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2 Surprising Ways to Turn Your Terrible Sales Week Into a Good One image

2 Surprising Ways to Turn Your Terrible Sales Week Into a Good One

E169 ยท The Solarpreneur
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44 Plays4 years ago

Tune in now and don't forget to sign up for www.solciety.co!

Speaker 1 (00:03):

Welcome to the Solarpreneur podcast, where we teach you to take your solar business to the next level. 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 fail. I teach you to avoid the mistakes I made and bringing the top solar dogs, the industry to let you in on the secrets of generating more leads, falling up like a pro and closing more deals. What is a Solarpreneur you might ask a Solarpreneur is a new breed of solar pro that is willing to do whatever it takes to achieve mastery and you are about to become one. Boom, shake the room of what is going on. Solarpreneurs, Taylor Armstrong,

Speaker 2 (00:46):

Ready to light some fire under you and get you crushing the rest of your summer. Hope you're doing well. We are in August. Now, the timing of this recording and crazy how fast the time has gone. You got one month before, basically the end of the summer. So let's go. If you aren't where you are wanting to be. Let's push hard. After this last month, we had a meeting last week where, uh, Jason newbie, the guy I work with, he showed us this video by Gary V up to post it in the show notes, but where he talks about how August is his favorite month for those that don't follow Gary V. He used to work in the wine industry and he talked about how August was basically the month where all these wine, uh, I don't know, whatever you call them, white and people who wait, make the wine.

Speaker 2 (01:42):

Um, okay. I don't know what the word you can tell. I don't drink wine, but the guys who manufacture the wine, right? He was talking about how they take August basically off because the whole days you think in Thanksgiving, Christmas voles, they're just slammed, slammed with customers and making tons of wine during those months. But August it's kind of their slower month. So Gary V said, he always pushed extremely hard during this month because he knew the rest of his competitors. Guess what? They're all in The Bahamas, they're out snoozing. They were taking a nap. So we should think the same way about August. Go look up that video. If you haven't seen it, push extremely hard and don't let up just because of summer is going. I do have regrets when I sold at pest control. And that is, I would always slow down in August.

Speaker 2 (02:32):

I knew, okay, I got two more weeks left. I'm going back to school. I'm going to slow down and enjoy the rest of the summer. I'm going to take it easy. But solar, we are a new breed of salespeople and we do not slow down. We speed up. We Zig when other people are zagging. So let's go. That being said, got done with my little, uh, rant on August today. I want to talk about a couple of things you can do to just access that motivation and really turn your bad week into a good week. Got a couple of weeks recently where they started off pretty terrible cancellations appointments, fallen through things out of my control, HOA issues and some tough situations that really got me de-motivated to start the week. And I want to share a few things I've done that have helped me turn those bad weeks into good weeks.

Speaker 2 (03:29):

So just in general though, before I hop into those, just yet general, you should be working as a team. This is something I talked about. When I went to a Sam Taggart's event, he's a little door to door tour, go back and listen that episode if you haven't already. But he talked about how door to door sells. It should be similar to like riding in a pack of bikes and Peloton, right? You look

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Transcript

Introduction to Taylor Armstrong's Journey

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 fell.
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.

Defining a Solarpreneur

00:00:31
Speaker
What is a solarpreneur you might ask?
00:00:33
Speaker
A solarpreneur is a new breed of solar pro that is willing to do whatever it takes to achieve mastery and you are about to become one.
00:00:41
Speaker
Boom, shake the room.
00:00:42
Speaker
What is going on solarpreneurs?
00:00:45
Speaker
Taylor Armstrong, ready to light some fire on you and get you crushing.
00:00:51
Speaker
the rest of your summer.
00:00:53
Speaker
Hope you're doing well.
00:00:54
Speaker
We are in August now, the time of this recording and crazy how fast the time has gone.
00:01:00
Speaker
You got one month before basically the end of the summer.

