Transcript
Speaker: Welcome to the Solarpreneur Podcast, where we teach you to take your solar business to the next level. My name is Taylor Armstrong. went from $50 in my bank account and struggling for groceries to closing 150 deals in the year and cracking the code on why sales reps fail.
Speaker: I teach you 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? 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. Alright, what's going on? We are here with the one, the only QB Life. not for Not one, but this is the second time actually coming on the podcast. So we'll introduce him here a little bit more in a second, but i thanks for joining us two times now, Chris. Excited to be here. Thanks for having me. Yeah, it's been it's been fun. We're actually here at Door to Door Con.
Speaker: But ah Chris, he was actually, I think, one of the first guests that we ever had on the podcast. I believe so. was... A handful of years ago. Yeah, probably three at least three years ago now, I think. So a lot has gone on and we're excited to catch up with Chris, hear what what he's up to, jam with him for a little bit.
Speaker: um But he's known as the QB of life. um And you just recently ah sold your solar company, Solgen. Is that right, Chris? That's right. Okay.
Speaker: So he's still ah pretty involved in solar, but he's got his own podcast doing some cool things with that. So we're going to talk a little bit about that, talk a little bit about branding, and of course, some sales skills, as always.
Speaker: So yeah, Chris, you want to just, I don't know, maybe catch us up Reader's Digest version, what you've been up to since, I don't know, three years ago, since we last Yeah. I mean, so we launched my solar company out of my garage. I can't remember when was on here last, if we were still operating out the garage. We operated there for two and a half years out of the garage and we started business end of 2017. So was like beginning of what year was that? Beginning of 2019, we moved out of the garage. Yeah. So ended up selling good portion of our business to private equity in 2022. So was May 2022. So approaching two years now.
Speaker: And then ah continued on. I was the CEO of that business until April of this last year. in January of this last year, we acquired ah a company for nine figures. So we had ah we had a nine figure exit in 22. Then we acquired a company. It was actually ah a company that I had an equity piece in that I had helped consult or whatnot. And then we took their their management team. um They ah got put in place. I stepped down as the as the CEO in April of 2023. Okay. And so since then, I've launched and done a bunch other things. So launched my podcast, The Founder Podcast. yeah I've had some really cool guests on there. They are Moseys, Grant Cardone, yeah several other like billionaires. Just had a CEO of a multi-billion dollar organization in out of Canada, like all kinds of publicly traded company. And so that was That was unique. but That's awesome. Yeah, man, it's ah it's been a ride, and now we're we're doing, ah you know, back, so I i run the podcast, and then the back end, I i consult and coach and really share. you know, I tried the yeah the whole retirement thing for about six weeks, and it sucked. Not all it's had to be. Yeah, it was actually one of the most depressing moments of my life. Wow. And so, um decided that I needed to be actively creating, and the thing I'm most passionate about is educating and sharing with people, know,
Speaker: You know, my view on life. Yeah. Love it. Yeah. And ah I was joking with Chris saying, man, some of these guys, he sat on his podcast that he got like or right off the bat. I mean, I've been doing this like four years consistently and I can't even get those types of people yet.
Speaker: So, but yeah, I know you got a crazy good network and you've actually done some podcast episodes on how you've been able to build your network and that have been really good. So definitely go check out his podcast. We'll put it in the show notes for guys wanting to check it out, hear from some of the top guys he's getting on his show. But yeah, I want to hear a little bit. You said it was tough, like being retired and all that. And I think you had told that story in your podcast, but what were your feelings? Like you built this company up, you guys had a ton of success in Washington, uh, got it.
Speaker: Yeah. Sold it. What was it like? What were some of your feelings and why was that so difficult for you to Yeah, you know, it's interesting. and I've always believed this, but it's not until you like you actually go through it, then you're like, oh yeah, that is true. Is the fact that like as entrepreneurs, as salespeople, as anyone, like we find the most fulfillment in actively creating something, right? and being being and engaged and and doing hard things, like that is where life fulfillment happens, right? Every once in a while, we want to go on a vacation. We want to take some time off. Like that's cool, right? You need that. You need to recharge. But when it goes from like, this is my life's purpose from an economic standpoint of building this to I no longer have a life's purpose economically, yeah um it becomes very saddening. And like that for me, like said, it was it was a point of depression. Like um my baby essentially had grown up and I had married her off and, you know, she's no longer there. And so... um you know that was that was that was tough and i i needed to have purpose i needed to have the ability to create again and so um you know after a few weeks of doing that i started thinking through what i wanted to do how to what my life's work is what my what my mission is and and so just recreating new purpose and you know of course one of the reasons i stepped away was i wanted to spend more time with my wife my kids and whatnot and so I've been very on purpose, like now making sure my life is designed with them first and foremost. yeah
Speaker: January has been a little crazy. I'm now in my fifth different city and in 25 days. yeah And I've been home, I think, a total of six days in January. But very much on purpose because like I'm just kind of running a thing. But now you know I'm going to go home, spend some good quality time with my family, go and spend a couple of weeks in India and Dubai with my wife. um But yeah, so like ah what I'm creating now is very much by design. Yeah, that's cool. oh yeah. And it caught me off guard. I didn't know that. like I didn't think you guys would be selling the company because you know I always saw you Soulja Empower, Soulja Empower, and I thought I was going to be kind of Soulja Empower for life. and Right.
