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The #1 Secret to Your Success in Solar Sales.. (interview with Sam Taggart)
108 Plays6 years ago
Today, Sam is going to blow our minds off with his principles on closing deals! Sam has been selling since he was 11 years old. Over the years, he has created the principles of selling and the importance of going back into the basics. He will also talk about the importance of having a community and a tribe of the door to door salesman. This way, everyone takes pride in the door to door profession.
What’s more exciting about this episode is you will get tips and tricks on how you can use emotion to close the deal. We will show you how to build a conversation with the homeowner minus the boring and usual presentation.
Be sure to check out Door to Door University after you tune in to our episode!
Things mentioned in this episode:
D2D University: Online Door To Door Sales Training: https://d2du.com/
Podcast: https://soundcloud.com/d2d-podcast
Sam Taggart: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sam-taggart-27256962
Upcoming 2 day bootcamp for business owners: June 21 to 22, 2019, September 9 to 10
https://d2d.ticketspice.com/d2dcon-2020
D2D sales conference. Salt Lake City Jan 17-18
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction to Solarpreneur Podcast
00:00:00
Speaker
Look, in the solar business, there's really only two types of people.
00:00:03
Speaker
There's the ones that crush it, make six, seven, and eight figures, and then there's everyone else.
00:00:08
Speaker
The question is, which one will you be?
00:00:12
Speaker
Over the last four years, we've studied the sharpest solar sales and marketing professionals and how they build multi-million dollar incomes using only the best sales and marketing strategies.
00:00:23
Speaker
So how do these solarpreneurs do what they do and what makes them so successful?
00:00:28
Speaker
This podcast is your answer.
00:00:31
Speaker
Join us and thousands of sales pros, marketers, and entrepreneurs as we take the solar industry by storm and uncover what it takes to sell more solar with less effort.
00:00:42
Speaker
Welcome to the Solarpreneur Podcast.
Guest Introduction: Sam Taggart
00:00:53
Speaker
Good morning, Solarpreneurs.
00:00:55
Speaker
Today is Memorial Day, and we are excited to celebrate our country's, well, I guess veterans.
00:01:03
Speaker
We celebrate it for, right?
00:01:05
Speaker
And their service.
00:01:08
Speaker
But aside from that, we're excited because today we have the door-to-door master, the OG of door-to-door, Sam Taggart, on the line, and he's going to drop some serious knowledge today.
00:01:19
Speaker
So Sam, thanks for coming on the Solarpreneur Show.
Sam's Journey in Sales
00:01:22
Speaker
How's it going, man?
00:01:23
Speaker
Good, man.
00:01:24
Speaker
Happy to be here.
00:01:26
Speaker
Good, good, good.
00:01:27
Speaker
That's been a long time coming.
00:01:29
Speaker
And Sam, he's been a busy man.
00:01:31
Speaker
We were just chatting off the camera before this.
00:01:33
Speaker
He's all over the place.
00:01:34
Speaker
He's going to be in San Diego this weekend.
00:01:36
Speaker
He's going to Atlanta.
00:01:38
Speaker
So finally, we tracked down his assistant and we're able to book a time in this guy's schedule.
00:01:44
Speaker
Yeah, I'm happy to be on here, man.
00:01:47
Speaker
Yeah.
00:01:48
Speaker
Well, thanks for setting aside a minute to add some value to our show.
00:01:54
Speaker
It's going to be fun to have you on.
00:01:56
Speaker
So Sam, he runs, everyone in this industry should know who Sam is, especially if you knock on doors at all, but he runs the biggest door-to-door community online.
00:02:07
Speaker
He has his courses.
00:02:09
Speaker
He, well, yeah, he's the category king of the door-to-door industry.
00:02:15
Speaker
So Sam, give us a little bit of your background.
00:02:18
Speaker
I know you've been in solar and we've been in alarms.
00:02:20
Speaker
Give us your background and tell us why you decided to start this whole community.
00:02:25
Speaker
yeah so uh i knocked doors since i was 11. so i painted the address on the curves and magazines believe it or not i actually sold i don't talk about this one much but anyway while we're on the topic uh i did the sham wows you know like well they were called the magic cloths oh yeah i've sold quick chopper 2000s that made like salsa
00:02:47
Speaker
So I sold those in like Kmart's and Gotchalks and stuff.
00:02:50
Speaker
I don't even know.
00:02:51
Speaker
Gotchalks is a California thing.
00:02:52
Speaker
But anyway, I sold pretty much a lot of different things.
00:02:56
Speaker
And Alarms is kind of where I really cut my teeth.
00:02:59
Speaker
Back in 2008, started selling that.
00:03:01
Speaker
And then end of 2015, started in the solar game.
00:03:03
Speaker
And...
00:03:08
Speaker
Yeah, I just, I was VP sales associates, you know, started their direct sales program and went till about 20, end of 2017.
00:03:18
Speaker
So beginning of 2018, I started a journey, which was,
00:03:23
Speaker
right around just, you know, kind of took a risk and went out on a limb and started this community, the Door Door Tribe and the podcast and the conference.
00:03:39
Speaker
So D2D Con, solar and sales and pest control and satellite and anything sold in the home.
00:03:47
Speaker
really come together and unify and share best practices and, you know, collaborate just like what you're doing here with the solar community.
00:03:53
Speaker
It's just, how do we do that on a direct sales
Building a Sales Community
00:03:56
Speaker
community?
00:03:56
Speaker
And yeah, so it's been about a two year journey and we've had, you know, two successful conferences where last year we had about 1600 people.
00:04:08
Speaker
And then, you know, we've got,
00:04:12
Speaker
Yeah, all sorts of stuff, training, consulting, wrote a book, a planner.
00:04:17
Speaker
Now I just travel around the country advocating, advocating the tribe, you know, helping people feel honor and dignity and take pride and actually doing door to door sales where a lot of people kind of feel the shame or they feel this.
00:04:34
Speaker
guilt or they feel this like, oh, I'll get a real job one day.
00:04:37
Speaker
You know what I mean?
00:04:38
Speaker
Like, it's almost like, I don't know.
00:04:41
Speaker
So anyway, my big thing is to advocate this whole taking pride in unifying the door to our space.
00:04:49
Speaker
So.
00:04:49
Speaker
Yeah, and it's been awesome.
00:04:51
Speaker
Yeah, I've been listening to the podcast pretty much since day one.
00:04:55
Speaker
I've been to the two door-to-door cons.
00:04:58
Speaker
Still got my first, you know, door-to-door con shirt.
00:05:02
Speaker
Those are the best.
00:05:02
Speaker
The first years were so much better than the second.
00:05:04
Speaker
Yeah, exactly.
00:05:06
Speaker
They're good looking.
00:05:07
Speaker
Yeah, that white one is awesome.
00:05:09
Speaker
Wear it to the gym and people love it, man.
00:05:12
Speaker
Get comments all the time.
00:05:13
Speaker
Love it.
00:05:15
Speaker
So yeah, it's one of my favorite shirts.
00:05:16
Speaker
But yeah, you've been dropping a ton of value and it's really what the industry needed.
00:05:20
Speaker
I mean, there wasn't really door to door training.
00:05:23
Speaker
There wasn't really good groups that we could go into and get a ton of value like you've done.
00:05:29
Speaker
So yeah, we just, the whole industry, I think appreciates what you've done and how you've been able to create this whole tribe around door to door.
00:05:37
Speaker
The events have been awesome.
00:05:38
Speaker
Had half the people in solar that you, you know, bring to the events that had them on the podcast, I think.
00:05:45
Speaker
Yeah.
00:05:46
Speaker
Yeah.
00:05:47
Speaker
A lot of those guys have spoken, you know, you mentioned Adam Webb.
00:05:50
Speaker
He spoke at a summit that I put on.
00:05:51
Speaker
It's like a sales summit.
00:05:53
Speaker
Michael Donald, he spoke at the decon and he also spoke at the summit.
00:05:57
Speaker
And yeah, I mean, it's a, it's a tiny community.
00:06:00
Speaker
So, I mean, definitely a lot of overlap.
00:06:02
Speaker
So,
00:06:03
Speaker
Yeah, it's been
Transition from Alarms to Solar
00:06:04
Speaker
awesome for sure.
00:06:04
Speaker
So the question I ask all our guys, well, especially people that came from alarms, I asked Adam this too.
00:06:11
Speaker
We've got a couple other guys from the alarm industry that went into solar.
00:06:16
Speaker
So for you, why did you stop doing alarms and switch to solar?
00:06:20
Speaker
Because, I mean, you and Adam, well, Adam's still on solar, but half the heavy hitters in solar came from alarms.
00:06:29
Speaker
So why is it that you guys switch to solar when you're killing it on alarms?
00:06:33
Speaker
um that's a good question i for me it was mainly i needed to do something locally just where i was at in my personal life like i don't want to keep traveling so i wanted to do something in utah and solar was kind of just in the it was like a fresh new market in utah like right when i started it okay and uh
00:06:54
Speaker
Anyway, so everybody was like, you can't do solar in Utah.
00:06:56
Speaker
I'm like, I think I can.
00:06:58
Speaker
And I went and tried it out before I fully committed and had a lot of success.
