Transcript
Speaker: Welcome to the Solarpreneur Podcast, where we teach you to take your solar business to the next level.
Speaker: My name is Taylor Armstrong.
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.
Speaker: I teach you how to avoid the mistakes I made and bring in the top solar dogs of the industry to let you in on the secrets of generating more leads, falling up like a pro, and closing more deals.
Speaker: What is a solopreneur you might ask?
Speaker: A solopreneur is a new breed of solopro that is willing to do whatever it takes to achieve mastery and you are about to become one.
Speaker: Hey, what's going on, solopreneurs?
Speaker: My name's Taylor Armstrong.
Speaker: We're back with the final episode of 2023.
Speaker: In today's episode, we're going to be talking about the top 10 most anticipated, most viewed, most listened to episodes of this year, a sort of a year in review.
Speaker: So if you have not listened to every single episode of this year of 2023,
Speaker: or maybe you're a new listener to the podcast going through some episodes, this is a great place to get caught up and maybe just review some of the best episodes we had of 2023.
Speaker: So let's get into it.
Speaker: My name is Taylor Armstrong.
Speaker: We are here to help you close more deals, generate more leads and referrals, and hopefully have a much better time in the solar industry.
Speaker: We are coming back from holidays now.
Speaker: This is, I think, about a year ago this time we did the top episodes of 2022.
Speaker: So you could also go listen to that if you're new.
Speaker: But just a fun little thing I like to do to end out the year is recap some of the episodes.
Speaker: Hope you had a great holidays if you are listening to this after Christmas.
Speaker: I myself, we had a great time.
Speaker: I went on, we actually went on a little Disney cruise.
Speaker: Bahamas, went to Disney World for a day.
Speaker: Great little vacation we had.
Speaker: So if you have kids, would definitely recommend the Disney cruises.
Speaker: If not, probably not worth it.
Speaker: The price you pay, I don't think.
Speaker: To me, the food was just about the same as every other cruise ship.
Speaker: But hey, they got some great stuff for the kids.
Speaker: I have a two-year-old and a four-year-old at the time of this recording.
Speaker: So we definitely had a good time just letting them run around with Mickey Mouse and dropping them off at the kids club.
Speaker: That's what's nice about the Disney cruises.
Speaker: They got these kids clubs you can drop them off at.
Speaker: Although the one for the two year olds, apparently they charge extra until they're three years old.
Speaker: So that was kind of annoying.
Speaker: They made us separate the kids into different kid clubs.
Speaker: Hey, but I know you probably didn't come to the podcast to hear all about my family vacations.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: But in case you're wondering, there you have it.
Speaker: That's what I did for my Christmas vacation.
Speaker: Yeah, you can hit me up if you want to hear more details about that.
Speaker: Let's jump into the recap of the year.
Speaker: So I'm going to be counting down 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.
Speaker: We're going to go through...
Speaker: What I thought, a combination, they're not necessarily all the most downloaded episodes, but a combination of the most downloads and just my opinion on the most value I got and the reception I got from you, the listeners, just a combination of all those weighed into these rankings here.
Speaker: Okay, so let's jump.
Speaker: Let's jump into it on number 10.
Speaker: And last thing I'll say, you definitely want to stay till the end of this podcast, because we are giving you a little gift to end out the year here at Solarpreneur.
Speaker: So stay tuned till the end.
Speaker: And I'm going to give you guys the gift.
Speaker: Okay, but let's jump into it.
Speaker: Number 10 episode of 2023.
Speaker: was this was episode 368 on August 8th, Cell's Lessons Learned from Jake Paul.
Speaker: And this is just kind of my opinion.
Speaker: I thought it was a clever little episode.
Speaker: I recorded this right after watching the Jake Paul documentary on Netflix.
Speaker: A great documentary.
Speaker: You can go watch it.
Speaker: But I thought it was just some good lessons I learned that relate a lot to sales.
Speaker: So if you are a fan of boxing, if you're a fan of social media influencers, and if you like some interesting connections made from that, go listen to this episode.
Speaker: Would recommend watching the documentary too.
