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The Crazy Story Behind This Solar VP's First Solar Sale - Crissy Coonrod
51 Plays3 years ago
Thanks to our sponsor Pi Syndicate for this episode!
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Transcript
Introduction to Solarpreneur Podcast
00:00:03
Speaker
Welcome to the Solarpreneur Podcast, where we teach you to take your solar business to the next level.
00:00:08
Speaker
My name is Taylor Armstrong.
00:00:10
Speaker
I went from $50 in my bank account and struggling for groceries to closing 150 deals in a year and cracking the code on why sales reps fell.
00:00:19
Speaker
I teach you how to avoid the mistakes I made and bring in the top solar dogs of the industry to let you in on the secrets of generating more leads, falling up like a pro, and closing more deals.
00:00:31
Speaker
What is a Solarpreneur you might ask?
00:00:33
Speaker
A Solarpreneur is a new breed of Solar Pro that is willing to do whatever it takes to achieve mastery and you are about to become one.
Live Podcast at SolarCon with Chrissy Coonrod
00:00:42
Speaker
Okay, what's going on, sorepreneurs?
00:00:44
Speaker
We are filming this podcast and recording live at SolarCon.
00:00:49
Speaker
So you will obviously hear this a little bit later.
00:00:52
Speaker
But I'm super excited because we've got the one and only Chrissy Coonrod on the show with us.
00:00:57
Speaker
Chrissy, thanks for coming on the show.
00:00:59
Speaker
Thanks for having me.
00:01:01
Speaker
I love FU money too.
00:01:02
Speaker
Thanks.
00:01:04
Speaker
So if you're just listening, I've got a F you money.
00:01:07
Speaker
So we love the follow up money.
00:01:09
Speaker
Yeah.
00:01:10
Speaker
But we're going to be talking about all that and a lot of other stuff today.
00:01:15
Speaker
And I'm excited to have Chrissy on.
00:01:16
Speaker
We've actually got in this room off the camera.
00:01:19
Speaker
You know, a lot of people, the OG David Williamson got about five people listening.
00:01:24
Speaker
So pressure's on.
00:01:25
Speaker
Pressure's a little bit on.
00:01:26
Speaker
It's OK.
00:01:27
Speaker
Hopefully we can deliver.
00:01:28
Speaker
We got this.
00:01:29
Speaker
But yeah, so we'll jump into it here.
Chrissy's Journey at Titan
00:01:32
Speaker
So Chrissy, I wanted to hear just, you know, for those who don't know you, you're the VP of Ops at Titan.
00:01:39
Speaker
And you've been doing it a long time.
00:01:40
Speaker
You're like kind of the Batman and Robin to David.
00:01:44
Speaker
Is that right?
00:01:45
Speaker
I am the Robin to Batman.
00:01:47
Speaker
Yes, with David.
00:01:48
Speaker
So I'd like to think.
00:01:49
Speaker
But yeah, no, they've actually just gave me this title back in December.
00:01:59
Speaker
I think that with the growth of Titan, when I started, we had one install crew.
00:02:06
Speaker
I was like the fourth office employee.
00:02:08
Speaker
So I've been able to see just every single part of the business and be able to fix any situation that comes up because I've just been doing it for so long and have seen and done so many parts of the process myself, permitting utilities, so I understand all of that.
00:02:27
Speaker
So it's been good.
00:02:28
Speaker
That's awesome.
00:02:29
Speaker
Yeah.
00:02:29
Speaker
When you first started with him, we said what, four years ago?
00:02:32
Speaker
Six.
00:02:33
Speaker
Six?
00:02:33
Speaker
Wow, okay.
00:02:34
Speaker
Yeah.
00:02:35
Speaker
It's about when I started too, 2016, right?
00:02:37
Speaker
Cool.
00:02:37
Speaker
Okay, good.
00:02:41
Speaker
So when you started, did you think it would be this big?
00:02:43
Speaker
Do you think you're just, oh, I'm- Definitely not.
00:02:45
Speaker
I thought that I was just going to be David's assistant and helping with the salespeople because we had internal salespeople at the time.
00:02:54
Speaker
And then we had a couple dealers, but I definitely didn't think that it was going to grow to be this big.
00:03:02
Speaker
And I think a lot of what has helped us grow is the fact that David and Kyle
00:03:09
Speaker
you know, they started out selling, they were installing their own sales that they were making for a while.
00:03:14
Speaker
So, um, for them to be on that side of things, they really instilled in me and the like early employees in the culture to be like, okay, without sales, um, we don't have stuff to install.
00:03:29
Speaker
So, you know, um, just thinking of the sales guys in every aspect of the business has been something that I feel like has set us apart.
00:03:37
Speaker
Yeah.
00:03:38
Speaker
Yeah.
00:03:38
Speaker
For sure.
00:03:39
Speaker
And yeah, it's true.
00:03:40
Speaker
I think there's got to be a balance because sometimes sales guys ask a ton and expect the world and all that.
00:03:46
Speaker
But I think it's the balance between just treating the sales guys right.
00:03:51
Speaker
Because I know at times I've put too much expectation probably on
00:03:56
Speaker
the installers and like the office people, the guys that are doing the permits, I'm just, I don't know, kind of being a jerk to them.
00:04:03
Speaker
And I don't know if you guys deal with that, like sell reps.
00:04:06
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, that's okay.
00:04:08
Speaker
That's all right.
00:04:09
Speaker
Like we love them all.
00:04:10
Speaker
We welcome them all.
00:04:11
Speaker
We like to, you know, educate them on the process and try and make as much of our process visible to them, you know, so there's no
00:04:19
Speaker
secrets, you know, the CRM that we work out of, we give our, the sales partners full visibility to that.
00:04:26
Speaker
It's been like that since I started.
00:04:27
Speaker
So that way we're not like having conversations on the side about anything.
00:04:31
Speaker
Like they can see everything that's happening in the deal.
00:04:34
Speaker
And I think that's also super important.
00:04:36
Speaker
Yeah.
00:04:36
Speaker
No, I love that.
00:04:37
Speaker
Cause yeah, as you know, as a seller myself, that's one of the, I don't know, I would say most frustrating times is when I'm working with installers or when I don't feel like I'm, I don't have updates.
00:04:47
Speaker
I don't know what's going on.
00:04:49
Speaker
100%.
00:04:49
Speaker
I haven't got an update in six weeks for this deal.
00:04:51
Speaker
What's happening with it?
00:04:52
Speaker
Six weeks?
00:04:53
Speaker
Sheesh.
00:04:54
Speaker
I mean, that's happened in the past.
00:04:55
Speaker
That wouldn't happen with Titan.
00:04:58
Speaker
Switch to Titan if that's going on with you right now.
00:05:01
Speaker
But no, that's huge.
00:05:02
Speaker
And yeah, I think that's one of the reasons why you guys have been able to grow so much, I would say.
