Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
How To Close 21 Solar Deals In A Day (Interview With Ashton Buswell) Episode #6
70 Plays7 years ago
On this episode of the solarpreneur podcast we’ve got Legacy Power’s National Sales Diretor Ashton Buswell on air to shed some of his wisdom as one of the top producing solar professionals in the country.
Recommended
Transcript
Introducing Solarpreneurs
00:00:00
Speaker
Look, in the solar business, there's really only two types of people.
00:00:04
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.
Transforming the Solar Industry
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.
00:00:50
Speaker
What's
Meet Ashton: A Leader in Solar Sales
00:00:51
Speaker
going on, solarpreneurs?
00:00:52
Speaker
Welcome to another episode, and I'm super stoked for this one because we have someone that's I would consider one of the LeBron James of this industry.
00:01:03
Speaker
He's the, correct me if I'm wrong on any of this, Ashton, but he's the National Sales Director for Legacy, right?
00:01:10
Speaker
That's right.
00:01:12
Speaker
And he has been top producer for them.
00:01:14
Speaker
I've heard him in the myths of solar.
00:01:16
Speaker
I've heard him in legends of solar.
00:01:18
Speaker
that he is one of the top dogs.
00:01:20
Speaker
So we got him here with us, excited to get him on the podcast.
00:01:24
Speaker
And I know he's a super busy guy, so really appreciative of him taking the time to be on the podcast.
00:01:30
Speaker
So Ashton, welcome to the show, man.
00:01:32
Speaker
Yeah, thanks.
00:01:33
Speaker
Glad to be here.
00:01:34
Speaker
Yeah.
00:01:35
Speaker
Be a good time.
00:01:37
Speaker
And I'll tell you,
Ashton's Media Spotlight
00:01:38
Speaker
I was doing some research on you, just what we can focus on before.
00:01:42
Speaker
And the first thing that pops up is we've got a video of you on ESPN, man.
00:01:47
Speaker
What's going on with that?
00:01:49
Speaker
I don't know if slower was a sports thing.
00:01:52
Speaker
How'd you get to do that?
00:01:53
Speaker
ESPN
Record-Setting Achievements
00:01:54
Speaker
radio.
00:01:54
Speaker
Yeah.
00:01:55
Speaker
Yeah.
00:01:57
Speaker
Dream come true.
00:01:58
Speaker
It's kind of funny.
00:01:58
Speaker
ESPN radio has a bunch of other advertising type spots.
00:02:03
Speaker
So I told my friends I was gonna be on ESPN radio.
00:02:05
Speaker
I've been on ESPN in high school.
00:02:08
Speaker
I was a high school Heisman and whatever else.
00:02:10
Speaker
I wasn't sure if that's what you were talking about, but I didn't know about that.
00:02:14
Speaker
That was just a radio show.
00:02:16
Speaker
Okay.
00:02:17
Speaker
Yeah.
00:02:19
Speaker
I watch it.
00:02:19
Speaker
It's the first video that pops up about you and you're on ESPN radio talking about solar.
00:02:23
Speaker
I'm like, what on earth?
00:02:25
Speaker
How do you
00:02:26
Speaker
That's awesome.
00:02:28
Speaker
Cool.
00:02:29
Speaker
And so I see you were, was that legacy's number one rep in 2015, got the settlement of the year.
00:02:37
Speaker
Is that right?
00:02:39
Speaker
Yeah.
00:02:39
Speaker
I've won a couple of awards.
00:02:40
Speaker
I mean, if you want to give me a, if you want me to give a quick.
00:02:43
Speaker
Yeah.
00:02:43
Speaker
Let's hear, let's hear about some records that you set.
00:02:45
Speaker
I know
Sales Strategies and Referrals
00:02:46
Speaker
you've had some crazy records.
00:02:47
Speaker
So tell us about, I don't know, most sold in a week in a day.
00:02:50
Speaker
I just recently broke my personal sold in a day record.
00:02:54
Speaker
I signed 21 deals in a day.
00:02:56
Speaker
Oh my gosh.
00:02:57
Speaker
A couple of Saturdays ago.
00:02:59
Speaker
A few three for ones in there, which I was grateful for is end of a sales competition.
00:03:04
Speaker
That week set a new record for most in a week and sold 42 in a week.
00:03:10
Speaker
Oh my gosh.
00:03:11
Speaker
Pretty freaking crazy week.
00:03:12
Speaker
Monday to Saturday.
00:03:13
Speaker
Wow.
00:03:16
Speaker
I have over 500 personal installs, around 550 personal installs and my teams I've overseen a few thousand.
00:03:24
Speaker
Holy cow.
00:03:24
Speaker
Wow.
00:03:25
Speaker
Yeah, my top install year, I should be at, I'm hoping to hit 150 this year.
00:03:31
Speaker
We're at about 135 right now, as long as...
00:03:36
Speaker
everybody else doesn't fill out the calendar.
00:03:38
Speaker
I should be able to get it.
00:03:39
Speaker
I got enough permits
Old-School Sales Techniques
00:03:40
Speaker
that came back and stuff.
00:03:41
Speaker
So, yeah, that's insane, man.
00:03:43
Speaker
Yeah.
00:03:44
Speaker
That's the stuff you hear that no one believes.
00:03:46
Speaker
Like when I hear 20 in a day or something, I said, no, maybe in like pest control or something, but solar, you don't hear that kind of stuff going around.
00:03:56
Speaker
Do you get a hater?
00:03:56
Speaker
Do you have people doubting you on that?
00:03:58
Speaker
That it's even possible?
00:03:59
Speaker
I mean, I did 16 in a day a couple of years ago and people thought it was the craziest thing.
00:04:04
Speaker
Jed Sewell, also another legend.
00:04:07
Speaker
15 the same day oh my gosh so it was pretty crazy pretty crazy time but yeah a lot of it has to do with prepping customers you know you're getting in those particular cases getting customers bought into the competitions that i'm in and and if i don't close the deal saying hey look i'd really appreciate it
Engaging Customers in Sales
00:04:27
Speaker
if you knew if you knew of anybody else kind of taking the pressure off of them
00:04:31
Speaker
And so if there's anybody else that you know, this isn't about me, it's about you, but I'm in this sales competition just so you know, and then tell them about it and then say, if you know anybody, please let them know about it.
00:04:44
Speaker
And if you guys end up deciding you want to go for it, I'd really, really appreciate it if we could do everything by September 17th or whatever the last day is.
00:04:54
Speaker
And so it turns, it takes pressure off of them and then it allows it to be like, here's a good solid deadline.
00:05:00
Speaker
Yeah.
00:05:00
Speaker
And then a lot of people, I would just go through the agreement with them right then and there, they weren't ready to close, but I would just say, I'll email this to you.
00:05:07
Speaker
If, if you're a go, then you, we've already gone through it and you just need to click through the buttons and away we go.
