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Importance Of Project Management In Solar Sales - Do Jin
92 Plays2 years ago
- How to book a demo: https://pipe.solar
- The Secrets To Starting Your Own Solar EPC - Josue Phillips
- https://www.instagram.com/solarenergyceo/ - Connect with Josue Phillips on Instagram
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- Thanks to our sponsor Pi Syndicate for this episode!
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Transcript
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.
Avoiding Mistakes in Solar Sales
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 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.
Introduction to Pipe Solar
00:00:43
Speaker
Hey, solarpreneurs, Taylor here.
00:00:44
Speaker
I wanted to give a quick intro to this next episode.
00:00:47
Speaker
As you heard on last episode, we had Josue Phillips.
00:00:51
Speaker
What you may not know is he is co-founder of a software called Pipe Solar.
00:00:56
Speaker
We're going to have this co-founder on, Dojin.
00:00:58
Speaker
They're going to be talking about how their software can help you crush more deals, be more organized, and follow up better with your customers.
00:01:06
Speaker
And we're going to
00:01:07
Speaker
With that, we're going to be having some continuation on that.
00:01:10
Speaker
We're going to be talking more about CRMs, proposal softwares, and how it can help you be more effective in your solar business.
00:01:17
Speaker
Hope you enjoy today's episode and keep crushing those deals.
Live from SolarCon 2023
00:01:21
Speaker
All right, what's going on?
00:01:23
Speaker
We are live here at SolarCon 2023.
00:01:24
Speaker
How's it going?
00:01:25
Speaker
Yep.
00:01:27
Speaker
Welcome and we're here with these legends here.
00:01:30
Speaker
We got Doe and we got Josue who's a familiar face.
00:01:34
Speaker
And if you don't know, thank you for having us.
00:01:36
Speaker
Yeah, yeah.
00:01:37
Speaker
I'm excited to have you guys on.
00:01:38
Speaker
So yeah, you guys want to, so they run a, well Doe, I know you're kind of taking the reins on this, but you run Pipe.
00:01:46
Speaker
So do you guys want to introduce yourselves a little bit?
00:01:48
Speaker
Yeah.
00:01:48
Speaker
Well, it's the first time at the conference here.
00:01:52
Speaker
A lot of people have seen Pipe.
00:01:54
Speaker
But Pipe Solar is a design and proposal company for taking a lot of pain points from existing products out there and kind of solving that problem.
00:02:03
Speaker
But it is a B2B software for solar companies to kind of carry on with the designs and proposals.
Pipe Solar's Integrated Solutions
00:02:09
Speaker
Man, I was tired of using five different software companies that wouldn't interact with each other.
00:02:14
Speaker
And we got together and we're creating that one-stop shop for all of Solar needs.
00:02:20
Speaker
Literally, that's what we're trying to create.
00:02:22
Speaker
Yeah, it's cool.
00:02:23
Speaker
And I think you guys make a great team because we all know Josue.
00:02:26
Speaker
He's been on the podcast.
00:02:27
Speaker
So if you haven't listened to him, we'll link in the show notes.
00:02:31
Speaker
But I know you've been running with Solar for a while.
00:02:34
Speaker
So it seems like you probably know the direct needs, boots on the ground, knowing what the needs are.
00:02:41
Speaker
It's pretty cool.
00:02:42
Speaker
It's a very great dynamic.
00:02:43
Speaker
I think that's one of the mistakes from software companies that they don't understand their clients.
00:02:48
Speaker
They don't understand their clients.
00:02:50
Speaker
They don't know their needs.
00:02:52
Speaker
And that's why we work so well together because being so long in the industry, I really understand.
00:02:58
Speaker
what EPC sales organizations reps need and we can create that not only that for example we have some project management features that we have been working on that makes way easier their life of the project coordinators and people in the back office moving the projects forward yeah
00:03:14
Speaker
Well, yeah, and I did a little demo and I'll let you guys, you know, talk more about some features and stuff like that.
00:03:20
Speaker
But, yeah, so it seems like those kind of like the mad scientists in the background.
00:03:24
Speaker
Yes.
