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00:00:01
Music Producer Turned Solar CEO - Dan Dunn
46 Plays4 years ago
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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.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
What's going on. Solarpreneurs. We are back with another episode and I'm excited today because we are in the studio with Mr. Dan Dunn. What's going on, Dan? Thanks for coming on the show. You bet.
Speaker 3 (00:52):
Good. He could to be here. Okay. Well, you're
Speaker 2 (00:56):
Hearing me too. Yeah, it's, it's fun. We're hearing a Newport beach, made the drive up here from San Diego and, um, we're doing some video content too. So excited about that. So Dan, you want to tell us a little bit how you got like in the solar space and your background, where you came from and everything.
Speaker 3 (01:14):
Sure. Yeah. I should have this down to an elevator pitch by now. Um, I was born in Illinois in the Midwest. I was then transplanted, California. So I clean California is my place of growth, I guess kind of sounds a little cooler. Um, and then, uh, went to yeah, went to college in Utah. I then, uh, and I majored in music in English. We just talked about that before this podcast started. Yeah. Um, yeah. I love music nerd and music nerd. That's right. And actually, uh, the movie pitch. Perfect. I was actually telling, um, this guy to the, to the left ear off, off camera earlier that, uh, my wife and I met through similar circumstances as Anna Kendrick and the guy. I don't remember his name anyway. She was in a female acapella group. I was in vocal point male acapella group kind of came together like jets and sharks and west side story anyway. Um, so yeah, met my wife there been married almost 16 years. Uh, live in Southern California. I love this place. Feels like home will never leave. And, uh, old harness. I started the harness brands in 2017, so we're almost five years old next year. Awesome. Um, and then have a production company in the music space called prosody music. Okay. That's me in a nutshell.
Speaker 2 (02:31):
That's awesome. I love hearing guys that are like, you know, like music nerds and stuff like that. Cause I was just telling you, I was a music major myself in college, studied drums, percussion. That was the dream I was all about, you know, just graduating and being a music teacher, making my 30, 40 grand a year. And I was like, this is it. I'm going to love it. That's the dream. And then yeah, came out. Yeah. Came out, made that, you know, like in the summer or whatever. And I'm like, it's a little bit longer.
Speaker 3 (03:02):
Right. I can still picture, Hey, imagine dragons. When they have their live shows, they need some good drummers up there. Right. Have you ever been to one of those?
Speaker 2 (03:09):
Uh, I haven't been to their show, but I haven't been to, I don't know. Been to all its other concerts. Yeah. Same with maybe they'll listen to this podcast. If they're listening, give me a call and I'll be
Speaker 3 (03:19):
In the drummer. We've got a table right here. He can start anyway.
Speaker 2 (03:22):
Let's do it. B
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction to the 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.
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.
Meet Dan Dunn
00:00:41
Speaker
What's going on, Sorpreneurs?
00:00:43
Speaker
We are back with another episode, and I'm excited today because we are in the studio with Mr. Dan Dunn.
00:00:50
Speaker
What's going on, Dan?
00:00:51
Speaker
Thanks for coming on the show.
00:00:51
Speaker
You bet.
00:00:53
Speaker
Good to be here.
00:00:54
Speaker
Let's edit that out.
00:00:55
Speaker
Well, you're hearing me too.
00:00:56
Speaker
Good to be here.
00:00:59
Speaker
Yeah, it's fun.
00:00:59
Speaker
We're here in Newport Beach.
00:01:01
Speaker
Made the drive up here from San Diego, and we're doing some video content too, so excited about that.
00:01:08
Speaker
So Dan, you want to tell us a little bit how you got in the solar space and your background, where you came from and everything?
00:01:14
Speaker
Sure.
00:01:15
Speaker
Yeah, I should have this down to an elevator pitch by now.
00:01:18
Speaker
I was born in Illinois in the Midwest.
00:01:21
Speaker
I was then transplanted to California, so I claim California is my place of growth, I guess.
00:01:27
Speaker
Okay.
00:01:27
Speaker
Kind of sounds a little cooler.
00:01:29
Speaker
And then went to, yeah, went to college in Utah.
00:01:34
Speaker
I then, and I majored music and English.
00:01:36
Speaker
We just talked about that before this podcast started.
00:01:38
Speaker
Yeah.
00:01:39
Speaker
Yeah.
00:01:39
Speaker
I loved music nerd.
00:01:40
Speaker
Music nerd.
00:01:41
Speaker
That's right.
00:01:42
Speaker
And actually the movie Pitch Perfect, I was actually telling this guy to the left here off camera earlier that my wife and I met through similar circumstances as Anna Kendrick and the guy, I don't remember his name.
00:01:56
Speaker
Anyway, she was in a female acapella group.
00:01:58
Speaker
I was in Vocal Point, a male acapella group.
00:02:00
Speaker
Oh, okay.
00:02:01
Speaker
Kind of came together like the Jets and the Sharks in West Side Story.
00:02:05
Speaker
Anyway, so yeah, met my wife there.
00:02:08
Speaker
Been married almost 16 years.
00:02:11
Speaker
Live in Southern California.
00:02:12
Speaker
Love this place.
00:02:13
Speaker
Feels like home.
00:02:14
Speaker
Will never leave.
00:02:16
Speaker
And own Harness.
00:02:19
Speaker
Started the Harness brands in 2017, so we're almost five years old next year.
00:02:23
Speaker
Okay, awesome.
00:02:24
Speaker
And then have a production company in the music space called Prosity Music.
00:02:28
Speaker
Okay.
00:02:28
Speaker
And that's me in a nutshell.
00:02:31
Speaker
That's awesome.
00:02:32
Speaker
I love hearing guys that are like, you know, like music nerds and stuff like that.
00:02:36
Speaker
Cause I was just telling you, I was a music major myself in college.
Music and Business Parallels
00:02:40
Speaker
studied drums, percussion.
00:02:42
Speaker
That was the dream.
00:02:43
Speaker
I was all about, you know, just graduating and being a music teacher, making my 30, 40 grand a year.
00:02:48
Speaker
And I was like, this is it.
00:02:50
Speaker
I'm going to love it.
00:02:50
Speaker
That's the dream.
00:02:52
Speaker
And then, yeah, came out.
00:02:53
Speaker
I've been sales.
00:02:54
Speaker
Gotcha.
00:02:55
Speaker
Yeah.
00:02:55
Speaker
Came out, made that, you know, like in the summer or whatever.
00:02:58
Speaker
And I'm like, okay, it's a little bit longer.
00:03:01
Speaker
Yeah, right.
00:03:02
Speaker
I can still picture, hey, imagine dragons when they have their live shows, they need some good drummers up there.
00:03:08
Speaker
Yeah.
00:03:08
Speaker
Have you ever been to one of those?
00:03:09
Speaker
I haven't been to their show, but I haven't been to, I don't know, been to lots of other concerts.
00:03:14
Speaker
Yeah.
00:03:15
Speaker
Same with them.
00:03:15
Speaker
Maybe they'll listen to this podcast.
00:03:16
Speaker
If they're listening, give me a call and I'll be their drummer.
00:03:19
Speaker
We got a table right here.
00:03:20
Speaker
You can start banging away.
00:03:22
Speaker
Let's do it.
