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 fell.
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 Solarpreneur you might ask?
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.
Speaker: Okay, what's going on, sorepreneurs?
Speaker: We are filming this podcast and recording live at SolarCon.
Speaker: So you will obviously hear this a little bit later.
Speaker: But I'm super excited because we've got the one and only Chrissy Coonrod on the show with us.
Speaker: Chrissy, thanks for coming on the show.
Speaker: Thanks for having me.
Speaker: I love FU money too.
Speaker: Thanks.
Speaker: So if you're just listening, I've got a F you money.
Speaker: So we love the follow up money.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: But we're going to be talking about all that and a lot of other stuff today.
Speaker: And I'm excited to have Chrissy on.
Speaker: We've actually got in this room off the camera.
Speaker: You know, a lot of people, the OG David Williamson got about five people listening.
Speaker: So pressure's on.
Speaker: Pressure's a little bit on.
Speaker: It's OK.
Speaker: Hopefully we can deliver.
Speaker: We got this.
Speaker: But yeah, so we'll jump into it here.
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.
Speaker: And you've been doing it a long time.
Speaker: You're like kind of the Batman and Robin to David.
Speaker: Is that right?
Speaker: I am the Robin to Batman.
Speaker: Yes, with David.
Speaker: So I'd like to think.
Speaker: But yeah, no, they've actually just gave me this title back in December.
Speaker: I think that with the growth of Titan, when I started, we had one install crew.
Speaker: I was like the fourth office employee.
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.
Speaker: So it's been good.
Speaker: That's awesome.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: When you first started with him, we said what, four years ago?
Speaker: Six.
Speaker: Six?
Speaker: Wow, okay.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: It's about when I started too, 2016, right?
Speaker: Cool.
Speaker: Okay, good.
Speaker: So when you started, did you think it would be this big?
Speaker: Do you think you're just, oh, I'm- Definitely not.
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.
Speaker: And then we had a couple dealers, but I definitely didn't think that it was going to grow to be this big.
Speaker: And I think a lot of what has helped us grow is the fact that David and Kyle
Speaker: you know, they started out selling, they were installing their own sales that they were making for a while.
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.
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.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: For sure.
Speaker: And yeah, it's true.
Speaker: I think there's got to be a balance because sometimes sales guys ask a ton and expect the world and all that.
Speaker: But I think it's the balance between just treating the sales guys right.
Speaker: Because I know at times I've put too much expectation probably on
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.
Speaker: And I don't know if you guys deal with that, like sell reps.
Speaker: Yeah, I mean, that's okay.
Speaker: That's all right.
Speaker: Like we love them all.
Speaker: We welcome them all.
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
Speaker: secrets, you know, the CRM that we work out of, we give our, the sales partners full visibility to that.
Speaker: It's been like that since I started.
Speaker: So that way we're not like having conversations on the side about anything.
Speaker: Like they can see everything that's happening in the deal.
Speaker: And I think that's also super important.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: No, I love that.
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.
Speaker: I don't know what's going on.
Speaker: 100%.
Speaker: I haven't got an update in six weeks for this deal.
Speaker: What's happening with it?
Speaker: Six weeks?
Speaker: Sheesh.
Speaker: I mean, that's happened in the past.
Speaker: That wouldn't happen with Titan.
Speaker: Switch to Titan if that's going on with you right now.
Speaker: But no, that's huge.
Speaker: And yeah, I think that's one of the reasons why you guys have been able to grow so much, I would say.
Speaker: But what else do you think has separated yourself?
Speaker: Like, I don't know.
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?
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: I honestly think it's just the leadership.
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.
Speaker: They've been on the roof taking tiles off the roof, like ceiling penetrations, like all that stuff.
Speaker: So they know what everything costs.
Speaker: They know how long a job should take.
Speaker: So they're able to really do
Speaker: relate to installers and be able to relate to salespeople.
Speaker: And I think that's super special.
Speaker: Yeah, that's awesome.
Speaker: And they're always like fighting for the best for the installers and also the best for the salespeople.
Speaker: Yeah, that's awesome.
Speaker: You're not just saying that because David's sitting in the room right here, right?
Speaker: No, I say it like he's nodding his head yes, but no, that's not the case.
Speaker: Okay.
Speaker: Good.
Speaker: No, I can tell.