00:05:14
Speaker
So that's how you have a big, that's how you have a massive day.
00:05:17
Speaker
I mean, I can't be in 20 appointments at one, you know, in a day, but, um, That's insane.
00:05:25
Speaker
So a lot of these are a lot of them referrals.
00:05:27
Speaker
Then when you get in your competitions and closing that many,
00:05:30
Speaker
Um, or a good chunk from referrals.
00:05:33
Speaker
Yeah.
00:05:35
Speaker
But a lot.
00:05:37
Speaker
Okay.
00:05:38
Speaker
I'm sorry.
00:05:38
Speaker
You kind of cut out for a second, but I think you said referrals.
00:05:40
Speaker
A lot, a lot of it was referrals, but a lot of it also is just people I've been working with forever.
00:05:45
Speaker
I mean, the first time I got 16 in a day or the day I got 16 in a day, I signed up three people that I've been working with for a year.
00:05:54
Speaker
Oh my gosh.
00:05:55
Speaker
Just kind of reached back out to them.
00:05:57
Speaker
I said, look, man, are you still interested?
00:05:59
Speaker
You have never told me no.
00:06:02
Speaker
Are you still interested in getting solar?
00:06:04
Speaker
Oh, yeah, man, we're still interested.
00:06:06
Speaker
Okay, well, let me know what's on.
00:06:07
Speaker
Let me tell you what's on the line.
00:06:08
Speaker
At that point, it was a Tesla.
00:06:09
Speaker
I want a Tesla.
00:06:11
Speaker
Oh, my gosh.
00:06:11
Speaker
Wow.
Persistence in Follow-ups
00:06:12
Speaker
Yeah.
00:06:15
Speaker
Tesla's on the line.
00:06:17
Speaker
If you're going to do it, man, I'd be super grateful if we did it today.
00:06:21
Speaker
Got them to pass credit and signed the deal.
00:06:24
Speaker
Oh, wow.
00:06:25
Speaker
Yeah, it was great.
00:06:26
Speaker
Yeah, it's definitely got to build some urgency if they know you're winning a Tesla.
00:06:30
Speaker
Who's going to help someone get a Tesla?
00:06:32
Speaker
Right.
00:06:33
Speaker
Crazy.
00:06:34
Speaker
So one of the biggest problems that I know I face and other reps is staying organized with all these people that maybe you're following up with.
00:06:42
Speaker
Cause you say you keep pushing them for a year or so.
00:06:46
Speaker
I've got all these leads in the pipeline.
00:06:48
Speaker
So how are you like staying organized and how are you keeping track of these people and know, all right, this guy was on the edge.
00:06:54
Speaker
Let me try contacting this guy or going following up with referrals.
00:06:58
Speaker
What's kind of your process for that?
00:06:59
Speaker
I'm old school.
00:07:00
Speaker
I have a book.
Reading Prospects and Body Language
00:07:02
Speaker
And I write down names and I write down, I'll create lists at different times of hot prospects.
00:07:09
Speaker
I'll also keep some in my phone.
00:07:13
Speaker
But mostly I have just my book and you could steal my book.
00:07:18
Speaker
They don't have addresses so you wouldn't be able to find out who they are, but I know who they are, right?
00:07:22
Speaker
And I have a list of my hot prospects and then next to their name, I'll write down the last contact I had with them.
00:07:30
Speaker
So if it was a text,
00:07:33
Speaker
on 12 seven then i'll put text 12 7 voicemail you know 11 30 or whatever and so i know i remember the last time that i made a touch with them and i don't do that with every customer every every single person that i sit with or talk to i don't follow up like that but it's somebody that is genuinely interested i think in the solar business there's people that are going to get solar
00:08:01
Speaker
And it's either going to be from you or from someone else.
00:08:04
Speaker
And I want to be the person they're going to get it from.
00:08:07
Speaker
And so those people are the people that I'm keeping track of because they're, they said, I'm going to do this at some point.
00:08:15
Speaker
I'm going to do this one day.
00:08:16
Speaker
Okay.
00:08:17
Speaker
So those are the people that I, I follow up with and keep track of in my, in my list.
00:08:24
Speaker
Okay.
00:08:25
Speaker
Okay.
Simple Organizational Tools
00:08:26
Speaker
And how do you, do you have a process for how often you're following up with them?
00:08:30
Speaker
Or is it just kind of like, all right, this guy was pretty interested back then.
00:08:34
Speaker
Just kind of when you think about it or get around to it next or.
00:08:38
Speaker
Yeah.
00:08:39
Speaker
It depends on the interaction with the customer, frankly.
00:08:43
Speaker
You know, some people I'll try to reach out to every month, but others on those ones that are like, yeah, we're going to get to it.
00:08:52
Speaker
It's maybe every three months.
00:08:55
Speaker
I'll send them a Christmas card.
00:08:56
Speaker
Okay.
00:08:58
Speaker
Customers Christmas cards and then those hot prospects that I know haven't got sore.
00:09:04
Speaker
I mean, the heartbreak is when you drive in the neighborhood and you see someone else's freaking sore.
00:09:08
Speaker
Yeah, that's the worst.
00:09:10
Speaker
That's the worst, man.
00:09:11
Speaker
Oh, yeah.
00:09:12
Speaker
I was working with you, dude.
00:09:13
Speaker
I was following up.
00:09:14
Speaker
I'm better than that guy.
00:09:15
Speaker
What the crap, man?
00:09:16
Speaker
I know how that happens to me too.
00:09:19
Speaker
So that sucks when that happens.
00:09:21
Speaker
But it's part of the game.
00:09:22
Speaker
It's just an embers game.
00:09:24
Speaker
Yeah.
00:09:24
Speaker
I don't send them a Christmas card anymore.
00:09:26
Speaker
Yeah, exactly.
00:09:29
Speaker
That's cool.
00:09:31
Speaker
So how, when these competitions, do you keep people kind of on the back burner because you know you're going to be in a competition?
00:09:37
Speaker
Or how do you like turn it up so much for these competitions?
00:09:40
Speaker
No,
Luck and Hard Work
00:09:41
Speaker
frankly, I just spend luck.
00:09:44
Speaker
Okay.
00:09:44
Speaker
The harder you work, the luckier you get.
00:09:46
Speaker
But frankly, I've had competitions in the finals week where I have got like three or four and I, and a normal week, that's a great week.
00:09:54
Speaker
Yeah.
00:09:55
Speaker
I'm expected to get 10 or 15 for my team in a finals week.
00:10:01
Speaker
Yeah.
00:10:02
Speaker
So, um,
00:10:04
Speaker
But sometimes it just doesn't happen that way, right?
00:10:07
Speaker
If you can create, if you're in a good vein of people and you're getting some good traction and stuff like that and you can feel some urgency towards these different competitions, it's really helpful.
00:10:16
Speaker
But some of it is just luck.
00:10:21
Speaker
Okay, yeah, gotta get lucky.