00:07:03
Speaker
And I was like, man, like, if I could do this every week, like, why would I do alarms?
00:07:09
Speaker
And, you know, and
00:07:10
Speaker
It wasn't just an easy journey, though.
00:07:12
Speaker
That's what's funny.
00:07:13
Speaker
Like, I I like the solar.
00:07:17
Speaker
I believed in solar.
00:07:18
Speaker
I thought it was great.
00:07:18
Speaker
I saw my house and.
00:07:23
Speaker
But then I had a journey, you know, I thought just leaving a safe half million bucks a year and alarms would be.
00:07:30
Speaker
you know, on spreadsheet, I could just go make that in solar right away.
00:07:34
Speaker
But the reality is it wasn't as easy as I thought.
00:07:37
Speaker
Like I was good at sales.
00:07:38
Speaker
It's just, you know, a lot of process, a lot of, you know, making sure the company you're with can fulfill your jobs.
00:07:45
Speaker
And, you know, I actually started with New Power and they've come a long way since I was there.
00:07:51
Speaker
I mean, they weren't even doing their own installs when I was there.
00:07:53
Speaker
Like they were
00:07:55
Speaker
You know, seven out to Solcius.
00:07:57
Speaker
And anyway, there's just a lot of like communication gaps.
00:08:00
Speaker
And anyway, so it was it was a rocky transition.
00:08:06
Speaker
I made a couple moves and there was.
00:08:11
Speaker
But after, I kind of got my feet settled.
00:08:14
Speaker
I love solar.
00:08:14
Speaker
I mean, I'm going out to sell it this weekend and consult a lot of solar companies.
00:08:20
Speaker
It's a very logical sale.
00:08:22
Speaker
Anyway, once I started selling it, I thought it was... I just felt a little better with it.
00:08:29
Speaker
It was...
00:08:31
Speaker
It was good.
00:08:31
Speaker
I mean, I miss alarms in a lot of respects, though.
00:08:33
Speaker
You know, like, once I got into it, like, you realize, like, oh, the grass is green where you water it, and there's pros and cons to both, but...
00:08:44
Speaker
Yeah.
00:08:46
Speaker
And I think what's nice where you guys were doing solar or alarms, sorry, you guys were knocking probably like eight to 10 hour days, right.
00:08:55
Speaker
Doing, um, alarms where solar, uh, well at least our company, I don't know too many companies, but we're knocking like four, maybe five hours a day in solar.
00:09:06
Speaker
So for me, I was in pest control before and I just saw my buddies making more than I was making in pest in a solar, uh,
00:09:13
Speaker
And I made knocking a full summer of pest control.
00:09:15
Speaker
I'm
Challenges in Solar Sales
00:09:16
Speaker
like, all right, well, my buddies are being lazier than I am.
00:09:20
Speaker
They're knocking half the hours on the doors and they're making more than me.
00:09:24
Speaker
So I'll come check this solar thing out and they're saving people money.
00:09:29
Speaker
So I guess that's what kind of got me.
00:09:31
Speaker
Maybe I'm just lazy.
00:09:33
Speaker
No, but it's interesting.
00:09:35
Speaker
I actually think that's the problem with the solar industry is you say four to five hours, but that's what you're supposed to do.
00:09:42
Speaker
The problem is that four to five hours turns into two, three hours, then one hour, then two hours, then 30 minutes.
00:09:49
Speaker
And, you know, I watch solar reps and it's just, they get in a cycle of, they only go out for 40 minutes, get a couple of appointments and then they're done.
00:09:57
Speaker
And it's like,
00:09:59
Speaker
I actually despise the solar industry for and me included like I was that way.
00:10:03
Speaker
So like, yeah, I think it's a harder space to stay as disciplined because I believe if people would actually work the eight hour, 10 hour days like they do in pest and alarms,
00:10:16
Speaker
they'd probably sell a lot more solar.
00:10:19
Speaker
It's just like, it's actually kind of sad to see people cut themselves short just because they, you know, they get complacent or they, they are fat happy, which is, which is a terrible
Consulting and Systems in Solar
00:10:30
Speaker
place.
00:10:30
Speaker
So.
00:10:31
Speaker
Yeah, true.
00:10:32
Speaker
Yeah, it's definitely caused some laziness.
00:10:35
Speaker
Not too many solar companies putting in the time.
00:10:37
Speaker
And it is a year-round thing for more than that.
00:10:40
Speaker
Yeah, and it is.
00:10:41
Speaker
And that's something important to reiterate is it is year-round.
00:10:45
Speaker
It's not a sprint.
00:10:46
Speaker
It's a, you know, pace yourself game.
00:10:49
Speaker
Yeah.
00:10:51
Speaker
Yeah, it's definitely true.
00:10:52
Speaker
So you've done a ton of consulting, I know, Sam, for solar companies.
00:10:56
Speaker
Like you were saying, you're going all over the place.
00:10:59
Speaker
So what's some common factors you see in all these companies?
00:11:03
Speaker
I know you're helping out a lot.
00:11:04
Speaker
What are some of the things that you notice in your consulting that a lot of these companies need help on more than anything?
00:11:12
Speaker
Um, I would say it's like systems, you know, we have what's called the door to door operating system, which is a, you know, I wrote like a 35 page manual.
00:11:22
Speaker
I do a bootcamp every other month on it where the owners and their leadership team comes and, and all we train on.
00:11:28
Speaker
And what we found is just people, they're not really organized when it comes to sales meetings, competition, you know, uh, like leadership structures and growth plans, onboarding processes.
00:11:42
Speaker
So it's just like dialing in and, and really fine tuning those systems.
00:11:47
Speaker
And then, and then, and the power of implementing those is, you know, then watching their sales go skyrocket.
00:11:54
Speaker
Cause a lot of these people, they struggle at getting their guys on the doors for more than an hour or even, you know, it's like, unless they have a lead, the guy sits there at their house and just kind of twiddles his thumbs.
00:12:04
Speaker
And you know what I mean?
00:12:05
Speaker
Like, so I think a lot of, a lot of these companies, they struggle at like,
00:12:10
Speaker
systematizing their business.
00:12:13
Speaker
And that's one thing that we've really focused on is putting a playbook together.
00:12:17
Speaker
That's kind of like, Hey, this works.
00:12:18
Speaker
And some of the biggest solar companies, the biggest, you know, in, in the business, it's like, we can implement that on a micro level with companies of four or five, 10 reps and, and really create systems around accountability, motivation, training, things like that.
00:12:34
Speaker
So I think that's kind of our main focus is I've just kind of found like,
00:12:39
Speaker
the right secret sauce that's really helped companies skyrocket so yeah okay and do you have the same kind of system that you suggest for every company you meet with or is it different kind of based on their goals and how many people they have yeah we kind of walk them through a process to kind of fact find or discovery just like you would in any sale yeah we really customize it to each uh each company the reason we do that is because i found that there's there's a secret
00:13:08
Speaker
sauce, but it's more the principle.
00:13:10
Speaker
It's not necessarily, you know, shoving a round peg through a square hole kind of thing.
00:13:15
Speaker
Like it's making sure that you apply each principle.
00:13:19
Speaker
That's a principle through and through, but, you know, kind of putting their different flavor, different system, according to their size, according to their goals, according to their personnel.
Expansion Challenges for Solar Companies
00:13:28
Speaker
Yeah.
00:13:29
Speaker
Because some people just don't have the leadership.
00:13:32
Speaker
Some people have great leaders and not the reps.
00:13:34
Speaker
Some people are strong recruiters and terrible salespeople, some vice versa.
00:13:38
Speaker
You know what I mean?
00:13:38
Speaker
So it's kind of catering and figuring out personnel, catering and figuring out what their goals and wants are, and then really, you know, diagnosing them with the right systems according to the principles that we've, that we teach.
00:13:49
Speaker
Yeah.
00:13:50
Speaker
Yeah.
00:13:50
Speaker
Okay.
00:13:51
Speaker
For sure.
00:13:51
Speaker
One of the things I think maybe small companies, and I know our company has struggled with at times, like when you're trying to expand into other offices, maybe you have strong leadership in where, you know, headquarters and all that is, but then going to different markets, the guys don't have strong leaders there.
00:14:10
Speaker
The culture is not consistent.
00:14:12
Speaker
So what do you suggest to these companies that are trying to expand and that maybe not have the best leadership and
00:14:17
Speaker
you know, getting things going in different markets and all that.
00:14:21
Speaker
That's where we found, um, door to our university to be a massive help.
00:14:26
Speaker
You know, we have like a perfect virtual kind of management, um, where we can kind of uniform this, the content, the, the, how you do things systematically.
00:14:39
Speaker
So it's like, it's kind of like McDonald's.
00:14:41
Speaker
It's like, if you can franchise a McDonald's, it's the same way you make a burger here as you do anywhere.
00:14:47
Speaker
Right.
00:14:47
Speaker
Yeah.
00:14:49
Speaker
we found through our platform.
00:14:51
Speaker
So we go to companies, we have massive companies to, you know, big solar companies with four or 500 reps down to companies that have two and, you know, take like a, there's a company in Chicago headline solar just called me yesterday actually.