00:05:06
Speaker
But what else do you think has separated yourself?
00:05:08
Speaker
Like, I don't know.
00:05:08
Speaker
Do you think there's any key things that have separated yourselves that have allowed you guys to grow so much compared to other people that are maybe struggling?
Keys to Titan's Success
00:05:17
Speaker
Yeah.
00:05:17
Speaker
I honestly think it's just the leadership.
00:05:19
Speaker
Like David and Kyle, like I said, the leadership that they have knowing the install side and knowing the sales side I think is super important because they're not, they've been there.
00:05:32
Speaker
They've been on the roof taking tiles off the roof, like ceiling penetrations, like all that stuff.
00:05:39
Speaker
So they know what everything costs.
00:05:40
Speaker
They know how long a job should take.
00:05:43
Speaker
So they're able to really do
00:05:47
Speaker
relate to installers and be able to relate to salespeople.
00:05:50
Speaker
And I think that's super special.
00:05:52
Speaker
Yeah, that's awesome.
00:05:53
Speaker
And they're always like fighting for the best for the installers and also the best for the salespeople.
00:06:00
Speaker
Yeah, that's awesome.
00:06:01
Speaker
You're not just saying that because David's sitting in the room right here, right?
00:06:04
Speaker
No, I say it like he's nodding his head yes, but no, that's not the case.
00:06:08
Speaker
Okay.
00:06:08
Speaker
Good.
00:06:10
Speaker
No, I can tell.
00:06:11
Speaker
No, I mean leadership is what's going to like
00:06:17
Speaker
set the trajectory for your, for your organization.
00:06:19
Speaker
If you don't have great leadership, you're not going to be able to grow.
00:06:22
Speaker
Yeah.
00:06:23
Speaker
So, yeah, that's super important.
00:06:26
Speaker
And yo, and I know you've been like a big factor in that growth too.
00:06:29
Speaker
I mean,
00:06:29
Speaker
This first time I met you, but I have been on all the solar Facebook pages and all that.
00:06:34
Speaker
Everyone's like, oh, Chrissy's awesome.
00:06:36
Speaker
Chrissy, we don't care about David.
00:06:38
Speaker
Chrissy's awesome.
00:06:39
Speaker
Nobody says that.
00:06:40
Speaker
David gets the most reactions on those faces.
00:06:42
Speaker
Like you go through like a post, David says something, and no matter what it is, if you were to just put like, that's funny, people would be like, love it, laugh at it, like it.
00:06:52
Speaker
Like they just like...
00:06:54
Speaker
It's great.
00:06:56
Speaker
It's great.
00:06:56
Speaker
I love it.
00:06:57
Speaker
Well, all I see is from David's post about how Titan sucks and they take forever to do installs.
00:07:02
Speaker
Yeah.
00:07:03
Speaker
Titan's slower power.
00:07:05
Speaker
We came up with that.
00:07:07
Speaker
David said it last week and we were like, wow, this is great.
00:07:10
Speaker
Yeah.
00:07:11
Speaker
But it is funny.
00:07:12
Speaker
But no, I think you've been a huge part too.
00:07:14
Speaker
And, you know, for all those maybe companies, dealers, all that, how do people get like a Chrissy?
00:07:21
Speaker
If someone wants to go get a Chrissy, someone that helps with the hops and
00:07:25
Speaker
Someone that's like, I don't know, just a rock star on top of stuff?
00:07:28
Speaker
Yeah.
00:07:28
Speaker
Like how do you like train people and, I don't know, find people like yourself?
00:07:34
Speaker
That's a really good question.
00:07:37
Speaker
I think it all has to do with mindset and just like drive, right?
00:07:42
Speaker
And then someone that's just willing to learn.
00:07:45
Speaker
Somebody that's willing to, you know, stop, not put themselves in a situation where they are
00:07:55
Speaker
taking things personally.
00:07:56
Speaker
You know what I mean?
00:07:57
Speaker
Like business is business.
00:07:59
Speaker
Like let's, we all have the same goal, right?
00:08:01
Speaker
We all, like a sales guy wants to get the panels on the roof.
00:08:04
Speaker
So does the installer.
00:08:06
Speaker
And I think that there is a lot of dependence on texting and tagging and emailing and not enough like relationship building.
00:08:16
Speaker
So I think finding someone that is super personable can create those relationships.
00:08:20
Speaker
Like I think that's, that's super important.
00:08:23
Speaker
So,
00:08:23
Speaker
And honestly, someone that's competitive, like hate that you're like, don't love the like red line that you get back.
00:08:32
Speaker
Like be competitive, get it, get it fixed.
00:08:35
Speaker
See you guys.
00:08:37
Speaker
Um, so I think that there's, there's an edge to that too, that, um, is important when trying to find someone that that's going to be doing that.
00:08:46
Speaker
And you can tell like right off the bat, like you can tell within two weeks if someone has it or not.
00:08:50
Speaker
Yeah.
00:08:51
Speaker
That's cool.
00:08:52
Speaker
And yeah, so all these dealers and companies you work with, do most of them have their own kind of like project manager, would you say?
00:09:01
Speaker
Yeah, so Matt's actually in the room here.
00:09:04
Speaker
He's our VP of sales.
00:09:05
Speaker
Okay.
00:09:06
Speaker
And he, coming in, created a department called partner relations.
00:09:12
Speaker
Okay.
00:09:13
Speaker
And so each partner relations rep is assigned a dealer, and they're that person's point of contact.
00:09:20
Speaker
Okay.
00:09:20
Speaker
Okay.
00:09:21
Speaker
And like, I love being able to help them and teach them because I did that for so long.
00:09:29
Speaker
Um, and they're a great group of individuals that their phone is going off at 9 PM and 6 AM, you know, they, they get stuff, um, all day, every day.
00:09:40
Speaker
And so, um, I think it's important for everyone to know that like, you know, if you have a partner relations rep or you have like a project manager, like, yeah,
00:09:49
Speaker
There are definitely emergencies, but to be respectful of like the fact that they might be with their kids somewhere or whatever, you know.
00:09:59
Speaker
But they live, breathe, eat, sleep, tighten.
00:10:02
Speaker
And so that's the mentality we try to instill in them.
00:10:07
Speaker
That's awesome.
00:10:08
Speaker
You guys are a huge priority and want to make sure that you guys feel that way all the time.
00:10:14
Speaker
Yeah.
00:10:15
Speaker
No doubt.
00:10:15
Speaker
No, that's awesome.
00:10:16
Speaker
And yeah, well, so with most like the actual dealers though, did they also, have you noticed, I don't know if you know, but do most companies and dealers you work with also have their own kind of internal, I don't know, project managers, things like that?
00:10:29
Speaker
Yeah.
00:10:29
Speaker
I mean, everybody sets up their business differently.
