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How To Think Like An Entrepreneur In Solar Sales
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Transcript
Introduction to Solarpreneur Podcast
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.
What is a Solopreneur?
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.
00:00:41
Speaker
Yo, what's going on, solopreneurs?
Entrepreneurial Thinking in Solar Sales
00:00:43
Speaker
Today, we're going to be talking about why you should think like an entrepreneur in solar cells.
00:00:50
Speaker
You probably get the idea that we're going to talk about that occasionally because the podcast is called Solarpreneur.
00:00:56
Speaker
I think it's been a minute since we've talked about why we need to be solarpreneurs.
00:01:02
Speaker
So we're going to talk about it again.
00:01:04
Speaker
I'm actually having a guest on the next episode who is quite the entrepreneur.
00:01:09
Speaker
He is in solar still, but he also runs a construction company.
00:01:14
Speaker
He started a successful supplement company.
00:01:17
Speaker
His name is Dan Cranford.
00:01:19
Speaker
We're going to be hearing from him on the next podcast.
00:01:23
Speaker
So I thought, what a good time to bring up the topic of being a solopreneur, an entrepreneur again.
00:01:30
Speaker
So welcome to the podcast.
00:01:32
Speaker
If you're new, we give you a warm welcome.
00:01:35
Speaker
If you're returning, you get a warm welcome too.
00:01:38
Speaker
As usual, we are bringing you the heat every Tuesday and Friday.
00:01:42
Speaker
We are free and available on Apple, Spotify, iTunes, wherever you listen to podcasts.
Podcast Availability and Listener Feedback
00:01:49
Speaker
And we are here to help you close more deals, generate more leads and referrals, and have a much better time in the solar industry.
00:01:56
Speaker
Hopefully you don't get sick of hearing that at the beginning of every episode.
00:01:59
Speaker
But hey, I like it.
00:02:00
Speaker
Remind you why we're here.
00:02:02
Speaker
Hey.
00:02:03
Speaker
Before we jump into the topic today, I wanted to give a quick shout out, quick thank you to a couple of recent reviews we've had on the podcast.
00:02:12
Speaker
And if you have not had the chance to leave us a review, you can do so.
00:02:19
Speaker
I think Spotify lets you now rate the podcast.
00:02:24
Speaker
As far as I know, Apple is the only platform where you can actually leave reviews.
00:02:30
Speaker
But we had one recently.
00:02:31
Speaker
This came from Joseph W. Crawford.
00:02:35
Speaker
It says, Solid boots on the ground advice.
00:02:38
Speaker
As a 10-year solar veteran, I've listened to a lot of podcasts, YouTube videos, read blogs, etc.
00:02:44
Speaker
Solar printers is one of the best I've come across.
00:02:47
Speaker
Whether you're brand new to solar like we all were once, or if you're a seasoned pro who's gotten a little disillusioned and needs a shot in the arm, or you're already knocking it out and just want to get to the next level, you'll get a solid real-time advice from individuals who are walking the talk every day.
00:03:04
Speaker
That's awesome.
00:03:05
Speaker
Love it.
00:03:05
Speaker
Joseph Crawford, thank you so much.
00:03:07
Speaker
Appreciate the kind words.
00:03:09
Speaker
Then we also had one from this Prezo Solar.
00:03:14
Speaker
He says, so worth a listen.
00:03:16
Speaker
I started in solar recently and have a one and a half hour drive to our weekly meetings.
00:03:20
Speaker
This podcast fills that time.
00:03:22
Speaker
Whether you want to work on your approach, pitch, handling the nose, close, start a solar business, or get perspective, this podcast provides great information.
00:03:31
Speaker
An inspiration at every step, I recommend it to anyone looking to jumpstart their new career.
00:03:36
Speaker
And Veterans for a Breath of Fresh Air, rock on Taylor.
00:03:40
Speaker
I will do that.
00:03:42
Speaker
Prezo Solar, thank you so much.
00:03:44
Speaker
That's truly what keeps the podcast going.
00:03:47
Speaker
I've heard a lot of comments.
00:03:48
Speaker
A lot of people listen to it on their drives, commutes.
00:03:52
Speaker
Some people that say they listen to it daily.
00:03:54
Speaker
I know we got a lot of episodes now.
