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How To Build Insane Momentum In Solar Sales - Travis Hartman
132 Plays2 years ago
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Transcript
Taylor Armstrong's Journey and Podcast Introduction
00:00:03
Speaker
Welcome to the Solarpreneur Podcast where we teach you to take your solar business to the next level.
00:00:08
Speaker
My name is Taylor Armstrong.
00:00:10
Speaker
I went from $50 in my bank account and struggling for groceries to closing 150 deals in a year and cracking the code on why sales reps fail.
00:00:19
Speaker
I teach you how to avoid the mistakes I made and bring in the top solar dogs of the industry to let you in on the secrets of generating more leads, falling up like a pro, and closing more deals.
00:00:31
Speaker
What is a solopreneur you might ask?
00:00:33
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.
Introducing Travis Hartman: A Solar Success Story
00:00:41
Speaker
What's going on?
00:00:42
Speaker
We are here with the one, the only Travis Hartman.
00:00:45
Speaker
We're here up in the studio, better known as their home office up here.
00:00:49
Speaker
Studio, office, whatever you want to call it.
00:00:52
Speaker
They got the setup.
00:00:53
Speaker
Excited to be here.
00:00:54
Speaker
So thanks for coming on the show with us here today, Travis.
00:00:57
Speaker
Absolutely.
00:00:58
Speaker
Thanks for having me, my man.
00:00:59
Speaker
Yeah, it's been a long time coming.
00:01:01
Speaker
And we'll let Travis introduce himself here in a second.
00:01:03
Speaker
But basically, we've known each other for...
00:01:06
Speaker
What was that, two or three years now?
00:01:08
Speaker
It seems like five, but like two to three.
00:01:10
Speaker
At least something or other.
00:01:11
Speaker
Yeah.
00:01:12
Speaker
And I've always respected Travis.
00:01:16
Speaker
He's kind of the right-hand man of Ricardo Ritchie, who's been on the podcast, very well-known.
00:01:22
Speaker
Travis is very well-known at this point, too.
00:01:24
Speaker
But they've been crushing a ton of deals, doing some incredible things.
00:01:28
Speaker
And what's crazy is when you first started, I remember you were like, kicking me up, Travis, kind of asking me questions and trying to learn the ropes.
00:01:35
Speaker
And now it's like totally reversed.
00:01:36
Speaker
I'm like asking you guys questions, like blown away by some of the stuff you've done.
00:01:43
Speaker
It's been a journey, man.
00:01:43
Speaker
It's been a journey.
00:01:44
Speaker
It's crazy to think that you guys were asking me questions at one point.
00:01:48
Speaker
But yeah, awesome to see the girls.
00:01:49
Speaker
So yeah, do you want to kind of introduce yourself and just give it a little Reader's Digest version for those that haven't heard your background yet?
00:01:56
Speaker
100%, man.
00:01:56
Speaker
And it's funny you say that.
00:01:58
Speaker
I actually remember when I first got into solar, I was listening to your podcast like literally every single day.
00:02:04
Speaker
So now we've come full circle because you had some seriously big hitters on the show back then.
00:02:08
Speaker
So literally, I remember every single day going out the hood, I was just obsessed, listening to the podcast, all the best guys on the show.
00:02:15
Speaker
And it's cool that we're full circle
Travis Hartman's Background and Solar Transition
00:02:17
Speaker
back here.
00:02:17
Speaker
But yeah, so Travis, one of the owners of Momentus, partners with Ricardo, which I'm sure a lot of you guys know.
00:02:23
Speaker
And yeah, man, I mean, a quick little background story about myself.
00:02:26
Speaker
Started out in alarms.
00:02:28
Speaker
as you know, in good old Kent, Ohio.
00:02:31
Speaker
So I did that for a couple months, figured out that I kind of like sales and came fairly naturally.
00:02:37
Speaker
And that's actually where I met Ricardo my first summer.
00:02:39
Speaker
So we ended up doing that and we got recruited to a pest control company in good old Tampa, Florida.
00:02:44
Speaker
so did that grew one of the largest offices in tampa ended up crushing it but we quickly realized that there was a glass ceiling in in pest right as you know i mean really to make serious money in that industry you've got to recruit an absolute army and you got to be in the game for a minute fast forward back to vivant one of the vps we connected with he started a solar company in san diego
00:03:04
Speaker
he started showing us some of the commission checks down there the opportunity and we were like man this is too good to be true but you know he kept on pastoring us he was like hey man you guys got to get down there so we took him up went down to san diego and saw some uh verified commission checks and bank ballots was like heck yeah we're all in so next thing you know we were in a random airbnb in san diego and that's how we got into solar that was three years ago to this day um so did that grew his company was doing about 20 to 30 a month rima carter came in there within three months grew it to
00:03:32
Speaker
about 150 to 200 a month, all set or closer model, which I'm sure we're gonna touch on in a little bit.
00:03:37
Speaker
Did that, wasn't the biggest fan of the management style down there.
00:03:40
Speaker
So we ended up starting our own branch within the company in Inland Empire, scale it up to about three, 400 jobs a month with only about 30 guys in the office, which that's what we were working together.
00:03:51
Speaker
So yeah.
00:03:52
Speaker
You saw us through the trenches, which was a really good time.
00:03:56
Speaker
And then, yeah, long story short, it didn't work out with that installer.
00:03:58
Speaker
Happens to the best of us in this industry.
00:04:00
Speaker
It's kind of a rite of passage, as you know.
00:04:02
Speaker
And that forced us last August to essentially, we started our own company, which is now Momentous.
00:04:07
Speaker
And yeah, we're doing pretty consistently between $300 to $400 a month.
00:04:10
Speaker
We've got a virtual team cooking, and now we're in this pretty cool office.
00:04:13
Speaker
So it brings us to today.
00:04:15
Speaker
Yeah, it's been a long road.
00:04:16
Speaker
Yeah.
00:04:17
Speaker
It's fire.
00:04:18
Speaker
You know, you guys have gone through some some heat taking some punches, but come back up.
00:04:22
Speaker
And I think that's the difference between a lot of people that give up in this industry that aren't here anymore.
00:04:27
Speaker
When these things with installers are all around when they don't get paid.
00:04:31
Speaker
Some people just get out and give up and say solar sucks.
00:04:36
Speaker
But you guys, I think you went even harder when we had some of these issues because we went through it together and we're not going to get super deep in that.
00:04:43
Speaker
Brings you closer than ever, right?
00:04:45
Speaker
Yeah.
00:04:46
Speaker
I'm owed a lot of money.
00:04:47
Speaker
Travis and Ricardo Theroux even more by some of these installers we're working with.
00:04:53
Speaker
So lesson learned.
00:04:53
Speaker
But yeah, I mean, I think that's a good question to ask you guys for people who maybe are thinking about giving up, having issues with installers or just companies.
00:05:03
Speaker
who have been maybe two, three companies, they're not having success.
00:05:07
Speaker
What's some advice you would give to those people?
00:05:10
Speaker
Like how have you been able to recover from some of these hits you've taken and not get super discouraged when things have gone down with installers and stuff like
Overcoming Challenges in the Solar Industry
00:05:18
Speaker
that?
00:05:18
Speaker
100%.
00:05:18
Speaker
I mean, for me, this is gonna be my sixth year in the game and I've invested a ton of money in myself.
00:05:24
Speaker
When I first got into solar, the first thing I did was I invested 25K into Danny Pesce's Noxstar course.
00:05:30
Speaker
The reason why I'm bringing that up is because every single thing that happens to you, all the pieces of information doesn't happen to you, it happens for you.
00:05:37
Speaker
Right?
00:05:38
Speaker
All my mentors that I have right now, every last one of them, they've been screwed out of millions and millions of dollars.
00:05:43
Speaker
right and the thing that is remains constant with all of them is that they didn't give up right so success these clues every single thing that's happened to me that's happened in my career and that's happened all my partners like i have learned a very very valuable lesson from it and it has helped put me in the position that i am today building up a company and now when making further decisions with hey which install we're going to partner with
00:06:05
Speaker
who are we going to partner with what finances are we going to use xyz i get to look back on these past things and say hey i got to learn from it right so i'm super grateful for getting screwed over for having installs gone wrong for being owed money because it's taught invaluable lessons but what i would say to viewers is like at the end of the day it is inevitable in business business is like war you are going to get hit right and if you can weather the storm and if you can remain
00:06:30
Speaker
stress-free i mean obviously you're gonna have stress but if you can weather the punches and you can take them on the chin and keep on rolling the worst scenario is you're going to learn from it the only downside to negative is if you tap if you quit right because then you don't actually get to absorb and learn and grow from the lessons right so i'm super grateful for all the stuff that's happened obviously it isn't fun in the moment but literally every single time stuff like that has happened i've always looked back and be like man i'm glad that happened right i learned a ton from the experience yeah so true it's like they say there's no losing only learning 100
00:07:00
Speaker
only getting better and i think for people that are getting discouraged maybe you didn't close that deal that was gonna make it 15 20 grand maybe you didn't get paid just take that as a lesson and try to improve and then do what travis did and push even harder and then you guys you'll see the results right and the big thing about that too it's like well why would i even be in the right position or why would i even be qualified to sell someone how to knock a door or to tell someone how to grow a business if i haven't been through the ringer
00:07:27
Speaker
Right?
