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The Return of Taylor McCarthy: Mastering the Art of Selling
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Yes, Taylor McCarthy is back after years of honing more empowering and intuitive ways to sell and train solar. With his upcoming book "How to Master the Art of Selling 2", we'll catch up with the projects and developments Taylor has done years after his first episode with the podcast.
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Transcript
Taylor Armstrong's Success Journey
00:00:00
Speaker
And my warning is to all these companies that are doing the bad thing to a sales professionals, you know, they need to clean it up because the best revenge is massive success. So I'll see you on the scoreboard. We're making plays, baby. We're making plays.
00:00:14
Speaker
Welcome to the Solarpreneur Podcast, where we teach you to take your solar business to the next level. My name is Taylor Armstrong. went from $50 in my bank account and struggling for groceries to closing 150 deals in the year and cracking the code on why sales reps fell.
00:00:31
Speaker
I teach you 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.
00:00:43
Speaker
What is a solopreneur you might ask? solopreneur is a new breed of solopro that is willing to do whatever it takes to achieve mastery and you are about to become one.
Introducing Taylor McCarthy
00:00:54
Speaker
What's going on, ladies and gentlemen? i am super excited for this podcast because we've got someone that has been the top recorded podcast ever in the history of Solopreneur, and he is coming back for a much long-awaited return. So welcome back, the kid, Mr. Taylor McCarthy. Thanks for coming on with us. Glad to be here, Mr. Taylor Armstrong. Taylor gang gang, double Taylor time, and we're going to bring you guys the sauce, so i hope you're ready. Let's do it. So we're praying this works. We had a, we' we're about 10 minutes in and then we had a technological issue. So we're going praying that this works this time. But ah yeah, man, excited to take a deep dive with you today. I know you got your book coming out here soon. So we're going dive deep into that why you decided to write a book. And just really what you've been up to the past two, three years, selling people on selling, which I know is what you're all about. So ah yeah, man, catch us up. What's been the biggest ah things you've seen in solar in these past two, three years since
Productivity and Relationships in Sales
00:01:51
Speaker
we last talked? Yeah, you know, first off, thanks. for having me. Welcome to everybody that's listening and viewing. And i have a lot of things on my mind, actually. the The last two to three years, I've always thought about what is the most productive thing possible at every given moment, which is something Tom Hopkins taught me when I was 24 years old.
00:02:10
Speaker
And for me, it's creating. It's creating, creating content, creating salespeople. you know My currency is relationships. Over the course of the last you know five, six months, I was traveling. I had more flights than I've ever had this year. I think I did 126 flights throughout the year, traveling all across the United States, traveling through Canada. I did a tour in Canada. i did a tour all through the United States. I sold in Puerto Rico. you know For some people, they might think like, oh, a grueling schedule, you know going from training in office for two hours, 10 hours in the field, doing it again the next day, getting on an airplane, doing the same thing the next couple days, getting on an airplane and creating that schedule for three to four months. But it's the most fulfilling thing. Because I see sales professionals and most people don't do what we do because they couldn't handle it. And you know you said, hey, we had these technological issues. like Those are challenges. And that's the best thing is as sales professionals, we face challenges every single day.
00:03:08
Speaker
And a lot of you guys might be at the point of your... solar career and you're on the solar coaster where you could have your highest high or lowest low within a 24-hour period. And those are things we get to do. We don't have to do it. So going back to a good opportunity is always going to be a state of mind. What is your state of mind? Oh, last year, solar industry is changing. Oh, people aren't, this isn't the best thing now. Well, if you think that, then yeah, it's probably not a good opportunity. But if your opportunity mindset is, hey, I got to go throw a party. Like I don't knock doors. I'm a professional trick or
Opportunity Mindset in the Solar Industry
00:03:40
Speaker
treater. I'm on a grown man's Easter egg hunt every single day. I go throw a party and I give away free money and I'm paid thousands of dollars to do that.
00:03:47
Speaker
If you went up to a crowd and said, hey, who wants to go knock on random strangers' doors and will just go knock on their door and try to sell them stuff, nobody's going to raise their hand. But if you say, hey, I'm throwing a party today, we're giving away free money, and every time somebody accepts the free money, we're paid thousands of dollars to do that. So it's just the way that you think that will create the emotions, create a feeling, create a judgment, which will lead to a decision and closing is creating the decision. So for me, it's just saying, hey, what is the most productive thing possible at every given moment? Creating. We have almost 30 YouTube episodes that we haven't released. We've documented everything. Just want to be able to provide that for sales professionals to be able to make your life a little bit easier. You've influenced so many people, man, including myself. um I always say that when you when I first went through your program, that was definitely one of the ah things that helped me the most in my sales career is just learning from you and learning from other killers in a lot of the mastermind groups that you put us through and being able to compete, learn from the best. i So helpful to do that. And then I know you're continuing doing that now with your book, with your YouTube, just so much so much sauce coming down the road.
00:04:56
Speaker
down the the pipeline. It's insane, man. And I love what you said about the story that people tell themselves, because that's what I see all the time is people start telling themselves some story in their head, and then it becomes the reality. So what do you think are the biggest challenges that you see going from team to team to team is all pretty similar challenges that you see people struggling with? Or is it different quite a bit? What have you noticed going from so many different companies and states and all that?
Continuous Training in Sales
00:05:21
Speaker
Probably the biggest thing that I've noticed is a sales professional is not willing to actually pay the price that it takes to be great. What you have to understand is training eliminates trying.