00:03:56
Speaker
I don't know if I could listen to myself daily, so I appreciate you guys.
00:04:00
Speaker
That's what makes this podcast continue to go is from kind words like that's interviews.
00:04:06
Speaker
And I know there's some people that have critiques and all that, so I'll take those too.
00:04:10
Speaker
But whatever you think, would love to hear a review or, you know, comments or shoot me a DM or even sharing the podcast helps us grow.
00:04:19
Speaker
And yeah, that's what keeps the show going too.
Entrepreneurs as Problem Solvers
00:04:23
Speaker
So let's jump into the topic today.
00:04:25
Speaker
We're going to be talking about why you should start thinking like an entrepreneur.
00:04:29
Speaker
Three things you can do.
00:04:31
Speaker
I like to break things down into just usually three, four points.
00:04:35
Speaker
Helps me keep clear on what I'm talking about.
00:04:39
Speaker
and keep organized.
00:04:40
Speaker
So if you notice, that's actually the format for a lot of the shows, especially the solo episodes I do where it's just me.
00:04:47
Speaker
So I try to organize it into like three takeaways, three things we're talking about.
00:04:51
Speaker
That's just how my brain works.
00:04:53
Speaker
So hopefully if you're listening, hopefully you like that format because that's what works for me.
00:04:59
Speaker
Okay.
00:04:59
Speaker
But the first thing you should do, okay, thinking like a solopreneur, thinking like an entrepreneur,
00:05:06
Speaker
What entrepreneurs do?
00:05:08
Speaker
They are constantly solving problems.
00:05:11
Speaker
You think any great entrepreneur, they're solving problems, right?
00:05:16
Speaker
sometimes problems we didn't even know we had.
00:05:19
Speaker
You think of Ford, right?
00:05:22
Speaker
You think of the guys who made cars, entrepreneurs who rolled out cars.
00:05:26
Speaker
Everyone was saying we need faster horses, but they brought a problem.
00:05:32
Speaker
I think it was Henry Ford who said, if I would have solved the problem people wanted, then I would have gotten a faster horse.
00:05:39
Speaker
I think I butchered that quote, but something along those lines, right?
00:05:42
Speaker
Should have looked up that quote before.
00:05:44
Speaker
Just came to the top of my head.
00:05:46
Speaker
But the point is we need to be solving problems constantly.
00:05:49
Speaker
Sometimes there's problems that people don't even know they have.
00:05:52
Speaker
And in solar, obviously we're solving the problem.
00:05:56
Speaker
of rising utility rates.
00:05:58
Speaker
We're solving the problem that people sometimes don't know they have with utilities.
00:06:03
Speaker
I'm surprised even in San Diego where I'm at, where the rates are extremely high, it's really surprising to me sometimes how many people don't know the major problems with the grid, with the infrastructure, with the rates constantly increasing.
00:06:18
Speaker
so i'm sure if it's a problem here in san diego it's probably a a big problem in other markets as well okay but on top of solving problems like that thinking like a solopreneur like an entrepreneur you need to think outside the box a lot of deals that i've closed looking back i would not have been able to close them without some creativity without some problem solving
00:06:41
Speaker
Hey, I had a deal last week where she called me to cancel it.
00:06:47
Speaker
I went back and this is topic for another day too about how to decrease cancels and save cancels.
00:06:55
Speaker
But she's asked, she's saying, oh, I've seen so many negative reviews.
00:06:59
Speaker
looked up your company, saw some review, and it's just the standard.
00:07:03
Speaker
We don't have more negative reviews than other companies.
00:07:05
Speaker
Times like that, you got to think, okay, what's she looking at?
00:07:09
Speaker
She's not looking at real people.
00:07:11
Speaker
So I start telling her, hey, if we can get you real people to talk to,
00:07:16
Speaker
Would you agree that that might be more beneficial, that might be more helpful talking to real people that have actually been on the program than just going off a few reviews?
00:07:27
Speaker
She agrees, and I'm sending her the reviews.
00:07:29
Speaker
Actually, just barely sent her one.
00:07:31
Speaker
Hey, that's not a major problem.
00:07:33
Speaker
You should be able to think like that, but any problem that comes up,
00:07:37
Speaker
Thinking like an entrepreneur, you got to think, how can I solve the problems?
