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How To Be A Top Producer And Grow Your Team Simultaneously - Will Brindley
100 Plays1 year ago
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The SOLARPRENEUR podcast is here to help you close more deals in the solar industry, generate more leads and referrals, and hopefully, have a much better time and situation.
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Transcript
Introduction to Solarpreneur Podcast
00:00:03
Speaker
Welcome to the Solarpreneur Podcast, where we teach you to take your solar business to the next level.
00:00:08
Speaker
My name is Taylor Armstrong.
00:00:10
Speaker
I went from $50 in my bank account and struggling for groceries to closing 150 deals in a year and cracking the code on why sales reps fail.
00:00:19
Speaker
I teach you how to avoid the mistakes I made and bring in the top solar dogs of the industry to let you in on the secrets of generating more leads, falling up like a pro, and closing more deals.
00:00:31
Speaker
What is a solopreneur, you might ask?
00:00:33
Speaker
A solopreneur is a new breed of solopro that is willing to do whatever it takes to achieve mastery, and you are about to become one.
Will Brinley's Journey in Solar
00:00:41
Speaker
Okay, what's going on?
00:00:42
Speaker
We are here in the studio with someone that has just been absolutely crushing lately.
00:00:47
Speaker
Been planning this podcast for a little bit.
00:00:49
Speaker
I actually work with them down here in San Diego, so we are excited to have the one, the only, Will Brinley coming on the show with us today.
00:00:55
Speaker
Thanks for joining us, Will.
00:00:57
Speaker
Absolutely.
00:00:57
Speaker
Super excited to be here.
00:00:58
Speaker
Yeah, it's going to be fun.
00:01:00
Speaker
And I've been following Will for a little bit.
00:01:02
Speaker
He's someone I've been over here at Legacy for about a year.
00:01:07
Speaker
And I remember we were at a baseball game together and everyone was just talking about this Will kid.
00:01:14
Speaker
I hadn't met him yet.
00:01:14
Speaker
They're like, oh, dude, you got to see what this guy's doing.
00:01:17
Speaker
He's like, you know, made 400 grand his first year of solar or something.
00:01:23
Speaker
Just like people are just like talking you up and all that.
00:01:26
Speaker
And I'm like, man, this guy's blowing it up.
00:01:28
Speaker
And then sure enough, a couple months after that, um, stepped into managing here in San Diego.
00:01:33
Speaker
So it's been really cool to see the journey and, uh, just see like a really fast progression from you.
00:01:38
Speaker
But, uh, yeah.
00:01:39
Speaker
Do you want to give us maybe your background, fill in some gaps besides that?
00:01:42
Speaker
Tell us how you got into solar and everything.
00:01:44
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely, man.
00:01:45
Speaker
Um,
00:01:46
Speaker
Yeah, I'm from the East Coast originally.
00:01:48
Speaker
I grew up, went in the military, raised in a good home, two teachers for parents, and pretty high standards with that.
00:01:54
Speaker
So coming to the military was kind of where I got started, and then discovered the military was definitely not my speed.
00:02:01
Speaker
Got into consulting and sales after that, ran markets in retail recruiting or in retail sales, recruited and trained guys to do that.
00:02:11
Speaker
and ran markets for three or four years doing that.
00:02:13
Speaker
And then got into technical sales.
00:02:14
Speaker
That's what brought me down to San Diego.
00:02:16
Speaker
Always wanted to live there and just happened to find an opportunity that brought me down there and pretty quickly realized, you know, low six figures is not a great place to be in San Diego anymore, you know?
00:02:29
Speaker
So, um, you know, remember having the thought that like, man, if I ever wanted to own a home, have a family, live the life I really wanted to live in San Diego, I needed to get into something where I could make multiple six figures.
Transition to Solar and Overcoming Challenges
00:02:40
Speaker
And sure enough, met, um, met a guy at my church that, uh, you know, was with, uh, legacy at the time.
00:02:46
Speaker
And he was talking about making a half million dollars the next year.
00:02:48
Speaker
And I was like, what do you do again?
00:02:50
Speaker
Uh, you know, and he kind of proudly told me he knocked doors for a living and I was like, well, I'm not too excited about that, but the half million dollar part sounds good.
00:02:56
Speaker
So, um, yeah, it's kind of the rest is history.
00:02:59
Speaker
So awesome.
00:03:00
Speaker
Yeah.
00:03:00
Speaker
So yeah, what's really cool is you came from a different set.
00:03:02
Speaker
What were you doing?
00:03:03
Speaker
What were you selling before that?
00:03:05
Speaker
I was selling boilers.
00:03:06
Speaker
My kind of combined my technical background from the military as a nuclear engineer with the, you know, with the sales side and, and put it together.
00:03:13
Speaker
And that was how I wound up doing that.
00:03:14
Speaker
Yeah.
00:03:15
Speaker
So I'm curious, like coming from that sales job, I know that's like decent, especially in other States, six figures.
00:03:21
Speaker
I mean, it's doing pretty well and everything, but how hard, just looking back on that job, did you, would you say you had to work way harder to make your six figures on that job or what is it?
00:03:30
Speaker
You know, I say it's different types of hard, you know.
00:03:35
Speaker
In that job, it was just much more of being an order taker and kind of courting companies and organizations to buy your product, you know, rather than in solar.
00:03:44
Speaker
Obviously, you have much more direct face-to-face contact with the consumer.
00:03:48
Speaker
So, you know, I don't know if I'd say necessarily harder, but...
00:03:51
Speaker
Just not really being rewarded for the effort I felt I was providing or the value I felt I was providing was probably the biggest, the toughest part of that.
00:03:59
Speaker
Being capped, being limited, I think that was the biggest struggle for me in corporate America was just having a cap on what I could make and how well I could do.
00:04:07
Speaker
Yeah.
00:04:08
Speaker
Yeah.
00:04:09
Speaker
Yeah, always interesting to hear the different comparisons.
00:04:14
Speaker
I think I told you this.
00:04:16
Speaker
I came from pest control.
00:04:17
Speaker
Oh, really?
00:04:17
Speaker
Yeah.
00:04:18
Speaker
And it's like pest control, we're knocking eight to 10 hours a day out there.
00:04:22
Speaker
Wow.
00:04:22
Speaker
And so that was one thing that got me.
00:04:23
Speaker
I'm like, man, solar, I'm in appointments half the day.
00:04:28
Speaker
Right.
00:04:28
Speaker
And then I'm probably only knocking maybe four or five hours.
00:04:31
Speaker
Yeah.
00:04:31
Speaker
Yeah.
00:04:32
Speaker
like most other days nice trade-off so like yeah i'll take solar make more um out in the heat less yep i'm in san diego where it's like yeah 80 degrees instead of texas where it's not gonna like 110 degree weather oh my gosh no thank you yeah yeah so yeah that's what gets me yeah for sure
00:04:49
Speaker
um but no and so like i said in the beginning will like i know you came off and sounds like you pretty much just like took off did you feel like solar just came supernatural to you did you go through some like road bumps along the way or what was it like when you first started yeah i mean i think everybody's initial challenges are different right um you know obviously i came in as an experienced salesperson but
00:05:10
Speaker
But I had kind of been burned in my previous experience with a company called Smart Circle where I was running markets for them in retail sales and not nearly the same culture that I found in Solar with Legacy.
00:05:25
Speaker
It wasn't quite as people-centric.
00:05:27
Speaker
It was just, hey, we're just going to crank people in and crank them out if they burn out.
00:05:31
Speaker
And three years running that kind of a schedule working 100 to 110 hours a week to run teams and run a market was just insane.
00:05:39
Speaker
And so coming into solar, like I saw it as more of an opportunity than just selling and making money.
00:05:43
Speaker
I saw it as a, you know, hey, get into management, build an organization, run a market.
00:05:47
Speaker
You know, I saw that kind of potential early on, but I was skeptical, you know, and so I had to kind of
00:05:53
Speaker
overcome that.
00:05:54
Speaker
But yeah, I mean, the first month, month and a half was not super exciting.
00:05:57
Speaker
I knocked for about four to five weeks in San Diego, just kind of trying to get the pitch down.
00:06:01
Speaker
The training wasn't probably what it is today back then, two and a half years ago, almost three years ago now.
00:06:08
Speaker
And so I kind of had to figure it out on my own and seek out people that had the answers I needed.
00:06:13
Speaker
But I got nothing.
00:06:14
Speaker
I bageled for my first five weeks.
00:06:16
Speaker
And then fortunately, I had a mentor who planned a blitz at the end of that first month.
00:06:21
Speaker
And he understood the value of blitzing and that getting people off the ground was a big thing in blitzing.
00:06:28
Speaker
And so we planned to, hey, kind of build my skill set, get beat up on the doors a little bit for four to five weeks and then go on a blitz and put five deals in in four days on that blitz.
Learning from Top Performers
00:06:39
Speaker
And that was what kind of got my start.
00:06:41
Speaker
And then it was kind of full speed ahead from there, you know, kind of never looked back.
00:06:46
Speaker
But I was very skeptical in the beginning.
00:06:47
Speaker
And, you know, there were days that on the first month, I was on the doors and I was like, dude, what am I doing here?
00:06:52
Speaker
You know, I'm already making, you know, six figures in corporate America.
00:06:55
Speaker
I don't need this job, you know.
00:06:58
Speaker
But I knew that if I wanted to change my life, I had to change some things about my life.
00:07:03
Speaker
And so I had to be willing to go through that initial struggle.
00:07:07
Speaker
um, in order to get to the fruit on the other side.
00:07:09
Speaker
And obviously, you know, it's kind of panned out.
00:07:11
Speaker
I'm still here.
00:07:11
Speaker
So yeah.
00:07:13
Speaker
Let's go.
00:07:14
Speaker
Yeah.
00:07:14
Speaker
And, um, I don't know.
00:07:16
Speaker
One thing I've seen legacy, obviously it's bigger company, lots of reps and all that.
00:07:22
Speaker
And, um, I think a difference that I see in like some of these bigger companies, you kind of have to like, you know, demand help and all that.
00:07:30
Speaker
Not always like we have mentors, you have like your closers you go to, but I think the guys that are progressing the quickest, especially when maybe it's a little bit bigger company, are guys that are like showing up, asking for help, doing additional training.
00:07:44
Speaker
He's not just showing up to correlations and getting the training there, but it's like always trying to ask more questions and all that.
00:07:51
Speaker
Sure.