Gary Vee's August Strategy

00:01:04
Speaker
So let's go.
00:01:06
Speaker
If you aren't where you are wanting to be, let's push hard for this last month.
00:01:12
Speaker
We had a meeting last week where Jason Newby, the guy I work with, he showed us this video by Gary Vee, I'll post it in the show notes, but where he talks about how August is his favorite month.
00:01:27
Speaker
For those that don't follow Gary Vee, he used to work in like the wine industry and he talked about how August was basically the month where all these wine, I don't know, whatever you call them, wine people who make the wine,
00:01:43
Speaker
Okay, I don't know the word.
00:01:45
Speaker
You can tell I don't drink wine.
00:01:47
Speaker
But the guys who manufacture the wine, right, he was talking about how they take August basically off because the holidays, you're thinking Thanksgiving, Christmas, they're just slammed, slammed with customers and making tons of wine during those months.
00:02:01
Speaker
But August, it's kind of their slower month.
00:02:04
Speaker
So Gary Vee said he always pushed extremely hard during this month because he knew the rest of his competitors, guess what?
00:02:11
Speaker
They were out in the Bahamas.
00:02:12
Speaker
They were out snoozing.
00:02:14
Speaker
They were taking a nap.
00:02:16
Speaker
So we should think the same way about August.
00:02:18
Speaker
Go look up that video if you haven't seen it.
00:02:20
Speaker
Push extremely hard and don't let up just because the summer is going.
00:02:25
Speaker
I do have regrets when I sold a pest control and that is I would always slow down in August.
00:02:32
Speaker
I knew okay I got two more weeks left I'm going back to school I'm gonna slow down.
00:02:37
Speaker
I'm gonna enjoy the rest of the summer.
00:02:39
Speaker
I'm gonna take it easy.
00:02:41
Speaker
But solar, we are a new breed

Staying Motivated in Tough Weeks

00:02:44
Speaker
of salespeople.
00:02:44
Speaker
We do not slow down.
00:02:46
Speaker
We speed up.
00:02:47
Speaker
We zig when other people are zagging.
00:02:49
Speaker
So let's go.
00:02:50
Speaker
That being said, got done with my little rant on August.
00:02:56
Speaker
Today I want to talk about a couple of things you can do to just access that motivation and really turn your bad week into a good week.
00:03:07
Speaker
I've had a couple weeks recently where they started off pretty terrible.
00:03:11
Speaker
Cancellations, appointments falling through, things out of my control, HOA issues, and some tough situations that really got me demotivated to start the week.
00:03:22
Speaker
And I want to share a few things I've done that have helped me turn those bad weeks into good weeks.
00:03:29
Speaker
So just in general, though, before I hop into those, just in general, you should be working as a team.
00:03:37
Speaker
This is something I talked about when I went to Sam Taggart's event on his little door-to-door tour.
00:03:44
Speaker
Go back and listen to that episode if you haven't already.
00:03:46
Speaker
But he talked about how door-to-door sales, it should be similar to riding in a pack of bikes at Peloton, right?
00:03:54
Speaker
You look at those bikers, Lance Armstrong, all these guys biking, they go in packs, they go in groups,
00:04:02
Speaker
And when you're selling, especially if you're going door to door, should be no different.
00:04:06
Speaker
Figure out a way to get in a group.

The Power of Teamwork and Soul Society

00:04:09
Speaker
And if you are not surrounded by an awesome sales organization, by a great team, then get in our coaching program.
00:04:17
Speaker
That's why we just launched Soul Society.
00:04:20
Speaker
Did a whole episode on it last week.
00:04:22
Speaker
So go listen to that.
00:04:24
Speaker
But Soul Society is designed so you can be surrounded by people who
00:04:28
Speaker
that are trying to level up people that are trying to improve and even more so you can get into our coaching our inner circle coaching if you want to be held ultra accountable get one-on-one coaching from the best and really make that jump towards your goals that you've been waiting for so consider that but the point is get yourself surrounded by people who are going to motivate you who are going to inspire you
00:04:53
Speaker
who are doing better than you and who are driving you to improve every day.
00:04:58
Speaker
And if anything, yeah, hit some doors together.
00:05:04
Speaker
I experience it all the time where the last thing I want to do is go knock at a door.
00:05:09
Speaker
But lately I've been getting people out with me.
00:05:11
Speaker
I say, okay, hey, I'm going to go knock with you.
00:05:14
Speaker
Come shadow me.
00:05:16
Speaker
Mike O'Donnell talks about this.
00:05:18
Speaker
Golden Door Award winner, he has to have someone knocking him if even Mike O'Donnell gets lazy out there.
00:05:26
Speaker
Not lazy, but he knows himself that it's going to be tough for him to go get out of his car and knock by himself.
00:05:34
Speaker
Hardest door is the car door.
00:05:36
Speaker
So if you're struggling with that, get someone to train.
00:05:39
Speaker
Say, hey, meet me at the Starbucks.
00:05:41
Speaker
We're hitting the doors.
00:05:43
Speaker
Meet me at Kentucky Avenue.
00:05:45
Speaker
We're hitting this street.
00:05:47
Speaker
Come shadow me for a little bit.
00:05:49
Speaker
Have someone go shadow you and go out with someone for a little bit.
00:05:55
Speaker
Switch off doors for a little bit if you need to.
00:05:57
Speaker
But really just get in your groove.

