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From Pest Control CEO to Solar CSO - Tom Karren
95 Plays1 year ago
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- https://www.solarscout.app/taylor
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The SOLARPRENEUR podcast is here to help you close more deals in the solar industry, generate more leads and referrals, and hopefully, have a much better time and situation.
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Transcript
Taylor's Journey from $50 to 150 Deals
00:00:03
Speaker
Welcome to the Solarpreneur Podcast, where we teach you to take your solar business to the next level.
00:00:09
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 fell.
00:00:20
Speaker
I teach you how to avoid the mistakes I made and bring in the top solar dogs of the industry to let you in on the secrets of generating more leads, falling up like a pro, and closing more deals.
00:00:31
Speaker
What is a solopreneur, you might ask?
00:00:33
Speaker
A solopreneur is a new breed of solopro that is willing to do whatever it takes to achieve mastery, and you
Discussing the Setting and Industry Experiences
00:00:40
Speaker
are about to become one.
00:00:40
Speaker
All right, what's going on, everybody?
00:00:43
Speaker
We are here in Petras, Sardinia, Italy, hanging out, and we have the privilege of hearing from someone that is one of the OGs.
00:00:51
Speaker
of I would say door to door, been in pest control.
00:00:55
Speaker
He's in solar now, so just knows all the ins and outs of, you could say everything when it comes to door to door.
The Role of Continuous Learning and Self-Improvement
00:01:02
Speaker
So we're honored to have the one and the only Tom Caron on with us today.
00:01:06
Speaker
Thanks for coming on, Tom.
00:01:07
Speaker
Thanks for having me.
00:01:08
Speaker
I appreciate it.
00:01:09
Speaker
Yeah.
00:01:09
Speaker
Fun to do it in this setting.
00:01:10
Speaker
I know.
00:01:11
Speaker
It's a unique environment hanging out.
00:01:14
Speaker
I don't think I've ever had this type of backdrop.
00:01:19
Speaker
So if you're listening to this audio, maybe go check out the YouTube version when we drop it because we've got the ocean right behind us.
00:01:26
Speaker
We're at this beautiful villa here.
00:01:29
Speaker
I'm just wrapping up a couple's retreat with Jen's Bunnell.
00:01:33
Speaker
And it's been all.
00:01:34
Speaker
Yeah.
00:01:34
Speaker
What do you what have you thought of the retreat so far, Tom?
00:01:36
Speaker
It's been impactful.
00:01:37
Speaker
Very cool.
00:01:38
Speaker
And this is how I got to meet Taylor and hit it off.
00:01:42
Speaker
And I'm just excited to be here.
00:01:45
Speaker
Yeah.
00:01:46
Speaker
Yeah, no, we've learned a ton of things.
00:01:48
Speaker
And cool to see that even guys like you, Tom, that, you know, like super successful, that to me, it seems like you got all the answers and everything.
00:01:56
Speaker
But I think that's what I see guys that are already great.
00:02:00
Speaker
They know that there's always more to learn.
00:02:02
Speaker
And
00:02:03
Speaker
ways to improve, especially in relationships.
00:02:06
Speaker
And it seems like you keep coming to stuff like this, even though to guys like me, you've already hit like the level of success.
00:02:12
Speaker
No, you never stop learning.
00:02:14
Speaker
You never stop growing.
00:02:15
Speaker
And that's where, you know, you get stagnant if you think you know it all.
00:02:19
Speaker
And I always try to invest time into betterment programs and especially when it comes to the most important relationship you'll ever have, which is your marriage.
00:02:30
Speaker
Okay.
00:02:32
Speaker
So, yeah, it's been great.
00:02:33
Speaker
It's been impactful.
00:02:34
Speaker
And we've made some really great connections with others here.
00:02:37
Speaker
And it's just been a privilege all around.
00:02:40
Speaker
Yeah, 100%.
00:02:40
Speaker
Well, yeah.
00:02:43
Speaker
So let's get into your
Tom's Beginnings in Door-to-Door Sales
00:02:44
Speaker
story.
00:02:44
Speaker
So we're going to be talking about Tom has a pretty, pretty unique story of coming over from pest control.
00:02:49
Speaker
Now he is the CSO over at Aveo Solar, one of the partners and founders of that company.
00:02:56
Speaker
I'm blowing that up.
00:02:58
Speaker
And so, yeah, we're going to get into his story.
00:03:00
Speaker
He's got a lot.
00:03:01
Speaker
I mean, he's got perspectives from, I think, every level from rep, manager, owner, CSO.
00:03:06
Speaker
So cool to dive into that.
00:03:08
Speaker
So...
00:03:09
Speaker
Um, do you want to start just with your, I don't know how you got into door to door start with how you got into pest control and then we'll sure, you know, talk about solar after that.
00:03:17
Speaker
Absolutely.
00:03:18
Speaker
Um, yeah, I've been doing this a hot minute.
00:03:20
Speaker
Um, how old are you?
00:03:22
Speaker
Uh, 31 31.
00:03:23
Speaker
Okay.
00:03:24
Speaker
So you were seven when I started knocking doors back in 2000.
00:03:28
Speaker
Um, I got recruited out of, uh, Rexburg, Idaho.
00:03:34
Speaker
Um, essentially someone just, uh, knocked on my college, uh,
00:03:39
Speaker
door and invited me and my roommate to a free pizza meeting.
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Speaker
And I was working all sorts of crazy jobs at the time as a student.
00:03:48
Speaker
I was an early morning janitor, worked at a potato factory.
00:03:52
Speaker
Donated plasma, was working at a call center called Melaleuca at the time.
00:03:59
Speaker
So just doing crazy jobs to make ends meet.
00:04:03
Speaker
And when the opportunity presented itself to knock doors to make money, I was like, no.
00:04:11
Speaker
I'm not going to do that, but I'll go get free pizza with my roommates and went to the information meeting and actually met someone there that had done it that I knew my freshman year.
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that had done it the previous summer.
00:04:26
Speaker
And so it's someone I knew and trusted and loved and we just had lost contact.
00:04:33
Speaker
And he had great experience with it.
00:04:36
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He shot me straight that this isn't a get rich quick scam.
00:04:39
Speaker
This is going to be a lot of hard work, blood, sweat and tears.
00:04:42
Speaker
And so decided to go out and sell pest control with work and pest control my first summer.
00:04:48
Speaker
Okay.
00:04:49
Speaker
Yeah, classic.
00:04:50
Speaker
That was very similar to my story.
00:04:52
Speaker
Is that?
00:04:53
Speaker
Pizza, plasma.
00:04:55
Speaker
It's like still got the plasma scar.
00:04:57
Speaker
Oh, yeah.
00:04:57
Speaker
I was donor of the month in Rexburg.
00:05:00
Speaker
You could do it twice a week.
00:05:02
Speaker
I didn't miss.
00:05:04
Speaker
Easy money.