00:05:31
Speaker
A lot of people don't understand how important training is until they stop training. Jay Douglas Edwards says the reason why there's so much mediocrity in the field of sales or the reason why a salesperson might go into a slump is because they stop telling the entire story. What do I mean by that? It's they're shortcutting their presentation. They're shortcutting the things that they do off of the doors. You see, the things that you do off of the doors needs to be to get you into the groove when you're on the doors. And what's crazy way to think about is a sales professional has their professional contract sitting right in front of them. We're paid more than dentists, doctors, lawyers, athletes in some cases. And with those other industries, they have to have the willingness to pay the price with effort, learning, time investment, dedicated sacrifice that it takes to be great. You know, for me, I got involved with door-to-door sales in 2008. So I'm like a dinosaur. I'm 36 years old compared to some of these 18, 19-year-olds that I train. I'm like... hey, what were you doing in 2008? And they're like, I was one years old. So for for a lot of sales professionals, they just have to understand that there's a price to pay to be great. And I'm not just talking about investing in yourself or joining a training program. I'm talking more about Hey, I'm going to put my last name on my back. I'm going to commit now. I'm going to figure it out later because risk is the down payment for success. It's double down on yourself. And that's the reason that I wrote my book. It's going to be launching March 17th, 2026. You guys can find it on Amazon. You can find it on Barnes and Noble nationwide. You can even find it in Hudson news on all the major airports and train stations.
Upcoming Book: 'How to Master the Art of Selling 2'
00:07:08
Speaker
starting in the middle of March. And actually, here's the first copy. So, How to Master the Art of Selling 2. This is the sequel to my mentor's Picasso masterpiece, How to Master the Art of Selling, which sold, think, between 8 and 10 million copies now. not just in the United States, not just to solar sales professionals, but sales professionals worldwide. So not only will it be available in the United States, there's foreign rights licensing, it'll be in Asia, it'll be all across the world. And that's one thing that I wanted to do was I'm not taking anything with me when I go away, when I pass away, when I die one day, but I want to be able to give everything. That's the secret to living is giving. That's why I started the YouTube channel. That's why I create content. Because I think of the sales professionals that would have never made it if they didn't have that inspiration, if they didn't learn that one or two different things to be able to close a sale, and they would have quit.
00:08:01
Speaker
And they would have said, hey, I'm done with sales. So I think about it that way, because a salesperson can reach their highest high or their lowest low within a 24-hour period. And you know we face that every day as solar sales professionals. And yeah, man, I mean, huge congrats getting your book done. I know it's been a long process. What, like three years, you said? You've been working on this s thing for about three years? Yeah, so i I wrote the book myself. I spent a lot of time writing it and then editing it, then going through another editor, working with the publisher, working with the distribution. you know, like just because you write a book doesn't doesn't mean that it's gonna be on Amazon or in Barnes and Noble. Like it was a pretty big deal to be able to get into all the Barnes and Nobles nationwide. And it was even a bigger deal to get into Hudson News in the airports because with my specific publisher, this will be the first book in three years that's got accepted into that program. And the reason that I wrote the book isn't to sell the book, it's to be able to provide value and to be able to have something there forever. 20 years, 30 years, 40 years from now, this will be available. Even 100 years from now is the way that I wrote this book because a lot of people say, don't put all of your juice in one book. You should set it up for two or three books after this. But for me, I said, hey, I got big shoes to fill. I want to put all the sauce in the book.
00:09:20
Speaker
Yeah, no, i can't wait to check it out. And Artie gave me a sample. So from what I've heard already, it's just um so good. So many, I mean, I've listened 15 minutes and I've already got the page of notes. So can't wait to listen to the whole thing, read the whole thing. Does a build on a lot of the stuff that Tom Hopkins wrote in his original book? Are they at all related? Or is this like completely new material? i don't know if you build off some of the things that he talks about in his book.
00:09:45
Speaker
Yeah, it's definitely built a lot of the fundamentals and principles because Tom was the person that I really wanted to emulate when I started as a sales professional. So because I wanted to find somebody that I wanted to emulate, it allowed a stepping stone for me to have a vision on the direction that I wanted to go. So kind of like a breakdown is we break down the first chapter, like what is a salesperson and why we were really mislabeled from day one. And I say mislabeled because the general population's stereotypical salesperson isn't somebody that, oh, a salesperson, I love salespeople. But we shouldn't have been called salespeople in the beginning. It's like a perception of if you're driving 100 miles per hour down the highway and you see the blues in your headlights and you're like, damn, I'm getting pulled over. You're probably not going to like a police officer in that situation. But if you needed help and you called 911 and a police officer saved you, you'd look at them like a hero. So it's the same title, but it's the way that we envision what that person is. The second chapter is observation and analysis, the way that we analyze ourselves, the way that we observe, the way that we are looking for clues because different buyers require different amounts of information. The third chapter is the definition of selling, and that's blending these opposites. The way we communicate, the way we persuade, the way that we build trust, the way that we build respect.
00:11:05
Speaker
It's like the art of blending these opposites and constantly weaving to make somebody feel a certain way. fourth chapter is what it takes to be a highly skilled sales professional the difference between the interested versus the committed versus the obsessed like being completely myopic in our vision of what we do opposite reverse thinking chapter five the way that we think you know rejection turns me on i'm amused by hostile people like somebody slams the door in my face that was nasty dude i'm on fire because a salesperson is most contagious right after they get a sale The sixth chapter is the success triangle, technique, attitude, behavior, the P's and D's to winning as a sales professional is the ABCs of selling the most powerful techniques in all of selling, questions being the answer, opposite reverse selling, creating the emotional climate, sales closing,
00:11:52
Speaker
power phraseology, the golden pearls, the most important lessons I've learned and why we have to keep the main thing, the main thing. So we really sequence the book for a sales professional to get a ton of value in every chapter, not just like the first and last chapter are juice and the middle is just a bunch of fluff. Sounds so good. Can't wait to check it out. What was what you think has been the hardest part about of writing a book? Is there stuff that surprised you along the process where you thought, oh man, I thought this would be easy. It's turned out to be a lot harder. know there's so many things you did over the course of three years, but anything that surprised you was harder or easier than you thought when it came to writing in the book. Yeah, so it's just about having a good sequence. So like, like if you're going to write a book, you need to have a framework for the book first, you can't just go into writing it. So being able to create the framework, creating the chapters, and then refining, constantly refining. So after I finished writing the book, then I would have an editor refine it. And then from that revision, then there's another editor that revises it. And it's constantly going through it. So like I've read the book 30 times now and I've constantly made updates to make it a masterpiece to create a Picasso where it's not like something where you can just write it once and then it's done because these publishers, there's ways to write a book.