Speaker: building this. So was this something that you guys had been thinking about or was it a goal for you guys? We always had a plan to sell the business. Stepping away from the business wasn't in the cards. Like I sold off and then rolled forward some equity, planning on being the CEO, taking the thing public. Yeah. March of last year, was coming home from a wrestling tournament with two of my sons that they'd been wrestling in. My then 14-year-old and my son, who's now 10, my 15 and 10-year-old, they were in the car and we had a drunk driver hit us head on. coming at 120 miles an hour. Yeah.
Speaker: And it put things into like of a tailspin of like reflection of like, what am I doing with my life? Is this really what I want? And, you know, meanwhile, there's like some things going on with like a board of directors that I had like just some misalignment with. And I'm just like, you know, i want to spend more time with my kids. And um so I just, and once again, before this car wreck, like it wasn't even on the radar. And then like immediately after that, I really started contemplating on it. And it was a few weeks later that I stepped down. Yeah. so
Speaker: yeah Yeah. I remember seeing the photos car just absolutely destroyed. Yeah. And ah yeah, i imagine that'd be something that like really makes you think. Yeah. I was i mean, it was a miracle that, that we ah walked away, right? Like my son in the back is where the car got, you know We veered off and gu the back part got destroyed. He wasn't wearing a seatbelt and walked away with like a fat lip. and like Just a total blessing and you know just a reminder that I have a different purpose in life or I have ah ah a reason to keep living. Otherwise, God wouldn't have preserved me. Yeah. No kidding.
Speaker: Yeah. And I know you've probably told the story many times, but do you, have you talked to the people who hate you and stuff? Nope. Never had a conversation with them. They were, uh, you know, three 20 mid twenties guys. They were completely plastered, not wearing seatbelts. They actually walked away after rolling like four times. Um, their car was even more destroyed than my ah mine. And, um,
Speaker: But yeah, I never never had a chance to to talk with them. um you know I got some court documents, the the state press charges against them, felony charges. But outside of that, yeah, no no conversation with them. Wow.
Speaker: Yeah, crazy, crazy. Well, yeah, so then it's cool. And so once you did sell the company, was it like immediately you wanted, I knew you took six weeks or whatever, but ah when you were on that little six-week mini retirement journey,
Speaker: were you thinking okay i'm going to start this podcast up after going to start doing the consulting or was that something just after six weeks you're okay this is what i want to do um yeah i mean definitely there's six weeks of like self-reflection of what i wanted to do and um for me the podcast has always been a great avenue to be able to share the message with the world and and i knew if i was going to do it i was going to do it big and so i immediately invested a lot of money into equipment and marketing and everything else and getting the best people on the show so Paid $0 for any of my guests, but um I invested a lot of relationships over time to be able to get those kind of guys out on there. You know, Grant Cardone was one of the first people I reached out to. He immediately agreed to it. Same with same with Alex. um You know, my buddy that started and sold his business tap out for $120 Oh, yeah. cool. Yeah, use ah he was one of my initial contacts. And then I've just kind of networked through it and been able to attract some really cool people on. Yeah, that's so cool. But yeah, and so um as you know, Chris, this podcast is mainly geared towards a lot of probably majority sales reps listen to this podcast.
Speaker: um But I think we get company owners for solar, all that, hopefully more than that. But that's kind of the target audience, right? So for you, um it's been a while since you've been sales rep, but I know you did that for long, how many years were you selling? You know, I sold pest control for one summer. i was in the home security space for eight years. a couple of those years were owning a business, okay um not knocking doors. and then i ah And then I was in the solar space, ah knocking a couple couple years in the solar space and then in management. So, you know, my my whole career has been around the sales space. whether that's door to door or virtual sales or whatnot, which is this this fall will be 19 years. well so So yeah, that's forever. Forever. um So yeah, like you've been building this personal brand a long time and maybe some of the sales reps listening to this are like, okay, this guy just sold a massive company, nine figure exit and all that. um
Speaker: But you just spoke on the marketing panel today. So when you were actively selling and all that, did you have a personal brand built up or like what are some of these things? I think it's important no matter where you're at in your career that you build a personal brand. Now, not necessarily investment of money. and Like money can come later. Initially, it's investment of time and and consistent effort, right? Yeah. Building a personal brand is all about consistency. Being the same guy like or gal, owning who you getting the message out to the world. and you know I've been doing live videos since whenever Facebook started doing it, like 2013, 2014, sharing sharing my message. and I never really started pumping money behind my personal brand until the last like year and a half. yeah Before that, it was all just pure organic. And I never did it like in a cheap way, like from a, like I wasn't like doing giveaways or different things to build my brand. It was always just like naturally attracting people that agreed with my message. And so as a salesperson whatnot, like I think it's very important that you are cognizant that you have to build a brand, whether you work for somebody else or you're building your own business, you you are, your name, your face is a brand, yeah right? And so for me, like I've always taken a lot of pride in
Speaker: being someone of integrity and being somebody that's authentic. And so like that is my brand that that I've created. That's what I created in the door-to-door space or whatnot. Like and always one that was always black and white, never shady in my sales, right? Like that's part of building a brand, yeah especially if you're just building it as a sales career. um And then realizing that you know the internet is out there and whatever is posted on there will there be there forever. And so ah you know your brand, whether you're selling solar or any other product, needs to be in alignment with what you're representing at the door. And so making sure you have a good bio, good... like yeah you know and And it doesn't all have to be like solar, solar, solar, solar. That should be a part of it.