00:15:06
Speaker
So McKenzie.
00:15:09
Speaker
So he, he calls me, he's like, dude, I do leads and I send my solar closers to, you know, these appointment, we had this one guy that went, Oh, for 15.
00:15:18
Speaker
Holy, wow.
00:15:19
Speaker
And he spent 10 hours on the university kind of going through it, you know, and this guy's kind of remote.
00:15:23
Speaker
He's kind of out taking the leads that are a little bit more, you know, farther distance than their headquarters.
00:15:30
Speaker
So they don't have anybody else.
00:15:31
Speaker
It's like that's their only option to send these leads to.
00:15:34
Speaker
Yeah.
00:15:35
Speaker
And so then he spent 10 hours on the university.
00:15:37
Speaker
They're like, hey, like, let's get this.
00:15:40
Speaker
And he literally went 11 for 15 in like a week and a half.
00:15:45
Speaker
And
00:15:46
Speaker
And this week and a half for him to do 11 solar deals, it's like, you know, where he went over 15, he wasn't doing anything.
00:15:52
Speaker
It's like, wow, they literally could create accountability, create learning, create a system where they can duplicate their sales process in their system, you know, just by putting them through some online learning through a platform and kind of giving him the tools that he needed.
00:16:09
Speaker
Because a lot of times they send people on the island.
00:16:12
Speaker
This is what I found when people try to scale and expand.
Door-to-Door University Benefits
00:16:15
Speaker
They send them out on an island and they don't have any kind of communication, any kind of system to resort back when those guys are bleeding and they're struggling.
00:16:24
Speaker
You know what I mean?
00:16:24
Speaker
It's like, how do we give them some tools to resort back?
00:16:28
Speaker
Okay.
00:16:30
Speaker
I like that.
00:16:31
Speaker
I like that.
00:16:32
Speaker
So everyone pick up your door-to-door university.
00:16:34
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, maybe that was a shameless plug, but like, whatever you do, I mean, it's just like, that's been a one piece.
00:16:42
Speaker
I mean, there's other ones that are like, how you run leadership meetings, how you do kind of company-wide activities and how frequently, how you do competitions or a team versus team and you kind of pin each other like,
00:16:54
Speaker
There's a lot of different tools that you could implement, but the big one that I've seen just be an immediate turnkey solution is our solar university.
00:17:03
Speaker
Depending on what industry, we just have industry-specific content.
Effective Sales Meetings
00:17:09
Speaker
Yeah, no, I think that's huge.
00:17:10
Speaker
And like you're saying, just having consistency and meeting stuff like that.
00:17:14
Speaker
Our company started to do because we do have some more remote offices.
00:17:18
Speaker
We've started to do these like Zoom room meetings where, yeah, just once a week, all the closers get together and just kind of mastermind type setting.
00:17:28
Speaker
Just go through goals, go through all our numbers.
00:17:31
Speaker
And I think that's kind of helped just all be a little bit more uniform.
00:17:35
Speaker
I'm sure you kind of suggest stuff like that too.
00:17:38
Speaker
Speaking of meetings, like how often do you tell companies to have meetings?
00:17:42
Speaker
And are you seeing a lot of these companies doing like setter versus closer models?
00:17:48
Speaker
And that depends, you know, that, uh, uh,
00:17:52
Speaker
My take is this.
00:17:55
Speaker
What is in motion stays in motion.
00:17:57
Speaker
And a lot of times, you know, we meet once a week.
00:18:01
Speaker
That's the day that everybody goes and sells and then everybody else just poops out the other day.
00:18:06
Speaker
Yeah, yeah.
00:18:07
Speaker
So there's an overkill and obviously it kind of varies company to company, but I say a minimum of two days a week.
00:18:13
Speaker
And then you should maybe have a call once or twice a week.
00:18:17
Speaker
That's kind of like what you said, a Zoom room.
00:18:21
Speaker
In the solar space, if you're setters, I would meet every day.
00:18:25
Speaker
If you're, you know, really seeing a lull in production, meet every day.
00:18:30
Speaker
Like, you know, it just means they're not going out.
00:18:33
Speaker
They're not like...
00:18:34
Speaker
realistically, if people aren't producing, it's because they're not going out.
Accountability and Teamwork in Sales
00:18:38
Speaker
It's very, yeah.
00:18:40
Speaker
Yeah, I don't know about what you see, but for our company, the main purpose of the meetings is just to get everyone in one place and, like, load them up in the cars after and get everyone up to the areas.
00:18:52
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, that should be, you know, one of the main objectives is to motivate your guys, put a fire under their butts and say, let's go.
00:19:01
Speaker
You know what I mean?
00:19:02
Speaker
Yeah.
00:19:03
Speaker
And that's, you know, in the university,
00:19:06
Speaker
So we have like a 35 video series on how to run an effective sales meeting.
00:19:12
Speaker
Because I also think my rule of thumb is don't run a meeting if you're not effective.
00:19:16
Speaker
Meaning if it's a meeting, it's kind of like, yeah, man, like...
00:19:20
Speaker
Let's go get it today.
00:19:23
Speaker
If that's your meeting, it's just like, don't run it.
00:19:26
Speaker
It's not going to get me anywhere.
00:19:27
Speaker
It's almost just going to piss me off to make me come all the way to hear that.
00:19:31
Speaker
So it's how to effectively run a sales meeting is also important.
00:19:35
Speaker
So if you can't run an effective meeting, then don't run one.
00:19:38
Speaker
But if you can put a system together where it's effective, where you've got accountability, you've got energy, you've got training, you've got goal setting, all that stuff, like,
00:19:47
Speaker
Then, yeah, I mean, that's what they're for is to get you out there and get you fired up.
00:19:52
Speaker
So I know.
00:19:53
Speaker
Yeah.
00:19:54
Speaker
And doing speaking of Memorial Day, I think doing the incentives, like you're saying, our companies, everyone's loading up at 10 in the morning this morning and hitting the doors early, getting people before they do the barbecues.
00:20:05
Speaker
We've got the incentives on the line for knocking on holidays.
00:20:10
Speaker
So yeah, I think stuff like that helps a ton and just getting the group together, loading them in company vehicles.
00:20:15
Speaker
Cause that's not, that's another thing our company in the past was doing where everyone just drives out by themselves and,
00:20:22
Speaker
just does their own thing and of course that became a disaster you gotta have the accountability I think and yeah I think and in car groups a lot of people say you can't do car groups in solar and I'm like no that's bs like yeah if you have a scooter a segue you can walk like you should be knocking centralized in your area where it's it's it's not like you're having to drive 20 blocks over like
00:20:47
Speaker
You know what I mean?
00:20:47
Speaker
So why not drop people off?
00:20:50
Speaker
And oftentimes I tell people drop me off.
00:20:53
Speaker
Like, hey, well, you dropped me off.
00:20:54
Speaker
I'm not feeling it today.
00:20:55
Speaker
And having the courage to at least say that and the vulnerability to be like, guys, I am struggling today.
00:21:02
Speaker
You probably should drop me off or else that car is going to get really tempting.
00:21:05
Speaker
Yeah.
00:21:06
Speaker
I know.
00:21:07
Speaker
It's true.
00:21:08
Speaker
And that's what I'm telling my guys.
00:21:09
Speaker
Because yeah, I close deals for a company.
00:21:12
Speaker
So it's like we're driving separate to go to a lot of appointments and our own deals, stuff like that.
00:21:18
Speaker
But it's way tougher knocking when you're out just lone ranger in it.
00:21:22
Speaker
It's way tougher to get out there.
00:21:24
Speaker
So yeah, like today, I think it's important to go out with, if you are still knocking, go out with your setters or go out with other people that are knocking so you can still have that accountability, especially when you're
Emotion in Solar Sales
00:21:36
Speaker
struggling out there.
00:21:36
Speaker
100%.
00:21:37
Speaker
Yeah, I think that's huge.
00:21:39
Speaker
So Sam, we wanted to talk also about closing.
00:21:43
Speaker
I know you have your book.
00:21:46
Speaker
It was the ABCs of Closing.
00:21:47
Speaker
Mm-hmm.
00:21:48
Speaker
Okay.
00:21:50
Speaker
So we wanted to hear that.
00:21:51
Speaker
And for you, when you were first getting started in the industry, you did, was it Solcius?
00:21:58
Speaker
Your VP is Solcius, right?
00:22:00
Speaker
Okay.
00:22:01
Speaker
And were you closing quite a few deals at your time?
00:22:04
Speaker
I see your records, 15 deals in a week.
00:22:06
Speaker
So obviously, you know, you know, a thing or two about closing deals because that's a pretty steep amount of deals for a week.
00:22:13
Speaker
Yeah.
00:22:14
Speaker
What were some struggles?
00:22:15
Speaker
Did you go through some struggles kind of switching from alarms to solar differences in closing that you saw?
00:22:21
Speaker
What was that like for you?
00:22:23
Speaker
It was interesting.
00:22:23
Speaker
So like Tom and Corey and those guys, I actually followed Rob, Rob Reimer for a day out in San Diego area.
00:22:32
Speaker
Yeah.