00:07:51
Speaker
And so for you, how much do you feel like you were someone that was asking a ton of questions, trying to close as quick as possible?
00:07:57
Speaker
What are some things that you did to maybe like speed up the success that you feel could help someone else?
00:08:02
Speaker
Yeah, 100%.
00:08:03
Speaker
You know, you can't.
00:08:06
Speaker
realize a million dollar opportunity with a minimum wage work ethic.
00:08:09
Speaker
I'm sure you've heard that before.
00:08:12
Speaker
I saw the potential in the beginning.
00:08:14
Speaker
Yes, I was skeptical, but I was like, well, if this is really what's possible, why wouldn't I give this thing everything I have?
00:08:23
Speaker
And so, yeah, I was willing, like once I found a good market I wanted to really invest in, I was willing to drive, you know, wherever I needed to go in order to put the time in on the doors and get the appointments.
00:08:33
Speaker
And then if my closer wasn't available, my initial mentor that brought me wasn't available.
00:08:38
Speaker
I'd go find someone to set those appointments, and I was willing to just go out and put in the work.
00:08:43
Speaker
But yeah, I did have to seek answers from multiple sources.
00:08:47
Speaker
Those other closures that I found, Jack Pastrana, beast in the industry, crushing it.
00:08:53
Speaker
He closed a lot of deals with me early on, and I learned from his close.
00:08:56
Speaker
I recorded his close.
00:08:58
Speaker
You know, those times that we would go out to close appointments, I'd take advantage of every minute in the car, asking him every question that I possibly could.
00:09:05
Speaker
I recorded his clothes.
00:09:07
Speaker
Clayton Ruffed, you know, laid out his clothes for me.
00:09:10
Speaker
You know, another beast at Legacy, you know, incredible conversion from sign to install.
00:09:14
Speaker
I copied his clothes and I kind of put his and Jack's clothes together.
00:09:17
Speaker
I kind of spliced the two together to develop my own clothes and kind of get my own style.
00:09:22
Speaker
You know, I wasn't quite as charismatic as Jack, but I wasn't also as data heavy as Clayton, you know, being an engineer background.
00:09:30
Speaker
So I kind of spliced those two together.
00:09:31
Speaker
But I did have to really pursue, you know, the knowledge that I needed from a lot of different sources, you know, and even things as simple as on the doors, like how to handle objections.
Vision and Team Growth
00:09:41
Speaker
Like there was no written lists of, hey, here's all the objections you're going to run into and good responses to those objections.
00:09:47
Speaker
Yeah.
00:09:47
Speaker
You know.
00:09:48
Speaker
Okay, so got interrupted by some screaming kids for a second.
00:09:52
Speaker
Do some editing here.
00:09:53
Speaker
But yeah, so we're just talking about, I know something that helped you a lot.
00:09:57
Speaker
You're saying, Will, is just like recording other top closers, seeing what they're doing.
00:10:02
Speaker
And yeah, that's definitely something I would recommend too.
00:10:04
Speaker
It's just like you were listening to them over and over, just kind of coming out with your like...
00:10:10
Speaker
Clues from there, it sounds like.
00:10:12
Speaker
Yeah.
00:10:12
Speaker
I mean, it's a copy paste business, man, right?
00:10:14
Speaker
Like every, every sales game is all just numbers and then copy paste the skill sets you need.
00:10:19
Speaker
Right.
00:10:19
Speaker
So, you know, I mean, you know, we just find the, I just wanted to find the people that were the top guys that were performing the best, right.
00:10:27
Speaker
And copy what they were doing, you know?
00:10:29
Speaker
So I just sought those people out, you know what I mean?
00:10:31
Speaker
And I think that's just a big principle for anybody in anything is, you know, if you want, never, never ask advice from someone that you wouldn't trade places with.
00:10:38
Speaker
Right.
00:10:39
Speaker
And seek mentorship, seek advice from people who have the fruit on the tree that you're looking for.
00:10:45
Speaker
It's pretty basic.
00:10:48
Speaker
But I think a lot of people just have never been taught that.
00:10:51
Speaker
It sounds really basic, but if you've never been told that before, I think that's very common in sales.
00:10:58
Speaker
Yeah.
00:10:58
Speaker
Maybe not elsewhere, you know, in life.
00:11:01
Speaker
So, I mean, I'm sure in pest control, you probably, you know, you probably learned a lot from, you know, people that were, were crushing it on the doors, you know, on the front end.
00:11:08
Speaker
Yeah.
00:11:09
Speaker
So, yeah, it's like success leaves clues.
00:11:12
Speaker
And, um, yeah, I think the top guys, they're definitely like seeking out who's the guy, uh, levels ahead of me.
00:11:18
Speaker
How can I get where he is?
00:11:19
Speaker
Right.
00:11:20
Speaker
And so obviously it worked well for you and anyone listening.
00:11:22
Speaker
I think you should definitely implement that, um,
00:11:25
Speaker
But yeah, what about, I know you've been with legacy.
00:11:29
Speaker
So maybe people that they're with companies where like, they're the top guy, or like, maybe it's a smaller company.
00:11:36
Speaker
What would you say to those people?
00:11:38
Speaker
Like, how can they, how can they up level themselves?
00:11:41
Speaker
Yeah.
00:11:41
Speaker
I mean, you always have to have a rabbit that you're chasing, you know, and, and, um, you know, there's always a bigger dog out there kind of, um, you know, so, um, something that, um, maybe a lot of people don't know.
00:11:53
Speaker
And I first started at legacy, you know, legacy was definitely a smaller pond at that time.
00:11:57
Speaker
You know, we kind of had two big offices and then we split into, we split off two smaller offices and I was part of,
00:12:04
Speaker
one of those smaller offices to start with.
00:12:07
Speaker
I was the top performer in that office pretty consistently for the majority of a year, year and a half.
00:12:15
Speaker
I had to look outside of that office to find people that I could chase, to find people that would force me to level up.
00:12:23
Speaker
Now coming back into the San Diego office with Legacy at the beginning of this year, I knew I would look at the scoreboard when I was in that smaller office, and I would see the scoreboard, and I would see guys doing 20, 25, 30 deals in a month.
00:12:37
Speaker
My best month at that point had been like 16.
00:12:38
Speaker
I was like, dude, how are these guys doing these numbers?
00:12:42
Speaker
It just blew my mind.
00:12:44
Speaker
But now getting around and being closer to those people, being part of the San Diego office again,
00:12:51
Speaker
has been incredible.
00:12:51
Speaker
It's forced me to level up and being willing to get uncomfortable.
00:12:55
Speaker
I think
00:12:56
Speaker
You know, a lot of times if we reach a certain level of success, it's easy to get complacent, right?
00:13:01
Speaker
If you hit a goal, you know, one principle with goals is you never want to hit a goal without having that next goal out in front of you.
00:13:07
Speaker
And so I remember, you know, the GOAT, Ashton Buswell, you know, he threw out a challenge earlier this year, you know, and he was talking about doing 28 and 28 days in February, right?
00:13:19
Speaker
And I initially heard about that and I was like, yeah, I don't think I need to do that, you know?
00:13:23
Speaker
Yeah.
00:13:24
Speaker
And then he messaged me directly.
00:13:26
Speaker
He DMed me.
00:13:26
Speaker
He was like, hey, man, are you going to jump into this challenge?
00:13:29
Speaker
And I was like, oh, I want to, but I don't really want to.
00:13:32
Speaker
And I ended up jumping in.
00:13:35
Speaker
We had a group meeting.
00:13:36
Speaker
We were all kind of pushing each other for it.
00:13:38
Speaker
But that was a huge lift of a ceiling on me, doing that experience.
00:13:45
Speaker
And I didn't hit the 28 and 28, but I gained a ton of momentum from that massive effort that I had to put in to get in anywhere close to that.
00:13:53
Speaker
And it definitely lifted some ceilings and broke some belief barriers in my mind that I had previously kind of placed on myself.
00:14:01
Speaker
You know, and so I think that's a key thing is always be getting around people that are going to force you to level up, you know, that are going to challenge you and make you get better, you know?
00:14:10
Speaker
Yeah, I did that too.
00:14:12
Speaker
Shout out to Ashton. 100%.
00:14:14
Speaker
I didn't hit it either, but yeah, you know, I got 15 self-gen deals that month and that was like the most self-gens I'd done in a while.
00:14:22
Speaker
So I think people that do need that little momentum boost, I would definitely recommend doing like that.
00:14:27
Speaker
Do like a little challenge for your company, do a little blitz.
00:14:31
Speaker
All these things are ways where you can kind of jumpstart your momentum, get things rolling.
00:14:36
Speaker
and can help out a lot with just like the team, the culture and, um, yeah, help your guys really lift the lid, see what's possible.
00:14:43
Speaker
Yeah.
00:14:44
Speaker
100%.
00:14:44
Speaker
Yeah.
00:14:45
Speaker
Um, so yeah, I want to jump into a few things here.
00:14:48
Speaker
Well, um, so something we always respect a lot about will is this guy is always throwing down bigger systems.
00:14:54
Speaker
Um, like here in San Diego for me, I get these little four or five kilowatt systems and, um,
00:15:01
Speaker
My average system size is like, you know, 10, 12 panels, probably like a 4 kilowatt system, 4.5 kilowatt system.
00:15:07
Speaker
And, um, well, he's constantly throwing down like, you know, uh, 9 kilowatt, 12 kilowatt, just bigger systems, which for California, these are pretty big systems.
00:15:17
Speaker
I know maybe in other States that's like an average system, but.
00:15:20
Speaker
especially out here unless you're, you know, going to places where it's extremely hot.
00:15:25
Speaker
Sometimes it's tough to find these bigger systems.
00:15:27
Speaker
So I'm going to talk a little bit about that.
00:15:29
Speaker
Will, like what's some of your strategies on just getting big commissions?
00:15:33
Speaker
Because I know you're not like it's not that you're charging an outrageous amount, but you're finding big systems.
00:15:39
Speaker
You're making healthy commissions on them.
00:15:40
Speaker
So what's some of your strategies when it comes to like knocking, finding good areas, stuff like that?
00:15:45
Speaker
Yeah, 100%, man.
00:15:47
Speaker
Great question.
00:15:48
Speaker
I think the first thing is, you know, my mentor just, he sold me very early on, on going outside of San Diego County where the usage was higher.