00:05:04
Speaker
Battles, cars out there.
00:05:06
Speaker
Yeah.
00:05:07
Speaker
But then, yeah, I mean, being broke like that, anytime there's free pizza, like, yeah, all right, I'm there.
00:05:12
Speaker
It still works today.
00:05:14
Speaker
We do pizza meetings all over the country on campuses.
00:05:18
Speaker
We hand out flyers and advertise for a information pizza meeting.
00:05:22
Speaker
And I guess it still works today.
00:05:24
Speaker
Yeah.
00:05:25
Speaker
Classic.
00:05:27
Speaker
But yeah, so I think, yeah.
00:05:29
Speaker
And as you know, I started in pest control too and did two summers of that before I got into solar.
00:05:35
Speaker
But you're, I mean, you were in pest forever.
00:05:38
Speaker
How many years of pest did you do?
Transitioning from Pest Control to Solar
00:05:40
Speaker
So I'm still in pest today.
00:05:42
Speaker
We still have a large pest control company all throughout Canada and the United States called Insight Pest Solutions.
00:05:49
Speaker
Okay.
00:05:50
Speaker
I replaced myself as CEO of Vantage Marketing, which is the recruiting arm of Insight Pest Solutions.
00:06:00
Speaker
Okay.
00:06:00
Speaker
And we also sell for other clients outside of our own brand Insight, but primarily Insight.
00:06:06
Speaker
And so
00:06:07
Speaker
That's still up and running today.
00:06:09
Speaker
So I've been doing pest control now.
00:06:10
Speaker
Gosh, I guess it's 24 years.
00:06:13
Speaker
Wow.
00:06:14
Speaker
Love the space.
00:06:15
Speaker
But it was time for a change and to mix things up.
00:06:20
Speaker
I was kind of just...
00:06:22
Speaker
feeling stagnant uh i don't want to say i conquered the space but we've done very well in the pest control space and um wanted to maybe try to go conquer one more industry before i hang up the sneakers and go do something else nice so here's a here's a interesting question um you know i came from pest control
00:06:46
Speaker
And I'm sure you've seen guys maybe start solar just out of the gates, not do pest control.
00:06:53
Speaker
But from your perspective, having been in both industries now, do you think it's pretty valuable for someone new that's never knocked doors before?
00:07:02
Speaker
Do you think it's better for them to start with maybe a different industry like pest control or solar?
00:07:08
Speaker
And the reason I ask that is because as I'm sure you've seen, there's a lot of lazy solar reps to where they're knocking maybe a couple hours a day.
00:07:16
Speaker
calling it good, fat and happy waiting for those leads.
00:07:19
Speaker
I think it's a big blessing to have sold a product like pest control or alarms or dish to where you've got to grind.
00:07:28
Speaker
There are no leads.
00:07:29
Speaker
You create your own leads.
00:07:30
Speaker
You eat what you kill and you got to go knock seven, eight, nine hours a day to be successful and to do well and make the kind of money that, that you would want to make in the, in the door to door space.
00:07:41
Speaker
And so I have found those that have,
00:07:45
Speaker
grinded on the doors, whether it's pest control, alarms, dish, tend to do better.
00:07:51
Speaker
They're not the type to just sit back and wait for leads to come.
00:07:56
Speaker
They get out and create their own leads.
00:07:58
Speaker
They self-gen.
00:07:59
Speaker
And obviously they're just used to having to grind hard on the doors.
00:08:03
Speaker
And I do think that's one of the major
00:08:06
Speaker
pain points in the door-to-door space in solar is that we're all on the crack pipe wanting leads.
00:08:11
Speaker
And when they don't come, most guys don't have the, or girls have the discipline or grit to get out there and create your own leads.
00:08:19
Speaker
But in those other verticals in the door-to-door space, you have no other choice.
00:08:23
Speaker
So I think it brings tremendous value, experience,
00:08:27
Speaker
I'm not saying you have to start with another industry to do solar, but if you've done something else, you've got a little bit of a competitive advantage over those that are just sitting in the car begging for leads.
00:08:39
Speaker
Yeah, 100%.
00:08:41
Speaker
Yeah, we love, I know for me, I love pest control reps, recruiting them to come be a setter for me.
00:08:46
Speaker
The grinders.
00:08:47
Speaker
Just because I know these guys, they're used to knocking like eight to 10 hours a day.
00:08:52
Speaker
Hustle.
00:08:52
Speaker
Or more, yeah.
00:08:53
Speaker
And so, like if they can bring that same hustle over to solar,
00:08:57
Speaker
Like very few of them will not have success.
00:09:00
Speaker
Yeah.
00:09:01
Speaker
That was one of my thoughts when I first entered the solar space three years ago is I knew enough about solar.
00:09:09
Speaker
I've seen two big waves come over my career.
00:09:12
Speaker
I wasn't ignorant to it.
00:09:15
Speaker
And I knew, you know, the setter closer model was primarily how most door to door,
00:09:20
Speaker
companies got their business.
00:09:22
Speaker
And I did figure, man, if I transitioned a lot of the pest control guys over to solar, we'd crush because our guys grind.
00:09:32
Speaker
They work hard.
00:09:34
Speaker
They get out there and pound it every day, seven, eight hours a day, six days a week.
00:09:39
Speaker
And sure enough, when we did pivot those that wanted to dabble solar or had gone on blitzes or just needed to scratch that itch, they hit the ground running and did very well.
00:09:50
Speaker
Yeah, that's awesome.
00:09:52
Speaker
And so, yeah, I want to talk about how you transition
Entrepreneurial Pathways in Sales
00:09:54
Speaker
to solar.
00:09:54
Speaker
But before that, something you told us the other day is that I didn't really understand the extent of is that you guys did a kind of unique model when it comes to pest control, where reps can almost start their own like, you know, office.
00:10:10
Speaker
Yeah, basically buy their own franchise, essentially sounds like of your company.
00:10:16
Speaker
And yeah, I thought it was cool when you're telling us about that, just how instead of making them, you know, competitors like them wanting to go out and start their own pest control company, you gave them the opportunity to basically start their own branch and have equity of it.
00:10:32
Speaker
And then still be like under the umbrella of the company, but not be like a competitor.
00:10:36
Speaker
Yeah.
00:10:37
Speaker
So, yeah, what led you to start that?
00:10:39
Speaker
And really, the main reason was me and my business partner, Shandon Cole, looked back at all of the pest control companies that today exist and how many of them started with us.
00:10:56
Speaker
And we're like, gosh, we need to find a way to where we can still win together, where we're better together than apart.
00:11:03
Speaker
And so we came up with a model.
00:11:07
Speaker
That's actually a model we've done since inception to where someone that's proven themselves, managed the team effectively, can recruit, does business the right way, has an appetite for entrepreneurship and wants to essentially own a piece of the pie.
00:11:24
Speaker
We give them a path to where they can own a piece of a location, a significant piece, and we'll run it, we'll fund it.
