type to now being the owner of the company and everything?
00:07:20
Speaker
Yeah, the jump is a lot more intense than I thought it was going to be, to be honest.
00:07:29
Speaker
It was definitely having so many balls in the air at one time, trying to juggle, especially when you first start, because at least in my position, I was having to be selling too while trying to be growing everything.
00:07:41
Speaker
Yeah.
00:07:42
Speaker
All the time I thought I was going to be having pretty much dissipated because then being having both.
00:07:49
Speaker
And so the jump was pretty intense.
00:07:52
Speaker
I do think if anyone's thinking about doing it or starting a dealer and going to a new market, it's definitely
00:08:02
Speaker
I would really make sure you're ready for it.
00:08:07
Speaker
Because one thing is if you're planning on making more money, it probably isn't going to work out that way.
00:08:15
Speaker
And so I'm grateful for the time I did have and I learned if I do have advice of it, it would be to act as if, no matter where you're at, act as if you are the owner, if you are running it.
00:08:28
Speaker
And if that had to be the position you had to do, say if you filled everything out.
00:08:32
Speaker
And if you're able to do that and you can be happy about it, then maybe that's something you can start going towards.
00:08:40
Speaker
I think, yeah, so the jump was pretty intense, but it's been great.
00:08:44
Speaker
I think it's been a lot of fun being back up here in Idaho.
00:08:49
Speaker
I do love being here and selling solar here and giving people the option here.
00:08:55
Speaker
But yeah, if I could go back, I would probably do it again.
00:08:59
Speaker
Now, I also, the other part would be when you are selling out there, just sell seriously as much as you can because if you do want to be able to
00:09:09
Speaker
to start a dealer or do anything like that you have to make sure you you have a good chunk of money to throw into it and because it might be a long time until you're paying yourself yeah that's a good point and so yeah but it's definitely been a ride yeah for sure i bet but yeah i like that because i hear from a lot of guys they just want to go start their own deal or they go
00:09:33
Speaker
I'm not a manager yet.
00:09:35
Speaker
Like, why am I giving all this money and overrides to managers?
00:09:38
Speaker
And they're like, you know what?
00:09:39
Speaker
I'll just go start my own dealer, make way more per deal.
00:09:42
Speaker
But I think a lot of people don't realize the amount of work it takes.
00:09:47
Speaker
Creating a culture.
00:09:48
Speaker
Yeah.
00:09:49
Speaker
Like creating something.
00:09:51
Speaker
Like where you're selling now, you're able to like walk in, pretty much bring anyone you want.
00:09:56
Speaker
Yeah.
00:09:57
Speaker
And they can be like thrown in and they get enveloped into this culture.
00:10:01
Speaker
And yeah,
00:10:02
Speaker
In a way, you could be making more money just by doing that without having to start your own thing.
00:10:08
Speaker
Be careful what you wish for in a way.
00:10:11
Speaker
I know.
00:10:12
Speaker
I also have buddies who it's like they went and started their own dealer and then they realized the amount of work it takes.
00:10:18
Speaker
They're like, this is too much work trying to run a team.
00:10:23
Speaker
So they just sell by themselves now.
00:10:27
Speaker
Yeah.
00:10:28
Speaker
They're the owner of the company, but they're basically just a...
00:10:31
Speaker
glorified yeah exactly it's yeah there is that team part like you if you have a team it's so much more fun to sell and stuff but if you're just by yourself which like at the very beginning of this that's pretty much what we were doing like we were by ourselves for a little bit trying to grow our team and it's like
00:10:50
Speaker
It sucks when you don't have those other people around you praising you or saying, good job, way to go, and kind of pushing.
00:10:57
Speaker
Everyone's pushing each other, but when it's just you, it's like, oh, I guess maybe I don't have to do this.
00:11:01
Speaker
Maybe I don't have to do this.
00:11:02
Speaker
You don't have that team to actually push you forward.
00:11:05
Speaker
Yeah.
00:11:05
Speaker
No, it's a lot of work, so I got a ton of respect for you guys, and that's part of the reason why I haven't gone and started my own telework.
00:11:12
Speaker
Yeah.
00:11:13
Speaker
You have a lot going on too.
00:11:15
Speaker
Yeah.
00:11:16
Speaker
Because even just managing small teams where I am part of a company, it's like...
00:11:22
Speaker
Even that, if it's a smaller office, if you're constantly trying to recruit, it's like, you know how it is.
00:11:28
Speaker
Sometimes it's pulling teeth to get these guys to go out there.
00:11:32
Speaker
Got to be extremely self-motivated.
00:11:33
Speaker
Yeah, it's a lot of respect I got for you guys, but especially going to a new market because when you came out here, you hadn't really sold in Idaho up to that point?
00:11:44
Speaker
No, no.
00:11:45
Speaker
We did have a few closers that were up here that we were getting online leads for.
00:11:50
Speaker
And so they were closing some that we were sending up that they were just getting online.
00:11:54
Speaker
And so we were able to, that kind of was our test in the market before we moved up here.
00:11:59
Speaker
But yeah, it was still like me personally, I hadn't really sold anything up here.