00:22:33
Speaker
With Dupar.
00:22:33
Speaker
Like that was really my first solar gig.
00:22:35
Speaker
So I shadowed them for a day and he was selling the PPA out of Cali.
00:22:42
Speaker
And I open up Utah.
00:22:44
Speaker
So I'm like, well, that did me no good.
00:22:46
Speaker
So nobody had really sold the loan.
00:22:48
Speaker
Like people were all selling PPA, lease, things like that.
00:22:51
Speaker
When I first got into it alone, it just barely kind of started.
00:22:55
Speaker
And I believed in the loan way more than I did the PPA and lease.
00:22:59
Speaker
And really all we could sell in Utah was the loan.
00:23:03
Speaker
So it was me pioneering this whole new sales process with the loan.
00:23:08
Speaker
Believe it or not, I've only sold like one or two PPAs out in California.
00:23:13
Speaker
So I literally had to train myself.
00:23:17
Speaker
Like it was literally like, okay, how should I sell this?
00:23:21
Speaker
And let's apply the books.
00:23:23
Speaker
You know, let's apply the Brian Tracy's and the Ziegler's and really kind of map out a sales process.
00:23:29
Speaker
So yeah.
00:23:30
Speaker
mapped that out went out knocked got like eight appointments and i think i went like seven for eight like it was like a high high number yeah that's awesome because all i did was i took my alarm process and put solar words to it okay
00:23:48
Speaker
And I was like, I'm like, well, let me try this.
00:23:51
Speaker
I wonder if I could build the same urgency, you know, because any sale or any clothes, you have to have trust.
00:23:58
Speaker
You have to have urgency.
00:24:00
Speaker
You have to have value, right?
00:24:01
Speaker
The value has to exceed the cost that they're paying, right?
00:24:04
Speaker
Yeah.
00:24:05
Speaker
And
00:24:08
Speaker
And there's things in that, like emotion that creates this urgency.
00:24:11
Speaker
You know, people buy off of emotion.
00:24:14
Speaker
And I think that's where I failed.
00:24:15
Speaker
That's where I didn't fail, where I think the solar closers and the solar people, you know, for me to go seven for eight, people are like, holy cow, rookie, we still, like,
00:24:26
Speaker
I was naturally good at sales.
00:24:27
Speaker
I was really good on alarms.
00:24:28
Speaker
But I think what happened was I was so used to selling so emotionally.
00:24:34
Speaker
And I built the emotion into my solar clothes to where I think some people that weren't that great alarms and switched to solar...
00:24:43
Speaker
never really pulled the emotion into their solar clothes because it's so logical.
00:24:47
Speaker
It's like, dude, don't you want to save 50 bucks a month?
00:24:49
Speaker
Or you want to save 20 bucks a month?
00:24:50
Speaker
Or you want to save thousands of dollars over time?
00:24:54
Speaker
Like, you know, like, are you an idiot?
00:24:56
Speaker
And then somehow they still don't close.
00:24:58
Speaker
And then you're just like, what the freak, dude?
00:24:59
Speaker
Like, you know what I mean?
00:25:01
Speaker
I think that's where every solar rep gets so frustrated is they just think,
00:25:05
Speaker
Well, duh, they should buy.
00:25:06
Speaker
I sat in their house, I showed them how they save money and it doesn't cost them anything.
00:25:10
Speaker
Why are they not fricking buying?
00:25:13
Speaker
Yeah, it's true.
00:25:15
Speaker
I know I've still had those deals where you're like, are you effing kidding me?
00:25:22
Speaker
So don't get me wrong.
00:25:23
Speaker
It's not like I close everyone.
00:25:24
Speaker
Like I've been in homes definitely where I don't close and they try to follow up and they freaking no show me like I'm like any other person.
00:25:31
Speaker
Yeah.
00:25:31
Speaker
But I think like one thing that helped me kind of at the beginning was not forgetting the simple principle of people buy off of emotion.
00:25:39
Speaker
They justify logically they buy off of emotion.
Closing Deals in Competitive Markets
00:25:42
Speaker
Yeah.
00:25:42
Speaker
That's where solar people all struggled.
00:25:45
Speaker
So yeah.
00:25:45
Speaker
Yeah, especially I think in competitive markets.
00:25:48
Speaker
So I know there's a lot going in Utah now, Southern California.
00:25:51
Speaker
There's like 700 companies, I think, just in San Diego, I heard the other day.
00:25:57
Speaker
So it's like everyone's going to sell or everyone's going to save money with any solar company they go with.
00:26:03
Speaker
But I think emotion is where it comes in building their agency and getting them to, you know, make the decision now.
00:26:09
Speaker
Yeah.
00:26:10
Speaker
Yeah.
00:26:10
Speaker
It's being able to lock them down now and you have to look at urgency and closing as a service.
00:26:16
Speaker
Like I think a lot of people, they feel, Oh, I don't want to be that high pressured.
00:26:21
Speaker
I'm going to like make sure I touch them four times before they actually close or blah, blah, blah.
00:26:25
Speaker
You know, I don't want to be that pushy sales guy.
00:26:28
Speaker
I don't want to be seen as that.
00:26:29
Speaker
I'm like, dude, you're doing them a disservice.
00:26:31
Speaker
Solar is such a good thing.
00:26:32
Speaker
They need it, especially in San Diego.
00:26:34
Speaker
It's like, are you effing kidding me?
00:26:36
Speaker
You don't have solar in your house, you're stupid.
00:26:39
Speaker
And so, like, you're doing them a disservice by not closing them, because if you don't close them, maybe nobody will.
00:26:47
Speaker
Therefore, they'll never get solar.
00:26:48
Speaker
Therefore, they're getting screwed.
00:26:50
Speaker
Therefore...
00:26:52
Speaker
Yeah, that sucks.
00:26:53
Speaker
And it's your job to be the guy that's like, let me push you in.
00:26:56
Speaker
And I think it starts with the mindset.
00:26:58
Speaker
I think it starts with this, like, I'm a closer.
00:27:01
Speaker
It's my turn to close you versus the other 699 companies that are probably going to attempt.
00:27:06
Speaker
It's my turn.
00:27:07
Speaker
Yeah.
00:27:08
Speaker
Oh,
00:27:10
Speaker
Yeah, and I think it's figuring out why you think they should go slower with you right now.
00:27:15
Speaker
Like if you don't know that, then of course you're not going to be able to get a customer to do it.
00:27:20
Speaker
I know it's something Grant Cardone talks about all the time, but just like making a list of why people should buy from you and buy from your company versus all the other ones out there.
00:27:30
Speaker
Yeah.
00:27:30
Speaker
Because if you can't answer that yourself, then of course you're not going to be able to convey it to your customers.
00:27:36
Speaker
But yeah, speaking of emotion, how do you, what were some of the things that you do or, you know, that you consult on to build up this emotion and bring emotion into the deal and all that?
00:27:47
Speaker
So it's not just pure logic thing.
00:27:50
Speaker
So speaking of like,
00:27:54
Speaker
It depends what you're selling.
00:27:55
Speaker
Right?
00:27:56
Speaker
So like I sold a lot of loans and I enjoy selling the loan a little bit more actually, because I can create a little bit more emotion.
00:28:03
Speaker
Nobody gets emotional to saving 30 bucks, like 30 bucks a month.
00:28:07
Speaker
Like I, you know, I wouldn't miss that if it blew away in the wind.
Loans vs. PPAs in Solar Sales
00:28:12
Speaker
Right.
00:28:12
Speaker
Yeah.
00:28:14
Speaker
So what I found is creating the emotion in the actual principle of owning versus renting.
00:28:22
Speaker
Let me just use this example.
00:28:24
Speaker
Yeah.
00:28:24
Speaker
So I would, I sell, like I went through, I go through people's sales presentations a lot.
00:28:30
Speaker
When I go out, we consult, we say, give us your sales pitch and presentation so we can actually pick it apart.
00:28:36
Speaker
And the most common thing I see is people go through this PowerPoint, they explain solar one-on-one, they talk about their, you know, the rates going up and then they talk about how they can get a fixed rate and they can own their power and then they go over the numbers and it's just a simple, basic, like everybody else does.
00:28:53
Speaker
My sales presentation is very different.
00:28:55
Speaker
I just simply go through a question train.
00:28:57
Speaker
I go, you know, so Taylor, why'd you buy your house instead of rent?
00:29:02
Speaker
Like, why do you own the house?
00:29:05
Speaker
Because I like owning my stuff and it's like almost the same price.
00:29:11
Speaker
Give me a real answer.
00:29:12
Speaker
Come on.
00:29:12
Speaker
It's almost the same price.
00:29:14
Speaker
But like, no, but that makes no sense.
00:29:16
Speaker
Like, why would you really own your house?
00:29:18
Speaker
Come on, man.
00:29:18
Speaker
Like, think back to renting.
00:29:20
Speaker
You're paying every month in rent.
00:29:21
Speaker
Why'd you pay to own it?
00:29:23
Speaker
I just thought, well, if I'm going to pay every month, I guess it makes sense to pay towards something that I'm owning.
00:29:29
Speaker
And why is that smart?
