Transcript
Speaker: Welcome to the Solarpreneur Podcast where we teach you to take your solar business to the next level.
Speaker: My name is Taylor Armstrong and I went from $50 in my bank account and struggling for groceries to closing 150 deals in a year and cracking the code on why sales reps fell.
Speaker: I teach you how to avoid the mistakes I made and bring in the top solar dogs of the industry to let you in on the secrets of generating more leads, falling up like a pro and closing more deals.
Speaker: What is a solopreneur you might ask?
Speaker: A 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.
Speaker: Yo, yo, what's going on, solopreneurs?
Speaker: Taylor Armstrong here with another episode.
Speaker: We are recording this pretty late, so sorry if I sound like a zombie here, but today we're going to be talking about how to pick a good area.
Speaker: This is a question I recently got from Instagram.
Speaker: Someone sent me a message.
Speaker: saying, Taylor, how do you pick a good area?
Speaker: What are some things you should consider?
Speaker: So I thought, hey, why not do an episode on it?
Speaker: Always looking for new ideas, new content.
Speaker: So appreciate this message from Darren McCrubby.
Speaker: Hope I'm saying your name right.
Speaker: Thank you for the topic request.
Speaker: We are always looking for new content ideas and topics to do episodes on.
Speaker: So we're going to be talking about that and a whole lot more today.
Speaker: Welcome to the podcast.
Speaker: If you are new and if you are a returning listener, thank you for returning to listen to the show.
Speaker: As usual, we are here to help you close more deals, generate more leads and referrals, and have a much better time in the solar industry.
Speaker: And like I said, I'm getting this podcast pretty late.
Speaker: That's what happens when you procrastinate, but I'm currently on a blitz actually out in Idaho, Boise, Idaho to be exact, and just procrastinated things.
Speaker: But I'm like, I'm not going to let that get in the way of coming at you and hopefully trying to be consistent as possible with the show.
Speaker: Every Tuesday, Friday, we are coming at you with new episodes, new content.
Speaker: Okay, so today probably will be a little bit shorter episode, but still wanted to get in a answer and we're going to do a part two of this.
Speaker: I had some ideas around what you can do when you're starting a new area or perhaps doing a blitz.
Speaker: Okay, so that's going to be a part two.
Speaker: But today, again, we're going to be talking about how to pick what area to knock and some things you should consider.
Speaker: So the first thing with this, I'm going to go through four or five points here and might think of more, but these are my initial thoughts on it.
Speaker: So the first thought is this.
Speaker: If you are new in solar, then don't pick your areas.
Speaker: Have someone else pick your areas.
Speaker: What I see over and over is reps overthink things.
Speaker: And in the beginning, every new rep, you should just get out there, have someone pick your area, don't overthink it, and just be getting the reps in.
Speaker: Sometimes I have newer reps just complaining about area and they want to start implementing all these different knocking strategies when they don't even know how to overcome the basic objections.
Speaker: They haven't put many reps in and they're already trying to be picky with areas and all that.
Speaker: And I tell this all the time to my new reps that start, you need to get in the reps.
Speaker: If you are running a marathon and you've not put in the miles, then you just gotta get out and run that first mile.
Speaker: Same thing with solar.
Speaker: You need to put in the initial reps and then you can start picking your own areas.
Speaker: But I would definitely recommend having someone assign your area in the beginning.
Speaker: And areas, they do matter in solar.
Speaker: I used to think that area did not matter, but in solar, I think there are better areas than others.
Speaker: I'm not going to be the one that tells you.
Speaker: You can have way more success in, or you can have as much success in any area.
Speaker: Okay, I think area is a factor, probably more so in solar than other door knocking industries.
Speaker: But you should learn how to knock any area.
Speaker: So that's step number zero, especially if you're new.
Speaker: Okay, and then the first thing to consider, step number one, is what is your goal?
Speaker: What areas do you like?
Speaker: Okay, there's no perfect area.
Speaker: Hopefully, as you are putting in the reps, you start to recognize trends.
Speaker: And this is why it's so important, tracking your data and just keeping track of things like this.
Speaker: Okay, it's like what demographic do you like to knock?
Speaker: A what income level do you like to knock?
Speaker: Some people knock in, like knocking super wealthy areas.
Speaker: Some people like knocking, you know, more middle class or lower income areas.
Speaker: Some people like different ethnicities over others, or maybe you speak, you know, Spanish or Vietnamese, Chinese, whatever.