00:12:03
Speaker
We just had some guys up here that decided they wanted to.
00:12:06
Speaker
Yeah.
00:12:07
Speaker
Yeah, because were you nervous?
00:12:09
Speaker
I'm sure it's a big step.
00:12:12
Speaker
I know your family really well.
00:12:13
Speaker
I know your wife, she likes California a lot.
00:12:15
Speaker
Oh, yeah.
00:12:16
Speaker
So were you pretty nervous coming into the unknown?
00:12:19
Speaker
I know this is your hometown, so that probably helps a little bit too.
00:12:23
Speaker
Yeah.
00:12:23
Speaker
Were you feeling coming back into the unknown?
00:12:27
Speaker
Yeah, I think, yeah, because I was leaving something that was really good.
00:12:32
Speaker
Yeah.
00:12:32
Speaker
So it was...
00:12:34
Speaker
It was really nerve wracking because I was like, if I'm leaving something that's really good for this, it ends up like the whole, the grass is never greener on the other side or is always greener on the other side.
00:12:45
Speaker
It's like, I was afraid that that was going to happen, that I was, you know, so that little nervous part.
00:12:52
Speaker
But once I got up here, I think that kind of the adrenaline started kicking in where we'd
00:13:01
Speaker
moved everything up here there wasn't really a like kind of burned the boats in a way my wife wouldn't like to hear that because she wants to go back all the time uh but yeah so once that happened once we were up here i was pretty much like survival you know like i just there's no nothing that was going to get in our way of of progressing and so i maybe when i was laying in my bed at night when i was like crying and stuff like that yeah
00:13:28
Speaker
But yeah, I want to get into some tactical things down.
00:13:32
Speaker
Like we're mentioning before, there's a different way you sell here.
00:13:36
Speaker
You got to build more value.
00:13:39
Speaker
So what are some, I don't know, what's like some key differences or how would you say that your sales process has changed from what you're doing in California versus now in Idaho?
Discussing Electricity Costs with Clients
00:13:49
Speaker
Yeah.
00:13:50
Speaker
So I, I really have to, you know, there's all the, the normal ones, all the,
00:13:57
Speaker
Sales, everyone's listening, know these ones.
00:14:00
Speaker
Make sure both homeowners are there, like the classic.
00:14:04
Speaker
Make sure that you're sitting with the actual decision makers.
00:14:08
Speaker
That's probably the biggest one.
00:14:10
Speaker
But I would say...
00:14:13
Speaker
Cause here in Idaho, they're most times they're paying a little bit more most times.
00:14:18
Speaker
Right.
00:14:18
Speaker
Or sometimes it's quite a bit more.
00:14:20
Speaker
And so before you even get into solar, like at all, you have to get into Idaho power and like what they've done.
00:14:27
Speaker
Cause they're, even though they are really cheap, they, they, it's these past five years, they've been going up a little bit quicker and it's mainly due just to,
00:14:35
Speaker
all the Californians moving here, man.
00:14:38
Speaker
You're welcome.
00:14:38
Speaker
Yeah, I know.
00:14:41
Speaker
It's a catch-22 because it actually is really good for us because as electricity prices go up, we're actually happy for the solar place.
00:14:50
Speaker
But, and so one thing I make sure I mentioned to every single customer before we even kind of get in solar is their situation right now, like what they're doing and what they're paying for power now.
00:15:02
Speaker
And I explain kilowatt hours and I, and because a lot of the people like in California, they've probably seen a solar presentation three to six times, you know, or, you know, they've talked to someone about solar quite a few times.
00:15:16
Speaker
Most people here in Idaho, they've maybe seen it one time.
00:15:20
Speaker
It's not their job, so it's not like they understand it really that well.
00:15:24
Speaker
So most of the times we need it to be explained to us a bunch of times.
00:15:27
Speaker
So I'll go into detail about kilowatt hours and what they were paying.
00:15:32
Speaker
So if they were paying $100 right now, I'll show them.
00:15:35
Speaker
I'll draw a little graph on my paper.
00:15:37
Speaker
I'll be like, so it looks like five years ago, using the same amount of power, this bill would have been about $75.
00:15:43
Speaker
And then I'll do the next five years.
00:15:46
Speaker
So you guys plan on staying in the house over a year?
00:15:49
Speaker
Most times they'll say yes.
00:15:50
Speaker
I'm like, okay, so in the next five years, it looks like this is what you'll be paying.
00:15:54
Speaker
In the next 10 years, this looks like this will be paying.
00:15:57
Speaker
And then the joke that we always use, you don't plan on going to Amish anytime soon, right?
00:16:03
Speaker
The classic.
00:16:03
Speaker
Yeah, they really howl over it over here.
00:16:06
Speaker
Like I thought Californians thought that was funny.
00:16:08
Speaker
I know.
00:16:08
Speaker
That works better here.
00:16:09
Speaker
Oh, yeah.
00:16:10
Speaker
It's a good silver bullet.
00:16:12
Speaker
You need to try it out in like Pennsylvania or something.
00:16:14
Speaker
Oh, yeah.