00:10:32
Speaker
Okay.
00:10:33
Speaker
Some people like to have the reps have full visibility and be the one that's communicating with us directly just because they don't like the middleman thing.
00:10:42
Speaker
Okay.
00:10:44
Speaker
Like there are organizations that have those project managers.
00:10:50
Speaker
From what I've seen, the project manager and having that person who's managing the deals on the dealer side working with us seems to work best.
00:11:01
Speaker
Just because 15 sales reps calling one person is a lot different than one person calling one person, right?
00:11:11
Speaker
And so especially when
00:11:13
Speaker
You know, Matt, I don't know how many active dealers we have at the moment, but let's say it's 100.
00:11:19
Speaker
We don't have 100 people in Matt's department, right?
00:11:22
Speaker
We have 12 maybe.
00:11:25
Speaker
And so they're all assigned multiple partners.
00:11:28
Speaker
And I think having one singular point of contact I've seen has really worked best.
00:11:33
Speaker
Okay.
00:11:34
Speaker
Yeah, I would agree because, I don't know, as the sales are up, like I don't want to have to be the one that's constantly like checking and nonstop.
00:11:40
Speaker
But for me, I like to have the visibility and go there, see what's happening anytime.
00:11:43
Speaker
Right,
Titan's New Salesforce App
00:11:44
Speaker
because the customer's calling you.
00:11:45
Speaker
Yeah, yeah.
00:11:45
Speaker
But no, I think it's cool because that's what we have right now in our dealers, someone that is kind of on top of it, getting the updates.
00:11:52
Speaker
So hopefully I can just let her do it all, you know, drop the ball.
00:11:56
Speaker
That's a lot of trust.
00:11:58
Speaker
Yeah, not like that a lot of times.
00:12:02
Speaker
But yeah, it's nice to have the balance of the updates and all that.
00:12:05
Speaker
And then I can do some of it and kind of work as a team.
00:12:08
Speaker
And what's crazy is like...
00:12:10
Speaker
In the last, I don't know, eight to ten months, we've been working on having a Titan app because we know NetSuite.
00:12:16
Speaker
Like, we work in NetSuite, and NetSuite has so much information.
00:12:19
Speaker
It's not visibly pleasing.
00:12:21
Speaker
Like, visibly appealing to a sales person, and David knows that.
00:12:26
Speaker
So we've been trying to add, like, icons to it and stuff.
00:12:29
Speaker
But we recently partnered with Salesforce and have a Titan app.
00:12:34
Speaker
Oh, cool.
00:12:35
Speaker
And in that app, you can, we have a door-knocking app within it,
00:12:40
Speaker
Um, it's called route and, um, and then we've got, um, you know, they can set an appointment, close, do docs with solo through that and that automatically uploads the deal to NetSuite.
00:12:57
Speaker
But then it also shows the, the deal progression as well.
00:13:00
Speaker
So that like sales reps don't have to go into NetSuite because we know it's like, it's like a second skin to NetSuite, which is cool.
00:13:07
Speaker
And that's newer.
00:13:09
Speaker
And Matt worked really hard on that for quite some time.
00:13:12
Speaker
And from what I've heard, we've gotten really good feedback on it.
00:13:16
Speaker
So it's a game changer for sure.
00:13:18
Speaker
Yeah, that's awesome.
00:13:19
Speaker
It's crazy.
00:13:20
Speaker
Well, I'm sure you've seen the progression too.
00:13:22
Speaker
Back when I started in 2016.
00:13:24
Speaker
Oh my gosh.
00:13:25
Speaker
You know, paper.
00:13:26
Speaker
Yeah, paper contracts.
00:13:29
Speaker
Oh my gosh.
00:13:30
Speaker
And I remember I would sit with Kyle Badome, our CFO, because I would do commissions manually.
00:13:38
Speaker
And, you know, I'd sit with him every Friday morning and we would go over commissions because he would write the check.
00:13:47
Speaker
He would literally write the check.
00:13:49
Speaker
We'd be sitting in the conference room and I'd say, okay, Spartan Solar is getting paid 15 grand.
00:13:57
Speaker
And he's like, what?
00:13:58
Speaker
What?
00:14:00
Speaker
What?
00:14:00
Speaker
Prove it to me.
00:14:01
Speaker
Show me the map.
00:14:02
Speaker
That sounds like too much.
00:14:04
Speaker
And I'm like, no, look.
00:14:05
Speaker
And he's like, show him.
00:14:07
Speaker
Totally get it.
00:14:07
Speaker
He's like, okay, cool.
00:14:10
Speaker
And then he would give me the check and I would go to Chase or whatever bank the dealer was banking with and I'd deposit the money for them.
00:14:18
Speaker
And now everything is all automatic and the technology is just really, oh my gosh, now is the time.
00:14:27
Speaker
It's so nuts with all the offerings that...
00:14:31
Speaker
like the finance companies have, Goodleap, you know, and with all the technology like Solo, Synobi, like all of these people have, it's now's the time to sell.
00:14:41
Speaker
Now's the time to get into it.
00:14:42
Speaker
Now's the time to just like,
00:14:44
Speaker
really hunker down.
00:14:46
Speaker
That's kind of a weird thing to say, but like sell as much as you can right now.
00:14:50
Speaker
These are the good old days.
00:14:51
Speaker
That's what we say.
00:14:52
Speaker
I know.
00:14:52
Speaker
Mine up for gold right now.
00:14:54
Speaker
Seriously.
00:14:54
Speaker
And there's no regulation, you know, that it's, it's, we know it's coming.
00:14:59
Speaker
We don't know when or how or whatever, but like get out there and do it right now.
00:15:04
Speaker
You've got an amazing amount of resources and, um, really good people that are leading the charge in, in solar.
00:15:13
Speaker
And we,
00:15:14
Speaker
I want to help support that.
00:15:15
Speaker
Yeah, no question.
00:15:16
Speaker
Yeah,
Opportunities in the Solar Market
00:15:17
Speaker
take it from me and Christy.
00:15:18
Speaker
It's so much better now than it was.
00:15:20
Speaker
Oh, my gosh.
00:15:21
Speaker
It's so much better now.
00:15:23
Speaker
It's so crazy.
00:15:24
Speaker
Especially in sales.
00:15:25
Speaker
I can't even count all the deals I would lose sometimes just because of stupid holes or the process would take so long.
00:15:32
Speaker
Oh, they need this document.
00:15:34
Speaker
Customer would be like, you know what?
00:15:35
Speaker
It's too much.
00:15:36
Speaker
Let's just give up.
00:15:37
Speaker
And now it's all click of a button.
00:15:39
Speaker
I'll upload it instantly.
00:15:41
Speaker
It's so nuts.
00:15:41
Speaker
People respond.
00:15:42
Speaker
I love it.