Innovative Door-Knocking Techniques

00:06:00
Speaker
Get someone out.
00:06:00
Speaker
Let them see what you're doing.
00:06:02
Speaker
And you're going to push harder when someone's shadowing you too.
00:06:06
Speaker
Okay, so those are just a couple general things.
00:06:09
Speaker
Oh yeah, and last thing, get a Segway.
00:06:11
Speaker
I've been posting a little bit about that on the Instagram, but on the gram, get yourself a mini Segway.
00:06:18
Speaker
Trust me, it makes it way more fun to be out on the doors, especially if it's hot outside.
00:06:23
Speaker
You can get going, I don't know, 12 miles an hour on these things.
00:06:26
Speaker
Feel the wind in your hair.
00:06:29
Speaker
You feel like a dog sticking its head out of the window.
00:06:32
Speaker
You need one of these mini Segways if you're going to be out knocking doors too.
00:06:36
Speaker
Okay, so two things though.
00:06:39
Speaker
These are the top two things that helped me in a few of these weeks that I really struggled, that I felt like my numbers were down, that I felt like I wasn't having a good week at all.

Importance of Working Saturdays

00:06:51
Speaker
So number one, treat Saturdays as the holy grail of knocking.
00:06:56
Speaker
And a lot of people know this.
00:06:58
Speaker
I forgot it for a while.
00:06:59
Speaker
I was actually with a company where we took Saturdays off.
00:07:03
Speaker
Crazy as it sounds.
00:07:04
Speaker
But we took Saturdays off just mostly because our VPSLs wanted to, you know, be with his family that day.
00:07:11
Speaker
So he said, I'm taking that day off.
00:07:13
Speaker
Everyone else should do.
00:07:15
Speaker
It was optional.
00:07:16
Speaker
So I took that day off for quite a while, actually.
00:07:19
Speaker
But now I am being reminded of how big Saturdays can be.
00:07:25
Speaker
This day can literally turn your terrible week into a decent week.
00:07:31
Speaker
And why?
00:07:32
Speaker
It should go without saying, but obviously more people are home.
00:07:35
Speaker
People are in a better mood.
00:07:37
Speaker
Decision makers are there.
00:07:38
Speaker
Most Saturdays, both husband and wife are there, right?
00:07:42
Speaker
Where during the week, most of the time, it's just one spouse, depending on when you knock, right?
00:07:49
Speaker
But this allows you to set more same days.
00:07:51
Speaker
This allows you to get in the door and close them that same day.
00:07:56
Speaker
That's why in our team here in San Diego, we say Saturdays are for same days.
00:08:01
Speaker
You need to get out on the weekends, push for those same days.
00:08:04
Speaker
You're getting people in a great mood and it's giving you an opportunity to get some deals without even having appointments set up.
00:08:12
Speaker
So this is what I did actually last week.
00:08:16
Speaker
This is where I'm doing this episode because last week it was a pretty average week.
00:08:20
Speaker
I had one close I think on Friday.
00:08:22
Speaker
Thursday, I'm like, I need at least one more on the week, especially because I'm in the Knox Star coaching group.
00:08:32
Speaker
I'm working with Taylor McCarthy and those guys.
00:08:35
Speaker
And Taylor, he was really pushing me.
00:08:37
Speaker
He's like, dude, I need you to hit some bigger numbers.
00:08:41
Speaker
I'm going to this next month.
00:08:42
Speaker
I'm going to an event down in Key West.
00:08:44
Speaker
If any of you are going, hit me up.
00:08:46
Speaker
Come say hi.
00:08:47
Speaker
But Taylor is saying, hey, man, I need you producing some big numbers because you're coming to this event.
00:08:53
Speaker
You're taking days off.
00:08:54
Speaker
So I'm like, all right, I cannot have a week where I only hit one.
00:08:58
Speaker
I need minimum two this week.
00:09:01
Speaker
So I'm like, okay, got Saturday coming.
00:09:04
Speaker
Thursday, Friday were super tough days.
00:09:06
Speaker
I think I was out knocking.
00:09:09
Speaker
Five or six hours both of those days.