Speaker: But like your brand is your life, right? Sharing what you're doing with the family. Like if your brand, they go on and they see you partying and at bars and like doing just crazy things or whatnot, there's a good chance that you're going to damage your brand with your end consumer, whether that's your employer or whether that's actually the person that's buying solar from you. yeah And so it's very, very important that like whatever's documented is in alignment with what you want to represent to the world. And so that's stories, that's posts, that's reels, like that all needs to be in alignment. But once again, it doesn't have to be all for an economic value. Like for me, my brand is like God, family, business, fitness, like that, that whole aspect. Yeah. Love it. Love it. And yeah, I think it's something that maybe a lot of guys don't think of. And I actually kind of had to learn it the hard way that like some of these customers, there's people are smart, right? Like they're Googling us.
Speaker: um Some people actually research things these days as much as we think they don't. um I actually did a podcast a while back where I took some, you know, like recorded footage of a cell I'd been in.
Speaker: Put it on my podcast. And then long story short, this customer, he like Googled me, was researching me after the sale. He didn't sign the first time, but he found that I had like recorded our whole, um you know, presentation with him and I hadn't like asked him about it or anything. Yeah, I didn't disclose it or anything. And ah so he texted He's like, hey, man, i see I see you posted this. You didn't tell me we were recording and I didn't authorize this. So don't come back. I'm not going slower with you guys. And we we talked more and he ended up being chill. And I think he I think he in a way had kind of a respect that I did have. He saw that besides that, the rest of what I was doing was pretty authentic and I was, you know, legit and slower and all that. So that kind of I think, calmed them down, but still was enough that he's like, yeah I'm not going to go over the US.
Speaker: Yeah. So it's like stuff like that we don't really think about. And I know we've heard from guys that have built huge organizations. Recruiting helps in that, um helps in your sales. So yeah, like for just maybe the sales rep. And for you, when now that you sold your your company, that's what enabled you to go and start a podcast, like have all these connections straight away right away. Right. My brand. Yep.
Speaker: yeah because no way would have been a lot harder to get like grant card animals guys for sure yeah so it's so cool so what are some maybe some things someone that doesn't have a brand maybe they're like okay i'm just selling because that's how a lot of this door-to-door industry is yep lot of solar guys what are some maybe like simple things that they could start doing right away if they're like so first and foremost clean up your social media right like uh Once again, make sure it's in alignment with what the message that you want the world to see, not just customers, not just sales reps, right? Like, and and I know like a lot of times in the solar space, it's always like, you know, show the flashy cars, watches, those types of things because it's, you're trying to attract sales reps, but realize your consumers are looking at that as well. And that's, that can be a very bad thing, right? And so for me, my brand has never been cars, hoes, you know, whatever wherever else. And so just decide, and and if you're okay with consumers seeing your Lamborghini or Ferrari or whatever else, then then so be it. yeah But just understand that it's got to be by design. So one, uh you know clean that up to can get consistent like a brand is a recognizable is a recognizable image or recognizable feeling recognizable whatever right so like i know if i go into mcdonald's i'm gonna get the same experience over and over again and that's what you need to be and so uh whether that's like the same clothes that you wear all the time, whether whether it's the same haircut. You know, my buddy Ryan Panetta, he runs a big podcast. He's known for his colorful hair, right? Like he's got this bright blue hair or bright red hair and and that's him, right? Like if you ever say it to anyone like, oh, do you know the colored hair guy? They're like, oh yeah, Ryan Panetta. Yeah. You know, there's... So, like, create mental markers about, so, and this goes back to being authentic. Like, be who you are. Don't try and be Ryan Panetta. Don't try being Danny Pesci. Don't try being, like, like just be you and consistently be you. That's how you build a brand. And the way you do consistently is it's got to always be out there. And so, like, stick to your message, stick to your brand, stick to you know, what you're sharing with them. Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah. And we heard so a great example just for guys in um door to door. We heard in your panel earlier, one of the guys, Mosiah, I got to get him on the podcast, but just from building this brand, he's built up a massive team. um Yeah, he gets recruits left and right.
Speaker: yeah And like it's interesting because he has has every excuse in the world. Like I came from Mexico. i don't have a good English. Like might I have a heavy Mexican accent or Spanish accent. Yeah. Like all the reasons why why it wouldn't work, but he's just been consistent and like owned who he is being a one of one. right like that's the goal. You got to be one of one. Nobody else like you in the world. So but be you. And that's where where you can really create a brand. Yeah.
Speaker: That's so cool. Were you seeing when you were selling, were you seeing a lot of these things pay off like at the time, maybe in recruiting and in selling? Or do you think it's been more of like a long term? I mean, it's it's always long term, but yeah, it definitely is always paid off, right? Like, that's what's gotten me referrals. That's what's gotten me recruits, right? Just because, like, my name is consistent across the board and and people know that, like, when they get to know Chris Lee, they know exactly what they're going to get, right? Like, it's it's a guy that loves his family, loves God, is very authentic. Isn't it? a straight shooter, right? And so if you're out selling, like when I was building SoulGen, it was always Chris the Solar Guy, right? yeah
Speaker: Flatbill hat, Lululemon t-shirt. And, you know, my name was Chris the Solar Guy and consistent across the board that, and then like ah recruiting, we'd always be putting out videos that were very high energy, very involved, right? Like, and that was a consistent message that we were sending to the recruits to to come and be a part of it. That's awesome. yeah And something you mentioned in your panel earlier is just speaking of recruiting.