00:11:32
Speaker
and, uh, they just need to do what they do best, recruit and sell.
00:11:36
Speaker
Uh, they're a real owner.
00:11:37
Speaker
It's not a profit sharing.
00:11:39
Speaker
It's not an L tip.
00:11:40
Speaker
They're on the cap table.
00:11:42
Speaker
They get a K one.
00:11:43
Speaker
So it's real equity.
00:11:44
Speaker
And then we've got, uh, buyers lined up.
00:11:47
Speaker
If, uh,
00:11:48
Speaker
They want to flip that branch after three, four, five years and get a big payday.
00:11:53
Speaker
That opportunity is on the table or they can just keep the branch and let it cash flow.
00:11:59
Speaker
And it's been a great model for giving, you know, young entrepreneurs something to aspire to.
00:12:05
Speaker
But it's been really exciting.
00:12:09
Speaker
gratifying to see how many young millionaires that this program's created.
00:12:18
Speaker
If I go back through my Rolodex, I think there's 35 plus millionaires that we've created from this model where we sold a branch.
00:12:28
Speaker
And that means that's not how much they made over time.
00:12:32
Speaker
they got a lump sum of a million plus off an exit.
00:12:35
Speaker
Wow.
00:12:36
Speaker
And that brings me a lot of joy and satisfaction to know that we were able to come up with a platform that could bless someone's lives like that.
00:12:46
Speaker
Yeah.
00:12:46
Speaker
Well, that's so cool.
00:12:47
Speaker
Yeah.
00:12:48
Speaker
That's something I've realized too is like, as I've been doing this now since 2012, long time, but it almost, I'm sure you can agree is as you've done it for so many years,
00:13:00
Speaker
It's almost core to see other people have success too.
00:13:02
Speaker
And that's kind of the next step is not only making money yourself, but seeing others have a ton of success.
00:13:08
Speaker
That's where they bring you true joy is young, young reps that came through your program that just started out as a young rookie, unsure of themselves, dropping their flyers on the doorstep, not knowing how to fill an agreement.
00:13:21
Speaker
All of a sudden,
00:13:22
Speaker
building large teams and becoming millionaires, multi-millionaires through the space.
00:13:27
Speaker
And that's what I love about door to door.
00:13:30
Speaker
I love just the opportunity it provides that, you know,
00:13:37
Speaker
you know, most of us probably wouldn't have been able to find otherwise, we would have probably got sucked into the machine and been a nine to five person, the door to door sales, expand your horizon and your vision of what you can do in life.
00:13:52
Speaker
And yeah, I just I love the space, love door to door sales.
00:13:56
Speaker
I
00:13:56
Speaker
Love all the companies.
00:13:58
Speaker
I'm not a hater on any company.
00:14:00
Speaker
I know what they go through on their side of the fence to run a successful summer sales company.
00:14:07
Speaker
It's not easy.
00:14:08
Speaker
It's very hard.
00:14:09
Speaker
And so anyone that has the grit and the wherewithal to go out and tackle this space, I respect you.
00:14:16
Speaker
Yeah, no doubt.
00:14:18
Speaker
And yeah, anyone listening, I think that's kind of the next level is leading other people, growing teams just because.
00:14:25
Speaker
Yeah, I know.
00:14:26
Speaker
sometimes I get stagnant.
00:14:27
Speaker
If I'm, I've been with companies where there's not really like a leadership plan in place and just everyone's kind of fending for themselves.
00:14:35
Speaker
And it's a lot less motivating doing it by yourself and not having that growth.
00:14:40
Speaker
Um, it's fun to be, not seeing other people grow.
00:14:41
Speaker
Yeah.
00:14:42
Speaker
So yeah, definitely anyone listening to this.
00:14:45
Speaker
Um, if you are feeling like stagnant or you're not progressing, I think that's one of the best ways to not only grow more yourself, but help other people grow is, uh,
00:14:54
Speaker
Yeah.
00:14:55
Speaker
Trying to help other people.
00:14:56
Speaker
Great thought.
00:14:57
Speaker
Yeah.
00:14:57
Speaker
Have the same levels there.
00:14:59
Speaker
Achieve success.
00:15:00
Speaker
Um, but yeah.
00:15:01
Speaker
And so, uh, as we know you transitioned to solar, what has it been like a year now or, uh, about three years
Challenges and Strategies in the Solar Industry
00:15:08
Speaker
ago.
00:15:08
Speaker
Okay.
00:15:09
Speaker
Um,
00:15:11
Speaker
decided that I was tired of losing top reps to solar.
00:15:17
Speaker
Reps that have been with me five, six, seven years were going on these solar blitzes and making crazy money and they were making crazy money in the pest space.
00:15:26
Speaker
But, you know, I...
00:15:29
Speaker
had great relationships with them, but they wanted to go scratch that itch and dabble and they were seeing great success in the solar space.
00:15:36
Speaker
And so I figured I could either keep watching top talent go out the door or create a platform to be in the space.
00:15:44
Speaker
And so we started a sales org three years ago to just
00:15:50
Speaker
learn it.
00:15:51
Speaker
I knew as eventually I always wanted to get into the install game because on pest control, we've always done our own brand where we facilitate the service.
00:16:00
Speaker
We're not just selling for other companies, but we service the customer.
00:16:04
Speaker
We like to have our hand on the wheel and have that control.
00:16:07
Speaker
And so I knew I wanted to eventually get into the EPC game, but want to just learn the space.
00:16:14
Speaker
So we started Vantage Solar.
00:16:16
Speaker
three years ago and just jumped in the deep end.
00:16:21
Speaker
I was blessed to have maintained a great relationship with almost five or six leaders that had left to go do solar.
00:16:31
Speaker
And because we had started a platform, we were able to get them back.
00:16:35
Speaker
And it was kind of a blessing in disguise because they had knowledge of the space that I didn't have.
00:16:40
Speaker
So to have the maturity to let
00:16:44
Speaker
Um, you know, your top leaders, some of them go out and, uh, uh, do another industry and, and leave on good terms and, and leave that bridge open was just another, um,
00:17:00
Speaker
what's the word for it?
00:17:01
Speaker
Just testament to me of how important it is to, to keep relationships intact.
00:17:06
Speaker
It's your greatest currency is relationships and networking.
00:17:10
Speaker
And, uh, yeah, we were able to attract back these guys that had left and, um, had success in solar, but we, we had a great relationship, so they wanted to be part of it.
00:17:20
Speaker
And, uh, we just, we kept growing and, um, making all the mistakes in the book, but, uh, we're now, um,
00:17:29
Speaker
got our footing and we've started a company called Aveo, partnered up with some really sharp
00:17:37
Speaker
guys in the industry that have a lot of history.
00:17:40
Speaker
Jeremy Hammond, our CEO.
00:17:42
Speaker
I've had a longstanding relationship with him for years.
00:17:46
Speaker
And we were both just sales orgs.