Speaker: No, I mean leadership is what's going to like
Speaker: set the trajectory for your, for your organization.
Speaker: If you don't have great leadership, you're not going to be able to grow.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: So, yeah, that's super important.
Speaker: And yo, and I know you've been like a big factor in that growth too.
Speaker: I mean,
Speaker: This first time I met you, but I have been on all the solar Facebook pages and all that.
Speaker: Everyone's like, oh, Chrissy's awesome.
Speaker: Chrissy, we don't care about David.
Speaker: Chrissy's awesome.
Speaker: Nobody says that.
Speaker: David gets the most reactions on those faces.
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.
Speaker: Like they just like...
Speaker: It's great.
Speaker: It's great.
Speaker: I love it.
Speaker: Well, all I see is from David's post about how Titan sucks and they take forever to do installs.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Titan's slower power.
Speaker: We came up with that.
Speaker: David said it last week and we were like, wow, this is great.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: But it is funny.
Speaker: But no, I think you've been a huge part too.
Speaker: And, you know, for all those maybe companies, dealers, all that, how do people get like a Chrissy?
Speaker: If someone wants to go get a Chrissy, someone that helps with the hops and
Speaker: Someone that's like, I don't know, just a rock star on top of stuff?
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Like how do you like train people and, I don't know, find people like yourself?
Speaker: That's a really good question.
Speaker: I think it all has to do with mindset and just like drive, right?
Speaker: And then someone that's just willing to learn.
Speaker: Somebody that's willing to, you know, stop, not put themselves in a situation where they are
Speaker: taking things personally.
Speaker: You know what I mean?
Speaker: Like business is business.
Speaker: Like let's, we all have the same goal, right?
Speaker: We all, like a sales guy wants to get the panels on the roof.
Speaker: So does the installer.
Speaker: And I think that there is a lot of dependence on texting and tagging and emailing and not enough like relationship building.
Speaker: So I think finding someone that is super personable can create those relationships.
Speaker: Like I think that's, that's super important.
Speaker: So,
Speaker: And honestly, someone that's competitive, like hate that you're like, don't love the like red line that you get back.
Speaker: Like be competitive, get it, get it fixed.
Speaker: See you guys.
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.
Speaker: And you can tell like right off the bat, like you can tell within two weeks if someone has it or not.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: That's cool.
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?
Speaker: Yeah, so Matt's actually in the room here.
Speaker: He's our VP of sales.
Speaker: Okay.
Speaker: And he, coming in, created a department called partner relations.
Speaker: Okay.
Speaker: And so each partner relations rep is assigned a dealer, and they're that person's point of contact.
Speaker: Okay.
Speaker: Okay.
Speaker: And like, I love being able to help them and teach them because I did that for so long.
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.
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,
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.
Speaker: But they live, breathe, eat, sleep, tighten.
Speaker: And so that's the mentality we try to instill in them.
Speaker: That's awesome.
Speaker: You guys are a huge priority and want to make sure that you guys feel that way all the time.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: No doubt.
Speaker: No, that's awesome.
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?
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: I mean, everybody sets up their business differently.
Speaker: Okay.
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.
Speaker: Okay.
Speaker: Like there are organizations that have those project managers.
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.
Speaker: Just because 15 sales reps calling one person is a lot different than one person calling one person, right?
Speaker: And so especially when
Speaker: You know, Matt, I don't know how many active dealers we have at the moment, but let's say it's 100.
Speaker: We don't have 100 people in Matt's department, right?
Speaker: We have 12 maybe.
Speaker: And so they're all assigned multiple partners.
Speaker: And I think having one singular point of contact I've seen has really worked best.
Speaker: Okay.
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.
Speaker: But for me, I like to have the visibility and go there, see what's happening anytime.
Speaker: Right, because the customer's calling you.
Speaker: Yeah, yeah.
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.
Speaker: So hopefully I can just let her do it all, you know, drop the ball.
Speaker: That's a lot of trust.
Speaker: Yeah, not like that a lot of times.
Speaker: But yeah, it's nice to have the balance of the updates and all that.
Speaker: And then I can do some of it and kind of work as a team.
Speaker: And what's crazy is like...
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.
Speaker: Like, we work in NetSuite, and NetSuite has so much information.
Speaker: It's not visibly pleasing.