00:03:23
Speaker
But yeah, what I wanted to ask you, Dan, I mean, being like music, English and all that.
00:03:27
Speaker
Do you feel like, I mean, I don't think there's a ton of us that did music before, you know, solar, but the few that I have met that have, I feel like, I don't know, it's helped them in a way, maybe like creativity.
00:03:39
Speaker
Do you feel like music has helped you in business or in any aspects of what you're doing now?
00:03:45
Speaker
Absolutely.
00:03:45
Speaker
So, I mean, scientific studies have shown if you put your kids in piano lessons early on, they'll connect certain parts of their brain and think more critically.
00:03:53
Speaker
And I'm not trying to puff myself up at all.
00:03:55
Speaker
I mean, don't feel deficient out there, guys.
00:03:57
Speaker
If you didn't get piano lessons, it's not your fault.
00:03:59
Speaker
But it does help, yeah, you looking at problems from multiple sides of the spectrum.
00:04:05
Speaker
And so when your brain makes those connections, you have kind of that openness to multiple solutions and seeing both sides of an argument.
00:04:13
Speaker
It really, really helps in problem solving, interpersonal relationships, leading.
00:04:20
Speaker
It helps in, I think, all aspects of business, to be honest.
00:04:23
Speaker
Yeah, that's awesome.
00:04:24
Speaker
Leading, why do you say that?
00:04:27
Speaker
Well, because as a leader, you're going to come across the fires we have to put out constantly.
00:04:31
Speaker
Right.
00:04:32
Speaker
And so to put out fires, you could, you could throw a huge bucket of water on it and say it's good, or you could kind of massage it and come at it strategically and see if there's, you know, two or three different ways to go at it and which one's best consider the consequences.
00:04:47
Speaker
Being able to look at that, that cube from all sides, I think will, uh, it has paid dividends.
00:04:53
Speaker
Yeah, that's awesome.
00:04:54
Speaker
Yeah, no, and I always compare it to just like, I'm sure, you know, music, were you like a specific instrument or were you just voice?
00:05:00
Speaker
Piano voice, yeah.
00:05:01
Speaker
Piano voice, okay.
00:05:02
Speaker
Yeah, for me, it's like, I don't know about you, but all those hours you put in practicing.
00:05:06
Speaker
Yeah, that's true.
00:05:07
Speaker
That's something that I feel like.
00:05:08
Speaker
Oh, yeah.
00:05:09
Speaker
Like, I was no way like a natural sales guy or whatever, and I still like, I'm not like the top guy, but...
00:05:15
Speaker
Because of all those hours that I put in, not being the top drummer or whatever, I'm like, okay, why don't I just use that same, you know, method of getting better at sales.
00:05:24
Speaker
All the hours I put in practicing, not a lot of guys are doing it, you know.
00:05:27
Speaker
I just made that connection now.
00:05:29
Speaker
That's crazy.
00:05:30
Speaker
I used to like hold myself up in a practice room for four to six hours a day just going at the keys.
00:05:36
Speaker
And then, of course, that's what I did on the doors too.
00:05:39
Speaker
That's weird.
00:05:39
Speaker
Never made that connection.
00:05:40
Speaker
Yeah.
00:05:41
Speaker
So cool.
00:05:41
Speaker
I think it's super power for sure.
00:05:43
Speaker
I agree.
00:05:43
Speaker
Many people, you know, can go the distance like that.
00:05:47
Speaker
But cool, man.
00:05:48
Speaker
So tell us, Dan, how so harness you started that in 2017.
00:05:51
Speaker
You said, right?
00:05:52
Speaker
Yep.
00:05:52
Speaker
Okay.
00:05:53
Speaker
And were you just working on a sales team before?
00:05:57
Speaker
How did you transition to like starting your own company and everything?
Career Path to Solar
00:06:00
Speaker
Yeah, so back in 2002, I started doing pest control for a couple summers.
00:06:06
Speaker
Then I did alarms for eight and a half years, mostly summers, but also some year-round programs.
00:06:13
Speaker
Built up, you know, teams and regions during that time, and then transitioned to solar in 2012 with Vivint when they started their San Diego office.
00:06:20
Speaker
I was in that original office that was full of all kinds of cool guys.
00:06:23
Speaker
We were...
00:06:25
Speaker
We were a cool crew.
00:06:26
Speaker
Anybody that's listening, I don't know if you are, but it was cool.
00:06:30
Speaker
Everybody from that office branched out and either became at least DMs, mostly regionals, VPs, company owners, et cetera.
00:06:38
Speaker
And so helped them, went up to Orange County and then left for SolarCity and Tesla.
00:06:44
Speaker
And when Elon fired us all in 2017, best thing that happened to me, that's when I started Harness.
00:06:51
Speaker
I felt like I had learned enough.
00:06:52
Speaker
Yeah.
00:06:53
Speaker
Okay.
00:06:54
Speaker
Yeah.
00:06:54
Speaker
A lot of good, a lot of superstars came from that.
00:06:56
Speaker
Yeah.
00:06:57
Speaker
Including, uh, you know, Taylor McCarthy.
00:06:59
Speaker
We were just talking about that.
00:07:01
Speaker
Yeah.
00:07:02
Speaker
That's cool.
00:07:02
Speaker
We've been slower though.
00:07:03
Speaker
Do you know Rob Reimer ever?
00:07:05
Speaker
Yeah, for sure.
00:07:06
Speaker
We used to call him the bull.
00:07:09
Speaker
Was he back there in 2012 with you guys?
00:07:11
Speaker
He was.
00:07:12
Speaker
Yeah.
00:07:12
Speaker
He was in that office.
00:07:13
Speaker
That's funny.
00:07:14
Speaker
Yeah.
00:07:15
Speaker
Yeah.
00:07:15
Speaker
So he, uh, yeah.
00:07:16
Speaker
New power of the company he used to work for.
00:07:18
Speaker
He went on to be like VP of sales of that company.
00:07:20
Speaker
Yep.
00:07:21
Speaker
Yep.
00:07:21
Speaker
He was my boss for a long time.
00:07:23
Speaker
Cool.
00:07:25
Speaker
But I know that's cool.
00:07:26
Speaker
Yeah.
00:07:26
Speaker
A lot of superstars came from that.
00:07:27
Speaker
And, um, I know it was like rough, at least according to Rob, he says pretty rough in the beginning.
00:07:31
Speaker
A lot of issues with stuff, but we felt so good about selling a 15 cent PPA for like $200 a kilowatt or one 80.
00:07:40
Speaker
I think it was.
00:07:41
Speaker
We were so excited about 180 a kilowatt for a PPA.
00:07:45
Speaker
And by the way, the customers back then, from a customer standpoint, we were setting people up with 15 cent PPAs.
00:07:51
Speaker
Now in San Diego, I think the average might be up to 19, 20 cents, something right there.
00:07:57
Speaker
I was talking about this with my team the other day.
00:08:00
Speaker
companies feel at liberty to continue to raise the prices as long as the utility continues to escalate in proportion to that.
00:08:05
Speaker
So it's interesting.
00:08:07
Speaker
The whole urgency pitch is real.
Challenges in Solar Sales and Entrepreneurship
00:08:10
Speaker
It's not just a sales tool.
00:08:11
Speaker
Like, go solar now or you're going to probably pay more in the future.