Speaker: um i know you guys didn't like you didn't pay the most as a company. um And I think you transitioned basically all over the phone. Right. You guys were just doing virtual. We did about 75 percent virtually. Yeah. Okay. um But yeah, you have you you guys crushed in recruiting by a lot of people. Almost recruited me at one point, but ah yeah, I didn't come over. I guess good thing I didn't because you would left me. Left me out to dry. Not out to dry. You still have a great opportunity. um But yeah, i want to speak to that and then maybe get into some sales stuff because a lot of guys, maybe they're with companies, don't have the lowest red line. Like you hear that all the time. What's the red line? What's the red line? How much you paying?
Speaker: And it's something might try to talk about. Hey, it's not all about what ah what you're getting paid. A lot of factors that go into that. So how did you have any advice on like how you guys recruited and how you bought people into the culture and not just made it about the money? So first and foremost, money is never the way that it's preached. Right. Like I learned earlier in my career when I was in the home security space that it was never about the amount of money that you make per deal is about the total money that you make. Right. Right. Like when I went from owning my own company in the alarm space, being able to make $1,200, $1,300 a deal and actually going back and working for Vivint and making $600 a deal, right? Like you would say that they were paying me less than half. but The reality is under that pay structure, that culture and everything that was created at the end, that competition, I made more money as a sales rep and manager at Vivint than I ever did running my own business. And this is the thing that guys have to get down, like like more low red line, more money per deal does not mean more money. I think a lot of solar guys are are experiencing this right now. It's because they went after the lowest red line and now that installer can't afford to pay them, right? Like, duh. yeah like if understanding just the whole economic uh like way that a business works i want everybody to be extremely profitable on the whole end of the value chain so if i'm in like a sales dealer i want my installer to actually be incentivized to install my stuff right if i got the cheapest red line with them guess what they're gonna put other jobs in front of me and And if they don't have enough to function and be profitable, guess what? My customers are going to get terrible treatment and they're never going to be able to afford it. So I would much rather make less money, be mutually aligned with my installer, my company or whatnot, because that's ultimately where people make the most money. And that's just the financial aspect.
Speaker: On top of that, you get paid in culture, you get paid in opportunity, you get paid in education. And so like aligning with a company that creates that for me where I can learn, can grow, can develop, I can become the best version of myself. Like that is where the real opportunity lies. And this is, you know, this when we were building our business, we were very upfront. Look, we won't pay the most per deal. Like, and you may not even make the most money while working here, but you get compensated in so many other ways besides money. And we'd go through them, right? We're going to help you be better physically, better economically. We're help you teach how you invest, right? We're going help build your associations in the way that you get back to society and be a better father, a brother, a sister, mother, you know, and better spiritual human being, right? Like, and so that always attracted, that rings home for anybody, right? Because you... Once you start making a lot of money, you quickly realize that it's never about money, right? We're all chasing a feeling. We're all chasing something. Money provides feelings, right? Like opportunities to travel or buy something that's really cool. Like that gives us a feeling. But you can get that feeling a whole lot more.
Speaker: ways than just money. And so realizing that that's where you are truly compensated is not just in your paycheck, you're compensated across the board. So make sure you're facilitating yourself either as a recruiter, as a business owner, as a sales rep, that that whole value chain is being, is a lot of value creation. Yeah. That's so good. And especially for maybe managers listening to this or company owners, it's something you got to think about because I know you're a big marketing guy and it's like, what do they say? that's You shouldn't be the cheapest. You should either be the the highest price and and add a ton of value or be like the cheapest, something like that. Yeah, yeah. Essentially in the marketplace, you should be the most expensive or or the cheapest, never in between. yeah Yeah. If you're going to be the cheapest, you're playing the volume game. You're making a small fragment, small percentage on billions of dollars of sales, or you're going to be the highest value creator in the fact that I'm going to charge the most, but I'm going to be able to pay, provide the most opportunity to my employees, to my end users, to everything like that. And so for me, always love that model. want to be the highest priced
Speaker: I don't care where anybody else is in the market. You want to come and try to undercut me by 50%, go for it. You're going to soon be out of business and you're not going to be able to provide the experience that I can for my people. Yeah, I'm so good. And yeah, I think it's important for us to think about that as we're recruiting guys too, like how we create in the culture where they're being fed spiritually, mentally, physically, all these different things, becoming better people.
Speaker: Because if you can point to that and show like examples, say this rep, like he's making great money, but look, now he's like, you know, in a better place mentally, maybe turn to life, turn his life around in other ways. Absolutely. That's yeah, that's you're creating a story around that. And that's way more powerful in recruiting rather than just saying, hey, this guy made half a million last year. Absolutely. So i love that. Love that.
Speaker: um So, yeah, um then with talking a little bit little bit of sales here, it's funny. We were actually planning this podcast this morning, but it's been like five-hour journey to get up in and actually do the podcast because Chris is down here selling.