00:16:15
Speaker
You might get a pitchfork to the face.
00:16:18
Speaker
Actually, they're neighbors on this or something.
00:16:21
Speaker
Yeah.
00:16:23
Speaker
No.
00:16:24
Speaker
And so I have to make sure they understand what they're going to be paying because if they don't know what they're comparing it to in the future, very hard for them to like justify it now, especially if they're going to be paying like 15, 20, 30 bucks more a
Pre-Closing Strategies in Solar Sales
00:16:38
Speaker
month.
00:16:38
Speaker
It's like, well, why would I do that?
00:16:39
Speaker
It's like, well, cause it's going to be higher and we've already established that.
00:16:42
Speaker
So you got to like put that in their head at the very beginning.
00:16:47
Speaker
And then the
00:16:48
Speaker
which I can't really remember the podcast before, so I don't even know if this is in it, but doing a pre-close, getting them to commit that at the very beginning that, hey, if we, by the end of us meeting day, you see that this is something that's going to benefit you guys.
00:17:04
Speaker
We'll get an application started to see if you're even approved.
00:17:07
Speaker
Does that sound fair?
00:17:09
Speaker
And like give them a soft committal that if you can make it make sense with them, that they're going to submit an application because then it gives you a little bit of...
00:17:17
Speaker
some, uh, uh, what's the social pressure?
00:17:20
Speaker
Cause they've kind of made a commitment to you.
00:17:22
Speaker
They're, they're going to hopefully be your friend by the end.
00:17:24
Speaker
And so that gives them a little bit of a, it can, it can ease the pain of making that decision.
00:17:31
Speaker
Um, if you get that pretty, pretty close.
00:17:33
Speaker
And so focusing on, on what their bills are going to be going up,
00:17:37
Speaker
And then having a pre-close is good and then using all the techniques in the book that everyone knows of trying to close at the end.
00:17:47
Speaker
Everything else is about the same.
00:17:49
Speaker
I wouldn't say there's not, I haven't had to reinvent the wheel by any means.
00:17:53
Speaker
Yeah.
00:17:54
Speaker
Yeah, no, and I think it's very similar and the stuff you're doing here, I think if you do it in other, like California, it's even better because I noticed that I was sometimes forgetting to build the pain like that, show them what their future bill would be.
00:18:06
Speaker
Just because it's like, oh, it's such a no brainer.
00:18:08
Speaker
It's cutting your bill in half right now.
00:18:11
Speaker
But the best closers in states where you are actually saving money, I think they're doing the same stuff.
00:18:16
Speaker
They're projecting the future.
00:18:19
Speaker
They're getting the homeowner to agree with it because sometimes you'll present it and the homeowners maybe can tell they're like, oh, yeah.
00:18:27
Speaker
But you got to actually make them believe.
00:18:29
Speaker
What I love and what I've learned just from the short time we've been out here too is you're just like, yeah, like you talked about, you're talking about the local circumstances.
00:18:38
Speaker
Oh, there's so many people moving in.
00:18:41
Speaker
There's all this new construction going on and areas we've been hitting they can literally see from their pores.
00:18:46
Speaker
There's like new homes going up and all that.
00:18:49
Speaker
And so I've seen just in the few days we've been out here selling that it makes sense to them.
00:18:53
Speaker
Like, okay, that makes a lot of sense.
00:18:55
Speaker
They're having to upgrade the infrastructure.
00:18:58
Speaker
New homes going in.
00:18:59
Speaker
So I love that.
00:19:00
Speaker
Just basically using whatever is going on locally or in the state level to make them see.
00:19:07
Speaker
And usually I feel like that clicks a lot more in their head because it's not just like it's something that they're seeing every day.
00:19:13
Speaker
They're probably passing it on the way to work, seeing all these new people.
00:19:17
Speaker
They hate all the Californians moving in.
00:19:18
Speaker
So it's getting that emotion involved.
00:19:21
Speaker
Yeah, it's surprising what that line will do.
00:19:24
Speaker
It really is.
00:19:25
Speaker
People immediately jump right on board.
00:19:28
Speaker
And then if they are from California, you can see they kind of get a little shy.
00:19:35
Speaker
They'll do something like that.
00:19:39
Speaker
Yeah, and so for anyone listening to this, I think that's a good tip that you can use in any market, whatever market you're selling in.
00:19:46
Speaker
Look at the local things going on.
00:19:49
Speaker
Do your research on your market.
00:19:50
Speaker
Figure out what the pain points are so you can help the homeowner see that because that's going to give you the best shot.
00:19:58
Speaker
It's creating that emotion and getting them to close, I think.
00:20:00
Speaker
It also helps a ton just setting that point, man.
00:20:03
Speaker
Yeah.
00:20:04
Speaker
As you're out there on the doors pointing out these things that they can see.
00:20:08
Speaker
So, yeah, that's really good.
00:20:11
Speaker
And, yeah, like setting the – what about as far as like setting appointments?
00:20:15
Speaker
Have you noticed any differences?
00:20:16
Speaker
I know you said like people are generally nice out here.