00:07:28
Speaker
It's like you have to earn your stripes in business and in life.
00:07:30
Speaker
And how can I say, hey, I'm the owner of a company if I haven't even been through some adversity, right?
00:07:35
Speaker
So I think, I mean, those scars are what gives you the credibility even being on a podcast like this, right?
00:07:40
Speaker
If I hadn't gone through those trials and tribulations, which I know it's only the beginning, I know that as I level up and as the company grows, there's gonna be a lot more problems.
00:07:47
Speaker
I mean, to be quite blunt, I mean, in the position I'm at right now, I have more problems than ever.
00:07:52
Speaker
But it's because of all the past six years of learning and growing and getting punched in the face, now I'm able to handle those problems a lot more effectively and be able to weather the storm a lot more.
00:08:01
Speaker
So it's a necessary evil to have in business and in life.
00:08:05
Speaker
Yeah, I love that because you hear, especially social media these days, there's so many guys that try to share their knowledge.
00:08:11
Speaker
their wisdom when they haven't actually gone through that.
00:08:13
Speaker
Maybe even start companies.
00:08:15
Speaker
And it's like you guys have knocked.
00:08:17
Speaker
Travis, yes.
00:08:18
Speaker
What did you get?
00:08:19
Speaker
250 installed or something?
00:08:20
Speaker
Yeah, last year was my biggest year.
00:08:21
Speaker
Just missed the double golden door.
00:08:23
Speaker
But close 375.
00:08:24
Speaker
I want to say installed like 250, 260.
00:08:27
Speaker
So it was a good year.
00:08:29
Speaker
Incredible.
00:08:29
Speaker
Yeah.
00:08:30
Speaker
Yeah.
00:08:30
Speaker
And it's funny, like, we're just trying to keep up with Ricardo.
00:08:32
Speaker
I think he goes like five or something crazy.
00:08:35
Speaker
In any other company that'd be like number one rep by far.
00:08:38
Speaker
But when you're working with Ricardo, story of my career, my man.
00:08:42
Speaker
But no, it's pretty incredible.
00:08:43
Speaker
And that's part of what I've tried to do with the podcast to just like not be a guy that's just talking about going and knocking doors, closing bills and all that, but still be doing it myself and getting out there.
00:08:52
Speaker
I think it's important that you still do that.
00:08:54
Speaker
And like you said, with more money, more success comes more problems.
00:08:58
Speaker
Completely.
00:08:59
Speaker
Grant Cardone talks about it too.
00:09:01
Speaker
When you're seeing problems in business, that's probably, that means you're growing typically.
00:09:04
Speaker
Absolutely.
00:09:05
Speaker
See more problems come up.
00:09:06
Speaker
But yeah, speaking of problems, I know you guys have grown a ton.
00:09:09
Speaker
You're doing like call centers now.
00:09:11
Speaker
You have, what, we're 100 reps, you said?
00:09:14
Speaker
Losing track, but yeah, we're about, I mean, give or take 90 to 110.
00:09:17
Speaker
Yeah.
00:09:17
Speaker
Yeah.
00:09:19
Speaker
Crazy.
00:09:19
Speaker
You said the past four or five months you haven't even been able to make it to too many deals and yeah, dealing with some of the new problems I'm sure you guys are encountering.
00:09:28
Speaker
But yeah, what does that look like now?
00:09:29
Speaker
What's kind of your daily things that you do now as you're like building your organization?
Mastering Sales Skills and Scaling Business
00:09:34
Speaker
Yeah, 100%.
00:09:35
Speaker
So, I mean, obviously you've been selling for the last five to six years and for all you new guys, I mean, the number one skill that you need to develop in the beginning is sales, right?
00:09:42
Speaker
If you can't understand how to acquire a customer, you can't fulfill a customer, right?
00:09:46
Speaker
So for the first, I mean, five, six years was just like pure focus on mastery of the full process.
00:09:52
Speaker
So knocking doors, that's where alarms at PestGoodle came in like massively, right?
00:09:57
Speaker
So learning the in-home presentation, learning how to transition, that directly translated into solar.
00:10:02
Speaker
which I think was a big reason why we've had so much success in the industry is because we've been in multiple different industries and been able to translate that craft into this craft.
00:10:09
Speaker
So number one is like, you have to really understand the skills in the beginning.
00:10:13
Speaker
So I was laser focused on that for the last five to six years.
00:10:16
Speaker
Then as you know, you get to a point where now all you should be doing is maximizing your leverage, right?
00:10:20
Speaker
I'm not gonna be able to sell as an organization of a hundred people.
00:10:22
Speaker
Right, so for the last four or five months, basically my sole focus has been on growing and scaling the business.
00:10:27
Speaker
So we've been recruiting in a lot of top talent, right?
00:10:29
Speaker
Kind of cool is we've grown almost our entire company organically, just from our numbers, just people hitting us up and wanting to work with us from all the momentum that we've built.
00:10:36
Speaker
Yeah, really most of my time right
00:10:38
Speaker
is just implementing systems, processes, recruiting and people managing the day to day.
00:10:42
Speaker
And as of the last two months, it has been dabbling into a little bit of the virtual side of things as well, which has been, speaking of problems, it's been a whole other beast dealing with dialers and different CRMs and all that fun stuff, data management.
00:10:53
Speaker
But yeah, man, for the most part, it's really just been juggling the systems and aligning our leadership for the most part.
00:10:59
Speaker
Yeah, well, and I love that.
00:11:00
Speaker
that you guys called your Momentus, right?
00:11:02
Speaker
Momentus, yeah.
00:11:03
Speaker
And- You know, it's funny about that we, this was at door to door call last year.
00:11:07
Speaker
We're sitting at the table with a bunch of guys just thinking about names on, I literally wrote it down on a napkin, Momentus.
00:11:13
Speaker
And the reason why we came up with that name was just because the number one principle we always teach in sales is a law of momentum.
00:11:20
Speaker
which as you know, is literally like in the beginning, you have to be super disciplined.
00:11:23
Speaker
And before you knock a door, you have that anxiety and you have that doubt.
00:11:28
Speaker
But if you can push past that, once you get those wins and once you start getting that momentum, it's like a superpower.
00:11:34
Speaker
You can sell anybody, right?
00:11:35
Speaker
So we train our guys, it's like, look, you got to get the momentum in the beginning.
00:11:38
Speaker
But if you can hold on to that longer than anybody in the industry, it turns into a snowball effect, right?
00:11:44
Speaker
So that's what we named our company Momentum.
00:11:46
Speaker
Well, it's very fitting because I think you and Ricardo
00:11:49
Speaker
like embody that to the max.
00:11:52
Speaker
I hope so.
00:11:53
Speaker
Yeah.
00:11:53
Speaker
And it's funny, I even talked to, I can't remember this kid's name.
00:11:56
Speaker
I'm sure he's still working for you guys.
00:11:58
Speaker
But I think this is that door to door cons, work on one of the events.
00:12:02
Speaker
And he's he said he just started working with you guys.
00:12:04
Speaker
And he would left his he was closing in another company was doing decent.
00:12:07
Speaker
Yeah, he's like, Yeah, I'm going to work with one menace.
00:12:10
Speaker
And I'm just gonna be a setter there.
00:12:12
Speaker
I think I can make more money.
00:12:13
Speaker
And I like what they're doing.
00:12:14
Speaker
And so it's great.
00:12:15
Speaker
You got people lining up through the doors to maybe take like what they see is like a downgraded position or whatever.
00:12:21
Speaker
And I'm sure a lot of these guys are making way more money when he's setting them in.
00:12:25
Speaker
Yeah, our centers are making a good chunk of change.
00:12:28
Speaker
But it also helps that they've got good closures as well.
00:12:29
Speaker
You know, that's true.
00:12:31
Speaker
But yeah, like it's just about building that momentum.
00:12:33
Speaker
And I think the setters see that and I've got a buddy of mine that we're talking about Anthony that literally drives up from San Diego.
00:12:41
Speaker
He's a savage.
00:12:42
Speaker
An hour and a half, hour 40.
00:12:43
Speaker
Shout out Papa P. Yeah.
00:12:46
Speaker
almost will probably like for almost four hour round trip driving every day to come work with you guys.
00:12:52
Speaker
And I'm like, bro, how do you keep doing this?
00:12:54
Speaker
He's like, well, I'm having success and I like what they're doing.
00:12:57
Speaker
So when people are driving four hours every day to work with you, that's when you got some going right.
00:13:02
Speaker
I mean, the big thing is we pride ourselves on the training that we pride to our guys.
00:13:05
Speaker
I mean, everything that we've built, the backbone of it has been our processes and our training.
00:13:10
Speaker
So, I mean, we get people from all over the place flying in just to learn what we're doing.
00:13:14
Speaker
And the thing that we're most proud of is we can look at any guy who's been in any industry and confidently say, if you commit to our process, there will be no better sales in the industry and there'll be no better training in the industry.
00:13:25
Speaker
So we have a very specific process, which you just saw taking a tour of our office.
00:13:29
Speaker
We have what's called the roadmap built out, which intro bridge, et cetera, et cetera.
00:13:32
Speaker
So we break it down to the nuance for all of our guys and really instill it.
00:13:35
Speaker
And typically over a long enough time horizon, we turn out killers.
00:13:40
Speaker
So it's been big for us being able to implement our processes within guys and they're getting some serious numbers from it.