00:10:23
Speaker
But also if there's multiple different sales things that talk about people that don't follow up enough, that people sign up on the eighth touch.
00:10:35
Speaker
people give up on the third touch or fourth touch right and everyone's I mean I had one guy that I probably touched 30 times but it was on my way home in my area where I was working really hard I would just at nighttime he got he worked late so I just drive by and I'd knock on his door and sometimes he'd be there and sometimes he wouldn't be there and if he's there just checking in Ed
00:11:01
Speaker
How's everything going?
00:11:03
Speaker
And again, he never told me no.
00:11:04
Speaker
Yeah.
00:11:05
Speaker
And a lot of times I'm just like, just tell me no, dude.
00:11:08
Speaker
So I can freaking stop coming to your house.
00:11:10
Speaker
Yeah.
00:11:11
Speaker
And I've told a couple of people that like, Hey man, is there, is this something you're sincerely interested in?
00:11:16
Speaker
You haven't told me no yet, but I'd rather not come by if you're not serious and yeah.
00:11:23
Speaker
And what have you, but he never told me no.
00:11:26
Speaker
And 30 touches later he was ready and he got,
00:11:31
Speaker
It's his panels on his roof, you know?
00:11:32
Speaker
That's insane.
00:11:33
Speaker
Yeah.
00:11:34
Speaker
That's crazy.
00:11:35
Speaker
And so how do you know if someone's worth following up that much?
00:11:38
Speaker
Because I have some leads that maybe I don't even meet with one time that sometimes maybe it could be a waste of time to be, you know, pushing out hours trying to follow up with them.
00:11:48
Speaker
So what do you consider someone that's worth following up on?
00:11:52
Speaker
Again, in their conversation, it was very apparent.
00:11:56
Speaker
And what I've really become is I've become a professional body language reader.
00:12:01
Speaker
Okay.
00:12:02
Speaker
Right.
00:12:02
Speaker
If somebody, they can tell me, Oh yeah, we're interested.
00:12:06
Speaker
Oh no, we're not interested right now or whatever.
00:12:08
Speaker
But if their body language is saying, no, we're going to interested in solar, just not right now, then I'm going to follow up with them.
00:12:16
Speaker
If they're, if, if it's somebody that's, I'm pushing more for the cell than they're wanting it.
00:12:24
Speaker
And I'm not going to spend as much time with that person, but okay.
00:12:29
Speaker
Yeah.
00:12:29
Speaker
And are you guys meeting in your company?
00:12:31
Speaker
Are you meeting with people like the same day?
00:12:34
Speaker
Are you setting appointments for days out to meet with them?
00:12:38
Speaker
How does, how does your process?
00:12:39
Speaker
I personally like scheduling an appointment.
00:12:41
Speaker
That's my personal preference and legacy.
00:12:44
Speaker
We have lots of guys that do same day closes.
00:12:46
Speaker
I do same day closes every once in a while.
00:12:48
Speaker
Okay.
00:12:48
Speaker
My personal preference is to,
00:12:51
Speaker
get their utility bill, get all their information that I need to create a lead and create a design for them and then come back another day.
00:13:00
Speaker
What I figure is I wasn't invited when I first knocked on their door.
00:13:06
Speaker
And not that that's a bad thing, but I just wasn't invited and they weren't expecting to make a long-term decision that afternoon.
00:13:14
Speaker
And often the husband and wife aren't there together anyway.
00:13:18
Speaker
and you would need them both or want them both there anyway.
00:13:21
Speaker
So, so typically I personally like to schedule a followup.
00:13:25
Speaker
If somebody was going to cancel on me before I sat down for the appointment, they probably would have canceled on me if I signed them up that same day.
00:13:32
Speaker
Sure.
00:13:33
Speaker
My emotions would have been like excited and I would have felt like I had a cell and the false, you know, true sale.
00:13:41
Speaker
So,
00:13:43
Speaker
Yeah.
00:13:44
Speaker
Just personal preference.
00:13:45
Speaker
Guys have gotten, I know some guys that have gotten just incredibly good at same day sales and we go to install and more power to them, you know, but yeah.
00:13:57
Speaker
Yeah, very true.
00:13:58
Speaker
Yeah, our company is kind of doing a mix of it.
00:14:00
Speaker
Same days and next days.
00:14:02
Speaker
We're having quite a bit of success with the same days.
00:14:05
Speaker
Just because I guess the benefit is if you have them the same day, then they can't really forget you're coming.
00:14:09
Speaker
If you say, hey, we got someone coming in 20 minutes, they'll be here, set an appointment then.
00:14:15
Speaker
Right.
00:14:16
Speaker
But my next question is if you sit the next day and say they don't show up, are you still going to follow up with that person?
00:14:23
Speaker
Or is it just going to depend on how interested you saw they were with the first contact you made?
00:14:29
Speaker
I'll follow up with everyone.
00:14:30
Speaker
I never, I never, again, I keep going until they tell me no.
00:14:35
Speaker
Okay.
00:14:35
Speaker
When somebody tells me no, then they're off the list.
00:14:39
Speaker
Uh, so if somebody, if somebody is a no show on me, I'll blame it on myself.
00:14:45
Speaker
Oh shoot.
00:14:45
Speaker
Sorry.
00:14:46
Speaker
I thought I put it in my calendar for today at two.
00:14:49
Speaker
No one was home.
00:14:50
Speaker
I must've made a mistake.
00:14:52
Speaker
Was it tomorrow at two or when would be a better time to get together?
00:14:56
Speaker
Okay.
00:14:57
Speaker
Sort of a little bit knowing that dude, they knew and I knew that it was today at two, but by giving them some grace, lots of times I get some grace back and,
00:15:09
Speaker
And they may just text back and say, we've decided we're not interested.
00:15:14
Speaker
Okay.
00:15:14
Speaker
And then I'll try to come back a little bit.
00:15:16
Speaker
I'll, I'll, well, what was it?
00:15:17
Speaker
How, how come did your neighbor tell you something bad about solar?
00:15:21
Speaker
Yeah.
00:15:22
Speaker
Some reviews online.
00:15:24
Speaker
What was it that, are you deciding to get solar from someone else?
00:15:27
Speaker
What, how come you're not interested all of a sudden when we just talked yesterday and try to find out, you got to be bold sometimes and call people out a little bit, but yeah.
00:15:37
Speaker
Um,
00:15:39
Speaker
Okay.
00:15:40
Speaker
Because, yeah, I had a guy.
00:15:41
Speaker
I keep following up until I tell you.
00:15:44
Speaker
Okay.
00:15:45
Speaker
See, I'm just curious.
00:15:46
Speaker
I had a guy in Mira Mesa here that I was a couple months back, I think.
00:15:52
Speaker
Seemed like he was super interested, but then you know how it goes.
00:15:55
Speaker
Didn't show up to the appointment.
00:15:57
Speaker
I call on fur.