00:20:19
Speaker
Generally, yeah, you can go out.
00:20:22
Speaker
I think you probably might have to get through the same amount of people to book an appointment as California because there's still –
00:20:32
Speaker
Like there's a good interest here, but there's a lot of older people, you know, those people that just don't want to change.
00:20:37
Speaker
So anyways, you do still have to get through.
00:20:40
Speaker
I think the biggest difference is you are – a whole hour goes by and you don't talk to anyone that's mean.
00:20:46
Speaker
So it seems like it goes a little bit quicker.
00:20:49
Speaker
But weather is a big deal though here.
00:20:51
Speaker
Obviously, you got California is so amazing.
00:20:54
Speaker
You can pretty much knock you around.
00:20:56
Speaker
You don't have to worry about it here.
00:20:58
Speaker
You have to go through the mental toughness of when it's extremely hot.
00:21:02
Speaker
We had a summer where it was pretty much 100 degrees every day.
00:21:05
Speaker
And then the wintertime, it snows and it's below freezing a good chunk of time.
00:21:10
Speaker
So not only are you fighting the battle of dealing with rejection and everything, but you're also fighting the elements a little bit.
00:21:16
Speaker
So those are probably the biggest differences and similarities.
00:21:20
Speaker
They're very similar still.
00:21:22
Speaker
Yeah, that's why I like California because I don't know if I'm tough enough to knock Idaho in the winter.
00:21:27
Speaker
It feels great right now, September.
00:21:30
Speaker
Right.
00:21:30
Speaker
It's going to get cold.
00:21:32
Speaker
I know.
00:21:32
Speaker
California has definitely the golden coast.
00:21:36
Speaker
Yeah, especially San Diego.
00:21:37
Speaker
Everyone's there at San Diego.
00:21:39
Speaker
Yeah, that place sucks.
00:21:42
Speaker
But another thing I noticed, and just maybe you've seen this in newer reps out here, is just where I've caught myself probably more so out here than California since people are so nice.
00:21:54
Speaker
You'll talk to someone for like half an hour where it was probably a waste of time.
00:21:59
Speaker
They weren't necessarily going to do anything, but they're just being really nice.
00:22:03
Speaker
Right, right.
00:22:04
Speaker
So do you have any tips for people like that?
00:22:07
Speaker
They're just being nice.
00:22:09
Speaker
Do you just like...
00:22:11
Speaker
I don't know, try to catch yourself and cut them off or how do you coach your new reps so that you don't spend an hour with a grandpa.
00:22:21
Speaker
A 92-year-old.
00:22:22
Speaker
Yeah, with Grandpa Tommy over.
00:22:25
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, that's always the conundrum because you can feel like you're building a good relationship with them.
00:22:32
Speaker
And so it's like sending off all the signals like, okay, this is a good appointment.
00:22:36
Speaker
Yeah.
00:22:38
Speaker
And you do find, I think age is a big one.
00:22:41
Speaker
So if they're like extremely old, then, you know, 80 plus, then it's, you know, those ones tend to not work out a lot of times, even if you can't sit with them.
00:22:52
Speaker
And so I, if you can sit with them.
00:22:54
Speaker
Yeah.
00:22:55
Speaker
And so I think our kind of rule of thumb, yeah, is like 80.
00:22:58
Speaker
You don't necessarily have to ask them, but if they just look like they're 80, kind of like leave them alone.
00:23:04
Speaker
Now, if they're with it and they're wanting to do it, it's case by case.
00:23:10
Speaker
If they're as lucid as Joe Biden, then...
00:23:15
Speaker
Go for it.
00:23:16
Speaker
You know what I'm saying?
00:23:19
Speaker
And so, yeah, that's probably the one thing.
00:23:22
Speaker
But anyone else, like if it's a normal, if it's like 50-year-old guy and you're building a relationship with him, I usually don't.
00:23:31
Speaker
I would tell them just keep on going with it because who knows, it might turn into something.
00:23:36
Speaker
I think age is kind of the spectrum I stay on if I'm going to be spending more time with them
Efficient Client Management
00:23:42
Speaker
or not.
00:23:42
Speaker
Okay.
00:23:43
Speaker
That's good.
00:23:44
Speaker
Yeah, we had one.
00:23:46
Speaker
Yeah, last weekend, we were hitting some doors for a little bit, too.
00:23:50
Speaker
And we talked to this super old guy.
00:23:52
Speaker
He let us right in.
00:23:54
Speaker
And even that one, we both knew it probably wasn't going anywhere.
00:23:57
Speaker
This guy was, what, 90 or something, I think you said?
00:24:01
Speaker
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:24:02
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:24:04
Speaker
and he was just willing to talk for us for yeah he just let us in right off the bat like okay let's see they're gonna be like a lay down he's gonna do it for sure we're a huge waste of time and yeah luckily we i think we tried to manage it pretty well we you know heard him out and tried to be nice but we i think we tried to go two or three times and he's like oh well let me start talking about his family again
00:24:28
Speaker
Then finally, I'm like, okay, we got to get to some of your neighbors.
00:24:31
Speaker
And he's like, oh, I got to give you guys a drink.