Speaker: It's pretty inspiring what that guy does, the empire he's built.
Speaker: The drive he has, love him or hate him.
Speaker: Jake Paul, this guy has done some insane things.
Speaker: And just the hustle he has, the heart he has, it can definitely apply in our sales, our day-to-day sales.
Speaker: And just building a business, pretty much all the aspects we have as solar salespeople, as solopreneurs.
Speaker: So go listen to that one.
Speaker: That's August 8th, episode 368.
Speaker: Okay, number nine.
Speaker: This was the episode with Doug Robinson.
Speaker: It's how to leave a lasting legacy in solar.
Speaker: This was episode 347, May 19th.
Speaker: I like this one a lot.
Speaker: The reason it didn't rank higher is because unfortunately, I forgot to hit record on the microphones I had brought for that podcast.
Speaker: So the only audio we had was from...
Speaker: my iPhone that I was recording on.
Speaker: Unfortunately, it was not the greatest audio.
Speaker: So that's why it's ranked number nine.
Speaker: I think you're gonna be much higher.
Speaker: But as far as the content goes, I thought it was just great content.
Speaker: Doug Robinson is just an inspiring entrepreneur, has built up one of the largest solar companies now in the country, Legacy Power.
Speaker: And it was just great to hear his perspective on things.
Speaker: He's been in sales for many years.
Speaker: He's just hustled his way to the top.
Speaker: And what was really interesting is hearing about their split with Sunder.
Speaker: Many of you that have been in solar for a while know that Legacy, a few of their top leaders broke off and built Sunder.
Speaker: And it was this this huge thing at the time.
Speaker: Tons of reps were leaving legacy over to Sunder.
Speaker: And now I think legacy is doing much better.
Speaker: No, no hating on Sunder.
Speaker: But I think legacy is definitely recovered from that.
Speaker: But it's a cool story to hear how they made their way through that time and just recovered from sort of a blow to the company.
Speaker: So go check out that episode.
Speaker: Very cool story and very cool to hear how Doug Robinson has built up legacy power.
Speaker: Okay, number seven.
Speaker: This was May 2nd, episode 343.
Speaker: This was another solo episode that I did that I thought I got great feedback from.
Speaker: And the episode was the best solar one-liners, right?
Speaker: And one-liners are some of my favorite things.
Speaker: It's kind of like your dictionary, your thesaurus, so to speak, of...
Speaker: of solar, right?
Speaker: So I'm all about learning cool new one liners, cool new ways to sell.
Speaker: So what I did with this episode, I took some of my favorite one liners, combined it into one.
Speaker: Some of them are one liners that I've adopted from other people.
Speaker: Some are one liners I've taken from guys like Taylor McCarthy,
Speaker: A lot of other guests we've had on the podcast.
Speaker: And what I do, and I would definitely recommend everyone else, is keeping just a note in your iPhone.
Speaker: Hopefully you all use iPhones or a note.
Speaker: Maybe you write stuff down.
Speaker: Maybe you're old school, but just keeping a little notebook, little notes of all the cool one-liners you hear because you're going to forget them.
Speaker: And you'll build kind of a library over time of lines you like.
Speaker: And these things can be really powerful.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: I think of it sort of like your I'm I was a musician before I got in solar.
Speaker: So I like to think of it as maybe it's like your scales.
Speaker: You know, when you first learn the piano, you learn a C major scale.
Speaker: Then you learn a G major scale.
Speaker: Then you learn D major.
Speaker: You're going through the scales.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: So these are kind of like your building blocks.
Speaker: OK.
Speaker: And it's not like the most important thing, but it's cool to know these little one liners.
Speaker: They can help you out in certain situations.
Speaker: Same with handling objections is important, but got some good feedback from this.
Speaker: And so that's the one that you can go check out.
Speaker: In number six, this was we had actually three that we did with the guys over at Momentous Solar.
Speaker: And the first one was with Travis Hartman, good friend of mine.
Speaker: This was August 27 or 22nd, sorry, episode 372.
Speaker: This one was called How to Build Insane Momentum.
Speaker: And Travis, he's a guy that's what's what was really cool.
