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From Solar Success to Industry Mentor - Suli Zink
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Suli Zink is on today's podcast as a revolutionary mentor in the space uplifting companies and increasing productivity. Coming from a background in solar sales, she knows how to fine-tune and identify improvement within companies: adding much needed value for teams.
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Transcript
Taylor Armstrong's Journey in Solar Industry
00:00:03
Speaker
Welcome to the Solarpreneur Podcast, where we teach you to take your solar business to the next level. My name is Taylor Armstrong. I 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 fail.
00:00:19
Speaker
I teach you 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.
Defining 'Solopreneur'
00:00:31
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. Thanks Taylor.
Introduction to Suli Zink and Her Ventures
00:00:45
Speaker
on the podcast for the second time and she is one of my favorite ladies in solar she's crushing it she has ah you know basically retired by forty semit retired will call it but she's doing some incredible things now and so i want to welcome my friend sui zinc on the show with us again thanks for going on taylor One of the ah fun podcasts that I had found when I got into the solar space, you're just always like giving value no matter where people are. And so I appreciate all the real and the raw that you bring to your ah podcast. So thanks for having me back.
Growth Mindset in Solar Industry
00:01:21
Speaker
Yeah, of course. And, know yeah um you know, shout out to you for always recommending it. And um it always, when whenever I would go to like door-to-door con, some of these events, um you know, always made my day when you come up be like, Taylor, thanks for still doing the podcast, yeah for having guests on. I'm like, i'm like no way to Sully still like listen to listen to some of the podcasts. I'm like, I figure.
00:01:45
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. I'm like, so it meant the world to me that you still would recommend it, still would listen so listen to some episodes. All day. so And that just speaks to, yeah, it just speaks to the growth mindset that you have and, um you know, the always trying to up-level yourself. And I just did a podcast with ah Luke Ward actually.
00:02:06
Speaker
um today too. And it's something that he talked about too. he just He's a top producer in solar. and I think every top producer, there's never like an end, right? You always got to be up leveling. You always got to be figuring out what's the next step to improve myself.
00:02:20
Speaker
Yeah. Yes. So yeah, it is. It's just the up leveling of personal development and like the different seasons. And I've never been on like the full time coaching side and and mentorship side. And so I feel like this is a muscle that I'm like growing and trying to develop. So I'm excited.
00:02:36
Speaker
So yeah, speaking of that, we're we're definitely going to hit on that a lot about what's um what's going on with you now. And so if you haven't listened to our first podcast with Suli, we will link that in the show notes.
00:02:47
Speaker
um It's one of our one of my favorite podcasts we had did on the show. So please go give that a listen. She talked about ah what it takes to be a top producer. and When you're golden door, at that time, you were producing insane results. doing tons of sales. And since then, I think it's been a couple years now. But since then, you've transitioned to, um you know, we'll get into it, but coaching other companies, reps, leaders.
Suli's Transition to Coaching and Consulting
00:03:11
Speaker
So yeah, I mean, tell us, give us like the overview. What have you been doing and How was that a transition like kind of stepping away from solar full time? Yeah. Thanks, ah Taylor. Like one, I'm just grateful for the humans in this life looking to add value into the space, even if it's not a monetary outcome. A lot of times reps and people are like, oh, I only want to help this person if I get some out of it or, oh, oh, hey, i only want to do this. Like people don't recognize in in the space and in business, if you want to get to where you're going quicker, you've got to help more people get to where they want to go despite what's in it, you know, for for you.
00:03:49
Speaker
And so for me, I've always just had this thought. pro I did pest control for 12 summers straight. It's all I knew. i believe in watering the grass exactly where you are. I don't care about the company name, about the pay you know payroll, whatever. You can literally find success everywhere.
00:04:05
Speaker
So when I transitioned in the solar space, before I transitioned into into solar space, I had created one-on-one mentorship program for women. It was just super brand new within like the company industry. And I was like, I knew that I needed to create something that allowed me to be able to help women just up level more. And it didn't matter if they were in solar, roofing, HVAC, pest control. I just wanted to help women. Then when I got into solar, like that was just a whole new venture. And I'm like, oh my gosh, I've got to put that on pause. and go all in here exactly where I'm at. Because when I teach, when I coach, like all of my energy and time is there. And so when I got into the solar space and I was just like speeding and just focusing on like, okay, let me get my setters fed. Let me get my closers fed. let Let our teams be, you know, top producing. I had started to recognize the last couple of years, like my abundant mindset and people and humans, it was starting to go in a direction I didn't like. Like I was feeding into like a scarcity mindset. You know, like people get into like these recruiting ah battles. And I'm like, no i am in a space where I can be able to help level of people. And yes, my when I was seven, one of my goals was to be financially retired by my 40th birthday and and create something that allowed me to be able to work from wherever I wanted to in the entire planet. So I just turned 40 in August. And it'll be exactly a year in a couple of weeks since I've gone off on my own, just creating this platform and basically helping up level organizations, companies, managers who don't get like support and things
Coaching Approach for Overcoming Mediocrity
00:05:39
Speaker
like that. And it's been hard. It's been tricky. And I've never like been in this space and I find myself like growing.
00:05:44
Speaker
But it has been a lot more fulfilling to me at this day and age of my life than like, hey, going and being like the top solar closer, going and being like the top, the the concept of developing and replicating humans has been super fun for me and super scary these last like almost 12 months.