00:24:33
Speaker
Yeah, he's like, it'll make me feel better.
00:24:36
Speaker
I'm like, okay.
00:24:37
Speaker
My son really doesn't want me to do this, but leave me your card.
00:24:41
Speaker
I don't know.
00:24:42
Speaker
Yeah, we could have stayed in there a lot longer.
00:24:45
Speaker
We could honestly have asked him, can we take a nap somewhere?
00:24:48
Speaker
And he would have been okay with it.
00:24:49
Speaker
He probably would have been happy.
00:24:51
Speaker
He wasn't doing anything.
00:24:54
Speaker
But I think that's a good tip, though, for like,
00:24:56
Speaker
especially in those markets where you have, you know, maybe in the South, there's nicer people, people are older folks.
00:25:02
Speaker
You got to watch out for that.
00:25:04
Speaker
Cause I made that mistake all the time as a newer rep thinking that I was working really hard, but I would be an hour in the home with some grandma or 80 year olds and think I was, you know, making good use of my time, but probably wasn't the smartest use of time.
00:25:19
Speaker
Yeah.
00:25:20
Speaker
So I think that is a good tip, especially for newer reps.
00:25:24
Speaker
Make sure you are conscious of your time and not spending all day in homes where they're probably not going to do anything.
00:25:29
Speaker
But yeah, another thing, I've noticed it seems like to me that you have to be a little more selective out here because California, I would say 99% of people can...
00:25:39
Speaker
benefit if not 100 can benefit from going solar especially as we have loans ppas you have all the options for them we're out here um right now i hear there might maybe you're one at least as soon but pretty much just have loans right now at the time of this recording 2023 um so is that another thing you've had to maybe adjust out here is just being more selective and
00:26:05
Speaker
Like looking for home.
00:26:06
Speaker
Like another thing is we saw a lot of houses with shade on it.
00:26:09
Speaker
Right, yeah.
00:26:09
Speaker
Tons of trees.
00:26:10
Speaker
Do you feel like you are being a lot more picky as doors you're not going to?
00:26:14
Speaker
You definitely pass way more doors.
00:26:15
Speaker
You definitely have it.
00:26:16
Speaker
There's Idaho or Boise is...
00:26:20
Speaker
it's from it's like means la boah which is like the city or trees like or something so we have a lot of trees here okay and so yeah the shading's the one thing palm trees don't shade that much so in california you don't have to worry about it here yeah you shading's a big one because the big difference between here in california is people use a lot more power like you just got a bill that person's using four thousand in a month
00:26:45
Speaker
So the systems are huge.
00:26:47
Speaker
And so the systems are also really expensive.
00:26:49
Speaker
So the tax credits are really big.
00:26:51
Speaker
And so when you're dealing with the more elderly folk, when their tax credit is 30 grand, probably not going to be able to take advantage of it.
00:27:00
Speaker
Now, hopefully, the PPAs or leases come around where we can then start helping them a little bit more.
00:27:06
Speaker
That's another one of those reasons about dealing with old people here is it might not be worth your time because they're not going to be able to get the tax credit.
00:27:15
Speaker
Sometimes those ones you pass by, I would say those are the ones
00:27:20
Speaker
more likely than not you'll be able to see them from the street yeah you'll be able to skip them yeah another thing there was i didn't even think about until you told me is you're almost when bills are insanely high out here it almost makes it more difficult in a way yeah well if you're coming from california because you know you you sell a 40 or 50 000 system like oh man this is getting out there there's like a six kilowatt seven kilowatt that was awesome um
00:27:46
Speaker
Where here, yeah, you're in the 80 to 100,000 like very often.
00:27:52
Speaker
And so you have to get over like the sticker shock price, the sticker shock.
00:27:57
Speaker
I know in California, sometimes I would be scared of showing people if it was over like 40 or 50,000 because like, oh, it's a lot of money.
00:28:05
Speaker
And I knew that if it scared me, it's going to scare them type thing.
00:28:10
Speaker
Yeah.
00:28:10
Speaker
And by here, yeah, it's finally, it's pretty much, I can't even let it be a part of the conversation or it's not something I really focus on just because it is such a big, big number.
00:28:20
Speaker
Yeah.
00:28:20
Speaker
Yeah.
00:28:21
Speaker
And then, yeah, I mean, bigger number means bigger tax credit too.
00:28:24
Speaker
Yeah, that too.
00:28:25
Speaker
Yeah.
00:28:25
Speaker
You're hoping everyone's paying a lot of money, making a lot of money so they can pay a lot of money.
00:28:29
Speaker
Yeah, exactly.
00:28:31
Speaker
Yeah.
00:28:31
Speaker
So definitely some things you need to think about.
00:28:34
Speaker
And I think that just goes to show that whatever market you're selling in,
00:28:37
Speaker
Like, if you're starting a new market, these may be things you're not
Understanding Local Market Nuances
00:28:41
Speaker
thinking about.
00:28:41
Speaker
So I think it's good to talk with people that are in markets you want to go to.
00:28:46
Speaker
If you're new to a market, make sure you get with a good organization, people that know what they're doing.