The Value of Persistence

00:09:12
Speaker
I think I only got three appointments and all of them fell through.
00:09:16
Speaker
All three appointments.
00:09:19
Speaker
So I'm like, okay, Saturday needs to be massive.
00:09:22
Speaker
Get out there.
00:09:23
Speaker
I set three same days.
00:09:25
Speaker
And I talked about this in my Instagram stories.
00:09:27
Speaker
So I apologize if you've already heard it before.
00:09:30
Speaker
But I set my first same day in the morning.
00:09:34
Speaker
Guy was pretty chill out the door, but I get in.
00:09:37
Speaker
I go in, he says, hey, we're not filling out any applications, but show me some numbers.
00:09:41
Speaker
And I'm like, okay, yeah, no problem.
00:09:45
Speaker
I wouldn't expect you to do anything if it didn't benefit you and if it didn't look like it was beneficial and something you guys needed.
00:09:53
Speaker
obviously thinking that okay i'm going to turn this guy around i'm going to get him closed up i'm going to get him making a decision today and i almost did it but i get to the end we built some value i told him why his neighbors are doing it right now i said we need to get this in so you can get grandfathered into these net metering rates and you can get your tax credits before it goes down eventually
00:10:18
Speaker
And he seemed to be buying it, but then when we put, you know, penned the paper, getting the last four of his social and all that, he just laid the clamp down.
00:10:27
Speaker
He's like, no, no, I'm not doing it.
00:10:30
Speaker
He hesitated.
00:10:31
Speaker
I had him hesitating and think about it for probably 15, 20 seconds.
00:10:36
Speaker
But then he went back to it.
00:10:38
Speaker
And then it just started driving me crazy.
00:10:39
Speaker
I could not get to the bottom of why he didn't want to, you know, at least see if his home would get approved, right?
00:10:45
Speaker
You're doing the takeaways.
00:10:47
Speaker
I'm doing the pullback saying, hey, man, let's just see if it's even an option for you guys.
00:10:51
Speaker
We got to do the site survey.
00:10:53
Speaker
We got to check the home, pull back like crazy.
00:10:56
Speaker
But he was not biting on these and he was not giving me any reason why he didn't want to at least see if he could get approved for solar.
00:11:06
Speaker
So that first same day was a dud.
00:11:08
Speaker
We ended up just, he was getting frustrated and I was getting nowhere.
00:11:13
Speaker
So finally I just stood up and said, okay, I got to go.
00:11:16
Speaker
And just walked out the door quick as I could because it gets to the point where if you're running in circles, not getting anywhere, just move on to the next door, right?
00:11:25
Speaker
We had run in circles for probably 10, 15 minutes, was not giving me any reasons, giving me nothing to work with, and was just getting frustrated.
00:11:35
Speaker
Kind of stormed out of there.
00:11:37
Speaker
Then the second same day I went to, failed credit.
00:11:41
Speaker
Got in, pretty interested, and actually didn't even run it because she told me she had a bankruptcy.
00:11:47
Speaker
But just how it goes.
00:11:49
Speaker
So I was feeling pretty defeated.
00:11:51
Speaker
I'm like, man, maybe this is how it's going to end.
00:11:55
Speaker
Maybe I'm only going to get one on the week.
00:11:57
Speaker
But I busted out my Calm app.
00:11:59
Speaker
If you guys don't have some sort of meditation app, I would highly recommend Calm app.
00:12:04
Speaker
or there's one other one I like.
00:12:09
Speaker
I'm forgetting what it's called right now, but a couple of meditation apps.
00:12:13
Speaker
I think those are key if you're having mindset issues on the door.
00:12:18
Speaker
Do a quick meditation.
00:12:20
Speaker
Take five minutes.
00:12:22
Speaker
Yeah, I went in the AC in my car for five minutes, but the key is don't get stuck in your car or wherever you're at, right?
00:12:31
Speaker
So take a five-minute meditation.
00:12:33
Speaker
Get your mindset right.
00:12:35
Speaker
Did some affirmations and then I got back out there.
00:12:38
Speaker
Said I'm going to get that one.
00:12:40
Speaker
That one's out there.
00:12:42
Speaker
And that leads me to my next point.
00:12:43
Speaker
The second point which is always knock one more door.
00:12:49
Speaker
If you haven't heard this concept one more door always live by that.
00:12:56
Speaker
Live by that standard.
00:12:57
Speaker
And it's what top producers talk about all the time.
00:13:01
Speaker
Going back to Mike O'Donnell, he lives by this.
00:13:04
Speaker
Every time he closes a deal, he says, I'm going to go out.
00:13:08
Speaker
I need to get at least one no.
00:13:10
Speaker
I'm not leaving the area until I get one no.
00:13:13
Speaker
So it can be that, but just do one more.