Speaker: Travis, he had hit me up a bunch in the beginning asking me for tips, had done some training with their team, worked with them for a year over at a company called Future Homepower.
Speaker: And that's where we got to know each other really well.
Speaker: But before I joined them,
Speaker: Um, I was like going back and forth, giving them tips, giving them advice.
Speaker: And then, um, as we worked together for a year, I started to see this guy just take off, close more and more deals.
Speaker: And then all of a sudden he is just closing 15, 20, 30 deals a month, um, in the summer and just, um,
Speaker: just absolutely blows, hits it out of the park.
Speaker: And so it's cool to just see his journey.
Speaker: And their big thing is momentum.
Speaker: That's why their company is Momentous Solar now.
Speaker: So go check out his story.
Speaker: And then you can hear how he just went from someone that was just asking me for advice all the time.
Speaker: And now he came on the podcast and I'm the guy asking him for advice, which is really cool.
Speaker: OK, so go check out that one.
Speaker: Really cool.
Speaker: And then we're keeping it with Momentus for actually the next two.
Speaker: This was number five.
Speaker: We got a setter to closer to closing 200 plus deals.
Speaker: That one was with Cade Hill said another moment.
Speaker: This guy episode 375 September 1st.
Speaker: And this was another cool story because Cade, he was someone that set for quite a while.
Speaker: I think if I remember right, he was setting for like six months, which you think of someone that's closing 200 plus deals in a year.
Speaker: For me, I'm thinking, OK, this guy must have been like a natural from the beginning.
Speaker: He must have been closing right off the bat.
Speaker: Well, no, Cade was opposite of that.
Speaker: He was setting for a very long time before he actually got into closing.
Speaker: And then once he started closing, he
Speaker: He just had that really solid setter foundation and it just allowed him to take off.
Speaker: So I thought this was really cool because usually I hear more and more these days people have this negative connotation with setting.
Speaker: They want to get to closing as quick as possible.
Speaker: And especially after hearing that this episode, I thought to myself, that's not always the case, guys.
Speaker: in a lot of cases, should stay as setters longer, and they should not be ashamed about setting.
Speaker: We shouldn't have a negative connotation with setting.
Speaker: Because I think a lot of times it can actually benefit them to stay as a setter longer.
Speaker: And maybe they do what Cade did, stayed six months as a setter, and then all of a sudden they just take off closing.
Speaker: Yeah, so this was cool.
Speaker: And he also included a lot of one liners he uses.
Speaker: He went through his clothes and he's right now.
Speaker: I know at Momentus, at least last time I talked to these guys, he is their top closer.
Speaker: And Travis and Ricardo are kind of taking over more of the owner responsibilities, I guess you could say.
Speaker: But anyway, so that's episode.
Speaker: That's number five.
Speaker: Go check out that one.
Speaker: And number six, last one with Momentus was with the one, the only Ricardo Richie.
Speaker: Hey, you probably know this guy's name.
Speaker: He was one of our top episodes of 2021.
Speaker: I think it was.
Speaker: Yeah, I think it was two years.
Speaker: We did the first one.
Speaker: Hey, and another guy that I worked with over at Future Homepower.
Speaker: This guy, he just does incredible things.
Speaker: I think he really just set the new four minute mile.
Speaker: you could say in solar.
Speaker: The first episode we did, I think he had done like 400 plus installs that year.
Speaker: And this one, the cool thing that he did, the cool milestone that we talked about in the podcast, which was 378 September 12, by the way, is he did 100 plus deals, I think it was like 112 deals in 60 days.
Speaker: And
Speaker: And even more impressive, he did this after the net metering deadline in California.
Speaker: And this was April this year.
Speaker: People were saying, oh, solar is going to be dead in California.
Speaker: People aren't going to sell anymore.
Speaker: You know, you had companies moving to other states.
Speaker: People were losing their minds.
Speaker: Well, Ricardo, he went out and did 100 plus deals in 60 days.
Speaker: In California, in a time period when a lot of companies have left, a lot of companies had gone out of business and people were counting California out saying solar is no good there anymore.