00:13:07
Speaker
And there's ways that you have to be able to do that. For me, I just came back from Seattle, Washington. The audiobook will be available on audible.com. For me, the audiobook was probably the easiest part because it comes naturally as sales professionals. The audiobook also did take a lot of energy because you're putting emphasis on everything that you do during the audiobook, like the range of your voice, the volume, the pace, the diction. And I've listened to a lot of audiobooks, so you have to be able to keep the listener engaged throughout that entire process. Yeah. And you you recorded the whole audiobook yourself, right?
00:13:42
Speaker
Yes. Yes, sir. So your your boy recorded the whole thing, so you'll be hearing me out of your car speaker, hopefully. Even when For me, like what's crazy story is when I was 18 years old, for all of you guys that are listening, I used to have this machine. It was called a Microsoft Zoom. Now, if you're 18, 19 years old, you probably have no idea what I'm talking about. But it was like the competitor to i iPods back in the day. And there was a website called piratebay.org where I would download all the sales audio and I had 30 gigabytes of sales audio. Like I live, eat and sleep selling. It's one of the best decisions I made was making the decision to marry the game. And I would fall asleep to sales audio at night.
00:14:24
Speaker
And I'd be subliminally thinking about selling the next day and I'd wake up excited to sell. i think my secret ingredient is having fun. After 18 years, I have to tell you right now, if you're not having fun, it's not worth it You need to figure out a way to have fun. For me, I don't tie my success to the amount of sales that I make. i always tell people it's i' I'm Irish and I continue to get lucky. But for me, it's like, hey, every single day, one through 10, how much fun did I have? How interesting was I? Because if you want to get somebody interested, you have to be interesting and interested in them. what was my level of effort and input? Score one through 10 in each three categories.
00:15:02
Speaker
like stop over complicating the process. Just go for a 30 point day every day. If you're super interesting and you're interested in them and they find you interesting, you have fun and you give maximum effort and input, like you're going to get sales. But there's all this stuff that comes into our mind that can cloud our thought. Like Tom Hopkins taught me this game. It goes like this zip, zip, zip. I am now in my positive shell. When you have these negative thoughts go into your mind, that's when it goes back to a great opportunity as a state of mind. We don't have to do anything we get to do this. Yeah, 100%. So important that guys know that and i remember why they're doing it.
00:15:38
Speaker
Because um like you said, there's just been so much doubt in the solar industry. There's been companies that have gone out of business, gone under, there's been guys not getting paid. And i always say, I think the people that can maintain that, you know like you said, the zip-zip stuff, maintain the positivity, maintain the positive stories they tell themselves. souls are I think the people are going to be the future leaders of the industry and the guys making the most money, the guys leading the biggest team, just because they know how to manage those emotions, keep moving forward with things. But so important to be obsessed. And that's what I've learned from you, Taylor, is just really to master this art of sales is like you got to be obsessed. You got to download the audios. You got to watch the videos. And that's usually one of the key traits I see in every top guy is they're always wanting to learn. They're always, there's never like a full, you know, point where you know everything. You really, you really do have to fall in love with the game. People are like, why do you still go door to door? like I genuinely enjoy it. It's a seller's high. Everyone that's listening to this knows what it's like to be able to close a transaction or to help a family and that feeling that you get after having one of your best sales days. And for me, it's not about why you do it. It's about who you're doing it for. I think the top of my the top of my list when it comes to the things that I've learned over the course of the last 18 years is do business with people you want to do life with.
00:16:56
Speaker
Because yes, there are challenges. Yes, there are bad actors in this industry. Yes, there are businesses that run a Rob Peter to pay Paul business. These companies are ruining it for a lot of people. And You know, that's just unfortunate right now that you have these bad actors in the space and, you know, you'll have people that are in upper management positions that are just straight collecting and they're not providing value for their people.
00:17:25
Speaker
And, oh, well, I recruited you three years ago, so I'm going to make X amount of dollars off of you. Well, what kind of value are a you actually bringing? Are you checked in? Are you checked out? Because the more that you're checked in on your business, the more that you'll be able to give and the more you'll be able to serve. 100%.
00:17:40
Speaker
hundred percent So I'm curious, all your blitzes the past three years, you've been to all these different states, you've been to Puerto Rico, Canada even. do you have any that like stuck out maybe where you saw a guy totally changed around, you helped him team, you helped him totally turn it around or anything that stuck out on all these blitzes you've been to?
00:17:57
Speaker
Yeah, no, a lot of good feedback relationships that I've been able to build brothers and sisters that I now have from the industry, sales professionals like doubling their sales right after I left or being able to show them a different way to be able to gain a transaction, some very, very difficult sales. on camera from very from beginning to end and a lot of good footage you know we document everything so this year we went up the east coast we went through canada up through california illinois michigan all through texas arizona
00:18:33
Speaker
We went up to Oregon, which was a really cool market, to Colorado, Massachusetts, Maryland, to Georgia, Florida, and then we finished off the Blitz in Puerto Rico. So um then we went up to New Jersey, just so a lot of getting in front of sales professionals and being able to really inspire them and to serve and really elevate their thinking of what we are as sales professionals. Yeah, so good. And I hear so many ah good things from people. that You've been able to go out and knock crazy blitzes and even the Puerto Rico one. So down there, it's all Spanish. So what were you doing? to How were you knocking doors out in Puerto Rico when it's all Spanish? Yeah, so mi español es poquito. Necesito practicar su casa. Hola, mi nombre es Taylor. Un momento, aquí, aquí. So I figured it out. The second door in Puerto Rico, we got a sale. We ended up with two sales while I was down there. Definitely needed a little bit of help with translation on the first sale. The second one was, he spoke perfect English. And, you know, we just figure out a way no matter where we go and we document it. And the reason we document sales is because most sales trainers aren't doing that. Most sales trainers are sitting telling you all these great things. But at the end of the day, it's all theory. Like I think for a lot of people, it's like, bro, just get one sale. I probably have 200 sales on camera now from beginning to end. And that's my secret weapon is I got to go back, watch this footage and get a little bit better every day, the same way an athlete would watch footage before or after a game.