00:07:41
Speaker
How can I prevent the cancellations?
00:07:43
Speaker
How can I increase referrals?
00:07:47
Speaker
Definitely a huge factor in being more like an entrepreneur.
Maximizing Efficiency through Outsourcing
00:07:51
Speaker
And so the second factor, the second thing you can do to think more like an entrepreneur is to truly value your time.
00:07:59
Speaker
And this is something that we have done podcasts on before.
00:08:03
Speaker
But the best thing I can suggest for this, for valuing your time, is to figure out what is your hourly worth.
00:08:10
Speaker
So many people I talk to, they don't know what their hourly worth is in solar.
00:08:14
Speaker
They make these huge commission checks, but they have no idea how long they actually worked to make that commission check.
00:08:19
Speaker
So if you have not done this already, you should track your time for a week, two weeks, however long you want to do it.
00:08:28
Speaker
But figure out how many deals did I close?
00:08:30
Speaker
What am I making on that?
00:08:32
Speaker
How many hours did I work?
00:08:34
Speaker
How many hours was I knocking?
00:08:35
Speaker
How many hours was I...
00:08:36
Speaker
in appointments.
00:08:37
Speaker
And by doing that, you can figure out your hourly worth.
00:08:41
Speaker
So giving you example, yeah, here in San Diego, it takes me typically, if I'm knocking by myself, I'll say 15 to 20 hours of knocking to get a cell.
00:08:53
Speaker
Not the world's greatest knocker door knocker.
00:08:55
Speaker
I'm sure some of you can go out and 10 hours get a cell.
00:08:58
Speaker
But for me, typically around 20 hours is I'm getting a cell, sometimes 15.
00:09:05
Speaker
And out here, average commission on a cell, I'd say it's about seven grand.
00:09:11
Speaker
Give or take average commission.
00:09:14
Speaker
Hey, so if you break it down like that, 20 hours, one cell.
00:09:19
Speaker
And then right now I'm getting about 75% will go to install.
00:09:24
Speaker
Hey, I'd say that's what it's for me.
00:09:27
Speaker
And I'm doing this right.
00:09:29
Speaker
I'm going sort off the numbers for the past couple months.
00:09:33
Speaker
So if you really want to be exact, you could go...
00:09:35
Speaker
break it down to the extreme.
00:09:37
Speaker
You go off a whole year of data.
00:09:38
Speaker
So I'm not going off like a whole year of data, but I'm going off just, you know, ballpark numbers for the past couple months.
00:09:46
Speaker
Hey, and then so if you think 20 hours, one sell.
00:09:49
Speaker
So in a month,
00:09:50
Speaker
If I want to get four sales, I need to be working 20 hours or working 80 hours, right?
00:09:58
Speaker
Because 80 divided by 4, 20, okay?
00:10:01
Speaker
And then if 75% is actually getting fulfilled, is actually going to install, then that means I am making, let's see, doing the math here.
00:10:13
Speaker
So 7,000 times 3, that's 21,000 a month.
00:10:18
Speaker
Divide that by 80 hours that it took me.
00:10:22
Speaker
That comes down to about $262.
00:10:24
Speaker
Call it $250.
00:10:24
Speaker
That means my hourly rate is about $250 an hour.
00:10:26
Speaker
Which is pretty astonishing if you look at that.
00:10:37
Speaker
Some guys are doing way better than this, right?
00:10:40
Speaker
But you look at that, you go type in jobs for 250 bucks an hour.
00:10:45
Speaker
I did this just to see what came up.
00:10:48
Speaker
But the first like six jobs I see on here, it's anesthesiology physician, orthopedic adult reconstruction surgeon, physician radiology, maternal fetal medicine physician, otarlaginologist, I don't even know how to say that, physician.
00:11:08
Speaker
Okay, neurology physician, general surgery, reproductive endocrinologist.
00:11:14
Speaker
So those are jobs that you're making $250 an hour.
00:11:17
Speaker
How does it feel that we're in the same classes, surgeons, doctors, people that have been to school like eight years, 10 years plus, you know, all the debt they got to go in?
00:11:29
Speaker
Pretty cool.