00:06:03
Speaker
Wow. Well, no, that's that's a huge shout out leaving your seven-year-old. don't realize you had that since you're seven years old. yeah i mean, what seven-year-old is thinking about? A seven-year-old who grew up on food stamps and WIC and could even afford to go to thrift stores. Yeah. Okay. Okay. Fair enough. But no, that's incredible. um you Yeah, I mean, sounds like you just manifest that made it happen. yeah And I know you had so you had a pretty big team and everything you're running in Texas. What was that like? What were like your feelings? Is that pretty scary? Like leaving? I'm sure is really good money you're making and probably pretty secure. What what were like your feelings and everything when you're stepping away from all that? I don't necessarily think that like running a team creates security. i think the creating and developing the human that Suli is was where the stability comes from. So I knew as long as I was creating systems, as long as I was teaching, as long as I was like leading from the front, yes, there's massive stability, but we all know in the solar space and in door to door, there's a lot of instability. There's a lot of things that are just aren't in our control. And so, yes, when I was managing a team and running them, I mean, like six years straight, I was running teams on solar, like 30 to 35 reps. Like every single summer, I'd run a summer program from April till the end of August. And we'd always end in like the top two teams in the company to recognizing my last year, I had to be super transparent with all of my managers and reps on like, hey, like I did this for a season and now I'm transitioning to a different season in my life. I don't want to withhold anything from you guys. I don't want to i think that want anyone to think that I'm going anywhere else. I love the door-to-door space. I'm passionate and I and i want to die here. I just feel like I have so so much value and so much things to add to people who just aren't tied to one specific company and like thankful that my managers and people who had been working with me kind of like understood it. And so My last summer doing solar is like a full-time team. We were still in the top three teams. The managers are running their own space, doing like their own things. And I was just a very big firm believer in teaching reps, like go and do wherever is going to be best for you and your family. The business is going to come and go. Managers are going to come and go. But I have recognized that when I put me and my family first, everything else is just going to be a buy factor. That's what businesses are doing. And I felt like I got away from that to where I always put the what the business wanted first and the family became became secondary. And it was just time for me to branch off by myself and kind of really answer to nobody and everybody, if that makes sense. Yeah, no, that's incredible. So did they all know, it did you tell your whole team and everyone at your company like, hey, this is going to be in my last summer? Did they all know that? Yeah. So the interesting thing is I, I, husband laughs at me because I'm like, I get myself into trouble because of how transparent that I am with my bosses.
00:09:01
Speaker
Like, so, you know, getting into the solar space, like, oh, that' mean so you know you know, and then you find out, hey, non-competes. No, no, no, you can't go use that installer. No, you can't, you know, go and do this. And um I was very open with like my leaders and my managers, probably like the year before I had planted it and I had put it out there. Hey, I do plan on, you know, I always say I want to become the female version of Sam Taggart. Like, I want to be a neutral Switzerland and I want to be able to help people like up level. And I had brought it up to my company probably a year prior. Of course, sometimes people are going to hear it one year and like, oh no, because I made phenomenal money to be able to make $750. multiple years in a row in solar and people before me who got in solar who are still in solar never made or saw the money that I did. I think that a lot of like people just banked on the fact that like Sui's making too good of money that she's never gonna leave. um And it's true. I was making like phenomenal money, but then like recognizing where my energy, where my personal soul, where my mindset was going. And that for me outweighed the amount of money that I was going to keep making, running a team, doing the recruiting and battles. you know, having like the ins and outs of like figuring things out. For me, it was just a ah different season. And so I was very transparent with my managers. I didn't really need to like share with my team, but I was very close with the people who works with me that everyone knew that Suli was like this person who really did just want to like add value in organizations, companies, and people. And I didn't really care about the company name. It was about the people in general in general. And so I felt like the people closest to me, like just cheered me on. And of course, just like anything else, there's plenty of people who, you know, cut me off. And that's cool too. And that's the name of the game. But for me, I have to be true to Suli and what brings me joy in this season.
Mentorship Programs for Women and Organizations
00:10:53
Speaker
And in this season, it's not managing and running a full-time team, making seven figures because I've invested properly. I've done the hard work and now I want to find um and elevate a different aspect of my life. That's so cool. Well, it reminds me of, i don't know if you watched the Michael Jordan documentary, like The Last Dance. And it's like your last season.
00:11:14
Speaker
I'm like, man, we should have like a documentary crew go out and film Suli on like our last season, last time to get the championship. should have. Yeah. Yeah. It's hilarious. I haven't posted any of these, but I have a secret Suli vlog of me going off on my own, not even knowing what I was doing over these last 12 months and going and adding value. And I would talk about it day to day because I'm like, that's one thing I wish I did differently. And door to door was documenting my life from the beginning. Most people know me in my success era and they don't know the shit that I went through and had to overcome to get. So I'm like, during this journey, I'm going to document it. I just haven't put it out there yet, but I probably should. Yeah. Yeah.
00:11:54
Speaker
Well, let us know. Well, well yeah yeah, we'll we'll ill market it for you. Market the release of all the the secret content. That'd be awesome. um But no, that's cool. And so when you when you ah were on your way out, did you already have pretty much the plan of like what you wanted it to do, like consulting for companies? Are we still kind of like figuring it out to a degree? No.