00:17:48
Speaker
They had caliber at the time.
00:17:50
Speaker
And we hitched our wagons and we were able to attract several other sales orgs to join forces with us.
00:17:57
Speaker
And we jumped into the install game.
00:18:00
Speaker
So here we are today.
00:18:01
Speaker
Yeah.
00:18:02
Speaker
Love it.
00:18:03
Speaker
Yeah.
00:18:03
Speaker
Well, I've seen some other like mergers happen in solar where
00:18:07
Speaker
Um, you know, it hasn't been like the cleanest thing where guys all have their different ways of running things.
00:18:13
Speaker
And I've seen some kind of fall apart and be super messy.
00:18:18
Speaker
So obviously you guys, you know, it seems like things are running pretty smoothly.
00:18:22
Speaker
I'm sure maybe there's been some bumps and stuff like that.
00:18:24
Speaker
Definitely bumps.
00:18:26
Speaker
Um, I think the difference with a veil versus some of the other companies that did a big merger is we didn't go acquire an EPC.
00:18:33
Speaker
Um,
00:18:34
Speaker
Our EPC was started from scratch.
00:18:37
Speaker
We brought in sales orgs in alignment, and that's a lot easier to integrate sales teams, sales companies into one sales org than to go acquire a bunch of EPCs and try to merge them together with different CRMs, different payroll practices, equipment, everything, finance companies.
00:18:58
Speaker
And so we brought in sales orgs as one, but started an EPC.
00:19:04
Speaker
from scratch essentially okay cool yeah that makes sense because yeah the last people i know of that did that they combined i think like three different epcs and um i don't think it went very smoothly so um sounds like that's probably a lot easier way to do it where they can just take over your same practices yeah adjust things yeah
00:19:27
Speaker
Cool.
00:19:27
Speaker
And so, yeah, what are some other, I don't know, is there anything you feel like you had to learn or that like surprised you about solar coming from your pest control background?
00:19:37
Speaker
My partners and I often talk that it was a blessing in disguise that we started in the space when we did, which is arguably the most challenging time the solar space has ever seen.
00:19:51
Speaker
And, you know, my first three months in, I was like, what the hell did I just do?
00:19:55
Speaker
I had it.
00:19:57
Speaker
I was...
00:19:58
Speaker
had a smooth running ship, which still is today.
00:20:01
Speaker
In fact, they're doing better without me over there.
00:20:03
Speaker
So I was like, well, on the pest control side, they're getting tons of traction.
00:20:08
Speaker
But yeah, it's a blessing that we started when we did to have to really pay attention, learn from the predecessors before us of what they did well, what they didn't do well.
00:20:21
Speaker
And we had a lot of history of...
00:20:26
Speaker
allies in the space that we could learn from.
00:20:28
Speaker
And so if you're able to make it in this day and age in the solar space, as things clean out, level out, as the red tape lessons, as it just gets easier to be able to sell the PTO without all of the minutia in between, like other countries have done successfully, you look at Switzerland, you look at Germany,
00:20:52
Speaker
Solar is made easy.
00:20:53
Speaker
A consumer can easily get solar there.
00:20:56
Speaker
It can be easily sold.
00:20:58
Speaker
And our market penetration is way, way, way greater than what we have.
00:21:03
Speaker
You hear different numbers, but let's call it 5% market penetration in the United States.
00:21:08
Speaker
It can only get better and easier from here.
00:21:11
Speaker
So I'm a huge believer in the cause.
00:21:14
Speaker
I'm a huge believer in the industry.
00:21:16
Speaker
And I think it has...
00:21:18
Speaker
tons and tons of legs to really take off.
00:21:22
Speaker
And so if you're on a boat that can survive the waters and make it, which there's some really great players in the space that will, I think it's going to be an open highway.
00:21:34
Speaker
Yeah, no, I agree.
00:21:36
Speaker
But yeah, it was interesting you were telling us the other day.
00:21:38
Speaker
I didn't really think about this, but totally true.
00:21:41
Speaker
How you're saying pest control, kind of like you can set up the same system process, rinse, repeat, dump it in a bunch of different markets.
00:21:48
Speaker
And it's a pretty similar process.
00:21:50
Speaker
But like with solar, you're saying every jurisdiction is different, different laws, different net metering.
00:21:58
Speaker
So just a lot more complicated to like, you know, grow it in one market, maybe the same way you did it in another market.
00:22:04
Speaker
Yeah, we learned the hard way.
00:22:08
Speaker
In pest control, we're nationwide essentially, nationwide through Canada.
00:22:14
Speaker
And so of course I wanted to do the same thing in the solar space.
00:22:18
Speaker
Let's go, let's conquer this.
00:22:20
Speaker
Let's go recruit the masses and open up as many cities as we can.
00:22:25
Speaker
Well, I quickly realized this isn't an industry that you can easily do that overnight.
00:22:31
Speaker
And so we decided to just pick five markets where we were good at, where we could give an elegant experience to where we felt like we had our processes dialed in and just doubled down on those.
00:22:45
Speaker
We moved the small eight, 10 man, 12 man teams that were selling in these outlier markets and consolidated everyone in these five markets to where we felt like we had a pretty good grasp on those.
00:22:59
Speaker
So some of you already know that I run my own door to door sales team here in San Diego.
00:23:04
Speaker
And as we are gearing up for the summer, I realized if we do the same thing we always did, we're going to get the same results.
00:23:10
Speaker
But if I want to increase my deal flow, I need to do something different to get an advantage.
00:23:15
Speaker
Then we discovered an app called Solar Scout.
00:23:18
Speaker
But it's not a door knocking app.
00:23:19
Speaker
It's a data platform that shows us who is likely to go solar in our market.
00:23:24
Speaker
It shows us who has previously applied for solar but later canceled the deal, who has moved in recently, and even how much electricity the homes are using in a given neighborhood.
00:23:33
Speaker
It's been working for a lot of teams across the country, and now I'm on board too.
00:23:38
Speaker
I'm going to be one of the first to use SolarScout in San Diego, so I decided to partner up.
00:23:42
Speaker
But I told them, hey, I'm going to talk about SolarScout on my show.
00:23:45
Speaker
You need to give my listeners a great deal, and they did.
00:23:48
Speaker
So go to solarscout.app forward slash Taylor and book a demo with them, and you'll get 10% off your first month when you sign up.
00:23:58
Speaker
That's solarscout.app forward slash Taylor.
00:24:01
Speaker
Okay, back to the show.
Prioritizing Quality in Consumer Experience
00:24:04
Speaker
And we'll slowly expand, absolutely, but with caution, with ease, as we get better and keep delivering a high-level experience to the consumers, which to me is the most important thing.
00:24:19
Speaker
We're selling a big ticket item product.
00:24:22
Speaker
It's not a $700 pest control contract, $800 pest control.