00:15:58
Speaker
You know, I might've had to drive a little bit, but I was willing to drive, you know, I'm from the East coast and we drive, you know, 30, 45 minutes an hour to everywhere out there, you know, in San Diego, people are like, oh man, it's 15 minutes.
00:16:10
Speaker
That's so far, you know?
00:16:13
Speaker
Yeah, so I was like, oh, 45 minutes to Temecula, no big deal.
00:16:16
Speaker
Like, cool, yeah, let's do it.
00:16:18
Speaker
And that was where we went on my first day.
00:16:20
Speaker
And so I kind of just got into that mode from the start.
00:16:26
Speaker
Like driving was not unusual, driving to a market.
00:16:30
Speaker
So many people, they say they want a certain level of success, but then they want to negotiate the price tag.
00:16:35
Speaker
Right.
00:16:36
Speaker
Yeah.
00:16:37
Speaker
They're just not willing to pay the price.
00:16:38
Speaker
And for me, that was a simple, just a logical decision of, of course, I'm going to go where I can get the biggest commissions.
00:16:44
Speaker
The funny thing was, though, like I didn't get massive systems right off the bat, you know, like we would go out with guys to blitz the desert and.
00:16:51
Speaker
A lot of these guys would pull super-fast systems, 12 kilowatts, 16 kilowatts, you know?
00:16:55
Speaker
And I'm like, dude, when am I going to find these systems, you know?
00:16:59
Speaker
And the funny thing was, you know, a couple of principles that, you know, I learned from, you know, just some leadership development that I did earlier in my life was,
00:17:07
Speaker
you know, number one, do the work until you see the fruit, right?
00:17:09
Speaker
And number two is he who's faithful with a little will be given much, right?
00:17:12
Speaker
And so I was just faithful to work the leads that I found.
00:17:16
Speaker
And I didn't really like seek out, man, I'm going to go whale hunting today.
00:17:20
Speaker
You know, I just worked, you know, one neighborhood consistently, which I think is another thing that a lot of people don't do.
00:17:26
Speaker
They kind of hop around and they look for the magic bullet or the magic neighborhood or
00:17:30
Speaker
or whatever, they dock 10 doors in a neighborhood and they're like, oh, this hood sucks.
00:17:33
Speaker
They want to go to another
Sales Strategies and Organization
00:17:36
Speaker
one.
00:17:36
Speaker
Number one, you really just got to invest in one neighborhood.
00:17:40
Speaker
There's no magic hood.
00:17:41
Speaker
It's the hood that you invest in is the good hood.
00:17:45
Speaker
Most people, I encourage them, pick one or two hoods.
00:17:47
Speaker
Maybe if you tap one pretty hard for a while, you can shift to the other one, but invest in the same hoods consistently for a long time.
00:17:55
Speaker
But number two, yeah, you just have to be faithful to do the work consistently and learn what to look for.
00:18:02
Speaker
Obviously, yeah, usually bigger houses are usually going to lead to bigger bills.
00:18:06
Speaker
A lot of people don't want to go outside of their comfort zone.
00:18:09
Speaker
Maybe they get comfortable knocking more like low-income hoods or middle-lower class hoods.
00:18:15
Speaker
Not a lot of people are comfortable or some people aren't comfortable with the upper middle classes.
00:18:18
Speaker
So again, it just comes down to challenging yourself, being willing to get outside of your comfort zone.
00:18:23
Speaker
And like you said earlier, success leaves clues, right?
00:18:25
Speaker
So it's not rocket science.
00:18:28
Speaker
Obviously, like I said, if you're looking for bigger homes, a lot of times those lead to bigger bills.
00:18:32
Speaker
But yeah, I mean, I was just faithful to work with what I had.
00:18:36
Speaker
And then a lot of times I just came across, you know, people over time that, yeah, they just needed a bigger system.
00:18:43
Speaker
I do remember though, like one other big thing is tracking your leads.
00:18:46
Speaker
And I remember when I was brand new, you know, someone told me, man, you should track all your interactions on a spreadsheet.
00:18:52
Speaker
And I'll be honest, I didn't do that for a long time.
00:18:54
Speaker
You know, I was not Mr. Data Cruncher guy.
00:18:56
Speaker
You know, I didn't want to come home and enter all my interactions on a spreadsheet every day.
00:19:01
Speaker
But I do remember like on my first blitz, for example, I met this guy who was a renter at the time.
00:19:06
Speaker
He was renting from his father-in-law, right?
00:19:09
Speaker
And he and his wife had 11 kids and they homeschooled.
00:19:13
Speaker
So his bill was crazy, right?
00:19:15
Speaker
But obviously I couldn't help him because he was renting.
00:19:16
Speaker
And he kind of hoped that he would be able to hook me up with his father-in-law and his father-in-law would be down for it.
00:19:21
Speaker
And, you know, his father-in-law owned a bunch of properties.
00:19:23
Speaker
So it seemed like, oh, that's going to be this incredible, you know, deal, all these deals, you know?
00:19:28
Speaker
Didn't exactly work out that way, but I maintained the relationship.
00:19:31
Speaker
I continued to follow up.
00:19:32
Speaker
Finally, he and his wife bought a home, I don't know, eight or 10 months later, and it was a massive home, right?
00:19:38
Speaker
And they couldn't pass credit initially, but I stayed in touch, continued to follow up, right?
00:19:43
Speaker
And I just maintained the relationship and built a good relationship with them.
00:19:46
Speaker
And I'd check in with them every so often, you know?
00:19:49
Speaker
And then finally, probably two years later, it was October of 2023, right?
00:19:53
Speaker
Their credit finally got approved and it was the biggest system I've ever sold.
00:19:57
Speaker
It was a 20 kilowatt system.
00:19:59
Speaker
Right.
00:19:59
Speaker
And so that was a two year relationship that paid, I think it was 65 K on the one deal.
00:20:06
Speaker
Right.
00:20:06
Speaker
So, and again, I didn't, I didn't charge them outrageously.
00:20:09
Speaker
I gave them a pretty good savings.
00:20:11
Speaker
You know, I didn't max rate them or anything.
00:20:13
Speaker
I, you know, I think their savings is probably 40, 50%, you know, immediate.
00:20:19
Speaker
You know, there, he told me, I actually talked to him the other day as bill was $1,300 in March and we got them down to six, six 70 or something like that, you know?
00:20:28
Speaker
So, um, but yeah, so invest in relationships.
00:20:31
Speaker
Don't just write somebody off just because they're not ready to go solar right away.
00:20:34
Speaker
Yeah.
00:20:35
Speaker
Yeah.
00:20:35
Speaker
It's so good.
00:20:36
Speaker
And yeah, you've told many stories like that and trainings and all that.
00:20:40
Speaker
Trying to get guys to follow up.
00:20:42
Speaker
It's not easy.
00:20:44
Speaker
We all forget.
00:20:45
Speaker
We're all disorganized.
00:20:46
Speaker
I think most of us.
00:20:49
Speaker
True story.
00:20:50
Speaker
But yeah, it's like you said, if you knew there was going to be $20,000 at the end, how long would you actually follow up with that?
00:20:57
Speaker
Exactly.
00:20:58
Speaker
Most people probably would.
00:21:00
Speaker
Yeah, it's just being willing to pay that price of success.
00:21:04
Speaker
It's like, how much does it cost you to follow up with that person every month or two?
00:21:07
Speaker
Shoot them a text message, give them a call, swing by their house if you're in the neighborhood.
00:21:11
Speaker
That's a small price to pay to see the long-term return on investment for sure.
00:21:17
Speaker
I've had many accounts like that.
00:21:20
Speaker
The biggest thing is just invest in one dude consistently, work consistently, and just be faithful to put in the work.
00:21:28
Speaker
It's so good.
00:21:29
Speaker
And yeah, so speaking of like following up, do you have any tips on staying like organized?
00:21:34
Speaker
Like how do you, because I know some people, they got big teams.
00:21:37
Speaker
I know now you yourself, you have a lot of setters.
00:21:39
Speaker
You're running to multiple appointments every day.
00:21:42
Speaker
So what's that been like?
00:21:44
Speaker
How do you stay organized to remember?
00:21:45
Speaker
Okay, this is like a big system or this, you know, might be something down the road.
00:21:50
Speaker
What's your best advice on that?
00:21:51
Speaker
Yeah, I know you've talked about this before in trainings as well is outsourcing, man.
00:21:57
Speaker
I mean, utilizing systems, putting systems in place.
00:22:01
Speaker
Like we have our Canvas app that we utilize, using lists and things on Canvas.
00:22:05
Speaker
I didn't use those super religiously in the beginning.
00:22:07
Speaker
I should have.
00:22:07
Speaker
I don't know why I didn't, but using lists, using spreadsheets, tracking your data.
00:22:13
Speaker
And when you invest in one hood consistently, it's pretty easy to remember what
00:22:17
Speaker
Okay, I need to go see John over here.
00:22:19
Speaker
I need to follow up with Stacy over here.
00:22:20
Speaker
You know, if you're in one hood consistently, that's not a huge challenge.
00:22:25
Speaker
But yeah, obviously, the bigger you get, the longer you've been in an industry, you
00:22:29
Speaker
The more conversations you have, the more relationships you have to maintain.
00:22:32
Speaker
Right.
00:22:32
Speaker
So that does take a lot of bandwidth.
00:22:34
Speaker
Right.
00:22:35
Speaker
And one thing, you know, that I recognized in 2023, you know, that was the difference between me and other people that I was chasing that I was following is like a rabbit like Jack, you know, who was absolutely just crushing the game as he had outsourced some things and I hadn't, you know.
00:22:49
Speaker
I'm like, you only have so much bandwidth.
00:22:51
Speaker
You have a finite amount of willpower each day.
00:22:55
Speaker
That's where habit stacking and things like that.
00:22:57
Speaker
Atomic Habits is a great book to read on that.
00:22:59
Speaker
I'm sure you've read that one.
00:23:00
Speaker
Yeah, it's been a great book lately.
00:23:03
Speaker
A lot of people have been talking about, but that taught me to make habits easy and obvious and stack them together every day so that I didn't have to burn my willpower on those things.
00:23:13
Speaker
Right.
00:23:14
Speaker
Make simple decisions easy for yourself.
00:23:16
Speaker
Right.
00:23:17
Speaker
Throughout the day.
00:23:18
Speaker
So you're not burning willpower and bandwidth on those things.
00:23:22
Speaker
Right.