00:15:44
Speaker
The best time to get into solar, if anyone's just starting out in solar.
00:15:47
Speaker
It's literally right now.
00:15:48
Speaker
Yeah.
00:15:49
Speaker
Sell the shit out of stuff.
00:15:51
Speaker
Exactly.
00:15:51
Speaker
Can I discuss on this?
00:15:52
Speaker
I don't know.
00:15:54
Speaker
You do.
00:15:54
Speaker
Yeah, okay.
00:15:55
Speaker
Sell the shit out of it.
00:15:56
Speaker
Yeah, let's go.
00:15:58
Speaker
So, yeah, best time to get in solar.
00:16:00
Speaker
So I want to hear from you, Chrissy.
00:16:01
Speaker
You guys have obviously expanded like crazy.
00:16:05
Speaker
You're the titans of solar.
00:16:06
Speaker
That's why you're named that way, right?
00:16:08
Speaker
Yes.
00:16:09
Speaker
That's good.
00:16:10
Speaker
Good name.
00:16:10
Speaker
Yeah.
00:16:11
Speaker
But did you guys have any, like, growing pains or, I don't know, any crazy stories of maybe growing too fast or stuff that went, like, terribly wrong that would be cool for our listeners to hear?
00:16:22
Speaker
Yes, yes, yes, yes.
00:16:23
Speaker
All the yeses.
00:16:24
Speaker
Yeah, there's been a lot of growing pains for sure.
00:16:27
Speaker
And it was kind of stuff that happened, like, overnight.
00:16:34
Speaker
When Sunrun pulled out of Arizona...
00:16:40
Speaker
in the APS territory, I don't know, end of 2017, 2018, I can't fully remember the exact time, feels like forever ago, but also feels like yesterday.
00:16:54
Speaker
Like that,
00:16:56
Speaker
was a big deal because then we had to switch over to SunPower.
00:16:59
Speaker
So the way that like people were used to selling with SunRun, they had to completely change with SunPower.
00:17:05
Speaker
And then that totally changed like our design process and our finance process.
00:17:11
Speaker
Like it just changed overnight.
00:17:14
Speaker
You know, Nevada opening up, like learning new markets that we go into and sales just like completely flood and it's like,
00:17:24
Speaker
okay, like we haven't done any research, we just opened.
00:17:28
Speaker
And so now like, now everybody's selling deals and now we have to figure it out, you know?
00:17:32
Speaker
SolarCity, when they laid off their, laid off, I don't know, let go of, got rid of their internal sales division.
00:17:40
Speaker
That was crazy because then people started coming to us and then just the deals just overnight just were coming in.
00:17:47
Speaker
Last year is the one that sticks out most in my mind.
00:17:53
Speaker
when there was a solar company that unfortunately went under and we were getting 800 deals a week and then the following week we got 1300 and then we got 1200 the week after that.
00:18:12
Speaker
An increase that much that quick was really difficult for us, but we were the only installer that could really handle that type of influx of deals.
00:18:27
Speaker
That was really hard.
00:18:29
Speaker
But props to all of the dealers that stuck through it, understood, and set proper expectations with the customer because
00:18:40
Speaker
I feel like we've dug ourselves out of that.
00:18:42
Speaker
And that was a lot for sure.
00:18:48
Speaker
I bet.
00:18:49
Speaker
That's crazy.
00:18:49
Speaker
But it's
Managing Rapid Growth at Titan
00:18:50
Speaker
good.
00:18:50
Speaker
It's good stuff.
00:18:51
Speaker
Now it's like, okay, we can breathe a little bit.
00:18:53
Speaker
But now it's summer.
00:18:54
Speaker
Now summer's coming up.
00:18:55
Speaker
So it's like, okay, we've got to hunker down again.
00:18:58
Speaker
Yeah.
00:18:58
Speaker
A lot of hunkering down.
00:19:00
Speaker
Yeah, I love it.
00:19:01
Speaker
Well, what do you get?
00:19:01
Speaker
With that many extra cells, are you hiring a ton more people?
00:19:05
Speaker
Yeah, we had to hire people like crazy.
00:19:07
Speaker
Yeah.
00:19:09
Speaker
and find qualified people and like train them as fast as we can because like,
00:19:16
Speaker
we need them processing deals, right?
00:19:18
Speaker
And so do we have the best training process?
00:19:22
Speaker
Probably not.
00:19:22
Speaker
It could definitely be better.
00:19:25
Speaker
But always a work in progress and just want to make sure we're doing what we can to support the people that choose to do business with us.
00:19:34
Speaker
Yeah.
00:19:34
Speaker
Well, and I like what you said just about setting the expectations too because like in sales, for us, that's one of the biggest.
00:19:41
Speaker
I've had lots of deals where I haven't set expectations.
00:19:43
Speaker
I've told them, oh,
00:19:44
Speaker
Yeah, you'll have the panels up there in four or five weeks, and then all of a sudden they need MPU, all of a sudden this, that happens.
00:19:51
Speaker
Yeah.
00:19:52
Speaker
And it's taken three, four months now.
00:19:54
Speaker
And actually, I remember, matter of speaking of Titan, I kind of told you this before, but the first account I did through Titan, I think you guys were pretty new in California.
00:20:05
Speaker
Yeah.
00:20:06
Speaker
I think you're a couple years back maybe.
00:20:07
Speaker
Mm-hmm.
00:20:08
Speaker
And so I didn't really know.
00:20:10
Speaker
I'm just like, all right, I'll try it out.
00:20:12
Speaker
And I told the customer, oh, it should be up in like four weeks.
00:20:17
Speaker
But I didn't really know your guys' process.
00:20:19
Speaker
I don't know how many it was.
00:20:20
Speaker
And then it ended up taking three months, which, yeah, I get it.
00:20:23
Speaker
It was long in California.
00:20:24
Speaker
Yeah.
00:20:24
Speaker
It was really long.
00:20:26
Speaker
And so, look, I mean, the customer stuck with it.
00:20:28
Speaker
But, like, how many accounts do you have where you don't tell them the timelines?
00:20:33
Speaker
Right.
00:20:34
Speaker
So what I've learned now is always make it worse, make it a little bit worse.
00:20:38
Speaker
Under-promise, over-deliver.
00:20:40
Speaker
Yes, that's important.
00:20:42
Speaker
I know Grant Cardone says over-promise and over-deliver, but it's like...
00:20:46
Speaker
You know, I'd rather not lose accounts for promising too much.
00:20:50
Speaker
And honestly, like David has nailed it recently with his podcast that he's been doing, trying to like get out to salespeople.
00:20:58
Speaker
Like you guys should really educate yourselves on the install process.
00:21:02
Speaker
You guys should really educate yourself to be able to know, like given the system size, given like looking at the main service panel, like does it need a D rate?
00:21:10
Speaker
Does it need an MPU?