00:13:46
Speaker
So we're pretty proud of it.
00:13:47
Speaker
That's awesome.
00:13:48
Speaker
But yes, I want to transition a little bit and talk about some of those processes that you've set up because something I see a lot all the time is people that build.
00:13:55
Speaker
Maybe they have really good trainings.
00:13:56
Speaker
Guys are cranking out deals, but then they get like maybe 30, 40 guys.
00:14:01
Speaker
And people get lost in the sea.
00:14:03
Speaker
They're not getting the training, not getting attention.
00:14:05
Speaker
So tell me about some of what are like the systems you guys set up.
00:14:08
Speaker
How have you tried?
00:14:10
Speaker
I'm sure there's still things you're adjusting, but as you've grown on all that.
00:14:13
Speaker
It ain't perfect.
00:14:13
Speaker
That's for sure.
00:14:14
Speaker
Work in progress.
00:14:15
Speaker
Yeah.
00:14:15
Speaker
Yeah.
00:14:16
Speaker
But like, what have you guys done to maybe like, ensure that guys are getting the training they need and not get just like left behind as you grow?
00:14:23
Speaker
Because it's tough.
00:14:24
Speaker
Even me, I've got like 10 new guys that start in our office.
00:14:27
Speaker
I'm kind of like helping them train.
00:14:29
Speaker
And sometimes I forget.
00:14:30
Speaker
I'm like, oh, shoot, I got to give this guy more attention.
00:14:32
Speaker
100%.
00:14:33
Speaker
And caught up with them.
00:14:33
Speaker
So I don't know if you organize it into groups.
00:14:35
Speaker
But yeah, tell me about some of the systems and processes you guys have in place.
00:14:38
Speaker
Yeah.
Efficiency in Solar Sales: Best Practices
00:14:39
Speaker
Absolutely.
00:14:39
Speaker
I'd be here all day if we went over everything.
00:14:41
Speaker
But the root of it is the art of running a proper set or closure model, which me and Ricky, we've talked about on another podcast before, but it's really the bread and butter.
00:14:50
Speaker
When we first got into solar, we were mind blown how few people actually thought that it was a good model.
00:14:57
Speaker
Most of them were doing self-gen.
00:14:58
Speaker
Right.
00:14:58
Speaker
And we're like, how does it make sense to set an appointment, follow up with appointment, close it and do the follow up?
00:15:04
Speaker
It just doesn't make sense.
00:15:05
Speaker
There's way too many moving parts.
00:15:07
Speaker
All the best people in any industry, they typically focus on one thing and they get really, really good at it.
00:15:12
Speaker
They get really good at setting.
00:15:13
Speaker
They get really, really good at closing or they get really, really good on the film.
00:15:17
Speaker
So that has been the system that we've set up and have essentially perfected over the years.
00:15:23
Speaker
And step number one to do that is you have to have the right expectations with your people.
00:15:28
Speaker
So a lot of the times we'll have guys coming in and they're like, hey, I wanna get the closing, wanna get the closing.
00:15:32
Speaker
And we're like, look, man, unless you've been in the industry for two plus years and have a track record, you're gonna be a setter.
00:15:37
Speaker
And why are you gonna do that?
00:15:39
Speaker
Well, one, in order to replicate this model, you gotta know how to set.
00:15:42
Speaker
I mean, you know better than me, there's a lot of closers in the industry, they have no clue how to knock a door properly.
00:15:46
Speaker
They can't even run, like how are you gonna run a setter team if you don't know how to set yourself, right?
00:15:50
Speaker
So we've just gotten really good at holding the line and setting expectations with people coming in the doors like, hey man, you gotta come in for at least six months, set and produce serious numbers before you transition to closing.
00:16:00
Speaker
Why?
00:16:01
Speaker
Well, so you can train other people on how to do it.
00:16:03
Speaker
You gotta be able to replace the volume.
00:16:04
Speaker
Because as you know, the most valuable part of the business is the lead gen.
00:16:08
Speaker
You can find any closer in the industry to go and say, hey, we'll give you 10 leads and fill up your calendar.
00:16:13
Speaker
People are gonna run off the shelves to do that.
00:16:15
Speaker
So that's been number one is holding the expectation and number two has been our training on the guys on door.
00:16:21
Speaker
The number one thing that we train on really is just our roadmap, which consists of the intro, which as you know, in California, it's a pretty saturated market.
00:16:29
Speaker
So it's really important.
00:16:30
Speaker
A lot of guys in this industry, new people, they just start spewing in the beginning.
00:16:34
Speaker
And the problem is, is nobody is actually listening to the pitch.
00:16:38
Speaker
So we train on is you got to ask a lot of questions in the beginning and you got to move people.
00:16:42
Speaker
There's only two ways to control the conversation.
00:16:44
Speaker
It's questions and movement.
00:16:45
Speaker
So we train all of our guys to break the preoccupation to actually get the customer listening so that they can actually pitch them and they can hear what they're saying.
00:16:52
Speaker
And then number two is it's going to be our discovery process.
00:16:55
Speaker
The number one thing we always train is you got to figure out what the customer wants and what they don't want.
00:16:59
Speaker
That's it.
00:17:00
Speaker
And how do you do that?
00:17:01
Speaker
You ask the right questions.
00:17:02
Speaker
So our question we always ask is the three main questions.
00:17:04
Speaker
It's one, people like to do solar for three main reasons.
00:17:07
Speaker
To save money, you've heard this.
00:17:08
Speaker
To save money, build equity and use more power.
00:17:10
Speaker
The main mistake people do with that, once they get a, hey, I want to save money, they immediately try to provide value to that.
00:17:17
Speaker
Hey, here's how I can save you money.
00:17:18
Speaker
Well, the problem is, is you're not really going to figure out the root of what the customer wants.
00:17:22
Speaker
So we always try and you got to dig three levels deep.
00:17:25
Speaker
So, okay, you said you want to save money.
00:17:27
Speaker
Can you elaborate on that?
00:17:29
Speaker
Can you tell me a little bit more?
00:17:30
Speaker
Oh, I want to save money for X, Y, Z. Okay.
00:17:32
Speaker
Well, why do you want to save money for X, Y, Z?
00:17:34
Speaker
And we dig deep and figure out their emotional reason as to why they want to buy for emotional reasons, not logical reasons.
00:17:41
Speaker
Right?
00:17:41
Speaker
So it's always intro.
00:17:43
Speaker
And then we have breaking preoccupation, transition to the meter.
00:17:46
Speaker
And then what we have is called setting the frame.
00:17:48
Speaker
So we always have our guys set very clear expectations with every single person they talk to.
00:17:52
Speaker
Hey, to be honest with you, I'm not sure this is gonna make sense.
00:17:54
Speaker
I'm gonna tell you guys the good and tell you guys the bad.
00:17:57
Speaker
If we can do X, Y, Z, hot button and handle your concern, obviously, Taylor, you're a smart guy.
00:18:02
Speaker
This would be a no-brainer for you guys, right?
00:18:04
Speaker
Not sure this will make sense.
00:18:05
Speaker
What I'm gonna do is we'll set up a time for you, have our energy expert come, and then we'll set up a consultation for you.
00:18:10
Speaker
Does that sound fair?
00:18:12
Speaker
Okay, great.
00:18:12
Speaker
So that's really been our bread and butter is really distilling down the roadmap every single day.
00:18:18
Speaker
We have our guys come in Monday through Friday at 1030 every single day.
00:18:21
Speaker
We're religious about this hammering and role plays every single day.
00:18:26
Speaker
And we just hold our guys to it, hammer in the training and eventually over a long enough time horizon, as long as they're sticking to the schedule with our training, eventually they're setting five to six appointments a day.
00:18:36
Speaker
And it turns into a machine where we have 30 to 50 appointments on the schedule every single day.
00:18:41
Speaker
I love that.
00:18:41
Speaker
Yeah.
00:18:42
Speaker
It's literally like a Navy SEAL schedule you guys got, like putting them through the ringer.
00:18:46
Speaker
Yeah.
00:18:48
Speaker
Let's just say we don't have the most loose schedule.
00:18:50
Speaker
Well, yeah.
00:18:51
Speaker
And like what I love about it is if guys aren't meeting the standards, then you're just like, okay, go find somewhere else.
00:18:57
Speaker
I've got no problem saying see the door.
00:18:59
Speaker
No problem.
00:19:00
Speaker
And our guys know that too.
00:19:01
Speaker
Yeah.
00:19:02
Speaker
I think that's why people respect like coming to work with you guys so much and they want to come work because they know.
00:19:08
Speaker
Yeah, I think some guys I've talked to, they know it's probably going to suck to work with you guys and have to work way harder than they ever have.
00:19:15
Speaker
But you see you guys growing up in these nice cars and all that.
00:19:20
Speaker
I haven't a ton of success.
00:19:24
Speaker
Well, yeah, what's some accomplishments from your setters?
00:19:26
Speaker
What's your best setter doing, would you say?
00:19:28
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, we've had some amazing, like we've got the best setters in the industry.
00:19:32
Speaker
I mean, and truthfully, we would not be in the position we're at if it weren't for our setters.
00:19:36
Speaker
Like the only reason why I'm able to close through 75 accounts is because our setting team is grinding, is dialed, they're putting in the work and they're sacrificing.