Speaker: He did 100 plus deals.
Speaker: So I thought that was freaking awesome.
Speaker: He talked about how he did it, the mindset that it takes to achieve something like that.
Speaker: And then another takeaway I got from that was just connecting your desires to your actions.
Speaker: Okay, so he talks about a lot of people, they have set these lofty goals, they talk, but they're not willing to do the actions that actually takes to achieve their goals.
Speaker: So cool, just a little breakdown he did with that.
Speaker: And definitely worth listening or re-listening to.
Speaker: Hey, and number seven.
Speaker: This was where I guess number four.
Speaker: Sorry, getting these reversed here.
Speaker: So number four, the top four of the 10 episodes of 2023.
Speaker: This one was I just thought this was kind of funny and unique.
Speaker: This was October 20th, episode 390.
Speaker: The episode title was Analytical Scientist Close Live Footage.
Speaker: And maybe content wise, maybe this isn't the world's greatest.
Speaker: But the reason I put this on this list is because something that happens in the episode that has never happened before.
Speaker: And that is I got some live footage of a close I had gone into.
Speaker: I recorded it and I played some bits and pieces of it in this episode.
Speaker: And I didn't close this guy.
Speaker: But what was really funny about this is the customer or the prospect in the recording, he somehow Googled it, found the podcast, listened to it.
Speaker: And I didn't get his permission to at the time, I didn't have his permission to actually include the footage in the podcast.
Speaker: So he actually texted me about it.
Speaker: You know, I was kind of upset in the beginning.
Speaker: But long story short, I did get his permission later to keep the podcast up.
Speaker: Otherwise, I wouldn't be including it in here.
Speaker: Would have deleted it by now.
Speaker: But yeah, just some footage of this really analytical guy, how I handled it, the good, the bad.
Speaker: And a lot of I think we probably had, I don't know, one or two podcasts a month where we got live footage, broke it down, whether it was from myself or from other people from YouTube.
Speaker: And I think that's something that people appreciate.
Speaker: Let me know.
Speaker: Hit me up if you liked those types of episodes or want more of that.
Speaker: But yeah, this one just caused some drama.
Speaker: Almost had to take it down.
Speaker: But if you were following me on social media at the time, I shared some of the screenshots.
Speaker: But basically, he acted a little upset.
Speaker: But then I said, hey, I can take the content down.
Speaker: Take the recording down.
Speaker: He's like, no, it's fine.
Speaker: And I think he actually...
Speaker: in a way, like appreciated that he was being featured on the podcast and gained some respect.
Speaker: Funny enough.
Speaker: Okay, but that's a that's number four.
Speaker: All right.
Speaker: And so we are entering the top three.
Speaker: Give a little drumroll if you're listening.
Speaker: The top three, number three of the top 10 podcasts of 2023 was episode 401 from December 1st.
Speaker: The title was from VP of Vivint to Investor.
Speaker: That's with Jeff Mendez, Poppy Mendez.
Speaker: And if you have been in door-to-door, if you have sold for a while, you should know Jeff Mendez.
Speaker: This guy is one of the godfathers of door-to-door.
Speaker: was the VP over at Vivint, just blew Vivint up.
Speaker: And anyone that's been in Doradoor knows of Jeff Mendez.
Speaker: This guy is a legend.
Speaker: So really, it was just a guy that I had been trying to get on for over a year, I believe.
Speaker: We'd gone back and forth, had it scheduled one time, but I think he had a death in the family, so we had to reschedule it.
Speaker: And finally got him on towards the end of this year.
Speaker: So it was just incredible to hear this guy's insight having been in door to door so long, the lessons he learned over at Vivint, just how to grow a team, the consistency it takes with your teams, how you should structure meetings, all his experiences was incredible to hear.
Speaker: And then he also got onto some investing.
Speaker: To be honest, investing stuff, this Jeff is just like on another level when it comes to investing.
Speaker: I'm still, I would say, a beginner when it comes to investing.
Speaker: So we didn't get super deep into that.
Speaker: But even some of the little talk we had about investing, even some of it was already getting over my head.
