Transcript
Speaker: Welcome to the Solarpreneur Podcast, where we teach you to take your solar business to the next level.
Speaker: My name is Taylor Armstrong.
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.
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.
Speaker: What is a solopreneur, you might ask?
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.
Speaker: Okay, what's going on?
Speaker: We are here in the studio with someone that has just been absolutely crushing lately.
Speaker: Been planning this podcast for a little bit.
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.
Speaker: Thanks for joining us, Will.
Speaker: Absolutely.
Speaker: Super excited to be here.
Speaker: Yeah, it's going to be fun.
Speaker: And I've been following Will for a little bit.
Speaker: He's someone I've been over here at Legacy for about a year.
Speaker: And I remember we were at a baseball game together and everyone was just talking about this Will kid.
Speaker: I hadn't met him yet.
Speaker: They're like, oh, dude, you got to see what this guy's doing.
Speaker: He's like, you know, made 400 grand his first year of solar or something.
Speaker: Just like people are just like talking you up and all that.
Speaker: And I'm like, man, this guy's blowing it up.
Speaker: And then sure enough, a couple months after that, um, stepped into managing here in San Diego.
Speaker: So it's been really cool to see the journey and, uh, just see like a really fast progression from you.
Speaker: But, uh, yeah.
Speaker: Do you want to give us maybe your background, fill in some gaps besides that?
Speaker: Tell us how you got into solar and everything.
Speaker: Yeah, absolutely, man.
Speaker: Um,
Speaker: Yeah, I'm from the East Coast originally.
Speaker: I grew up, went in the military, raised in a good home, two teachers for parents, and pretty high standards with that.
Speaker: So coming to the military was kind of where I got started, and then discovered the military was definitely not my speed.
Speaker: Got into consulting and sales after that, ran markets in retail recruiting or in retail sales, recruited and trained guys to do that.
Speaker: and ran markets for three or four years doing that.
Speaker: And then got into technical sales.
Speaker: That's what brought me down to San Diego.
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?
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.
Speaker: And sure enough, met, um, met a guy at my church that, uh, you know, was with, uh, legacy at the time.
Speaker: And he was talking about making a half million dollars the next year.
Speaker: And I was like, what do you do again?
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.
Speaker: So, um, yeah, it's kind of the rest is history.
Speaker: So awesome.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: So yeah, what's really cool is you came from a different set.
Speaker: What were you doing?
Speaker: What were you selling before that?
Speaker: I was selling boilers.
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.
Speaker: And that was how I wound up doing that.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: So I'm curious, like coming from that sales job, I know that's like decent, especially in other States, six figures.
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?
Speaker: You know, I say it's different types of hard, you know.
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.
Speaker: Obviously, you have much more direct face-to-face contact with the consumer.
Speaker: So, you know, I don't know if I'd say necessarily harder, but...
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.
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.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah, always interesting to hear the different comparisons.
Speaker: I think I told you this.
Speaker: I came from pest control.
Speaker: Oh, really?
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: And it's like pest control, we're knocking eight to 10 hours a day out there.
Speaker: Wow.
Speaker: And so that was one thing that got me.
Speaker: I'm like, man, solar, I'm in appointments half the day.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: And then I'm probably only knocking maybe four or five hours.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah.
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
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
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.
Speaker: It wasn't quite as people-centric.
Speaker: It was just, hey, we're just going to crank people in and crank them out if they burn out.
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.
Speaker: And so coming into solar, like I saw it as more of an opportunity than just selling and making money.
Speaker: I saw it as a, you know, hey, get into management, build an organization, run a market.
Speaker: You know, I saw that kind of potential early on, but I was skeptical, you know, and so I had to kind of
Speaker: overcome that.
Speaker: But yeah, I mean, the first month, month and a half was not super exciting.
Speaker: I knocked for about four to five weeks in San Diego, just kind of trying to get the pitch down.
Speaker: The training wasn't probably what it is today back then, two and a half years ago, almost three years ago now.
Speaker: And so I kind of had to figure it out on my own and seek out people that had the answers I needed.
Speaker: But I got nothing.
Speaker: I bageled for my first five weeks.
Speaker: And then fortunately, I had a mentor who planned a blitz at the end of that first month.
Speaker: And he understood the value of blitzing and that getting people off the ground was a big thing in blitzing.
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.
Speaker: And that was what kind of got my start.
Speaker: And then it was kind of full speed ahead from there, you know, kind of never looked back.
Speaker: But I was very skeptical in the beginning.
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?
Speaker: You know, I'm already making, you know, six figures in corporate America.
Speaker: I don't need this job, you know.
Speaker: But I knew that if I wanted to change my life, I had to change some things about my life.
Speaker: And so I had to be willing to go through that initial struggle.
Speaker: um, in order to get to the fruit on the other side.
Speaker: And obviously, you know, it's kind of panned out.
Speaker: I'm still here.
Speaker: So yeah.
Speaker: Let's go.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: And, um, I don't know.
Speaker: One thing I've seen legacy, obviously it's bigger company, lots of reps and all that.
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.
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.
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.
Speaker: Sure.
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?
Speaker: What are some things that you did to maybe like speed up the success that you feel could help someone else?
Speaker: Yeah, 100%.
Speaker: You know, you can't.
Speaker: realize a million dollar opportunity with a minimum wage work ethic.
Speaker: I'm sure you've heard that before.