00:23:22
Speaker
Because the more you take on, you know, the more you level up, the more responsibility you have, you know, and just the tougher it is to juggle all that.
00:23:29
Speaker
Right.
00:23:30
Speaker
So, you know, having systems and outsourcing is critical.
00:23:34
Speaker
And that's an investment in your business that will always pay dividends in the on the back end if you do it correctly and you do it at the right times.
00:23:41
Speaker
A lot of times you're costing yourself, right?
00:23:43
Speaker
A lot of people in the industry, you know, that are newer, you may not be at this level yet, but down the road, if you invest and you build and you stay consistent, you will, you will need to learn to outsource things.
00:23:54
Speaker
Right.
00:23:54
Speaker
And that's, again, that's just, that's, that's how entrepreneurs think.
00:23:58
Speaker
They think, man, what, what is, what only I can do that I need to spend myself, you know, I need to spend my own time doing and what are the things that I can outsource, right?
00:24:06
Speaker
So listing the things that you do on a daily basis every single day that, you
00:24:09
Speaker
What's things that only I can do and what's things that I can give away to other people to do?
00:24:14
Speaker
And they can add a value to my business by doing those things.
00:24:16
Speaker
So I think that's a critical thing, right?
00:24:18
Speaker
That's where setters, right?
00:24:19
Speaker
You're adding value to setters lives by giving them the opportunity to earn a commission, setting appointments, and then ultimately level up into closing and then run teams, right?
00:24:27
Speaker
Become a setter manager, build a team, become a closer, build a team, right?
00:24:31
Speaker
Having a clear progression path.
00:24:33
Speaker
But yeah, I mean, the bigger you get, the longer you're around.
00:24:36
Speaker
You got to outsource.
00:24:37
Speaker
You got to entrust other people.
00:24:40
Speaker
And sometimes, a lot of times, people will respond to that entrusting them with authority or entrusting them with responsibility.
00:24:48
Speaker
And that will cause them to level up too, right?
00:24:50
Speaker
They'll rise to a new level of performance if you entrust them with things.
00:24:55
Speaker
Yeah, so good.
00:24:56
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, and even trusting like your setters.
00:24:59
Speaker
I know there's a lot of...
00:25:01
Speaker
top people over here at Legacy that like I hadn't really thought of this too much before but just having them you know maybe like give the customer updates after the sale sure because I used to think is oh this is all on me I closed it but it's like like hey they're getting paid on this account too so why don't we have them maybe totally give them updates yeah
00:25:20
Speaker
Go drop off gifts is another thing I've heard.
00:25:22
Speaker
And like, you know, maybe on something I'm trying to do too with my setters is if their appointment doesn't show, you know, have them like take the initiative, follow up.
00:25:31
Speaker
Yeah.
00:25:31
Speaker
I got a lot of other people to follow up with.
00:25:33
Speaker
Yeah.
00:25:33
Speaker
Why don't you follow up or you book this appointment?
00:25:36
Speaker
Yeah.
00:25:36
Speaker
Back there.
00:25:36
Speaker
Yeah.
00:25:37
Speaker
So yeah, even if you don't hire out, there's assistance and we can talk about that and everything, but it's like, there's a lot of things we can look for ways to be more efficient on using a CRM, having just some type of software that can maybe automate some of this stuff for you too.
00:25:57
Speaker
Makes it a lot easier.
00:25:58
Speaker
Yeah.
00:25:58
Speaker
I mean, I know one of our other managers, Tyler, is big on using an app called Trello to manage his projects and things like that.
00:26:04
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, a lot of people when they're new and they're setters, right?
00:26:07
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, you can use a spreadsheet or a notes file early on to track your leads and things like that, right?
00:26:13
Speaker
But yeah, I mean, interesting.
00:26:15
Speaker
When I was new, you know, the closures took on most of that responsibility, running post-sale and customer follow-up and things like that.
00:26:23
Speaker
But really, yeah, that should be entrusted to the setters because ultimately they're going to do that down the road anyway, right?
00:26:28
Speaker
Right.
00:26:29
Speaker
So teaching them those skills early on rather than just saying, hey, you knocked a door, you got a bill, you set an appointment, cool, your job's done.
00:26:34
Speaker
No, yeah, you should be, you know, if you, you know, there's a saying, do the job before you have the title, right?
00:26:40
Speaker
And so taking on that responsibility earlier rather than later, right, will definitely set you up for success faster.
00:26:47
Speaker
Yeah, so.
00:26:48
Speaker
For sure.
00:26:48
Speaker
Yeah, I love that.
00:26:49
Speaker
Yep, and yet we all have, yeah, like you said, we all have a limited amount of willpower.
00:26:54
Speaker
I mean, this guy's got it in his name, for crying out loud.
00:26:56
Speaker
Willpower in his name.
00:26:57
Speaker
Even he runs out.
00:26:58
Speaker
100%.
00:26:59
Speaker
So, yeah, we need to set up the systems and figure out ways to be more efficient for sure.
00:27:05
Speaker
So one of my favorite stories that you tell, Will, is just work in an area.
00:27:10
Speaker
I remember a training you did recently for us.
00:27:12
Speaker
You showed us a screenshot of an area you worked with.
00:27:16
Speaker
I think it was like, I don't know, what was it, 10-plus customers from two streets that you guys worked on, and you just see these pins of our area management app just like...
00:27:29
Speaker
littered with all these appointments customers and everything yep um so yeah can you tell that story for our listeners like how did you get 10 plus customers on two streets and yeah oh man that was crazy and that was a learning experience for me like i really can't even take credit for that because i learned that from one of my guys one we call him moose because he's from alaska um right moose is incredible i never knew we could
00:27:53
Speaker
Yeah.
00:27:54
Speaker
Yeah.
00:27:54
Speaker
Like where did Moose come from?
00:27:55
Speaker
That's exactly what I said when I first met him.
00:27:57
Speaker
I was like, Moose?
00:27:58
Speaker
Like, okay, that's new.
00:27:59
Speaker
But yeah, dude, I learned a ton from this guy.
00:28:01
Speaker
Moose has been on the doors since
Building a Strong Sales Team
00:28:04
Speaker
2009.
00:28:04
Speaker
So 15 years on the doors, right?
00:28:06
Speaker
He started pest control like you or alarms.
00:28:09
Speaker
I think he started alarms.
00:28:10
Speaker
I'm sorry.
00:28:10
Speaker
I think he did a little pest control, but...
00:28:12
Speaker
Anyway, like OG on the doors, like dude's 40 and he's still cranking on the doors.
00:28:16
Speaker
Right.
00:28:17
Speaker
Um, and he's an incredible salesperson.
00:28:19
Speaker
Like dude is a legend, you know?
00:28:21
Speaker
Um, and he generates a lot of referral business cause he's so great at, at relating to his customer, building a great relationship.
00:28:28
Speaker
Anyway, this is really something I learned from him and we call it the battleship concept, but funny, funny thing about it is, um,
00:28:37
Speaker
He was just starting with me.
00:28:39
Speaker
The funny part was the first two or three months working with me, he didn't really do a whole lot.
00:28:45
Speaker
He was just getting his feet wet back on the doors.
00:28:49
Speaker
We had plenty of doors together, but he was still trying to figure it out.
00:28:55
Speaker
He hadn't been on the doors and not metering three yet.
00:28:58
Speaker
And, you know, three months go by and he didn't really put hardly anything on the board, you know?
00:29:02
Speaker
And then all of a sudden he starts sending me bills left and right.
00:29:05
Speaker
Hey, I got the same day.
00:29:06
Speaker
Hey, I got this next one.
00:29:07
Speaker
Hey, and I'm like, okay, dude, what are you doing?
00:29:09
Speaker
You know, is this lead gen?
00:29:11
Speaker
Like what, you know, how are you getting all these leads?
00:29:13
Speaker
Right.
00:29:13
Speaker
And, uh, and funny thing, this little three street section, like you were talking about, I had a couple customers on one street from the previous year.
00:29:20
Speaker
Mm-hmm.
00:29:21
Speaker
And he got one customer down the street from them on the same day.
00:29:25
Speaker
Right.
00:29:26
Speaker
Ironically enough, it was another pin that someone had previously marked as not interested.
00:29:29
Speaker
Right.
00:29:29
Speaker
It's like, oh, he's just a cranky old man.
00:29:31
Speaker
Right.
00:29:32
Speaker
And of course, Moose got him to open up and sit down with him that day.
00:29:36
Speaker
And then he referred his next door neighbor who was a widow.
00:29:39
Speaker
He knew the husband he had passed recently.
00:29:41
Speaker
And then she referred her next door neighbor, who was a good friend of hers.
00:29:45
Speaker
And then we went to the other side of that guy's same house.
00:29:48
Speaker
We got the next door neighbor, got the neighbor after that.
00:29:50
Speaker
They were new homeowners that just moved in.
00:29:54
Speaker
And then we went to the next street.
00:29:57
Speaker
There was a Filipino family.
00:29:59
Speaker
Her daughter had just died, so it wasn't an immediate sale on that home.
00:30:02
Speaker
But we sent flowers, another tip from the goat, Ashton Buswell, right?
00:30:06
Speaker
Send flowers, send cards, right?
00:30:08
Speaker
Don't just write people off because they're not ready at that moment.
00:30:10
Speaker
You'll be a human being first, right?
00:30:13
Speaker
And sure enough, we came back like three weeks later and she was like giving us hugs and, oh, you guys are incredible.
00:30:18
Speaker
So they, of course, we signed them up like a couple of days later.
00:30:22
Speaker
We got a couple more on that street.
00:30:24
Speaker
There was a guy that was coming back from Australia for work.
00:30:26
Speaker
I just made a note, talked to his son.
00:30:27
Speaker
I made a note to follow up with him in a couple of weeks.
00:30:29
Speaker
That was on the next street over.
00:30:31
Speaker
And then they started connecting us with neighbors on that street.
00:30:35
Speaker
And then we went to the next street and it was just, it was just like dominoes, man.
00:30:38
Speaker
Right.
00:30:39
Speaker
Um, but part of what we did and what Juan taught me was getting a video with the customer after the sale.
00:30:45
Speaker
Right.
00:30:46
Speaker
And just saying, Hey, you know, um, you know, congrats John.
00:30:49
Speaker
Hey, you just went solar with legacy and Everbright.