00:03:25
Speaker
Getting stuff going.
00:03:27
Speaker
Yeah.
00:03:27
Speaker
But, yeah, I think there's a big need.
00:03:29
Speaker
So what before we get into, like, you know, the features and you guys can tell more about what it does.
00:03:33
Speaker
But what led you guys to, I guess, like see the need?
00:03:37
Speaker
I know you talked that you were using five different softwares, but how did you guys come together with the background of starting pipe and
Dojin's Transition to Solar
00:03:44
Speaker
everything?
00:03:44
Speaker
Yeah, well, it's actually a very interesting story.
00:03:47
Speaker
I haven't met Josue at all until two years ago.
00:03:51
Speaker
I was a CPA, so I was looking for the CPA exams.
00:03:55
Speaker
And at that point, I was very familiar with the 10Q and 10K, the financial statements for the publicly traded companies.
00:04:00
Speaker
So I was shorting In-Face stocks actually and it kept going up.
00:04:04
Speaker
So I was like, what is this company doing?
00:04:06
Speaker
So I read their financial statements and I was very mind blown about the solar industry guidance and projection.
00:04:14
Speaker
And I said, I kind of got to know about solar industry by reading the financial statements.
00:04:18
Speaker
So I joined Facebook group.
00:04:20
Speaker
And I said, I got to get into solar.
00:04:22
Speaker
Power of social media.
00:04:24
Speaker
Yeah.
00:04:25
Speaker
So I dropped becoming a CPA and I went full on solar.
00:04:29
Speaker
I joined Facebook groups, kind of slid into a lot of people's DMs, got to know about solar industry.
00:04:34
Speaker
And I got to meet Josue through a Facebook message.
00:04:39
Speaker
So if anybody's doubting the power of sliding DMs, two years later, here we are at the solar conference.
00:04:44
Speaker
Man, I met my wife and my business partner on Facebook.
00:04:48
Speaker
So I do believe
Josue's Partnership with Dojin
00:04:49
Speaker
in the thing.
00:04:49
Speaker
So if there's anybody doubting the power, just go for it.
00:04:53
Speaker
Yeah.
00:04:54
Speaker
Well, that's really cool.
00:04:56
Speaker
Yeah.
00:04:57
Speaker
I have a lot of people that I just ignore.
00:04:59
Speaker
So you actually.
00:05:00
Speaker
So was it just like.
00:05:01
Speaker
You never know when you're going to meet your next business partner.
00:05:04
Speaker
Yeah.
00:05:04
Speaker
Well, what caught your attention?
00:05:06
Speaker
What did he send you to actually?
00:05:07
Speaker
So I was like, oh my goodness.
00:05:09
Speaker
All of like another guy trying to sell appointments.
00:05:13
Speaker
And he was like, no, no, no, not at all.
00:05:15
Speaker
He was like, can you jump and assume?
00:05:16
Speaker
And I was like, sure.
00:05:17
Speaker
And I was trying to call him out because it looked a lot like another software.
00:05:22
Speaker
And I was like, bro, are you trying to white label this product?
00:05:26
Speaker
And he was like, no, I created it all.
00:05:28
Speaker
And then he showed me the code and I was like, oh, holy crap.
00:05:31
Speaker
And I was like, what else can you do?
00:05:34
Speaker
and he was like anything and i was like what do you mean because a bunch of people say that and then he showed me and i was like wow these guys crazy good fast and when he told me i'm a cpa i was like what you're a cpa how do you learn and he was like i pretty much taught myself and he was really really high school in college too for computer science so i had the basics uh but through the partnership i
00:05:59
Speaker
Went back to learning more.
00:06:00
Speaker
We also have internal engineers that we work with and started building products.
00:06:04
Speaker
I went to Josue, you have a domain expertise.
00:06:06
Speaker
Well, there's some pain points that you're facing.
00:06:08
Speaker
So we kind of get together, build pipe solo together.
00:06:11
Speaker
Yeah, I asked him, hey, I would love to see this on the platform.
00:06:17
Speaker
And that was even before working together.
00:06:19
Speaker
How quick can you do it?