00:12:14
Speaker
I have, know, I know everyone gets like imposter syndrome and i I did. I was in some masterminds and I paid some people to create like a website for me and a platform, but I never spoke about it for a really long time because I'm like, oh, are people going to find my value? or are people going to want to do it? Are people... Am I really as valuable as I think that I am? And so I just kept it very like low key. One, i didn't want people in this space thinking a lot of times when we see reps going off to different ventures, all the company they came from was bad. All the people that they worked with, you know, was crummy and didn't pay. I have been lucky and blessed in this space that I had amazing leadership in pest control. I had amazing leadership in solar, and I never wanted people's perception to be a reflection of the company. But if they knew me and who I was, they would understand, like, while Sui's stepping into a different era, a different season, it doesn't have to be this negative thing why she went off on their own. It was actually a beautiful thing. It was the end of my season, the end of my era. I've done that phase. And so it was a little bit different for for other people. But I became insecure, just like I was in the door-to-door space for women. We don't think that we are the best recruiters. I had never thought that I was like, you know, the best at like team building and everything like that. So i held myself back. And I recognize that I did a little bit of the same with my mentorship program because the people who have paid, like I have been surprised at a specific company who basically just has me on a retainer. And I'm like, holy shit, they have found like value in me. And why am i degrading myself or why am i not giving myself the same value in something that I've never done before you you know, extremely new. And I look back, it was the same thing and like recruiting and and building a team. And so I had created this website, this platform, and I left it there for a while. And I was like, oh, I should probably start, you know, sharing it. And so like I kind of first started with people who knew me and I was like, you know, would send them I'm like, hey, you know, I can come and do things for free. Here's my website, yada, yada, yada. And from that, like word of mouth. and people having a good experience from me and recognizing that Suli wasn't there to recruit anyone, that Suli wasn't there to talk bad about another company or about yours, but she truly is here to like up-level. It has been fun and an eye-opener to see how many people that I haven't worked with personally reach out and like, hey, can you help us with XYZ, which has just been like filling my cup. like on a regular basis. And so it's been tricky and I'm still figuring out the kink and getting feedback.
00:14:44
Speaker
But at the same time, I'm recognizing that like I am the value that I put on myself. People are going to recognize it and take it or they're not. And I have been finding that people have been taking my value and running with it. And it's been fun to see. No, no doubt. And yeah, I've heard from people how good it is. I mean, we talked before we started recording and we had one of the reps that works with me. She went out and did, I think like a blitz with you and yeah um just came back so fired up, got a ton of value from it.
00:15:15
Speaker
And yeah, it's true. A lot of times we don't recognize because I felt that way a lot of times doing a podcast. think it was probably the first year or something. I didn't even do like a podcast where was just me talking. So I'm like, oh, I'm not good enough to like, like I have to be interviewing someone. That's the only value I can bring. But if it's just me talking, then like no one's going to listen to that. And I kind to like get over it. I'm like, you know, I'm just going to throw it out there. partly because, you know, you can kind of running out of people to interview sometimes. I'm like, yeah. I don't have any interview lined up, so I better just throw something out there. But yeah, enough, even on... No, and your was money. Like, I loved how you would talk about, like, going back and saving a customer or going back and doing this. And so, like, you sharing your real-life experience, even for, like, someone like me. And that's what I found when I got into the solar space. I didn't have, like, a ton of direction. I was, like, out there looking for the people who were adding value. And, like, you just sharing, like, your stories and how you, like, overcame different councils and stuff like that was definitely, like, helpful for people like me.
00:16:14
Speaker
Yeah, no, thank you. Appreciate that. And yeah, that's what it's about is like we can just share um as we've experienced it. There's so much we can share that maybe to us, it seems like no big deal, but to some other people could be like the one thing that changed their week or their or their month or their career maybe. um So yeah, I know I'm sure everyone that's done your program. appreciates all the value you've given. But yeah, so like, what does it look like? Do you use it? Are you going out to other companies now? Or what's kind of like your, ah your whole thing? something thing you do so So here's one of the things that I have found in the doorto door to doors, experienced reps are neglected. um Experienced reps either have bad habits that people aren't paying attention to. And so my program is like geared a lot towards experienced reps that I just feel like if companies would focus on those like stragglers and those people who kind of know what they're doing, even I had found myself like in the past, like, oh, they're experienced. They should already know, you know, what they're doing. And at the end of the day, they don't.
00:17:15
Speaker
They need accountability. They need to have someone who's saying, hey, send me your script. They need to have people who are out there on the doors. Hey, why are you saying that? Hey, like make your your your tonality is going up and down. And so when I branched off and I was going off on my own, it wasn't necessarily geared towards first year reps or second year reps. Because I'm like, hey, but the managers are going to spend a ton of time like that's expected. That's where we should. And so my thought process around like what I was doing, it's for those experienced reps who are in between that are like not getting the accountability that are maybe like, you know, having three, four deals closed a month or maybe doing like, you know, five. 50k in revenue and past are just kind of mediocre. Those have been like my target audience. And like, if you guys can focus on these people who are already right here and get them to the next level, you're going to watch, you know, the brand new reps who are going up level there. And so a lot of like the blitzes and managers and people that I work with in like different companies, it's, hey, where are the experienced reps? I want to focus on them, listening to their serials and giving them like feedback specifically. like I had a company who hired me just to listen to people's serial recordings for five hours a day and give them feedback on a regular basis. And so to watch these reps like start making the different changes and getting like deals in any industry, that was fun results for me to see. And a testament in the fact that like experienced reps are getting away from the basics because their managers are allowing them to. by default, where like they've been around for a year, they've been around for two years. And so a lot of these blitzes and a lot of the things that I'm doing, it's for those stragglers as a reminder of like, as I'm on the doors for them, they're like, oh my gosh, this is so basic. I just needed to like fix this. And it's been fun to watch those lights. So yes, like, Different orgs, different managers. And even like one of the blitzes that I did, it was just like a couple of women who just wanted to be like dealers and had like no support and like, hey, can we hire you to help us build a business from the bottom up? And so, yes, I do that, too. There are just some people who are who are getting into the space and they don't have someone teaching them how to recruit. They don't have someone teaching them how to run incentives, where they can go, you know, from a to Z, create like different platforms. And I'm like, I was never taught those things. I basically like did it. And I didn't recognize that that's value for other people. And a lot of things that are natural to me are. And so most of the things of what I'm doing, it's geared towards experienced reps who haven't been given that accountability to get to the next level. That's so good. Yeah. And you're right. I think that's so needed because, um yeah, even like you said, you but there's probably times where you felt you would have loved some extra accountability. yeah um I feel that way. you know I'll get like three, four deals a week and sometimes still feel like I left money on the table where I could have been held more accountable. And yeah, even just recently for me, um I had a guy that's he was kind of like one of my co-captains on our team, helping me ah build up our team. And so he wasn't getting great results. But I was always just like, ah he's one of the leaders. He's got really good. yeah he can talk really good. He can like motivate our team, even though he's not really getting that good of results. Like, yeah. He's experienced. i don't really need to do anything.
