Transcript
Speaker: What do you call an underground group of solar professionals on a mission to create a more sustainable world?
Speaker: We call ourselves solopreneurs.
Speaker: And while some might call us crazy, foolish, and dissatisfied with the status quo, we're the ones taking action to create a better future for ourselves and the world.
Speaker: Solopreneur is dedicated to give you, the solar professional, the tools, skills, technology, and mentorship to take the industry by storm and sell more solar with less effort.
Speaker: We are solopreneurs and this is our story.
Speaker: Hey, what's going on, everybody?
Speaker: This is James Swiderski, the world's leading solar consultant, and on this episode of The Solarpreneur, I want to share with you how to keep your deals from canceling.
Speaker: We've all gotten those phone calls late at night of customers or texts saying, eh, they're having second thoughts about the deal they want to pull out.
Speaker: I know a lot of people have cancellation rates upwards of 15, 20, sometimes 30% of the time.
Speaker: I want to show you how you can be more efficient with your sales by lowering those cancellation rates, right?
Speaker: But more importantly, I want to share with you four key strategies to reduce those immediately from day one.
Speaker: Now, before we get started, though, if you're new to the channel, Solopreneur, I want to welcome you and let you know that this is the channel for top-tier sales.
Speaker: and marketing strategies that are going to help you take your solar game to the next level.
Speaker: No matter where you're at, as the new solar rep all the way to the experienced entrepreneur who owns your own multi eight figure solar business, you are going to find a lot of value on this channel.
Speaker: And if you do, I appreciate a thumbs up and subscribing.
Speaker: Now, without further ado, though, I want to get into the topic at hand, right?
Speaker: How do we reduce our cancellation rates?
Speaker: How do we make sure that deals when they close they are locked in?
Speaker: So step number one is I want you to do and it's a mindset change, right?
Speaker: I want you to realize that selling and serving, right?
Speaker: What are the difference selling and serving?
Speaker: Okay, when you sell something, okay, the definition of selling something is really pushing something that
Speaker: someone may or may not benefit from.
Speaker: Selling, in my mind, is a definition that a lot of solar pros get wrong.
Speaker: They're pushing solar onto people who do not have business going solar.
Speaker: If you think that everybody should go solar, you are incorrect.
Speaker: You are mistaken.
Speaker: Not every home qualifies.
Speaker: Not every person is interested in solar for the reasons you are selling it.
Speaker: And by trying to sell solar this way, you're shooting yourself in the foot, right?
Speaker: You're really doing yourself a huge disservice, okay?
Speaker: Number two, though, the part of this, though, is to solve problems.
Speaker: When you come from the mindset of trying to solve an issue, a pain that somebody is having in the home,
Speaker: Whether it be confusion about solar, they don't know if it's a good fit for them, or their budget's really tight, right?
Speaker: And you're going to help them squeeze some extra room in their monthly budget by helping them go solar.
Speaker: Independence from the grid, okay?
Speaker: Environment, right?
Speaker: Not having enough fulfillment in their life and being able to give and serve other people.
Speaker: Solar allows other people to...
Speaker: get that fulfillment from helping others, knowing that they're doing good in the world, right?
Speaker: There are a lot of different pains and problems that solar can solve, okay?
Speaker: But if you don't address them, right, if you don't actually solve those real pains, they're just going to come up later and people aren't going to have enough incentive to go through the deal, okay?
Speaker: A common rookie mistake that a lot of reps make
Speaker: both on my team or they come into the training system that we have is they try to just push for the deal, right?
Speaker: They won't leave the house until they get a close.
Speaker: The problem with this is not everybody should be closed, okay?
Speaker: Not everybody should go solar.
Speaker: So your ability as the professional solar consultant is to really make sure that you recognize when somebody should close, right?
Speaker: And when they shouldn't.
Speaker: And that really is what your job is at the core as a solar rep.
Speaker: Number two,
Speaker: is set the intention, okay?
Speaker: I talk about this all the time on Solopreneur because it's big.