00:15:58
Speaker
for, I don't know, call them four or five times over the next two weeks, text them multiple times and just can't get a response out of this guy.
00:16:08
Speaker
And so those guys, as you know, it's super frustrating how many times you follow up with them.
00:16:13
Speaker
They're not even responding at all.
00:16:15
Speaker
Um, so do you get guys like that, but just do not respond, don't say anything and you just still keep them on the list, keep following up, following up with them for a year at a time.
00:16:25
Speaker
If, if that, if that, that guy's not on my list for a year, for sure.
00:16:28
Speaker
Okay.
00:16:29
Speaker
Um, if, if they've, I've, I've made four or five attempts, I might give it a little bit and put a reminder in my calendar to follow up with them like two or three months later.
00:16:39
Speaker
Okay.
00:16:40
Speaker
And be blunt about it and just say, Hey, this is Ashland solar guy.
00:16:44
Speaker
Just thought I would follow up with you because we never connected a couple months ago.
00:16:50
Speaker
Are you still interested in solar?
00:16:52
Speaker
And just lay it out there.
00:16:53
Speaker
And if he is, great.
00:16:55
Speaker
And if he's not, then so be it.
00:16:58
Speaker
Okay.
00:16:59
Speaker
Interesting.
00:17:00
Speaker
Yeah.
00:17:00
Speaker
And so let's talk about, I know you're working a ton and that's another thing I've heard about you is that you're a work, workhorse, man.
00:17:07
Speaker
You're outworking
The Role of Work Ethic
00:17:08
Speaker
everyone out there.
00:17:09
Speaker
Is that true?
00:17:10
Speaker
Would you say you're outworking and that's been one of your biggest secrets is just putting in more work than pretty much anyone?
00:17:17
Speaker
Yeah.
00:17:18
Speaker
I'm willing to work really, really hard.
00:17:20
Speaker
That's, that's, I think anybody, if anybody, you know, legacy does door knocking.
00:17:24
Speaker
A lot of companies do door knocking.
00:17:25
Speaker
That's not the only route to go.
00:17:27
Speaker
Yeah.
00:17:28
Speaker
But if anyone is willing to knock seven hours a day every day for a year, they'll be a top producer in their company.
00:17:35
Speaker
I believe that 100% wholeheartedly.
00:17:38
Speaker
Most people aren't willing to do that.
00:17:40
Speaker
Yes.
00:17:41
Speaker
In the wintertime when it gets dark sooner, they're not willing to either start earlier or knock into the dark.
00:17:46
Speaker
Yeah.
00:17:46
Speaker
Or they get things going and they're like things are running good and you're making good money or good enough money for their situation.
00:17:55
Speaker
where they're like, I don't need to knock today or I don't need to, I can maybe put in three hours today and people get complacent with their work ethic.
00:18:05
Speaker
I'm not the best sales guy.
00:18:07
Speaker
I bet you most people, not most people, I bet you there's a ton of people that are better sales people than I am as far as in the home closing or at the door closing.
00:18:18
Speaker
I've gotten really freaking good.
00:18:20
Speaker
I'm not probably the best sharpest skilled sales guy.
00:18:25
Speaker
But I work my guts out.
00:18:27
Speaker
Yeah.
00:18:28
Speaker
And I'm willing to work my guts out.
00:18:30
Speaker
So if you take somebody that's willing to work their guts out, combine that with some talent, then you've got worse to be reckoned with, right?
00:18:37
Speaker
Definitely.
00:18:38
Speaker
Yeah.
00:18:38
Speaker
And like you said, I mean, part of your work, luck you're going to get and success just keeps building upon success.
00:18:45
Speaker
And I know you definitely seen that, but I'm sure you get all the time.
00:18:48
Speaker
It's like, Ashton, what if I'm not like motivated to go out there and knock seven hours?
00:18:52
Speaker
Like how the freak do you just grab all his motivation?
00:18:56
Speaker
Like how do you turn a guy that's not even motivated to knock like three hours and it's been doing this for two years and doesn't want to knock anymore?
00:19:05
Speaker
or work is hard.
00:19:06
Speaker
How do you get to him and teach a guy to work?
00:19:09
Speaker
How do you like kind of infect that work ethic?
00:19:12
Speaker
You got it.
00:19:12
Speaker
You got to build on why they're even there.
00:19:15
Speaker
Okay.
00:19:16
Speaker
Blunt back, you know, kind of the takeaway, even with a, that you do with the customer or takeaway you do with even a rep, like, dude, is this even right for you anymore?
00:19:25
Speaker
I mean, you can't forget what, what got you to where you're at.
00:19:28
Speaker
Don't ever forget that.
00:19:30
Speaker
And people rely on referrals and referrals are freaking the best money.
00:19:34
Speaker
Someone trusts someone else and they say, hey, I've walked into appointments where they've said, hey, we don't have time to research.
00:19:40
Speaker
Dan did the research.
00:19:41
Speaker
He said we should go with you.
00:19:43
Speaker
Where do we sign?
00:19:44
Speaker
That's like the easiest commission that you'll ever get.
00:19:48
Speaker
Yeah.
00:19:49
Speaker
But, and that's where it gets really fun, but you've got to always keep your, your, your tools sharp.
00:19:55
Speaker
And you
Leveraging Customer Relationships
00:19:56
Speaker
do that by continuing to beat your craft on non-referral sources, right?
00:20:00
Speaker
If that's online sources, if that's knocking doors, if that's phone calls, however you go about creating your business, you've got to continue to beat that craft because if you can do that, then you're, you're, you know, you're going to find, then you'll get referrals, right?
00:20:17
Speaker
You can't forget where,
00:20:18
Speaker
that one referral source that you love like crazy where you got them from, right?
00:20:24
Speaker
You probably got them from a door knock or they were referred from somebody that was a door knock.
00:20:29
Speaker
I have one referral chain from a guy who knocked on his door, referred me to one guy.
00:20:33
Speaker
And that one guy referred, has referred me to like three or four.
00:20:38
Speaker
And then the two or three of those guys referred me to three or four.
00:20:41
Speaker
I've got one referral chain that I've probably made 200 plus thousand dollars off of.
00:20:49
Speaker
But it all came from just knocking on one dude's door.
00:20:51
Speaker
That's crazy.
00:20:53
Speaker
Yeah, that's crazy.
00:20:55
Speaker
And then taking care of all the customers along the way.
00:20:57
Speaker
Right.
00:20:57
Speaker
I've been having them all have a good experience and yeah.
00:21:00
Speaker
Yeah.
00:21:03
Speaker
And so let's get into that.
00:21:05
Speaker
With referrals, how are you getting these kind of referral chains?
00:21:09
Speaker
Because I think that's a big struggle.
00:21:11
Speaker
And I've seen in our company and other reps as well is asking for the referral and then getting just even creating a chain.
00:21:19
Speaker
People will get lucky and maybe get one referral.