Speaker: I saw the potential in the beginning.
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?
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.
Speaker: And then if my closer wasn't available, my initial mentor that brought me wasn't available.
Speaker: I'd go find someone to set those appointments, and I was willing to just go out and put in the work.
Speaker: But yeah, I did have to seek answers from multiple sources.
Speaker: Those other closures that I found, Jack Pastrana, beast in the industry, crushing it.
Speaker: He closed a lot of deals with me early on, and I learned from his close.
Speaker: I recorded his close.
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.
Speaker: I recorded his clothes.
Speaker: Clayton Ruffed, you know, laid out his clothes for me.
Speaker: You know, another beast at Legacy, you know, incredible conversion from sign to install.
Speaker: I copied his clothes and I kind of put his and Jack's clothes together.
Speaker: I kind of spliced the two together to develop my own clothes and kind of get my own style.
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.
Speaker: So I kind of spliced those two together.
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.
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.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: You know.
Speaker: Okay, so got interrupted by some screaming kids for a second.
Speaker: Do some editing here.
Speaker: But yeah, so we're just talking about, I know something that helped you a lot.
Speaker: You're saying, Will, is just like recording other top closers, seeing what they're doing.
Speaker: And yeah, that's definitely something I would recommend too.
Speaker: It's just like you were listening to them over and over, just kind of coming out with your like...
Speaker: Clues from there, it sounds like.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: I mean, it's a copy paste business, man, right?
Speaker: Like every, every sales game is all just numbers and then copy paste the skill sets you need.
Speaker: Right.
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.
Speaker: And copy what they were doing, you know?
Speaker: So I just sought those people out, you know what I mean?
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.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: And seek mentorship, seek advice from people who have the fruit on the tree that you're looking for.
Speaker: It's pretty basic.
Speaker: But I think a lot of people just have never been taught that.
Speaker: It sounds really basic, but if you've never been told that before, I think that's very common in sales.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Maybe not elsewhere, you know, in life.
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.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: So, yeah, it's like success leaves clues.
Speaker: And, um, yeah, I think the top guys, they're definitely like seeking out who's the guy, uh, levels ahead of me.
Speaker: How can I get where he is?
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: And so obviously it worked well for you and anyone listening.
Speaker: I think you should definitely implement that, um,
Speaker: But yeah, what about, I know you've been with legacy.
Speaker: So maybe people that they're with companies where like, they're the top guy, or like, maybe it's a smaller company.
Speaker: What would you say to those people?
Speaker: Like, how can they, how can they up level themselves?
Speaker: Yeah.
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.
Speaker: And I first started at legacy, you know, legacy was definitely a smaller pond at that time.
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,
Speaker: one of those smaller offices to start with.
Speaker: I was the top performer in that office pretty consistently for the majority of a year, year and a half.
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.
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.
Speaker: My best month at that point had been like 16.
Speaker: I was like, dude, how are these guys doing these numbers?
Speaker: It just blew my mind.
Speaker: But now getting around and being closer to those people, being part of the San Diego office again,
Speaker: has been incredible.
Speaker: It's forced me to level up and being willing to get uncomfortable.
Speaker: I think
Speaker: You know, a lot of times if we reach a certain level of success, it's easy to get complacent, right?
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.
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?
Speaker: And I initially heard about that and I was like, yeah, I don't think I need to do that, you know?
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: And then he messaged me directly.
Speaker: He DMed me.
Speaker: He was like, hey, man, are you going to jump into this challenge?
Speaker: And I was like, oh, I want to, but I don't really want to.
Speaker: And I ended up jumping in.
Speaker: We had a group meeting.
Speaker: We were all kind of pushing each other for it.
Speaker: But that was a huge lift of a ceiling on me, doing that experience.
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.
Speaker: And it definitely lifted some ceilings and broke some belief barriers in my mind that I had previously kind of placed on myself.
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?
Speaker: Yeah, I did that too.
Speaker: Shout out to Ashton. 100%.
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.
Speaker: So I think people that do need that little momentum boost, I would definitely recommend doing like that.
Speaker: Do like a little challenge for your company, do a little blitz.
Speaker: All these things are ways where you can kind of jumpstart your momentum, get things rolling.
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.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: 100%.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Um, so yeah, I want to jump into a few things here.
Speaker: Well, um, so something we always respect a lot about will is this guy is always throwing down bigger systems.
Speaker: Um, like here in San Diego for me, I get these little four or five kilowatt systems and, um,
Speaker: My average system size is like, you know, 10, 12 panels, probably like a 4 kilowatt system, 4.5 kilowatt system.
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.
Speaker: I know maybe in other States that's like an average system, but.
Speaker: especially out here unless you're, you know, going to places where it's extremely hot.
Speaker: Sometimes it's tough to find these bigger systems.
Speaker: So I'm going to talk a little bit about that.
Speaker: Will, like what's some of your strategies on just getting big commissions?
Speaker: Because I know you're not like it's not that you're charging an outrageous amount, but you're finding big systems.
Speaker: You're making healthy commissions on them.
Speaker: So what's some of your strategies when it comes to like knocking, finding good areas, stuff like that?
Speaker: Yeah, 100%, man.
Speaker: Great question.
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.
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.
Speaker: That's so far, you know?
Speaker: Yeah, so I was like, oh, 45 minutes to Temecula, no big deal.