00:29:31
Speaker
Like, why is that smart?
00:29:32
Speaker
Come on.
00:29:34
Speaker
Because I'll own it.
00:29:35
Speaker
Like, I'll get to stop paying someday, hopefully.
00:29:38
Speaker
So you're going to live in here for 30 years, probably?
00:29:41
Speaker
You're committed.
00:29:43
Speaker
Yeah.
00:29:43
Speaker
Yeah.
00:29:43
Speaker
Well, we'll see unless I move.
00:29:46
Speaker
Okay.
00:29:46
Speaker
So you're probably going to move like the industry average is seven years in their home.
00:29:51
Speaker
Yeah.
00:29:51
Speaker
So you're an idiot.
00:29:52
Speaker
You signed a 30 year loan, even though you probably aren't going to be here.
00:29:57
Speaker
Whoa, whoa.
00:29:57
Speaker
You're calling me an idiot, man.
00:29:59
Speaker
I don't want, I don't want you to my house.
00:30:01
Speaker
Well then why'd you do it?
00:30:02
Speaker
Why'd you do it?
00:30:04
Speaker
Um,
00:30:05
Speaker
Just cause I don't know.
00:30:06
Speaker
That's what my, that's what I've been taught.
00:30:09
Speaker
My parents, like my parents bought, my grandparents bought.
00:30:13
Speaker
Check this out.
00:30:14
Speaker
So this is good.
00:30:15
Speaker
This is good.
00:30:15
Speaker
Cause you probably don't even see it this way.
00:30:17
Speaker
This is why my sales presentation is so much different than everybody else.
00:30:20
Speaker
I'm putting pause.
00:30:21
Speaker
Hold on.
00:30:22
Speaker
Okay.
00:30:23
Speaker
The reason I'm doing this is because most solar sales guys can't even effing do this and it blows my freaking mind.
00:30:30
Speaker
And so I'm like, if you're listening to this, here's your first step of training.
00:30:34
Speaker
Okay.
00:30:34
Speaker
Um,
00:30:35
Speaker
So this is where most Americans answer the way that you just did.
00:30:42
Speaker
I don't even know why, just because that's what I was supposed to do.
00:30:45
Speaker
That's the American dream, I guess.
00:30:47
Speaker
I'm like, you don't even know logically why you bought your damn home versus rented a home.
00:30:53
Speaker
Like, why are you owning a home, you idiot?
00:30:55
Speaker
Yeah.
00:30:56
Speaker
No wonder you'll never go anywhere in life.
00:30:58
Speaker
You just did it.
00:30:59
Speaker
But what they don't realize is the financial benefits of owning a home.
00:31:03
Speaker
So do you buy a home to save money?
00:31:07
Speaker
No, no.
00:31:08
Speaker
Maybe you save money on your mortgage and your rent, but most likely you're probably paying a little bit more, right?
00:31:14
Speaker
Yeah.
00:31:15
Speaker
But why do you do it?
00:31:16
Speaker
Do you do it to, to pay it off over 30 years?
00:31:22
Speaker
No, most people don't live in their home for 30 years.
00:31:26
Speaker
So why do you do it?
00:31:31
Speaker
So you can own your stuff?
00:31:34
Speaker
No, that's stupid.
00:31:36
Speaker
Like, okay, I own it.
00:31:38
Speaker
That doesn't change anything.
00:31:39
Speaker
It doesn't change anything if I rented it or own it.
00:31:42
Speaker
It gives you equity.
00:31:43
Speaker
There you go.
00:31:45
Speaker
Ah, you finally found it.
00:31:46
Speaker
Okay.
00:31:47
Speaker
So I'm doing this because I want to give them the shovel.
00:31:50
Speaker
I'm like, you dig the hole.
00:31:51
Speaker
I'm not going to dig for you.
00:31:53
Speaker
I want them to think.
00:31:55
Speaker
The problem is I'm too lazy to dig.
00:31:58
Speaker
So I'm just going to ask you really, really good questions and make your brain actually hurt.
00:32:03
Speaker
And this is more of a challenger sale approach because I want you to be the one that has to think.
00:32:10
Speaker
And so they start thinking.
00:32:12
Speaker
They're like, well, why do I own my house?
00:32:14
Speaker
Oh, so for equity.
00:32:15
Speaker
Like, what does that even mean, equity?
00:32:19
Speaker
Like equity.
00:32:20
Speaker
So you want it for equity.
00:32:21
Speaker
What is that?
00:32:23
Speaker
That is the ownership in your house.
00:32:26
Speaker
Okay.
00:32:27
Speaker
So when do you actually, so when do you make money owning real estate?
00:32:31
Speaker
Like when you own it, something, when do you make money?
00:32:35
Speaker
If you sell it, if you sell it, Oh my goodness.
00:32:40
Speaker
So let's talk through a couple of things that you're missing.
00:32:45
Speaker
Do you think your home value over time goes up or down?
00:32:48
Speaker
What have you noticed in California over the last 10 years?
00:32:52
Speaker
Up goes up.
00:32:53
Speaker
Great gold mines out here.
00:32:55
Speaker
Oh, so if you bought a house 10 years ago and you just paid towards it, the same amount of money you would have been paying towards rent and then you sold it today.
00:33:05
Speaker
What happened?
00:33:05
Speaker
It appreciated, right?
00:33:07
Speaker
Make more money.
00:33:08
Speaker
Yeah.
00:33:10
Speaker
Oh, let's say that's cool.
00:33:13
Speaker
Let's say it doesn't appreciate at all.
00:33:17
Speaker
It just stays the same.
00:33:19
Speaker
Every time you make that payment, it goes towards equity.
00:33:22
Speaker
So when you sell it in five years, what are you going to do?
00:33:27
Speaker
Like what happens?
00:33:28
Speaker
I'll get my money back.
00:33:30
Speaker
You get your money back when you spend it.
00:33:32
Speaker
So hypothetically you were spending the same amount of money in rent.
00:33:35
Speaker
What happens if you rented for five years and then you move?
00:33:39
Speaker
i get nothing back okay that's true so what does this have to do with solar sam what do you get in there so what happens is the same effing thing so so once i okay so pause okay once i let the light bulb click and it goes ding and they they usually when i walk them through all these questions they go they usually bring that up so what do you like
00:34:04
Speaker
Oh, and they go like this.
00:34:06
Speaker
Oh, so this is like the same thing.
00:34:07
Speaker
I'm like, oh yeah, yeah.
00:34:11
Speaker
Nice.
00:34:11
Speaker
So you already made the decision.
00:34:15
Speaker
It's probably a little.
00:34:17
Speaker
I mean, you tell me based on the same thing, you own your house.
00:34:22
Speaker
If you were to own your power and sell in five years, what do you think happens to your solar panels?
00:34:27
Speaker
Do you think they go up or down in value?
00:34:31
Speaker
I don't know.
00:34:32
Speaker
down.
00:34:32
Speaker
Do they go up?
00:34:33
Speaker
I don't know.
00:34:34
Speaker
What happened to your house?
00:34:36
Speaker
It went up.
00:34:37
Speaker
So, okay.
00:34:38
Speaker
So what if newer technology comes out, Sam?
00:34:41
Speaker
What if newer?
00:34:42
Speaker
We're not talking technology.
00:34:43
Speaker
It doesn't matter.
00:34:45
Speaker
We're talking your house.
00:34:47
Speaker
Oh, then yeah.
00:34:48
Speaker
Up goes up.
00:34:49
Speaker
Okay.
00:34:50
Speaker
So what happens when you move in five years, you've been paying towards these panels every month and you move.
Overcoming Objections in Solar Sales
00:34:59
Speaker
What happens?
00:35:01
Speaker
They would go up to you get to sell the panels and you get to pull the money out of them.
00:35:09
Speaker
Does that make sense?
00:35:10
Speaker
Okay.
00:35:11
Speaker
So you're telling me if I did this, I'd be owning my panels up there and then it's going to help me sell my home from work.
00:35:19
Speaker
Yeah.
00:35:19
Speaker
Because don't, aren't they worth something?
00:35:22
Speaker
Yeah.
00:35:23
Speaker
Yeah.
00:35:23
Speaker
I mean, I would guess so.
00:35:26
Speaker
It's like putting a power plant on my house, right?
00:35:29
Speaker
Yeah.
00:35:29
Speaker
So yeah, you tell me, yeah, it's not, I mean, that's, that's a good way to put it.
00:35:33
Speaker
So if you were to rent your power for the next five years and move, where would all that money be?
00:35:42
Speaker
Well, I guess it'd be the electric company.
00:35:44
Speaker
I don't get any of it.
00:35:48
Speaker
Just like you told me how it's really smart to own your house.
00:35:51
Speaker
That's probably why you bought it.
00:35:54
Speaker
And really the trigger here is when you sell.
00:35:56
Speaker
So that's like the good thing.
00:35:58
Speaker
So if you sell in three years, five years, that's even better.
00:36:00
Speaker
Um, cause that's when you get to pull your money out.
00:36:04
Speaker
The guest part, the best part about this, ready?
00:36:06
Speaker
What were you, what would you tell me if the government paid for 30% of your house when you bought it?