Speaker: Honestly, if you implement that, it's a game changer.
Speaker: It's gonna change the way that you sell completely.
Speaker: Tell your prospect that your intention is to do what step number one was,
Speaker: Help them solve a problem.
Speaker: Find out if solar makes sense.
Speaker: Find out how much money they could save.
Speaker: Find out how they could be more fulfilled with solar, right?
Speaker: Find out how they can have independence from the grid and have peace of mind, okay?
Speaker: Figure out what those problems are and solve your problem with your pitch, right?
Speaker: Tailor your pitch to this, setting the intention.
Speaker: And if you let your prospect know that your job, okay, is to help them solve this core issue that you just discovered,
Speaker: It's a game changer.
Speaker: Number three, though, is to utilize commitments.
Speaker: We're getting into more of the tactics here.
Speaker: When you are closing a deal, you're probably asking for the sale, or what most reps do is they just assume the sale.
Speaker: Hey, let's move forward with the net metering application.
Speaker: Let's submit this out.
Speaker: That's a great go-to.
Speaker: That's what I teach my guys to do at Lumen Solar as well.
Speaker: But after that deal is signed, okay, kind of as a bonus one as well, is I don't want you to be quick to get out of there, all right?
Speaker: Don't be too hasty to, once you hear a yes, just say, oh, man, I want to stop talking to them because there's a chance they might change their mind and say no.
Speaker: And I can tell you that facing that objection, right, that fear that you have that somebody might pull out the deal, right,
Speaker: is critical, okay, because they're going to go through that at some point in the future, but you've got to get a commitment, a second commitment out of them, right?
Speaker: Not just the initial, hey, let's move forward with this.
Speaker: You need to do a micro commitment, and my favorite one to do that I teach in the Spartan system, link down below, or my reps at Lumen who are watching this is I ask them, hey, Mr. Prospect, with all this being said, you're not going to call me tomorrow and tell me that you had a change of mind, are you?
Speaker: Because if you are, let's talk about it right now so I don't waste your time later on.
Speaker: Say it just like that.
Speaker: Hey, Mr. Prospect, you're not going to call me tomorrow and tell me you had a change of mind, are you?
Speaker: Say it just like that.
Speaker: Guys, I have tested dozens and dozens of variations of this, and this is the go-to one.
Speaker: Hey listeners, it's James Swiderski here.
Speaker: I promise we'll be right back to this fire content you're enjoying, but I'd be remiss if I didn't tell you about the number one training platform that I trust my own clients as well as my own solar team with, and it's called the Solar Spartan System.
Speaker: Now, the Solar Spartan system is not your traditional course.
Speaker: It's a solar sales transformation experience that's combined over 11,000 hours of research on today's top sales and marketing professionals and condensed their strategies into one streamlined system that practically forces you.
Speaker: Yeah, that's right.
Speaker: Forces you.
Speaker: to have success in reaching your goals.
Speaker: And the best part is, guys, it's designed specifically for solar, and it's been tested on over 800 solar professionals to date.
Speaker: Now, you might be saying, James, that's cool, but how does it force me to have success?
Speaker: And this is where it gets pretty ninja, my friends.
Speaker: So listen up.
Speaker: So here's what makes the Solar Spartan system so effective, okay?
Speaker: It's the combination of applying the minimum amount of inputs, right?
Speaker: Minimum effective dose of what it takes to get you to that next level.
Speaker: Combining that with the power of social accountability and the top-notch strategies used by today's solar professionals, solopreneurs, right?
Speaker: So what does this mean for you?
Speaker: No more watching 15-hour courses.
Speaker: No more banging your head trying to figure out how to apply Grant Cardone strategies over here and Dan Lok strategies over here to solar specifically and no more guesswork.
Speaker: The Solar Spartan system is 100% action oriented, meaning you won't be given more content to study than what you need to actually reach your next four deals, 10 deals, 16, 20 deals, whatever your goal is, there's a milestone for it within the system.