Speaker: Like, visibly appealing to a sales person, and David knows that.
Speaker: So we've been trying to add, like, icons to it and stuff.
Speaker: But we recently partnered with Salesforce and have a Titan app.
Speaker: Oh, cool.
Speaker: And in that app, you can, we have a door-knocking app within it,
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.
Speaker: But then it also shows the, the deal progression as well.
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.
Speaker: And that's newer.
Speaker: And Matt worked really hard on that for quite some time.
Speaker: And from what I've heard, we've gotten really good feedback on it.
Speaker: So it's a game changer for sure.
Speaker: Yeah, that's awesome.
Speaker: It's crazy.
Speaker: Well, I'm sure you've seen the progression too.
Speaker: Back when I started in 2016.
Speaker: Oh my gosh.
Speaker: You know, paper.
Speaker: Yeah, paper contracts.
Speaker: Oh my gosh.
Speaker: And I remember I would sit with Kyle Badome, our CFO, because I would do commissions manually.
Speaker: And, you know, I'd sit with him every Friday morning and we would go over commissions because he would write the check.
Speaker: He would literally write the check.
Speaker: We'd be sitting in the conference room and I'd say, okay, Spartan Solar is getting paid 15 grand.
Speaker: And he's like, what?
Speaker: What?
Speaker: What?
Speaker: Prove it to me.
Speaker: Show me the map.
Speaker: That sounds like too much.
Speaker: And I'm like, no, look.
Speaker: And he's like, show him.
Speaker: Totally get it.
Speaker: He's like, okay, cool.
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.
Speaker: And now everything is all automatic and the technology is just really, oh my gosh, now is the time.
Speaker: It's so nuts with all the offerings that...
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.
Speaker: Now's the time to get into it.
Speaker: Now's the time to just like,
Speaker: really hunker down.
Speaker: That's kind of a weird thing to say, but like sell as much as you can right now.
Speaker: These are the good old days.
Speaker: That's what we say.
Speaker: I know.
Speaker: Mine up for gold right now.
Speaker: Seriously.
Speaker: And there's no regulation, you know, that it's, it's, we know it's coming.
Speaker: We don't know when or how or whatever, but like get out there and do it right now.
Speaker: You've got an amazing amount of resources and, um, really good people that are leading the charge in, in solar.
Speaker: And we,
Speaker: I want to help support that.
Speaker: Yeah, no question.
Speaker: Yeah, take it from me and Christy.
Speaker: It's so much better now than it was.
Speaker: Oh, my gosh.
Speaker: It's so much better now.
Speaker: It's so crazy.
Speaker: Especially in sales.
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.
Speaker: Oh, they need this document.
Speaker: Customer would be like, you know what?
Speaker: It's too much.
Speaker: Let's just give up.
Speaker: And now it's all click of a button.
Speaker: I'll upload it instantly.
Speaker: It's so nuts.
Speaker: People respond.
Speaker: I love it.
Speaker: The best time to get into solar, if anyone's just starting out in solar.
Speaker: It's literally right now.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Sell the shit out of stuff.
Speaker: Exactly.
Speaker: Can I discuss on this?
Speaker: I don't know.
Speaker: You do.
Speaker: Yeah, okay.
Speaker: Sell the shit out of it.
Speaker: Yeah, let's go.
Speaker: So, yeah, best time to get in solar.
Speaker: So I want to hear from you, Chrissy.
Speaker: You guys have obviously expanded like crazy.
Speaker: You're the titans of solar.
Speaker: That's why you're named that way, right?
Speaker: Yes.
Speaker: That's good.
Speaker: Good name.
Speaker: Yeah.
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?
Speaker: Yes, yes, yes, yes.
Speaker: All the yeses.
Speaker: Yeah, there's been a lot of growing pains for sure.
Speaker: And it was kind of stuff that happened, like, overnight.
Speaker: When Sunrun pulled out of Arizona...
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.
Speaker: Like that,
Speaker: was a big deal because then we had to switch over to SunPower.
Speaker: So the way that like people were used to selling with SunRun, they had to completely change with SunPower.
Speaker: And then that totally changed like our design process and our finance process.
Speaker: Like it just changed overnight.
Speaker: You know, Nevada opening up, like learning new markets that we go into and sales just like completely flood and it's like,
Speaker: okay, like we haven't done any research, we just opened.