00:36:12
Speaker
What if they put the 30% down payment?
00:36:14
Speaker
What would you do?
00:36:15
Speaker
I'd say you're crazy.
00:36:16
Speaker
That'd be awesome.
00:36:17
Speaker
That'd be awesome.
00:36:18
Speaker
Yeah.
00:36:19
Speaker
I probably turn around and sell it tomorrow just to pull that equity out.
00:36:22
Speaker
Right.
00:36:23
Speaker
Oh, heck yeah.
00:36:24
Speaker
That's true.
00:36:25
Speaker
I love that.
00:36:26
Speaker
Yeah.
00:36:26
Speaker
I mean, wouldn't I?
00:36:27
Speaker
Yeah.
00:36:28
Speaker
Well, that's the cool part about solar is they actually put the 30% in for you.
00:36:34
Speaker
They pay for 30% of it.
00:36:36
Speaker
Oh yeah.
00:36:36
Speaker
Cause you get a tax credit, huh?
00:36:38
Speaker
Yeah.
00:36:38
Speaker
So you get a buy low and you get a sell high.
00:36:43
Speaker
I don't know.
00:36:44
Speaker
You tell me.
00:36:44
Speaker
So that tax credit goes away and you got it now and you sell in five years when there's no tax credit.
00:36:51
Speaker
Mm-hmm.
00:36:53
Speaker
How's that a better situation?
00:36:54
Speaker
Yeah, that's a good point.
00:36:55
Speaker
I didn't think about that.
00:36:57
Speaker
But Sam, what if people don't want what if the people don't want solar?
00:37:01
Speaker
They want to buy my house, then what?
00:37:06
Speaker
No, it's not about solar.
00:37:07
Speaker
Do they want power?
00:37:09
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, I'm sure they want power.
00:37:11
Speaker
Okay.
00:37:11
Speaker
What if they don't want solar on the house?
00:37:13
Speaker
Who doesn't want solar on the house?
00:37:15
Speaker
Like, what do you mean?
00:37:16
Speaker
Like, I don't know what if they don't like solar don't like the way it looks up there or something and they don't want solar.
00:37:23
Speaker
Well, everybody in, let's say, what do you mean?
00:37:29
Speaker
It's a law, like the law of California is to put solar on every new build.
00:37:36
Speaker
It's not like a like or dislike.
00:37:38
Speaker
It's like, what if I don't like pipes on my roof?
00:37:41
Speaker
They're not going to just not buy your house.
00:37:44
Speaker
If they don't like it, they won't buy your house.
00:37:45
Speaker
What if they don't like the paint color?
00:37:47
Speaker
What if they don't like your fireplace?
00:37:50
Speaker
That's true.
00:37:51
Speaker
They don't buy your house.
00:37:52
Speaker
What if they don't like your garage, the shape of it?
00:37:56
Speaker
Yeah.
00:37:58
Speaker
If they moved in, though.
00:38:01
Speaker
You know what I mean?
00:38:01
Speaker
If they don't like the shape of your bedroom or your shower.
00:38:05
Speaker
That's true.
00:38:06
Speaker
Okay, then they don't buy your house, and somebody that does like it buys your house, you idiot.
00:38:11
Speaker
Yeah.
00:38:12
Speaker
Like, why are we even having this conversation?
00:38:15
Speaker
But you tell me, dude, like, so if you like power, don't you like the lights on?
00:38:20
Speaker
Yeah.
00:38:20
Speaker
Yeah.
00:38:21
Speaker
I love power.
00:38:22
Speaker
Okay, cool.
00:38:22
Speaker
Power and my Xbox.
00:38:24
Speaker
Yeah.
00:38:24
Speaker
So you got your Xbox and your TV and this and that.
00:38:28
Speaker
Like, so do you think every new buyer that's going to buy your house is going to want power?
00:38:34
Speaker
Yeah.
00:38:35
Speaker
Unless they're Amish.
00:38:36
Speaker
But yeah, I mean, I would assume so.
00:38:39
Speaker
Do you think everybody that buys your house wants to save the most amount of money possible?
00:38:43
Speaker
Yeah.
00:38:44
Speaker
I mean, I don't know.
00:38:45
Speaker
Unless they're idiots in love, just like throwing money in the toilet.
00:38:49
Speaker
Yeah.
00:38:49
Speaker
Yeah.
00:38:50
Speaker
So do you think they'd want to buy your house over every other house because they get to save a lot more money and it's, they need power.
00:38:57
Speaker
Yeah, I see what you're saying here.
00:39:00
Speaker
You tell me, but if it doesn't make sense, then tell me.
00:39:05
Speaker
I've done this a lot, and there's a lot of solar up here, and I think those guys are pretty smart.
00:39:09
Speaker
That's why Google, Ikea, Apple, and all these other places are putting solar on this.
00:39:15
Speaker
They're just trying to make the real estate a little bit more desirable.
00:39:20
Speaker
help the planet but i don't know you i mean you seem like a smart guy so you tell me like don't you think it'd sell a little bit faster just because you have solar yeah yeah i see what you're saying makes sense makes sense but my question is sam like there's a lot of people selling solar why should i like shouldn't i go like shop around a little bit make sure i'm getting the best deal possible so it's all the same like you can buy it from me or you can buy it from anybody i don't care
00:39:49
Speaker
Okay.
00:39:51
Speaker
It's, it's, they're panels, dude.
00:39:52
Speaker
They're like little black sheets of glass that converts sun power into like normal power.
00:39:58
Speaker
Like, that's true.
00:40:00
Speaker
We all just have different shirts on.
00:40:01
Speaker
We're buying it from the same place.
00:40:02
Speaker
We're using the same banks.
00:40:03
Speaker
We've got the same stuff.
Strategic Questioning Techniques
00:40:05
Speaker
Like you could, but do you like me?
00:40:08
Speaker
Yeah.
00:40:09
Speaker
Okay.
00:40:10
Speaker
Then get it from me.
00:40:11
Speaker
So you don't have to go through this damn process over 50 times.
00:40:14
Speaker
Do you really want to go through this stupid, like back and forth 30 times?
00:40:18
Speaker
No, that's true.
00:40:19
Speaker
Okay.
00:40:19
Speaker
Let's just do it.
00:40:20
Speaker
Okay.
00:40:21
Speaker
Okay.
00:40:24
Speaker
Gotcha.
00:40:26
Speaker
That's clever, man.
00:40:27
Speaker
I like the questions.
00:40:29
Speaker
So I'm not selling.
00:40:30
Speaker
What am I doing?
00:40:31
Speaker
You're just backing them into a corner.
00:40:33
Speaker
So they have to like admit that it's the best thing.
00:40:36
Speaker
So how is this some buying emotionally?
00:40:38
Speaker
How am I building emotion?
00:40:39
Speaker
And this is one way.
00:40:40
Speaker
There's 30 different ways I could teach this, but why is this building emotion?
00:40:45
Speaker
Well, you're basically making them feel stupid to like not do it.
00:40:50
Speaker
Yeah, I'm making them emotionally attached to them, their pride.
00:40:53
Speaker
Yeah.
00:40:54
Speaker
Like if I don't do this, I'm going to look like the biggest idiot.
00:40:57
Speaker
Yeah.
00:40:58
Speaker
So I'm building.
00:40:58
Speaker
So this, this approach is basically saying, here's your shovel.
00:41:01
Speaker
You dig.
00:41:02
Speaker
I'll stand up here and kind of just like watch and be like, okay, how's it down there?
00:41:08
Speaker
Is it in that hole that you just dug?
00:41:11
Speaker
Good luck getting out of that one.
00:41:13
Speaker
Exactly.
00:41:15
Speaker
And it's not deceiving.
00:41:16
Speaker
It's just, it's a smarter way to sell.
00:41:19
Speaker
It takes a little bit more sophistication.
00:41:21
Speaker
Yeah.
00:41:21
Speaker
But it's, there's good question tracks that I think here's where most solar guys are.
00:41:26
Speaker
They're solar presenters and they're like, look at all this awesome information.
00:41:30
Speaker
And there's no emotional attachment or pride and ownership that this customer gets to take.
00:41:36
Speaker
Therefore, they don't buy.
00:41:37
Speaker
They're like, oh, thanks for the awesome information.
00:41:39
Speaker
It sounds really good.
00:41:40
Speaker
And obviously, I got to like save money, but I'll shop around.
00:41:43
Speaker
If I just dug you, you just dug this big hole.
00:41:45
Speaker
It's hard for you to be like, well, the only thing you would say is, well, I know I now want solar.
00:41:51
Speaker
Do I get it from you or not?
00:41:52
Speaker
And that's a whole nother conversation we could dive into.
00:41:55
Speaker
So, yeah.
00:41:56
Speaker
Okay.
00:41:57
Speaker
That's money, man.
00:41:57
Speaker
Yeah.
00:41:58
Speaker
I don't think there's too many people doing it like that.
00:42:00
Speaker
So is that like your exact, if you're closing, that's basically exactly what you're saying at home.
00:42:05
Speaker
No, that's how I start my conversation.
00:42:09
Speaker
Like, it's like literally the beginning of my presentation is,
00:42:13
Speaker
Screw the proposal.