Speaker: Like, cool, yeah, let's do it.
Speaker: And that was where we went on my first day.
Speaker: And so I kind of just got into that mode from the start.
Speaker: Like driving was not unusual, driving to a market.
Speaker: So many people, they say they want a certain level of success, but then they want to negotiate the price tag.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: They're just not willing to pay the price.
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.
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.
Speaker: A lot of these guys would pull super-fast systems, 12 kilowatts, 16 kilowatts, you know?
Speaker: And I'm like, dude, when am I going to find these systems, you know?
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,
Speaker: you know, number one, do the work until you see the fruit, right?
Speaker: And number two is he who's faithful with a little will be given much, right?
Speaker: And so I was just faithful to work the leads that I found.
Speaker: And I didn't really like seek out, man, I'm going to go whale hunting today.
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.
Speaker: They kind of hop around and they look for the magic bullet or the magic neighborhood or
Speaker: or whatever, they dock 10 doors in a neighborhood and they're like, oh, this hood sucks.
Speaker: They want to go to another one.
Speaker: Number one, you really just got to invest in one neighborhood.
Speaker: There's no magic hood.
Speaker: It's the hood that you invest in is the good hood.
Speaker: Most people, I encourage them, pick one or two hoods.
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.
Speaker: But number two, yeah, you just have to be faithful to do the work consistently and learn what to look for.
Speaker: Obviously, yeah, usually bigger houses are usually going to lead to bigger bills.
Speaker: A lot of people don't want to go outside of their comfort zone.
Speaker: Maybe they get comfortable knocking more like low-income hoods or middle-lower class hoods.
Speaker: Not a lot of people are comfortable or some people aren't comfortable with the upper middle classes.
Speaker: So again, it just comes down to challenging yourself, being willing to get outside of your comfort zone.
Speaker: And like you said earlier, success leaves clues, right?
Speaker: So it's not rocket science.
Speaker: Obviously, like I said, if you're looking for bigger homes, a lot of times those lead to bigger bills.
Speaker: But yeah, I mean, I was just faithful to work with what I had.
Speaker: And then a lot of times I just came across, you know, people over time that, yeah, they just needed a bigger system.
Speaker: I do remember though, like one other big thing is tracking your leads.
Speaker: And I remember when I was brand new, you know, someone told me, man, you should track all your interactions on a spreadsheet.
Speaker: And I'll be honest, I didn't do that for a long time.
Speaker: You know, I was not Mr. Data Cruncher guy.
Speaker: You know, I didn't want to come home and enter all my interactions on a spreadsheet every day.
Speaker: But I do remember like on my first blitz, for example, I met this guy who was a renter at the time.
Speaker: He was renting from his father-in-law, right?
Speaker: And he and his wife had 11 kids and they homeschooled.
Speaker: So his bill was crazy, right?
Speaker: But obviously I couldn't help him because he was renting.
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.
Speaker: And, you know, his father-in-law owned a bunch of properties.
Speaker: So it seemed like, oh, that's going to be this incredible, you know, deal, all these deals, you know?
Speaker: Didn't exactly work out that way, but I maintained the relationship.
Speaker: I continued to follow up.
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?
Speaker: And they couldn't pass credit initially, but I stayed in touch, continued to follow up, right?
Speaker: And I just maintained the relationship and built a good relationship with them.
Speaker: And I'd check in with them every so often, you know?
Speaker: And then finally, probably two years later, it was October of 2023, right?
Speaker: Their credit finally got approved and it was the biggest system I've ever sold.
Speaker: It was a 20 kilowatt system.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: And so that was a two year relationship that paid, I think it was 65 K on the one deal.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: So, and again, I didn't, I didn't charge them outrageously.
Speaker: I gave them a pretty good savings.
Speaker: You know, I didn't max rate them or anything.
Speaker: I, you know, I think their savings is probably 40, 50%, you know, immediate.
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?
Speaker: So, um, but yeah, so invest in relationships.
Speaker: Don't just write somebody off just because they're not ready to go solar right away.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: It's so good.
Speaker: And yeah, you've told many stories like that and trainings and all that.
Speaker: Trying to get guys to follow up.
Speaker: It's not easy.
Speaker: We all forget.
Speaker: We're all disorganized.
Speaker: I think most of us.
Speaker: True story.
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?
Speaker: Exactly.
Speaker: Most people probably would.
Speaker: Yeah, it's just being willing to pay that price of success.
Speaker: It's like, how much does it cost you to follow up with that person every month or two?
Speaker: Shoot them a text message, give them a call, swing by their house if you're in the neighborhood.
Speaker: That's a small price to pay to see the long-term return on investment for sure.
Speaker: I've had many accounts like that.
Speaker: The biggest thing is just invest in one dude consistently, work consistently, and just be faithful to put in the work.
Speaker: It's so good.
Speaker: And yeah, so speaking of like following up, do you have any tips on staying like organized?
Speaker: Like how do you, because I know some people, they got big teams.
Speaker: I know now you yourself, you have a lot of setters.
Speaker: You're running to multiple appointments every day.
Speaker: So what's that been like?
Speaker: How do you stay organized to remember?
Speaker: Okay, this is like a big system or this, you know, might be something down the road.
Speaker: What's your best advice on that?
Speaker: Yeah, I know you've talked about this before in trainings as well is outsourcing, man.
Speaker: I mean, utilizing systems, putting systems in place.