00:06:20
Speaker
And he did it in like day and a half.
00:06:23
Speaker
And I was like, holy crap, holy crap.
00:06:26
Speaker
And that's when I switched the conversation and I said, hey, are you looking for somebody to partner with?
00:06:33
Speaker
Because we could work together very well.
00:06:35
Speaker
I know what the industry needs and I understand what's going on.
00:06:38
Speaker
And you know what, we've got to develop to be ahead of the curve.
Enhancing Collaboration in Solar Projects
00:06:43
Speaker
Yeah.
00:06:43
Speaker
and we started working together in the rest of history we have been growing like crazy and we have a bunch of new clients and a bunch of people dropping their current services to work with us because it's easier cheaper and more efficient yeah that's really cool because to be honest when i first came and met doe yesterday um i'm like is this guy lost or something i like you look so young man yeah so you're i don't know if you get that a lot but i do it's impressive that you
00:07:10
Speaker
It's also like an Asian guy at the conference.
00:07:13
Speaker
You don't see a lot of Asian people here.
00:07:15
Speaker
My age.
00:07:16
Speaker
A solar panel manufacturer, what is he doing here?
00:07:19
Speaker
Yeah, what is he doing here?
00:07:21
Speaker
He's trying to sell some solar panels from China, but actually trying to solve some big problems in terms of the
00:07:28
Speaker
proposals, designing, as far as installers connecting with the dealers.
00:07:33
Speaker
So we have a installer network that can reach out to a lot of dealers, but also dealers can push the deals through a lot of installers.
00:07:40
Speaker
And we have a collaborative tools where they can discuss project stages, say where the activity is as far as the projects.
00:07:47
Speaker
So we go beyond the design and proposal.
00:07:50
Speaker
We focus on the project management.
00:07:52
Speaker
and collaboration tools.
00:07:54
Speaker
Yeah, it's really cool.
00:07:55
Speaker
And we can talk about that, but like, I know it's been a big problem for me communicating with the installers and them dropping the ball on things.
00:08:03
Speaker
So I think you guys would agree that communication is super important now, especially when you're running a dealer trying to run with like multiple installation companies, EPCs, it would be a huge headache.
00:08:13
Speaker
So I think that's something that seems like you guys are solving and helping a lot with your software.
00:08:19
Speaker
The great thing about PIPE is that we are built by Solar Pros for Solar Pros and we heard you guys.
00:08:30
Speaker
So for example, you can check what's happening with your project at every stage.
00:08:35
Speaker
So when, for example, permit was filed, you have a visual on when that permit was filed.
00:08:40
Speaker
When you got the engineering stampings and the signs, you can see them.
00:08:45
Speaker
We're actually working on a platform where homeowners can also see what's going on with their project.
00:08:50
Speaker
Wow.
00:08:50
Speaker
Because just imagine, you order a $10 item on Amazon and they keep you updated throughout the process, but out of a sudden you buy an $80,000 solar project and they don't tell you anything for seven months and out of a sudden they're calling you like, hey, we have to extend your loan, but we're good to go to install.
00:09:10
Speaker
And they were like, and it has happened like, oh, we already got solar with somebody else.
00:09:14
Speaker
I know.
00:09:15
Speaker
Because they never reached out.
00:09:17
Speaker
So we're working on that so we can provide good communication and the homeowners, dealers, EPCs, they can all be communicated in a very easy way.
00:09:30
Speaker
Very straightforward.
00:09:31
Speaker
That's awesome.
00:09:32
Speaker
Yeah, it's a huge need for that because I've been just doing like band-aid solutions.
00:09:37
Speaker
I'm selling.
00:09:38
Speaker
I'm not even like running my own dealer right now.
00:09:40
Speaker
Getting a VA to keep posted with things.
00:09:43
Speaker
Yeah.
00:09:44
Speaker
I would say one thing that we're working on right now that we're going to ship in a few weeks is the customer portal.
Upcoming Features of Pipe Solar
00:09:49
Speaker
So a lot of installers, after they sign a contract with the homeowners, homeowners are kind of left stranded on stages, communications.