00:28:51
Speaker
Because if you don't know these things, like if I had come out here without you, just on my own, then...
00:28:59
Speaker
Yeah, another example is just like the town we're in.
00:29:02
Speaker
I don't know how to pronounce it.
00:29:03
Speaker
I kept saying it wrong.
00:29:04
Speaker
Even now, can you say it?
00:29:06
Speaker
Kuna, right?
00:29:07
Speaker
Yeah, Kuna, there you go.
00:29:08
Speaker
I finally got it.
00:29:09
Speaker
But yeah.
00:29:10
Speaker
Kuna and... Yeah, I kept going to like Kuna Matata or something.
00:29:16
Speaker
So, Don's like, dude, you're going to sound like an idiot if they catch you saying that.
00:29:20
Speaker
I had to correct that quick.
00:29:22
Speaker
And it took me like two days to figure it out.
00:29:25
Speaker
Even now, I'm still trying to pronounce it.
00:29:27
Speaker
So, yeah, stuff like that.
00:29:28
Speaker
It's important to know your market, figure out these things, and talk to people that are knowledgeable.
00:29:34
Speaker
And not just the market, but, yeah, I mean, even the towns within it, the different areas you're going to be in, because you don't want to be like me pronouncing the name of the town wrong.
00:29:42
Speaker
Right, right.
00:29:43
Speaker
And know your stuff, right?
00:29:45
Speaker
Um, so yeah, I want to transition here before we start wrapping up here, Dallin.
00:29:49
Speaker
Um, but we mentioned a little bit, just differences between like manage a team and running the dealer.
00:29:57
Speaker
Um, you know, you're owning the company now, but for someone that wants to maybe like start their own dealer, uh, maybe they were managing a team.
00:30:05
Speaker
We touched on that, but do you have any, maybe like mistakes you made or, I don't know, things that you didn't think about as you're going from,
00:30:13
Speaker
Running a team in California to being the boss.
00:30:16
Speaker
Yeah.
00:30:16
Speaker
It's like, I don't know, maybe some tips you'd have on that.
00:30:19
Speaker
Yeah.
00:30:20
Speaker
And I kind of mentioned this at the beginning, but one of them was the thought of using your time.
00:30:28
Speaker
Like if you're coming up and you're going to be selling while you're starting a dealer, then you really have to make sure you have a good schedule that's going to work with.
00:30:39
Speaker
And if you're married, that works with your wife or husband.
00:30:44
Speaker
And because that was something that kind of caught me off guard of how I was so used to working from one to eight.
00:30:53
Speaker
That was like the knocking slash deal schedule, sometimes deals in the morning.
00:30:56
Speaker
That was my schedule.
00:30:57
Speaker
So my life kind of evolved in that way where I had my mornings more free and then I was still getting back at eight, sometimes a little bit earlier.
00:31:06
Speaker
But then when I switched to the dealer and I was selling, I was doing everything in the morning that was normally like my family-ish time.
00:31:13
Speaker
And then now that my morning was done, but I was selling, so I wasn't getting back.
00:31:17
Speaker
So my family time was definitely taking a hit.
00:31:21
Speaker
And so I had to, that was, that was a, I guess not necessarily a mistake, but it was something I had to learn and evolve with it to make sure that my wife was happy and I was able to spend time with her and also be able to grow it.
00:31:33
Speaker
So that was probably one of the big ones.
00:31:36
Speaker
And then along with that is, yeah, you're putting a lot of money into it to start.
00:31:41
Speaker
And so you want to be making sure it's making money, things like that.
00:31:45
Speaker
So don't expect to be making a whole bunch at the very beginning type thing.
00:31:51
Speaker
So yeah, if that's your expectation is, oh, I'm going to be making more money because I'm going to start a dealer, then you might want to revisit that.
00:32:00
Speaker
what you're doing right now and maybe you can improve a few things because I think that's the jump that you shouldn't be making at that point if that's the reason.
00:32:08
Speaker
Yeah, yeah.
00:32:09
Speaker
Were you, did you know that before?
00:32:11
Speaker
Did you kind of already like know you're going to probably be making a little less?
00:32:15
Speaker
Well, yeah.
00:32:17
Speaker
Are you surprised?
00:32:17
Speaker
It's like, oh, I actually got to be out selling still quite a bit because that's where a lot of the money is going.
00:32:23
Speaker
Well, I did, I was having to sell longer than I expected.
00:32:26
Speaker
Okay.
00:32:27
Speaker
And so that for sure, that was the case as well.
00:32:30
Speaker
What was the first thing you said before that?
00:32:32
Speaker
Just like, were you surprised that, like, did you already kind of know that coming in?
00:32:35
Speaker
Oh, yeah.
00:32:35
Speaker
So I did talk to a few other people that had started a dealer and they all, they kind of told me that.
00:32:42
Speaker
Okay.
00:32:44
Speaker
And so I was, I was expecting it, which I'm grateful for because I was, or I shouldn't say I was expecting, because I also wanted to be making a lot of money at the same.
00:32:53
Speaker
It's not like I didn't want to make money.