Speaker: And maybe you vibe with those people, maybe you can connect with them more.
Speaker: So it's a good thing to consider.
Speaker: What do I like?
Speaker: And also, what age group do I like?
Speaker: Do I like knocking to seniors?
Speaker: Do I like knocking to younger people?
Speaker: And there's a few different websites.
Speaker: I'm trying to remember all of them, but...
Speaker: The one that I could remember off the top of my head is city-data.com.
Speaker: You can type in any city.
Speaker: I think you can filter it by zip code too.
Speaker: And it will tell you just all the stats on any area.
Speaker: Okay, it's going to tell you
Speaker: you know the demographics of that area what that ethnicities are so if you tend to favor a certain type of demographic certain ethnicity this is a great way to do some research figure out what's in that area great way to you know decide where you want to go based off of that
Speaker: Hey, we had a guy actually in our office.
Speaker: He closed 50 deals last month.
Speaker: We're probably going to have him on the podcast soon.
Speaker: Shout out to Cesar.
Speaker: But I think a big secret for him is he recognized the area he wanted to hit.
Speaker: He is Mexican himself.
Speaker: And so he thought, OK, I'm going to primarily go to a little bit lower income.
Speaker: Mexican where speak mostly Spanish and th is is how he grew up okay he grew up in areas like that and so he's like these are my people I'm connecting with them close 50 deals and that was definitely a factor so great first step right there hey and then number two know what types of homes you like to knock a great thing I like to do is any area I start in I start to recognize okay how many pools are in this area and
Speaker: And maybe you're knocking in, I don't know, Iowa or something.
Speaker: I don't think solar is in Iowa yet.
Speaker: But maybe you're knocking in an area where there's not too many pools, there's not too many electric vehicles.
Speaker: For me in California, there's lots of that.
Speaker: And you know that when I'm starting an area, I am definitely hitting the ones that have electric vehicles, that have pools.
Speaker: If they don't have solar yet,
Speaker: they're especially in California then they're missing out on something someone is not explaining them correctly about solar because they should have it hey so that's the second thing to consider what types of homes do you like knocking keep in mind that the lower income places you go the higher risk you are to need new roofs and especially speaking for California main panel upgrades
Speaker: And so sometimes I know guys that like hitting more middle class, lower income areas, but you do got to watch out for things like that that could complicate the deals.
Speaker: And do you like HOAs?
Speaker: Things to consider like is it going to be a long HOA approval process?
Speaker: Is it going to be a hassle?
Speaker: Maybe they haven't been knocked yet, but
Speaker: you could be setting yourself up for a long wait if it takes forever.
Speaker: So that's the second thing to consider when you are picking an area.
Speaker: What types of homes are you trying to go after?
Speaker: And again, you can go to the websites like that, citydata.com, or even just looking on good old Google Earth, Google Maps, you can see different types of homes and different types of income levels.
Speaker: And the third thing, this isn't really how to pick an area.
Speaker: The last two especially, it's not necessarily how to pick an area, but just things you should do.
Speaker: And number three is this, make sure you are sticking to an area.
Speaker: There's different strategies, right?
Speaker: Some people like bouncing around.
Speaker: Some people, they do the whole new move-in thing where you're going new move-ins.
Speaker: People that maybe haven't been talked to as much.
Speaker: But in general, I think I have seen the most success by sticking to an area.
Speaker: And a great podcast we had for this is Ty Segan.
Speaker: He closed over 100 deals in one single area.
Speaker: This was a big area.
Speaker: But we will link this in the show notes.
Speaker: I think this podcast was about a year ago.
Speaker: But this dude just blew my mind with the success he was able to have in an area.
Speaker: And you can listen to that episode for more reasons why.
Speaker: But the short version is...
Speaker: The more momentum you can build in an area, the more you get recognized, the more people post hopefully positive things about you, the better off you're going to be, more deals you're going to get.
Speaker: So that's why it's good to stick to a single area if possible.
Speaker: And then last but not least, again, this is more not necessarily how to pick an area, but something you should do when you are in an area is just be smart with it.
Speaker: okay i would always have to get after guys for burning through areas super quick you should try to talk to everyone like i just mentioned but also if you are knocking let's say afternoon and evening it makes no sense don't go knock the same doors every afternoon okay maybe you're knocking different doors in the afternoon then different doors in the evening re-knocking then vice versa maybe the door you knocked in the evening
Speaker: you're knocking in the afternoon, okay, be smart with it.