Speaker: And so now like, now everybody's selling deals and now we have to figure it out, you know?
Speaker: SolarCity, when they laid off their, laid off, I don't know, let go of, got rid of their internal sales division.
Speaker: That was crazy because then people started coming to us and then just the deals just overnight just were coming in.
Speaker: Last year is the one that sticks out most in my mind.
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.
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.
Speaker: That was really hard.
Speaker: But props to all of the dealers that stuck through it, understood, and set proper expectations with the customer because
Speaker: I feel like we've dug ourselves out of that.
Speaker: And that was a lot for sure.
Speaker: I bet.
Speaker: That's crazy.
Speaker: But it's good.
Speaker: It's good stuff.
Speaker: Now it's like, okay, we can breathe a little bit.
Speaker: But now it's summer.
Speaker: Now summer's coming up.
Speaker: So it's like, okay, we've got to hunker down again.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: A lot of hunkering down.
Speaker: Yeah, I love it.
Speaker: Well, what do you get?
Speaker: With that many extra cells, are you hiring a ton more people?
Speaker: Yeah, we had to hire people like crazy.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: and find qualified people and like train them as fast as we can because like,
Speaker: we need them processing deals, right?
Speaker: And so do we have the best training process?
Speaker: Probably not.
Speaker: It could definitely be better.
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.
Speaker: Yeah.
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.
Speaker: I've had lots of deals where I haven't set expectations.
Speaker: I've told them, oh,
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.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: And it's taken three, four months now.
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.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: I think you're a couple years back maybe.
Speaker: Mm-hmm.
Speaker: And so I didn't really know.
Speaker: I'm just like, all right, I'll try it out.
Speaker: And I told the customer, oh, it should be up in like four weeks.
Speaker: But I didn't really know your guys' process.
Speaker: I don't know how many it was.
Speaker: And then it ended up taking three months, which, yeah, I get it.
Speaker: It was long in California.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: It was really long.
Speaker: And so, look, I mean, the customer stuck with it.
Speaker: But, like, how many accounts do you have where you don't tell them the timelines?
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: So what I've learned now is always make it worse, make it a little bit worse.
Speaker: Under-promise, over-deliver.
Speaker: Yes, that's important.
Speaker: I know Grant Cardone says over-promise and over-deliver, but it's like...
Speaker: You know, I'd rather not lose accounts for promising too much.
Speaker: And honestly, like David has nailed it recently with his podcast that he's been doing, trying to like get out to salespeople.
Speaker: Like you guys should really educate yourselves on the install process.
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?
Speaker: Does it need an MPU?
Speaker: Does it need like, what is it that could potentially come up?
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.
Speaker: Every single time is going to need some sort of electrical gun.
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.
Speaker: And just like communicating with your installer to make sure that you're setting the right expectations.
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?
Speaker: So that way it's not cookie cutter.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: All across the country.
Speaker: Each city has their own weird things and each utility has their own like weird things.
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.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Well, it's huge too.
Speaker: Cause I mean, you're setting yourself apart from the sales side too.
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.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: You'd be like, oh no, you do need an NPU.
Speaker: This is why you do need a D rate.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: They're probably going to have to do a change order like down the road.
Speaker: You know, you don't want to re-sign all these docs.
Speaker: Those Goodleaf loan docs are forever long.
Speaker: Titan, contract is, you know, however many pages.
Speaker: Like you don't want to have to go through all that again.
Speaker: Like let's build it in now.
Speaker: And, you know, we'll update you on what the scope of work ends up being.
Speaker: So...
Speaker: Um, yeah, I think it's important for everybody to get educated in that for sure.
Speaker: Yeah.
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.
Speaker: So for me, I've saved a ton of money and commissions too.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Where sometimes an installer will be like, oh, they need an MPU, but they didn't go through.
Speaker: Oh, could you maybe do D rate?
Speaker: Could you do in California?
Speaker: We have RMAs.
Speaker: Oh yeah.
Speaker: Yeah.
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.
Speaker: Yeah, yeah.
Speaker: And it's going to add, you know, a lot more cost and a lot of these other options.
Speaker: So I'm like, okay, I'd rather just, you know, have it going quicker, not have as much need to be added.
Speaker: Unless of course they like want an MPU.