00:08:15
Speaker
Yeah, that's true.
00:08:16
Speaker
Yeah.
00:08:16
Speaker
I know.
00:08:16
Speaker
I love those things.
00:08:17
Speaker
It's like natural urgency that we don't, like, we don't have to make it up.
00:08:21
Speaker
It's like stuff is actually happening, tax credits.
00:08:24
Speaker
Yeah, it's actually happening.
00:08:25
Speaker
A lot of good reasons.
00:08:27
Speaker
No, that's cool.
00:08:28
Speaker
And so Harness, so 2017, do you think you would have, like, went on to start Harness had SolarCity not, you know, had they not let everyone go?
00:08:39
Speaker
Do you think you would have gone that same path eventually?
00:08:41
Speaker
That's a great question.
00:08:42
Speaker
Eventually, maybe.
00:08:43
Speaker
Yeah.
00:08:44
Speaker
Thing is, I was I was pretty bought in to the vision.
00:08:47
Speaker
I was I was a little bit of an Elon worshiper.
00:08:50
Speaker
Not a bad way.
00:08:51
Speaker
I mean, I did have a big blown up picture of him.
00:08:54
Speaker
You know, that Obama poster with the hope, you know, the blue and red and white.
00:08:59
Speaker
I made one of Elon and I put progress.
00:09:02
Speaker
And it was a little foolish, I think, but I had that up in the office and yeah, I just, I loved his vision.
00:09:09
Speaker
I was at like the Gigafactory Grand Opening in Sparks, Nevada.
00:09:14
Speaker
I loved what we were doing.
00:09:15
Speaker
I felt like it was obviously much bigger than us.
00:09:18
Speaker
So everybody feels great about that.
00:09:19
Speaker
But
00:09:21
Speaker
When it stopped, it was an easy decision to do my own thing.
00:09:24
Speaker
I'd already been knocking doors for 15 years straight with no stops, you know, consistency, piano practice.
00:09:31
Speaker
Yeah.
00:09:33
Speaker
And, you know, running regions and divisions, stuff like that.
00:09:35
Speaker
So I felt like it was a good time.
00:09:37
Speaker
But had he not fired us?
00:09:39
Speaker
That's a great question.
00:09:41
Speaker
I think I would have stuck with it for a while.
00:09:43
Speaker
Yeah.
00:09:44
Speaker
Yeah.
00:09:45
Speaker
It was cool.
00:09:46
Speaker
Cool.
00:09:46
Speaker
I lost it.
00:09:47
Speaker
Yeah.
00:09:47
Speaker
Well, yeah, it's true.
00:09:48
Speaker
Everything happens for a reason.
00:09:50
Speaker
So maybe a good thing that happened.
00:09:52
Speaker
Definitely in hindsight.
00:09:54
Speaker
Yeah.
00:09:55
Speaker
Um, but yeah, so like, I mean, I know it's, you know, a lot of challenges going through starting your own company, starting your own brand business, all that.
00:10:03
Speaker
So starting out, I'm sure it wasn't all like sunshine and rainbows and all that.
00:10:07
Speaker
What was, what were some of like the challenges that you had to go through to get, you know, get things rolling with harness?
00:10:12
Speaker
Yeah, luckily I had the team from SolarCity pretty much.
00:10:16
Speaker
It was easy because there was no non-solicitations.
00:10:18
Speaker
They fired us, so we just started.
00:10:21
Speaker
No big deal.
00:10:22
Speaker
So I started with a sales team, so that was nice.
00:10:24
Speaker
But partner-wise, a lot of companies instantly become dealers for other installation companies.
00:10:32
Speaker
That was the thing.
00:10:34
Speaker
I'm a diligent student of who I'm gonna be hopping into business bed with.
00:10:38
Speaker
And I did, I remember to this day, I did 17, I interviewed 17 different EPCs, which are installation companies.
00:10:46
Speaker
Holy cow, yeah.
00:10:47
Speaker
Went through it, got it on a PowerPoint, did like a, you know, a risk benefit analysis of it.
00:10:54
Speaker
And I even presented it to my team like, hey, guys, this is what I've been going through to make sure we're going in the right direction.
00:10:59
Speaker
Settled in on one.
00:11:00
Speaker
I won't mention their name, but I settled in on one.
00:11:03
Speaker
And on paper, they were the best.
00:11:06
Speaker
And then in reality, they were horrible.
00:11:08
Speaker
Yeah.
00:11:08
Speaker
Yeah.
00:11:09
Speaker
Wow, even after all that research.
00:11:11
Speaker
Lost me a lot of money.
00:11:11
Speaker
Yeah, exactly.
00:11:13
Speaker
Interestingly enough, I wish the story was different, but what it did teach me was, again, you can look good on paper, execution's everything.
00:11:22
Speaker
When you're in a partnership, a lot of times too, and those go south like that, you have to cut your losses.
00:11:28
Speaker
There were definitely some losses.
00:11:30
Speaker
early on in the business, first year, but I also came into the business knowing all the stories I had read.
00:11:36
Speaker
That's pretty common.
00:11:37
Speaker
It's pretty common in your first year or two, anything in the five-year range.
00:11:41
Speaker
It's common to have some struggles, have some learning lessons, some big ones.
00:11:46
Speaker
And yeah, it really tests your mettle of if you're serious about the business and the long-term aspect
Motivating Sales Teams and Company Culture
00:11:52
Speaker
of it or not.
00:11:52
Speaker
Yeah, no doubt about that.
00:11:55
Speaker
Yeah, and so something that, well, I'm sure you've struggled with it too, like your teams just, I mean, commissions are so high in solar right now.
00:12:03
Speaker
People are making 10, 15 grand on single deals and stuff, especially out here in California.
00:12:08
Speaker
Like how have you in your teams, I don't know if it's changed as time has gone on, but what are some things you're doing to like keep your guys motivated or stuff that you like pass down to like your sales managers for our listeners on that?
00:12:20
Speaker
That's a good question.
00:12:21
Speaker
considering what they make?
00:12:22
Speaker
Is that what you're asking?
00:12:23
Speaker
Yeah, well, just because... That's one obstacle.
00:12:25
Speaker
Yeah, yeah.
00:12:26
Speaker
That's like the curse of solar, right?
00:12:27
Speaker
It's like, guys make 10 grand on a deal and then they're like, oh, I'm... Take it off for three weeks.
00:12:31
Speaker
Yeah, I'll be back next month.
00:12:32
Speaker
Right.
00:12:33
Speaker
Yeah, that is an interesting question, and it is something, of course, we've grappled with.
00:12:39
Speaker
One way is to constantly have them expanding their idea of themselves.
00:12:44
Speaker
So there's an income thermometer in every single person.
00:12:48
Speaker
And so once you've reached that thermometer top of $100,000 a year, if that's...
00:12:53
Speaker
essentially what you think you're worth or I don't even know if it goes that far in your head.
00:12:57
Speaker
Usually you're just like, this is where I'm comfortable.
00:12:59
Speaker
I love freedom and I love taking off and going on experiences and now I have the freedom to do that.
00:13:04
Speaker
That's all fun and games.
00:13:05
Speaker
And I think everybody deserves to have that time in their life.
00:13:08
Speaker
But if you mention this concept of expanding the idea of yourself often enough in meetings, which I try to,
00:13:15
Speaker
Then you can, we actually have an archetype I created.