00:20:31
Speaker
And then ah it's been about two months ago that he stepped away and he's in in another industry now. So I kind of like kick myself because I'm like, maybe I should have been the person to hold him more accountable, give him more accountability. And maybe, I mean, you never know, um but maybe that would have been the thing to that could have helped him have more
Accountability in Management and Sales
00:20:51
Speaker
success in solar. Yeah.
00:20:52
Speaker
yeah And it's not a, you know, chastisement or whatever. But I feel like when managers and experienced reps are given awareness or just like the reminders there, it just like sparks something different. And that's what I've, you know, even with like your your rep who had come out, like the exact words is like, I need to fire myself as a CEO because I'm not holding myself accountable. I'm not out there when I'm supposed to. And that's a lot of times just kind of what's needed for experienced reps. And so it's been fun for me to watch like the same experienced reps come out on like blitzes and stuff and watch their progression And now I watch them back at their companies, just so much more consistent. And I'm like, that's what I wanted to see at the end of the day is just someone giving them a little bit of attention, seeing the value and now replicating it exactly um where they're working for. Love that. And so do you do, ah is it mostly at like companies that hire you or are you planning on like your own blitzes and just having people come along? Yeah. So none of them are my blitzes. So I'll just say that. so So some of the things when I first started, it was just managers directly. There were never any companies that were hired. They were just like managers who are running offices like, hey, we want to hire you to run Zoom trainings for our women. Like we have found that we're not adding value to our women. Can you hop on calls with them every week? So every week I was prepping these women to go out with like these company, giving them like tools, you know, support and things like that.
00:22:11
Speaker
same managers would hire me to come out to their offices and go and knock with these women on the doors. It'd be like two, three days, like most of the times that I would go out there and basically like help their up their women up level, but also giving them real feedback to as male managers like, hey, this one really isn't going to get far.
00:22:30
Speaker
hey, like I wouldn't spend energy there and just being like super direct on where they're spending their energy. And I'm like, it would be probably be better off if she was like here or doing something else. And so also a lot of male managers would hire me ah just to go over, hey, what are safety tips for women? Hey, what are some incentives that we like lack that we can provide for other women? And then I'll have like other women managers in different industries, like just hiring me as a one-on-one coach. So we would do weekly one-on-one calls and they're leaders and they're reciprocating and teaching the same things to like their office. So those are the most common things that people hire me for is they are leaders and managers in an industry and they want to be held accountable to someone. They want to be trained by someone. So they'll reach out and They will pay for a weekly one-on-one call. And I am training them so specifically in their industry. I'm helping them up level as a manager and as an office. And then I'm giving them homework assignments before the next week for their team on how to go out and address. and you know, we would have Marco Polo access. They would have like drama and things that's going on. They can reach out to me instead of like having to reach out to their regional or reach out to the owner. It's like, hey, Sulie, How would you overcome this type of situation? So those are the most common people that I get are managers or leaders who have weekly one-on-one calls with me based on their industry. And then most recently, um specific companies have been like hiring me to go out and like just run. Like I had a company, never did door-to-door whatsoever. They wanted me to help create a door-to-door program, you know, from the bottom up. And it's like, they fund it. They do everything. They pay me per day. um And I get to go out and have fun and teach them from scratch. And I get to invite whoever I want with zero strings attached to basically like, hey, I run this mentorship program and I want to be able to teach and help whoever. And so to watch this abundant company allow me to be like neutral in the space and help anyone that I want and they can go back. take those tools and use them in their company. That's been the fun part um for me. And then like recently having like multiple companies reach out, hey, can you come do this speaking engagement? Hey, can you do this training? Hey, we got this referral that now I'm in this box right now of like, okay, where can I be most efficient and delete these types of calls, delete these types of things and add more value to these organizations and give more energy because there's just one of me. And so I've been doing a lot of one-on-ones and then I have like a five-month program. So I'm a, I guess I'm versatile. I'm like a lizard. Like people can reach out and tell me what it is. Like right now I have a window company. It's like, Hey, we need to start a program from like the bottom up. Can you help us create door to door? I'm like, great. This is going to be the cost. And I'm going to need you to commit for six months because you're not going to go and find success after one call um with me. So it's just a lot of different things that people can hire me for. Yeah.