Speaker: And to give you guys an idea of what you can expect out of this, I've taken some of my lowest producing reps and clients from closing one to maybe struggling to get that third or fourth deal a month, all the way to closing 18 to 20 deals a month in less than 90 days.
Speaker: It's that good.
Speaker: That's why I want to go ahead and offer you guys, Solapreneur listeners, a special discount on the Solar Spartan System.
Speaker: You guys head on over to Solarspartansystem.com.
Speaker: You could try it out for 30 days.
Speaker: Again, guys, don't put your success on hold.
Speaker: This is something I would not promote on the podcast if I didn't fully believe in it.
Speaker: Something I trust my clients, but as well my own solar company, my own reps,
Speaker: They go through this exact same training.
Speaker: So again, head over to solarspartansystem.com to get started and my team and I will see you inside.
Speaker: Let's get back to the show.
Speaker: And what's going to happen is magical, straight magic at this point.
Speaker: The prospect's going to do one of two things, okay?
Speaker: 80% of the time, depending on your presentation, of course, but if you're doing it right, 80% of the time they're going to say, no, absolutely, we are not going to call you.
Speaker: No problems.
Speaker: We are good to go, James.
Speaker: What happens here is it's a micro commitment.
Speaker: It's an additional reaffirmation, right?
Speaker: They're literally telling you,
Speaker: They are not going to change their mind at any point in the future.
Speaker: They are promising to you.
Speaker: A lot of things happen psychology-wise with this, but by them actually saying it out loud, they're actually promising you.
Speaker: They don't want to be let down on that promise.
Speaker: People actually want to keep their promises despite what most people believe, but they also are wiring additional wires in their brain with this.
Speaker: Okay, very powerful by them saying the words.
Speaker: Now, the other 20% of the time, they're going to give you some uncertainty, right?
Speaker: They're gonna give you an objection or they're gonna be hasty to agree.
Speaker: Yeah, I don't think we're gonna call you.
Speaker: Boom, see, that's uncertainty and you can address that as the closer.
Speaker: You could say, hey, sounds like you guys aren't too sure about this.
Speaker: What did I not cover for you?
Speaker: What questions did I not answer for you about solar?
Speaker: Was it solar, right?
Speaker: Is it a company?
Speaker: What's wrong?
Speaker: Let's talk about it now, okay?
Speaker: Show them that you're reasonable and you're trying to work towards this intention, okay, with those micro commitments.
Speaker: And then number four here is a pretty interesting one.
Speaker: And it's very counterintuitive to what a lot of solar reps do.
Speaker: And I think you're going to get it because we went over the other three.
Speaker: It's what I call the momentum stop, okay?
Speaker: Over here on the right, this is where we have...
Speaker: Basically the momentum of the sale, right?
Speaker: We have got the certainty of the prospect, right?
Speaker: As things go up, this is how certain they are about moving forward with the deal.
Speaker: Right here on the timeline, this is the period over your presentation, right?
Speaker: When we start, we're super low.
Speaker: They don't have a lot of certainty, okay?
Speaker: Maybe they go up here and then they drop down, right?
Speaker: The certainty is really low.
Speaker: As you go through your pitch, it keeps raising up and then we get to this critical point here of the close.
Speaker: This is where you do the assumptive close or you do one of the closing questions, overcome objections, and you close the deal.
Speaker: You get a commitment, they say, yes, we are in.
Speaker: Once you get to the yes here,
Speaker: What I want you to do is rather than just leaving at this point, okay, because that's what most reps do is they're afraid they're gonna get an actual objection out and they're hoping that just by them leaving and removing themselves from the situation, nothing bad's gonna happen.
Speaker: Here's the problem though.
Speaker: Homeowners are afraid to tell you things by themselves in person that they're going to discuss later on.
Speaker: Meaning the husband and wife or the spouse or whoever, they're going to talk about things that they were afraid to bring up to your face as soon as you leave the house, okay?
Speaker: And this is where those deals drop off.
Speaker: This is where cancellations occur.