00:09:58
Speaker
So we're going to build a customer portal for all the homeowners to kind of click on the link, check the latest stage.
00:10:04
Speaker
But also we have a referral portal.
00:10:06
Speaker
button so they can refer to other people for these dollars they have a copy of a contract if there's any change orders they have a link with the new action items where they can sign a new contract and stuff like that so we're trying to solve some big problems here so yeah no that's much needed again like I just met with
00:10:25
Speaker
Doug Robinson the other day, Legacy Power, and did a podcast with him, but they have a lot of these things you're saying.
00:10:32
Speaker
They have their own team of software engineers.
00:10:36
Speaker
I know these massive companies just make their own software to do some of these things.
00:10:40
Speaker
But it's like for us guys that are just running smaller dealers, smaller organizations, we're like running 10 different softwares and like running around trying to communicate.
00:10:49
Speaker
It's really expensive, brother.
00:10:51
Speaker
So it's extremely expensive.
00:10:52
Speaker
And that's one of the highlights of Pipe.
00:10:55
Speaker
We haven't talked about it, but you can create instant designs.
00:10:58
Speaker
Yeah.
00:10:59
Speaker
And they're very, very accurate.
00:11:00
Speaker
So it's not just like those tools where you can go and lay panels, just pressing fingers and it looks horrible.
00:11:07
Speaker
Ours looks really great.
00:11:08
Speaker
You can create proposals on the spot.
00:11:12
Speaker
I have time and you can actually be creating the proposal to run in credit in under three, four minutes.
00:11:19
Speaker
So it's really great.
00:11:21
Speaker
Other of the highlights, if I may, is that you can even process change orders inside of PIPE.
00:11:27
Speaker
so you don't have to call good leap or mosaic to process change orders you can literally just press two clicks you can let's say update the amount you got an adder you gotta add you know like an adder or something like that you can do it and trigger a change order that will send the homeowner the loan documents so you don't have to call anybody now so it's just saving time in accelerating the installation process yeah that's awesome
00:11:53
Speaker
Well, yeah, as we start wrapping up here, I know you guys got competition.
00:11:56
Speaker
There's, you know, there's Aurora, there's Solo.
00:12:00
Speaker
Solo.
00:12:01
Speaker
And so some people listening are surprising themselves.
00:12:03
Speaker
Man, our company has this or the difference.
00:12:06
Speaker
Like we have this.
00:12:07
Speaker
So why do we need to check out these guys?
00:12:08
Speaker
And so I know we've talked about some features.
00:12:10
Speaker
That's I don't think some of these other guys.
00:12:12
Speaker
But what's your guy if you're trying to like explain it?
00:12:15
Speaker
What's like your competitive advantage?
00:12:17
Speaker
Why should people switch to
Competitive Edge of Pipe Solar
00:12:18
Speaker
you?
00:12:18
Speaker
Number one is the pricing.
00:12:21
Speaker
So we're $15 per proposal with unlimited revisions.
00:12:24
Speaker
It allows sales reps to kind of design on the spot.
00:12:27
Speaker
So you don't have to kind of wait 30 minutes or 20 minutes.
00:12:31
Speaker
Also, we have a project management site.
00:12:34
Speaker
So rather than just focusing on proposal, we have a backend.
00:12:37
Speaker
project management, a collaborative tool between installers and dealers.
00:12:42
Speaker
Dealers can search for different installers, push deals through within their dealers portal.
00:12:47
Speaker
So also we're working on our own AI model called Allray.
00:12:51
Speaker
So we're trading a model from the scratch.
00:12:53
Speaker
So essentially what we're going to do with is you provide the address and the consumption.
00:12:59
Speaker
And then we're going to spit out the perfectly.
00:13:02
Speaker
So we detect the roof structures, initialize the setbacks and then put the solar panels at the most optimal place.
00:13:09
Speaker
And we're going to make it as a standalone software company product.
00:13:12
Speaker
And we're working with RepCard, other companies out there to utilize our designing tool.
00:13:18
Speaker
So we have a lot of things in the roadmap and pipeline.
00:13:21
Speaker
But continue to solve the problems customer portals and many things.