00:21:11
Speaker
Does it need like, what is it that could potentially come up?
00:21:15
Speaker
Um, so that way, like you're able to let the customer know, like you could potentially need some electrical because you're, uh, the inverter that we've sized is going to be a 10,000 solar edge inverter and like.
00:21:30
Speaker
Every single time is going to need some sort of electrical gun.
00:21:32
Speaker
Like it's just like little things like that, little bits of knowledge that'll really help you on your sale and be able to set the proper expectations.
00:21:41
Speaker
And just like communicating with your installer to make sure that you're setting the right expectations.
00:21:46
Speaker
Like, hey, what are you seeing in this market that's difficult or what should I avoid or where should I go or what HJ is quickest or which HJ is slowest?
00:21:53
Speaker
So that way it's not cookie cutter.
00:21:56
Speaker
Right.
00:21:57
Speaker
All across the country.
00:21:58
Speaker
Each city has their own weird things and each utility has their own like weird things.
00:22:05
Speaker
So, um, you know, we want to be able to educate you guys in that and help you get through that and set proper expectations for you and for the customer.
00:22:14
Speaker
Yeah.
00:22:14
Speaker
Well, it's huge too.
00:22:15
Speaker
Cause I mean, you're setting yourself apart from the sales side too.
00:22:19
Speaker
If they already had two other people come in that knew nothing about like, you know, the install process or if they need an MPU.
00:22:25
Speaker
Yeah.
00:22:26
Speaker
You'd be like, oh no, you do need an NPU.
00:22:28
Speaker
This is why you do need a D rate.
00:22:31
Speaker
Yeah.
00:22:31
Speaker
They're probably going to have to do a change order like down the road.
00:22:34
Speaker
You know, you don't want to re-sign all these docs.
00:22:36
Speaker
Those Goodleaf loan docs are forever long.
00:22:39
Speaker
Titan, contract is, you know, however many pages.
00:22:43
Speaker
Like you don't want to have to go through all that again.
00:22:44
Speaker
Like let's build it in now.
00:22:46
Speaker
And, you know, we'll update you on what the scope of work ends up being.
00:22:52
Speaker
So...
00:22:53
Speaker
Um, yeah, I think it's important for everybody to get educated in that for sure.
00:22:56
Speaker
Yeah.
00:22:57
Speaker
And then it's like, um, if you know it, well, I know there's installers that aren't near as good as Titan out there that sometimes don't know as much these things.
00:23:05
Speaker
So for me, I've saved a ton of money and commissions too.
00:23:08
Speaker
Yeah.
00:23:09
Speaker
Where sometimes an installer will be like, oh, they need an MPU, but they didn't go through.
00:23:13
Speaker
Oh, could you maybe do D rate?
00:23:15
Speaker
Could you do in California?
00:23:16
Speaker
We have RMAs.
00:23:17
Speaker
Oh yeah.
00:23:18
Speaker
Yeah.
00:23:20
Speaker
So sometimes there's different options and I don't know, I'm still learning all that stuff myself, but like I always take it through a checklist, okay, instead of doing an MPU, because MPUs are good, but from the sell side, it's going to take a lot longer to get installed.
00:23:33
Speaker
Yeah, yeah.
00:23:34
Speaker
And it's going to add, you know, a lot more cost and a lot of these other options.
00:23:37
Speaker
So I'm like, okay, I'd rather just, you know, have it going quicker, not have as much need to be added.
00:23:44
Speaker
Unless of course they like want an MPU.
00:23:45
Speaker
Absolutely.
00:23:46
Speaker
Oh yeah, 100%.
00:23:46
Speaker
Yeah.
00:23:48
Speaker
But, yeah, so just knowing those things, I think, for a lot of those reasons.
00:23:52
Speaker
That's what I like so much about, like, what you guys, Jcast, SolarCon, that's what we're talking about here is.
00:23:57
Speaker
Yeah.
00:23:57
Speaker
And that's how you educate yourself and give yourself an edge.
00:24:00
Speaker
So I think that's huge.
00:24:02
Speaker
Be better than the next person.
00:24:03
Speaker
Yeah.
00:24:04
Speaker
Yeah, that's great.
00:24:05
Speaker
No doubt.
00:24:06
Speaker
So, yeah, Chrissy, I want to just, as we kind of start getting closer to wrapping up here, I wanted to, like, ask you, you've been
Chrissy's First Sale Story
00:24:13
Speaker
in the ops.
00:24:13
Speaker
You've never done sales, have you?
00:24:16
Speaker
No, I mean the one sale that I made, um, this is kind of an interesting story.
00:24:24
Speaker
I'm going to tell you because it's pretty funny, but it's kind of weird at the same time.
00:24:29
Speaker
So, um, when I started at Titan, I was responsible for, um, purchasing leads and like dispersing those leads to our internal salespeople.
00:24:40
Speaker
And, um, so the leads would come to my phone.
00:24:43
Speaker
I call, set appointments, all that stuff.
00:24:45
Speaker
So then there was this one couple, the Goldbergs, that I really connected with.
00:24:53
Speaker
And so then I had told David, I'm like,
00:24:59
Speaker
I think these people are great whatever and I really wanted to get a Get some plastic surgery done.
00:25:07
Speaker
I want to get a boob job.
00:25:08
Speaker
I'm just gonna say it I want to get a boob job and David's like yeah, okay cool sell this deal You'll make commission and then you can get your you can do whatever you want with it.
00:25:18
Speaker
I'm like dope so then
00:25:22
Speaker
I go, I buy a brand new outfit, go out there, go through the rocks, take it in my new heels, take a picture of the main service, like I'm there, close the deal, and then job goes, they pay me my full commission up front, because it was a sure deal, right?
00:25:44
Speaker
And then I got my procedure done on a Wednesday,
00:25:52
Speaker
And then the following week was the install.
00:25:56
Speaker
And got my procedure done, was back to work on Monday.
00:26:02
Speaker
I woke up to a phone call from Mrs. Goldberg that Mr. Goldberg was like, he got, he had a stroke or something like that.
00:26:16
Speaker
And that they had to sell their house and they couldn't go through with this deal.
00:26:22
Speaker
And the install was later that week.
00:26:24
Speaker
And I was like, huh?
00:26:27
Speaker
What?
00:26:29
Speaker
She's like, yeah.
00:26:30
Speaker
And it was like the call that woke me up that morning.
00:26:32
Speaker
And I'm like, crap.
00:26:35
Speaker
Like, I just got this done.
00:26:38
Speaker
What the hell am I going to do?
00:26:40
Speaker
Like, ah.
00:26:42
Speaker
And so I had to go into work.
00:26:46
Speaker
Yep.
00:26:49
Speaker
And tell David and Kyle,
00:26:51
Speaker
The Goldbergs canceled because of this reason.