00:19:44
Speaker
Yeah.
00:19:44
Speaker
If it weren't for those guys, I mean, that we wouldn't have a company.
00:19:47
Speaker
Right, so Setter's always the lifeblood of the business.
00:19:49
Speaker
It's one of the most overlooked parts of the business as well.
00:19:53
Speaker
A lot of companies, they, again, they let guys transition to closing too much.
00:19:56
Speaker
And I'm a firm believer that you're actually doing Setter's a disservice, transitioning too quickly because they're not getting those reference experience and they're not sharpening the sword.
00:20:04
Speaker
I know, because closing solar ain't easy.
00:20:06
Speaker
You know, you got to close a 25 year contract, you got to get it installed.
00:20:08
Speaker
That's not easy, right?
00:20:09
Speaker
So you have to have a high level of skill in order to do that.
00:20:12
Speaker
So I genuinely think it's a disservice not transitioning people.
00:20:17
Speaker
As for accomplishments, I mean, our top setter last year made over half a million dollars, which is pretty cool.
00:20:22
Speaker
We've had a couple of setters get golden doors.
00:20:25
Speaker
I had one setter, he retired his family.
00:20:27
Speaker
Shout out Robbie, he retired his parents in Savinia.
00:20:30
Speaker
So we've had some setters do some pretty awesome things.
00:20:32
Speaker
Yeah.
00:20:33
Speaker
Yeah, just speaks volumes to what you guys are doing.
00:20:35
Speaker
Like some people in bigger companies.
00:20:38
Speaker
Yeah, I guess another question I had with that I see these bigger companies where there's not like a structure people just it's kind of at the closers discretion when they want to let guys progress or whatever.
00:20:48
Speaker
So do you guys have like a set standard in place like you have to get this many deals before you even think about closing or is just six months or?
00:20:55
Speaker
Yeah, standard.
00:20:56
Speaker
Yeah, that's a really good question.
00:20:58
Speaker
To be honest with you, in the beginning, we didn't even have a standard.
00:21:01
Speaker
It was kind of an as for basis, but obviously as you know, it's not a scalable model.
00:21:05
Speaker
So now what we have is typically, if you wanna be a setter to transition, you gotta make it loud and clear with your production.
00:21:13
Speaker
that you're capable of moving forward.
00:21:15
Speaker
So typically all of our top setters, they're doing between 10 to 15 a month consistently for at least a full quarter to then entertain the conversation to transition.
00:21:24
Speaker
And the big reason why that's so important is it's not even, hey, do we doubt you as a center you can transition to closer?
00:21:29
Speaker
A lot of my guys, I know for a fact they can close, but the problem that breaks the model is if your setters don't believe in the closer, right?
00:21:38
Speaker
So what happens is like in other companies, you have guys, they transition after a month and the new setters are knocking.
00:21:44
Speaker
They don't even believe that their closer is going to be capable and competent enough to close their deals, right?
00:21:48
Speaker
So we make it loud and clear.
00:21:49
Speaker
Hey, it's a pretty easy path forward.
00:21:51
Speaker
You set, you absolutely blow up the leaderboard.
00:21:53
Speaker
Typically, again, it's,
00:21:55
Speaker
Yeah, 15 to 20 a month for a good three months, which I know is a lot, but that's the standard in our company.
00:22:00
Speaker
You make it loud and freaking clear that you're dominant in the setting position.
00:22:06
Speaker
And then so that you can basically have proof of concept for the guys in the organization that you're going to be able to handle their leads.
00:22:11
Speaker
Yeah.
00:22:11
Speaker
You know, because that's what happens.
00:22:13
Speaker
That's how the model is broken.
00:22:14
Speaker
If right, if you're close, I mean, pardon me, if you're setters, they don't believe in your closers.
00:22:18
Speaker
Yeah.
00:22:18
Speaker
Right.
00:22:18
Speaker
And it breaks the model very quickly.
00:22:20
Speaker
Yeah.
00:22:20
Speaker
So right now we're implementing some new we haven't implemented the exact new standard yet, but we're most likely going to have it set up to where after you have 75 deals closed, etc, then you can have the conversation to transition to a closer, or you can go down the center management.
00:22:35
Speaker
Yeah, when I think you probably agree with this, some people come
00:22:38
Speaker
companies, they look at setter as like a negative word.
00:22:41
Speaker
Like it's the lowest position on the totem pole or whatever.
00:22:44
Speaker
It's the most important part of the business.
00:22:45
Speaker
Yeah, but I've talked to a lot of your guys and they're like stoked to be a setter.
00:22:49
Speaker
Like I think they take pride in being a setter and yeah, like most closers aren't making, there's very few closers that make half a million a year.
00:22:57
Speaker
Completely.
00:22:58
Speaker
Some people setting up the deal.
00:22:59
Speaker
I mean, one of the most things I'm proud of is, I mean, our centers are making more than most closures in the industry.
00:23:04
Speaker
They're absolutely crushing and they're making a ton of money.
00:23:07
Speaker
Right.
00:23:07
Speaker
But I mean, they, it's because they work their ass off and they actually are applying the things that we're teaching them.
00:23:12
Speaker
I think when you get to that point where people want to, want to stay sitting, they're like, they're making good money and they're happy with it.
00:23:18
Speaker
Well, yeah, it goes back like,
00:23:19
Speaker
You know, my buddy Anthony that's working with you guys, he's making great money being a setter.
00:23:24
Speaker
And he's like, why would I close?
00:23:26
Speaker
I'm making good money.
00:23:27
Speaker
I agree with my schedule.
00:23:28
Speaker
I can just handle my business and go back home.
00:23:31
Speaker
Doesn't have to worry about the rest of it.
00:23:33
Speaker
Well, I mean, speaking of leverage, I mean, there's no higher leverage activity than being a setter.
00:23:37
Speaker
Yeah.
00:23:38
Speaker
Right.
00:23:38
Speaker
I mean, you can go out for a couple hours and literally have five, six of the best closers in the industry in your appointments.
00:23:44
Speaker
Right.
00:23:44
Speaker
As a closer, I can only be in one home at a time.
00:23:47
Speaker
Right.
00:23:47
Speaker
So, I mean, we always say, look, you want to maximize your revenue generating activities.
00:23:53
Speaker
Most people, they don't want to have to deal with the stress of having to deal with their customers, have to deal with managing the pipeline, having installs go wrong.
00:23:58
Speaker
That falls on the closer, right?
00:24:00
Speaker
That's stressful.
00:24:01
Speaker
And it's not, as you know, it's not fun at times, right?
00:24:05
Speaker
Obviously, top, top closers in the industry.
00:24:08
Speaker
I mean, that's where you can make a ton, a ton of money.
00:24:10
Speaker
But nine times out of 10, being a setter, you have more leverage, you have more stress.
00:24:15
Speaker
It's a lot more enjoyable on the day to day.
00:24:17
Speaker
Yeah, for sure.
00:24:19
Speaker
Yeah, I'm sure if you were your setters made more than I did setting deals, then you cannot enclose them.
00:24:25
Speaker
We've got some savages on the doors.
00:24:26
Speaker
That's awesome.
00:24:27
Speaker
As we've talked about, you've been running with Ricardo for quite a while now.
00:24:31
Speaker
You guys are like Batman and Robin just blowing this thing up.
00:24:35
Speaker
So like Ricardo, we know he's like, probably the best in the industry.
00:24:39
Speaker
I don't think anyone's done what he's done.
00:24:41
Speaker
Not that I know of.
00:24:41
Speaker
Yeah, so insane.
00:24:44
Speaker
But yeah, tell me I know you guys I've seen you guys but heads at times.
00:24:48
Speaker
I know both you guys are, you know, these type A's.
00:24:51
Speaker
Us but heads?
00:24:51
Speaker
I don't know what you're talking about.
00:24:53
Speaker
Maybe not but heads, but.
00:24:54
Speaker
No, I'm playing.
00:24:55
Speaker
We butt heads all the time.
00:24:57
Speaker
Yeah.
00:24:57
Speaker
But hey, both you guys are some intense dudes.
00:25:00
Speaker
So maybe people that are running like a partnership like you guys got.
The Power of Partnership in Business
00:25:05
Speaker
What's that been like running with Ricardo?
00:25:07
Speaker
I know you've learned a ton from him.
00:25:09
Speaker
100%.
00:25:09
Speaker
He's like the best, but.
00:25:12
Speaker
Maybe you got two people that are like, both think they're the best.
00:25:15
Speaker
You guys are both extremely competitive to always competing completely.
00:25:18
Speaker
So how has that been?
00:25:19
Speaker
Have you ever like been like, oh, man, screw Ricardo, I'm gonna go start my own thing.
00:25:23
Speaker
Yeah.
00:25:24
Speaker
Like, what's it been like working with Ricardo all this time?
00:25:27
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, it's one of those things where I mean, businesses, it's not easy, right?
00:25:30
Speaker
So I've been fortunate enough to have, I mean, Ricardo, he's one of the closest thing to have the blood.
00:25:35
Speaker
I mean, we've known each other since day one.
00:25:36
Speaker
So I trust him with my life.
00:25:38
Speaker
And being able to go through adversity in business with someone you trust with your life is a very, very special thing.
00:25:43
Speaker
And it's a powerful thing.
00:25:44
Speaker
And number one principle in business is speed.