Speaker: I like to always implement what's, I think this came from the book Door-to-Door Millionaire, but he talks about the three-door rule, and that is if you don't talk to someone in three doors, then you do whatever it takes to get in front of a homeowner.
Speaker: So I think it's super smart.
Speaker: If you're out knocking in an afternoon,
Speaker: If you are just hitting a ghost town, then, I don't know, maybe move areas, just drive door to door, only hit the ones with garage doors open, with cars in the driveway.
Speaker: Do whatever it takes.
Speaker: Make sure you're being extremely efficient with your time.
Speaker: That's part of being smart with your area.
Speaker: Okay, and we've talked about in the podcast before, maybe during the afternoon, during slower hours, working hours, you can hit up older, you know, places where people are older, retired, who should be home during the day.
Speaker: A good tip I heard from I think it's Danny Pesce is he talked about in the afternoons or in the evenings, when you are after
Speaker: you know working hours when people should be home to any door you see that's like old folks maybe they got a handicap sticker maybe they just scream you know retired person living in this home you mark it on your door knocking app or whatever you're using and you hit that door in the dead hours of the afternoon or maybe morning okay because that's that's how you conserve area that's how you be smart with it
Speaker: and then you hit the ones that are home in the evenings.
Speaker: Okay, so yeah, just a couple things to consider.
Speaker: There is no magic pill with this.
Speaker: Okay, so maybe people were expecting more, but for Darren that asked this question,
Speaker: You're never going to find a perfect area, but just consider these things, right?
Speaker: So what demographics do you want?
Speaker: What income do you want?
Speaker: Do your research on citydata.com.
Speaker: What types of homes are you looking to hit?
Speaker: And then just, you know, stick in an area.
Speaker: You can switch it up.
Speaker: I like picking my strategies.
Speaker: Sometimes I like doing the whole drive door to door thing.
Speaker: One of my buddies, he did the strategy where he gets I haven't tried this personally, but thinks it's a great idea.
Speaker: He gets the golf cart and drives on.
Speaker: you know homes on dirt roads where people haven't been talked to as much but this is genius just get a golf cart drive door-to-door of course you got the segue I like doing that of course you got going to gated communities where people maybe haven't been hit up as much condos townhomes hey but everyone at this point I think every home is being hit but yeah we see there's gonna be homes that are less hit than other homes
Speaker: Okay, so consider those things as you are picking your area.
Speaker: And then the last two things we talked about, once you have picked an area, are stick in that area, right?
Speaker: Be like Ty Segan, see if you can get 100 deals in that area, build the momentum.
Speaker: And then the last thing was be smart with your areas.
Speaker: And those are just some of the thoughts off the top of my head.
Speaker: In the next podcast, we'll discuss a little bit more on things you can do to just, you know, maybe try, maybe things you should consider when you're on a blitz.
Speaker: I'm knocking here in Idaho, and there's things that I learned just on this blitz of, you know, things you should know about your areas, things you should consider as you go into different markets as well.
Speaker: So we'll talk a little bit about that on next episode, but hopefully these are some things that help you when you're trying to pick a good area.
Speaker: There's no magic bullet here, but these things help.
Speaker: Send this to someone that is trying to find good area.
Speaker: Hey, we got enough area for everybody except in San Diego.
Speaker: Don't come to San Diego.
Speaker: That turf is all mine.
Speaker: Stay out of my hood.
Speaker: I'm just kidding.
Speaker: Hit me up if you want to knock or if you want an opportunity out in my neck of the woods.
Speaker: But I hope you crushed it this week.
Speaker: Hopefully I didn't sound too much like a zombie and we'll see you guys on the next episode.
Speaker: Peace.
Speaker: What's up, Solopreneurs?
Speaker: Hope you enjoyed the episode.
Speaker: Before you run out and start selling more solar yourself, wanted to let you know about an exciting new cheat sheet we created specifically for you in mind.
Speaker: One of the top questions I get asked on Instagram, on Facebook by our listeners is, Taylor, where should I start?
Speaker: What episodes should I listen to in the podcast?
Speaker: You got too many podcasts, man, because now we have over 200 episodes.
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Speaker: Don't forget the S on solarpreneurs.com.
Speaker: We will have that in the show notes.
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