00:30:51
Speaker
You know, if I snapped my fingers and the panels were already on the roof, you know, and Edison came back tomorrow, you know, and said, Hey, we're going to take those panels away.
00:30:58
Speaker
Put you back on our rates, our increases.
00:30:59
Speaker
Like, what would you say?
00:31:00
Speaker
You know?
00:31:01
Speaker
And showing that to the neighbors was a huge tool, right?
00:31:05
Speaker
That's social proof, right?
00:31:06
Speaker
That's, you know, that's, you know, getting the credibility in that neighborhood.
00:31:11
Speaker
And just using that one tool, yeah, we probably put up 12, 15 sales just in that one three street section.
00:31:19
Speaker
Um, you know, but it was largely using that battleship and concept of connecting neighbors who knew each other.
00:31:24
Speaker
Um, and you know, and you know, really working one area.
00:31:28
Speaker
I feel like so many people, they get a couple of sales in one area and they leave that area and they leave so much fruit on the tree in that one area, you know?
00:31:35
Speaker
So yeah, that battleship concept, shout out to Moose, learning that from him.
00:31:39
Speaker
Um, you gotta give him credit where credit's due.
00:31:41
Speaker
You know, I've learned a lot from that guy.
00:31:42
Speaker
So it's been amazing having him on the team.
00:31:44
Speaker
Yeah, that's such a good strategy.
00:31:46
Speaker
Yeah, I learned that from Taylor McCarthy too.
00:31:49
Speaker
Probably follow him, but he does the same thing.
00:31:51
Speaker
Yeah, I think that's who Moose took it from actually because he watched a bunch of Taylor McCarthy videos.
00:31:56
Speaker
Yeah, for sure.
00:31:58
Speaker
Yeah, but no, it works so well.
00:32:00
Speaker
I'm just like, you know, saving those in a folder on your phone.
00:32:03
Speaker
Just be like, hey, this is all the people we've helped.
00:32:05
Speaker
You know, this person.
00:32:06
Speaker
And it's funny, I'll do that to this day.
00:32:09
Speaker
And even if it's someone on like a whole different city, sometimes a lot of people will be like, oh yeah, I think I know that person.
00:32:15
Speaker
Like, oh yeah, well, we're hoping.
00:32:16
Speaker
Yeah, right.
00:32:18
Speaker
Like, I don't think you know these people.
00:32:19
Speaker
Yeah, it's instant credibility, man.
00:32:21
Speaker
Like, yeah, I find it interesting.
00:32:23
Speaker
So many reps, they take these boom pics, right?
00:32:26
Speaker
They post, right?
00:32:27
Speaker
But they don't take them with the customer.
00:32:29
Speaker
And I'm like, man, you're missing out, dude.
00:32:31
Speaker
Like, that'll buy you so much credibility.
00:32:34
Speaker
Like there's, you know, like I don't like to advertise this, but the reason they called me the mayor in this one hood for a long time was because I worked that one hood for such a long time, you know, but having a photo album of dude, hey, I've got 57 of your neighbors that we've helped go solar.
00:32:49
Speaker
Right.
00:32:50
Speaker
And inevitably, I always have people say, oh, yeah, I don't know all those people like by name, but I recognize them.
00:32:56
Speaker
Like I've seen their face, you know, and that's instant credibility like that locks down so many sales for us where people are on the fence.
00:33:01
Speaker
Right.
00:33:02
Speaker
And they see faces they recognize.
00:33:03
Speaker
They're like, oh, okay.
00:33:04
Speaker
Yeah, I'm in.
00:33:07
Speaker
So some of you already know that I run my own door-to-door sales team here in San Diego.
00:33:12
Speaker
And as we are gearing up for the summer, I realized if we do the same thing we always did, we're going to get the same results.
00:33:19
Speaker
But if I want to increase my deal flow, I need to do something different to get an advantage.
00:33:23
Speaker
Then we discovered an app called SolarScout.
00:33:26
Speaker
But it's not a door knocking app.
00:33:28
Speaker
It's a data platform that shows us who is likely to go solar in our market.
00:33:32
Speaker
It shows us who has previously applied for solar but later canceled the deal, who has moved in recently, and even how much electricity the homes are using in a given neighborhood.
00:33:42
Speaker
It's been working for a lot of teams across the country, and now I'm on board too.
00:33:46
Speaker
I'm going to be one of the first two SolarScout in San Diego, so I decided to partner up.
00:33:50
Speaker
But I told them, hey, if I'm going to talk about SolarScout on my show, you need to give my listeners a great deal.
00:33:56
Speaker
And they did.
00:33:57
Speaker
So go to solarscout.app forward slash Taylor and book a demo with them and you'll get 10% off your first month when you sign up.
00:34:06
Speaker
That's solarscout.app forward slash Taylor.
00:34:10
Speaker
Okay, back to the show.
00:34:11
Speaker
People aren't doing that.
00:34:13
Speaker
Yeah, you're missing out on a huge secret.
00:34:14
Speaker
100%.
00:34:15
Speaker
So good.
00:34:16
Speaker
Yeah.
00:34:17
Speaker
So yeah.
00:34:18
Speaker
definitely important to stay in an area and like you said so many reps they just hit a couple doors maybe see some rejection and then leave but you never know it's like that picture of you know the miner about to hit the goal and then you leave i think that's how it is a long time in these areas we work so um yeah huge secret and then uh i want to transition i know now you're into building teams will like you built up your squad you guys are
00:34:45
Speaker
uh cranking a lot of deals um and yeah you're managing a team so what's it been like well i guess first of all how long were you at legacy like how long did it take you to kind of transition to start managing and everything yeah great question uh when i came in you know like i said i speaking to chris morgan the guy that brought me in um
00:35:05
Speaker
Got to give some gratitude and a shout out to him.
00:35:09
Speaker
I wouldn't be where I am without him bringing me in.
00:35:12
Speaker
And he was really patient with me, man.
00:35:13
Speaker
I was so skeptical.
00:35:14
Speaker
I had coffee with him two or three times before I'd even come into the office for an interview.
00:35:17
Speaker
So I'd just been burned.
00:35:19
Speaker
And so I needed a little bit more investment.
00:35:24
Speaker
I knew if I was given the right opportunity, I'd hit it out of the park.
00:35:26
Speaker
But I was just looking for...
00:35:28
Speaker
an opportunity where I truly wasn't capped, you know?
00:35:32
Speaker
And so when I first came in, yeah, there was a lot of conversation around getting into management, but there was no clear progression path, you know?
00:35:39
Speaker
And shout out to Mike Brand coming over from Sunrun.
00:35:42
Speaker
He added a lot of value to legacy like that.
00:35:44
Speaker
Legacy already had an incredible culture as far as investing in people.
00:35:47
Speaker
And I feel like that's one of the most important piece, probably the most important piece.
00:35:51
Speaker
Like you got to have the right culture, but you also got to have the right systems, right?
00:35:56
Speaker
And so Mike bringing those over from Sunrun, like there wasn't a clear progression path for the better part of the first year that I was with Legacy.
00:36:04
Speaker
And then Mike brought that clear progression path.
00:36:07
Speaker
And I was like, finally, someone just laid out a clear path that I just need to hit the bar.
00:36:11
Speaker
And so it wasn't vague anymore.
00:36:13
Speaker
It gave me a clear path, clear goal to run for.
00:36:17
Speaker
And so that kind of gave me a renewed kind of a fresh motivation.
00:36:20
Speaker
Like, yeah, I sold a lot in my first year, but I didn't build as much.
00:36:23
Speaker
I didn't invest as much in people because there was no clear path.
00:36:27
Speaker
There's no clear goal.
00:36:28
Speaker
I tried to.
00:36:30
Speaker
But yeah, so about two years to hit the management metrics.
00:36:35
Speaker
I hit it in Q4 of 2023 for the first level of the management progression path.
00:36:40
Speaker
And so longer than probably I would have liked, but I think something important to understand
00:36:49
Speaker
Um, like some of the younger guys on my team, you know, that really want to grow fast sometimes, um, you know, they always will tell me they're frustrated with like, oh man, I just thought I'd be further than I am right now, you know?
00:37:03
Speaker
And I can relate to that because when I was 25, 28, 30, you know, um, I thought the same thing, you know, I thought I'd be further ahead than I was, you know?
00:37:11
Speaker
Um, but like never underestimate the lesson, the value of the lesson you're learning in the moment.
00:37:17
Speaker
because the lesson continues until the lesson is learned.
00:37:20
Speaker
And so if you're not fully present in that moment, you're not going to learn the lesson that you need.
00:37:26
Speaker
But the timing is always perfect.
00:37:29
Speaker
For me, I say God's timing is always perfect.
00:37:31
Speaker
I think about, man, what if I had gotten into Legacy in 2020 or 2021?
00:37:36
Speaker
I was just talking to my guy, Sydney, about this today.
00:37:39
Speaker
I was like, I don't know.
00:37:40
Speaker
I might not have had the same success that I had when I started because maybe that was COVID.
00:37:45
Speaker
It was probably a tough road to hoe during COVID and solar on the doors.
00:37:53
Speaker
Just trust the timing for where you progress and how fast you progress into the goals that you have.
00:38:00
Speaker
But yeah, I mean, super excited, obviously, and grateful to be where I am now.
00:38:04
Speaker
You know, grateful for guys like John Soriano and Mike Brand and, you know, Jake Ransom and Jack who, you know, and Tyler who laid out the opportunity and kind of blazed the trail for me before to be where I am now and have the tools that I have to create the success that I have now.
00:38:19
Speaker
So yeah, building teams is huge.
00:38:21
Speaker
And I think that's really the measure of true success in a sales industry or really in any industry is
00:38:27
Speaker
how well you invest in other people.
00:38:30
Speaker
After a while, just selling just to sell gets old.
00:38:34
Speaker
There has to be something bigger than that.
00:38:36
Speaker
There has to be a vision bigger.
00:38:38
Speaker
In fact, one of the things I heard this weekend at a mastermind event is you have to have the biggest vision in your team in order to fit
00:38:48
Speaker
the visions of your leaders and their, their goals right into your vision.
00:38:52
Speaker
Right.
00:38:52
Speaker
And so if you don't, if you don't have a big enough vision for your team that it accommodates and fits all the goals of your leaders and the people that you're trying to grow and invest in, like you need to get a bigger vision.
Effective Team Management
00:39:04
Speaker
So that's so good.
00:39:06
Speaker
Yeah.