Speaker: Like we have our Canvas app that we utilize, using lists and things on Canvas.
Speaker: I didn't use those super religiously in the beginning.
Speaker: I should have.
Speaker: I don't know why I didn't, but using lists, using spreadsheets, tracking your data.
Speaker: And when you invest in one hood consistently, it's pretty easy to remember what
Speaker: Okay, I need to go see John over here.
Speaker: I need to follow up with Stacy over here.
Speaker: You know, if you're in one hood consistently, that's not a huge challenge.
Speaker: But yeah, obviously, the bigger you get, the longer you've been in an industry, you
Speaker: The more conversations you have, the more relationships you have to maintain.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: So that does take a lot of bandwidth.
Speaker: Right.
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.
Speaker: I'm like, you only have so much bandwidth.
Speaker: You have a finite amount of willpower each day.
Speaker: That's where habit stacking and things like that.
Speaker: Atomic Habits is a great book to read on that.
Speaker: I'm sure you've read that one.
Speaker: Yeah, it's been a great book lately.
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.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: Make simple decisions easy for yourself.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: Throughout the day.
Speaker: So you're not burning willpower and bandwidth on those things.
Speaker: Right.
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.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: So, you know, having systems and outsourcing is critical.
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.
Speaker: A lot of times you're costing yourself, right?
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.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: And that's, again, that's just, that's, that's how entrepreneurs think.
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?
Speaker: So listing the things that you do on a daily basis every single day that, you
Speaker: What's things that only I can do and what's things that I can give away to other people to do?
Speaker: And they can add a value to my business by doing those things.
Speaker: So I think that's a critical thing, right?
Speaker: That's where setters, right?
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?
Speaker: Become a setter manager, build a team, become a closer, build a team, right?
Speaker: Having a clear progression path.
Speaker: But yeah, I mean, the bigger you get, the longer you're around.
Speaker: You got to outsource.
Speaker: You got to entrust other people.
Speaker: And sometimes, a lot of times, people will respond to that entrusting them with authority or entrusting them with responsibility.
Speaker: And that will cause them to level up too, right?
Speaker: They'll rise to a new level of performance if you entrust them with things.
Speaker: Yeah, so good.
Speaker: Yeah, I mean, and even trusting like your setters.
Speaker: I know there's a lot of...
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
Speaker: Go drop off gifts is another thing I've heard.
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.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: I got a lot of other people to follow up with.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Why don't you follow up or you book this appointment?
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Back there.
Speaker: Yeah.
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.
Speaker: Makes it a lot easier.
Speaker: Yeah.
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.
Speaker: Yeah, I mean, a lot of people when they're new and they're setters, right?
Speaker: Yeah, I mean, you can use a spreadsheet or a notes file early on to track your leads and things like that, right?
Speaker: But yeah, I mean, interesting.
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.
Speaker: But really, yeah, that should be entrusted to the setters because ultimately they're going to do that down the road anyway, right?
Speaker: Right.
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.
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?
Speaker: And so taking on that responsibility earlier rather than later, right, will definitely set you up for success faster.
Speaker: Yeah, so.
Speaker: For sure.
Speaker: Yeah, I love that.
Speaker: Yep, and yet we all have, yeah, like you said, we all have a limited amount of willpower.
Speaker: I mean, this guy's got it in his name, for crying out loud.
Speaker: Willpower in his name.
Speaker: Even he runs out.
Speaker: 100%.
Speaker: So, yeah, we need to set up the systems and figure out ways to be more efficient for sure.
Speaker: So one of my favorite stories that you tell, Will, is just work in an area.
Speaker: I remember a training you did recently for us.
Speaker: You showed us a screenshot of an area you worked with.
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...
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
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Like where did Moose come from?
Speaker: That's exactly what I said when I first met him.
Speaker: I was like, Moose?
Speaker: Like, okay, that's new.
Speaker: But yeah, dude, I learned a ton from this guy.
Speaker: Moose has been on the doors since 2009.
Speaker: So 15 years on the doors, right?
Speaker: He started pest control like you or alarms.
Speaker: I think he started alarms.
Speaker: I'm sorry.
Speaker: I think he did a little pest control, but...
Speaker: Anyway, like OG on the doors, like dude's 40 and he's still cranking on the doors.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: Um, and he's an incredible salesperson.
Speaker: Like dude is a legend, you know?
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.
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,
Speaker: He was just starting with me.
Speaker: The funny part was the first two or three months working with me, he didn't really do a whole lot.
Speaker: He was just getting his feet wet back on the doors.
Speaker: We had plenty of doors together, but he was still trying to figure it out.
Speaker: He hadn't been on the doors and not metering three yet.
Speaker: And, you know, three months go by and he didn't really put hardly anything on the board, you know?
Speaker: And then all of a sudden he starts sending me bills left and right.
Speaker: Hey, I got the same day.
Speaker: Hey, I got this next one.
Speaker: Hey, and I'm like, okay, dude, what are you doing?
Speaker: You know, is this lead gen?
Speaker: Like what, you know, how are you getting all these leads?
Speaker: Right.
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.
Speaker: Mm-hmm.
Speaker: And he got one customer down the street from them on the same day.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: Ironically enough, it was another pin that someone had previously marked as not interested.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: It's like, oh, he's just a cranky old man.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: And of course, Moose got him to open up and sit down with him that day.