00:32:54
Speaker
I shouldn't say that.
00:32:55
Speaker
But it was a little bit less about me in the moment.
00:33:00
Speaker
Before, when I was selling by myself or with the team, I always had to make sure I was producing.
00:33:05
Speaker
That was like my number one priority.
00:33:07
Speaker
But then all of a sudden, these other things were my number one priority.
00:33:11
Speaker
So I wasn't doing what I thought I was going to be able to to make what I was wanting.
00:33:16
Speaker
And so it was still, even though I was kind of warned about it,
00:33:20
Speaker
I was thinking I had a plan to get away from it, but it still ended up happening.
00:33:24
Speaker
Yeah.
00:33:26
Speaker
Tough to plan for everything for sure.
00:33:28
Speaker
Yeah.
00:33:28
Speaker
Well, we haven't really mentioned too, but you, you're running it with Dan Cranford.
00:33:33
Speaker
You, you guys run it together.
00:33:34
Speaker
Yeah.
00:33:35
Speaker
And so what was that like stepping in with, I don't know if there's been any like,
00:33:41
Speaker
challenges or like i don't know maybe difficulties doing it together i know there's always stuff like you know working as like a partnership and all that so what's that been like or what advice would you have someone that's doing it with another person maybe like communication ways you guys communicate right yeah yeah all those things so luckily dan he is like the most um
00:34:05
Speaker
lighthearted in a way.
00:34:07
Speaker
He's really serious about stuff, but he takes everything pretty lightly.
00:34:12
Speaker
And so if something is wrong, we're able to fix it relatively quick.
00:34:17
Speaker
Me and him are both very...
00:34:23
Speaker
we really try to let go of our ego when dealing with things.
00:34:29
Speaker
We both read, there's this book called power of now, which have you read that one?
00:34:33
Speaker
I don't think I have.
00:34:35
Speaker
Super good book.
00:34:37
Speaker
It just, it just talks about like letting go of things that are out of your control and essentially just focus on, on what can happen right now.
00:34:46
Speaker
And me and I'm kind of both take that to heart.
00:34:49
Speaker
And so I think,
00:34:50
Speaker
having that where we really go over egos just trying to figure out how to solve whatever is going on like we both know we're not trying to ever screw the other one over by any means even if maybe one of our actions seems like that at the moment and so we've it's been really good so if you have a partner like that it makes it um things go a lot more smoothly um
00:35:13
Speaker
And he's a really hard worker, so we kind of stay in our own lanes when we need to, or when we need to, we'll jump in and say, hey, what about this?
00:35:23
Speaker
And then we're able to overcome it.
00:35:26
Speaker
Did you guys divide up?
00:35:27
Speaker
Because I'm always curious about how you decide, okay, this person's going to handle this, it's going to handle this.
00:35:33
Speaker
Maybe you guys know your strengths and all that, but...
00:35:36
Speaker
Is it more like, would you say, Dan came in and said, hey, I think you'd be really good at this?
00:35:40
Speaker
Or do you guys just like, oh, I want to do this?
00:35:43
Speaker
Or how do you guys decide who's going to do what in the business?
00:35:46
Speaker
Yeah, when we first started, that was one of the learning things as we moved up, as I moved up here and we decided to partner up together.
00:35:59
Speaker
He's kind of more over the operations side, dealing with anything else.
00:36:05
Speaker
leading up to install and post install he kind of like I always help with those two things as well but he's kind of the one that heads all that and mine was more on the sales side so I'd be the one doing the trainings and then we have one of our main guys Jay he kind of does all the recruiting so we have three people that kind of
00:36:27
Speaker
But we definitely share.
00:36:28
Speaker
We share hats.
00:36:30
Speaker
So we'll let each other do the other thing if we need or need help.
00:36:34
Speaker
So that's no problem.
00:36:36
Speaker
But yeah, so sales, operations, recruiting.
00:36:38
Speaker
Yeah, that's good.
00:36:40
Speaker
That's good.
00:36:41
Speaker
And I know you guys had some team hour for the summer and all that.
00:36:46
Speaker
And yeah, winter, that's tough.
00:36:48
Speaker
I know a lot of you guys were summer guys coming out.
00:36:51
Speaker
Yeah.
00:36:52
Speaker
And I don't blame it.
00:36:53
Speaker
It'd be tough keeping guys on the way, like knocking on the winter.
00:36:56
Speaker
That's why it's blitz season during the wintertime because, yeah, you got to get out of this cold.
00:37:00
Speaker
Come back out to California.
00:37:01
Speaker
Yeah, yeah.
00:37:03
Speaker
Yeah, but no, it's been cool hearing about the journey.
00:37:06
Speaker
And hopefully we keep having you back on because there's always different perspectives from guys going to other markets and things we can apply that make us better.
00:37:16
Speaker
in whatever market we're selling.
00:37:18
Speaker
Um, so before I forget, Dal, if people want to reach out to you, uh, I don't know if you're, you're on social media as much lately, but if people want to maybe pick your brain, more about the item market or opening up their own dealers, stuff like that.