00:25:28
Speaker
Yeah. Well, yeah, whoever's listening to this, if it's something you've been wanting, you better reach out now because um I mean, anyone's... I'm sure you're already like starting to experience this where you don't have time for a lot of one-on-one stuff. it's like No, yes. You get busier and busier.
00:25:45
Speaker
will most likely get rid of that specifically before my mentorship program runs. I run a five-month mentorship program and there's already a waiting list. so Yeah. Yeah. So I'm like thinking myself, I'm like, man, I need to hire Suli one-on-one help yeah before spaces are filled up.
00:26:03
Speaker
yeah but ah But it's funny because I feel like that is very similar to like, you know, a Sam Tagger. yeah had kind of a similar thing where... He was trying do some coaching, consulting and all that. But then he really, once he left the whole, think he had like a VP position at a solar company. yeah That's when things took off. And that's when companies were like less afraid to hire him because they're like okay, he's not like tied to this company. It's more a neutral thing. Yes. And that's what I'm trying to get to is I want the the trust in the space to recognize that Sui is there to elevate. I don't have a company to recruit people to. so Yeah. Yeah.
00:26:42
Speaker
But it's so cool. And um I'm sure there's a lot of because um I think as far as I know, you're the first like, you know, woman that's done this, um you know, that's like left the solar company and just full out done consulting, coaching, things like that. Yeah, that's been one of the tricky, like hard things is people are like, hey, how do you overcome this? Or who do you go to? And that's the unfortunate truth for me. When I was in pest control, it was like I was the first woman to do X. And so I had to be the problem solver. Like it was a lot of lonely days. And then the same thing, getting to the solar space and managing a team for six years straight. I was the first woman. So it's like...
00:27:20
Speaker
I have to figure out to solve my own problems. And then being the first like female to be here this long and now transitioning to the consulting space, it's like, oh my gosh, I'm still competing with men you know at the same time. And it's like, I don't really have a woman that I can relate to to go and share because it it is me. I'm the problem and I'm the solution and I get to figure it out. Yeah.
00:27:44
Speaker
Yeah, well, it's it's ah much needed because there's so many different, you know, female reps. And like yeah like you said, you're doing calls for companies that don't have enough support for all the ladies on their teams. So it's like we've never had a resource like that. And so, um yeah, I think it's our company. They're trying to do similar things like women's only calls. And just the feedback we hear from it, it helps so much. And it's, um think it's a big reason why we're able to retain a lot of the the ladies on our teams just doing things like that.
00:28:16
Speaker
A thousand percent. Like it is just community and culture. Like women are are are loyal creatures. And if we feel support, even if the money doesn't match up, we have a tendency to stick around a little bit longer than most.
00:28:29
Speaker
Yeah, 100%. And so what's some of the things as you've been coaching, consulting, maybe speaking to managers, because um I guess that's kind of a spot I'm in. um So what are like some common issues that you feel like come up a lot of the managers teams are helping? Yeah. And some of you guys may not like me after this call because... ah Okay, lay it out. like it was the chat As a manager, I had to take a lot of ownership. Like what I allowed in the office and what I didn't allowed was just a reflection ah ah on me. And so a lot of the production and things going on in offices, I don't really blame reps.
00:29:09
Speaker
I blame the managers. And I don't even say blame the the managers, but I'm just like, hey, there's not enough awareness to like accept the fact of, hey, we we keep allowing this to happen in our office. Why haven't we fired or why haven't we done x y Z?
00:29:23
Speaker
The common thing that I have found ah while going off and and working in different offices is the lack of accountability that comes from like the managers, like directly from themselves and like their experienced reps. Like who are they sending their Cira recordings to? Who are they sending their photos to? Who are they sending like production ah goals to? Like, it's easy to say, hey, we're going to hit this number or whatever. You guys have been given this red line and you guys go off.
00:29:53
Speaker
but But there's no one that you guys are reporting to on a day to day to replicate doing the same thing with the reps. And so on these blitzes, I'm training and teaching people what I am doing I am teaching first year reps and I'm expecting experienced reps to do daily. And what I mean by that is having a routine at 17 years and I'm still writing out my pitch. I still record myself every day and I send it to people who are better than me. And I ask them for feedback and say, what would you have done differently?
00:30:23
Speaker
i am reporting on a weekly basis and I have a Marco Polo group on like, hey, what goals did you put out? What did you say that you were going to do this week? And it's an authentic, direct, like, hey, not a babysitter, not a, oh, you can do better next week. It's like, you said you were going to be out there on the doors and do this many. Like, what excuse did you have today? Like, there's not enough, like, accountability to the basics with the managers, the experienced reps, And because people are producing here and there, and especially in the solar space, we're just like, yeah, you guys all know what we're supposed to do
00:30:57
Speaker
Cool. That's where a lot of people are getting lost, looking at different companies, looking at different places. They're just not being held accountable. And if the managers can be held accountable regularly to the basics of the day-to-day, and that manager then returns the favor and is doing the same for the experienced reps, everyone is going to see a lot more production, then in turn see a lot more money, then in turn it's no longer the company that's the problem, that's not the install, it's not whatever. It basically started from the leadership getting accountability on basics that then turned to the positive side of everything else.
00:31:33
Speaker
Wow, that's so good. And so, that yeah, that's a huge issue. I think managers not being held accountable just because spec oh they're going to go get a couple of deals, but they don't need to have the same level of accountability as newer reps.