Speaker: And then he referred his next door neighbor who was a widow.
Speaker: He knew the husband he had passed recently.
Speaker: And then she referred her next door neighbor, who was a good friend of hers.
Speaker: And then we went to the other side of that guy's same house.
Speaker: We got the next door neighbor, got the neighbor after that.
Speaker: They were new homeowners that just moved in.
Speaker: And then we went to the next street.
Speaker: There was a Filipino family.
Speaker: Her daughter had just died, so it wasn't an immediate sale on that home.
Speaker: But we sent flowers, another tip from the goat, Ashton Buswell, right?
Speaker: Send flowers, send cards, right?
Speaker: Don't just write people off because they're not ready at that moment.
Speaker: You'll be a human being first, right?
Speaker: And sure enough, we came back like three weeks later and she was like giving us hugs and, oh, you guys are incredible.
Speaker: So they, of course, we signed them up like a couple of days later.
Speaker: We got a couple more on that street.
Speaker: There was a guy that was coming back from Australia for work.
Speaker: I just made a note, talked to his son.
Speaker: I made a note to follow up with him in a couple of weeks.
Speaker: That was on the next street over.
Speaker: And then they started connecting us with neighbors on that street.
Speaker: And then we went to the next street and it was just, it was just like dominoes, man.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: Um, but part of what we did and what Juan taught me was getting a video with the customer after the sale.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: And just saying, Hey, you know, um, you know, congrats John.
Speaker: Hey, you just went solar with legacy and Everbright.
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.
Speaker: Put you back on our rates, our increases.
Speaker: Like, what would you say?
Speaker: You know?
Speaker: And showing that to the neighbors was a huge tool, right?
Speaker: That's social proof, right?
Speaker: That's, you know, that's, you know, getting the credibility in that neighborhood.
Speaker: And just using that one tool, yeah, we probably put up 12, 15 sales just in that one three street section.
Speaker: Um, you know, but it was largely using that battleship and concept of connecting neighbors who knew each other.
Speaker: Um, and you know, and you know, really working one area.
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?
Speaker: So yeah, that battleship concept, shout out to Moose, learning that from him.
Speaker: Um, you gotta give him credit where credit's due.
Speaker: You know, I've learned a lot from that guy.
Speaker: So it's been amazing having him on the team.
Speaker: Yeah, that's such a good strategy.
Speaker: Yeah, I learned that from Taylor McCarthy too.
Speaker: Probably follow him, but he does the same thing.
Speaker: Yeah, I think that's who Moose took it from actually because he watched a bunch of Taylor McCarthy videos.
Speaker: Yeah, for sure.
Speaker: Yeah, but no, it works so well.
Speaker: I'm just like, you know, saving those in a folder on your phone.
Speaker: Just be like, hey, this is all the people we've helped.
Speaker: You know, this person.
Speaker: And it's funny, I'll do that to this day.
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.
Speaker: Like, oh yeah, well, we're hoping.
Speaker: Yeah, right.
Speaker: Like, I don't think you know these people.
Speaker: Yeah, it's instant credibility, man.
Speaker: Like, yeah, I find it interesting.
Speaker: So many reps, they take these boom pics, right?
Speaker: They post, right?
Speaker: But they don't take them with the customer.
Speaker: And I'm like, man, you're missing out, dude.
Speaker: Like, that'll buy you so much credibility.
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.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: And inevitably, I always have people say, oh, yeah, I don't know all those people like by name, but I recognize them.
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.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: And they see faces they recognize.
Speaker: They're like, oh, okay.
Speaker: Yeah, I'm in.
Speaker: So some of you already know that I run my own door-to-door sales team here in San Diego.
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.
Speaker: But if I want to increase my deal flow, I need to do something different to get an advantage.
Speaker: Then we discovered an app called SolarScout.
Speaker: But it's not a door knocking app.
Speaker: It's a data platform that shows us who is likely to go solar in our market.
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.
Speaker: It's been working for a lot of teams across the country, and now I'm on board too.
Speaker: I'm going to be one of the first two SolarScout in San Diego, so I decided to partner up.
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.
Speaker: And they did.
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.
Speaker: That's solarscout.app forward slash Taylor.
Speaker: Okay, back to the show.
Speaker: People aren't doing that.
Speaker: Yeah, you're missing out on a huge secret.
Speaker: 100%.
Speaker: So good.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: So yeah.
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
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
Speaker: Got to give some gratitude and a shout out to him.
Speaker: I wouldn't be where I am without him bringing me in.
Speaker: And he was really patient with me, man.
Speaker: I was so skeptical.
Speaker: I had coffee with him two or three times before I'd even come into the office for an interview.
Speaker: So I'd just been burned.
Speaker: And so I needed a little bit more investment.
Speaker: I knew if I was given the right opportunity, I'd hit it out of the park.
Speaker: But I was just looking for...
Speaker: an opportunity where I truly wasn't capped, you know?
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?
Speaker: And shout out to Mike Brand coming over from Sunrun.
Speaker: He added a lot of value to legacy like that.
Speaker: Legacy already had an incredible culture as far as investing in people.
Speaker: And I feel like that's one of the most important piece, probably the most important piece.
Speaker: Like you got to have the right culture, but you also got to have the right systems, right?
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.
Speaker: And then Mike brought that clear progression path.
Speaker: And I was like, finally, someone just laid out a clear path that I just need to hit the bar.