00:25:46
Speaker
If you can execute something with speed, then you'll win.
00:25:49
Speaker
The only thing that usually is the bottleneck in that is having someone you trust, is getting backstabbed or getting screwed over, which as you know happens all the time.
00:25:58
Speaker
So we, I mean, our partnership is very special.
00:26:02
Speaker
We trust each other with our lives.
00:26:04
Speaker
You have to have honest communication though in a partnership and neither of us have any problem saying how we feel in a certain situation.
00:26:10
Speaker
Yes, we butt heads, but we always come to some sort of consensus.
00:26:14
Speaker
I'm usually to the left, he's usually to the right, we usually meet in the middle.
00:26:18
Speaker
Yes, sometimes things can get difficult, but I'm a firm believer, if you're holding things back in a partnership and if you can't have honest communication, then you're not gonna be able to effectively solve problems.
00:26:28
Speaker
So through all that butting of heads, we have been able to effectively solve problems over time.
00:26:34
Speaker
I mean, it's just part of the game, you know what I mean?
00:26:36
Speaker
But yeah, we've been running Mane since day one.
00:26:38
Speaker
We're gonna be in business for life together, you know what I mean?
00:26:42
Speaker
And I think that's been one of the number one things for us to be able to scale our business is he's literally, there's no better.
00:26:49
Speaker
I mean, I've learned so much from him in sales, right?
00:26:51
Speaker
I mean, a lot of the success I've had in sales has been from him, but also a lot of the stuff systematically.
00:26:56
Speaker
And when it comes to like management, I've helped out tremendously with, and he's learned a lot from me, right?
00:27:02
Speaker
So you have to have that yin yang.
00:27:04
Speaker
A partnership doesn't make sense if you have two people with the same strength.
00:27:07
Speaker
You have to have people with complementary skill sets.
00:27:09
Speaker
So it's been great.
00:27:10
Speaker
We've complemented our skill sets fantastically over the last six years.
00:27:13
Speaker
We're still learning day to day on how to work with one another.
00:27:16
Speaker
But obviously, I mean, it's worked pretty well so far.
00:27:18
Speaker
And yeah, it's been a great journey.
00:27:21
Speaker
Yeah, no doubt.
00:27:22
Speaker
So what do you feel like you're a little more of an operator compared to Ricardo?
00:27:26
Speaker
For sure.
00:27:27
Speaker
I always make fun of him.
00:27:28
Speaker
He barely even knows how to log into Google Sheets.
00:27:30
Speaker
But yeah, I mean, I've always been a lot more organized and a little bit more detail oriented, which, as you know, when running the back end operation, when it comes to like the financing and the
00:27:40
Speaker
the pipeline is pretty important to have in this industry.
00:27:43
Speaker
So yeah, last four or five months, I've mainly been setting up all the systems and processes.
00:27:46
Speaker
And as you know, Ricky, he's the GOAT when it comes to selling.
00:27:49
Speaker
So he's the driver, he's the visionary.
00:27:51
Speaker
It's kind of like the four minute mile, right?
00:27:55
Speaker
It doesn't happen until it happens.
00:27:56
Speaker
So he's the guy who really shows what is possible in this industry and our company.
00:28:02
Speaker
And he's the driver.
00:28:04
Speaker
And where I come in is I still drive, but I clean up a lot of the problems.
00:28:08
Speaker
Because as you know, when you scale a business, a lot of things break.
00:28:11
Speaker
Yeah.
00:28:11
Speaker
Right.
00:28:12
Speaker
So I've been fixing a lot of fires that have been created.
00:28:16
Speaker
Well, I got to hand it to you guys.
00:28:18
Speaker
Any installer you go to, I think you break half of them because you send them 100 deals in like a month's time.
00:28:23
Speaker
Yeah.
00:28:24
Speaker
They're like, oh, shoot, I don't know what to do with all this.
00:28:27
Speaker
It's funny, every single installer, when we sat down at the table with them, we said, hey guys, we're going to be putting up 100 to 200 accounts your first month.
00:28:34
Speaker
Can you handle this volume?
00:28:36
Speaker
Every time I'm like, oh yeah, no problem.
00:28:37
Speaker
No, we say no, no, no.
00:28:39
Speaker
Can you handle this volume?
00:28:41
Speaker
And more than half the time, it's been a nightmare in the back end, to be honest.
00:28:45
Speaker
But it's been good.
00:28:46
Speaker
A lot of lessons learned in that process.
00:28:48
Speaker
Yeah, no doubt.
00:28:50
Speaker
Well, yeah, and so I know as you've been through some of those lessons and not working well with certain installers, yeah, what do you guys look for in the installers you're working with now?
00:28:59
Speaker
We were talking before we hit record, like there's no perfect installer.
00:29:03
Speaker
There's always going to be issues.
00:29:05
Speaker
Sure.
00:29:05
Speaker
But do you have any advice for someone who's maybe starting their dealer on like picking installers or like mistakes you made that completely lessons you learned from picking your installers?
00:29:16
Speaker
Yeah, so you brought up systems a little bit earlier.
00:29:18
Speaker
Before you even get into installers, the number one system you need to have is if you want to put up a lot of volume, you have to have an internal admin.
00:29:24
Speaker
So we have all of our guys.
00:29:26
Speaker
For every two closures we have, they have one admin.
00:29:28
Speaker
That's the only way to do 30-40.
00:29:29
Speaker
Because if you're going to put up 30 in a month, there's a lot you need to deal with on the back end.
00:29:32
Speaker
So having that support, having an admin, at least at our company, we pay them base pay and a certain dollar amount per account because we want them incentivized to actually get installs.
00:29:42
Speaker
So step number one is if you really want to put a volume, make sure that you have an internal admin.
00:29:47
Speaker
As an owner, we supply it to our guys and we take care of that cost for them.
00:29:50
Speaker
It's a really big value add.
00:29:52
Speaker
Number two, systematically, you got to make sure that their systems and processes are dialed.
00:29:56
Speaker
So I'm always looking to make sure, hey, do they have a CRM?
00:29:59
Speaker
Believe it or not, a lot of installers, they operate out of Google Sheets.
00:30:03
Speaker
Believe it or not.
00:30:04
Speaker
Number two, as you know, it's really important to have complete transparently in terms of visibility and adder costs.
00:30:09
Speaker
So always make sure that, you know,
00:30:11
Speaker
You don't wanna have an installer that they have the lowest red line.
00:30:13
Speaker
You don't wanna have an installer that has a highest red line.
00:30:15
Speaker
Typically the best ones are one that meet in the middle, because they still have to have their operational cost.
00:30:19
Speaker
So we look to make sure that their pricing structure is properly.
00:30:22
Speaker
We wanna make sure that they have all the right financing.
00:30:24
Speaker
But really the biggest thing is I love having visibility on the back end.
00:30:28
Speaker
Why?
00:30:29
Speaker
One, it's easy to manage.
00:30:29
Speaker
Number two, it's so that my setters and my closers, they can have that visibility, which means that I'm not going to have to constantly be relaying information from the installer to them.
00:30:38
Speaker
It takes up a lot of time, as you know.
00:30:40
Speaker
So really the big thing is visibility in the back end, having reasonable pricing and having that operational support, as in if their team is dialed on the back end in terms of communicating, typically, that's the number one thing I'm looking for is in the beginning of building relationship with the new installers, how is their communication?
00:30:55
Speaker
Yeah.
00:30:56
Speaker
If they're not following up with my text or my emails in the beginning, they're sure as hell not going to be doing it when we're doing $200 to $300 a month.
00:31:02
Speaker
So those are really the big three that we're focused on.
00:31:04
Speaker
Love that.
00:31:05
Speaker
Yeah, so important.
00:31:06
Speaker
And yeah, I think that's a lesson we definitely had to learn when we were working together a few years back.
00:31:12
Speaker
Completely.
00:31:13
Speaker
Well, yeah, we weren't the ones really setting up the relationship with the installers.
00:31:17
Speaker
And we probably both learned that lesson is maybe you have leaders that are setting up...
00:31:22
Speaker
their relationship with the installer.
00:31:24
Speaker
They don't know how to ask these questions.
00:31:26
Speaker
So like if I could go back to that time, then I probably would have questioned the people who were setting up the relationship with the installers.
00:31:32
Speaker
Yeah.
00:31:33
Speaker
Did you ask them this question?
00:31:34
Speaker
Did you see if they're actually organized?
00:31:36
Speaker
Of course.
00:31:37
Speaker
Did you see if they have a CRM?
00:31:38
Speaker
The answer would have been no.
00:31:40
Speaker
It's funny because I mean, at the end of the day, solar is construction, right?
00:31:43
Speaker
And construction, you've got you've got permanent, you've got crews, right?
00:31:48
Speaker
There's so many different aspects of the business.
00:31:50
Speaker
it's not who's the best, it's who's the least at the end of the day, truthfully, right?
00:31:54
Speaker
And that's just the reality of the industry.
00:31:56
Speaker
And that's why we're able to make so much money, right?
00:31:59
Speaker
I mean, if you look at, you know, mortgage back in 08, or if you look at insurance back in the early 1980s and 1990s, it was an absolute gold rush, but the systems and processes weren't perfect.
00:32:07
Speaker
You can't have everything.
00:32:08
Speaker
Over time, the industry is going to get regulated and there's going to be a lot more big private equity money coming into the business and it's going to be streamlined, but that comes with a cost.