00:20:05
Speaker
And even someone like you, Taylor, i remember the portion of the book that you sent me, you did talk about recording yourself, how important that is. So someone like you, and you've been doing this 18 years, selling, and selling people on selling. do you still pick up things as you watch your YouTube videos, you watch your recordings? Even you, do you still pick up things where like, oh, maybe i could have done this a little bit or maybe it could have adjusted this? do you get a lot out of watching your sales, your YouTube videos? A million percent. And I'm always looking for different ways, different one-liners, different ways to handle different objections. So from the last time that you guys listened to this podcast three years ago, I've got a whole new arsenal in the way that I'm going about selling solar. And a lot of the time, it's just, I could sit there and tell them all the reasons they should do it, but...
00:20:52
Speaker
A lot of the time, I just tell them the reasons they shouldn't do it. I use reverse selling to my benefit. I use a lot of pullbacks, takeaways at the right time. You know, like keep in mind that if you were eligible for the specific program and then I'll go into it. A lot of sales professionals like Major Nugget here, you're like going to the side of the house to look for the meter. I don't do that.
00:21:12
Speaker
i i I get into the house by asking about the main panel and taking it away.
Unique Sales Techniques and Objection Handling
00:21:17
Speaker
You know, like I don't care if they have no trees within seven miles from their house. I just say, hey, one of the reasons you'd be disallowed from the program is because of shading. Do you have any sort of trees like any like Jack and the Beanstalks behind the house? Okay, great. So the roof looks pretty good. That's a little bit above my pay grade. I'm not going up there. But do you know when the roof was replaced? Okay, like we don't know what's under the roof as far as the structure, um but the main reason that we found families have been disallowed from the program is, was the home built like before or after 1990? And they'll tell me something, I'll say, okay, you have a main panel unit, it's called an MPU.
00:21:53
Speaker
Do you know if that's like a type B or a type F? And they'll not know the answer to that. And I'll say, okay, it like 125 amp, 150 amp? Is it like a 200 amp? Okay, is there any way I can take a quick peek at that? Because I'll be able to tell you right away if it's either going to be like a thumbs up or a thumbs down. And I'll transition into the house. I'll use a lot of reverse selling. Like rather than me sitting here telling you all the reasons that make sense, I'll be the one to tell you why you would never get involved with this program. you know If I was sitting here trying to convince you to go into debt or like take out a loan, that's probably something you wouldn't even entertain, especially if you had to maintain the system yourself. And you know for a lot of families, what they've told me is the only reason they'd get involved with something like this is if we could show you a way that you would just redirect, divert, or shift the money you would have given to the utility company and you're paying for the power. So the easiest way for me to explain this is all we're proposing is utilizing the roof as a power plant. Any power that's being produced on site, you're just getting at a more economical amount.
00:22:51
Speaker
So the sun goes up, the bills go down. i don't know if you've heard of the sun. It was invented maybe about two weeks ago. And I'll look real serious and start nodding at them, make them laugh a little bit. You know, this is that blending of opposites, you know, um from from from that process.
00:23:06
Speaker
I'll just be able to transition and show them the reasons why they should do it. If I say it, they tend to doubt it. If they say it, it's true. So I have a lot of new one-liners in certain situations. Like, you know, maybe a family says, I don't want holes on my roof. I'm not putting panels up there. I've got so many different ways to handle that specific objection where the reason there's so much mediocrity in sales, if you only know one or two ways to handle a specific scenario and you run out of reasons, I've either got more reasons for them to say yes, or they've got more reasons to tell me no. Yeah. Okay, so in your book, Taylor, you talk you have a section on building trust. You mentioned a reverse selling. And it seems like that's a really good way to build trust is telling people stuff that maybe they're like, wow, if this guy's telling me not only the good things, but also the bad things. It builds trust. People tend to believe it more. or do Do you have any one-liners or other good ways to build trust or maybe some things you want to preview in the book about ah helping people build that trust?
00:24:01
Speaker
at the door and in the home? Yeah. So anxiety is the acid that wipes out somebody's enthusiasm. Enthusiasm is 51% of the sale. When I knock on their door, their anxiety is here and their certainty is down here. My goal is to shift that.
00:24:14
Speaker
it's like using little lines, like, you know, like John and Mary, like, can I put myself in your shoes for a minute? Or like, hey, I don't mean to pry. And different ways to handle different situations. So like when people get upset at me on the doors and start flipping out or they're rude to me, like I'll use lines like this. Like, you know, I totally get it, boss. Like, just so you know, I didn't mean to be disrespectful. Upper management has us going door to door. this It's ridiculous. Just so you know, this isn't door to door. And then I'll just keep going into my process. So it's being able to level with somebody and communicate at the right frequency. Because if you're not communicating at the right frequency or you can't make them feel a certain way, it's not the words that go into their mind. It's the music that they hear. Mm-hmm.
00:24:59
Speaker
It's good. Music that they hear. And speaking of music, um i know I think you've done some trainings on this, but a lot of people talk about the different personality personality types in selling.