Speaker: um We just were on our way up. he's he's a present his His mastermind got people interested in that. He's trying to lock down business in the hallway, uncovering their objections, im not taking the maybe. all the All the above. All the things, baby. Yeah. So, uh, yeah, what's, let's get in just as we start, ah wrapping up here, what are some sales skills that's maybe you, um, where to like, i don't know the top things you train your guys in as far as sales. Yeah. So there's four, bar there's four principles of closing and you know, i'll I'll share with you a couple of, and they're not rules, they're principles. And the difference between a rule and a principle is this, a principle is foundational and God made. And a rule is manmade. And ah the thing with a rule, a principle principle will always have consequences. a rule may sometimes have consequences. I'll give you an example. You're going, sixty the speed limit is 65 and you're going 80.
Speaker: What's the consequence of going 80 miles an hour? um I guess not nothing until you get caught. It could be good. It could be bad, right? Like you could get caught by the police. You could get in a wreck because you're going too fast around the corner. what that It could be, right? So a rule is man-made and could potentially have a consequence, could potentially not, right? So that's how you distinguish between the difference between a rule and a principle. So when I teach my guys is that there's four principles of closing and they are they will have consequences if you do not follow them. You can't break them and not suffer the consequence. like So so that's that's the premise of this. And so ah principle number one is yes, no, yes or no, no maybes. A decision must be made. um And and a you know a lot of people will take this and they'll like, well,
Speaker: you know, they'll post for a decision. The person's like, well, maybe like I need to know like, okay, I'll give you a note no, but I still might call you back tomorrow. That's not a decision, right? Like a decision is that they're either moving forward or they are a hundred percent not moving. And the hardest thing about this is most people aren't willing to get to a decision because they're scared of the no, right? They're scared of rejection. And so as a salesperson, you have to be comfortable. you have to be totally okay with getting a no on every single door, every single appointment. You got to be totally fine in that realm, right? Because a no is more powerful and than a maybe. A maybe, because what happens is if once we become okay with maybes, we begin taking maybes that should have been yeses, right? And the no's that were going to be no's, like they just didn't have the guts to tell you. And so you you have to draw a line, right? It's what I call the 10-80-10 rule. 10% of every the population will say yes to anything 10 will say no to anything and 80 will say maybe right they're gonna balance and the goal as a salesperson is to cut the line right down the middle get rid of the maybes and get as many over and now here's the crazy thing is like even if all 80 of those said no right instead of saying maybe they just went no would you make more money uh yeah probably because you get to the yeses quicker
Speaker: Exactly. so the bit So a lot of times when they look at this, they're like, no, like the same amount of yeses or whatever. But the reality is, is like maybes waste your time. The callbacks, the mental effort, the like, oh, they're probably going to, you know, the follow up, like all these different things. And so I have a very, like, I know there's people that teach like two, three, four touch clothes, bull crap. Like I, I much rather be, and, and as long as you come from a point of authenticity that you are there to help the customer and you're totally fine with them telling you no, customers will be totally fine getting to a decision. Like, look, I'm not here to pressure you. I'm not here to make you say yes. I'm totally fine. If you give me a no, I just know that if you put this off, this decision, you're going to be wasting your time and you're gonna be wasting mine. And I care about you too much to waste your time. That's good. Right? And so, like, I am helping you by making a decision, even if the decisions know. And the example I always give is, like, San Diego, SDG&E, one of the most expensive utilities in the nation, right? Yes. When I was selling there, it was it ranged from like $0.10 up to $0.32 a kilowatt hour. Now I think it's in the 50s. Yeah, yeah. Gets to like 60s. 50s or whatever. And what percentage of San Diego has solar?
Speaker: um I would say like 30%. thirty eight percent Okay, so it's probably right now. So why doesn't the other 70% have solar? Probably because they're saying maybe. It's because a sales rep screwed that customer at one point. like you have to You have to believe that by allowing somebody to say maybe, you are screwing that individual. Because what happens is that 70%, it's slowly getting eat eaten away, maybe But had people been committed to yes or no, no maybes, right? They would never spun these guys.
Speaker: Now they've forever have been looking into solar. They're forever like, oh, I'm waiting for the best deal to come across the board when it finally starts making sense. or we're at night So they've wasted the time of so many sales reps. They've wasted the time. And dude, this isn't a market where solar is so extremely like black or white. And now people are kicking themselves because NEM3 came out. It's like, dude, they totally, the sales rep screwed those people. Right. And and that's what I genuinely believe. Like when I align with a product, I believe that whenever I allow a customer to take a, maybe i screwed them. That's my fault. I take total ownership over that. And so like that is principle. Number one has to be followed, cannot be broken. And if you can really figure that one out, You will make millions and millions of dollars over your career. And that is what I attribute to being as successful as I am. That's so good. Because, yeah, I didn't really.
Speaker: yeah I haven't really thought about it that way as a principle. Because we and't I don't know, probably thought of it more as like a rule. Like, OK, I'm going to two, three, four times maybe. But if it's still a maybe, then. so the issue the issue with this is like when you break that principle, right, and you allow them maybe to slip through. Yeah. And then you do that 30 times and then you have that one person that calls back and says, yeah, Taylor, I want to do this. yeah Guess what that's what it does? gra It creates a justification to always allow a customer into the maybe realm. Right. And so when you're you're pushing hard for yes or no, no maybes, You're like, wait, but that one time the Smiths did call me back, right? So it's going to totally screw me and I'm going to allow more and more people to go maybe rather rather than if I would have just pushed them to make a decision, they actually would have gone yes. I will get way more yeses than losing out on that occasional maybe that would have called me back. Yeah. Well, that's so good.