00:11:29
Speaker
Okay, so that's a good exercise to take your teams through.
00:11:33
Speaker
If you're running a team, break the math down for them.
00:11:36
Speaker
Cause I think that's really inspiring, really motivating for me to think, okay, every time I'm out there knocking doors, get my teeth kicked in, I'm getting paid for notes.
00:11:46
Speaker
Now I'm making 250 bucks an hour as I'm out here.
00:11:48
Speaker
Okay.
00:11:49
Speaker
So pretty cool.
00:11:50
Speaker
And maybe yours is less, but anyone knocking doors, you should not be making less than at least a hundred, 150 bucks an hour.
00:11:58
Speaker
Everyone should be doing that.
00:11:59
Speaker
Okay.
00:12:00
Speaker
So that's number two and just something to consider as you're valuing your time.
00:12:06
Speaker
What can you outsource?
00:12:08
Speaker
The tasks you're doing, are you doing tasks that someone else can do that doesn't make $250 an hour?
00:12:14
Speaker
Remember, you're a high-value person.
00:12:17
Speaker
So one of my mentors told me, one of my coaches that I'm working with, he says, never do a task yourself that you can delegate.
00:12:24
Speaker
Never delegate a task that you can automate.
00:12:27
Speaker
And never automate a task that you can eliminate altogether.
00:12:30
Speaker
I'm going to say that one more time.
00:12:31
Speaker
Pretty cool.
00:12:32
Speaker
Never do a task yourself that you can delegate.
00:12:35
Speaker
Never delegate a task that you can automate and never automate a task that you can eliminate altogether.
00:12:42
Speaker
So for you and your business, okay, what can you delegate?
00:12:47
Speaker
And before you even delegate, what can you automate?
00:12:49
Speaker
Can you set up systems?
00:12:51
Speaker
Do you have a CRM?
00:12:53
Speaker
Can you automate emails?
00:12:55
Speaker
Can you automate follow-up?
00:12:56
Speaker
Can you delegate a lot of that stuff?
00:12:59
Speaker
The top guys, they are delegating, they're automating things.
00:13:03
Speaker
So you should be a top guy.
00:13:05
Speaker
You should be doing it as well.
00:13:06
Speaker
And you should be valuing your time and knowing what you're worth.
00:13:11
Speaker
That's point number two.
Commitment to Entrepreneurial Success
00:13:12
Speaker
And then last but not least, make sure you fully commit to your purpose.
00:13:19
Speaker
As I was doing some research for this podcast, I found a good article on Forbes.
00:13:25
Speaker
They're just talking about being an entrepreneur and things you should think about if you want to be an entrepreneur.
00:13:33
Speaker
And so I stole a little bit of this from that article.
00:13:36
Speaker
But I thought they said it pretty well here.
00:13:38
Speaker
The Forbes article, it says the most effective entrepreneurs don't flit around.
00:13:42
Speaker
They're not overlooking their calling because they've gotten tangled up in a side project.
00:13:46
Speaker
They're not making quick bucks or random opportunism.
00:13:49
Speaker
They're committed and tunnel visioned and they're in it for the long haul.
00:13:53
Speaker
They take pride in their longevity and leave at exactly the right time.
00:13:57
Speaker
Perhaps they took years to decide, but when they do, they're all in.
00:14:01
Speaker
No job offer could tempt them and there's nowhere else they'd rather be.
00:14:04
Speaker
They can spot fleeting distractions a mile off and they steer well clear.
00:14:09
Speaker
Think like an entrepreneur by getting in deep.
00:14:12
Speaker
No hedging bets.
00:14:13
Speaker
No second guesses.
00:14:14
Speaker
Just focused and intentional commitment to a cause.
00:14:18
Speaker
But for you, are you fully bought in?
00:14:21
Speaker
Hey, the two best books that I always recommend to people are Grant Cardone.
00:14:27
Speaker
I think he's, I mean, he's all about this.
00:14:29
Speaker
You know, Grant Cardone.
00:14:31
Speaker
But 10X rule by Grant Cardone, be obsessed or be average.
00:14:35
Speaker
Really, the people that crush it in solar and whatever doing, they're obsessed.
00:14:40
Speaker
They eat, sleep, and breathe solar.