Speaker: Now this trick is really cool.
Speaker: So rather than just leaving the momentum at a high, and just leaving the sale hoping all is going to be great, I want you to address through and directly address those things that they're going to question later.
Speaker: Because believe it or not, every time you buy something, especially as a price thing like solar, a high ticket item,
Speaker: you better believe that they are going to question their decision.
Speaker: That is a natural part of the buying process.
Speaker: That's what everybody does.
Speaker: So why don't you help them as the solar consultant question that decision for them, guide them through what they're already talking about.
Speaker: We're going to do this by actually cutting off the momentum of the sale, right?
Speaker: We're literally going to drop off the momentum.
Speaker: And it goes like this, right?
Speaker: Let's say I assume the close.
Speaker: We move forward.
Speaker: They say, James, we're going to do this.
Speaker: I'm going to question them.
Speaker: Are you sure you're up for this?
Speaker: Are you sure you guys are good?
Speaker: Doesn't sound like we're too sure about this.
Speaker: Are you okay?
Speaker: I'm going to literally question them.
Speaker: I'm not going to do the typical sales thing of, yeah, absolutely, fantastic.
Speaker: I'm going to say, are you sure about this?
Speaker: You sure you're not going to call me tomorrow and change your mind?
Speaker: Sounds like you guys aren't too serious about this, right?
Speaker: The payments made sense.
Speaker: All this made sense, right?
Speaker: You want them to question it.
Speaker: And I know most salespeople in general, but especially in solar, are saying, well, James, if they question it, then they're going to question their decision.
Speaker: They don't think that you're certain.
Speaker: And that's where you're wrong because when they do question, which they will later anyway, now you as the professional get to control the outcome.
Speaker: And then when they say, yeah, I think we're pretty sure.
Speaker: Well, what wouldn't you be sure about?
Speaker: Okay, let's assume that we went forward with this tomorrow morning.
Speaker: You guys changed your mind.
Speaker: What would you change your mind on?
Speaker: What would you guys want to pull this out from?
Speaker: Assume that they will pull out from the deal.
Speaker: That's a super ninja little thing.
Speaker: Assume that they will cancel on you.
Speaker: Hey, if you were to cancel, what do you guys think it would be?
Speaker: Boom.
Speaker: Address it.
Speaker: Now once you address it, you resell those uncertainties that they will give you.
Speaker: You will be amazed at the uncertainties that come out from under the rug that they didn't want to tell you until you asked for it in the strump.
Speaker: boom, you resell it, and now they are more certain than ever.
Speaker: You can lock it down again with a commitment, and that deal is not gonna unwind.
Speaker: And to give you an idea of the results from this, my students, myself, right, I literally never get cancellations.
Speaker: Yes, I get the occasional deal that ends up not getting approved for permitting or something like that, right?
Speaker: But as far as people changing their mind, if you use this method,
Speaker: You do the commitments.
Speaker: You lock it down.
Speaker: You set the intention correct.
Speaker: Come from an attitude of service and not trying to sell and only service to people who need to go solar, you will never have another cancellation in your life.
Speaker: That's it for this video.
Speaker: If you enjoyed it, you know the drill.
Speaker: Thumbs up, subscribe, comment below.
Speaker: Let us know what you think, and I'll see you in the next one.
Speaker: Wow, what another value packed episode of the solarpreneur.
Speaker: Guys, if you couldn't tell, we spend a lot of time and energy to put these episodes out to hopefully give you just one strategy, one golden nugget that's going to launch your solar career to the next level.
Speaker: And we do it all for free.
Speaker: And if you found any value in this episode or it's helped you in any way, all I ask in return is that you just take 30 seconds of your time and leave us a review on iTunes so that we can help more solopreneurs like you to change the world.
Speaker: And as a gift for leaving us a review, we have a special training package exclusive for solopreneur listeners over at solopreneurs.com.
Speaker: Remember, you need to leave us a review on iTunes to qualify for the training package.
Speaker: So take care of that now and we'll see you on the next episode.