00:21:21
Speaker
But how do you create a chain out of it?
00:21:24
Speaker
And how do you like, is it following up with these people or what's your referral process?
00:21:28
Speaker
It's tougher than solar because it takes so long.
00:21:33
Speaker
Yeah.
00:21:34
Speaker
You're lots of people want to, I want to make sure that it works.
00:21:37
Speaker
Yeah, exactly.
00:21:38
Speaker
You try to like, well, if it does, who would you refer me to?
00:21:42
Speaker
No, I'm just going to wait.
00:21:43
Speaker
You know, like you can try to kind of rush the referral a little bit.
00:21:46
Speaker
Yeah.
00:21:46
Speaker
I promise it's going to work.
00:21:47
Speaker
We could just get you money now for a referral bonus.
00:21:50
Speaker
We can get you money later up to you.
00:21:51
Speaker
Yeah.
00:21:53
Speaker
I just want to make sure to see how the process goes.
00:21:55
Speaker
And then some people refer you the first day.
00:21:57
Speaker
Hey, you need to go talk to my mom.
00:21:58
Speaker
Yeah.
00:21:59
Speaker
And other people, I've got one guy that I'm saving over $200 a month every month.
00:22:04
Speaker
I mean, just tons of money every year and he won't ever open his mouth.
00:22:08
Speaker
And I'm like, dude, I'm saving you so much money.
00:22:11
Speaker
Tell your next door neighbor that I need to save the same amount of money.
00:22:13
Speaker
Come on, man.
00:22:14
Speaker
Yeah.
00:22:15
Speaker
So some people will just naturally do it.
00:22:16
Speaker
Others won't ever.
00:22:18
Speaker
Yeah.
00:22:19
Speaker
But when you get a referral,
00:22:23
Speaker
the easiest way to continue on is you remind the person how they got introduced to you.
00:22:30
Speaker
Okay.
00:22:31
Speaker
If they were introduced to you as a referral, then you, you harp that up in this, in the close, like, just like you were referred to me by John, that's most of my business.
00:22:41
Speaker
And I'm just super grateful for that.
00:22:44
Speaker
I'm that's, that's,
00:22:47
Speaker
And if that's how they were introduced, then they often will reciprocate that.
00:22:52
Speaker
And that's how the chain keeps going.
00:22:54
Speaker
You make sure that they remember that they were introduced by a referral and that you need them now to take their turn and refer you to somebody.
00:23:04
Speaker
Yeah.
00:23:05
Speaker
Okay.
00:23:06
Speaker
So is it like, are you following up with them later down the road or is it just while you're in the meeting, you kind of remind them?
00:23:12
Speaker
In the initial close, I do.
00:23:15
Speaker
And then I...
00:23:19
Speaker
usually after everything's been installed.
00:23:21
Speaker
Again, because I've seen rather than be beating it, beating the drum of I need referrals, I need referrals.
00:23:29
Speaker
Lots of people just want to wait and see how it works out.
00:23:32
Speaker
So I kind of let that process go a little bit and then reach out to them after they're installed.
00:23:40
Speaker
Okay.
00:23:41
Speaker
And speaking of the holiday season, I know you said you send out Christmas cards and things like that, but does that produce quite a few referrals of sending out Christmas cards, the things you do at the holidays?
00:23:51
Speaker
No?
00:23:52
Speaker
No.
00:23:54
Speaker
I thought the first year it would.
00:23:55
Speaker
I'm like, oh, dude, people are going to love my family and love hearing about the Buzz Wells.
00:24:00
Speaker
Because I love my family.
00:24:02
Speaker
And three little cute girls.
00:24:06
Speaker
Yeah.
00:24:07
Speaker
Yeah.
00:24:07
Speaker
Frankly, I spend a few thousand dollars on these for my customers.
00:24:13
Speaker
Yeah.
00:24:14
Speaker
And directly from them, I think I've got one.
00:24:22
Speaker
Wow.
00:24:22
Speaker
Sell.
00:24:23
Speaker
And I've done it for the past couple of years.
00:24:25
Speaker
Oh, wow.
00:24:26
Speaker
Okay.
00:24:26
Speaker
But what I'm trying to do throughout my whole pitch, throughout everything that I am, is I'm trying to help everybody know that I'm just a regular guy, just like them.
00:24:37
Speaker
Regular
Building Trust through Relatability
00:24:38
Speaker
people want to help regular people.
00:24:41
Speaker
And so I'm just a regular guy.
00:24:44
Speaker
If I'm knocking at their door, I'm a regular guy in the neighborhood.
00:24:47
Speaker
I'm not any flashy sales guy.
00:24:49
Speaker
When I send them a Christmas card, that's what regular people do.
00:24:53
Speaker
Right.
00:24:53
Speaker
Regular friends send Christmas cards to their friends.
00:24:56
Speaker
So I send Christmas cards.
00:24:58
Speaker
I get Christmas cards back.
00:24:59
Speaker
My wife was on the phone with someone yesterday.
00:25:01
Speaker
I don't know who.
00:25:02
Speaker
And she said, she's like, I keep getting, we keep getting all these Christmas cards in the mail.
00:25:06
Speaker
I have no clue who the crap they are, but I just, customers.
00:25:11
Speaker
So there, so that means that we're friends, right?
00:25:13
Speaker
That we're at a different level than I'm just, I sold you your solar and you never see me again.
00:25:19
Speaker
Yeah.
00:25:19
Speaker
So when,
00:25:22
Speaker
You know, Susan, Suzanne Gorsky, when she's in an opportunity to get me a referral, she remembers who I am and she remembers I have three cute daughters and she remembers I have a beautiful wife.
00:25:34
Speaker
Right.
00:25:35
Speaker
And she remembers that I still am there.
00:25:40
Speaker
I've also got some feedback from other people that I've done a poor job of following up with.
00:25:44
Speaker
I got your card in the mail and I was like, who the crap is this?
00:25:48
Speaker
Yeah.
00:25:49
Speaker
Yeah.
00:25:50
Speaker
And that's a good job of cultivating a relationship after the install.
00:25:54
Speaker
Right.
00:25:54
Speaker
Yeah.
00:25:56
Speaker
So I'm just trying to be a regular guy and regular guys, regular friends send their friends Christmas cards.
00:26:03
Speaker
Yeah.
00:26:04
Speaker
Okay.
00:26:04
Speaker
Well, that's disappointing to hear, man, because I just sent out my Christmas cards to my, my customers for the first time.
00:26:10
Speaker
And I'm like, Ooh, I'm going to get spent, I don't know, three, 400 bucks sending them out and I'm going to get just tons of referrals from this.
00:26:18
Speaker
Yeah.
00:26:19
Speaker
But hopefully my results will help you all get lucky.
00:26:22
Speaker
Hopefully you'll get lucky.
00:26:25
Speaker
If I do, I'll let you know.
00:26:26
Speaker
But no, I won't, I won't get my hopes up since he said that.