'One More Door' Technique

00:13:16
Speaker
It's amazing to me how many times where, again, I'm having a terrible week, where I haven't gotten anything on the day, and I do one more, turns into a closed deal, turns into an appointment, turns my day around.
00:13:31
Speaker
So whether it's one more door, whether it's knock until 8.05 when you're going to knock till 8, just think of ways you can do one more.
00:13:41
Speaker
Okay, I'm not telling you go all night, but do one more than you're planning on doing.
00:13:46
Speaker
And that's what I did on Saturday.
00:13:48
Speaker
I got in two same days, so I was happy about that.
00:13:51
Speaker
Like sweet, two same day appointments, got inside both of them.
00:13:55
Speaker
but there's gotta be someone that's gonna close.
00:13:58
Speaker
So I go, I go, I'm knocking, I'm getting no one home after that.
00:14:02
Speaker
Saturday it's like 3.30 at that point.
00:14:06
Speaker
Usually knock 10 to three on Saturdays.
00:14:09
Speaker
So I'm like, come on, I need to find someone out here.
00:14:13
Speaker
So I'm just about to give up and I said, okay, I'm not getting people home.
00:14:18
Speaker
I need to find at least just one person that's here.
00:14:21
Speaker
so at this point i'm not knocking every door i'm just wandering the neighborhood now found someone outside he was a renter like dang it i go in the back this is one of those neighborhoods where they have like garages behind the homes and so i see one garage door open i'm like if that's it that's my cell
00:14:41
Speaker
I go.
00:14:42
Speaker
He answers the door.
00:14:44
Speaker
Get inside.
00:14:45
Speaker
He said he had just barely gotten two quotes for solar.
00:14:47
Speaker
He's looking to get solar soon.
00:14:50
Speaker
I said, well, we got what you're looking for.
00:14:53
Speaker
did the presentation, buckled him up, boom, let's go.
00:14:57
Speaker
So that's how you need to do it.
00:14:59
Speaker
This is how you turn your bad weeks into good ones, my solopreneurs.
00:15:04
Speaker
You push, you do big Saturdays, Saturdays are for same days, and then you go one more door.
00:15:11
Speaker
You do one more than you're expecting to do.
00:15:13
Speaker
You get that one last no, even after you told yourself you're going to quit.
00:15:19
Speaker
Excuse me, got allergies here.
00:15:22
Speaker
So that's my message for today.
00:15:24
Speaker
Go out, be great this week, crush your summer goals, and do not slow down whatever you do.

Introducing Soul Society

00:15:30
Speaker
If you need that extra accountability, if you need that extra push, go on to our website, excuse me again, soulcide.co.
00:15:41
Speaker
hit the inner circle tab, click apply, book a call.
00:15:45
Speaker
We'll see if it's a good fit for the program.
00:15:47
Speaker
So we'll see you on the other side and we'll see you in the next episode.
00:15:51
Speaker
Hey, solopreneurs, quick question.
00:15:53
Speaker
What if you could surround yourself with the industry's top performing sales pros, marketers,
00:15:58
Speaker
and CEOs and learn from their experience and wisdom in less than 20 minutes a day.
00:16:03
Speaker
For the last three years, I've been placed in the fortunate position to interview dozens of elite level solar professionals and learn exactly what they do behind closed doors to build their solar careers to an all-star level.
00:16:15
Speaker
That's why I want to make a truly special announcement about the new learning community exclusively for solar professionals to learn, compete, and win with top performers in the industry.
00:16:26
Speaker
And it's called Solcite.
00:16:28
Speaker
This learning community was designed from the ground up to level the playing field and give solar pros access to proven mentors and
00:16:35
Speaker
who want to give back to this community and help you or your team to be held accountable by the industry's brightest minds for, are you ready for it, less than $3.45 a day.
00:16:47
Speaker
Currently, Soul Society is open, launched, and ready to be enrolled.
00:16:53
Speaker
So go to soulcidity.co to learn more and join the learning experience now.
00:17:01
Speaker
This is exclusively for solopreneur listeners, so be sure to go to soulcidity.co and join.
00:17:08
Speaker
We'll see you on the inside.