00:24:24
Speaker
This is a big purchase for consumers,
00:24:33
Speaker
And we have a moral responsibility to not only sell it with integrity, but to install and and give them
00:24:44
Speaker
you know, essentially the bang for their buck, what they were promised.
00:24:47
Speaker
And so, um, I want to hold to that standard and I would rather be smaller and give an elegant experience than so big that you just, you lose control of the wheel.
00:24:59
Speaker
And that's, what's happened with a lot of companies.
00:25:02
Speaker
They, they lost control of the wheel and they couldn't deliver a good experience.
00:25:07
Speaker
They chose growth over, um,
00:25:10
Speaker
the consumer right over the sales reps and uh it it ended badly and i refuse to be one of those statistics yeah um you want to do do business the right way but you put the consumer first your people first you'll always win yeah for sure no it's good you're because like now more than ever we're seeing the fruits of those mistakes that people made it's because all these all those companies are
00:25:35
Speaker
disappearing or you know and i mean that like uh it makes me sad every time i hear a company that went under i don't celebrate that i didn't i don't wish that upon any company that impacted real families real lives someone's life savings to to have the courage to go be an entrepreneur and create jobs for people and uh i hate seeing it yeah but it there's a lot of
00:26:02
Speaker
what not to do's right and so it's lessons and if you can hit your wagon to a company that that has the discipline and the um foresight just to to navigate these waters it's going to become really fun yeah um solar is going to explode i i truly believe the worst is behind us uh it can only get better from here uh and yeah i'm just excited to be on this ride one last hurrah
00:26:32
Speaker
Yeah.
00:26:33
Speaker
No, I hope it does.
00:26:34
Speaker
Yeah.
Collaboration and Alliances in Solar
00:26:35
Speaker
I mean, I don't, I keep thinking, man, it can't get worse than this.
00:26:41
Speaker
So yeah, I hope, I hope we've seen the worst of it, but yeah, it's true.
00:26:44
Speaker
There's so many people.
00:26:45
Speaker
I don't know if you're part of any of those Facebook groups or anything, but so there's so much drama and some of these people talking about solar and they celebrate it.
00:26:53
Speaker
Yeah.
00:26:53
Speaker
And I go, another one bites the butt dust.
00:26:55
Speaker
I saw that one coming.
00:26:56
Speaker
Yeah.
00:26:57
Speaker
They're like almost celebrating it.
00:26:58
Speaker
And then just like, Oh, come to Mike.
00:27:00
Speaker
I'm using it as recruiting now.
00:27:02
Speaker
So I'm like, guys, let's like, yeah, you can learn from it, but why are we like celebrating another company?
00:27:07
Speaker
That hurt a lot of people.
00:27:08
Speaker
Yeah.
00:27:09
Speaker
I think, I remember you telling me at dinner that you've sold deals for companies that went under.
00:27:15
Speaker
Yeah.
00:27:15
Speaker
That wasn't something to celebrate.
00:27:17
Speaker
I know.
00:27:17
Speaker
That impacted you personally, impacted your life, your family.
00:27:21
Speaker
And so I think we just need to understand there's enough business to go around.
00:27:26
Speaker
Yeah.
00:27:26
Speaker
Early in my pest control career, obviously ultra competitive and
00:27:32
Speaker
I thought it was me against the world.
00:27:33
Speaker
I wasn't really friends with any allies.
00:27:37
Speaker
It's us and everyone else.
00:27:39
Speaker
As I matured as a businessman, I realized how much power there is in strong allies in your same space.
00:27:47
Speaker
and to surround yourself and share best practices and help each other avoid potential pitfalls.
00:27:54
Speaker
Yeah.
00:27:55
Speaker
There's with 5% market penetration, there's plenty of business for all of us to go around.
00:28:01
Speaker
And so I think if we, we come together and, and really put the industry that we love and believe in first and collaborate with each other and find strong forces that that's going to help us all get through the, the,
00:28:16
Speaker
tailwinds of this.
00:28:17
Speaker
Yeah, for sure.
00:28:18
Speaker
Yeah.
00:28:19
Speaker
And so what do you think?
00:28:21
Speaker
Because you've talked about expanding your company and like expanding with caution before.
Lessons on Expansion and Market Understanding
00:28:27
Speaker
I remember my first company I was with, they expanded into like four or five different states in a year.
00:28:34
Speaker
And then I think all the states flopped and they had to close up shop the year after that.
00:28:41
Speaker
So yeah, I saw some things that they could have done better.
00:28:43
Speaker
But for you, what do you think as you've like made expansions, maybe in pest control or seen it also in solar now a little bit?
00:28:50
Speaker
What are some mistakes you think people make as they're trying to expand into different areas, regions?
00:28:57
Speaker
You think it's not having a strong enough leader?
00:28:59
Speaker
You like testing out the market or what do you think?
00:29:03
Speaker
Probably a combination of both where you assume that you've got it dialed in a certain state that you can rinse and repeat and you get in and every county is different.
00:29:13
Speaker
Every utility company is different.
00:29:15
Speaker
It is not a rinse and repeat scalable business like a franchise.
00:29:19
Speaker
With pest control, I could essentially dial in our processes so tight.
00:29:24
Speaker
And there's not a lot of variables outside of those from city to city, right?
00:29:29
Speaker
Maybe some states have some limitations on what products you can use, but 95% of it is the same, just like a McDonald's franchise.
00:29:39
Speaker
They scale their processes and so tight, do this and don't do anything else.
00:29:43
Speaker
Rinse, repeat, and you can grow.
00:29:45
Speaker
solar is not like that.
00:29:46
Speaker
Yeah.
00:29:47
Speaker
If you're going to do it on a high level.
00:29:49
Speaker
And so we'll keep expanding as we feel like we've got our current footprint fully dialed so that we can keep giving a good experience that we can keep attracting top talent like we have.
00:30:02
Speaker
Yeah.
00:30:03
Speaker
And I'm, I'm more concerned about the experience we're giving our people and the customers than how fast we're going to keep expanding.
00:30:12
Speaker
I, I believe that,
00:30:14
Speaker
just like all of my other businesses, we'll get there.
00:30:16
Speaker
We'll grow the right way.
00:30:18
Speaker
Um, want to make sure we're always in a healthy cash position.
00:30:22
Speaker
We, uh, we're good stewards of, of our cash.
00:30:25
Speaker
We're blessed to have had a lot of success outside of solar.
00:30:28
Speaker
So we, we don't have any outside funding.
00:30:32
Speaker
We're self-funded and, um, we were able to see a lot of mistakes companies made by, uh,
00:30:38
Speaker
treating m1s as real cash and uh it's essentially just just alone um we we're we're just good stewards of our capital um we've made mistakes that we pivoted from quickly but uh we just want to be poised to to be one of the players at the end that that made an impact in this space and uh blessed a lot of lives yeah that's awesome um yeah because i think now more than ever we need
00:31:05
Speaker
you know, strong people in solar, we need leaders, we need people that can expand and grow because a lot of companies have closed up shop and consolidated and all that.