00:26:29
Speaker
That's, that's interesting though.
00:26:34
Speaker
And so how much of your day, I know you guys are still knocking, but you're the national sales director now.
00:26:40
Speaker
Are you still knocking on a daily basis?
00:26:42
Speaker
Are you mostly training other reps or what are your days look like now?
00:26:46
Speaker
Yeah, my,
00:26:47
Speaker
I don't knock every day anymore because I have other responsibilities.
00:26:55
Speaker
I do still knock.
00:26:57
Speaker
And most of my knocking when I'm knocking is with I'm training someone.
00:27:01
Speaker
I also will just kind of my – one of the things that I've gotten pretty good at and that I think that guys that are good at this job get good at is they turn their brains on and off of certain things.
00:27:13
Speaker
To create a lead on the door is –
00:27:15
Speaker
different than sitting down at the kitchen table closing the deal you have to kind of your brain has to be thinking a little bit differently yeah and lots of guys will knock every day and then also schedule appointments and i think that's what they should do what i've done because i have certain day i have less days in a week to create my own accounts now
00:27:39
Speaker
is I will have days of knocking and then I'll have days of appointments.
00:27:44
Speaker
So I'm wearing that hat.
00:27:47
Speaker
And if I have a same day opportunity to walk in and close the deal, I'll often push it back to the next day or to my closing day or to the very end of my knocking time.
00:27:57
Speaker
Right.
00:27:58
Speaker
And then I'll, and then I'll, I'll transition into the hat.
00:28:02
Speaker
But if I know that I've got a day where I can knock,
00:28:06
Speaker
And I can spend the full day knocking.
00:28:08
Speaker
I'll usually have two or three reps come out with me at different times and train and stuff.
00:28:13
Speaker
But, but I'll spend a whole day knocking doors and trying to create leads.
00:28:20
Speaker
So, okay.
00:28:22
Speaker
And then I'll spend a whole day closing appointments.
00:28:26
Speaker
Okay.
00:28:27
Speaker
And what about all these past leads or people that you're following up with?
00:28:31
Speaker
Are you spending chunks of time doing that or is that just here and there as needed?
00:28:37
Speaker
All the people that didn't show up.
00:28:38
Speaker
In the morning, I spend time doing progressing accounts, touching customers and letting them know how things are progressing, where they're at with the permit process and whatever else.
00:28:54
Speaker
And then I also would reach out to those past clients.
00:28:58
Speaker
or past leads and just touch base periodically.
00:29:03
Speaker
Okay.
00:29:04
Speaker
Yeah.
00:29:04
Speaker
You know, it's not every day, but.
00:29:07
Speaker
Okay.
00:29:08
Speaker
Every other week or something.
00:29:09
Speaker
Yeah.
00:29:10
Speaker
And you said it's all just in, just in a notebook, you said, right?
00:29:14
Speaker
You just.
00:29:14
Speaker
I should have a CRM, but I don't.
00:29:17
Speaker
Okay.
00:29:17
Speaker
Just old school.
00:29:18
Speaker
That's what I'm talking about.
00:29:19
Speaker
So there's a notebook and you just have different sections of people you need to follow up with and.
00:29:25
Speaker
past customers or do you have a crm for everyone that's been installed or is that all just in a notebook too legacy legacy has something that yeah that that that shows all my previous customers and stuff so okay i use their i use their tools for that okay i see
00:29:45
Speaker
So you're just going through this notebook in the morning and calling a couple and just jotting down every single contact you had with them.
00:29:52
Speaker
If they don't answer, you're just saying call the voicemail, stuff like that, and just keeping it up to date.
00:29:58
Speaker
Basically it.
00:29:59
Speaker
Yeah.
00:30:00
Speaker
Okay.
00:30:01
Speaker
Yeah.
00:30:01
Speaker
It's crazy how like you think top producers like you, you think it's some sort of magic pill or something crazy you're doing, but really it's just, you're keeping on top all of these little things that most people don't even think about.
00:30:14
Speaker
Because I've done all these little things, but the thing is just doing them all consistently.
00:30:19
Speaker
I think that's how you've seen such crazy results.
00:30:22
Speaker
Because you've just kept up all the little things.
00:30:24
Speaker
Kept up the work ethic.
00:30:26
Speaker
Kept up the things that I think a lot of reps don't want to do.
00:30:31
Speaker
Yeah.
00:30:33
Speaker
I look at this long term, too.
00:30:34
Speaker
I think some reps get caught up in the, I need money now.
00:30:39
Speaker
And we all need money now.
00:30:40
Speaker
Yeah.
00:30:41
Speaker
I'm committed to be in solar for years, right?
00:30:44
Speaker
I've already been in five years and I'm committed to be here.
00:30:46
Speaker
I love it.
00:30:48
Speaker
There's really not a lot of other places I'd rather be.
00:30:51
Speaker
Yeah.
00:30:53
Speaker
And one says, follow up with me next year.
00:30:56
Speaker
Most guys don't.
00:30:58
Speaker
Yeah.
00:30:59
Speaker
Ashton does.
00:31:00
Speaker
Right.
00:31:01
Speaker
I will put it, I will put in my calendar.
00:31:04
Speaker
I'll say, so if I followed up with you like next June,
00:31:08
Speaker
If they're taught, if I meet somebody today, like if I followed you up with you in June, would that work?
00:31:13
Speaker
Like, yeah, yeah, that should, that should work.
00:31:15
Speaker
We should have done this and this and this and this.
00:31:17
Speaker
Like, all right, I'm putting a calendar reminder in my phone that I'm going to follow up with you in June.
00:31:22
Speaker
Wow.
00:31:23
Speaker
And then I'll follow up with them in June and I'll say, you've probably never had somebody actually follow up six months later, have you?
00:31:32
Speaker
And I'll tell them because I'm trying to tell them I'm good at my job.
00:31:35
Speaker
I'm good at my business.
00:31:36
Speaker
No, you've never had someone ever do this before.
00:31:38
Speaker
Probably have you.
00:31:40
Speaker
Yeah.
00:31:40
Speaker
You should listen to me and give me some respect at least to sit down and have a conversation because I'm good at my job.
00:31:48
Speaker
Yeah.
00:31:49
Speaker
I do.
00:31:49
Speaker
I do what I say I'm going to do.
00:31:51
Speaker
Yeah.
00:31:52
Speaker
Actually follow up.
00:31:53
Speaker
And do you find that a lot of people like forget why they were even interested in the first place and try and say, Oh, not interested, not interested.
00:32:01
Speaker
Or did they honestly, if you are following up with them that much in advance, did they usually actually sit down with you again?
Long-term Career Perspective
00:32:08
Speaker
Or what's your ratio?
00:32:10
Speaker
It's probably 75%.
00:32:10
Speaker
Oh no, man.
00:32:11
Speaker
We're not new.
00:32:13
Speaker
We're not interested anymore.