00:13:25
Speaker
Yeah, that's fire.
00:13:26
Speaker
So guys anyone listen this I know we got cells reps just listening to this But yeah, I mean a lot of this stuff because because you guys like a soldier wants to use it's more just like companies and start using it right?
00:13:39
Speaker
This is a great way where they can make money because let's say there is a rep or a dealer and they really want to use PIPE with their installer.
00:13:47
Speaker
They can go to the installer, provide them the link for our affiliate marketing and they can make up to 10% of the revenue from their installer.
00:13:57
Speaker
So whatever the installer pays as a whole for all their proposals, they can make 10% revenue.
00:14:03
Speaker
So, yeah, you can say, oh, yeah, it's only for EPCs.
00:14:05
Speaker
Well, you can refer your EPCs and make money doing it.
00:14:09
Speaker
So that's a great feature we just enabled.
00:14:11
Speaker
And it's super transparent.
00:14:13
Speaker
And literally when the installer pays, the rep or the person that referred them gets paid.
00:14:18
Speaker
So it's really cool.
00:14:19
Speaker
We're all about transparency and, you know, trying to provide solutions.
00:14:24
Speaker
It's got to be a win-win.
00:14:25
Speaker
It's always got to be a win-win.
00:14:26
Speaker
That's awesome.
00:14:28
Speaker
Yeah, so even if you're just a sales rep listening to this or maybe you're not running your own deal or whatever.
00:14:33
Speaker
I mean, I'm sure you guys do demos and all that.
00:14:35
Speaker
So what I've done, like, sometimes I don't have control.
00:14:38
Speaker
Like a lot of these people here at that booth says Solarcon.
00:14:42
Speaker
It's like we're not making decisions sometimes for these softwares and tools.
00:14:46
Speaker
But what I have done is you go back to your company, you can make recommendations.
00:14:50
Speaker
So even if you're just using maybe Solo or different software,
00:14:53
Speaker
I think it doesn't hurt to go to like maybe your owners, company leaders.
00:14:56
Speaker
You guys do demos, right?
00:14:58
Speaker
All the time.
00:14:59
Speaker
Actually, we're going to enable you a link so you can just put it there.
00:15:03
Speaker
And if there's anybody interested on a demo, they can just click your link.
00:15:06
Speaker
Yeah, perfect.
00:15:08
Speaker
So guys, go check
How to Experience Pipe Solar
00:15:09
Speaker
them out.
00:15:09
Speaker
And so if people do want to get a demo or yeah, we'll put the link here in the show notes, but if they want to reach out, get a demo, what's the best way to do that?
00:15:17
Speaker
The best way to get in contact with us and get a full demo is to go to a pipe.solar.
00:15:22
Speaker
There's a big button says book a demo and they will probably see me in this one call.
00:15:27
Speaker
Okay Awesome.
00:15:28
Speaker
We appreciate you guys coming on and can't wait to see what's next you guys are Changing the way we communicate and that's what's about.
00:15:35
Speaker
We got to evolve as an industry We got to get better Thanks to software like this that we're doing that and keeping customers happy.
00:15:42
Speaker
Wonderful.
00:15:42
Speaker
Thank you so much for having us.
00:15:43
Speaker
It's always a pleasure to be here.
00:15:45
Speaker
Yeah, great.
Free Sales Diagnostic Offer
00:15:46
Speaker
Thanks guys
00:15:48
Speaker
Hey, solarpreneurs, are you sick and tired of spinning your wheels every month and not seeing your cells increase?
00:15:54
Speaker
Well, so was I, and the truth is I was never able to improve it until I figured out what was going wrong.
00:16:00
Speaker
So that's why I'm excited to announce for a limited time, we are doing a free cells diagnostic.
00:16:06
Speaker
We'll break down your cells process.
00:16:08
Speaker
figure out the holes in your business and see how we can help you improve so act now we have six bucks for this month so book a call now don't miss out what you're going to do is send an email to taylor at solarpreneurs.com that's taylor at solarpreneurs with an s.com i'll send you out a calendar link and we will figure out the time that works best so shoot that email and let's increase your sales