Speaker: i didn't think of it that way. Yeah. Well, and so how do you think, because sometimes you get these people, like you're saying, they don't want the pressure. They want to feel like they're not having to make a for sure decision. So what do you do to get them to think it's not like a hard close? Yeah. you have to set an expectation up front, right? If I'm going to slap you, the worst thing I can do is just slap you out of the blue. Right? And so, like, for example, I'm going to go to Taylor say, Taylor, guess what, dude?
Speaker: I'm going slap you. i know It's not going to... It's not going to be fun. It's going to hurt a little bit, but I am going to play. And I just slapped Taylor, right? Yeah, it wasn't this bad. But here's the thing.
Speaker: If I would have just slapped you out of ah like out of the blue, you had no idea was going to, how would you feel towards me? Yeah. And I'm like, bro. Dude, what the freak? like So this is what we do in sales. yeah We don't set proper expectations. We don't let them know that we are going to be closing them by the end of the presentation. yeah Right. And so, uh, and so when we slap them, it's a jolt. It's like, what, where was this? Why are you trying to qualify me? Why are you trying to, why you getting my income? are you asking for my social? Right. Like it's because like you didn't properly set expectations and this, Expectation starts like when you collect the bill. so Usually we do like a collect a bill and then you have a second touch where you go and actually close it with a proposal. right um so At the beginning of that proposal, you have to say, hey, look, so this is the plan today. these We're going to go through the eight steps. and Then step number eight is we're going to move forward.
Speaker: and you and You talk and you use very assumptive language that you let them know. This is what's going to happen. We're going to get you qualified. We're going to check your credit. We're going to send you a couple of documents. You're going to sign them. right like I'm outlining exactly what's going to happen so that when I go to slap them, it's not out of the blue. So that's that's step number one is you've got to set proper expectations. Then when you get down there, it's not like, Chris, why are you trying to get me to make a decision? It's like, no, we talked about this. Yeah. I'm totally fine if you give me a no, but like if you're ready to move forward, well, Chris, and I really need to think about it. And then I just bro down with people. And i always, if I'm going to shoot somebody straight, I always ask for permission. I'd say, I'd be like, you say, hey, I need to think about I'd like, Taylor, is it right if I shoot you straight?
Speaker: Sure. You good? You're totally fine if I just like kind of ah hit you right where it hurts. Yeah, I guess so. You're good with it? Okay, dude, I've been doing this for a long time. I've been in customers' homes, whatnot. When somebody tells me i want to think about it, it's a bull crap excuse.
Speaker: Like, this is how I talk to customers. That's good. This is literally it. And I say, look, it's a bull crap excuse. Like, you said you're okay with me shooting you straight, right? Yeah. Okay, so going to continue to hit you straight. Like, literally, when somebody says that, it's just their way to tell me to kick rocks.
Speaker: Taylor, if you want me to kick rocks, please just let me know right now. But if there is an inkling of actually wanting to go solar, you just don't have the guts to make the decision right now, let's ah let's talk through that. like let's Let's talk about what is actually holding you back because, dude, I'm here for you. And if if here for you means you tell me no and solar not for you, I'm fine with that. you know I'm going to go I'm going to drive the same car, eat the same food, and sleep next to the same woman tonight. You ain't going to change my life. But guess what? By you making a decision to go yes, guess whose life is going to change?
Speaker: Mine. Yeah, dude. It won't change my life. like I will go to your neighbors. I will i will set them up. They're going decide to go yes. They're going to advantage of this thing. right But like I will not allow you to waste your time by telling me maybe because then we're just going to play this at tango. You're going anxiety when I call you back. You're not going to answer the phone. And you're going to be like, dude, why is this guy still calling mes because he told me maybe. yeah i don't want you to do be put you that in that position, Taylor. like i really I'm here for you. So what is it?
Speaker: that would help you feel comfortable making a decision today? Well, I need to check my quotes. I need to see if you guys have the best deal. Hey, perfect. So are you looking for the best price or are you looking and looking for the best quality?
Speaker: Best quality. So the best quality? It's not about but but not about price? Uh, well, yeah, I guess both. Yeah. Good quality. and I'm assuming you want a good balance of both, right? Yeah. Yeah. Okay, cool. Look, you can go and do all your shopping and whatnot, but it's going to say, but you're going to waste time.
Speaker: My job in helping you is to help you save the three main resources, time, energy, and money. Right? So time, energy, and money, I'm here to help you save it. By you going to get more quotes, you're going to spend money. Would you agree that you don't want to spend the rest of your life shopping for this thing?
Speaker: Yeah. Okay. Because otherwise you're going to end up like Fred down the street. He's been looking at his solar for the last 10 years. Guess how much that's cost him? Well, yeah. 10 years of paying his bill. 10 years. And guess how many sales reps he's wasted their time and wasted his? Probably a lot. And I refuse to screw my customers that way.