00:32:16
Speaker
Like, I don't even remember who you are.
00:32:17
Speaker
I've seen a thousand.
00:32:19
Speaker
I talked to you and now we're not interested anymore.
00:32:22
Speaker
But 25% will say, yeah, thanks for calling.
00:32:26
Speaker
Wow, holy cow, dude.
00:32:28
Speaker
I haven't ever had anybody follow up with me a year later.
00:32:30
Speaker
That's crazy.
00:32:32
Speaker
Yeah.
00:32:32
Speaker
Sure, let's talk.
00:32:34
Speaker
I mean, I don't know if we're there yet.
00:32:36
Speaker
We're still thinking about it, but I'm willing to sit down with you.
00:32:40
Speaker
Great.
00:32:41
Speaker
Then let's sit down and talk.
00:32:42
Speaker
Yeah.
00:32:43
Speaker
Okay.
00:32:43
Speaker
Yeah, that's interesting.
00:32:45
Speaker
Yeah.
00:32:46
Speaker
Well, cool.
00:32:47
Speaker
Ashton, I know we're, uh, I know we're running out of time here, but the last thing I just wanted to hear, what's your closing process when you're sitting down with your customers?
00:32:55
Speaker
What's,
Honest Closing Process
00:32:56
Speaker
do you have a specific process you're going through and how long do your closes take?
00:33:00
Speaker
Can you kind of walk us through that just to wrap up here?
00:33:03
Speaker
Yeah, my clothes usually, so I like, I probably spend a little bit more time in closes than a lot of people do.
00:33:10
Speaker
Okay.
00:33:11
Speaker
Because a couple of reasons I want to, I want to,
00:33:15
Speaker
tell them everything.
00:33:16
Speaker
One of the things I love about solar is the more honest you are, the better you are.
00:33:20
Speaker
If you lie ever, they'll find out and they have plenty of time to cancel.
00:33:26
Speaker
Yeah.
00:33:26
Speaker
So it's stupid to try to make crap up or lie in any kind of way.
00:33:31
Speaker
So, and then I also like to cover everything because they're going to have next door neighbor question them on what they did.
00:33:39
Speaker
Mom questioned them, work questioned them.
00:33:41
Speaker
They're going to go online and question things.
00:33:44
Speaker
Um,
00:33:45
Speaker
Solar's a scam and whatever else, right?
00:33:49
Speaker
So I personally spend 45 minutes.
00:33:53
Speaker
I go into it trying to spend between 45 minutes to an hour and a half.
00:33:57
Speaker
But for the most part, it's around an hour and a half.
00:34:01
Speaker
Around an hour and a half?
00:34:02
Speaker
The time that I'm spending with somebody.
00:34:04
Speaker
Every once in a while, I get up to two hours, but customers are getting customer fatigue and I'm trying to get out of there.
00:34:09
Speaker
Okay.
00:34:10
Speaker
For an hour and a half.
00:34:12
Speaker
Yeah.
00:34:13
Speaker
My framework of my clothes, I talked to them about solar in general.
00:34:18
Speaker
I talked to them about the utility company and I talked to him about my company and the company and all the other competition out there.
00:34:25
Speaker
And then I go into the proposals for, for the options for what they can choose with me.
00:34:34
Speaker
Okay.
00:34:35
Speaker
Try to close them on it.
00:34:36
Speaker
And if it works, it works.
00:34:40
Speaker
If it doesn't, it doesn't.
00:34:41
Speaker
I tried to, too, at the start.
00:34:43
Speaker
I mean, again, I try to be a regular dude.
00:34:46
Speaker
And at the very, very start, I tell them, this is what I'm going to talk about.
00:34:52
Speaker
And if you want to get enrolled, you can get enrolled.
00:34:53
Speaker
And if not, no sweat.
00:34:55
Speaker
I'm just grateful to be here because I want walls to be down.
00:34:57
Speaker
I want them to be a regular person, just like I'm a regular person.
00:35:02
Speaker
and not be tense and not expecting me to close them right then and there.
00:35:06
Speaker
In my mind, I'm like a freaking lion and I'm going to close them that day.
00:35:12
Speaker
But to them, I just want them to feel like I'm just a nice guy, regular guy.
00:35:18
Speaker
And if I've done my job properly, solar is such a good product.
00:35:22
Speaker
If I've done my job properly by the end, they should be like, yeah, there's no reason I shouldn't be doing this.
00:35:27
Speaker
That's kind of how I see it.
00:35:31
Speaker
Yeah.
00:35:32
Speaker
And what's your, as you get into the close, what's your closing question that you ask them?
00:35:37
Speaker
What's the first close that you try and throw on them?
00:35:41
Speaker
You may have heard it before.
00:35:42
Speaker
You're getting my close question, but it's not anything fancy.
00:35:47
Speaker
I try to make the right answer be no.
00:35:49
Speaker
Because everybody wants to tell you no.
00:35:52
Speaker
So I ask them if we can blank, blank.
00:35:57
Speaker
can you see any reason not to do this?
00:36:00
Speaker
And if they say no, that's the answer that I want to get.
00:36:03
Speaker
Again, because most people want to tell you no.
00:36:06
Speaker
It's different than the theory of trying to get 20 yeses.
00:36:12
Speaker
By the end, it's easy to say yes because they've been saying yes along the way.
00:36:17
Speaker
Have you looked at solar before?
00:36:18
Speaker
It would go on the back of your roof, right?
00:36:21
Speaker
Yeah.
00:36:23
Speaker
I agree with that theory.
00:36:24
Speaker
You want to have it be positive the whole time.
00:36:26
Speaker
Yeah.
00:36:27
Speaker
And that's my closing question.
00:36:29
Speaker
Okay.
00:36:30
Speaker
So if we can save you $200, if we can save you $50 a month and not have it cost you anything up front, can you see any reason not to do this?
00:36:39
Speaker
And I kind of give a little bit of a deaf face.
00:36:42
Speaker
Like, can you see any reason not to do this?
00:36:47
Speaker
I mean, it's not that extreme, but it is, it is kind of like, can you see any reason not to do this?
00:36:55
Speaker
Yeah.
00:36:55
Speaker
Yeah.
00:36:56
Speaker
And just a little bit of a universal, like, I'd be crazy to not do this, right?
00:37:02
Speaker
I'd be crazy not to do this.
00:37:03
Speaker
Yeah.
00:37:05
Speaker
That's awesome.
00:37:07
Speaker
And then if they say, well, yeah, and they give me an excuse, then I come back to that.
00:37:13
Speaker
I say the exact same closing question.
00:37:15
Speaker
I resolve that concern and say, well, yeah, so if we can make sure they're not on the front of the house, can you see any other reason not to do this?
00:37:25
Speaker
them no all right well then let's just make sure the trainer knows not to put them on the front of the house nice cool and then you go straight in do you guys get a lot of like oh well we need to think about this or we need to make sure we want to do this how do you handle that concern when you get that yeah i mean i i talk to him about it so either we'll say
00:37:49
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, it's not a today or no day sort of thing.