Speaker: And so it wasn't vague anymore.
Speaker: It gave me a clear path, clear goal to run for.
Speaker: And so that kind of gave me a renewed kind of a fresh motivation.
Speaker: Like, yeah, I sold a lot in my first year, but I didn't build as much.
Speaker: I didn't invest as much in people because there was no clear path.
Speaker: There's no clear goal.
Speaker: I tried to.
Speaker: But yeah, so about two years to hit the management metrics.
Speaker: I hit it in Q4 of 2023 for the first level of the management progression path.
Speaker: And so longer than probably I would have liked, but I think something important to understand
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?
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?
Speaker: Um, but like never underestimate the lesson, the value of the lesson you're learning in the moment.
Speaker: because the lesson continues until the lesson is learned.
Speaker: And so if you're not fully present in that moment, you're not going to learn the lesson that you need.
Speaker: But the timing is always perfect.
Speaker: For me, I say God's timing is always perfect.
Speaker: I think about, man, what if I had gotten into Legacy in 2020 or 2021?
Speaker: I was just talking to my guy, Sydney, about this today.
Speaker: I was like, I don't know.
Speaker: I might not have had the same success that I had when I started because maybe that was COVID.
Speaker: It was probably a tough road to hoe during COVID and solar on the doors.
Speaker: Just trust the timing for where you progress and how fast you progress into the goals that you have.
Speaker: But yeah, I mean, super excited, obviously, and grateful to be where I am now.
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.
Speaker: So yeah, building teams is huge.
Speaker: And I think that's really the measure of true success in a sales industry or really in any industry is
Speaker: how well you invest in other people.
Speaker: After a while, just selling just to sell gets old.
Speaker: There has to be something bigger than that.
Speaker: There has to be a vision bigger.
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
Speaker: the visions of your leaders and their, their goals right into your vision.
Speaker: Right.
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.
Speaker: So that's so good.
Speaker: Yeah.
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?
Speaker: A hundred percent.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah, it goes back to that.
Speaker: But no, I definitely agree.
Speaker: And I can relate to what you're saying.
Speaker: It's like, I've been in solar for seven years, since 2016, eight years now, at the time of this recording.
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.
Speaker: And I've been doing this eight years.
Speaker: Right.
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
Speaker: Yeah, we've got about 20 guys now.
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?
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.
Speaker: That was primarily targeted at closers.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: And, and, um,
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?
Speaker: And so that's what led us to create setter manager roles.
Speaker: When I was new, only mentors could train setters, and usually the mentors were closers.
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.
Speaker: And so I was like, well, that didn't really make sense to me.
Speaker: It didn't really make a lot of sense to me of, well, you can't have a proficient setter train another setter.
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.
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.
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.
Speaker: I think it's going to absolutely take us to another level with people implementing that.
Speaker: Yeah, no, that's huge.
Speaker: And yeah, I've talked to some of your setters that are like super excited about, you know, leading other setters and.
Speaker: And, uh, just being able to develop that way.
Speaker: So yeah, what are some, how have you structured that?
Speaker: Like what was it look like for your team?
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: I mean, it's really similar to the closer progression path we have to get to management.
Speaker: You know, they have to duplicate themselves three times as a setter.
Speaker: Uh, we recently rolled out the eight and eight incentive that Mike brand put together.
Speaker: Um, you know, where they're getting swag and they're getting a cruise incentive.
Speaker: If they get eight deals in their first 60 days or their first eight weeks, um,
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.
Speaker: And then the whole goal there is to duplicate yourself, right?
Speaker: So, they have to duplicate themselves three times before they can move into closing.
Speaker: And they're kind of being trained as a closer simultaneously while they're a setter manager.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: But they're responsible for things like running pitch practices, things like getting recordings of pitches from reps.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: We have our reps record pitches on the door.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: Because even if I'm on the door with a rep, my memory is not perfect.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: And we all tend to think we said something better than we actually did.
Speaker: You know.
Speaker: We tend to embellish a little bit, but recordings don't lie.
Speaker: That tells us exactly what was said.
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.
Speaker: Rather than before when I was new, I might go a week on the door doing the wrong thing before I tweaked something.
Speaker: versus now they're getting daily feedback.
Speaker: So that and tracking KPIs, like when I was new, I didn't really track my KPIs.
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.
Speaker: We're tracking all those numbers for all our guys.
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.
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.
Speaker: They replace themselves with one of them.
Speaker: And then they take two setters with them as a closer.
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.
Speaker: And I just saw so many people that was just too fast for them.
Speaker: And a lot of guys just didn't progress very far after that.
Speaker: They might close a few deals, but they didn't really launch into this great level of success.
Speaker: And so I wanted to provide something that was a smoother progression path that supported them.
Speaker: A lot of us will do more for others than we'll do for ourselves.
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.
Speaker: And I think the duplication will be a lot smoother and more consistent.
Speaker: Numbers increasing will be a lot more consistent with that.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Okay.
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.
Speaker: Yeah, exactly.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Okay.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: So I mean, it's just a consistent duplication pattern, right?
Speaker: So, and then once they have, you know, a closer as two setters are taken with them into their new team, then
Speaker: Maybe they make the better of those two setters, a setter manager, and they repeat that process within their own team.
Speaker: That's just a repeatable process to scale and grow really as far as you want to go.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: That's cool.