00:39:06
Speaker
Well, John Soriano, you know, he always talks about what's the verse in the Bible where they don't have the vision, the people perish, right?
00:39:14
Speaker
A hundred percent.
00:39:15
Speaker
Yeah.
00:39:16
Speaker
Yeah.
00:39:17
Speaker
Yeah, it goes back to that.
00:39:20
Speaker
But no, I definitely agree.
00:39:21
Speaker
And I can relate to what you're saying.
00:39:22
Speaker
It's like, I've been in solar for seven years, since 2016, eight years now, at the time of this recording.
00:39:29
Speaker
And sometimes I look back, see these people in two years where, like, man, these people in two years, they're way further than I am.
00:39:36
Speaker
And I've been doing this eight years.
00:39:37
Speaker
Right.
00:39:38
Speaker
you know but i think it's easy to get in that like destructive thinking it's like you can't compare yourself with with others use this competition maybe fuel and all that but yeah sure like just progress the thing that's in front of you and um otherwise yeah i can definitely like dragging a pit and like you're feeling feeling bad about yourself yeah absolutely for sure um but no super cool to see how you're growing and um brought how many guys you got like on your direct team now
00:40:03
Speaker
Yeah, we've got about 20 guys now.
00:40:05
Speaker
Um, and something I'm really excited about that we've recently, you know, and, and, you know, like I said, it's a copy paste business, right?
00:40:11
Speaker
So, you know, I don't know specifically what organization or team this came from, but, um, you know, we, when Mike brought in the progression path to get to management, right.
00:40:22
Speaker
That was primarily targeted at closers.
00:40:24
Speaker
Right.
00:40:24
Speaker
And, and, um,
00:40:26
Speaker
After a while, hearing of examples of other teams that were doing really well, I started thinking about, well, okay, if we have a clear progression path for closers to management and they have to duplicate themselves into other closers in order to get to management, why don't we have a clear path like that for setters as well?
00:40:43
Speaker
And so that's what led us to create setter manager roles.
00:40:47
Speaker
When I was new, only mentors could train setters, and usually the mentors were closers.
00:40:51
Speaker
But a lot of times, if you're sitting a lot of appointments, you don't have a ton of time to invest on the doors with setters, and certainly not usually for a full shift on the doors.
00:41:03
Speaker
And so I was like, well, that didn't really make sense to me.
00:41:06
Speaker
It didn't really make a lot of sense to me of, well, you can't have a proficient setter train another setter.
00:41:11
Speaker
So, creating a center manager position where they now have a progression path to duplicate themselves to move into closing, and it's just from the beginning, you have a clear duplication path.
00:41:21
Speaker
I mean, we talk about one of our big values being around duplication and multiplication, and why not teach people that from the beginning when they first come in.
00:41:34
Speaker
So I think that's going to lead to huge results with like we've already grown at a super fast clip within legacy and valor the last couple of years.
00:41:42
Speaker
I think it's going to absolutely take us to another level with people implementing that.
00:41:45
Speaker
Yeah, no, that's huge.
00:41:47
Speaker
And yeah, I've talked to some of your setters that are like super excited about, you know, leading other setters and.
00:41:53
Speaker
And, uh, just being able to develop that way.
00:41:55
Speaker
So yeah, what are some, how have you structured that?
00:41:57
Speaker
Like what was it look like for your team?
00:41:59
Speaker
Yeah.
00:41:59
Speaker
I mean, it's really similar to the closer progression path we have to get to management.
00:42:03
Speaker
You know, they have to duplicate themselves three times as a setter.
00:42:06
Speaker
Uh, we recently rolled out the eight and eight incentive that Mike brand put together.
00:42:10
Speaker
Um, you know, where they're getting swag and they're getting a cruise incentive.
00:42:13
Speaker
If they get eight deals in their first 60 days or their first eight weeks, um,
00:42:17
Speaker
So, for us, we say, okay, you either have to hit the eight and eight or you have to hit 10 deals in three months in order to become a setter manager.
00:42:25
Speaker
And then the whole goal there is to duplicate yourself, right?
00:42:28
Speaker
So, they have to duplicate themselves three times before they can move into closing.
00:42:32
Speaker
And they're kind of being trained as a closer simultaneously while they're a setter manager.
00:42:37
Speaker
Right.
00:42:37
Speaker
But they're responsible for things like running pitch practices, things like getting recordings of pitches from reps.
00:42:44
Speaker
Right.
00:42:44
Speaker
We have our reps record pitches on the door.
00:42:47
Speaker
Right.
00:42:47
Speaker
Because even if I'm on the door with a rep, my memory is not perfect.
00:42:50
Speaker
Right.
00:42:50
Speaker
And we all tend to think we said something better than we actually did.
00:42:53
Speaker
You know.
00:42:54
Speaker
We tend to embellish a little bit, but recordings don't lie.
00:42:58
Speaker
That tells us exactly what was said.
00:43:00
Speaker
It's way easier to coach and develop people through recordings and then tweak the changes in pitch practice the following day so their learning curve is that much faster.
00:43:10
Speaker
Rather than before when I was new, I might go a week on the door doing the wrong thing before I tweaked something.
00:43:17
Speaker
versus now they're getting daily feedback.
00:43:19
Speaker
So that and tracking KPIs, like when I was new, I didn't really track my KPIs.
00:43:23
Speaker
Like, yeah, we had KPIs being key performance indicators, where we're tracking doors knocked, appointments set, qualified conversations, appointments set, bills got, appointments set, and then deals closed.
00:43:36
Speaker
We're tracking all those numbers for all our guys.
00:43:38
Speaker
We're tracking them on a weekly basis and they're posting them daily, so they're seeing their own numbers every single day.
00:43:45
Speaker
But the center manager is going to duplicate himself three times and then they're going to take two of those guys with them when they become a closer.
00:43:52
Speaker
They replace themselves with one of them.
00:43:54
Speaker
And then they take two setters with them as a closer.
00:43:58
Speaker
And when I was new, it was just, hey, you hit 10 deals, you get to move into closing as long as you can demonstrate that you can close.
00:44:05
Speaker
And I just saw so many people that was just too fast for them.
00:44:09
Speaker
And a lot of guys just didn't progress very far after that.
00:44:12
Speaker
They might close a few deals, but they didn't really launch into this great level of success.
00:44:18
Speaker
And so I wanted to provide something that was a smoother progression path that supported them.
00:44:24
Speaker
A lot of us will do more for others than we'll do for ourselves.
00:44:27
Speaker
And so when you have a couple of guys relying on you already as a new guy with a small team, I think that just provides greater accountability and a level of responsibility that just pushes people to perform at a higher level.
00:44:41
Speaker
And I think the duplication will be a lot smoother and more consistent.
00:44:44
Speaker
Numbers increasing will be a lot more consistent with that.
00:44:47
Speaker
Yeah.
00:44:48
Speaker
Okay.
00:44:48
Speaker
So when you say duplicate, that you just mean like, okay, they hit their eight deals or their 10 deals in three months and then they can start training two more people.
00:44:57
Speaker
Yeah, exactly.
00:44:57
Speaker
Yeah.
00:44:58
Speaker
Okay.
00:44:58
Speaker
Yeah.
00:44:59
Speaker
So I mean, it's just a consistent duplication pattern, right?
00:45:03
Speaker
So, and then once they have, you know, a closer as two setters are taken with them into their new team, then
00:45:07
Speaker
Maybe they make the better of those two setters, a setter manager, and they repeat that process within their own team.
00:45:16
Speaker
That's just a repeatable process to scale and grow really as far as you want to go.
00:45:22
Speaker
Yeah.
00:45:23
Speaker
That's cool.
00:45:23
Speaker
And so once they become the setter manager over two other setters, do they get their leads or what's their thing?
00:45:32
Speaker
Yeah.
00:45:32
Speaker
So they're closing for those two setters, right?
00:45:35
Speaker
And there's some additional compensation we attach to that role, of course, right?
00:45:40
Speaker
Because they're taking on more responsibilities.
00:45:41
Speaker
We want to reward that.
00:45:44
Speaker
But yeah, once they're closing, the two setters they take with them, they're setting for them.
00:45:48
Speaker
The third one they leave behind is replacing themselves as a setter manager for the manager that's responsible for them.
00:45:56
Speaker
So they're always replacing themselves before they move on.
00:46:00
Speaker
Same thing when we have closures move into management, right?
00:46:02
Speaker
They got to duplicate themselves three times before they move into a management role.
00:46:07
Speaker
So that's kind of what I just copied Mike Brand's progression path with closures into setters.
00:46:12
Speaker
So I can't really take full credit for the idea.
00:46:14
Speaker
I just did it at another level.
00:46:16
Speaker
Yeah.
00:46:16
Speaker
No, I like that.
00:46:17
Speaker
Yeah.
00:46:18
Speaker
Yeah, no, that's definitely like, yeah, small problem I saw too.
00:46:22
Speaker
Just people progressing and falling on their face and quitting.
00:46:25
Speaker
It's sad to see.
00:46:26
Speaker
Yeah.
00:46:27
Speaker
So I think it is really smart to have something like that where it's kind of like a, because especially, you know, you get people who are set and maybe they have 10 clothes, but they haven't even been seen a close at that point.
00:46:39
Speaker
Right.
00:46:39
Speaker
I was like, okay, I'm a closer, but they've never practiced it.
00:46:42
Speaker
They've never really even seen a close.
00:46:44
Speaker
Now I'm supposed to go.
00:46:46
Speaker
Exactly.
00:46:47
Speaker
From zero to a hundred, just start closing my own deals.
00:46:49
Speaker
Yeah.
00:46:50
Speaker
I think when setters are new and they sit in appointments with closers, I don't think they really fit like they're still new in an industry.
00:46:56
Speaker
They're still getting their feet wet.
00:46:57
Speaker
Right.
00:46:57
Speaker
And so I don't think they sit in a close and think, oh man, I need to, you know, hang on this guy's every word and make sure I can duplicate what he's doing.
00:47:04
Speaker
You know, I don't think that's how most new setters are in appointments, you know?
00:47:07
Speaker
They don't think of, man, I got to remember this so I can repeat it.
00:47:12
Speaker
Even though we tell them, hey, that's your goal, I think it takes a while longer.
00:47:17
Speaker
They're still wrapping their mind just around the process to go solar.
00:47:20
Speaker
They're trying to understand the knowledge they need to understand in an appointment versus presenting it and regurgitating that in your own clothes.