00:32:17
Speaker
So as these installers, they get better, which they will, then the margin is going to drive down.
00:32:21
Speaker
So the big thing as an owner, you have to relate your guise is, look, at the end of the day, this is construction.
00:32:25
Speaker
It's not going to be perfect.
00:32:26
Speaker
As a leader, I'm not going to be perfect.
00:32:27
Speaker
I'm going to make mistakes, but anticipate that there are going to be jobs that go wrong.
00:32:32
Speaker
There is going to be some accounts that don't get paid on time.
00:32:34
Speaker
That's just the reality.
00:32:35
Speaker
That's how you're able to make a million dollars a year.
00:32:37
Speaker
Right.
00:32:37
Speaker
Cause you have to deal with these things.
00:32:38
Speaker
Right.
00:32:39
Speaker
But obviously my job as an owner is to make sure that my guys are in the best position possible, but there's still stuff that happens left and right.
00:32:46
Speaker
Right.
00:32:46
Speaker
So you just, you've got to be able to anticipate that there are going to be operational holds ups and all you can do is be proactive about it at the end of the day.
00:32:52
Speaker
Yeah, no doubt.
00:32:53
Speaker
Yes, there's no perfect installer.
00:32:55
Speaker
There's only the issues, the crews maybe.
00:32:58
Speaker
Yeah, I don't know.
00:32:59
Speaker
The other big thing I would say is, I mean, obviously, do due diligence in the beginning, but when you do pick an installer, it's important.
00:33:05
Speaker
Don't just jump ship.
00:33:07
Speaker
It takes anything.
00:33:08
Speaker
I mean, anything worthwhile takes time.
00:33:10
Speaker
A good installer will listen you and will integrate what you're looking for.
00:33:13
Speaker
So if you're willing to work with them and if they are willing to integrate with some of the CRMs that you have set up and some of the processes, let that play out its course and eventually it will get better.
00:33:23
Speaker
You need to learn, it's a relationship at the end of the day.
00:33:25
Speaker
It takes time to integrate.
00:33:27
Speaker
Each sales force is different.
00:33:28
Speaker
Each sales force has different processes.
00:33:30
Speaker
So if you're willing to withstand the adversity in the short term, typically on the other side of it is, hey, you actually have a process that works.
00:33:38
Speaker
Yeah, and probably especially if you're doing quite a few deals through them because for you guys, if you send someone 100 deals, they're probably going to at least get a little bit of their attention.
00:33:45
Speaker
100%.
00:33:45
Speaker
Yeah.
00:33:47
Speaker
So if you're someone that sent an installer to deals and...
00:33:50
Speaker
They both went bad.
00:33:52
Speaker
Yeah, maybe.
00:33:52
Speaker
Yeah, maybe they didn't care about your deal.
00:33:54
Speaker
Yeah, maybe that's not a big enough sample size.
00:33:56
Speaker
But no, I love that very important lessons and good advice for anyone that's looking into just that relationship between you and different installers.
Adapting to Virtual Sales and Exploring New Verticals
00:34:05
Speaker
But yeah, two things I want to get to before we're out of out of time here, Travis, I know you guys have dabbled a little bit, you're starting to dabbled more and more into like the phone.
00:34:15
Speaker
Mm hmm.
00:34:16
Speaker
online like phone leads.
00:34:17
Speaker
Yeah, that's the first.
00:34:19
Speaker
Yeah, I guess we can start with that.
00:34:20
Speaker
So how did you get into this whole space?
00:34:22
Speaker
I've seen even been posting more and more like a virtual team and all that.
00:34:26
Speaker
So how did this out of this come to pass?
00:34:29
Speaker
And what are you guys doing with all this?
00:34:31
Speaker
Yeah, 100%.
00:34:32
Speaker
I mean, it's kind of funny.
00:34:34
Speaker
I mean, as you scale, opening up verticals is usually just a byproduct.
00:34:38
Speaker
Right.
00:34:38
Speaker
So
00:34:39
Speaker
I'm pretty well connected in the business.
00:34:41
Speaker
I've seen a lot of people making a lot of money virtually.
00:34:43
Speaker
So eventually we got to the point where our door to door team was operating doing pretty consistently between three to 400 a month, which actually gave us some time to say, actually look at different verticals.
00:34:53
Speaker
The big thing that opened our eyes was we, I can go on and on about this, but we connected with Tariq Hamousa, Brian Decker and Shelby Elias.
00:35:02
Speaker
These guys are big time mortgage guys.
00:35:04
Speaker
And we were explaining before the podcast.
00:35:06
Speaker
So these guys, they helped build UWM mortgage, which exited for 40 billion is a massive mortgage company.
00:35:11
Speaker
The owner, Matt HB, he bought out the Phoenix Sun.
00:35:13
Speaker
So these are big time guys.
00:35:15
Speaker
They're making millions and millions of dollars in mortgage.
00:35:19
Speaker
And long story short, with interest rates increasing, their business took a massive hit, right?
00:35:24
Speaker
Their loan volume dropped massively and they wanted to figure out a way, hey, how are we going to supplement this income?
00:35:28
Speaker
Well, they found solar, obviously, because they're working with homes.
00:35:30
Speaker
Yeah.
00:35:31
Speaker
And the system they developed was they were taking all their past client databases and converting all those leads using copy and inside cold colors into solar leads.
00:35:42
Speaker
Within the first three months, I think they closed 500 or 600 deals.
00:35:44
Speaker
So they were absolutely crushing it.
00:35:46
Speaker
And we connected with them through Zane at Better Earth.
00:35:50
Speaker
Through seeing that opportunity really open our eyes.
00:35:52
Speaker
Hey, this is a real opportunity.
00:35:54
Speaker
So we've connected with them We've been doing a lot of the inside sales for them mainly managing the our dialer team and We've started to get some serious momentum and even absolutely crushing our guys are absolute savages But at the end of the day, I mean, it's the same thing our guys need to stick to their KPIs They need to stick to their non-negotiables stick to the script and again if they put in enough reps that they are training you start to see results But to be completely honest with you, I mean, it wasn't easy in the beginning.
00:36:17
Speaker
Yeah
00:36:18
Speaker
I mean, it was a big ego hit, right?
00:36:19
Speaker
We're used to closing 10, 15, 20 deals a day on our door to door.
00:36:23
Speaker
So when we go a couple of weeks with only closing a couple of day, I mean, it wasn't fun.
00:36:26
Speaker
So we're now after two, three months, we're finally starting to get traction, but I mean, it still has been, it still has been a battle getting the processes in place, but
00:36:34
Speaker
what's nice is with virtual is there's a lot less overhead and it's a massively scalable opportunity i mean to be able to get someone from home and fill up their calendar with a call center lead i mean anybody in the industry that's like a solar person's dream yeah right so yeah we've been placing a good amount of our time and energy on doing that vertical but the what i find is a lot of guys in the industry who try to get in the call center what they do is they neglect
00:37:02
Speaker
what is working, which is a door to door team.
00:37:05
Speaker
So we make it a point to say, we wanna keep the foot on the gas with our door to door team.
00:37:09
Speaker
Cause at the end of the day, that's our bread and butter and that's what we're good at.
00:37:12
Speaker
Keep the foot on the gas and then build at the vertical.
00:37:15
Speaker
We'll make the mistake is they jumped the gun on the door to door team cause call centers and virtual is all sexy, right?
00:37:21
Speaker
At the end of the day, what's gonna fund those verticals is what works, which is our door to door team.
00:37:25
Speaker
Yeah, that's good.
00:37:26
Speaker
Yeah, I think that's an important message for people who are in this.
00:37:29
Speaker
Yep.
00:37:30
Speaker
Because I've done some podcasts in the past where we only talk about like virtual phones and all that.
00:37:35
Speaker
Yep.
00:37:35
Speaker
Now here are some guys, some guys will hit me up and be like, oh, dude, after this podcast, I'm going all in on the virtual stuff when they haven't even had success in knocking doors or other stuff.
00:37:45
Speaker
Yeah.
00:37:45
Speaker
Like if they're listening to this.
00:37:46
Speaker
It's just like the girl in the red dress.
00:37:48
Speaker
You know what I mean?
00:37:48
Speaker
Everybody wants to focus on the next big thing.
00:37:50
Speaker
And then you pick your head up and you're like, oh, crap, we're not putting up any volume anymore.
00:37:53
Speaker
Exactly.
00:37:54
Speaker
You know?
00:37:54
Speaker
It's like we all have ADD and solar.
00:37:56
Speaker
So focus on one thing, get really good at it, and then you can slowly add another thing.
00:38:01
Speaker
100%.
00:38:01
Speaker
So that's cool.
00:38:03
Speaker
And yeah, I know that's probably a whole other podcast, but I was curious how you guys got that started.
00:38:08
Speaker
I think the sun would go down if you wanted all the nitty gritty of it.
00:38:10
Speaker
But no, it's been super fun.
00:38:12
Speaker
It's a new vertical that we've been tapping into.
00:38:14
Speaker
I've been learning a ton every single day.
00:38:16
Speaker
But yeah, the end of the day, sales is sales, right?
00:38:18
Speaker
The same principles apply.
00:38:19
Speaker
And the beautiful part about door-to-door is if you can figure out door-to-door, you can figure out any vertical.