00:31:46
Speaker
And yeah, so many different companies I've been with. Yeah, the number of experienced reps... The number of experienced reps that I've blitzed with and worked with over these last eight months who can't even tell me the stats that they need to hit to get to their doors that aren't even hitting 100 doors, it's a reflection of their office. I'm like, in my office, our last year even, when we would do numbers, our numbers would be, okay, how many doors are you knocking today? Okay, 100. How many of this, like holding them accountable to like the basic shit that is going to in turn get people to up level. And, you know, for them to see like, Sue, you're still on the doors. You're still this. Yes. As a manager on the ground, in order to gain the respect of experienced reps, they need to see me doing the same thing, even if I've done it for a billion years, even. Even if I've made great money, if I'm going to be there, I need to do the same things or get my managers to do the same thing. So like my certain managers and them, yeah, they're going be the ones on the ground. They're going to be the ones reporting.
00:32:43
Speaker
But that's where I see a lot of the lack is. um There's not accountability on the day to day for basic stuff that's happening with the managers, which will then flow over to the rest of the office. Yeah, yeah, that's that's a really good point.
00:32:56
Speaker
Yeah, hopefully anyone that's, ah you know, maybe higher than manager and above, it's something they can think about. Because I think a lot of managers, they just don't know who to go to to like send their recordings to because I know I've been in that position all the times.
00:33:09
Speaker
I'll still record most of my appointments and even knocking doors. But sometimes I'm like, man, who do I send this to? Because people above me, they're too busy or this and that. And that's the most common question that I get, that answer that I get, even from experience. I don't have anyone in my office to send it to. I don't have any. And I'm like, that's bullshit. How many friends do you have in the door-to-door space? How often have you reached out to me, Taylor, and say, hey, Suli, can I send you my recording and can you give me feedback? How often if you reached out to like, hey, Sam, can I pay you 20 bucks to like give me feedback on here or like action or whatever? Like you add enough value. That's what I talk about as well as value trades.
00:33:51
Speaker
I want to get something for my teams. So I'm like, hey, I'll come and do a speaking engagement for you if you give access to my reps. You are a great value add, like Taylor, like if you were to come to me and be like, hey, Suli, like I'd love to get like some feedback from you on like my recording and things like that, like weekly in return, do X or or whatever. You're a great value adder. I'd be like, heck you yeah. We get stuck in like this box and in our companies and in our polos that we think that that's the only resource. And I'm here as a reminder that like you are the problem and you are the solution. Yeah, that's ah' good that's a good call out. Because yeah, that's ah that's very true. We'll have to talk after because yeah, I'd definitely be interested something like that.
00:34:33
Speaker
But it's true. And even reps that don't have money, it's like ah there's a lot of things you can do to exchange for value, right? Yes. It's like, how often have you like, hey, Michael Donald, can I come and take you to lunch for an hour and just pick your brain? Like even my reps, like they take for advantage. Like they know I show up to every correlation an hour early. How often would they like reach out and be like, hey, can I pick your brain on like this investment on this or on whatever? We take for granted the ability because we think that we just have to pay for everything or like whatever. When it's like there's so many ways to be able to add value you um and give it. And that's why I like staying in touch with people like you and Mike and all these other people because they're valued in my life. And I know that they're going to want something in return and like a value. And I'm going to be able to ask for it back. And it's just like I want to keep those relationships healthy because it's like we are all valuable in certain ways. We just have to be willing to be proactive and showing it.
00:35:27
Speaker
Yeah, it's true. And even this podcast, it's probably a good example of it because it's like you're bringing value. You're bringing value to me. Hopefully I bring some value to you because we're going to share this on social media. Hopefully you'll get some you know new clients and coaching coaching students and stuff like that.
00:35:44
Speaker
So it's all like an exchange, right? and A thousand percent. Yep. And it doesn't always have to be money. and that's what I try to tell people. Like if someone was telling me were going to come do my dry cleaners and watch my kids for a week, if they come shadow me, whatever all day. Yes. But we're not thinking outside the box because we're so consumed with, well, this is what I have. This is what I can do. You know, yeah the more problems that you can solve for yourself and for others, the more money you're going to make in this life.
00:36:09
Speaker
Yeah, love
Creating Effective Sales Incentives
00:36:10
Speaker
that. Well, I want to talk a little bit before we're out of time here. yeah talk You mentioned incentives. And that's something that I feel like I struggle with just like knowing when to um do incentives, like what's really makes effective incentives that motivate the drive production and all that. And so ah can you speak on that? Like, what are some yeah things you you tell like managers or coaching to do for incentives?
00:36:35
Speaker
Okay. A lot of my incentives, yeah, this is going to be funny because people will listen to it. It's going to be based on things that me as a manager, i already want reps to do.
00:36:46
Speaker
So in my offices during the summer months, I would do a raffle twice a week. I would do it on Wednesdays and I would do it at the end of the week. Okay. And the way that you would earn tickets is, okay, first on the doors, who sent in a recording and got feedback? If you sent in your script and got feedback, you got three tickets. So it's basically all things that I know that is needed for a person to do well. That's what I made like the point system. This is how you get tickets. And people always wanted the tickets for the raffles. And it was super simple.
00:37:15
Speaker
And so every day, every week, I'm getting recordings. I'm getting scripts from people. Of course, they were going to my setter manager and closure manager and, you know, getting that help and things too. But I was watching people hit their hundred doors. That's why we were some of the top offices, because people are doing the basic things and I'm making it fun.