00:25:10
Speaker
you know You're going to talk to the grandma differently. You're going to talk to the guy with the big truck. How much is that a factor in what you're doing at at a door? Are you changing your process quite a bit based on who's opening that door once you identify, okay, this a different personality?
00:25:23
Speaker
or ah what's your thoughts on that? Well, only 7% of the words that we speak our communication. The other 93% is the tonality and the body language, the voice inflection, the range, the volume, the pace, the diction. But I try to speak very clear. And i do that because for a lot of buyers, they're thinking in the back of their head,
00:25:46
Speaker
Like the major objection is it sounds too good to be true. i don't want to get screwed. So I need to level with them. I need to be talking to them like a human being, like they're talking to Taylor. And I think about it. Well, hey, if they didn't know who I was, what's the way that I need to speak to them for them to actually gain the message? And that's why I use a lot of lines like, hey, i'm going to cut to the chase or, you know, i'm going to give you the short version. An objection is a tactic used by the buyer to stall or prolong the final decision. and So the same way I have technique, the same way I have tactic, you know, they have tactic too. And that goes back to blending, blending opposites. When I'm persuading, there's three types of ways to persuade. I ask questions, I make statements or I utilize silence, which requires thoughts on the part of the buyer.
00:26:30
Speaker
I'll give you an example, okay, of what I mean by weaving, okay? So it's getting you to feel a certain way, but it's also blending. So like, for example, give me the objection that you don't want holes in your roof and you don't want to put panels up on the roof. i Yeah, I don't want holes on the roof. i don't want I don't want to put panels up on the roof, Taylor. Don't want to do it. Yeah, totally get it boss.
00:26:53
Speaker
Keep in mind that if you were even eligible for this specific program, we would be on the hook for 25 years, not only to maintain the system, we'd also be responsible for the roof as well as the dwelling. So let's just say, hypothetically, a year from now, there was a little raindrop coming into your kitchen because there was a leak from the panels. You know what I would tell you to do? I'd say, Taylor, take your most expensive thing, place it under the leak, and then call me and say, hey, Taylor, the roof is leaking from the panels. It's funny, actually. I was with a guy, George, last week. He lived right here on Mayflower Road. I told him the same exact thing. You know what he told me?
00:27:33
Speaker
He said, Taylor, it would be really difficult for me to convince my wife to stand under a leak. And then I'm completely silent. And now they're laughing and they're not even thinking of the objection. I don't want holes in my roof because I handled a cash to the objection. But then i created humor with the homeowner and they're like, ha ha ha, that's hilarious, you know, blah, blah, blah. And then the next thing you know, that's just that was just a tactic. You know, we're on the hook to maintain and warranty that system, the roof and the dwelling. So, you know, it's just not what I say, it's not how I say it, it's how I can make that family feel. And I'm always moving the sales process forward because when we talk about a good opportunity being a state of mind, If your envisionment when you go to the field is like, dude, I get to throw a party today. I'm giving away free money. I get paid thousands of dollars to do it. You'd be running door to door. And a salesperson is most contagious right after they get a sale. But what happens is salespeople sit there and they start doubting themselves. And a lot of people suffer from self-doubt while they others are intimidated by their full potential. So the next time you get the door slammed on your face, look at look look and say, dude, that was nasty. That was my best presentation. That was sick. And then you're off to the next house door gets slammed in your face. And you're bro, I'm on fire today. And people are like, bro, is this kid delusional? Like the kid got his door slammed in his face seven straight times. But I don't know. The hardest part of my job is timing. I get to that eighth door. I have a good look. Am I going to be contagious or am I going to be sitting there like, dude, I don't know, man. Like the utility company might be better than solar. Like this is bad turf. Somebody else was already to here. Maybe we should go for a lunch break, you know, like, and then you're not going to be contagious and you're going to, you're going to waste the opportunity when you have it.
00:29:11
Speaker
So true. So true. And yeah, i think again, it comes down to stories people tell themselves. um I know guys that's, you know, they felt comfortable selling to a certain type of customer. They're always looking for those people. And if they're talking to someone else, they're like, oh, it's the area. It's the type of customer. It's too high income. I know you're big on using slicks, showing people proof of what you're saying. Do you change the presentation to, you know, like higher income, lower income? do you find that you have to tailor that quite a bit depending on who you're talking to?
00:29:38
Speaker
based on income, ethnicity, things like that? I have a pretty good framework. you know like At the very beginning, always just create the yes momentum. you know I might use lines like, I was actually the one that put together the report for this location. This is 355 River Road. And then I'll blend to these opposites throughout the process. So for me, I'm utilizing specific one-liners throughout that process but I'm taking the command position in every selling situation. I am the assistant buyer. I take their hand and I lead them to a better situation through yes momentum because a sale is a series of sales. What I'm doing is I'm creating yeses throughout the process. So I get a yes within the first five seconds that will give me 15 seconds. And then I get another yes that will buy me another 20 seconds. And I'm creating the decision, which is otherwise known as closing. It's good and so many of your deals are just same days you're walking straight inside the home for you is is that something you're trying are you always trying to push for a same day when you can do you see any situations where it'd be better to to set the appointment out a day I mean and maybe if you're talking to just one decision maker but ah how do you determine if I have like okay I'm gonna walk in the home same day this or I'm gonna maybe schedule up for the next day maybe you notice that they've got stuff going on there any ah I don't know factors like that you're thinking of as you're knocking a door
00:30:56
Speaker
I always try to take the sales process as far as I possibly can. you know With a lot of these blitzes that I'm doing, companies hire me to come there to train their salespeople. These sales don't go under my name. so What I'll do is I'll take the process as far as I can,
00:31:13
Speaker
And sometimes the sales rep that I'm with will follow up with them. They'll manage the account. You know, I just am there to show them. I'm there to be the example to show them, hey, how do you go through the process and to be able to create that relationship with somebody to be able to help them um with this? Because it's a lot better than staying with the utility company. Like if they had panels up, it would be really difficult to convince them to rip them off. to start paying more. I'll use lines like, you know, our company's already paid for the report. It's 95% of the way complete. All we do is show you where the panels would be laid out and what the bill would have been last month. And then maybe they're giving me a bunch of no's and I'm like, hey, look, the company already paid for the report.