00:38:23
Speaker
being able to knock on someone's door and literally convince them to sit down with a stranger that is the hardest lead avenue to figure out right so what we've been finding is they're literally every single thing we've learned a door-to-door translate directly to that vertical so it's it's been it's it's been a lot easier let's just say getting started in that vertical than it has been on the door-to-door side of things cool well and so just as we start wrapping up here Travis a lot of people
00:38:47
Speaker
I think are curious.
00:38:49
Speaker
Well, yeah, like I know Ricardo did the 500 deals or whatever, four or 500.
00:38:54
Speaker
He's got a couple of loose screws.
00:38:55
Speaker
That's the only way he did it.
00:38:56
Speaker
Yeah, yeah.
00:38:56
Speaker
That's literally insane.
00:38:58
Speaker
But you yourself, even, you know, 250 installs, that's still like unfathomable for most people in the industry.
00:39:06
Speaker
So I wanted to touch on that.
00:39:07
Speaker
Like for people who are like, wow, how the freak did he do this?
00:39:11
Speaker
What was, can you talk about that?
00:39:13
Speaker
Like, what does it take to be a top rep?
00:39:15
Speaker
What does it take to like reach that kind of level?
00:39:18
Speaker
Maybe we can dive into like schedule, like really what you had to do to hit 250 installs in a year.
Achieving High Sales Targets: Belief and Effort
00:39:23
Speaker
Yeah.
00:39:23
Speaker
I mean, obviously there's a lot of blood, sweat and tears involved.
00:39:26
Speaker
I mean, you were working with me during that time.
00:39:27
Speaker
I mean, at any given moment I was working the entire time.
00:39:31
Speaker
Like in order to get those numbers, you have to sacrifice massively.
00:39:35
Speaker
But the number one thing is in the beginning, I mean, obviously I'm big on goal setting, right?
00:39:39
Speaker
So you gotta set your goals, you gotta have your vision for what you wanna accomplish, but the number one thing you need to sell is yourself.
00:39:44
Speaker
I was completely sold on, my goal was I wanted to make my first million.
00:39:47
Speaker
I was completely sold and already identified with doing that before I even started the year.
00:39:52
Speaker
I was dead set on that was happening.
00:39:53
Speaker
It was life or death.
00:39:54
Speaker
So that was number one.
00:39:55
Speaker
Number two, obviously, I mean, it helps being in an environment because I wasn't the only one who was putting up big numbers that year.
00:40:00
Speaker
So being in an environment with guys like Ricardo, with guys like Chandler and a couple other guys that are absolute killers in the industry that were pushing the bar that I was competing with.
00:40:09
Speaker
it was massive, right?
00:40:10
Speaker
Because I mean, as you know, being a big fish in the small pond is completely different than being a small fish in a big pond, right?
00:40:17
Speaker
So being able to, I'm a very competitive guy.
00:40:19
Speaker
So being able to compete every single day with guys that were pushing it was huge.
00:40:23
Speaker
I think that's one of the most underrated things in the industry.
00:40:25
Speaker
A lot of guys, they want to be the top guy in their company, but there's a lot of bigger fish out there.
00:40:30
Speaker
So I'd highly recommend putting yourself in an environment of actual killers.
00:40:34
Speaker
Even if you're making less money per job, put yourself in that environment.
00:40:38
Speaker
Why?
00:40:38
Speaker
Well, because it takes a lot less motivation to be competing with guys that are better than you.
00:40:43
Speaker
As for schedule, we're kind of psychopaths for the schedules, as you know.
00:40:47
Speaker
But the biggest two things that I think
00:40:50
Speaker
helped out with that was having myself stick to non-negotiables in our setting team.
00:40:56
Speaker
I would not have been able to put up the numbers I did without our setters being completely dialed in.
00:41:00
Speaker
So the way you have it set up is Monday through Friday, 10.30 for an hour, we meet and train and role play every single day.
00:41:07
Speaker
So without that consistent lead volume from the setters, I would not have been able to be in three to five homes every single day.
00:41:13
Speaker
So, I mean, yeah, shout out to our setters, would not have been able to close as many deals as they did if they weren't putting up the volume.
00:41:18
Speaker
So that was number one, being able to do the consistent training and role playing.
00:41:20
Speaker
And number two, at least my non-negotiables was if there was a deal on the calendar, I'm going to it.
00:41:27
Speaker
I don't care if I'm hurt, I don't care if I'm sick, I don't care if I don't feel like it, it doesn't matter, I'm showing up.
00:41:32
Speaker
I literally cannot think of a time where I didn't show up to a lead.
00:41:36
Speaker
Right, so that was number one.
00:41:37
Speaker
And what's nice is once you pair having infinite lead flow with a good process, eventually you build up, like I said, that momentum, right?
00:41:46
Speaker
And it just becomes easy.
00:41:48
Speaker
You get in flow state, you stick to that non-negotiable over a long enough time horizon, and the deals just flow.
00:41:53
Speaker
So one piece of advice,
00:41:55
Speaker
Really, I'd say is number one.
00:41:57
Speaker
Again, you got to have the belief, which I know it's cliche, but it's true.
00:42:01
Speaker
You have to have the belief.
00:42:02
Speaker
Having the consistent lead flows, having a dialed in SETRT was massive.
00:42:05
Speaker
And then really is you just have to stick to the schedule like your life depends on it.
00:42:10
Speaker
A lot of guys, as you know, in this industry, they get a 10 to 15,000 check on a 10 kilowatt system and then they're off.
00:42:16
Speaker
Vacation for a month.
00:42:17
Speaker
Right.
00:42:18
Speaker
So I don't care if I got a deal closed.
00:42:21
Speaker
I don't care if I had a good day.
00:42:22
Speaker
I don't care if I had a bad day.
00:42:23
Speaker
I'm doing the same thing regardless how I feel.
00:42:26
Speaker
And I'm sticking with it until I hit my goal.
00:42:28
Speaker
Yeah, that's huge.
00:42:30
Speaker
Yeah, well, and something that blows my mind, like you're what, 23?
00:42:33
Speaker
23.
00:42:34
Speaker
Yeah.
00:42:35
Speaker
So like insanely young.
00:42:37
Speaker
I can't, when I was 23, I couldn't even imagine making six figures yet, let alone a million.
00:42:42
Speaker
Yeah.
00:42:43
Speaker
Well, as you know, this industry ages you real quick.
00:42:45
Speaker
I mean, I started knocking doors when I was 18 and I dropped out of college to pursue this full time.
00:42:49
Speaker
So six years in door to door, it's like 15 years in the real world.
00:42:53
Speaker
So it ages you real quick.
00:42:55
Speaker
Exactly.
00:42:56
Speaker
Yeah.
00:42:56
Speaker
But like, so before you made a million, what was the most you made a year before that point?
00:43:00
Speaker
Oh, it would have been the year before that.
00:43:01
Speaker
So half a million in my first year in solar.
00:43:03
Speaker
Wow.
00:43:03
Speaker
And then before that, I think it was, I barely scrapped away in house control making six figures.
00:43:08
Speaker
Oh, yeah.
00:43:09
Speaker
So, cause I think back, especially when I was that young, um,
00:43:13
Speaker
I mean, you made 500, half a million is still insane amount of money, but even half a million to a million, that's a massive jump.
00:43:19
Speaker
Like, I don't think there's any other industry where you could like literally double your money in a year.
00:43:25
Speaker
So did you ever have like limiting beliefs?
00:43:27
Speaker
Like, because for me, I think back to when I was that young, my thoughts would have been like, oh, I'm too young.
00:43:32
Speaker
Like there's no way I could make a million at this age.
00:43:37
Speaker
Maybe you didn't, but like, I don't know if you've had limiting beliefs.
00:43:40
Speaker
Like how do you convince yourself that you deserve to make that much money and that you're like the person that's worth a million.
00:43:45
Speaker
Did I have one?
00:43:46
Speaker
I still have limiting beliefs today.
00:43:48
Speaker
You know, I mean, I remember, it's kind of funny you say that.
00:43:51
Speaker
when i made my first million i felt poorer than ever which is funny because a lot of my guys that are in that i know in other industries in my network that make millions of dollars a year they feel poorer than ever well why is because they're a smaller fish in a bigger ocean right when you when you make that type of money you connect with people big business owners and you see what they've accomplished
00:44:09
Speaker
you realize that there's a lot bigger mountains to climb.
00:44:12
Speaker
So it's funny you say that because after my first summer, even knocking alarms, making 20 grand in summer, I felt richer than ever.
00:44:19
Speaker
I was at the top of the world, right?
00:44:20
Speaker
But to answer your question, every step of the way I had limiting beliefs.
00:44:24
Speaker
And one of my favorite books I always recommend to my guys is Psychology of Selling by Brian Tracing.
00:44:29
Speaker
You have to fake it till you make it.
00:44:31
Speaker
So I remember in the beginning, I was constantly saying, I'm a good salesman.
00:44:34
Speaker
I'm going to win.
00:44:35
Speaker
I'm going to be the top guy in the office.
00:44:37
Speaker
And when you do that long enough, get that result over and over and over again, eventually becomes reality.
00:44:43
Speaker
Eventually, as I said, you got to sell yourself.
00:44:45
Speaker
They are a good salesperson that you can achieve your goals.