Speaker: You can tell he has a very deep understanding of how to invest and real estate.
Speaker: Just incredible.
Speaker: So go listen to that.
Speaker: You definitely don't want to miss out with Poppy Mendez.
Speaker: That was just recent.
Speaker: So it's probably fresh in your mind if you've been keeping up with the podcast.
Speaker: All right.
Speaker: And then the second number two on the list.
Speaker: Give it up for my man, Tom Hopkins.
Speaker: All right.
Speaker: So Tom Hopkins, another legend, another OG guy.
Speaker: Not necessarily in door-to-door, but just sales.
Speaker: You probably read his books.
Speaker: So this was from the beginning of the year.
Speaker: We went to a conference with Tom Hopkins over in Arizona.
Speaker: I had the opportunity to go with a knock star down there and we, we won a competition.
Speaker: So we got to go to an event at Tom's house, going as boats.
Speaker: And I think it was just once in a lifetime opportunity, hanging out with a sales legend, winning the competition, celebrating, celebrating,
Speaker: Was just awesome to hang out with everybody there.
Speaker: So, yeah, we did this podcast and it's called the OG Cell Secrets that stand the test of time.
Speaker: So we just got into really like, you know, he's been training in cells for forever, probably before most of us were born.
Speaker: that listen to the podcast here.
Speaker: And I think that was really what we focus on.
Speaker: Like, hey, what are what's changed?
Speaker: What are some things you're seeing?
Speaker: And what are the sales tactics that work back then when you're first training that still work?
Speaker: And a lot of them are the same, which you can probably imagine.
Speaker: So this was really cool, just brushing shoulders with a legend.
Speaker: And he's been working with Taylor McCarthy over his knockstart for a little bit.
Speaker: So just hearing how he is tied his training techniques and what he coaches on in the soul right now.
Speaker: So go check that one out.
Speaker: That one was definitely a yeah, just a guess that's I dreamed of having on the show.
Speaker: And shout out to Taylor McCarthy for helping me get him on the podcast, too.
Speaker: All right.
Speaker: And then number one, this was our also our most downloaded episode of 2023.
Speaker: OK, so another drumroll.
Speaker: Give it up for.
Speaker: Mike Brands.
Speaker: And this was how to reach 1000 personal installs.
Speaker: It was from April 4.
Speaker: Sorry, April 28.
Speaker: It was episode 342.
Speaker: And this one, Mike's just someone that I think is one of the top guys in solar for sure.
Speaker: I mean, how many people have over 1000 personal installs?
Speaker: Very, very few.
Speaker: So really cool to hear his story.
Speaker: This guy has been in solar forever.
Speaker: He knows he knows what to do in solar.
Speaker: And I think why it was so popular is because he breaks down his exact clothes.
Speaker: He gives you his lines, his one liners.
Speaker: He gives you his experience.
Speaker: He gives you what it takes to actually get these accounts installed.
Speaker: So just super rare to talk to a guy that actually has a thousand installs and that's going to give you line by line exactly what he's seeing and exactly what it takes to get those kind of numbers.
Speaker: Okay, and I think it's a problem we have in solar.
Speaker: We talk about cells, but as we should all know,
Speaker: Cells don't matter unless you get that baby to install, unless you get the glass on the roof.
Speaker: That's what this podcast was all about is getting the actual glass on the roof, not just getting 1000 cells, but getting 1000 installs.
Speaker: So if you want to reach a milestone like that, definitely check out this episode.
Speaker: And this is one that I think is worth listening to multiple times because Mike gives you his exact wording, his exact clothes that he uses.
Speaker: So that's a wrap.
Speaker: Those were our top 10 podcast episodes of 2023.
Speaker: And I think all these are definitely worth re-listening to, even if you listen to all of them.
Speaker: I know I'm definitely planning on going on re-listening to them.
Speaker: Sometimes that's a mistake I have is I record the episodes and I'm like, you know, I had the conversation with them.
Speaker: I don't need to listen to these.
Speaker: Well, I think mastery comes with repetition.
Speaker: So we need to be listening to a lot of these trainings on repeat to actually fully digest the content.