00:37:32
Speaker
And in the solar space, we have more money to to do a bunch of like different things. So I like to do what's called pod wars. I do it on every single one of my blitzes. I like to create experiences that they're not going to get anywhere else outside of me. So one in Hawaii, was swimming with the shark it was swimming with the sharks, So it was like a three-day competition and it's based off of a point system. There's 15 people. So I'm going to get everyone bought in for three days. And the way that they get points is first car group on the door, first to get a bill, you know, for whichever office or whichever team is knocking the most amount of doors, all the things that we as a managers that we want people to do.
00:38:10
Speaker
They're doing it. And whoever gets the most points, now they're going with me to go swim with the sharks. And, ah you know, there's 15 people, but obviously only three people are going to win. So everyone's putting their best foot forward. And so what I would suggest, what are the the top experiences that you have in your backyard that would excite people that like, hey, they're not going to go out of their way to spend money on, you know, whether it's season passes to Disneyland, whether it's season passes to Knott's Berry Farm, whether it's going Clifton. jumping. What can you do for a week that's going to drive production on the basic stuff to go and do this big experience that they wouldn't have gone and done on their own? and Those always always my biggest feedback. The weekly raffles to get people to do the basic stuff that they should already do. And then the like once a week, like big ah Pod Wars competitions that's going to just get people motivated and excited about winning that one thing.
00:39:01
Speaker
yeah Okay. So weekly raffles, you said just like they get a raffle ticket for, know, things that I'm raffling off our personal development books, boom boxes, you know, segues, things that, that they're are already going to need, you know, they're small things. And I have it like, um, you know, water bottles, lanyards, whatever it was. I even have like a cash jar. Uh, if I'm pulling out, you know, their ticket, they get to pull out from like the money jar and it's like, $1, $5, $20, you know, those are like the small things throughout the week. And then I do something big, you know, monthly for like a top set or top close whatever it is.
00:39:41
Speaker
but Okay, gotcha. Do you always like tell them what's being raffled off before or keep it like secret? so they can' see you Yeah, they can see the table of the raffle. It's there every day. They're coming in and they get tickets every day. So before we do accountability, it's like, okay, we're giving out tickets. How many tickets do you get? How many tickets do you get? So they're seeing it there on the table, like every single day that we have correlation. that's... That's another thing that I found in the solar space.
00:40:05
Speaker
The lackluster and in-person correlation is the biggest way to get people to just like fall off the the wall. And so because I do daily correlation each day and the only way you can get the tickets is showing up to correlations and putting it there, they see what's being raffled off.
00:40:22
Speaker
Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. That's awesome. That's awesome. Yeah. What do you do for like people that like don't buy in for competitions, raffles, all that? do you have any advice on that? Sometimes they were on my one, they were on my team. But the first thing that I do is I recruit my leaders to buy in.
00:40:41
Speaker
That's it. Okay. I am recruiting my leaders to, hey, I wanna see you active in the chats. I wanna see you elevating and pushing other people, not just me. So I got my leaders to buy in to the competitions. And so their energy is getting other people to buy in. And because that was the start of our team, the people people just didn't have an option to buy in. It was either you were in or you're off the team, like kind of thing. Like people were just bought in naturally because that's how it was from day one in my office. Yeah. Yeah. That's so good.
00:41:12
Speaker
Yeah. Well, um yeah, because that's something, you know, sometimes I see you guys struggle with. They throw they throw these incentives and they don't get the buy-in and then they they're like, ah what am I doing? Putting money towards this. Because we're doing it. at like the wrong time. We're like, hey, it's at the end of the month. Oh, we need to get them excited. Let's start doing something. But if it's already a part of the culture and they already have that expectations and you have your leaders buy in, like sometimes on these blitzes, I'll get experienced reps who come and they're not bought in. I'll go and I'll knock with them. And I'm like, hey, if you want to be around me and if you want to feel my energy, i need value from you and I want you to show up in our chats. I don't care if you want to win the prize or not, but if you're going to be on one of my blitzes, like you are going to add value. And the way that you're going to do that is cheering for other people, even if you're an not winning. And so I'm going to go out and have those conversations with people, but they also know and expect that Sui is going to be doing competitions on a regular basis. And so there was one time I didn't do a competition on one of these blitzes and the reps like, what's the next competition? What's the next competition? I'm like, I'm like, They're so used to in condition that I would rather that like they were fighting, you know, for their competition over getting the the money from selling solar. And so I love it. like yeah'm So funny that reps are more and more for a pair of Nikes and they're making like thousands of dollars off of one deal. Hey, that was me in pest control. I wanted to win that pair of socks or I wanted win that next color shirt, you know, and you make thousands of dollars. it's It's funny, but it's just like the quick dopamine. If the managers don't buy into that and like understand that that needs to happen regularly, like, yeah, we're going to have the same reflection in the office.
00:42:53
Speaker
Yeah, 100%. And what would you say? Because I know there's a lot of reps maybe listening to this where they're not managers. Maybe they're leading a couple people, but they're like, go well, it's not my job to like invest in my team or do incentives. like i don't make Maybe they don't make overrides off any of these people, yeah but they're still trying to step into that. So what do you say to those people that they're not maybe they're not they don't have the title of a manager or a leader yet, but they're trying to step
Advice for Aspiring Leaders
00:43:19
Speaker
into it?
00:43:19
Speaker
yeah Like we always say, you know, you got to act like the leader or before you can become it. But yeah what do you what do you say on that? Yeah. So at that point in leveling like with them, I'm like, hey, you're coming here because I'm adding value to you. Right. Yeah.