00:31:51
Speaker
A lot of people realize that if they could save money on a bill, they were never going to cancel. They'd at least want to look at it. I guess my question to you is if I was to pop by and drop it off, is it something that you would even look at or would you like immediately rip it up? And if they're like oh, we'd rip it up. I'm like, okay, God bless you. Appreciate time. And I'm off to the next house. Some do, some don't. So what? Someone's waiting. But at the same time, if they're like, oh, we'd look at it, then I know that I can try to find that hot button because different buyers require different amounts of information and different buyers are doing it for their reasons, not for my
Research and Market Tailoring
00:32:24
Speaker
reasons. So you have to find that hot button on why it makes sense. Maybe it's peace of mind. Maybe it's they want to save money. Maybe it's the environment. But going back to if I say it, they tend to doubt it. If they say it, then it's true. One of my ah challenges, Taylor, has been, ah you know, I've blitzed in a few different markets, gone to Texas, Idaho, I don't know, maybe three, four different states.
00:32:46
Speaker
And for me, it's always been kind of a tough time switching states because I try to sell it like I do in California. And then I noticed some of the things don't work as well. Like, for example, California, we can say stuff like government program and, you know, we can say stuff about like government funding. But I tried saying that in Texas and I got the door slammed right away. People are like, oh, screw the government.
00:33:06
Speaker
I'm not doing anything that involves that. Yeah. I'm the door. So I'm like, okay, I've got to treat a little bit different here. It can't be exactly the same as I'm selling it in California. And so i do you do anything? Maybe, i don't know, research or as you're going to these different states? Yeah. What do you do as you're going from state state? I had to go to Winnipeg, Canada this year. There's like like zero people that had solar up there and you have to find a problem. Without a problem and without pain, there will never be a change. So I'm in Winnipeg, Canada. I type in the utility company. I go to the most recent news and I'm trying to find an article to create a story because the better my story is, the more pain I can create. When I can create pain, I can create change. I can create a solution. I can explain how they'd be involved, how they would be rewarded, why it makes sense. And I can transition. So when I was in Winnipeg, I found out the utility company was billions of dollars in debt. and here's some game for you.
00:33:57
Speaker
Go type in your utility company and then type in debt or go to Google and type in how much is blank in debt. And you're going to see every utility company's billions of dollars in debt.
00:34:08
Speaker
So I might use a line like, you know, a lot of families were concerned about the 15% increase. That's the public information. What a lot of people don't know about is the private information. It's easier if I show you. And then if I put something in their hand that shows their billions of dollars in debt, then I can create pain to say, who do you think is going to have to pay for this? You know, you're in California where you're paying 50, 60, 70 cents a kilowatt hour. And then you're in other markets where it's 15 cents a kilowatt hour. What do you think is going to happen five years from now? it's more likely that their rate's going to be 40, 50 cents than stay the same at 15. So what you're providing is peace of mind and certainty for the buyers to gain independence from America's last monopoly. You know, and there's always different rates. I'm sure you've been a lot in some markets where you're selling higher, you're you're selling like a higher bill to them. And, you know, for me, it's sometimes been tough. Coming from California, we're we're cutting bills by 30, 40, 50%. Mm-hmm. And then these other states, it's like you got to sell bill swaps and do things like that. Well, it it's it it all comes down to positioning the value. We prospect, we present, we position the value, and we go into pricing. Presenting, you have to get them physically involved. Positioning the value is the way that they think about it. For example, something that's in the book is something called a triplicate of choice close. So if you know that you have to do a bill swap, you might say something along these lines. So the ideal situation when a family gets involved with this program is they realize an additional 10 to $15 a week wouldn't take food off their table.
00:35:39
Speaker
But if they were able to gain control and predictability, that's the reason that they're putting the panels up. Now, there are the fortunate few that are rich. They pay for the system out of pocket. They pay for their permitting. They pay for their installation. Now, because of certain so situations and circumstances, some families would only do this if we could legitimately protect the amount that they'd pay, but keep them at the same amount. Keep in mind, you would have to be eligible for that. We do have a program that is a little bit more selective. The company allots me to fund five of those. We've already done three, and I'm doing two more by the end of the day. You see, that's a five, three, two technique. I'm creating the decision by positioning the value for the buyer. Tripcut choice. I still remember that being in a knock star and that that changed the game. So useful, especially when you're in you know markets where you are selling on like a bill swap and people aren't relying on tons of savings.
00:36:33
Speaker
As far as the presentation goes, Taylor, one thing that I really got a ton of value from you is just creating that intent statements, telling people what's going to happen in the presentation, telling them what's going to happen and um using that to also build urgency.
00:36:48
Speaker
So I don't know if that's changed for you over the years as you've been doing solar, but any adjustments you made to like your intent statements or like framing the deal or and maybe some new tricks up your sleeve to build urgency in the cell?
00:37:00
Speaker
Yeah, I just keep it simple. i level with them. You know, I tell them I'm a consumer myself. Say it's not a complicated process. I'm going to put a line down the middle of a piece of paper. I'm going to show you what your current situation is. We go over a series of questions to determine if you'd be a good fit for the program.