00:13:20
Speaker
So Chad the cheetah or Chadra for the women.
00:13:24
Speaker
And so there's a turtle, Tom the turtle, there's Harriet the hare, and then there's Chad the cheetah.
00:13:28
Speaker
So essentially like how fast can you accelerate your progress towards semi-retirement, towards being like a, you know,
00:13:35
Speaker
10 or 20 or 100 door owner properties, etc.
00:13:39
Speaker
You can follow Dave Allred or some of these guys in the industry that have made it and have done that.
00:13:45
Speaker
And it's a reality for us in solar.
00:13:48
Speaker
We can get there quick because of the money.
00:13:50
Speaker
So do you want to just kind of live
00:13:53
Speaker
at this range, which I understand is extremely enticing and fun, but you could also make a million dollars in the next few years and accelerate your progress and do a whole lot more with your life.
00:14:05
Speaker
Yeah.
00:14:06
Speaker
Okay.
00:14:06
Speaker
So it sounds like just basically helping them see a higher vision and set bigger goals for themselves.
00:14:11
Speaker
Yeah.
00:14:12
Speaker
Have to.
00:14:13
Speaker
Yeah, that's huge.
00:14:14
Speaker
And so what are some ways that you do that for your reps?
00:14:16
Speaker
Is it like you personally sitting down with them or you like having your managers sit down and I don't know, like quarterlies or anything you guys are doing to help them actually like see those bigger goals and visions for themselves?
00:14:27
Speaker
All of that.
00:14:28
Speaker
We started doing quarterly summits this year, which I don't know why we didn't do them before.
00:14:32
Speaker
They're extremely, they move the needle a lot because we all get together and have that memory together.
00:14:37
Speaker
This quarter, we're getting together at Pirates Cove in Henderson, Nevada, overlooking Lake Mead.
00:14:42
Speaker
Oh, yeah.
00:14:42
Speaker
I've heard about that.
00:14:43
Speaker
Our teams.
00:14:44
Speaker
Yeah.
00:14:45
Speaker
Cool.
00:14:45
Speaker
Same thing.
00:14:46
Speaker
Yeah.
00:14:46
Speaker
It's one of those things that gets tossed around the industry.
00:14:48
Speaker
So we rented it out for three days and we're, uh, we're taking, uh, our top producers there for the three days and then we're taking the rest of the company.
00:14:56
Speaker
We'll meet there for like a half day, you know, for the summit.
00:14:59
Speaker
That's awesome.
00:15:00
Speaker
And yeah, getting together and having those memories, having the camaraderie and the culture come together, super important.
00:15:07
Speaker
And during those summits, of course, we address that topic among many others.
00:15:12
Speaker
That's one needle mover.
00:15:13
Speaker
Another one is, yeah, having
00:15:15
Speaker
you know, we have weekly calls with our leaders, of course, and we disseminate what's most important.
00:15:20
Speaker
And there are things that we talk about over and over.
00:15:23
Speaker
Yeah.
00:15:23
Speaker
That's, that's one of them.
00:15:24
Speaker
Okay.
00:15:25
Speaker
Well, that's huge.
00:15:26
Speaker
It's communication.
00:15:27
Speaker
Yeah.
00:15:27
Speaker
It's funny.
00:15:27
Speaker
I'm, so I'm working down with, uh, uh, Jason, I don't know if you know Jason newbie squad down there, but sure.
00:15:33
Speaker
Yeah, he's talking about Pirates Cove too.
00:15:35
Speaker
He said, yeah, I think he said Vivint got like banned from it or something like that.
00:15:38
Speaker
No, that doesn't surprise me actually.
00:15:40
Speaker
No, it doesn't surprise me.
00:15:41
Speaker
No, he's like, but I didn't get banned.
00:15:44
Speaker
Yeah, right.
00:15:45
Speaker
Yeah, he's no longer associated.
00:15:47
Speaker
That's funny.
00:15:48
Speaker
I went there with Trevor.
00:15:50
Speaker
Trevor in the top.
00:15:52
Speaker
He's winning the cup every single year on the alarm side.
00:15:55
Speaker
I wonder if their group did it because they're pretty wild.
00:15:57
Speaker
Yeah.
00:15:58
Speaker
I guess that's a story Jason will have to tell next podcast.
00:16:02
Speaker
Nice.
00:16:03
Speaker
I know.
00:16:03
Speaker
That's cool.
00:16:04
Speaker
And so, yeah, I like the quarterly summits idea.
00:16:06
Speaker
I think that's huge for probably, you know, the culture and things like that.
00:16:10
Speaker
Anything else that you guys are doing, just like build the culture of working, of like going out every day, of not getting lazy reps.
00:16:16
Speaker
What else are you guys doing?
00:16:18
Speaker
That's a good question.
00:16:18
Speaker
So we have, we started a prime program, prime, and I think this industry is moving in this direction anyway.
00:16:25
Speaker
Prime is essentially our setters.
00:16:27
Speaker
So, you know, we have setters in most of our offices now.
00:16:30
Speaker
It's a very structured program that keeps, I wouldn't say that keeps people not lazy and may even contribute to a little bit more.
00:16:39
Speaker
But I don't think so because it's very dialed in and of course we have it structured to where we give the most appointments to the highest skilled closers.
00:16:49
Speaker
And so I think that helps a little bit, but also just the cadence of accountability and
00:16:57
Speaker
I don't know.
00:16:58
Speaker
To be frank, this question is interesting because we as a company, we're not high, like, what's the best way to put this?
00:17:09
Speaker
I'm not super, super concerned with being like the top sellers in the whole country as far as solar sales.
00:17:16
Speaker
I'm concerned with quality mostly.
00:17:18
Speaker
And so I would take, honestly, 100 installs from a group a month versus 300.
00:17:25
Speaker
I know that sounds rash, but I would take them if they were super quality, the sales were done with trust and not sloppily and not creating a whole bunch of stress and extra stress for people.
00:17:37
Speaker
That's just me.
00:17:38
Speaker
That's the way I want to run the business.
00:17:39
Speaker
One of the things I noticed with publicly traded companies is they're always making decisions based on their stockholders.
00:17:45
Speaker
And I never wanted to have that again as just, again, an archetype of what I didn't want.
00:17:52
Speaker
So in this company, we're more principles focused.
00:17:55
Speaker
And I think just trying to always do the right thing.
00:17:58
Speaker
Yeah, no, that's huge.
00:18:00
Speaker
Yeah, I talked with, you know, some of my friends that own their like EPCs, stuff like that.
00:18:04
Speaker
I mean, they deal with some of these dealers who it's just like they're pushing through deals no matter what on any type of roof.
00:18:11
Speaker
Yep.
00:18:11
Speaker
Getting guys to sign like roof waivers and stuff and just throwing panels up there.
00:18:15
Speaker
Yeah, it's crazy.
00:18:16
Speaker
And you're getting more sales, but yeah.
00:18:19
Speaker
25 years, people.
00:18:20
Speaker
I know.
00:18:20
Speaker
That's a long time.
00:18:22
Speaker
But it's like, yeah, you throw in these roof waivers and then just put the panels up.
00:18:26
Speaker
Stuff is going wrong.
00:18:27
Speaker
It's like, what's that going to look like down the road for customers and things like that?