00:14:43
Speaker
I look at some guys in my own office here in San Diego, and they're literally, it's solar 24-7.
00:14:50
Speaker
When they're not knocking doors, they're thinking about it nonstop.
00:14:54
Speaker
They're thinking, how can they improve their processes?
00:14:56
Speaker
How can they be in front of their customers more?
00:14:59
Speaker
Even when they're driving, I had Jack Pastrana, one of her, I'm going to get him on the podcast soon, but Jack that I work with down here, Jack Pastrana in San Diego, 100 installs on the year, really solid dude, making over a million a year.
00:15:15
Speaker
But he says even as he's driving, you know, on Sundays, taking his wife on dates, hanging with the family, he's constantly looking for areas to canvas to go to hockey, he'll drive by some
00:15:26
Speaker
Good group of houses he's never hit before.
00:15:28
Speaker
Like, oh, that looks good.
00:15:30
Speaker
Napoleon, hey, baby, hold on a second.
00:15:32
Speaker
Let me go check out these homes.
00:15:34
Speaker
So I thought that was cool.
00:15:34
Speaker
It's like he is obsessed with this job and you should be too if you want to make the money you deserve.
00:15:40
Speaker
We are in the golden era.
00:15:43
Speaker
Hey, you don't want to be the person looking back three years from now, four years from now saying, I wish I would have pushed harder.
00:15:49
Speaker
I wish I would have been obsessed back then.
00:15:51
Speaker
Because trust me, commissions aren't going to be this great forever.
00:15:55
Speaker
Solar is not going to be as good as good as it is right now.
00:15:59
Speaker
So you should go all in.
00:16:00
Speaker
Okay, so that's the podcast today.
00:16:03
Speaker
Number one, I'm already forgetting my points.
00:16:09
Speaker
Number one, constantly solve problems, look for constant for problems to solve.
00:16:13
Speaker
Number two, value your
Top 10 Episode Cheat Sheet Announcement
00:16:15
Speaker
time, figure out your net worth, figure out ways you can delegate and outsource.
00:16:19
Speaker
And number three, fully commit to your purpose, be 100% bought in, be obsessed, or be average.
00:16:27
Speaker
So I hope you crushed it this week.
00:16:28
Speaker
I hope you get yourself bought in to solar, to the solar opportunity.
00:16:32
Speaker
And next podcast, we're going to hear from someone that is doing incredible things, great entrepreneur, started a supplement business, has his own solar dealer, construction company.
00:16:43
Speaker
just dominating in so many different areas of life.
00:16:47
Speaker
So Dan Cranford, he's coming on the next one.
00:16:49
Speaker
Don't miss out.
00:16:50
Speaker
We'll see you guys soon.
00:16:52
Speaker
Much love.
00:16:53
Speaker
Go kill it this week.
00:16:55
Speaker
What's up, solarpreneurs?
00:16:56
Speaker
Hope you enjoyed the episode.
00:16:58
Speaker
Before you run out and start selling more solar yourself, wanted to let you know about an exciting new cheat sheet we created specifically for you in mind.
00:17:08
Speaker
One of the top questions I get asked on Instagram, on Facebook, by our listeners is, Taylor, where should I start?
00:17:16
Speaker
What episodes should I listen to in the podcast?
00:17:18
Speaker
You got too many podcasts, man, because now we have over 200 episodes.
00:17:23
Speaker
So what we've done, we created the top 10 most downloaded, most listened to, and I would say widely accepted, most useful podcasts that we've done here on Solopreneur.
00:17:36
Speaker
We put them together all in one sheet so you can go, you can hit the ground running, especially if you're new, you do not want to not have this sheet.
00:17:45
Speaker
So go download it right now.
00:17:47
Speaker
It's going to be at top10.solarpreneurs.com.
00:17:51
Speaker
Again, that's top10, the number 10,.solarpreneurs.com.
00:17:56
Speaker
Don't forget the S on solarpreneurs.
00:17:58
Speaker
We will have that in the show notes.
00:18:00
Speaker
Go download it right now.
00:18:02
Speaker
And especially if you have not listened to them, go listen to them and you can re-listen to them.
00:18:07
Speaker
That's going to show you how.
00:18:09
Speaker
So go download it and we'll see you on the other side.