00:37:17
Speaker
And then I'm going to show you the design fill at the right side of the chart. And at the end of it, I'm going to ask you just one question. If you can find one thing and throughout this entire process, I just want you to find one thing that you like better about your current situation. And if you can just find one thing about your current situation that you like better, then nothing would change. However, if we could only find the reasons why it would make sense for your situation, the idea is you would go to the back of the line. And if the home was eligible, then we're going to start completing check marks. And once we get all the check marks complete, the system would be installed. The system would be operating and this would be your situation. So after showing you all this, is there any reason why you'd want to continue paying the utility company? And then I'm silent. And if I've done my job right and I've created that yes momentum, that's how we create the decision. good. And what about, i know you're big on hypothetical questions, right? Get them to think about hypotheticals. What are you what are some hypothetical questions you a lot you use a lot in yourselves to get them to kind of like think about, you know, already having the panels on the roof and envision themselves already?
00:38:20
Speaker
having the solar up there. Yeah. So if you guys have studied my work, you know that I always take that video at the end. So I'm here with Taylor and Taylor, have one more question for you. So hypothetically, if the panels were already set up on the roof and I snapped my fingers, you had the $158 fixed amount and you know you had this and they knocked the door and tried to convince you to rip it off and start paying 200, what would you say? And they're like no, I would never do that. And then I'll say like, what if they were like, please come back to us? What would you say? and they're like, we wouldn't do it and then I take that text message and I send it back to them. Sometimes before I go into the close, I'm like, I do have one more question. It is somewhat of a heavy question, but the company does require me to ask it on a scale from one to 10. And if you had to break it down to decimal points, you definitely could. But what would you rate my socks? and then I'll pull up my sock, I'll i like pull up my leg and then they'll be like, oh my gosh, that's a 10. And then I'll go, no, they're laughing, I'm laughing. And then I go right into the clothes because I've reduced that anxiety. You know, if everything that I told you is exactly the way that it is, like, do you feel like this is a better decision? Well, guess what? Everything that I said is exactly the way that it is. There is no more, there is no less. Some people tend to make this a much bigger decision than it really is. But a lot of the time it's the salesperson that makes it a bigger deal that walks himself out of that. It's so funny. So many people have your presentation just like almost word to word, you know, I'll hear guys. and
00:39:44
Speaker
that's, that's, that's, ah I love to do that. And I love to hear that because but that's why, that's why I give so much to the industry and, you know, love me, hate me, whatever. Like I'm here to serve, I'm here to help people. And that's just the best part about it. I'm blessed to be able to get to do that. And to be able to go when I meet people that are like, dude, you've helped me so much. and like, dude, that's awesome. That's a cool feeling. And, you know, that's why I always say you got to find somebody you wish to emulate, you find somebody you're competing with, and you find somebody that you're mentoring. Because when you're mentoring other people, you have a new shadow with you, you always sell better. So these are just fundamentals that will help you. I'd also tell all of you guys, if you're finding...
00:40:28
Speaker
struggling to find motivation, go to the local 7-Eleven, find the guy sitting outside of the the the store and say, hey, come follow me door to door and just hold a camera. You don't have to say anything. Every time I get a sale, give you 500 bucks. You might not think they're helping you, but they are, you know, because they're keeping you accountable to stay out there in the field. And so that's one of the best things that I did was starting a YouTube channel and documenting everything that I do.
00:40:52
Speaker
Because you can have haters, you can have people that say whatever, but at the end of the day, everything that I do is documented. I have all the raw footage on Noxstar University of every one of these sales. So for you that are watching the YouTube, you see a lot of the vlogs, but within the university, we have all the raw footage beginning to end on all these transactions. A lot of guys, a lot of my guys, they'll go into the homes and I hear them say, say your question, ah who who winked at who first? That's like, i care I'm like, I wonder where they got that from. and Yeah. Yeah.
00:41:21
Speaker
Who went to who for situations like when you're selling to the wife and the husband comes to the door and he's like, what's going on? I'm like, Hey, congratulations. Your wife just got a brand new hot tub. It's getting installed next week. And I start nodding and then he starts laughing and just bringing down this anxiety and being, I'm not, you can't be a stereotypical salesperson. A lot of it is rapport building and you know, they buy Taylor before they buy solar or any company that I'm with because I'm doing these blitzes with all different companies. I'm supporting the entire industry. Well, yeah, man, there's so many nuggets. And we'll link to your first podcast, Taylor, because i know you dropped a ton of one-liners in that. And I know you've ah you followed up with some other some other ones today. And you got so many good things going. But ah before we wrap up, i don't want I don't want to leave before we tell guys a little bit more about your books. You said they can get it on Audible, Barnes & Noble, pretty much anywhere books are sold, right?
00:42:13
Speaker
yeah so how to master the art of selling too you just type that in on amazon you can go to your local barnes and noble you can pre-order the book you can go to hudson news it releases march 17th and uh this is this is my gift to you as sales professionals so how to master the art of selling to ah put a lot of work into this so if i've ever supported you throughout your journey you know would mean the world for me not only to just go buy the book but to actually read it because I'm excited to hear the feedback from the entire industry, not just in solar, but in sales professionals worldwide on maybe one thing that they read because the true pro will realize the smallest little thing that they take yeah will help them get a lot better.
00:42:53
Speaker
Do you see yourself ever writing another book? Is there more books in the future coming, in you think? you You're not really thinking about that yet. yeah so the continuous journey you know maybe there's some young maybe there's some young you know 12 year old out there that will eventually write how to master the art of selling three or you know all different things but it just comes down to the most productive thing being to create to create to create and to build building relationships building is energizing maintaining is exhausting the secret to building is having fun if you're not having fun it's not worth it so
00:43:25
Speaker
um I'm living in a movie and you know this upcoming year is going to be absolute cinema because the the game plan is to do the most productive thing possible at every given moment to create these relationships.
Knockstar Program and Future Plans
00:43:36
Speaker
And also something that I have in the pipeline is to solve all these problems that sales professionals face. And tell me about your ah Knockstar program. It's been a couple of years since I was last in your Knockstar program, Taylor, but is that still a big focus for you? You're getting lots of new blood in the Knockstar program, still doing you know competitions, masterminding and that.