00:18:31
Speaker
It's literally the roof over somebody's house.
00:18:35
Speaker
They work their entire life to buy their house and make sure it's good.
Integrity and Fun in Solar Industry
00:18:39
Speaker
So no, I definitely appreciate that.
00:18:40
Speaker
I think that's the only way really to build long term and make sure you're focusing on your customers and your clients.
00:18:48
Speaker
Well, that brings up a point.
00:18:50
Speaker
I mean, because there's so much money to be made in the solar industry, it's naturally attracting fly by night people.
00:18:56
Speaker
So it's an unfortunate fact.
00:18:59
Speaker
The industry right now, I feel, needs a huge pivot towards integrity-based sales and installs.
00:19:07
Speaker
And I think on the installation side especially, there needs to be a big step up in quality and customer service towards sales partners.
00:19:17
Speaker
It's a little lacking.
00:19:18
Speaker
I know, no doubt.
00:19:19
Speaker
And it's like, how many times have you heard it?
00:19:21
Speaker
Um, I hear it all the time.
00:19:22
Speaker
We're like, Oh, what's the reason you haven't gone slower?
00:19:24
Speaker
Oh, cause our neighbor had a bad experience.
00:19:26
Speaker
Oh, cause our friend, cause our uncle's roof is leaking.
00:19:30
Speaker
Yeah.
00:19:30
Speaker
Like how many more customers could we all have if we were just doing quality work and, you know, not lying to people.
00:19:36
Speaker
So, yeah.
00:19:37
Speaker
Ripple effect.
00:19:37
Speaker
So, yeah, it's definitely super frustrating.
00:19:40
Speaker
Yeah.
00:19:41
Speaker
But no.
00:19:41
Speaker
So, yeah, that's good to hear that, you know, that you're passing that on to your leaders and to your company, because I think that's really what the industry needs.
00:19:50
Speaker
But yeah.
00:19:50
Speaker
So how many teams do you guys have?
00:19:52
Speaker
So you said you're in California, Utah.
00:19:55
Speaker
Where else?
00:19:56
Speaker
California, Utah, New Jersey, a little bit in Nevada and a little bit in Florida.
00:20:02
Speaker
And then we've got a team in Puerto Rico as well.
00:20:05
Speaker
Okay.
00:20:05
Speaker
That's awesome.
00:20:06
Speaker
How many reps do you have for the whole company?
00:20:09
Speaker
We're around 250.
00:20:09
Speaker
Okay.
00:20:10
Speaker
Right on.
00:20:12
Speaker
And so what do you see?
00:20:13
Speaker
I'm sure obviously some teams are better than others.
00:20:16
Speaker
What do you see in your great teams, your best team versus teams that are struggling?
00:20:21
Speaker
Anything you see that's helping contribute to a good team versus the teams that are struggling?
00:20:26
Speaker
Yeah.
00:20:27
Speaker
Yes.
00:20:28
Speaker
I think a good team obviously starts with leaders.
00:20:30
Speaker
So you can't have a good team without good leaders.
00:20:32
Speaker
It's obviously a, again, a ripple effect.
00:20:35
Speaker
I hate to use that phrase twice, but so if the leaders aren't dialed in, you can, you don't even need to see or meet the leaders.
00:20:42
Speaker
You can tell by the team if you just met the team.
00:20:44
Speaker
But anyway.
00:20:45
Speaker
Once that's dialed in, and this is part of what the leaders do, having the team have an identity, yay, a name, and even a creed, something that they can coalesce around as a principle or principles that they live by.
00:21:00
Speaker
Once they have that, an identity as a group, then it's about having fun, which is part of culture.
00:21:06
Speaker
It's kind of what we think about with culture.
00:21:08
Speaker
Like you want a yacht somewhere.
00:21:11
Speaker
So having fun and then getting into flow.
00:21:13
Speaker
I was listening to Aubrey Marcus podcast recently and he had that guy on there, supposed to be the master of flow.
00:21:21
Speaker
My VP Owen recommends to me anyway.
00:21:23
Speaker
He says there's steps to get into flow and, and,
00:21:27
Speaker
The first one's curiosity.
00:21:28
Speaker
So if the leaders can create curiosity with their people somehow, I mean, we could brainstorm around that for a while, but we've had ideas about it and we're looking to increase this constantly because when people are in flow, they don't have to think too much.
00:21:45
Speaker
They just feel and they're feeling great about what they're doing.
00:21:48
Speaker
And you know, flows like we just went surfing this morning and got tossed around the water, positive ions flowing all around.
00:21:54
Speaker
Yeah.
00:21:55
Speaker
And that was the best way for me to start my morning before I got here.
00:21:59
Speaker
Yeah.
00:21:59
Speaker
So activities like that, if we can, if we can make, um, sales and solar as flowy as, as the way I feel when I'm surfing, um, then I think we've, we have hit the jackpot.
00:22:13
Speaker
So our best teams, um,
00:22:15
Speaker
they feel that they don't feel like they're going to work.
00:22:16
Speaker
They feel like they're just in rhythm with a bunch of their friends and they're making a ton of money together, which is awesome, but they want to show up to meetings.
00:22:27
Speaker
It's fun, you know?
00:22:28
Speaker
So there's good quality content being shared in the trainings.
00:22:31
Speaker
The bad teams, again, bad leaders,
00:22:34
Speaker
or it's hard to say bad, ineffective.
00:22:37
Speaker
Ineffective leaders, not doing some of these things, no identity, maybe they missed on the culture piece.
00:22:44
Speaker
They're not having much, they're too serious, they're not having enough fun.
00:22:48
Speaker
And fun's not just like throwing out incentives and let's meet a Jamba Juice.
00:22:52
Speaker
It's like, you know, it's making jokes and having actually vernacular, having like inside jokes around your work.
00:23:01
Speaker
That kind of stuff's fun.
00:23:02
Speaker
So that's what it's all about.
00:23:04
Speaker
Yeah, that's cool.
00:23:05
Speaker
And yeah, big struggle.
00:23:06
Speaker
Well, like companies I've been a part of, I mean, that's a big struggle is starting new offices, especially like when it's far away from your home base.
00:23:13
Speaker
Right.
00:23:14
Speaker
Or what have you.
00:23:14
Speaker
It's like sometimes it's tough to keep that same culture and expand and, you know, find good people.
00:23:19
Speaker
Because, yeah, I mean, one of the first companies I was with, it's like.
00:23:22
Speaker
We expanded to, I think we opened up five offices in a year, but then the next year, all of them closed down except for like one.
00:23:31
Speaker
It was just like, cause they didn't have like solid leaders in place and I don't know.
00:23:36
Speaker
It was just tough to keep it going.
00:23:39
Speaker
So one thing that we've found is to use your best office and bring your leaders that are struggling or new leaders, for sure new leaders, bring them into that office and by osmosis they'll learn and feel the culture.
Training New Leaders at Harness
00:23:52
Speaker
So in fact, we just hired a new Vegas manager today.
00:23:56
Speaker
I just got off a Zoom call with him this morning.
00:23:58
Speaker
And he's coming in for two weeks into San Clemente where our top office is.
00:24:03
Speaker
And he'll be learning by osmosis what they're doing.