00:31:16
Speaker
I think that's sort of what happened.
00:31:19
Speaker
They just didn't have maybe strong leadership in areas and we're doing things the wrong way.
00:31:25
Speaker
And yeah, it's kind of what I'm trying to do in San Diego too.
00:31:27
Speaker
Like I, as I told you, I went from a company where I was like running a
00:31:33
Speaker
The team in San Diego didn't get paid out by a few different installers.
00:31:40
Speaker
Took a big blow.
00:31:41
Speaker
So now it's kind of like rebuild phase for me trying to consolidate the guys I have left.
00:31:46
Speaker
And got like 10, 15 guys we're building with now on my personal squad there in San Diego.
00:31:54
Speaker
So maybe, well, yeah, as I'm building, that's something that I like to ask people that have built out huge organizations like yourself, Tom.
00:32:03
Speaker
So as you did that, maybe in pest control, what were, do you have any advice for people that maybe are trying to like build up teams?
00:32:11
Speaker
Maybe they're at like my stage, 10 to 15 guys trying to rebuild a little bit.
00:32:16
Speaker
What were some things that you think maybe could carry over from your pest control days or things you've seen that can help build up teams and expand like that?
00:32:24
Speaker
you can only grow as wide as you have leaders to, to accommodate that growth.
00:32:29
Speaker
And so, um, I'm huge into developing leaders quickly, um, into empowering them, getting that in their mind that, um,
00:32:39
Speaker
we want you to become a leader in this space and we're going to help you do so.
00:32:43
Speaker
And if you have strong leaders that, that do business the right way, guys that you can trust, not babysit, you know, that they're going to do, do right by their reps are going to do right by the customer.
00:32:55
Speaker
It's all about, um,
00:32:58
Speaker
getting your leadership in place and making the right people leaders.
00:33:05
Speaker
That doesn't necessarily mean the best salesman.
00:33:08
Speaker
A lot of times the best salesmen don't make the best leaders because they're so consumed by their personal sales and they should stay as a top talent on the doors and not be a leader.
00:33:20
Speaker
And so, um,
00:33:22
Speaker
I just encourage you, no matter how many reps you have underneath of your umbrella, find ways to give back.
00:33:29
Speaker
Start developing them into strong leaders so that you can grow, especially as solar starts to clean up.
00:33:37
Speaker
I think we're going to see a lot of reps flock back to the space.
00:33:40
Speaker
I think we've seen a lot
00:33:42
Speaker
leave the space in the last few years.
00:33:44
Speaker
If you look at some of the big events we have in the solar space, the attendance is way down.
00:33:51
Speaker
We've taken it on the chin, the space has.
00:33:55
Speaker
I think some people are trigger shy, especially as you hear the horrible news almost weekly now of another one going under.
00:34:02
Speaker
That's going to stop.
00:34:05
Speaker
the success stories are start gonna becoming more prevalent than the failure stories and we'll celebrate those.
00:34:12
Speaker
And I believe solar is a, if you build it, they will come and show reps that, hey, they can get paid quickly.
00:34:21
Speaker
There are companies giving a high level experience.
00:34:24
Speaker
This is a safe space, a safe industry.
00:34:28
Speaker
And as that starts to happen, there'll be a lot of influx of reps and the leaders will, will have an opportunity to go run teams and expand your networks.
00:34:39
Speaker
Yeah.
00:34:40
Speaker
Yeah.
00:34:40
Speaker
And we were talking to the other day, but I think right now more than ever, the people that can stick out maybe this, this harder period of time and,
00:34:49
Speaker
um you know like just go through the adversity thing especially now if people can stick that out come out through the other side then i think they're setting themselves up for yeah massive success because then once solar starts peaking up again a little bit yep um as people come and start flocking walking back to solar it's like who are they gonna go to they're gonna go to the guys that not the new ones went through the adversity and yep
00:35:16
Speaker
The veteran companies will attract the top talent.
00:35:20
Speaker
There'll be a lot of new companies try to start up and join the wave.
00:35:25
Speaker
But I love, again, just the blessings and the lessons of what we're navigating today, the waters we're navigating.
00:35:34
Speaker
And I truly believe that there's brighter days ahead of us, no pun intended, but that solar is
00:35:43
Speaker
not going away the world needs solar yeah you just again look at what other countries have done in the space and we'll we'll naturally follow suit and uh it's going to get a lot of fun and uh yeah i think we'll all be really glad that we stuck with it yeah no doubt yep i've been uh eight years at this now in solar and you know i'm here with my parents are here in italy too and they're like man are you even you know stop doing solar been eight years and it's kind of at like
00:36:12
Speaker
that regression and solar.
00:36:13
Speaker
And I'm like, boy, I'm going to keep beating it until there's nothing left.
00:36:17
Speaker
You know, I've seen the fruits of it.
00:36:19
Speaker
And even though I've been with some installers that haven't paid out, you know, and count up over six figures, they haven't gotten paid out from past installers.
00:36:28
Speaker
So it's been hard, but then, you know, you see like the potential it has and you see some of the big checks that can be seen.
00:36:35
Speaker
You see the way it's impacted other people's lives.
00:36:39
Speaker
So I'm like,
00:36:40
Speaker
You know, maybe it's high risk right now, but hey, that's what I believe is that if I stick through this, then I think it'll pay off because there's so much potential in it.
00:36:51
Speaker
That's just how life works.
00:36:53
Speaker
I know.
00:36:53
Speaker
There's no free lunches.
00:36:54
Speaker
You've got to go through tough times to get the big reward.
00:36:58
Speaker
There's never just an easy path.
00:37:00
Speaker
And I think you just worry about what you can control and not stress the things you can't control because that's madness.
00:37:09
Speaker
Yeah.
00:37:10
Speaker
and just double down on those things you can control your attitude your work ethic the time you put on the doors the way you treat people the way you treat your sales reps way that you explain the the product to the consumer yeah um worry about those things everything else will work itself out and uh um yeah i'm with you it's gonna be it's gonna be a lot of fun yeah 100 even like i'm in san diego where there's quite a bit of solar yeah but i'm just thinking
00:37:39
Speaker
even if all the homes had solar, how many people are going to be needing maybe new systems or systems working.
00:37:45
Speaker
There were partial offsets where, you know, yeah, there's unlimited amounts of business that can be had as things get, get cleaner.
00:37:56
Speaker
Yeah.
00:37:57
Speaker
And that's, it's, it's going to be really cool to see.
00:38:00
Speaker
Yeah, no doubt.
00:38:02
Speaker
Yeah.
00:38:02
Speaker
So Tom, before we start wrapping up here, I want to get your perspective just on maybe we got,
00:38:08
Speaker
maybe newer reps that are listening to this or just people that are only in sales.
Advice for New Sales Reps
00:38:13
Speaker
So I know you became like a top rep in pest control and then you started leading teams, started leading regions.