00:37:32
Speaker
Yeah.
00:37:32
Speaker
Yeah.
00:37:33
Speaker
Reach out to me.
00:37:34
Speaker
I got an Instagram at Dallin P five.
00:37:38
Speaker
I'll put it in the description.
00:37:40
Speaker
We'll make you do that.
00:37:43
Speaker
Thanks, dude.
00:37:44
Speaker
Yeah.
00:37:45
Speaker
Yeah, reach out.
00:37:45
Speaker
I'd be happy to help out with anything if you guys have any questions.
00:37:49
Speaker
Cool.
00:37:50
Speaker
Well, yeah.
00:37:50
Speaker
And then last question before we wrap up here now.
00:37:53
Speaker
I know I think last podcast we talked a little bit about, you know, Golden Door, what it takes to get over 100 installs in a year.
00:38:00
Speaker
I think it's now like 130 or something.
00:38:05
Speaker
But yeah, maybe for someone that wants to get Golden Door on the year or someone that's struggling would be some like final advice or final advice.
00:38:13
Speaker
words of wisdom that you'd have just to wrap up here yeah yeah i'm a big i love collecting data that's like my my favorite thing to do as far as projecting what can happen in the future yeah and so if you're someone that first as far as with the golden door or if you're not doing that great you want to improve both is really good is figure out what your averages are like
00:38:38
Speaker
On average, go back and see how many deals
Tracking Sales Metrics and Goals
00:38:41
Speaker
you've closed.
00:38:41
Speaker
All right.
00:38:42
Speaker
Out of how many deals you've closed, how many AKs or appointments did it sit, had to sit to have those closed?
00:38:50
Speaker
How many appointments did you have to book?
00:38:51
Speaker
And then just figure out what your ratios are.
00:38:54
Speaker
Be like, okay, if I knock 25 doors, that means on average, I'm going to get one appointment and I need five appointments to have
00:39:02
Speaker
three AKs out of those three AKs.
00:39:04
Speaker
You figure that out, then all you have to do is start planning your day around those goals.
00:39:09
Speaker
And so that's what me and you both, we would be pretty much doing when we won Golden Doors.
00:39:14
Speaker
We knew exactly how many doors we had to hit, how many hours we had to knock.
00:39:18
Speaker
And if you kind of just divide up your year, you're able to get there.
00:39:22
Speaker
And then if you're not doing that well, it's still do the same thing.
00:39:25
Speaker
And then like Grant Cardone says, just usually you'll have to 10x whatever you think you're going to be needing to get where you really want to go.
00:39:33
Speaker
And so if you're not doing that well, I would imagine it's just you really got to increase your reps.
00:39:37
Speaker
That's probably the biggest thing you have to do.
00:39:40
Speaker
Yep, so important to have anyone listening.
00:39:42
Speaker
I think especially experienced reps, sometimes I forget about these things.
00:39:46
Speaker
Just going back to the basics of figuring out how many appointments you need to sit in, how many
00:39:52
Speaker
how many it takes to get a close.
00:39:54
Speaker
And really it's as simple as that.
00:39:55
Speaker
And any guy that's closing a ton of deals, they know their ratios really well and they know what they need to do.
00:40:02
Speaker
And that way it becomes more of a science instead of just guessing when you're going to get a sell.
00:40:07
Speaker
So, Dallin, we appreciate you having you on today.
00:40:11
Speaker
And guys, go out and learn your markets.
00:40:15
Speaker
If you're thinking to start your own dealer like Dallin has done, make sure you listen to the things he's talked about today.
00:40:22
Speaker
know what you're getting into.
00:40:24
Speaker
And yeah, it's been an awesome podcast today and look forward to running it back again in the future though.
00:40:30
Speaker
I appreciate it, bud.
00:40:32
Speaker
What's up, Solopreneurs?
00:40:33
Speaker
Hope you enjoyed the episode.
00:40:35
Speaker
Before you run out and start selling more solar yourself, wanted to let you know about an exciting new cheat sheet we created specifically for you in mind.
00:40:46
Speaker
One of the top questions I get asked on Instagram, on Facebook, by our listeners is, Taylor, where should I start?
00:40:53
Speaker
What episodes should I listen to in the podcast?
00:40:56
Speaker
You got too many podcasts, man, because now we have over 200 episodes.
00:41:01
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 Solopreneur.
00:41:14
Speaker
We put them together all in one sheet.
00:41:16
Speaker
So you can go, you can hit the ground running, especially if you're new, you do not want to not have this sheet.
00:41:23
Speaker
So go download it right now.
00:41:24
Speaker
It's going to be at top10.solarpreneurs.com.
00:41:28
Speaker
Again, that's top10, the number 10,.solarpreneurs.com.
00:41:33
Speaker
Don't forget the S on solarpreneurs.com.
00:41:35
Speaker
We will have that in the show notes.
00:41:37
Speaker
Go download it right now.
00:41:39
Speaker
And especially if you have not listened to them, go listen to them and you can re-listen to them.
00:41:44
Speaker
That's going to show you how.
00:41:46
Speaker
So go download it and we'll see you on the other side.