Speaker: Right? like ah Like, you're cool with me shooting you straight, right, Taylor? Yeah. Okay, dude. I will not screw you over. I'm go to help you get to a decision. But when when I leave this table, if the decisions know, I never want you to look into solar ever again. Like it will be it will be a waste of your time. But if the decisions, yes, and I'm going help you get there, going help you feel comfortable. Dude, if it means us calling up competitors right now and showing quotes, let's do it. I'm here to spend whatever time right now to help you feel comfortable in the decision-making process. We're not the cheapest. We're not the most expensive. In fact, I'll show you. like If you want the most expensive, go to A. We're not we're not the cheapest. If you want that, like I got their phone number right now. I'll give it to you. But I'm assuming you're not in this just to be the cheapest.
Speaker: No, both. Okay. So, dude, let me help you get to a point of comfortable. like What else do you need to know to be comfortable in moving forward today? Oh, well, I guess that's the main thing, but I don't know. We usually just kind of like think about things before we sign and all that. Okay, cool. Is it right if I shoot you straight again?
Speaker: Yeah, I guess. Sweet, man. What happened in your life that made you be that way? Well, just one time we got a car and we found out later. We bought it pretty quick and then we found out that it had a bunch of problems. It like a used one. Cool.
Speaker: So we just felt like we made it too quick of a decision. Didn't do her due diligence. so Dude, I agree. That sucks. Yeah. Like, dude, if I'm sitting with you and got ah got a lemon of a vehicle, that I'd be pissed. Yeah. Right? so Because, I mean, the reality is is like...
Speaker: You never know what you're going to with, with a car. Like, and I'm not asking you Taylor to take my word for it. Like, dude, let's, let's go look at like thousands of customers that have said, dude, not only is Chris, but Soulja is taking care of me. Like, let's, let's go read, read through that. Like, if I can help you feel feel comfortable that this is not going to be like a poor decision that you're not going to regret it later. Is that something that you'd feel comfortable moving forward today?
Speaker: Yeah, I guess so. Okay, let's go. And then and then I would do that. And so, um you know there's there's two reasons why people do not make a decision to go solar. And it all comes down to trust and enough information. yeah The key word is enough. Most guys give too much information. And so that they confuse their customer, yeah right? Like they show up, they throw up, they they sell features like equipment, you know, three, 400 watt panels, this micro-inverter, whatever else, right? It's all it's all about features.
Speaker: But what happens is the customer, you give them too much information, too much information leads to confusion and a confused buyer never buys. yeah right So your goal is you have to have just enough information. You've got to ask the questions to give them enough that makes them feel comfortable. And as long as they trust you and they have to trust you in both, there's two different types of trust. Do you know what they are? ah Trust the person, trust the company? So no it's at actually trusting trusting character and trusting ability. Oh, okay. so like and the difference is, like do you trust your grandma? Yeah.
Speaker: Okay, do you trust your grandma operating open heart surgery on you? No. Those are the difference, right? So trust in character. Yeah, I love grandma. She's got great character. Trust in ability. No, I do not trust her oh cutting open my chest, right? And so you're, as a sales rep, you have to have both of those. You got to be a straight shooter, right? You got they have to trust your character and then they have to trust you as the professional that you actually know what you're doing. you know what you're talking about. The way that you become a professional is you, Answer the questions they have, not the ones that you think that they have. Right. And then that leads us to enough information. Right. And someone with enough information will always make a decision.
Speaker: Always. ah and it ah and And so what a customer is telling you that when they want to think about you, ah think about it, is they're telling either one, you gave me too much information or not enough or two, I don't trust you. That's it. Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah, no, I can. yeah I believe it. um yeah I actually had that last week. I didn't close a guy and just, yeah, I could tell he just didn't trust everything I was saying. And like if you get to the end of the close, is it like, and you know, they don't trust you.
Speaker: Is it too late at that point? never too late. Okay. It's never too late. Spend more time, get vulnerable, ask them for permission to hit them in the nuts. Okay. Just like you just did. Yeah. Just like, Hey Taylor, is right for shoot you straight?
Speaker: Yeah. Look, dude, I'm not trying to make a buck or two today, but I, dude, I feel like you don't trust me. What is it that I did in this presentation that lost your trust? That's what I would ask customer. That's good. like i would I would hit them. and and But you only can if you ask those type of questions without first asking permission, you will question their intelligence and they will feel like it's a battle. As soon as I ask for your permission, it removes barriers and all of a sudden i can do whatever the heck I want. Yeah, that's money. Well, yeah, I think it goes back to two, just saying, following the principle, because like, I don't, I don't, I don't think that's a principle for me and so many other people, they just, yeah, they get a couple no's and give up. But like for you, you just know for sure you're going to do it. So you keep walking them through it. yep
Speaker: I like it. and I never give up. Like I will spend whatever time that is necessary for them to make a decision, whatever. If it's 30 minutes, three hours, 30 hours, I will not leave. I'll sleep on their couch until they make a decision. Yeah. Yeah. Well, yeah. And most people don't have, you know, the cojones to like call people out and get vulnerable with them. because But once again, it goes all back to, am I willing to take a no?
Speaker: Yeah. Yeah. I just want a decision. That is your one and only job as a salesperson is to get a decision, nothing else. Yeah. I know it's funny because so many people do that. Like example I see all the time is when we're setting up these appointments, knocking doors, we're supposed to try to get a bill, right? They're utility bill. Yeah.