00:26:54
Speaker
And they were like, hmm.
00:26:56
Speaker
I'm like, mm-hmm, yeah, but you can't take it out now.
00:27:00
Speaker
Like, that'd be weird.
00:27:02
Speaker
And so that was my first sale.
00:27:04
Speaker
That's awesome.
00:27:07
Speaker
And then it was like, okay, well, now you have to sell other deals to, like, make up for that.
00:27:14
Speaker
And it was, like, this nightmare to try and get.
00:27:17
Speaker
I am a horrible salesperson.
00:27:20
Speaker
I just am.
00:27:21
Speaker
So that's why I have so much mad respect for the sales dealers that we have because I couldn't do it.
00:27:29
Speaker
And yeah, it's kind of odd.
00:27:34
Speaker
I was never able to really pay David and Kyle back for that.
00:27:40
Speaker
So it's just always been a running joke.
00:27:43
Speaker
But yeah, that was within my first couple months of working at Titan.
00:27:47
Speaker
The boob job deal.
00:27:48
Speaker
The boob job deal.
00:27:49
Speaker
Yeah, it was very funny.
00:27:51
Speaker
So yeah, I haven't done sales.
00:27:52
Speaker
That's what it takes to motivate the ladies?
00:27:54
Speaker
I don't know.
00:27:55
Speaker
Maybe they'd all sell more.
00:27:58
Speaker
Like, set a goal and just wait until it gets turned on.
00:28:05
Speaker
And then go do your procedure.
00:28:06
Speaker
Then go spend your money.
00:28:08
Speaker
I guess that's why my dealer never pays me before the install.
00:28:11
Speaker
Yep.
00:28:12
Speaker
There you go.
00:28:13
Speaker
Yeah, because then you're like, ah, crap.
00:28:15
Speaker
Like, I got to dig myself out of this hole.
00:28:17
Speaker
Oh, my gosh.
00:28:17
Speaker
That was the worst thing.
00:28:19
Speaker
They're like, you have to...
00:28:20
Speaker
you have to go to them.
00:28:21
Speaker
You have, like, we paid for a permit.
00:28:23
Speaker
It was in Peoria and Peoria has really high permit fees and we paid the utility, like all this stuff.
00:28:30
Speaker
I'm like, but he's, but he, he's sick.
00:28:33
Speaker
Like he's, they're selling their house.
00:28:34
Speaker
Like, well, how am I supposed to go?
00:28:36
Speaker
And it was like, so it was not only the commission, it was also the hard cost that, that I also owe them.
00:28:41
Speaker
So.
00:28:42
Speaker
That's pretty funny.
00:28:44
Speaker
That's a good story.
00:28:45
Speaker
I haven't told that story, by the way.
00:28:47
Speaker
Really?
00:28:47
Speaker
No, no.
00:28:47
Speaker
Like, I haven't told that story, like, in this, like, forum at all.
00:28:52
Speaker
So, this is exclusive.
00:28:55
Speaker
All right.
00:28:55
Speaker
So we said solarpreneur.
00:28:56
Speaker
Yeah.
00:28:57
Speaker
You heard it first.
00:28:58
Speaker
That's so great.
00:28:58
Speaker
No, that's going to be one of the funniest stories I've ever heard on the podcast.
00:29:02
Speaker
Kind of.
00:29:02
Speaker
Yeah, it's kind of crazy.
00:29:04
Speaker
Of course, it's a customer that like has an extreme circumstance.
00:29:07
Speaker
Oh my gosh.
00:29:07
Speaker
Yeah.
00:29:08
Speaker
Like it was just.
00:29:09
Speaker
That never happens.
00:29:11
Speaker
I felt so bad.
00:29:12
Speaker
Oh my gosh.
00:29:13
Speaker
That was rough.
00:29:13
Speaker
Because any other deal, you're going to like fight tooth and nail to get them back.
00:29:16
Speaker
But it's like, what do you say?
00:29:17
Speaker
What do you say to that?
00:29:18
Speaker
Yeah.
00:29:19
Speaker
Yeah.
00:29:20
Speaker
So when that happens with dealers, I'm like, I've been there.
00:29:24
Speaker
I'm going to waive the hard costs for you.
00:29:26
Speaker
Like, how can we, you know, like that's hard.
00:29:30
Speaker
You never can predict that stuff.
00:29:31
Speaker
That's why the installs have to happen so fast.
00:29:33
Speaker
I know.
00:29:34
Speaker
Right?
00:29:34
Speaker
I know.
00:29:35
Speaker
Get it on the roof.
00:29:36
Speaker
Get it on the roof and add value to the home.
00:29:39
Speaker
I know.
00:29:39
Speaker
And like, just get that done.
00:29:42
Speaker
It's crazy.
00:29:43
Speaker
It's a funny story.
00:29:44
Speaker
Yeah, I was going to ask, what do you think about, because I know some installers now, we've had a couple where they almost do like a pre-installation type thing where it's like something to kind of give the customer something tangible, right?
00:29:56
Speaker
Because solar obviously takes a little bit.
00:29:58
Speaker
have you guys ever like thought about doing something like that at in Titan or have you done it in any markets?
00:30:03
Speaker
Um, some people put like the box where they, like the combiner box or the inverter, like stuff like that.
00:30:10
Speaker
Um, I mean, we've had, we've had, you know, ideas and on how to, you know, on, on what we can do to do that.
00:30:19
Speaker
Um, nothing really set in stone.
00:30:22
Speaker
Um, if a,
00:30:24
Speaker
Dealer asks for us to do that, we'll do it.
00:30:27
Speaker
So it's not completely off the table, but it's not something that we're doing on a large scale.
00:30:32
Speaker
Okay.
00:30:33
Speaker
Yeah.
00:30:34
Speaker
Okay.
00:30:35
Speaker
Because, yeah, I mean, that's, you know, with solar obviously it takes a long time.
00:30:39
Speaker
So I think anything you can give the customers tangible or kind of lock them in.
00:30:44
Speaker
Yeah, that's why it's important to communicate with your installer.
00:30:47
Speaker
Like if that's an idea that you have, like let's figure out a process for you.
00:30:51
Speaker
Let's figure out how we can
00:30:54
Speaker
you know, help stick that customer for you a little bit more.
00:30:57
Speaker
So it's something that we're open to having a conversation about for sure.
00:31:01
Speaker
It's just got to ask.
00:31:03
Speaker
You don't know if you don't ask.
00:31:04
Speaker
Yeah, true.
00:31:05
Speaker
Good, good.
00:31:06
Speaker
Okay, well, Chrissy, last couple questions here.
00:31:09
Speaker
This podcast we're mostly focused on, you know, the sales reps, the owners, things like that.
Planning and Communication for Success
00:31:15
Speaker
So for you that has dealt with all these people.