00:24:06
Speaker
And it's not even just because you could describe to him what to do, but it's you got to feel it and you got to meet the people and see how happy they are and talk to him.
00:24:14
Speaker
And like all that's going to be super valuable, invaluable.
00:24:17
Speaker
And he'll bring that back to Vegas and have a much better start.
00:24:21
Speaker
Yeah, that's awesome.
00:24:22
Speaker
So that works pretty well.
00:24:23
Speaker
They kind of see what the other people are doing and like, Oh, I'm going to go implement that in my office.
00:24:27
Speaker
Pretty basic, but I don't think a lot of people are doing it.
00:24:30
Speaker
Yeah.
00:24:31
Speaker
I know we definitely weren't when we were having that problem.
00:24:33
Speaker
So, right.
00:24:34
Speaker
That's, that's a great idea.
00:24:36
Speaker
Um, and yeah, like as far as like, uh, your inspiration and everything, what's, what are things that like motivate you to keep it going through all the challenges and I don't know when there's struggles, ups and downs, what are some things that help you?
00:24:51
Speaker
That's a good question.
00:24:53
Speaker
Multiple things.
00:24:54
Speaker
So I've thought about what's been driving me since I've been a kid, and it's actually hard to put my finger on it.
00:25:02
Speaker
I have some kind of motor in me that won't stop.
00:25:05
Speaker
I feel, have you seen the musical Hamilton?
00:25:07
Speaker
Yeah, yeah.
00:25:08
Speaker
Well, just the Disney Plus version.
00:25:09
Speaker
Yeah, exactly.
00:25:10
Speaker
Me too.
00:25:10
Speaker
I haven't been to a live show.
00:25:12
Speaker
But you know how there's a song in there that the lyrics are like, he's running out of time.
00:25:16
Speaker
He always felt like he was running out of time.
00:25:17
Speaker
Oh, yeah.
00:25:17
Speaker
That's good.
00:25:18
Speaker
I've always felt that way.
00:25:19
Speaker
I've always felt like, Hey, this is a very, it's a short life.
00:25:22
Speaker
Um, you got it, you got your time to make a mark on it.
00:25:25
Speaker
And, uh, and so I think that's ever present in my mind.
00:25:29
Speaker
Yeah.
00:25:30
Speaker
And I, I, that drives me.
00:25:31
Speaker
I mean, I actually just heard, you know, some of the most successful people in the world are, are both running away from something and running towards something.
00:25:38
Speaker
Yeah.
00:25:38
Speaker
So there's like two motors driving them.
00:25:40
Speaker
Yeah.
00:25:40
Speaker
And so I can certainly agree with and relate to the running away from things.
00:25:47
Speaker
You know, came from a divorced family.
00:25:50
Speaker
Dad died when I was young.
00:25:52
Speaker
A bunch of interesting, you know, storyline items that I could bring up.
00:25:56
Speaker
But running towards something, I'm running towards really excellence.
00:26:00
Speaker
I'm trying my best to just be excellent because at some point along the way,
00:26:05
Speaker
I got the idea in my head that being excellent is just so much more fun and it's a choice.
00:26:10
Speaker
So why not?
00:26:11
Speaker
Why would you choose not to be excellent?
00:26:12
Speaker
Yeah.
00:26:13
Speaker
I know it's hard and I'm certainly not good at it all the time, but I think I've developed that skill over time to just, you know,
00:26:21
Speaker
achieve excellence in certain areas of life.
00:26:23
Speaker
Yeah.
00:26:24
Speaker
Yeah.
00:26:24
Speaker
It's sweet.
00:26:24
Speaker
I like Hamilton.
00:26:25
Speaker
I remember when I first listened to that, watched the Disney plus version, I was like, listen to that, that same song, I think on the way to my, like my deals and stuff like that.
00:26:33
Speaker
Nice.
00:26:33
Speaker
It's like running out of time.
00:26:34
Speaker
Nice.
00:26:35
Speaker
Yeah.
00:26:35
Speaker
I guess it's sweet, but it's true.
00:26:37
Speaker
I mean, especially in solar, that's like a real thing.
00:26:39
Speaker
Cause yeah, you don't know, like, I don't know what your thoughts are, but it's like solar is probably, probably not going to be as.
00:26:46
Speaker
Oh yeah.
00:26:46
Speaker
Can't be this profitable for long.
00:26:47
Speaker
I mean, yeah, not, not 10 years from now.
00:26:50
Speaker
Yeah.
00:26:51
Speaker
Yeah, it's going to hit critical mass.
00:26:53
Speaker
It's already doing that in certain markets.
00:26:56
Speaker
And in California specifically where we are right now, I'm not going to make a prediction, but we're living on borrowed time for sure.
00:27:05
Speaker
You think so?
00:27:06
Speaker
I mean, yeah, with the level of commissions that we're getting, and just model it off of any other industry and the way it's matured.
00:27:13
Speaker
It's still young, but we can model this off of a lot of other industries, and you can predict what's going to happen in the next five years.
00:27:21
Speaker
pretty well yeah yeah so yeah i mean that's what what we're trying to tell our listeners too is like for those that are listening to this make sure you understand that and take dan's words you're living on borrowed time so push as hard as you can right now be present that's right
Future of the Solar Industry
00:27:37
Speaker
So it's like the days where you're making huge commissions, probably not going to be around forever.
00:27:41
Speaker
So, so I invest in yourself, invest in coaching and get as good as you can right now.
00:27:46
Speaker
So you can reap the benefits and make as much as possible.
00:27:49
Speaker
Yep.
00:27:49
Speaker
I think is that something huge and something I'm sure you, you know, share with your reps too, I bet.
00:27:54
Speaker
Sure.
00:27:55
Speaker
Again, I mean, we've been on the wave of starting out 2012, just nine years ago, making 185 bucks kilowatt or whatever it was, 180, and being so excited.
00:28:06
Speaker
And then it just kept going up every single year.
00:28:08
Speaker
But it's just like the real estate market.
00:28:09
Speaker
You can't just keep going up.
00:28:10
Speaker
It's going to crash at some point.
00:28:12
Speaker
Right.
00:28:12
Speaker
So I don't I'm not saying we're going to crash, but we're certainly going to see corrections in the market.
00:28:17
Speaker
Yeah.
00:28:17
Speaker
Yeah.
00:28:18
Speaker
I know.
00:28:18
Speaker
It's funny.
00:28:18
Speaker
I feel like the grandpa on solar, I started in solar in 2016.
00:28:22
Speaker
So coming up on five and a half years or so, but like, I don't know, all the new reps coming in, they're seeing these huge commissions.
00:28:29
Speaker
I felt like the grandpa, I'm like, Oh, back in my day, I was only making 250 kilowatt.
00:28:34
Speaker
And I know it's real.
00:28:36
Speaker
Yeah.
00:28:37
Speaker
And the opportunity arrogance is there.
00:28:39
Speaker
It's like, you know, them, like you said, those numbers you mentioned earlier, they think that's normal.
00:28:44
Speaker
That's not normal.
00:28:45
Speaker
I know.
00:28:46
Speaker
This is not normal.
00:28:47
Speaker
I know.
00:28:48
Speaker
So it's like, guys, you got to understand there's like solar is the gold rush right now.
00:28:51
Speaker
Yeah.
00:28:52
Speaker
Go take your, you know, pick and hammer and all that and get it now.