Speaker: And so once they become the setter manager over two other setters, do they get their leads or what's their thing?
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: So they're closing for those two setters, right?
Speaker: And there's some additional compensation we attach to that role, of course, right?
Speaker: Because they're taking on more responsibilities.
Speaker: We want to reward that.
Speaker: But yeah, once they're closing, the two setters they take with them, they're setting for them.
Speaker: The third one they leave behind is replacing themselves as a setter manager for the manager that's responsible for them.
Speaker: So they're always replacing themselves before they move on.
Speaker: Same thing when we have closures move into management, right?
Speaker: They got to duplicate themselves three times before they move into a management role.
Speaker: So that's kind of what I just copied Mike Brand's progression path with closures into setters.
Speaker: So I can't really take full credit for the idea.
Speaker: I just did it at another level.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: No, I like that.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah, no, that's definitely like, yeah, small problem I saw too.
Speaker: Just people progressing and falling on their face and quitting.
Speaker: It's sad to see.
Speaker: Yeah.
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.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: I was like, okay, I'm a closer, but they've never practiced it.
Speaker: They've never really even seen a close.
Speaker: Now I'm supposed to go.
Speaker: Exactly.
Speaker: From zero to a hundred, just start closing my own deals.
Speaker: Yeah.
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.
Speaker: They're still getting their feet wet.
Speaker: Right.
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.
Speaker: You know, I don't think that's how most new setters are in appointments, you know?
Speaker: They don't think of, man, I got to remember this so I can repeat it.
Speaker: Even though we tell them, hey, that's your goal, I think it takes a while longer.
Speaker: They're still wrapping their mind just around the process to go solar.
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.
Speaker: It's just more of a learning curve, I think, than a lot of people recognize.
Speaker: Not everybody jumps into that as quickly.
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.
Speaker: You know, so I think there's just more to that learning curve than we probably recognized for a while.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: So definitely.
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.
Speaker: Cause they're not jumping straight to clothing.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Okay.
Speaker: Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker: So their setters would get to their 10 and three months and then from there they would start closing their deals.
Speaker: Exactly.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: I mean, it's all metrics based, right?
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?
Speaker: There was always a guy above me that relied on my production to make more money, right?
Speaker: And so it wasn't really in his interest for me to progress and move forward, right?
Speaker: And when I came into legacy and I saw, man, this is a truly uncapped opportunity, right?
Speaker: I didn't want, I didn't, I never wanted my guys to feel held back.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: And so I wanted it to be a really clear, Hey, you hit this.
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?
Speaker: We're not going to move the bar, right?
Speaker: Or hold you back or say, Oh, you hit that too quickly.
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?
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.
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.
Speaker: And as long as they have the necessary skills, of course, right?
Speaker: Yeah, they shouldn't be held back.
Speaker: They should be able to run and give the freedom to run.
Speaker: That's fire.
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.
Speaker: Like there's not like a small progression.
Speaker: They're just like, here it is.
Speaker: zero to a hundred, they have to somehow try to figure out it.
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.
Speaker: Cause yeah, I remember my first company I worked at, um, it was just like the culture where, um,
Speaker: There was some progression, but it's like, they definitely wanted guys to stay as setters.
Speaker: And then once guys felt that, Oh, I can never like progress, uh, pass the setter.
Speaker: Like guys would just quit left and right.
Speaker: We're losing all these really good centers.
Speaker: I'm like, man, this is tough.
Speaker: Yeah.
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.
Speaker: You need to have that vision and create that feeling of progression that people can get to the next step.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: And that's how you're going to retain, guys, too.
Speaker: For sure.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: One other thing to add about that.
Speaker: I just think, you know, closers need to continue to self-gen like always, you know.
Speaker: Good point.
Speaker: It should go without saying, right?
Speaker: But I feel like a lot of guys, once they get setters, they're like, oh, cool.
Speaker: I don't have to set my own stuff anymore.
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.
Speaker: Because if I'm not generating my own stuff, I need them.
Speaker: And there's a saying, you can't lead them if you need them.
Speaker: You should never need your setters.
Speaker: You should want them, obviously, to perform and benefit from the opportunity just as much as you can.
Speaker: But you should always be rooting for them to move forward.
Speaker: And if they earn passing you or outperforming you, dude, take out the checkered flag and wave them on by, man.
Speaker: Don't hold them back.
Speaker: Yeah, so good.
Speaker: So good.
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.
Speaker: You're not just closing these big accounts to actually get an install.
Speaker: You're taking care of the customer.
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
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
Speaker: So yeah, can you talk about that?
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.
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.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: 100%.
Speaker: Um, having good systems in place, you know, um,
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?
Speaker: Because a lot of times those same days, they get that buyer's remorse the next day.
Speaker: Oh my gosh, what did I do?
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.
Speaker: that, but I'll have someone follow up even if I can't be there, right?
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.
Speaker: So that's where that outsourcing piece comes in.
Speaker: Like I have an assistant that if me or the setter isn't in that area that day, right, I'll have her
Speaker: I'll stop by those customers and check on them and drop off some sunflowers and a card and a gift card.
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.
Speaker: And, hey, congrats on going Solder, and thanks for choosing Legacy and all that.
Speaker: Just consistent communication and updates on your project, I think is huge.
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.
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.
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.
Speaker: And then going the extra mile for the customer, kind of like you talked about in the beginning, yeah.