00:47:29
Speaker
It's just more of a learning curve, I think, than a lot of people recognize.
00:47:34
Speaker
Not everybody jumps into that as quickly.
00:47:37
Speaker
So, like I had to kind of take two closes from a couple closures that I saw that were just dominating their business, right, and copy and kind of splice that and figure out a formula that worked for me.
00:47:49
Speaker
You know, so I think there's just more to that learning curve than we probably recognized for a while.
00:47:55
Speaker
Yeah.
00:47:55
Speaker
Yeah.
00:47:56
Speaker
So definitely.
00:47:57
Speaker
And so I guess maybe you said this already, but so once they hit their 10 in three months, then they're training the setters and then their setters have to get to level before they can start closing.
00:48:08
Speaker
Cause they're not jumping straight to clothing.
00:48:09
Speaker
Yeah.
00:48:10
Speaker
Okay.
00:48:10
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely.
00:48:11
Speaker
So their setters would get to their 10 and three months and then from there they would start closing their deals.
00:48:17
Speaker
Exactly.
00:48:18
Speaker
Yeah.
00:48:18
Speaker
Yeah.
00:48:19
Speaker
I mean, it's all metrics based, right?
00:48:21
Speaker
One of the things that frustrated me being in corporate sales and the technical sales I was in before Legacy was feeling like I was held back, right?
00:48:29
Speaker
There was always a guy above me that relied on my production to make more money, right?
00:48:34
Speaker
And so it wasn't really in his interest for me to progress and move forward, right?
00:48:38
Speaker
And when I came into legacy and I saw, man, this is a truly uncapped opportunity, right?
00:48:42
Speaker
I didn't want, I didn't, I never wanted my guys to feel held back.
00:48:45
Speaker
Right.
00:48:46
Speaker
And so I wanted it to be a really clear, Hey, you hit this.
00:48:50
Speaker
And as long as you demonstrate that you have the necessary knowledge and skillset to do whatever the next piece of the job is, we're going to progress you, right?
00:48:58
Speaker
We're not going to move the bar, right?
00:49:00
Speaker
Or hold you back or say, Oh, you hit that too quickly.
00:49:03
Speaker
Now we need you to stay in this role for another two or three months before you've been here long enough, you know?
00:49:08
Speaker
I just wanted it to be very clean cut, very black and white, you know, because if someone can come in and, you know, and do the performance, you know, they should, as long as they have the knowledge and skills necessary, of course, right, they should be able to progress.
00:49:22
Speaker
So I just think any real good sales opportunity, people just shouldn't be held back as long as they can do things legal, morally, and ethically.
Customer Relationships and Industry Adaptation
00:49:32
Speaker
And as long as they have the necessary skills, of course, right?
00:49:34
Speaker
Yeah, they shouldn't be held back.
00:49:36
Speaker
They should be able to run and give the freedom to run.
00:49:39
Speaker
That's fire.
00:49:40
Speaker
Yeah, and yeah, it's definitely a mistake I see in companies all the time where maybe they do have a progression, but they make it like crazy hard.
00:49:47
Speaker
Like there's not like a small progression.
00:49:49
Speaker
They're just like, here it is.
00:49:51
Speaker
zero to a hundred, they have to somehow try to figure out it.
00:49:54
Speaker
So I like what you're talking about is make it like, you know, there's levels, um, between feel like it's attainable to get to the next step.
00:50:01
Speaker
Cause yeah, I remember my first company I worked at, um, it was just like the culture where, um,
00:50:07
Speaker
There was some progression, but it's like, they definitely wanted guys to stay as setters.
00:50:11
Speaker
And then once guys felt that, Oh, I can never like progress, uh, pass the setter.
00:50:17
Speaker
Like guys would just quit left and right.
00:50:19
Speaker
We're losing all these really good centers.
00:50:20
Speaker
I'm like, man, this is tough.
00:50:22
Speaker
Yeah.
00:50:23
Speaker
So, yeah, it's a big problem and, you know, definitely something that people should be thinking about, whether you're a manager, team, company owner.
00:50:29
Speaker
You need to have that vision and create that feeling of progression that people can get to the next step.
00:50:35
Speaker
Yeah.
00:50:36
Speaker
And that's how you're going to retain, guys, too.
00:50:38
Speaker
For sure.
00:50:39
Speaker
Yeah.
00:50:39
Speaker
One other thing to add about that.
00:50:40
Speaker
I just think, you know, closers need to continue to self-gen like always, you know.
00:50:44
Speaker
Good point.
00:50:45
Speaker
It should go without saying, right?
00:50:46
Speaker
But I feel like a lot of guys, once they get setters, they're like, oh, cool.
00:50:49
Speaker
I don't have to set my own stuff anymore.
00:50:52
Speaker
And that's kind of what leads to that mindset of, oh, I want to keep these setters in this role as long as possible.
00:50:57
Speaker
Because if I'm not generating my own stuff, I need them.
00:51:01
Speaker
And there's a saying, you can't lead them if you need them.
00:51:05
Speaker
You should never need your setters.
00:51:07
Speaker
You should want them, obviously, to perform and benefit from the opportunity just as much as you can.
00:51:12
Speaker
But you should always be rooting for them to move forward.
00:51:17
Speaker
And if they earn passing you or outperforming you, dude, take out the checkered flag and wave them on by, man.
00:51:24
Speaker
Don't hold them back.
00:51:25
Speaker
Yeah, so good.
00:51:26
Speaker
So good.
00:51:27
Speaker
Well, Will something before I forget, as we start wrapping up here, another thing I've seen too is you you are you're really good at getting the deals to actually install.
00:51:37
Speaker
You're not just closing these big accounts to actually get an install.
00:51:40
Speaker
You're taking care of the customer.
00:51:42
Speaker
I think you told us a story maybe a month or two back how you literally like you had a customer that was upset after so you bought her like a fence to
00:51:51
Speaker
cover the battery or something like that because she was like mad about oh yes the battery sticking out so i'm like man this guy goes above and beyond most people be like okay it's installed like whatever forget about it so um but yeah i love how you're thinking kind of like you know not just getting them to install but also like getting them to pto um you're thinking of actually serving these people after they're installed and everything yeah
00:52:16
Speaker
So yeah, can you talk about that?
00:52:17
Speaker
Maybe like first, how, what's, I don't know, what's the best way to get it to actually install, taking care of the customer.
00:52:23
Speaker
And then just like, I don't know why it's important to think more like long-term that are just getting the install and that's it.
00:52:29
Speaker
Yeah.
00:52:29
Speaker
100%.
00:52:30
Speaker
Um, having good systems in place, you know, um,
00:52:34
Speaker
So like after a sale, we would always follow up at site survey, just do a second touch, especially if it was the same day, right?
00:52:41
Speaker
Because a lot of times those same days, they get that buyer's remorse the next day.
00:52:44
Speaker
Oh my gosh, what did I do?
00:52:46
Speaker
So having that second touch to follow up, if it's been booked out for a little while and the relationship's more established, I don't feel as much of a need to do.
00:52:55
Speaker
that, but I'll have someone follow up even if I can't be there, right?
00:52:59
Speaker
I'll have the setter or I'll have someone local there that I rely on to touch my site surveys and also touch my installs.
00:53:06
Speaker
So that's where that outsourcing piece comes in.
00:53:08
Speaker
Like I have an assistant that if me or the setter isn't in that area that day, right, I'll have her
00:53:14
Speaker
I'll stop by those customers and check on them and drop off some sunflowers and a card and a gift card.
00:53:20
Speaker
Usually I'll ask them if they have a favorite restaurant or a coffee spot in the area, and I'll get them a gift card to that.
00:53:26
Speaker
And, hey, congrats on going Solder, and thanks for choosing Legacy and all that.
00:53:33
Speaker
Just consistent communication and updates on your project, I think is huge.
00:53:37
Speaker
You know, if you leave too much of a gap in the communication, I think that's where customers kind of get, you know, even though we set expectations and we tell them, hey, this is the process and it's going to take a little bit of time, like we're not coming out to throw up panels tomorrow, obviously, you know, like they get a little nervous if they don't hear from you within like a week or two, you know.
00:53:57
Speaker
So, having communication channels in place, setting up a text thread with customers, letting them know, hey, if you don't hear from me for a couple of weeks, don't worry.
00:54:07
Speaker
But still, going above and beyond with account updates on a weekly basis just to make sure, hey, everything's still progressing, we're looking good, we're going to take care of you, we're going to move forward.
00:54:17
Speaker
And then going the extra mile for the customer, kind of like you talked about in the beginning, yeah.
00:54:22
Speaker
I remember this particular customer, the installer put the inverter right on the front of the house.
00:54:31
Speaker
She sent me a picture and she says, there goes the curb appeal, you know, and, you know, and I was like, oh, my gosh, what installer put this right on the front of the house, you know.
00:54:42
Speaker
And to be fair, you know, they had some code issues with windows and it had to be a certain distance away from the window.
00:54:47
Speaker
So they really didn't have anywhere else they could put it, right?
00:54:50
Speaker
So obviously, you know, I'd rather make sure that customer is happy by the end of the project, right?
00:54:56
Speaker
So stop by, did an immediate touch, right?
00:54:58
Speaker
And just told her, hey, don't worry, we're going to take care of this if we need to build you a little latticework or, you know, something else.
00:55:05
Speaker
to make it less of an eyesore.
00:55:07
Speaker
We did that.
00:55:08
Speaker
Ironically enough, in that same neighborhood, had another customer that his house just happens to be on the intersection of two streets.
00:55:16
Speaker
And so they put the batteries all on the side of the house facing the street.
00:55:21
Speaker
And so he was the guy that I built a 30-foot fence for to cover those up.
00:55:25
Speaker
So I think our batteries are pretty sleek looking, but he wasn't super excited about them.
00:55:31
Speaker
But like that was like, you know, a thousand bucks basically in both those situations that, you know, was an easy expense that is like, hey, I'd rather get a five star review from this customer that I went the extra mile for them than the three or one star review because they're like, oh, man, this person wrecked the curb appeal of my house, you know.
00:55:50
Speaker
Then miss out on future referrals.
00:55:52
Speaker
Exactly.
00:55:53
Speaker
Yeah, 100%, right?
00:55:54
Speaker
So serve the customer, sell all the way through PTO.
00:55:58
Speaker
And I also just think going forward, this is going to be a huge thing in our industry.