00:43:33
Speaker
Well, I want reciprocity. deprecation to the way that you're going to show me that my value means something to you is you're going to show up in the chats. I want to see you tracking your stats. I want to see you sending me your, sending me your, your recordings. And to be like, Frank, I'm very direct. Like with these types of reps, I'm like, you can do it alone, like by yourself and make good money. It's what I did in pest control.
00:43:56
Speaker
Or you can get to your destination a lot quicker. Like how many rental properties do you want? So I'm breaking it down, whatever industry that they're in and like, hey, what overrides would look like for you if you recruited X or did X amount of things? I can help you get there, but I need to first see you perform.
00:44:13
Speaker
And so I'm just very direct with like those types of reps. And first I'm asking them a favor and saying, hey, you're getting value from me. I need the reciprocation and this is how you're going to do it. You're going to show up to the chats. You're going to be involved in my competitions and you're going to show up on time.
00:44:28
Speaker
Things that you could should already be doing as a nine to five. And I get that respect from people and they'll at least do that. Well, they'll show up in the chats. They're going to show up on time because I asked for a favor and they found value in me.
00:44:41
Speaker
Yeah, it's so good. Well, Sully, I want to let you ah and I'm sure we have a lot of people here in this like, man, this is so good. i want to like maybe how can I get involved with what Sully is doing? So before we run out of time here, if people do want to potentially work with you or maybe look into some of your coaching programs, any of that stuff, what's the best way to ah look
Contacting Suli Zink for Mentorship
00:45:02
Speaker
into that? Yeah, so you can find me on Female Knockers Unite is my Instagram handle. And from my Instagram handle, there's a form on there where you can get to my website or just book a discovery call um with me. And so I always have a discovery call so I can get a feel if you're someone that I want to work with or vice versa and which tools would benefit you the most. So Female Knockers Unite, you can find me there on Instagram.
00:45:27
Speaker
Okay, love it. So go check Suli out. She's got some phenomenal programs. She's going to help you up level um your results to levels you have never even dreamed of. And last last question, Suli, what's been your biggest success story? Do you have any yeah cool success stories that maybe someone was struggling, turned it around after you started working with them?
00:45:48
Speaker
Yeah. So this individual specifically came to a blitz with me. Probably one of my very first blitzes when I went off on my own back in June, this individual had zero sets. He was so, I'm at zero closes.
00:46:04
Speaker
He was so distraught. What am I doing wrong? What am I like? You know, whatever. I went off on the doors with him and I'm like, this is what I want you to do. The blitz had already ended. i want you to send me a recording every other day. I want you to send me your script like once a week. I want you plugging in here to like my calls and I'm going to be giving you feedback. I watched him on three blitzes just progress. He didn't get any deals on the first one, did one on the next one. This kid started doing five plus deals, like every single blitz that I've watched after that. And so to get a text from him a few days ago, like, Sui, I just like love and appreciate you. I'm now plugged into this company where it's going to be like year round. but you took the time to give me feedback on a regular basis. And I wouldn't have found that if I didn't come on one of your blitzes. He doesn't make money for me or anything like that. He's off on his own. But that simple concept of watching this kid, and I'm sad I'd like for him to keep coming, but hey, I'd rather him sit in his backyard and to watch him go from making nothing. He had to go door dash just to afford his ticket to be able to come on the blitz to now doing, you know, five plus deals a month has been um a fun story to watch for sure.
00:47:12
Speaker
Wow. That's so cool. Well, Zoe, thank you so much for coming on and having an abundant mindset and just sharing everything, all the secrets with us. um Hopefully we can do it again soon. Yes. i've got ah I've got a deal here to run to myself. so yes Thank you for all the value, Taylor. You go and slay that homeowner. I know that you're going to put them in a better financial situation and we'll chat soon. Thank you so much. Peace. So some of you already know that I run my own door door sales team here in San Diego.
00:47:44
Speaker
And as we are gearing up for the summer, I realized if we do the same thing we always did, we're going to get the same results. But if I want to increase my deal flow, I need to do something different to get an advantage. Then we discovered an app called Solar Scout, 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.
00:48:04
Speaker
It shows us who has previously applied for solar but later canceled the deal, who has moved in recently, and even how much electricity the homes are using in a given neighborhood. 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 to use 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.
00:48:29
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.
00:48:42
Speaker
Okay, back to the show.
00:48:45
Speaker
Hey Solarpreneurs, quick question.
Introduction to Solciety Community
00:48:47
Speaker
What if you could surround yourself with the industry's top performing sales pros, marketers, and CEOs and learn from their experience and wisdom in less than 20 minutes a day.
00:48:56
Speaker
For the last three years, I've been placed in the fortunate position to interview dozens of elite level solar professionals and learn exactly what they do behind closed doors to build their solar careers to an all-star level. That's why I want to make a truly special announcement about the new learning community exclusively for solar professionals to learn, compete, and win with top performers in the industry. And it's called Solciety.
00:49:21
Speaker
This learning community was designed from the ground up to level the playing field and give Solar Pros access to proven mentors who want to give back to this community and help you or your team to be held accountable by the industry's brightest minds for, are you ready for it, less than $3.45 a day. Currently, SolSciety is open, launched, and ready to be enrolled. So go to SolSciety.co to learn more.
00:49:51
Speaker
and join the learning experience now. This is exclusively for solopreneur listeners, so be sure to go to solcity.co and join. We'll see you on the inside.