00:38:20
Speaker
So before you start wrapping up, what are, what's some advice maybe you could give to like a newer rep in solar to start mass?
00:38:28
Speaker
What are, what are maybe some traits you see in some of your reps now in the solar industry?
00:38:33
Speaker
Or maybe looking back to your time in pest control, what do you think separates those top reps and helped you like, you know, have a high level of success pretty quick out of the gate?
00:38:43
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, it's probably all stuff you've heard before, but I'll just echo it.
00:38:48
Speaker
Treating it like a real job.
00:38:50
Speaker
sticking to a schedule religiously.
00:38:53
Speaker
Um, the top reps live and die by their schedule.
00:38:57
Speaker
They, again, they were dialing in the things they can control so tight when they wake up, when they go to bed, when they take lunch, um, what their morning routine looks like.
00:39:08
Speaker
I'm such a firm believer in the schedule.
00:39:11
Speaker
Um, leave nothing to, uh, uh, you know, don't go get a haircut in the middle of the day.
00:39:18
Speaker
Don't get an oil change.
00:39:19
Speaker
Don't it.
00:39:20
Speaker
Pick a day where you're going to run your errands, pick, pick a time where you're going to do that, but just take the guessing work out of it.
00:39:27
Speaker
Know when you're going to be knocking your first door every day.
00:39:30
Speaker
Know when you're going to knock your last door every day and just stick to that and discipline yourself.
00:39:36
Speaker
Yeah.
00:39:36
Speaker
That's,
00:39:37
Speaker
the hardest part of this job is having discipline because it's unlike most jobs where you have a boss breathing down your neck.
00:39:46
Speaker
Really, most people in most jobs or careers, they only work hard enough to not get fired.
00:39:53
Speaker
They're not out giving it their all to,
00:39:57
Speaker
They're just punching a clock, most people, on an hourly wage, especially if there's no commission or opportunities for advancement.
00:40:05
Speaker
You're just essentially there as a job, punching a clock, but you show up on time so that you don't get fired.
00:40:11
Speaker
You don't take an extra lunch break because you'll get fired.
00:40:15
Speaker
You almost work out of fear.
00:40:17
Speaker
Then...
00:40:18
Speaker
when you learn to work for you, that's when you get power.
00:40:23
Speaker
I wake up and work for me every day, not to be seen.
00:40:27
Speaker
I don't have a boss.
00:40:29
Speaker
My best work is done when no one even knows I'm working.
00:40:33
Speaker
When I'm, I'm doing it just for the love of holding myself to a high standard, not to be seen, not because I care if people think I'm a hard worker or not, but just truly for me, for my family.
00:40:45
Speaker
And once I,
00:40:46
Speaker
really leaned into that, that concept.
00:40:49
Speaker
It got a lot of fun.
00:40:51
Speaker
And if you look at anybody great, that's accomplished anything really great in sports and business.
00:40:58
Speaker
If you were to look at their work ethic, Kobe Bryant always comes to my mind.
00:41:03
Speaker
Just the discipline, the,
00:41:06
Speaker
work ethic that they had to get to where they are.
00:41:09
Speaker
Most of that work was done behind the scenes, not for show, not for accolades, but just they wanted to be good at their trade.
00:41:18
Speaker
They wanted to be the best and be good at your craft, sharpen the saw, get in and really study what those that you look up to have done in the space, mimic that, copy that.
00:41:33
Speaker
And so,
00:41:35
Speaker
That's the best advice I could give is just work for you, stick to a schedule, put in those hours.
00:41:41
Speaker
Solar is an industry to where you can make so much money, sometimes it creates laziness and you get content.
00:41:49
Speaker
Why get content?
00:41:51
Speaker
Used to drive me nuts in past control where reps are like, I sold three today, I made 600, 700, 800 bucks, I'm good.
00:41:56
Speaker
It's like, what?
00:41:59
Speaker
like let's go double down on that down on that drive that momentum and i think with solar so many guys are like i got one today yeah i don't have any other leads go create your own leads and don't split it with a setter yeah like you're leaving so much money on the table um if i was a rep in solar i would self-gen i wouldn't even use a setter i would go out and self-gen my own leads
00:42:24
Speaker
uh because that's my roots i grew up grinding on the doors i'm not scared to knock um and i believe in both models clearly if it's it ran effectively but um if you need to make more money there's unlimited leads out there get your butt out of the car and go knock some doors yeah and well especially in solar because you've seen you know that's one thing i've learned in solar is never count your chickens before they hatch yeah yeah it's like you might have closed one but then
00:42:51
Speaker
They call you tomorrow and say they've found out they're moving.
00:42:54
Speaker
So many things can happen from point of sale to PTO.
00:42:57
Speaker
Like it's not in the bag.
00:43:00
Speaker
So might as well go get a few more and then you can at least, you know, you know what your install rate's going to be and do your math off of that.
00:43:07
Speaker
Yeah.
00:43:08
Speaker
Like I had one the other day where the installers, maybe this is on the installers, but they show up and start lifting up the roof tiles to do the install.
00:43:18
Speaker
And they're like, you know what?
00:43:19
Speaker
This roof is worse than we thought.
00:43:20
Speaker
we're going to have to call off this install.
00:43:22
Speaker
So I'm expecting an install that day and like, you know, $8,000 check from it.
00:43:28
Speaker
And so, you know, happens, but so now I have to go resell the roof, but just stuff like that.
00:43:35
Speaker
You never know.
00:43:37
Speaker
So we're in the construction business, no doubt about it.
00:43:41
Speaker
So yeah, you can't, you can't count your chickens before the hatch for sure.
00:43:45
Speaker
Things out of your control again, but,
00:43:48
Speaker
Um, man, if you're in the space, I just encourage you to put in more hours, work harder,
00:43:54
Speaker
go get your own leads, go stick to that schedule and you'll make great money.
00:43:59
Speaker
Life-changing money at this age.
00:44:00
Speaker
I mean, just to be able to go make three, four, $500,000 at a young age, you've got time on your side.
00:44:10
Speaker
If you're smart with that money, you can set yourself up.
00:44:13
Speaker
If you invest it properly, if you surround yourself with the right people that will mentor you on how you can, um,
00:44:20
Speaker
put that money to work for you, you might not have another opportunity later on in life to make that kind of money.
00:44:27
Speaker
Yeah.
00:44:28
Speaker
You know, there's a shelf life to be on the doors.
00:44:31
Speaker
I, you know, I, unless you're Michael O'Donnell, there's some super freaked out there that can go do it late into life, but you start getting in your forties.
00:44:40
Speaker
I'm 45.
00:44:41
Speaker
My back hurts every day.
00:44:42
Speaker
It's, you know,
00:44:45
Speaker
I'm blessed that I was able to take capital I've made in my businesses and put it to work to where I'm set up and I'm not going to have to work late into my life only if I want to.