00:56:03
Speaker
Just got back from a mastermind event and seeing a bigger picture of a bunch of other people in the industry, other installers, other sales teams, other orgs across the country.
00:56:13
Speaker
Um, and that, Hey, offering multiple services, not just solar, right.
00:56:18
Speaker
Doing tree work, doing roofs, doing, I've probably done eight or nine roofs already this year for customers as part of their project.
00:56:25
Speaker
Right.
00:56:26
Speaker
Um, we're all wrapping into the project and I've got another three or four on the calendar already.
00:56:30
Speaker
Right.
00:56:31
Speaker
So you're going to have to go the extra mile and learn to wrap other services in.
00:56:35
Speaker
That's just another way to set yourself apart from the competition, you know?
00:56:39
Speaker
Um, and also just, um,
00:56:41
Speaker
I mean, I know this should be an obvious thing, but I just don't think it's that obvious in any high ticket sales industry.
00:56:47
Speaker
Unfortunately, it's just going to attract people that just aren't always the best from a character standpoint with how they take care of customers.
00:56:55
Speaker
Always do what's in the interest of the customer and it will always serve you better down the road.
00:57:00
Speaker
I tell my customers, I like happy customers one, two, five years from now, not just when the solar goes up on your roof and then you find out, oh, I got a true up bill in a year or two.
00:57:08
Speaker
Yeah.
00:57:09
Speaker
So even if I have to give the customer bad news that, hey, you might have to pay a little bit more than you want to do what you're telling me you want to do with your home, right?
00:57:17
Speaker
To be able to use power the way you want to use it.
00:57:19
Speaker
If you want to run AC, if you want to do an EV, if you want to whatever, you know, whatever it is you want to do, I'd rather be straight with the customer.
00:57:27
Speaker
I tell them all the time, I'm going to give you the good, the bad, and the ugly.
00:57:30
Speaker
So you can make an informed decision, right?
00:57:32
Speaker
I'm never going to BS you and tell you.
00:57:34
Speaker
Like, I feel like some salespeople, they're afraid to tell a customer a higher number because they just want to close a sale, right?
00:57:41
Speaker
And then they have an unhappy customer a year or two years from now and they're unhappy.
00:57:44
Speaker
And that kind of does a disservice to all of us in the industry.
00:57:47
Speaker
You know, and so just always do what's in the interest of your customer.
00:57:51
Speaker
And I think if you do that, like help enough other people get what they want and you'll be rewarded with what you want.
00:57:56
Speaker
You know, it's an old adage, you know, Zig Ziglar, but, you know, it's still just as true, you know, so.
00:58:01
Speaker
I know.
00:58:01
Speaker
And I know I think a lot of people have talked about it, but it's like that's where the industry is headed.
00:58:06
Speaker
A lot of these lenders are paying after like PTO now, not after install.
00:58:11
Speaker
Yep.
00:58:12
Speaker
And, you know, more regulations come in.
00:58:14
Speaker
So I think a lot of people come in and are just thinking short term, let's go make a quick 10, 20 grand, whatever.
00:58:20
Speaker
But we're thinking long term, we want to be in this for the long haul.
00:58:25
Speaker
We want to make great commissions and it's just going to be harder if you get these bozos going around, something like that.
00:58:31
Speaker
Yeah.
00:58:32
Speaker
So love that.
00:58:32
Speaker
And yeah, like you're saying, it's like, would you rather spend a quick thousand bucks right now and then have, uh, you know, potentially that, that person could have given you a dozen referrals over the years, but people, you know, forget about that sometimes.
00:58:45
Speaker
Yeah.
00:58:46
Speaker
Just look at the short term.
00:58:47
Speaker
Yeah, so good.
00:58:48
Speaker
Well, Will, it's been awesome having you on.
00:58:50
Speaker
And so if people want to, you know, reach out to you, connect more with you, maybe join the team, which we're both here in San Diego.
00:58:58
Speaker
So reach out to either one of us if you want to get on a killer team.
00:59:02
Speaker
But what's the best way to get in touch with you, Will?
00:59:04
Speaker
Yeah.
00:59:04
Speaker
Yeah, I'm on Instagram.
00:59:05
Speaker
It's ironwill__100 or it might be on iron__will100.
00:59:11
Speaker
I'm not sure, but check those out.
00:59:13
Speaker
If you search Iron Will, you should find me.
00:59:15
Speaker
I'll be on there somewhere.
00:59:16
Speaker
My wife actually runs my Instagram, so it's too much of a distraction for me, but you can find me on there.
00:59:23
Speaker
So yeah, that's probably the best place to reach me.
00:59:26
Speaker
Okay.
00:59:26
Speaker
So, and then, uh, last question, maybe for someone who's struggling, who's like, you know, going through a rough patch, um, not having success right now, what would you say, or how have you helped me be a rep that's struggling and not having success to have another breakthrough breakthrough?
00:59:43
Speaker
Yeah.
00:59:44
Speaker
That's a great question, man.
00:59:45
Speaker
I love that.
00:59:46
Speaker
You know, I actually did this with a rep recently.
00:59:48
Speaker
I gave a training for another office and it was actually someone that I knew from a couple of years ago.
00:59:54
Speaker
And I didn't even know they were working for Legacy and they came up to me and they had a bunch of questions and they were kind of struggling and
01:00:00
Speaker
just to get things off the ground.
01:00:02
Speaker
And, you know, and so I kind of took him under my wing for a little bit, just did some additional coaching through, you know, recorded pitches and things like I was talking about earlier.
01:00:11
Speaker
And, and that person came to me, you know, a few weeks later and,
01:00:16
Speaker
They were telling me, man, I don't know if solar is for me.
01:00:18
Speaker
I think maybe I just need to go back to what I was doing before.
01:00:24
Speaker
I would just encourage you.
01:00:28
Speaker
I asked her, I was like, why did you get into solar in the beginning?
01:00:31
Speaker
right?
01:00:31
Speaker
What was the, what was the motivation that you had to get into solar to start with?
01:00:35
Speaker
Right.
01:00:36
Speaker
And they were telling me about this dream.
01:00:37
Speaker
They had to launch this business.
01:00:39
Speaker
Right.
01:00:39
Speaker
And I said, well, okay, is that, is that dream, you know, is there any other way that you know of that you're going to be able to accomplish that dream?
01:00:45
Speaker
Right.
01:00:46
Speaker
And they're like, no.
01:00:46
Speaker
And I was like, okay, well, is that dream worth it?
01:00:49
Speaker
Or, or was it just something fun that you thought you had an idea about one time, you know?
01:00:54
Speaker
And she said, yeah, no, it was totally worth it.
01:00:56
Speaker
Like I really still want to do that.
01:00:57
Speaker
And I'm like, well,
01:00:58
Speaker
then you got to persevere, you know, you got to push through.
01:01:00
Speaker
And sure enough, a couple of weeks later, saw a post with, uh, with her and her mentor, she had put, you know, she dropped a few deals in a weekend and, um, you know, she'd been struggling for a long time and she finally had that breakthrough.
01:01:12
Speaker
Um, you know, and so that's, I guess that's the one thing is you got to know why you're doing this, you know, um, something that I heard at this mastermind I was just at, um,
01:01:23
Speaker
If you're doing this to build somebody else's vision, you're going to always struggle when you hit hard times, like when you're on that solar coaster and you're in the slump or you're in the challenging period.
01:01:34
Speaker
If you don't have a clear reason, a clear picture of why you're doing this, why you're here, that you can go back to, that you can pull from.
01:01:41
Speaker
you're going to struggle, right?
01:01:42
Speaker
You're probably going to walk away at that point, right?
01:01:45
Speaker
Versus if you have a clear reason that you know you got into this to start with, right?
01:01:49
Speaker
You're always going to be able to go back to that and pull fresh motivation from that, right?
01:01:53
Speaker
So start with why, man.
01:01:56
Speaker
It's a great book by Simon Sinek, but it's also just a great principle.
01:01:59
Speaker
Always go back to that reason, whatever that original vision is that you had, and that'll take you through some hard times till you're back on top.
01:02:08
Speaker
Yeah.
01:02:08
Speaker
Love it.
01:02:09
Speaker
A hundred percent.
01:02:10
Speaker
Uh, Will, thank you so much for coming on.
01:02:12
Speaker
And it's like, he's saying, uh, invest in yourself.
01:02:14
Speaker
You just got back from mastermind.
01:02:16
Speaker
So I know he's investing in himself.
01:02:17
Speaker
He's investing in his people and, um, yeah, doing those things and everything else we talked
Conclusion and Resources
01:02:23
Speaker
about.
01:02:23
Speaker
Um, you're going to have success for sure.
01:02:25
Speaker
So,
01:02:26
Speaker
Will, can't wait to do another episode, another year or two when you've got 100 people under you and leading a huge team.
01:02:32
Speaker
But thanks so much for coming on.
01:02:33
Speaker
And yeah, hit us up if you want to join the best team in solar.
01:02:37
Speaker
Thanks for having me on, Taylor.
01:02:39
Speaker
I really appreciate it.
01:02:39
Speaker
Thanks for the time, man.
01:02:40
Speaker
Yeah, thanks, Will.
01:02:41
Speaker
Yeah.
01:02:43
Speaker
What's up, solopreneurs?
01:02:44
Speaker
Hope you enjoyed the episode.
01:02:46
Speaker
Before you run out and start selling more solar yourself, wanted to let you know about an exciting new cheat sheet we created specifically for you in mind.
01:02:56
Speaker
One of the top questions I get asked on Instagram, on Facebook, by our listeners is, Taylor, where should I start?
01:03:03
Speaker
What episodes should I listen to in the podcast?
01:03:06
Speaker
You got too many podcasts, man, because now we have over 200 episodes.
01:03:11
Speaker
So what we've done, we created the top 10 most downloaded, most listened to, and I would say widely accepted, most useful podcasts that we've done here on Solopreneur.
01:03:24
Speaker
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01:03:33
Speaker
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01:03:35
Speaker
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01:03:39
Speaker
Again, that's top10, the number 10,.solarpreneurs.com.
01:03:44
Speaker
Don't forget the S on solarpreneurs.
01:03:46
Speaker
We will have that in the show notes.
01:03:48
Speaker
Go download it right now.
01:03:50
Speaker
And especially if you have not listened to them, go listen to them and you can re-listen to them.
01:03:55
Speaker
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01:03:57
Speaker
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