00:43:54
Speaker
So our our top three NOC stars earned seven figures each last year. Myself and Tom Hopkins host a weekly coaching call every Tuesday at 12 o'clock Eastern. We have a discord with competitions, community, and a ton of resources. Just more tools in the belt for a sales professional. Awesome. So we will link to all that, guys. That that program um changed the game for me. was one of the most um you know helpful things I could have done in my sales career. So I'm forever we're grateful for that. And um you know yeah, I'm excited to read the book. Check out the book. We got it coming down the pipeline March 17th. You check out Taylor's YouTube, Taylor's programs. Excited to see what you do what you do next, man. So ah you plan on blitzing? You slowing down with the fights and all that? You still going to be blitzing going to all these companies as much this year? We're still going. Like I said, i've got I've got something that will solve the problem that a lot of sales professionals face right now. To speak very candidly with everybody that's listening right now, there's a lot of companies out there right now. We're not going to name any company names, but we're going to tell you right now. There's a lot of companies that run a Rob Peter to pay Paul business. And there's a lot of companies that will say, hey, you're going to get put on a do not pay list if you don't put in a sale within 30 days, even though you have this entire pipeline or, hey, this happened, so we're not going to pay you out on this or this happened, so you're not going to get paid on that. There's a company that basically took me for about $350,000. And I'm going to tell my story right now. I'm going to go from being screwed out of $350,000 to making $350,000 a week. And I'm going to be able to create something for sales professionals all over the United States. And the best revenge is massive success. I always say do business with people you want to do life with. Trust, loyalty, longevity. But with some of these companies that are out there that are doing this,
00:45:51
Speaker
A company can can screw somebody over like me. But for a lot of sales professionals, I think about the guy that has $11 in his bank account that was supposed to get XYZ and that that ruined his life. So these things need to be cleaned up in our industry. I think the solar industry is stronger than ever. i think the solar industry has some of the best people in it, but there's also these bad actors that need to go. And I'm not going to name any names, but as you'll see in 2026, got play.
00:46:25
Speaker
And when I say I got to play, I got to play. It's something that nobody's doing right now. And it's going to be the biggest thing. And my next step, you're hearing it here for us, is to build the biggest doorto door to door sales force in the country. So I've built a sales training platform. I've been the number one salesperson in my company, and I've never actively said, hey, you can come work for me now. And in 2026, you'll see. And it's going to be a cinema. And I'm going to solve a lot of these problems that door to door salespeople face. And my warning is to all these companies that are doing the bad thing to a sales professionals, you know, they need to clean it up because the best revenge is massive success. So I'll see on the scoreboard. We're making plays, baby. We're making plays.
00:47:07
Speaker
Let's go. Well, drop, man. he Can't wait to see what's going on with that. Hey, that might need to be the ah the hook of the whole video because then we'll have you guys listening to the whole thing. Yeah. So watch your back if you're not doing the right thing. we're It's always going to come back to you. Karma is real. Everything happens for a reason.
00:47:24
Speaker
Let's get these bad actors out here, man. Kick them to the curb about time. But I love that, man. And I think that's so that's that's a good way to end this thing out. um You know, it's on us to do our part, to play our part, help get the bad actors out of there. And we appreciate you, Taylor, for everything you've done. And thanks for coming on another podcast with us, despite some ah technological issues. But hey, we go through go through challenges. It's not about the challenges, it's about how we go through them and keep picking ourselves back up. So I thank you for inspiring us today, Taylor. The continuous the continuous journey toward the achievements of predetermined worthwhile goals. I'm proud to be a sales professional.
00:48:05
Speaker
And I'm thanking you guys for tuning in today. we got to make these plays, baby. Let's go, let's go, let's go. Okay, thank you so much, Tate, for coming on. And we'll see you on the scoreboard. Let's go. So some of you already know that I run my own door-to-door sales team here in San Diego. And as we are gearing up for the summer, I realized if we do the same thing we always did, we're going to get the same results. But if I want to increase my deal flow, I need to do something different to get an advantage.
00:48:31
Speaker
Then we discovered an app called SolarScout. But it's not a door knocking app, it's a data platform that shows us who is likely to go solar in our market. It shows us who has previously applied for solar but later cancelled the deal, who has moved in recently, and even how much electricity the homes are using in a given neighborhood.
00:48:50
Speaker
It's been working for a lot of teams across the country and now I'm on board too. I'm going to be one of the first two SolarScout in San Diego, so I decided to partner up. But I told them, hey, I'm going to talk about SolarScout on my show. you need to give my listeners a great deal. And they did.
00:49:05
Speaker
So go to solarscout.app forward slash Taylor and book a demo with them and you'll get 10% off your first month when you sign up. That's solarscout.app forward slash Taylor.
00:49:18
Speaker
Okay, back to the show. What's up, solopreneurs? Hope you enjoyed the episode. 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.
00:49:34
Speaker
One of the top questions I get asked on Instagram, on Facebook, by our listeners is, Taylor, where should I start? What episodes should I listen to in the podcast? You got too many podcasts, man, because now we have over 200 episodes.
00:49:49
Speaker
So what we've done, we created the top 10 most downloaded, most listened to, and i would say widely accepted, most useful podcasts that we've done here on Solarpreneur.
00:50:02
Speaker
We put them together all in one sheet so you can go, you can hit the ground running, especially if you're new, you do not want to not have this sheet. So go download it right now. It's going to be at top10.solarpreneurs.com. Again, that's top10, the number 10,.solarpreneurs.com. Don't forget the S on solarpreneurs.
00:50:24
Speaker
We will have that in the show notes. Go download it right now. And especially if you have not listened to them, go listen to them and you can re-listen to them. That's going to show you how. So go download it and we'll see you on the other side.