Speaker: Okay, and now, as I promised, I'm going to give you a little gift for staying till the end.
Speaker: Okay, so the gift that I have for you is we actually reworked our top 10 podcasts episode list of all time.
Speaker: And so we're going on, we're over 400 episodes now, which is insane.
Speaker: So thanks to everyone that's been on this journey that supported the show that's been here through the ups and the downs.
Speaker: So that's my gift to you.
Speaker: Go to top10.solarpreneurs.com.
Speaker: That's top10.solarpreneurs.com.
Speaker: And I think it's, yeah, it should be.
Speaker: I'll just double check that.
Speaker: but it should just be spelled out top 10.
Speaker: So T-O-P and then the number 10.solarpreneurs.com.
Speaker: I'll double check it while I'm saying that.
Speaker: Yep, worked for me.
Speaker: So spelled out top and then the number 10.solarpreneurs.com and that's going to take you to the updateds.
Speaker: all time lists of podcasts.
Speaker: So if you are especially if you are new, this is a great way to not be overwhelmed.
Speaker: Go figure out what are the top episodes I should be listening to.
Speaker: Just get the Reader's Digest version.
Speaker: And that's going to help jumpstart your success.
Speaker: Okay, so I hope you enjoyed this fun little tradition we have over here at Solarpreneurs.
Speaker: And I can't wait to get into 2024.
Speaker: Let's make it the best year yet in solar.
Speaker: Hey, 2023 was an up and down year.
Speaker: It's been a year of highs.
Speaker: And then now, you know, getting towards the end of the year, a lot of people have been on a low.
Speaker: seeing that solar maybe isn't as good in their markets, sales have been down.
Speaker: So let's use 2024 to get back to business, right?
Speaker: To crush our goals and to hit new records.
Speaker: Okay.
Speaker: And that's what we look forward to doing over here at Solar Printer.
Speaker: We're going to have some exciting guests coming up.
Speaker: I'm planning on going to the usual events of 2024.
Speaker: We got SolarCon coming up.
Speaker: We got Door-to-DoorCon.
Speaker: Which, by the way, that's another gift I have for you.
Speaker: If you have not gotten your ticket yet to any of these events, we will post them in the show notes.
Speaker: But I know I have a discount code for door to door con, which is coming up, I think, on the 24th and the 25th of this month of January 2024.
Speaker: And that's Armstrong 20.
Speaker: It's going to get you an extra 20% off.
Speaker: And I think they have a deal going for like 30% off right now till the beginning of the year.
Speaker: So if you're listening to this, have not gotten your ticket yet, go grab it.
Speaker: You should be able to stack those discounts and look forward to seeing everybody at some of these events coming up.
Speaker: So that's it for today's episode.
Speaker: We'll see you guys in 2024.
Speaker: Hope you got your goals down.
Speaker: Let's crush it.
Speaker: We'll see you on the next one.
Speaker: What's up, solopreneurs?
Speaker: Hope you enjoyed the episode.
Speaker: Before you run out and start selling more solar yourself, wanted to let you know about an exciting new cheat sheet we created specifically for you and mine's.
Speaker: One of the top questions I get asked on Instagram, on Facebook by our listeners is, Taylor, where should I start?
Speaker: What episodes should I listen to in the podcast?
Speaker: You got too many podcasts, man, because now we have over 200 episodes.
Speaker: So what we've done, we created the top 10 most downloaded, most listened to.
Speaker: And I would say widely accepted most useful podcasts that we've done here on Solarpreneur.
Speaker: We put them together all in one sheet so you can go, you can hit the ground running, especially if you're new and you do not want to not have this sheet.
Speaker: So go download it right now.
Speaker: It's going to be at top10.solarpreneurs.com.
Speaker: Again, that's top10, the number 10,.solarpreneurs.com.
Speaker: Don't forget the S on solarpreneurs.
Speaker: We will have that in the show notes.
Speaker: Go download it right now.
Speaker: And especially if you have not listened to them, go listen to them and you can re-listen to them.
Speaker: That's going to show you how.
Speaker: So go download it and we'll see you on the other side.