00:42:14
Speaker
I just start.
00:42:15
Speaker
That's like, they think I'm building rapport, but in reality they're digging a shovel.
00:42:20
Speaker
Yeah.
00:42:20
Speaker
That's like my rapport building.
00:42:23
Speaker
Yeah.
00:42:23
Speaker
Like, oh, this one's beautiful.
00:42:24
Speaker
Like how long you guys owned it?
00:42:26
Speaker
Oh, why'd you buy it?
00:42:28
Speaker
And I just, I started rebuilding them into this trap and they're like, oh,
00:42:33
Speaker
I didn't even realize I was going, I thought I was talking about like my beautiful home.
00:42:36
Speaker
And now all of a sudden I'm like telling you why owning is so much smarter, so much better.
00:42:43
Speaker
And then I'm like, oh, well, anyway, that's exactly what I'm doing.
00:42:49
Speaker
That's awesome.
00:42:50
Speaker
I love it.
00:42:51
Speaker
I love it.
00:42:51
Speaker
So you think that's, do you think that's more, uh, you think more deals are being missed because of that then like knowing all these closes, cause you have your whole book that have probably has a hundred closes in it and all that.
00:43:04
Speaker
But yeah,
00:43:05
Speaker
I think that's probably more the basis to just building emotion.
00:43:07
Speaker
So yeah, so you don't have to go through 20 closes, right?
00:43:10
Speaker
Yeah, exactly.
00:43:11
Speaker
So like all the book is on is all these closes, right?
00:43:14
Speaker
So I go through the stack clothes.
00:43:15
Speaker
I go through all like all these different closes and they're really good and you have to have them in your quiver.
00:43:21
Speaker
But the problem is, if you suck at creating emotion, you suck at presenting, you suck at building value, you can have all the best closers in the book.
00:43:28
Speaker
And they'll still be like, uh, nope.
00:43:31
Speaker
So my thing is, yeah, I have a book on closing, but I should write a book on presenting.
00:43:37
Speaker
I know, seriously.
00:43:38
Speaker
It's like learn the layup before you try to shoot half-court shots.
00:43:41
Speaker
Yeah.
00:43:42
Speaker
We'll make 100 layups.
00:43:43
Speaker
Yeah, a lot of people think like, oh, I studied this closing, but that's why I kind of diverted back in this podcast to like, dude, like get better at putting trust and emotion together because it's going to make closing really easy.
00:43:56
Speaker
It's going to be like, yeah, all right, let's let's the transition is simply
Mastering Sales Basics
00:44:01
Speaker
now.
00:44:01
Speaker
Yeah, no, it's true.
00:44:03
Speaker
I don't even say anything.
00:44:05
Speaker
I'm like, so you tell me like you could keep paying the power company.
00:44:11
Speaker
I don't know.
00:44:11
Speaker
You pick option A, do nothing.
00:44:14
Speaker
Option B, I mean, it sounds like you kind of told me option B makes a lot more sense, but I mean, you tell me like, I don't know.
00:44:24
Speaker
should you do it?
00:44:26
Speaker
You could have the worst clothes in the planet and then be like, uh.
00:44:33
Speaker
Some people out of pride are going to still be like, well, uh, it's like, okay, if you don't do it, now you're just an idiot.
00:44:40
Speaker
Yeah.
00:44:43
Speaker
So what do you say?
00:44:44
Speaker
Like, what do you say?
00:44:45
Speaker
Like, Sam, I need to think about it.
00:44:46
Speaker
Like, this all sounds awesome.
00:44:48
Speaker
Sounds, sounds like a no brainer.
00:44:50
Speaker
But like, that's our rule is we always think about things.
00:44:53
Speaker
But yeah, you're right.
00:44:55
Speaker
I get what you're saying and all that.
00:44:57
Speaker
Oh, I want you to freaking think about it, dude.
00:45:00
Speaker
Like, I'm just going to get a 90% yes today.
00:45:02
Speaker
I'll let you take that 10% that you're kind of like, oh, it just happened.
00:45:06
Speaker
That's cool.
00:45:06
Speaker
Like, you got about a month before this thing gets on your roof, dude.
00:45:10
Speaker
Like, you got 10.
00:45:11
Speaker
Let's get a 90% yes today.
00:45:12
Speaker
And then 10% is going to just figure itself out.
00:45:15
Speaker
Call me, ask questions, research.
00:45:16
Speaker
I'll send you all the stuff.
00:45:17
Speaker
But, like, we're going to get all the process started today, man.
00:45:20
Speaker
Yeah.
00:45:20
Speaker
Okay.
00:45:21
Speaker
Okay.
00:45:22
Speaker
So you're telling me if I'm 90% yes.
00:45:24
Speaker
And then I decided that I don't want to do it later.
00:45:27
Speaker
Then that's fine.
00:45:28
Speaker
That's fine.
00:45:29
Speaker
I don't want it.
00:45:29
Speaker
Like at the end of the day, I'm not going to like twist your arm.
00:45:31
Speaker
Like, you know, it's a good thing.
00:45:32
Speaker
You just need to sit on it for a second and let that soak in.
00:45:36
Speaker
You just, this is the first time you've really like had your mind blown.
00:45:39
Speaker
It's okay.
00:45:39
Speaker
I melted your mind.
00:45:40
Speaker
I get it.
00:45:41
Speaker
It's got to like kind of reconfigure itself back together.
00:45:43
Speaker
Like that's fine.
00:45:45
Speaker
It's pretty normal.
00:45:46
Speaker
Yeah.
00:45:48
Speaker
All right.
00:45:49
Speaker
Sounds good, Sam.
00:45:49
Speaker
Let's do it.
00:45:52
Speaker
I like that, man.
00:45:53
Speaker
Yeah, I like that.
00:45:54
Speaker
I need to take your word tracks.
00:45:55
Speaker
We got to get like a script or something.
00:45:57
Speaker
Just take your word tracks.
00:45:58
Speaker
That's why you got the university, man.
00:46:00
Speaker
So that's why, that's why guys go from 15, 0 for 15 to 11 for 15 is they copy my word tracks and how I do it.
00:46:09
Speaker
And yeah, it's definitely like a big thing.
00:46:12
Speaker
Why the solar training, the solar training in the university is better than probably all the other industries.
00:46:18
Speaker
I'm the one that put it together and I felt like my solar presentation was so unique where most people are taught the same stuff.
00:46:24
Speaker
And it's just like,
00:46:26
Speaker
It's so boring, dude.
00:46:27
Speaker
I've been in solar demos and I'm like, I think I took a nap.
00:46:33
Speaker
There was a part in there where I dozed off.
00:46:35
Speaker
Yeah, I know.
00:46:38
Speaker
Exactly.
00:46:39
Speaker
Yeah, but I think that's what you're saying is just get back to the fundamentals because like on this podcast, we're teaching our solopreneurs to get leads online, to do all this fancy stuff with technology, but none of that stuff even matters.
00:46:52
Speaker
Fancy stuff online.
00:46:53
Speaker
Let's get leads.
00:46:55
Speaker
I'm all about leads.
00:46:56
Speaker
Let's go to the house.
00:46:57
Speaker
If you can pay all this money to get leads and you can't go and close them and you go 0 for 15 like that one guy did,
00:47:03
Speaker
Exactly.
00:47:03
Speaker
Good on you.
00:47:04
Speaker
You still got to go sell them.
00:47:06
Speaker
It's so funny.
00:47:07
Speaker
People are like, I'm a magician marketer.
00:47:09
Speaker
That's phenomenal.
00:47:11
Speaker
I know.
00:47:12
Speaker
Selling the leads to somebody else that can close.
00:47:15
Speaker
Yeah.
00:47:15
Speaker
Very unphenomenal when you're the solopreneur that sucks at closing.
00:47:19
Speaker
So good on you.
00:47:21
Speaker
I know.
00:47:22
Speaker
Yeah, it's true because, yeah, my buddy James is on this podcast too.
00:47:27
Speaker
He has a whole program.
00:47:29
Speaker
And in the past, he was teaching people how to like build funnels and get leads online.
00:47:34
Speaker
But then guess what?
00:47:34
Speaker
All these people that couldn't even close were trying to do all this stuff.
00:47:38
Speaker
And it's like, dude, go figure out how to present and close before you try and get leads.
00:47:43
Speaker
Yeah.
00:47:43
Speaker
I want leads, baby.
00:47:44
Speaker
It's like, no, leads aren't deals.
00:47:46
Speaker
Online deals don't come through.
00:47:48
Speaker
People aren't like clicking through qualification process and closing themselves.
00:47:52
Speaker
They're not like click, click.
00:47:54
Speaker
Oh, I signed this loan or this PPA.
00:47:56
Speaker
Like, oh, that makes sense.
00:47:57
Speaker
This 35 page document.
00:47:58
Speaker
Oh, a net meter agreement.
00:48:00
Speaker
Yeah, I'll fill that out real quick.
00:48:01
Speaker
Yeah.
00:48:04
Speaker
Sorry, you got to walk them through it.
00:48:05
Speaker
Let's do it.
00:48:06
Speaker
Oh, yeah, yeah.