00:28:56
Speaker
Get it now and do it right.
00:28:57
Speaker
You know, don't ruin it for the rest of us.
00:28:58
Speaker
Don't be that.
00:28:59
Speaker
Don't be that guy.
00:29:00
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, yeah, for sure.
00:29:02
Speaker
Well, Dan, I know we're gonna wrap up soon here.
00:29:04
Speaker
But yeah, last question or two, I wanted to ask you like from your reps that are seeing a ton of success out there compared to reps that are struggling and whatnot.
00:29:13
Speaker
What do you see in what's separating like the super successful reps versus the ones that are struggling on your teams?
00:29:19
Speaker
The super successful reps have their schedules dialed in.
00:29:23
Speaker
We've got a motto at Harness called Win the Day.
00:29:25
Speaker
You'll see it on our Instagrams.
00:29:27
Speaker
Okay.
00:29:28
Speaker
It's on, well, it's actually on the back of my shirt, right?
00:29:30
Speaker
Is it on the back of my shirt?
00:29:32
Speaker
Darn it, not this one.
00:29:34
Speaker
Cool moment.
00:29:35
Speaker
Anyway, you put on the back of our swag.
00:29:38
Speaker
Win the day came from Owen Santos, our VP of execution.
00:29:41
Speaker
It's something that he came up with in his own life basically to win the morning.
00:29:45
Speaker
He wakes up every day at 5 a.m.
00:29:46
Speaker
He's the most disciplined guy I know.
00:29:49
Speaker
Gets his workout in, gets his healthy eating going, gets the surf on, surfed with him this morning.
00:29:54
Speaker
It basically does more than a lot of people do before 8 a.m.
00:29:58
Speaker
is over.
00:29:59
Speaker
And so winning the day is what our successful reps do.
00:30:03
Speaker
They have a pretty regimented schedule that they stick to, live and die by it, and that makes all of their targets time bound, which if you listen to Tony Robbins, you gotta have smart goals, S-M-A-R-T.
00:30:15
Speaker
That T stands for time bound.
00:30:17
Speaker
So I think that's critical.
00:30:20
Speaker
And then they are students of the game, A students of the game.
00:30:25
Speaker
So they're constantly curious.
00:30:26
Speaker
Again, way to get into flow state about how to get better and what's happening and, you know, stay on top of their stuff.
00:30:34
Speaker
So, I mean, I could say a lot more than that, but that separates them.
00:30:38
Speaker
Again, if you want to look at the flip side of the coin, reps that aren't being successful are treating this like,
00:30:44
Speaker
They'll come to a meeting and they'll expect the meeting to kind of fill their cup and other people to give them all the knowledge and the skills that they need instead of taking that bowl by their own, bowl by the horns with their own hands and doing homework.
00:30:59
Speaker
You actually have to do homework to be great at this.
00:31:01
Speaker
Yeah, I know.
00:31:03
Speaker
One of the best things I can give you is when I first started,
00:31:06
Speaker
I had an approach that I would record in my phone every day when I was driving out to the area and I would listen back to it to hear how I sounded to myself and put myself in the customer's shoes like how would I react to this guy coming by door and I would do that over and over and over and over and over like I just became obsessed with like the right words and the right cadence and my metaverbal and nonverbal communication
00:31:26
Speaker
And it probably took me like two and a half to three months right when I got into solar to come up with an approach that I felt was hitting on all the psychological principles that you would need to have in place to make sure the customer responded in a certain way.
00:31:39
Speaker
And that's what you do.
00:31:41
Speaker
You dial that in so that you're hitting on all those things, the takeaways, the questions, the...
00:31:46
Speaker
The motion creates emotion, all that stuff.
00:31:48
Speaker
So critical.
00:31:49
Speaker
I love that.
00:31:50
Speaker
And yeah, I can tell it's going back to your music days.
00:31:52
Speaker
You're probably doing the same stuff when you're practicing piano, right?
00:31:54
Speaker
Recording yourself, hearing what's going on.
00:31:57
Speaker
That's what I'm saying.
00:31:58
Speaker
It's like so many parallels between it.
00:32:00
Speaker
Oh yeah.
00:32:01
Speaker
And top guys are doing it.
00:32:02
Speaker
They're recording themselves in their closes at the doors.
00:32:05
Speaker
It's just like so many things that we didn't think we're doing.
00:32:08
Speaker
They're recording.
00:32:09
Speaker
He's not going to lie.
00:32:09
Speaker
Right.
00:32:10
Speaker
It's like, I was actually sounding like that.
00:32:13
Speaker
Yeah.
00:32:13
Speaker
Actually said that.
00:32:14
Speaker
Yeah.
00:32:15
Speaker
So,
00:32:15
Speaker
Yeah.
00:32:16
Speaker
So, yeah, no, I think that's a huge separator and lots of people I've had on the podcast have actually brought that up, that that's one of the number one things that reps can do that most people aren't doing.
00:32:25
Speaker
And yeah, I didn't, I didn't do it for years either, but I'm hearing it so many times.
00:32:29
Speaker
Good.
00:32:29
Speaker
Recording yourselves, getting feedback and just, you know, analyzing what went wrong.
00:32:34
Speaker
Looking in the mirror.
00:32:35
Speaker
Yeah.
00:32:36
Speaker
That's huge.
00:32:37
Speaker
Um, well, Dan, we appreciate all the secrets you shared with us today.
Navigating Lead Generation and Social Media
00:32:41
Speaker
And, um,
00:32:42
Speaker
Yeah, I guess last question or two I had, like what's been your biggest, I don't know, is there any time at Harness that there was like a down point or like a big struggle you had at Harness?
00:32:54
Speaker
And then what did you do to get out of it or any, or maybe there hasn't been any, but I don't know.
00:32:59
Speaker
I mean, there was the installation misfire in the early year.
00:33:03
Speaker
The most recent one was actually online leads, man.
00:33:06
Speaker
I'll tell you, I can go off for an hour about this.
00:33:08
Speaker
So many companies sprung up during the pandemic saying that they were experts and gurus at online lead gen.
00:33:14
Speaker
So many dollars were lost to those companies, not only by me, but others.
00:33:19
Speaker
But yeah, that was definitely a struggle.
00:33:23
Speaker
I think we were shut down for probably...
00:33:26
Speaker
I don't know, maybe a month and a half or two.
00:33:28
Speaker
And then we kind of rebounded with the idea that we were, you know, tied to the utility company.
00:33:32
Speaker
And I think everybody in the industry agreed we were essential services.
00:33:34
Speaker
But still, you know, had our best year during the pandemic, which is cool, obviously.
00:33:41
Speaker
But spent a lot of money on online leads that didn't pan out.
00:33:45
Speaker
Again, I could name some companies.
00:33:47
Speaker
I could name some names, but I won't.
00:33:49
Speaker
Yeah.
00:33:49
Speaker
blacklisted names.
00:33:52
Speaker
But I would just caution any of the listeners to be very, I would never go with an online lead company that hasn't been vetted by somebody you know that can show you proof of the results.
00:34:03
Speaker
I just, yeah, it's such a trap right now.
00:34:06
Speaker
And that's huge.
00:34:07
Speaker
I don't know if you've seen it, but there's like groups on Facebook now, like basically like blacklisted solar online leads.