00:31:18
Speaker
Do you need the camera to be touched?
00:31:20
Speaker
Matt, do you need it?
00:31:23
Speaker
So, yeah, what I was going to ask, though, is for you that's dealt with all these sales reps, these dealers, is there anything you wish maybe dealers did different or sales reps did different or things that you're like, okay, this, I don't know, that's annoying to you guys or, I don't know, from like a sales perspective, like how could we work better with like a thing or anything?
00:31:44
Speaker
Yeah, I would say plan, plan, plan, plan.
00:31:47
Speaker
Plan your blitzes with your installer.
00:31:49
Speaker
Like get...
00:31:52
Speaker
like be proactive, um, and have like those hard conversations to like set expectations with, um, us or with whatever installer it is that you're working with to make sure that like everybody is set up for success.
00:32:08
Speaker
That's the only way to really execute on, um, you know, these, these blitzes and, um, new markets that, that people decide to go to.
00:32:20
Speaker
So, um,
00:32:22
Speaker
I would say that, but also I don't find salespeople annoying.
00:32:28
Speaker
I think they want their customer to get installed, and we do too.
00:32:38
Speaker
But I think it's just knowing and understanding and figuring out
00:32:43
Speaker
Like, why is it that it takes longer here?
00:32:46
Speaker
Or why is it that, like, figuring out the why on the sales side as far as, like, what the contractor is doing or the installer is doing I think is super impactful.
00:32:55
Speaker
It's only going to grow your knowledge and you're going to be able to avoid situations and plan for situations and be able to see something coming up like that you might not have before, right?
00:33:05
Speaker
So talk, talk, communication.
00:33:08
Speaker
Yeah, communication.
00:33:09
Speaker
Ask the why.
00:33:10
Speaker
Get the reason why.
00:33:12
Speaker
There's always a reason.
00:33:13
Speaker
So, yeah.
00:33:14
Speaker
Okay, I like that.
00:33:15
Speaker
And so by blit you mean, so for example, if I'm going to go to a blitz, it'd be like, hey, Chrissy, we're doing this blitz.
00:33:21
Speaker
We're planning on probably having a couple dozen extra deals closed this week, something like that, and just kind of being in the loop.
00:33:28
Speaker
Yeah, so it's like, how long is your blitz going to be for?
00:33:30
Speaker
Okay, you guys are going to have people there for 14 days.
00:33:34
Speaker
Okay, cool.
00:33:35
Speaker
We're going to make sure that any of the jobs that this team submits in that 14 days, we have
00:33:42
Speaker
like people that are hands-on on our side to make sure that before your guys leave, like we have everything we need before you guys like go back home or something like that.
00:33:55
Speaker
So that way you can go back to your customer if we need them to approve a set of plans or we need a utility something signed or whatever.
00:34:05
Speaker
Try and get all those documents while you guys are still there.
00:34:07
Speaker
And then we can send a site survey you're out with, like, to be in that area with you guys so you guys can have same-day site surveys.
00:34:13
Speaker
Like, all of that stuff is doable.
00:34:16
Speaker
It just takes planning and not the week before.
00:34:21
Speaker
It takes a couple weeks to, like, get all that stuff set up.
00:34:25
Speaker
So I think that's something super impactful that I think a lot of people should know.
00:34:29
Speaker
Yeah.
00:34:30
Speaker
Okay.
00:34:31
Speaker
That's huge.
00:34:32
Speaker
Yeah.
00:34:32
Speaker
And that's cool how open you guys are to just like making the adjustments happen.
00:34:36
Speaker
Yeah.
00:34:37
Speaker
Sounds like because, I don't know, a lot of installers I've been with, no, they have their process, their set, it's going to be this way.
00:34:44
Speaker
Yeah, and that's also what sets Titan apart.
00:34:46
Speaker
I don't think that people realize that.
00:34:48
Speaker
So like planning that with your partner relations rep, planning that with the installer, like have those higher level conversations.
00:34:56
Speaker
Like if your installer isn't open to having that conversation,
00:35:00
Speaker
like Titan is.
00:35:02
Speaker
Yeah.
00:35:03
Speaker
I love it.
00:35:03
Speaker
That's awesome.
00:35:04
Speaker
Yeah.
00:35:05
Speaker
Well, just to kind of wrap up here, Chrissy, um, so Titan, you guys, how many markets are you guys in now?
00:35:11
Speaker
Um, I, we were at 17 a couple of weeks ago, I believe 18 now, um, just opened up in Louisiana.
00:35:17
Speaker
Okay.
00:35:18
Speaker
So yeah, just continuing to, we're, uh, just got licensed in Ohio.
00:35:24
Speaker
end of last week, but we still have to get our contract and get stuff on board with Good Leap and all that stuff.
00:35:32
Speaker
Growth is definitely happening this year on that side of the country.
00:35:38
Speaker
That's awesome.
00:35:40
Speaker
What's the vision for you guys?
00:35:41
Speaker
I know you talked about your app and everything that's coming out, but is the plan just keep dominating, keep expanding?
00:35:48
Speaker
Just want to continue to be the
00:35:50
Speaker
the best you know if we end up being the if we strive to be the best we will end up being the biggest and it's not really it's not really us being the biggest first it's just being the best because with that we'll earn the business yeah we'll get there so no question yeah you don't want to be the biggest then not the best do terrible work but like growing pains that's a thing and the feedback is important so like
00:36:16
Speaker
have that, be able to have that relationship with your installer to give the feedback.
00:36:22
Speaker
And if they can adjust, perfect.
00:36:23
Speaker
If they can explain it, perfect.
00:36:25
Speaker
Like have those conversations and it's not confrontational.
00:36:30
Speaker
It's just, it's business.
00:36:31
Speaker
Take yourself out of it.
00:36:33
Speaker
Let's all, let's all get the solar on the roof as fast as possible.
00:36:35
Speaker
All right.
00:36:36
Speaker
And if they can't adjust, you know who to call.
00:36:38
Speaker
We got Titan right there.
00:36:40
Speaker
Yeah.
00:36:42
Speaker
So I know it's been awesome having you on,
How to Partner with Titan
00:36:45
Speaker
Chrissy.
00:36:45
Speaker
So where can people want to find out more, I don't know, get hooked in with Titan, maybe they're not using you guys, what's the best way to get connected?
00:36:56
Speaker
So we have a dealer inquiry page on our Titan website.
00:37:00
Speaker
You just go to titansolarpower.com, click dealer in the menu, and then there's a dealer inquiry page there.
00:37:07
Speaker
Chase Anderson is the one who will be –
00:37:12
Speaker
talking with them at first and then get them onboarded and that's, that's all Matt's process, which is great.
00:37:20
Speaker
And then, you know, just off to the races, but I mean, you can follow us on, you can message us on Instagram.
00:37:26
Speaker
You can do any of that, like whatever we're open.