00:48:07
Speaker
That's so true.
00:48:08
Speaker
Anyway.
00:48:09
Speaker
Well, that's awesome.
00:48:10
Speaker
Well, thanks for getting us back to the basics.
00:48:12
Speaker
I think, yeah, really, that's the most important thing.
00:48:14
Speaker
Learn how to present.
00:48:15
Speaker
And then once you learn how to present effectively, then go get Sam's book and learn the 100 closes.
00:48:21
Speaker
Go through 100 closes if you need them.
00:48:26
Speaker
But yeah, I think that's money.
00:48:26
Speaker
So thanks for bringing us back to that, Sam.
00:48:28
Speaker
And I know we'll let you get your Memorial Day pretty soon here.
00:48:31
Speaker
But just on the last thing I wanted to ask you is about referrals.
00:48:35
Speaker
I think that's a big thing.
00:48:36
Speaker
And I've seen you do some training.
00:48:38
Speaker
So when you consult, what are some effective ways you see to get referrals from these
Referrals and Final Advice
00:48:43
Speaker
customers?
00:48:43
Speaker
The biggest, baddest point on that.
00:48:47
Speaker
Ready?
00:48:48
Speaker
Okay.
00:48:48
Speaker
I don't know if everybody's ready for it.
00:48:50
Speaker
Ready?
00:48:50
Speaker
Okay.
00:48:52
Speaker
Ask for them.
00:48:54
Speaker
Oh.
00:48:56
Speaker
You're making us go basic again.
00:49:02
Speaker
So step one.
00:49:04
Speaker
But there is a psychology.
00:49:05
Speaker
So the flow is, you know, you've got to get them a state of appreciation.
00:49:10
Speaker
Say, hey, like, what was the reason you went for solar today?
00:49:13
Speaker
Or why did you get solar?
00:49:14
Speaker
What are you most excited about?
00:49:16
Speaker
And then ask him for help.
00:49:18
Speaker
Be like, hey, can I ask you to help me out for a second?
00:49:22
Speaker
There's something you can really do to help me out.
00:49:24
Speaker
I know we've made this happen, and I'm grateful that you went solar.
00:49:28
Speaker
Did you freeze?
00:49:33
Speaker
So get them in a state of appreciation and then ask for help and then bring up your program.
00:49:39
Speaker
So you have a program that's 20 cents for everyone.
00:49:48
Speaker
whatever the program is and then you know brainstorm with them and I found that if you're like hey do you know anybody like that's a no yeah if you get more specific on hey who do you like who do you know that just moved into a new home that lives within about two miles or like now I'm like very specific hey who do you know that has brown hair that often wears blue jeans
00:50:14
Speaker
okay i'm like oh tiffany she always wears blue jeans okay tiffany's a good one let's go up to tiffany because the more specific you get with like who do you know that the more likely they will think of an actual person and then they'll give you that person so that's my two cents on the yeah okay and then i saw you did a training once where you're like
00:50:38
Speaker
you know your wallet full of twenty dollar bills or something like that and yeah they say let's make a list something like that and then give them 20 bucks for when you write down yeah i like that idea or every 10 or whatever you want to do like that could be the program so you create a program that's fun that helps them yeah love it that's awesome oh cool well
00:51:02
Speaker
Yeah.
00:51:02
Speaker
Thanks for getting us back to the basics.
00:51:04
Speaker
I think that's the biggest thing.
00:51:05
Speaker
Get good at presenting and then just ask for referrals.
00:51:09
Speaker
Don't take the half court shots.
00:51:10
Speaker
Learn to make the layups before you get into all that fancy stuff.
00:51:14
Speaker
So Sam, thanks for taking us back to the basics.
00:51:16
Speaker
Thanks for reminding us of a lot of things we should be focusing on here.
00:51:20
Speaker
I know it's easy to get distracted.
00:51:22
Speaker
You see all these marketers, the bold headlines and
00:51:25
Speaker
all these, you know, chat bot strategies and whatnot.
00:51:29
Speaker
But I think it's just, you know, most important thing getting back to the basics.
00:51:33
Speaker
So with that being said, yeah, love that you came on the show to share that with us, Sam.
00:51:38
Speaker
And where can people find out more about what you're doing?
00:51:41
Speaker
And you've mentioned your programs a lot and give us a little, you know, tell us what you got coming up.
00:51:46
Speaker
So we have a boot camp.
00:51:48
Speaker
It's every other month.
00:51:49
Speaker
The next one is June 21st and 22nd.
00:51:51
Speaker
You have September 9th and 10th.
00:51:53
Speaker
Those are for the business owners, like the solopreneurs.
00:51:56
Speaker
This would be a two-day event that we dive into.
00:52:00
Speaker
We lift up the hood.
00:52:01
Speaker
It's very intimate.
00:52:01
Speaker
Usually you have about 10 to 20 people in those.
00:52:05
Speaker
You have DDDCon coming up January 16th through the 18th.
00:52:09
Speaker
So that's a big one.
00:52:11
Speaker
We just signed a... Hey, I'll announce it on yours.
00:52:13
Speaker
If people make it to a minute...
00:52:15
Speaker
70 on this podcast or whatever Tim Grover we just signed for oh Tim Grover I hope you stood
00:52:23
Speaker
um better not be offended by f-bombs i know dude he's a stud i mean hey we thought jordan belford last year was gonna be an f-bomb king like yeah he actually wasn't bad he wasn't bad i told him in the backstage i was like dude jordan my mom's in the crowd oh okay oh it was awesome oh your mom's here i'm like yeah thanks man
00:52:47
Speaker
Anyway, so that's a big one.
00:52:50
Speaker
But the dddexperts.com or follow dddexperts or the same taggart on Instagram, Facebook.
00:52:57
Speaker
So those would be kind of the easiest ways.
00:53:00
Speaker
The same taggart or dddexperts.
00:53:02
Speaker
And we're always putting out content.
00:53:04
Speaker
So you can find us on YouTube.
00:53:05
Speaker
We have a cool YouTube blog and channel and the podcast, dddpodcast is a good one.
00:53:12
Speaker
You know, so...
00:53:13
Speaker
Anyway, those are just a few if people are trying to figure out and learn more.
00:53:18
Speaker
We have the university where we help companies film, edit, co-create their platforms.
00:53:23
Speaker
Awesome.
00:53:23
Speaker
So it's pretty cool.
00:53:25
Speaker
Yeah, he's got a ton of stuff, so definitely check out what Sam's doing.
00:53:29
Speaker
And if you're not part of his group, is the group still called Can't Knock This?
00:53:32
Speaker
No, it's D2D Tribe.
00:53:34
Speaker
We kind of rebranded it.
00:53:35
Speaker
D2D Tribe.
00:53:36
Speaker
Okay.
00:53:38
Speaker
but yeah it used to be called can't knock this which still is catchy original yeah i like that still still solid but um no one sticks in your brain more but that's all right he did each other it's good so yeah if you're not part of that there's money conversations going on in there so definitely go be part of that and um yeah i think that's about it any any uh final advice you want to give for our solar preneurs here before you say goodbye to him
00:54:02
Speaker
There's no substitute for hard work guys.
00:54:05
Speaker
It's, it's go hustle.
00:54:06
Speaker
Like I think a lot of people, they think I'll make some online funnel that just makes me millions of dollars.
00:54:11
Speaker
It's like, you still gotta go hustle.
00:54:14
Speaker
You still gotta go in the homes, ask for referrals, knock the doors around your leads, around your installs.
00:54:19
Speaker
Like,
00:54:20
Speaker
I think a lot of people, they just try to snap their fingers and become rich.
00:54:24
Speaker
And then the other one is don't get complacent.
00:54:26
Speaker
People are like, Oh, I sold one.
00:54:27
Speaker
I made four grand.
00:54:29
Speaker
And it's like, it's around for the next three weeks.
00:54:32
Speaker
And it's like, really?
00:54:33
Speaker
You idiot.
00:54:35
Speaker
So those are my two days.
00:54:36
Speaker
Yeah.
00:54:37
Speaker
Love it.
00:54:38
Speaker
All right.
00:54:38
Speaker
Well, Sam, thanks for being on the show and appreciate what you're doing.
00:54:42
Speaker
We'll definitely appoint guys your direction.
00:54:44
Speaker
Seem to add more value, value to them.
00:54:46
Speaker
And that being said, yeah, we'll talk soon.
00:54:49
Speaker
Thanks, Sam.
00:54:50
Speaker
Thanks, my man.
00:54:51
Speaker
Appreciate you.
00:54:52
Speaker
Yep.
00:54:52
Speaker
Take care.
00:54:53
Speaker
Wow, what another amazing episode of the Solarpreneur Podcast.
00:54:58
Speaker
Now, before we take off here, do us a favor and go leave an honest review on your platform of choice or wherever you're listening to this podcast.
00:55:07
Speaker
It helps us get the word out about the Solarpreneur Movement and impact more entrepreneurs, sales professionals, and marketers just like you.
00:55:16
Speaker
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00:55:21
Speaker
It's going to impact you and help you take your sales game to the next level.
00:55:25
Speaker
See you guys in the next episode.