Speaker: Absolutely.
Speaker: Oh yeah, 100%.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: But, yeah, so just knowing those things, I think, for a lot of those reasons.
Speaker: That's what I like so much about, like, what you guys, Jcast, SolarCon, that's what we're talking about here is.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: And that's how you educate yourself and give yourself an edge.
Speaker: So I think that's huge.
Speaker: Be better than the next person.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah, that's great.
Speaker: No doubt.
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 in the ops.
Speaker: You've never done sales, have you?
Speaker: No, I mean the one sale that I made, um, this is kind of an interesting story.
Speaker: I'm going to tell you because it's pretty funny, but it's kind of weird at the same time.
Speaker: So, um, when I started at Titan, I was responsible for, um, purchasing leads and like dispersing those leads to our internal salespeople.
Speaker: And, um, so the leads would come to my phone.
Speaker: I call, set appointments, all that stuff.
Speaker: So then there was this one couple, the Goldbergs, that I really connected with.
Speaker: And so then I had told David, I'm like,
Speaker: I think these people are great whatever and I really wanted to get a Get some plastic surgery done.
Speaker: I want to get a boob job.
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.
Speaker: I'm like dope so then
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?
Speaker: And then I got my procedure done on a Wednesday,
Speaker: And then the following week was the install.
Speaker: And got my procedure done, was back to work on Monday.
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.
Speaker: And that they had to sell their house and they couldn't go through with this deal.
Speaker: And the install was later that week.
Speaker: And I was like, huh?
Speaker: What?
Speaker: She's like, yeah.
Speaker: And it was like the call that woke me up that morning.
Speaker: And I'm like, crap.
Speaker: Like, I just got this done.
Speaker: What the hell am I going to do?
Speaker: Like, ah.
Speaker: And so I had to go into work.
Speaker: Yep.
Speaker: And tell David and Kyle,
Speaker: The Goldbergs canceled because of this reason.
Speaker: And they were like, hmm.
Speaker: I'm like, mm-hmm, yeah, but you can't take it out now.
Speaker: Like, that'd be weird.
Speaker: And so that was my first sale.
Speaker: That's awesome.
Speaker: And then it was like, okay, well, now you have to sell other deals to, like, make up for that.
Speaker: And it was, like, this nightmare to try and get.
Speaker: I am a horrible salesperson.
Speaker: I just am.
Speaker: So that's why I have so much mad respect for the sales dealers that we have because I couldn't do it.
Speaker: And yeah, it's kind of odd.
Speaker: I was never able to really pay David and Kyle back for that.
Speaker: So it's just always been a running joke.
Speaker: But yeah, that was within my first couple months of working at Titan.
Speaker: The boob job deal.
Speaker: The boob job deal.
Speaker: Yeah, it was very funny.
Speaker: So yeah, I haven't done sales.
Speaker: That's what it takes to motivate the ladies?
Speaker: I don't know.
Speaker: Maybe they'd all sell more.
Speaker: Like, set a goal and just wait until it gets turned on.
Speaker: And then go do your procedure.
Speaker: Then go spend your money.
Speaker: I guess that's why my dealer never pays me before the install.
Speaker: Yep.
Speaker: There you go.
Speaker: Yeah, because then you're like, ah, crap.
Speaker: Like, I got to dig myself out of this hole.
Speaker: Oh, my gosh.
Speaker: That was the worst thing.
Speaker: They're like, you have to...
Speaker: you have to go to them.
Speaker: You have, like, we paid for a permit.
Speaker: It was in Peoria and Peoria has really high permit fees and we paid the utility, like all this stuff.
Speaker: I'm like, but he's, but he, he's sick.
Speaker: Like he's, they're selling their house.
Speaker: Like, well, how am I supposed to go?
Speaker: And it was like, so it was not only the commission, it was also the hard cost that, that I also owe them.
Speaker: So.
Speaker: That's pretty funny.
Speaker: That's a good story.
Speaker: I haven't told that story, by the way.
Speaker: Really?
Speaker: No, no.
Speaker: Like, I haven't told that story, like, in this, like, forum at all.
Speaker: So, this is exclusive.
Speaker: All right.
Speaker: So we said solarpreneur.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: You heard it first.
Speaker: That's so great.