00:44:48
Speaker
Well, if you're working every single day, if you're putting in the schedule, you have the right training and you're getting the results over a long enough time horizon, then eventually those limiting beliefs go away.
00:44:56
Speaker
Well, why?
00:44:56
Speaker
Well, it's because you've sold yourself.
00:44:58
Speaker
that you are actually the person that you're telling yourself in the head.
00:45:01
Speaker
But in the beginning, dude, I mean, it was, I've had crippling moments.
00:45:04
Speaker
Like I doubted myself a lot.
00:45:06
Speaker
There were times where I wanted to quit, right?
00:45:08
Speaker
But I'd always told myself like, regardless what happens, I'm never gonna tap.
00:45:12
Speaker
And eventually after going through the adversity, right?
00:45:15
Speaker
Connecting with mentors,
00:45:17
Speaker
just putting in the work over the years, eventually you become your thoughts and that becomes who you are.
00:45:24
Speaker
So yeah, it's been a journey, but the number one thing I'd say is like, you have to just self-talk like your life depends on it and surround yourself with good people because people, good people with good mentality that will transmute directly into you.
00:45:39
Speaker
And then eventually you'll become that.
00:45:40
Speaker
Yeah, that's so huge.
00:45:41
Speaker
Yeah, I think very powerful.
00:45:43
Speaker
And I think it's Jim Rowan that talks about that.
00:45:45
Speaker
You're the average of the five people you spend the most time with.
00:45:48
Speaker
It's funny.
00:45:48
Speaker
It's always the most cliche stuff that actually works.
00:45:51
Speaker
You know what I mean?
00:45:52
Speaker
But it's true.
00:45:53
Speaker
Yeah.
00:45:53
Speaker
Well, and that stuff helps, I think, conquer the limiting beliefs too.
00:45:56
Speaker
Because if you're on...
00:45:58
Speaker
Maybe it was Chandler that, yeah, I remember Chandler would like pass you some months or whatever and then you'd be like, you piss me off deeply.
00:46:04
Speaker
There's no way I'm losing the Chandler.
00:46:06
Speaker
No shot.
00:46:07
Speaker
You go above him.
00:46:09
Speaker
So I think that's a huge key to success.
00:46:11
Speaker
You're very competitive.
00:46:12
Speaker
You're always trying to chase the next game.
00:46:14
Speaker
And the big thing at the end of the day is, I mean, in the beginning, obviously it was about the money, right?
00:46:18
Speaker
So I wanted to make my first hundred thousand, wanted to make a million.
00:46:20
Speaker
That drove me in the beginning.
00:46:21
Speaker
But once you hit the goal, you realize that, I mean, money is not going to solve, you know,
00:46:25
Speaker
your problems and it's not what it's about.
00:46:27
Speaker
At the end of the day, like growth and, you know, going through the trials and tribulations, it's about helping yourself so you can help others at the end of the day.
00:46:36
Speaker
I don't really, I mean, the money's great, you know, driving a nice car, getting a nice watch, that's all cool.
00:46:40
Speaker
But at the end of the day, when you put your head on your pillow, is that really what you're going to feel good about?
00:46:44
Speaker
For me, I quickly realized that that's not what it's about.
00:46:46
Speaker
What it's about is being able to go through the trials and tribulations and becoming a person that can provide value to other people.
00:46:52
Speaker
And that's what feels good at the end of the day.
00:46:54
Speaker
When I see my boy like Robbie, we're hiring his family, or if I see Chandler crushing it in my organization, or if I see, you know, like for example, Austin, you know, kid, he looks like he's freaking 17 years old, getting at the golden door and absolutely crushing it.
00:47:07
Speaker
That is what really freaking pumps me up.
00:47:10
Speaker
And that's what it's all about.
00:47:11
Speaker
But I do think it's important in the beginning to have money to drive you to a certain point.
00:47:15
Speaker
But all the top, top guys, as you know, I mean, it gets old really quickly.
00:47:18
Speaker
That's not what it's about at the end of the day.
00:47:20
Speaker
Yeah.
00:47:21
Speaker
You know, that's incredible, man.
00:47:22
Speaker
Well, when you first started, could you imagine, like, was this your goal?
00:47:25
Speaker
Did you think you ever could imagine that you'd be running like a hundred person organization?
Reflecting on Personal and Professional Growth
00:47:30
Speaker
And I could barely tie my shoes.
00:47:32
Speaker
I could barely put my freaking, my shoes on in the morning.
00:47:36
Speaker
you know that's crazy i mean at the beginning it was hey hopefully i can make some money and it would be cool to make 50 or 60 grand yeah but as you know as you grow and as as you accomplish more than your goals you know your goals change and now it gets to the point where my goals are
00:47:52
Speaker
you know, they're a hell of a lot bigger than when you started, you know?
00:47:56
Speaker
So it's incredible.
00:47:58
Speaker
Well, it's been, it's been fun chatting with you, man.
00:48:00
Speaker
And as we, as we end here, if people want to connect with you more, what's the best way to hit you up?
00:48:06
Speaker
Or maybe they want to check, check out more minutes and all that.
00:48:09
Speaker
Yeah.
00:48:10
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, you can ask my guys, my messaging is my inbox is always full.
00:48:14
Speaker
So definitely best way to contact me is on is on Instagram.
00:48:17
Speaker
It's Travis to Hartman.
00:48:18
Speaker
Cool.
00:48:19
Speaker
We're also we're gonna start ramping up the momentous page as well.
00:48:22
Speaker
We actually are literally about a higher in house videographer.
00:48:24
Speaker
So he's gonna start to see some cool content on there.
00:48:27
Speaker
But yeah, definitely Instagram.
00:48:28
Speaker
Okay, 100% cool.
00:48:29
Speaker
Well, guys, go shoot him a follow.
00:48:31
Speaker
And yeah, you've been hanging out with both of us today.
00:48:33
Speaker
Remember, you're the average of the five people you hang out with.
00:48:36
Speaker
And
00:48:37
Speaker
You've been hanging out with Travis Hartman today.
00:48:39
Speaker
So just that.
00:48:39
Speaker
Let's go.
00:48:40
Speaker
Let's go.
00:48:41
Speaker
But yeah, just to wrap up here, any other final words of wisdom or advice you give to maybe a struggling rep or anything you want to wrap up with, Travis?
00:48:50
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely.
00:48:50
Speaker
I'd say the biggest thing is he who has the highest stress tolerance in life and in business always wins.
00:48:56
Speaker
Okay.
00:48:56
Speaker
So as we were discussing before, in this industry, in sales, it's incredibly difficult in the beginning.
00:49:03
Speaker
But if you can really learn to absorb those punches and to learn to love the failure and to love the process and be able to handle those and be unwavering, you will win.
00:49:13
Speaker
period where I see a lot of guys get caught, they get caught up when their install doesn't go through, they get caught up on an appointment flakes.
00:49:19
Speaker
If you can learn to just accept that and be able to handle the stress on a day to day, it's impossible to lose.
00:49:23
Speaker
So I would just say focus on cultivating your stress tolerance and see what happens.
00:49:28
Speaker
Yeah.
00:49:28
Speaker
That's awesome.
00:49:29
Speaker
I'm glad you touched on that because I've definitely had it affect me.
00:49:32
Speaker
How many people listening to this?
00:49:33
Speaker
You had an appointment cancel and you're sitting in the car right now.
00:49:37
Speaker
You don't want to go out or you just lost a big commission.
00:49:40
Speaker
It's part of the game, man.
00:49:42
Speaker
You got to learn to tolerate it.
00:49:44
Speaker
It's part of the game.
00:49:44
Speaker
But yeah, man, I really appreciate you having me on.
00:49:46
Speaker
Seriously, this podcast is awesome.
00:49:47
Speaker
Again, I remember listening to it when I first started in the industry.
00:49:50
Speaker
It's super valuable stuff that you're providing the industry.
00:49:52
Speaker
And yeah, keep it up, man.
00:49:53
Speaker
Appreciate it.
00:49:54
Speaker
Appreciate that.
00:49:54
Speaker
Yeah.
00:49:55
Speaker
It's been awesome having you on, guys.
00:49:56
Speaker
Go hit up Travis.
00:49:57
Speaker
Let him know you.
00:49:58
Speaker
Give him a thank you for coming on the podcast.
00:50:00
Speaker
We'll catch you soon, brother.
00:50:01
Speaker
Sounds good, my man.
00:50:02
Speaker
Hey, solopreneurs.
00:50:03
Speaker
Are you sick and tired of spinning your wheels every month and not seeing your sales increase?
00:50:08
Speaker
Well, so was I. And the truth is, I was never able to improve it until I figured out what was going wrong.
00:50:14
Speaker
So that's why I'm excited to announce for a limited time, we are doing a free sales diagnostic.
00:50:19
Speaker
You'll break down your sales process, figure out the holes in your business and see how we can help you improve.
00:50:25
Speaker
So at now we have six bucks for this month.
00:50:28
Speaker
So book a call now.
00:50:29
Speaker
Don't miss out.
00:50:30
Speaker
What you're going to do is send an email to taylor at solarpreneurs.com.
00:50:35
Speaker
That's taylor at solarpreneurs with an S dot com.
00:50:38
Speaker
I'll send you out a calendar.
00:50:40
Speaker
link and we will figure out a time that works best.
00:50:43
Speaker
So shoot that email and let's increase your sales.