Speaker: I remember this particular customer, the installer put the inverter right on the front of the house.
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.
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.
Speaker: So they really didn't have anywhere else they could put it, right?
Speaker: So obviously, you know, I'd rather make sure that customer is happy by the end of the project, right?
Speaker: So stop by, did an immediate touch, right?
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.
Speaker: to make it less of an eyesore.
Speaker: We did that.
Speaker: Ironically enough, in that same neighborhood, had another customer that his house just happens to be on the intersection of two streets.
Speaker: And so they put the batteries all on the side of the house facing the street.
Speaker: And so he was the guy that I built a 30-foot fence for to cover those up.
Speaker: So I think our batteries are pretty sleek looking, but he wasn't super excited about them.
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.
Speaker: Then miss out on future referrals.
Speaker: Exactly.
Speaker: Yeah, 100%, right?
Speaker: So serve the customer, sell all the way through PTO.
Speaker: And I also just think going forward, this is going to be a huge thing in our industry.
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.
Speaker: Um, and that, Hey, offering multiple services, not just solar, right.
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.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: Um, we're all wrapping into the project and I've got another three or four on the calendar already.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: So you're going to have to go the extra mile and learn to wrap other services in.
Speaker: That's just another way to set yourself apart from the competition, you know?
Speaker: Um, and also just, um,
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.
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.
Speaker: Always do what's in the interest of the customer and it will always serve you better down the road.
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.
Speaker: Yeah.
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?
Speaker: To be able to use power the way you want to use it.
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.
Speaker: I tell them all the time, I'm going to give you the good, the bad, and the ugly.
Speaker: So you can make an informed decision, right?
Speaker: I'm never going to BS you and tell you.
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?
Speaker: And then they have an unhappy customer a year or two years from now and they're unhappy.
Speaker: And that kind of does a disservice to all of us in the industry.
Speaker: You know, and so just always do what's in the interest of your customer.
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.
Speaker: You know, it's an old adage, you know, Zig Ziglar, but, you know, it's still just as true, you know, so.
Speaker: I know.
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.
Speaker: A lot of these lenders are paying after like PTO now, not after install.
Speaker: Yep.
Speaker: And, you know, more regulations come in.
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.
Speaker: But we're thinking long term, we want to be in this for the long haul.
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.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: So love that.
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.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Just look at the short term.
Speaker: Yeah, so good.
Speaker: Well, Will, it's been awesome having you on.
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.
Speaker: So reach out to either one of us if you want to get on a killer team.
Speaker: But what's the best way to get in touch with you, Will?
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah, I'm on Instagram.
Speaker: It's ironwill__100 or it might be on iron__will100.
Speaker: I'm not sure, but check those out.
Speaker: If you search Iron Will, you should find me.
Speaker: I'll be on there somewhere.
Speaker: My wife actually runs my Instagram, so it's too much of a distraction for me, but you can find me on there.
Speaker: So yeah, that's probably the best place to reach me.
Speaker: Okay.
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?
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: That's a great question, man.
Speaker: I love that.
Speaker: You know, I actually did this with a rep recently.
Speaker: I gave a training for another office and it was actually someone that I knew from a couple of years ago.
Speaker: And I didn't even know they were working for Legacy and they came up to me and they h ad a bunch of questions and they were kind of struggling and
Speaker: just to get things off the ground.
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.
Speaker: And, and that person came to me, you know, a few weeks later and,
Speaker: They were telling me, man, I don't know if solar is for me.
Speaker: I think maybe I just need to go back to what I was doing before.
Speaker: I would just encourage you.
Speaker: I asked her, I was like, why did you get into solar in the beginning?
Speaker: right?
Speaker: What was the, what was the motivation that you had to get into solar to start with?
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: And they were telling me about this dream.
Speaker: They had to launch this business.
Speaker: Right.
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?
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: And they're like, no.
Speaker: And I was like, okay, well, is that dream worth it?
Speaker: Or, or was it just something fun that you thought you had an idea about one time, you know?
Speaker: And she said, yeah, no, it was totally worth it.
Speaker: Like I really still want to do that.
Speaker: And I'm like, well,
Speaker: then you got to persevere, you know, you got to push through.
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.
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,
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.
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.
Speaker: you're going to struggle, right?
Speaker: You're probably going to walk away at that point, right?
Speaker: Versus if you have a clear reason that you know you got into this to start with, right?
Speaker: You're always going to be able to go back to that and pull fresh motivation from that, right?
Speaker: So start with why, man.
Speaker: It's a great book by Simon Sinek, but it's also just a great principle.
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.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Love it.
Speaker: A hundred percent.
Speaker: Uh, Will, thank you so much for coming on.
Speaker: And it's like, he's saying, uh, invest in yourself.
Speaker: You just got back from mastermind.
Speaker: So I know he's investing in himself.
Speaker: He's investing in his people and, um, yeah, doing those things and everything else we talked about.
Speaker: Um, you're going to have success for sure.
Speaker: So,
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.
Speaker: But thanks so much for coming on.
Speaker: And yeah, hit us up if you want to join the best team in solar.
Speaker: Thanks for having me on, Taylor.
Speaker: I really appreciate it.
Speaker: Thanks for the time, man.
Speaker: Yeah, thanks, Will.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: What's up, solopreneurs?
Speaker: Hope you enjoyed the episode.
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