00:34:13
Speaker
I follow them.
00:34:13
Speaker
People just go and follow them.
00:34:15
Speaker
Yeah.
00:34:15
Speaker
You know, talk crap on all the people that screwed them over.
00:34:18
Speaker
The names that have scorned me have shown up.
00:34:21
Speaker
So it wasn't just me.
00:34:23
Speaker
Okay.
00:34:24
Speaker
Yeah.
00:34:24
Speaker
So no, that's good tips that I know a lot of people are looking, thinking, oh, all nine leads.
00:34:28
Speaker
That's the way.
00:34:29
Speaker
Never going to have to knock a door again, but it's like.
00:34:31
Speaker
They think it's a panacea.
00:34:32
Speaker
It's really not.
00:34:33
Speaker
Yeah.
00:34:34
Speaker
It's a supplement.
00:34:35
Speaker
It always should be treated as such.
00:34:37
Speaker
Yeah.
00:34:37
Speaker
A hundred percent.
00:34:39
Speaker
Well, Dan, thanks for coming on the show today.
00:34:41
Speaker
Where can people find out more about your teams and what you're doing and kind of connect with you on social media and all that?
00:34:47
Speaker
Yeah, luckily there's this great guy named Serge that's been managing our social medias recently.
00:34:52
Speaker
And anyways, you can find us on Instagram at Harness Your Future.
00:34:56
Speaker
Okay.
00:34:57
Speaker
We also have Harness Power Official.
00:34:59
Speaker
That's kind of more of a customer facing Instagram.
00:35:01
Speaker
Okay.
00:35:01
Speaker
Easiest way to find us.
00:35:02
Speaker
And you can slide into our DMs and have some conversations.
00:35:05
Speaker
Yeah.
00:35:05
Speaker
Okay.
00:35:06
Speaker
I love it.
00:35:06
Speaker
And speaking of Serge, I mean, I know Serge comes with a price.
00:35:09
Speaker
He's not doing this stuff for free, but what's driving you to kind of invest in like the social media side of things and what's the goal with that?
00:35:17
Speaker
The goal with that is really because we were a closed loop before, like we were growing mostly organically by referral.
00:35:24
Speaker
And then late last year, December-ish of last year, we just decided, you know what, we're going to do some, we're going to make some more efforts to grow organically.
00:35:32
Speaker
not just organically, but, you know, get ourselves out there a little bit more and show the world what we've got going.
00:35:37
Speaker
Cause we feel like we have something very special here.
00:35:39
Speaker
It's not contrived.
00:35:40
Speaker
It's a special culture of great people that want to be part of this because it's, it's fun.
00:35:46
Speaker
It's special.
00:35:46
Speaker
And we create a lot of cool programs that are proprietary to us.
00:35:48
Speaker
So, um, so we wanted to get that out there a little bit more.
00:35:52
Speaker
And Serge is just such a charismatic gentleman.
00:35:55
Speaker
He came to me, he's like, Hey, I can do all this for you.
00:35:58
Speaker
And he made these massive promises and, uh,
00:36:00
Speaker
No, he's delivered quite well so far.
00:36:03
Speaker
Yeah, he does a great job.
00:36:05
Speaker
Great content, very organized, and he's got some automated systems that are pretty impressive.
00:36:10
Speaker
Yeah, Serge is the man.
00:36:12
Speaker
We've got him smiling on the sidelines here, so giving him a shout out.
00:36:16
Speaker
He's in the room.
00:36:17
Speaker
But no, yeah, social media is definitely important.
00:36:20
Speaker
I know if there's a building brand and also recruiting, I know it helps a ton.
00:36:23
Speaker
Just, you know, recruit your ideal salesperson.
00:36:26
Speaker
Yeah, and I've been averse to it, to be honest.
00:36:29
Speaker
I haven't been on social media in a while.
00:36:31
Speaker
I took a hiatus off Facebook for like, I don't know, a year, year and a half or something.
00:36:36
Speaker
But I think the resistance to social media was like, I just don't want to feel obligated to put myself out there with something contrived.
00:36:44
Speaker
I want it to feel authentic and I want it to feel like...
00:36:47
Speaker
I don't know that we're not trying to like manipulate people into anything.
00:36:50
Speaker
So luckily, Serge has given me free reign on what to put on there and has worked with me on the way I want to do things, which is has been awesome.
00:36:58
Speaker
Yeah, that's awesome.
00:37:00
Speaker
Cool.
00:37:00
Speaker
Well, Dan, appreciate you coming on.
00:37:02
Speaker
Before you wrap up here, any final, I guess, words of advice you want to share with our solopreneurs, with our solar guys that are listening on the show here today?
00:37:10
Speaker
Yeah, I would just say something I say often, there's magic in the mundane, which just goes back full circle to what we talk about.
00:37:16
Speaker
Like if you practiced piano for hours on end or parlayed any kind of musical talent or any other kind of rhythm, maybe from athletics when you were young, into knocking doors, you know that the magic is in doing the same mundane things over and over and finding the magic, which is the income,
00:37:35
Speaker
the success, the leadership eventually, all the things that you kind of want and are going after, it's in the consistent daily effort.
00:37:44
Speaker
Love that.
00:37:45
Speaker
And yeah, I'm sure you read the two book, Compound Effects, Slight Edge, but yeah, it's just like...
00:37:50
Speaker
If you haven't read those for our listeners, go read those for sure.
00:37:53
Speaker
Darren Hardy.
00:37:53
Speaker
I mean, that's, yeah, that's the key to success.
00:37:56
Speaker
Most people aren't willing to do the little things every day over a long period of time.
00:37:59
Speaker
Anyone can do it for one or two days, but the guys that are having success in this industry or really anything, they're doing the little things that no one wants to do for, you know, day after day after day.
00:38:09
Speaker
The formula was written long ago.
00:38:11
Speaker
Just got to follow it.
00:38:13
Speaker
Yeah, for sure.
00:38:14
Speaker
Love it, Dan.
00:38:14
Speaker
Well, thanks for coming on the show.
00:38:15
Speaker
Guys, go give Dan a shout out.
00:38:18
Speaker
Shoot him a message, a DM on Instagram, Facebook.
00:38:20
Speaker
Let him know you appreciate him on the show.
00:38:22
Speaker
And Dan, thanks again.
00:38:24
Speaker
We'll talk to you soon.
00:38:25
Speaker
Cool.
00:38:25
Speaker
Thanks, Taylor.
00:38:26
Speaker
Appreciate it.
00:38:28
Speaker
Hey Solarpreneurs, quick question.
00:38:30
Speaker
What if you could surround yourself with the industry's top performing sales pros, marketers, and CEOs and learn from their experience and wisdom in less than 20 minutes a day?
00:38:39
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.
00:38:52
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.
00:39:02
Speaker
And it's called Solcitee.
00:39:04
Speaker
This learning community was designed from the ground up to level the playing field and give Solar Pros access to proven mentors 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.
00:39:24
Speaker
Currently, Soul Society is open, launched, and ready to be enrolled.
00:39:30
Speaker
So go to soulcidity.co to learn more and join the learning experience now.
00:39:38
Speaker
This is exclusively for solopreneur listeners, so be sure to go to soulcidity.co and join.
00:39:45
Speaker
We'll see you on the inside.