Speaker: No, that's going to be one of the funniest stories I've ever heard on the podcast.
Speaker: Kind of.
Speaker: Yeah, it's kind of crazy.
Speaker: Of course, it's a customer that like has an extreme circumstance.
Speaker: Oh my gosh.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Like it was just.
Speaker: That never happens.
Speaker: I felt so bad.
Speaker: Oh my gosh.
Speaker: That was rough.
Speaker: Because any other deal, you're going to like fight tooth and nail to get them back.
Speaker: But it's like, what do you say?
Speaker: What do you say to that?
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: So when that happens with dealers, I'm like, I've been there.
Speaker: I'm going to waive the hard costs for you.
Speaker: Like, how can we, you know, like that's hard.
Speaker: You never can predict that stuff.
Speaker: That's why the installs have to happen so fast.
Speaker: I know.
Speaker: Right?
Speaker: I know.
Speaker: Get it on the roof.
Speaker: Get it on the roof and add value to the home.
Speaker: I know.
Speaker: And like, just get that done.
Speaker: It's crazy.
Speaker: It's a funny story.
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?
Speaker: Because solar obviously takes a little bit.
Speaker: have you guys ever like thought about doing something like that at in Titan or have you done it in any markets?
Speaker: Um, some people put like the box where they, like the combiner box or the inverter, like stuff like that.
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.
Speaker: Um, nothing really set in stone.
Speaker: Um, if a,
Speaker: Dealer asks for us to do that, we'll do it.
Speaker: So it's not completely off the table, but it's not something that we're doing on a large scale.
Speaker: Okay.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Okay.
Speaker: Because, yeah, I mean, that's, you know, with solar obviously it takes a long time.
Speaker: So I think anything you can give the customers tangible or kind of lock them in.
Speaker: Yeah, that's why it's important to communicate with your installer.
Speaker: Like if that's an idea that you have, like let's figure out a process for you.
Speaker: Let's figure out how we can
Speaker: you know, help stick that customer for you a little bit more.
Speaker: So it's something that we're open to having a conversation about for sure.
Speaker: It's just got to ask.
Speaker: You don't know if you don't ask.
Speaker: Yeah, true.
Speaker: Good, good.
Speaker: Okay, well, Chrissy, last couple questions here.
Speaker: This podcast we're mostly focused on, you know, the sales reps, the owners, things like that.
Speaker: So for you that has dealt with all these people.
Speaker: Do you need the camera to be touched?
Speaker: Matt, do you need it?
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?
Speaker: Yeah, I would say plan, plan, plan, plan.
Speaker: Plan your blitzes with your installer.
Speaker: Like get...
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.
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.
Speaker: So, um,
Speaker: I would say that, but also I don't find salespeople annoying.
Speaker: I think they want their customer to get installed, and we do too.
Speaker: But I think it's just knowing and understanding and figuring out
Speaker: Like, why is it that it takes longer here?
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.
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?
Speaker: So talk, talk, communication.
Speaker: Yeah, communication.
Speaker: Ask the why.
Speaker: Get the reason why.
Speaker: There's always a reason.
Speaker: So, yeah.
Speaker: Okay, I like that.
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.
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.
Speaker: Yeah, so it's like, how long is your blitz going to be for?
Speaker: Okay, you guys are going to have people there for 14 days.
Speaker: Okay, cool.
Speaker: We're going to make sure that any of the jobs that this team submits in that 14 days, we have
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.
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.
Speaker: Try and get all those documents while you guys are still there.
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.
Speaker: Like, all of that stuff is doable.
Speaker: It just takes planning and not the week before.
Speaker: It takes a couple weeks to, like, get all that stuff set up.
Speaker: So I think that's something super impactful that I think a lot of people should know.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Okay.
Speaker: That's huge.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: And that's cool how open you guys are to just like making the adjustments happen.
Speaker: Yeah.
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.
Speaker: Yeah, and that's also what sets Titan apart.
Speaker: I don't think that people realize that.
Speaker: So like planning that with your partner relations rep, planning that with the installer, like have those higher level conversations.
Speaker: Like if your installer isn't open to having that conversation,
Speaker: like Titan is.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: I love it.
Speaker: That's awesome.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Well, just to kind of wrap up here, Chrissy, um, so Titan, you guys, how many markets are you guys in now?