00:37:29
Speaker
Yeah.
00:37:29
Speaker
That's awesome.
00:37:30
Speaker
Another thing I thought of, so say, is there like a requirement,
00:37:34
Speaker
if someone's like a one-man show or has like two reps or something, can they go like just start selling?
00:37:39
Speaker
They can definitely go to the dealer inquiry page and then whatever situation it is that they're in will find the best fit to make sure that like, you know, they're supported.
00:37:52
Speaker
But if they are able to grow a team or anything, like there's a whole bunch of different conversations that come with like that initial call from Chase and he's such a pro at it.
00:38:04
Speaker
and, you know, talks to people within, you know, a day of them inquiring.
00:38:09
Speaker
I mean, he reaches out immediately, and you can set up a call with him, and he'll put you in the right spot.
00:38:16
Speaker
Okay.
00:38:17
Speaker
That means working, you know, partnering you up with someone that could maybe be a value add to you if you're newer to the space.
00:38:27
Speaker
Yeah.
00:38:27
Speaker
Yeah.
00:38:28
Speaker
then like you have to understand that that's going to be something that's going to make you better.
00:38:31
Speaker
Right.
00:38:32
Speaker
You know?
00:38:33
Speaker
So, yeah.
00:38:34
Speaker
Okay.
00:38:34
Speaker
And then like, well, yeah, because you guys have, I'm sure, you know, massive dealers, tiny ones.
00:38:39
Speaker
Mm-hmm.
00:38:39
Speaker
So like how do you, is there any, how do you guys prioritize them, difference, or is there like big differences between them?
00:38:49
Speaker
No.
00:38:50
Speaker
A dealer that does five deals a week versus a dealer that does 45 deals a week, like that homeowner is important.
00:38:58
Speaker
Right.
00:38:59
Speaker
So there is no prioritizing.
00:39:01
Speaker
Um, and really want to make sure that that's known.
00:39:06
Speaker
That's cool.
00:39:07
Speaker
Yeah.
00:39:07
Speaker
Like the homeowner is the homeowner.
00:39:09
Speaker
We have, you know, our, they are our, uh, customer and also so is sales.
00:39:16
Speaker
So, um,
00:39:18
Speaker
you know, making sure that every homeowner is taken care of is just going to help you guys build more and get you more sales and the homeowner to have faith in their installer and the person that's going to be warranting the system for 25 years.
00:39:29
Speaker
Yeah.
00:39:30
Speaker
That's good to hear.
00:39:31
Speaker
Yeah.
00:39:31
Speaker
Because, yeah, I know I've worked with other install companies where it's like, you know, big dealers that are giving them tons and tons of deals.
00:39:38
Speaker
They're like, you know, putting over all the prioritizers, however you say that, but they're prioritizing their deals and pushing them up on the install schedule.
00:39:47
Speaker
Yeah.
00:39:47
Speaker
So it's like, yeah, I get it.
00:39:48
Speaker
You're going to treat the golden goose good and everything.
00:39:52
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, it's not necessarily treating someone better or moving stuff up on the calendar.
00:39:56
Speaker
It's keeping a clean pipeline, right?
00:39:58
Speaker
So if you have a dealer that's submitting 45 deals in a week, with the average timeline in that particular market, you don't want to get behind on those installs, right?
00:40:11
Speaker
You want to make sure that you are...
00:40:17
Speaker
installing as much as it was that they were selling back, you know, six weeks ago or something like that.
00:40:22
Speaker
So if they sold 45, we determine their cancel rate.
00:40:26
Speaker
That's how many spots that they should have on the calendar.
00:40:29
Speaker
And that's how many, like, that's how, like, we look at filling the install calendar.
00:40:35
Speaker
So if you sold five, you should have, six weeks ago, you should have five installs that week.
00:40:39
Speaker
You know what I mean?
00:40:40
Speaker
So it's like just making sure that people know
00:40:44
Speaker
that as well.
00:40:45
Speaker
Like, and that's just to ensure, again, a healthy pipeline for us and for each dealer.
00:40:51
Speaker
Right.
00:40:51
Speaker
So look at, look at your, um, average timeline with whatever installer that you're with.
00:40:58
Speaker
Look at the deals that you sold.
00:41:00
Speaker
However many weeks ago, those should fit into an install week.
00:41:04
Speaker
Okay.
00:41:04
Speaker
And that's how you keep a healthy pipeline.
00:41:07
Speaker
Okay.
00:41:07
Speaker
Making sure that they all kind of fall on the same, um, like week of install essentially.
00:41:14
Speaker
If that makes sense.
00:41:15
Speaker
Yeah.
00:41:16
Speaker
Yeah.
00:41:16
Speaker
That's awesome.
00:41:17
Speaker
Okay.
00:41:18
Speaker
Well, Christy, um, I know you got solar con to get back to, uh, you got, I'm sure a huge crowd of people out there waiting to all celebrate with you.
00:41:25
Speaker
Um, but, uh, yeah, last question.
00:41:27
Speaker
Do you have any, I don't know, final like advice you give to dealers or reps or any, uh, I don't know, any final words of wisdom for us before we say goodbye?
Importance of Relationships with Installers
00:41:36
Speaker
Oh, so sweet.
00:41:37
Speaker
Um, no, just like, again,
00:41:40
Speaker
The relationship that you have with your installer is very, very, very important.
00:41:45
Speaker
And investing in that is only going to help you determine if that's an installer that you're going to be dedicated to and grow with, or if you're going to see that they're not in line with whatever it is that you want to do for your own company.
00:41:58
Speaker
And then there's lots of options out there.
00:42:01
Speaker
So just have that really good relationship, take the time to build that and
00:42:08
Speaker
things will only like only good things will come from that yeah love it so guys solar printers communication is key make sure you're communicating with your installers make sure you're communicating with your reps if you are a dealer owner a company owner and uh yeah thanks for all the advice you shared with us today chrissy so go reach out to her on social media let her know you appreciated her coming on the show thanks for having me thanks again chrissy of course thank you all right
00:42:36
Speaker
What's up, solarpreneurs?
00:42:37
Speaker
Hope you enjoyed the episode.
00:42:39
Speaker
Before you run out and start selling more solar yourself, wanted to let you know about an exciting new cheat sheet we created specifically for you in mind.
00:42:50
Speaker
One of the top questions I get asked on Instagram, on Facebook by our listeners is, Taylor, where should I start?
00:42:57
Speaker
What episodes should I listen to in the podcast?
00:43:00
Speaker
You got too many podcasts, man, because now we have over 200 episodes.
00:43:04
Speaker
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00:43:17
Speaker
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00:43:26
Speaker
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00:43:28
Speaker
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00:43:32
Speaker
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Speaker
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00:43:39
Speaker
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Speaker
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Speaker
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Speaker
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Speaker
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