00:37:52
Speaker
Or I'll jump in like, no, it's got to be today.
00:37:54
Speaker
But I'll say, I mean, it doesn't have to be today.
00:37:59
Speaker
Do you have any other questions?
00:38:00
Speaker
Did I miss something?
00:38:01
Speaker
It sounded like you, like we covered everything, but maybe I missed something.
00:38:08
Speaker
What did I miss?
00:38:10
Speaker
And some people, frankly, just aren't going to.
00:38:13
Speaker
sign that day.
00:38:14
Speaker
I just don't sign on the first day.
00:38:17
Speaker
I don't buy things from door-to-door salesmen.
00:38:21
Speaker
Whatever, right?
00:38:22
Speaker
Whatever the case may be.
00:38:24
Speaker
And again, back to the follow-up thing, I follow up.
00:38:29
Speaker
Other people don't follow up.
00:38:30
Speaker
If they're like, well, let us think about it.
00:38:33
Speaker
All right.
00:38:35
Speaker
I'll give you some time.
00:38:36
Speaker
I'll let you think about it and then I'll follow up because we're obviously this far along.
00:38:41
Speaker
You spent an hour with me
00:38:43
Speaker
talking about it.
00:38:44
Speaker
So when should I follow up?
00:38:49
Speaker
Then I follow up.
00:38:50
Speaker
Yeah.
00:38:51
Speaker
Cool.
00:38:52
Speaker
Well, that's somebody gives me more than like a two week, more than a week.
00:38:56
Speaker
I usually be like, do you need that long?
00:39:00
Speaker
I mean, what if it's today's Wednesday?
00:39:02
Speaker
Why don't I just call you next Wednesday if I don't hear from you before then?
00:39:06
Speaker
Okay.
00:39:06
Speaker
Yeah.
00:39:07
Speaker
Usually they're, they're okay with that.
00:39:09
Speaker
Other people are like, no, I need, I need, I need two weeks.
00:39:11
Speaker
Give me two weeks.
00:39:13
Speaker
okay, I'll follow up in two weeks.
00:39:15
Speaker
Yeah.
00:39:16
Speaker
I follow up.
00:39:18
Speaker
Cool.
00:39:19
Speaker
Simple as that.
00:39:20
Speaker
Well, that's crazy.
00:39:21
Speaker
It sounds so simple, but I don't think most people are doing it, man.
00:39:25
Speaker
So I think that's a huge thing is just the follow up.
00:39:28
Speaker
Cause yeah, I mean, there's no crazy sales, clothes, no crazy, anything.
00:39:32
Speaker
Just got to follow the steps and then think follow up like you're saying.
00:39:36
Speaker
Yeah.
00:39:37
Speaker
Well, cool.
00:39:38
Speaker
I took about five pages of notes here.
00:39:40
Speaker
So I hope everyone that's listening, I hope they're going to take some notes too, because you dropped some knowledge bombs on it.
00:39:45
Speaker
So thanks for sharing some secrets.
Advice for Solar Reps
00:39:48
Speaker
And the last thing I wanted to ask you is how, so in your competition, how many hours would you say you worked in the week?
00:39:55
Speaker
Was it like sun up, sun down into the all hours of the night?
00:39:59
Speaker
What did that look like?
00:40:00
Speaker
Yeah.
00:40:01
Speaker
Um, nine to nine, but usually, I mean, I,
00:40:07
Speaker
That's really not true.
00:40:08
Speaker
It's probably more like eight in the morning.
00:40:13
Speaker
My, my sacred hour every day is between seven and eight 15.
00:40:17
Speaker
I wake up my daughters.
00:40:18
Speaker
Okay.
00:40:19
Speaker
We have lunch or we have breakfast, sorry.
00:40:21
Speaker
And I'm ready for school.
00:40:23
Speaker
And then I walk them to school and that's a lot of times the only hour and 15 minutes I get to see my kids.
00:40:28
Speaker
Cool.
00:40:29
Speaker
Which sucks because I want to spend more time with them, but I'll take other things and,
00:40:34
Speaker
and do things like that.
00:40:35
Speaker
I surprised my daughter at school today and I took her to lunch.
00:40:40
Speaker
She didn't expect to me, went to her school and pulled her out and we went to lunch.
00:40:43
Speaker
But anyway, during competitions, I am working eight in the morning till probably midnight or one or two.
00:40:53
Speaker
Oh my gosh.
00:40:53
Speaker
Wow.
00:40:53
Speaker
The thing that my, my boss, I'm a bishop at church too.
00:40:57
Speaker
And I, I,
00:41:01
Speaker
they have a family and they've got tons of stuff going on.
00:41:04
Speaker
And my boss was like, dude, I'm sure how you fit it all in.
00:41:07
Speaker
And I said, I went to bed at three 30 last night.
00:41:09
Speaker
I was like, that's what, that's what I'm losing, man.
00:41:13
Speaker
I'm waking up at seven.
00:41:16
Speaker
It's, it's sleep.
00:41:17
Speaker
Yeah.
00:41:18
Speaker
That's crazy.
00:41:20
Speaker
Well, you're a madman, Ashton, and appreciate you being on the show, man.
00:41:24
Speaker
And I think we all learned a lot, but the bottom line is just the hard work, the follow-up and the little things that people aren't doing.
00:41:30
Speaker
So appreciate your words of wisdom on that.
00:41:33
Speaker
As we, as we peace out here, any parting words of wisdom you want to share with the solar industry or solar reps that are struggling?
00:41:41
Speaker
Any final thoughts?
00:41:42
Speaker
Yeah, just stick with it.
00:41:44
Speaker
It's worth it.
00:41:45
Speaker
If you give up too soon, you're not going to see the reward.
00:41:49
Speaker
So stick it out.
00:41:50
Speaker
Stay with it.
00:41:51
Speaker
Okay.
00:41:53
Speaker
Cool.
00:41:53
Speaker
Well, thanks again, Ashton.
00:41:55
Speaker
And we'll definitely share this podcast, promote it.
00:41:58
Speaker
Definitely some golden gems you dropped on us.
00:42:00
Speaker
And we will talk soon.
00:42:02
Speaker
So thanks again, Ashton.
00:42:03
Speaker
See ya.
00:42:04
Speaker
See ya.
00:42:05
Speaker
Wow, what another amazing episode of the Solarpreneur Podcast.
00:42:10
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.
00:42:19
Speaker
It helps us get the word out about the Solarpreneur movement and impact more entrepreneurs, sales professionals, and marketers just like you.
00:42:27
Speaker
And hey, don't forget to head over to Facebook and join the Solarpreneur group for more daily content
00:42:33
Speaker
That's going to impact you and help you take your sales game to the next level.
00:42:37
Speaker
See you guys in the next episode.