00:44:58
Speaker
But at a young age, it's not just about the money now.
00:45:01
Speaker
It's what you can turn that money into for you down the road.
00:45:05
Speaker
And you've got an opportunity to go make more money than a surgeon.
00:45:09
Speaker
that goes to school for 12 years, 21, 22, 23 years old.
00:45:14
Speaker
And we're kind of like, eh, 200 grounds enough for me.
00:45:18
Speaker
And one a day is good enough for me.
00:45:20
Speaker
It's like, go get it, stack the chips where you can and put them to work and create a legacy for yourself.
00:45:26
Speaker
Yeah.
00:45:27
Speaker
So true.
00:45:28
Speaker
Yeah.
00:45:28
Speaker
And I've definitely had some regrets where, especially early on in my solar career,
00:45:33
Speaker
I wish I would have grinded harder, especially when I didn't have kids and things like that.
00:45:37
Speaker
So anyone that's listening to this before you're married, before you have kids, especially that time, I would say go as hard as you can, just because you're probably never going to have more time than when you're in that stage.
Leveraging Time and Opportunity
00:45:49
Speaker
From the time value of money, not just, yeah, the opportunities that you may not have later on in life if you get older.
00:45:56
Speaker
And especially once you start having
00:45:58
Speaker
a family and your kids get older, it just gets harder.
00:46:02
Speaker
Right.
00:46:02
Speaker
And so whatever position you're in, in life, especially if you're single and you've got the opportunity to, to go rip it, go for it.
00:46:11
Speaker
And then you've got the time value of money on your side.
00:46:14
Speaker
And yeah, that's it.
00:46:17
Speaker
Yeah.
00:46:17
Speaker
Love it.
00:46:18
Speaker
Well, Tom, if people want to connect more with you, maybe check out a video, possibly work with you guys.
00:46:25
Speaker
What's the best way to get in touch with you or connect more with you?
00:46:29
Speaker
Um, what do you, what do most guests usually do?
00:46:32
Speaker
Uh, most people have, you know, I don't know if you're on social media, Instagram, Facebook, most people it's Instagram is like, yeah, I'm on Instagram.
00:46:40
Speaker
Uh, Tom dot Karen, K A R R E N. Okay.
00:46:44
Speaker
Um, you can check out, uh, our website, they have sales.com.
00:46:50
Speaker
Yeah.
00:46:50
Speaker
And, uh,
00:46:52
Speaker
One last little bit of advice I'll throw out is if you're with a company that's treating you well and getting your jobs done, stay put.
00:47:01
Speaker
Yeah.
00:47:02
Speaker
I am a huge believer in just the greenest grass is right underneath your feet where you water it.
00:47:09
Speaker
You know, like it's, there's no greener pasture.
00:47:11
Speaker
If you're with a good solid company, don't put your head on a swivel.
00:47:16
Speaker
Stick with your tribe and those that have been successful in this space find a tribe that they build around.
00:47:23
Speaker
They don't jump from company to company.
00:47:25
Speaker
Very few reps are successful with that type of mentality.
00:47:29
Speaker
They're spinning their tires.
00:47:30
Speaker
Those that plant roots with the company that they trust and believe in are always the ones that win in the end.
00:47:36
Speaker
Yeah, love it.
00:47:37
Speaker
Well, Tom, thank you for coming on today.
00:47:39
Speaker
And I guess last question, then we'll let you get to, you know, I know you want to jump in the pool.
00:47:44
Speaker
Yep.
00:47:44
Speaker
Lounge in the beach here and everything.
00:47:47
Speaker
But speaking of investing, maybe we've got some people that haven't done much investing in their careers.
Developing Investment Habits
00:47:52
Speaker
So if you were like a new rep making your first couple hundred grand, where would you put that money starting out?
00:47:57
Speaker
Or what are some like, you know, short tips with investing?
00:48:01
Speaker
I'm definitely not a financial advisor, but what I've seen work well for me is just disciplined, long-term growth over a diversified portfolio, mutual funds.
00:48:16
Speaker
I mean, if you just look at the S&P 500, what it has done, and it's so collateralized, you know, it's so diversified, it's going to just always go up over time.
00:48:28
Speaker
I think we're in some interesting times with the economy and it's going to be interesting what happens with the upcoming election.
00:48:33
Speaker
But just more than anything, not where you put it, get in the habit of investing.
00:48:40
Speaker
Even if it's a hundred bucks a month, 500 bucks a month, it's a habit.
00:48:44
Speaker
It's something that you just get used to doing that.
00:48:47
Speaker
I say,
00:48:48
Speaker
whatever percentage of my check goes to investments.
00:48:52
Speaker
It's that's more important creating the habit than really what you're going to do with it.
00:48:58
Speaker
Put it in safe, sound investments, things that that just are low risk.
00:49:05
Speaker
I see often so many reps
00:49:09
Speaker
try to put money and get rich quick things because we're used to getting rich quick.
00:49:14
Speaker
You make 300 grand your second year in solar, whatever it is, has control.
00:49:19
Speaker
You're used to quick money, so you're not disciplined for your investments.
00:49:24
Speaker
a 10 year investment isn't exciting to you.
00:49:26
Speaker
You want to double your money in two, three years.
00:49:28
Speaker
And so you start throwing your money at, at crazy things.
00:49:32
Speaker
And it's the old adage.
00:49:33
Speaker
If it sounds too good to be true, it usually is.
00:49:36
Speaker
I've seen a lot of reps lose a lot of money in bad investments.
00:49:41
Speaker
So,
00:49:42
Speaker
Be disciplined, but just get in the habit of saving, saving, saving, saving.
00:49:48
Speaker
And whether that's you want to get into real estate or the stock market or invest in other businesses, you'll find good places to put it.
00:49:58
Speaker
It's just getting in the habit of not spending everything that comes in because we always think, well, I'm going to make more money next year.
00:50:04
Speaker
I'm going to make more money next year.
00:50:06
Speaker
You probably will, but you're going to spend it too because that's what you're accustomed to doing.
00:50:10
Speaker
Yeah, so good.
00:50:13
Speaker
So good.
00:50:13
Speaker
Well, I'm sure you can hit up if you want more investing advice.
00:50:17
Speaker
I'm sure Tom would be happy to answer your questions.
00:50:19
Speaker
But Tom, thank you so much for coming on the show with us.
00:50:23
Speaker
So I encourage anyone that's listening to this, go reach out to Tom, shoot him a message.
00:50:28
Speaker
Tell him thank you for coming on the show today.
00:50:30
Speaker
And I really appreciate you taking time from the whole vacation here to do a podcast.
00:50:35
Speaker
And hopefully we can do another one in the future.
00:50:37
Speaker
Let's do it.
00:50:37
Speaker
Good being with you.
00:50:38
Speaker
Thanks, brother.
00:50:39
Speaker
Bye.
00:50:41
Speaker
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Speaker
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Speaker
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