Speaker: Um, I, we were at 17 a couple of weeks ago, I believe 18 now, um, just opened up in Louisiana.
Speaker: Okay.
Speaker: So yeah, just continuing to, we're, uh, just got licensed in Ohio.
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.
Speaker: Growth is definitely happening this year on that side of the country.
Speaker: That's awesome.
Speaker: What's the vision for you guys?
Speaker: I know you talked about your app and everything that's coming out, but is the plan just keep dominating, keep expanding?
Speaker: Just want to continue to be the
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
Speaker: have that, be able to have that relationship with your installer to give the feedback.
Speaker: And if they can adjust, perfect.
Speaker: If they can explain it, perfect.
Speaker: Like have those conversations and it's not confrontational.
Speaker: It's just, it's business.
Speaker: Take yourself out of it.
Speaker: Let's all, let's all get the solar on the roof as fast as possible.
Speaker: All right.
Speaker: And if they can't adjust, you know who to call.
Speaker: We got Titan right there.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: So I know it's been awesome having you on, Chrissy.
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?
Speaker: So we have a dealer inquiry page on our Titan website.
Speaker: You just go to titansolarpower.com, click dealer in the menu, and then there's a dealer inquiry page there.
Speaker: Chase Anderson is the one who will be –
Speaker: talking with them at first and then get them onboarded and that's, that's all Matt's process, which is great.
Speaker: And then, you know, just off to the races, but I mean, you can follow us on, you can message us on Instagram.
Speaker: You can do any of that, like whatever we're open.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: That's awesome.
Speaker: Another thing I thought of, so say, is there like a requirement,
Speaker: if someone's like a one-man show or has like two reps or something, can they go like just start selling?
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.
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.
Speaker: and, you know, talks to people within, you know, a day of them inquiring.
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.
Speaker: Okay.
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.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: then like you have to understand that that's going to be something that's going to make you better.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: You know?
Speaker: So, yeah.
Speaker: Okay.
Speaker: And then like, well, yeah, because you guys have, I'm sure, you know, massive dealers, tiny ones.
Speaker: Mm-hmm.
Speaker: So like how do you, is there any, how do you guys prioritize them, difference, or is there like big differences between them?
Speaker: No.
Speaker: A dealer that does five deals a week versus a dealer that does 45 deals a week, like that homeowner is important.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: So there is no prioritizing.
Speaker: Um, and really want to make sure that that's known.
Speaker: That's cool.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Like the homeowner is the homeowner.
Speaker: We have, you know, our, they are our, uh, customer and also so is sales.
Speaker: So, um,
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.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: That's good to hear.
Speaker: Yeah.
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.
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.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: So it's like, yeah, I get it.
Speaker: You're going to treat the golden goose good and everything.
Speaker: Yeah, I mean, it's not necessarily treating someone better or moving stuff up on the calendar.
Speaker: It's keeping a clean pipeline, right?
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?
Speaker: You want to make sure that you are...
Speaker: installing as much as it was that they were selling back, you know, six weeks ago or something like that.
Speaker: So if they sold 45, we determine their cancel rate.
Speaker: That's how many spots that they should have on the calendar.
Speaker: And that's how many, like, that's how, like, we look at filling the install calendar.
Speaker: So if you sold five, you should have, six weeks ago, you should have five installs that week.
Speaker: You know what I mean?
Speaker: So it's like just making sure that people know
Speaker: that as well.
Speaker: Like, and that's just to ensure, again, a healthy pipeline for us and for each dealer.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: So look at, look at your, um, average timeline with whatever installer that you're with.
Speaker: Look at the deals that you sold.
Speaker: However many weeks ago, those should fit into an install week.
Speaker: Okay.
Speaker: And that's how you keep a healthy pipeline.
Speaker: Okay.
Speaker: Making sure that they all kind of fall on the same, um, like week of install essentially.
Speaker: If that makes sense.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: That's awesome.
Speaker: Okay.
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.
Speaker: Um, but, uh, yeah, last question.
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?
Speaker: Oh, so sweet.
Speaker: Um, no, just like, again,
Speaker: The relationship that you have with your installer is very, very, very important.
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.
Speaker: And then there's lots of options out there.
Speaker: So just have that really good relationship, take the time to build that and
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
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Speaker: Hope you enjoyed the episode.
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