Speaker: But all these new reps that train, they're like just so scared to get a bill because like, oh, If I try to push and have get a bill, they're going to cancel appointment and they say, no, forget about it. But yeah, that's, uh, and that goes, that goes to one of my other principles, which is not, is quit lying to yourself. Most guys don't follow the rules because they want, they would rather lie to themselves like about having an appointment than doing the required to, to get there. So, but, uh, but yeah, we can, we can talk about some of the principles at another time.
Speaker: that was good. How many principles are there? There's four principles. All right. Well, we didn't want to make this an all-day podcast. But no, before I forget, Chris, if people do want to follow you, um listen to your podcast, hopefully they are already. Where's the best place to like follow you? Yeah, so Instagram, at ChrisLeeQB, like quarterback. um And then I'm ChrisLeeQB on all major platforms.
Speaker: um I kind of suck at TikTok and Twitter, but you know, I'm there. um the The Founder Podcast, and that's a singular, The Founder Podcast. You can find me on all major platforms, Apple, Spotify, YouTube. I'm just starting to build my YouTube following, but my Spotify, you can see the visual and stuff. I had like close to 200,000 watch hours last month. yeah, pretty sweet. That's cool. And where do you see this going? You got your podcast. know you're doing some mastermind groups. yeah yeah so for me like i'm just passionate about changing people's lives and educating them um and i and i believe that the number one way to change the world is through the entrepreneur that the entrepreneur has the most influence in the world and a sales rep i would put in that same category because they're interacting they're changing lives they're um and and and you see it they either do it for the good or the worse right like money empowers it magnifies who you really are and so I'm all about magnifying. And and so it's it's ah partnering with businesses, consulting, coaching, and yeah know changing changing the world through entrepreneurship. That's so good. Well, last question. um
Speaker: but I know you recently did a podcast on this, but like we mentioned before, your network is just... One of the best networks I've seen for sure. And not too many people can be in the room with the Alex or Mosey's, the Grant Cardone's, all these massive influencers. So um guys can listen your podcast, but what are some maybe some quick tips on just like being able to build a network and get in the room with some of these big names like you've done?
Speaker: A quick thing on on networking. One, um you've got to consist... It takes a lot longer than you realize, right? But two, you've got to always ask. Like, ask to be in the room. Ask for the introduction. Ask for those different types of things. But more importantly than asking is the most important thing, which you have to start with giving. And don't make it transactional. Don't give, ask, give, ask, give, ask. My ratio is I have to give five times before I ask ask for something. right And so um i whenever I meet somebody new, I'm always trying to connect them. Like if I know what you're looking for, hey, what are you what's important to you? What are you what are you trying to do? and if I can serve and be of value to somebody that I see has a lot of value, really anyone. I don't care where they're at on the value chain, whether they're just starting out or whatnot. I want to serve them yeah and without expectation of of getting anything back. Like that is the number one key to building, but also being okay to ask every once in a while, like, Hey, is there, if I come with you or is there right to hang out or whatever? And then last but not least spend money.
Speaker: Like I've spent a million dollars or close to a million dollars on my personal education being in the right room. i'm I'm in the right room at Harvard business school with a owner's presence management program. I'm in the right room with masterminds. Like I spend the money to be with the right people.
Speaker: And, you know, I pay to play and you pay, you pay to play in one of two ways. You either pay with, with resources, which is money, or you pay with time and energy. Right. Both way, both, all three are forms of payment as going back to the sales thing. Right. Mr. Customer, I'm here to help you save because you pay for things with time, energy, and money. I'm here to save that. That's how you earn anything too. So it doesn't have to be just cash out, serve people, give energy, right? Like put in the time. That's how you're going to a sweet network. Love it. Love it. Yep. So there you have it. That's how you get in the room with the big dogs. And guys, go shoot Chris a follow if you're not already listening to his podcast. I know you talk about all aspects of things. mean, you just had a guy that came and talked about relationships. So it's not just about necessarily like selling the business. You're talking a lot about different things, right? So go shoot at a follow and it's always a good time having you on. We'll see where you go next. So hopefully we can do one before three years next time and see what's going on next. But thanks for coming us today, Chris. Appreciate it. my man. All right.
Speaker: Take it easy. So some of you already know that I run my own door-to-door sales team here in San Diego. And as we are gearing up for the summer, I realized if we do the same thing we always did, we're going to get the same results. But if I want to increase my deal flow, I need to do something different to get an advantage.
Speaker: Then we discovered an app called Solar Scout. But it's not a door knocking app. It's a data platform that shows us who is likely to go solar in our market. It shows us who has previously applied for solar but later canceled the deal, who has moved in recently, and even how much electricity the homes are using in a given neighborhood. It's been working for a lot of teams across the country and now I'm on board too.
Speaker: I'm going to be one of the first to Solar Scout in San Diego, so I decided to partner up. But I told them, hey, I'm going to talk about Solar Scout on my show. you need to give my listeners a great deal. And they did.
Speaker: So go to solarscout.app forward slash Taylor and book a demo with them and you'll get 10% off your first month when you sign up. That's solarscout.app forward slash Taylor.
Speaker: Okay. back What's up, Solopreneurs? Hope you enjoyed the episode. Before you run out and start selling more solar yourself, wanted to let you know about an exciting new cheat sheet we created it specifically for you in mind.
Speaker: One of the top questions I get asked on Instagram, on Facebook, by our listeners is, Taylor, where should I start? What episodes should I listen to in the podcast? 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, and i would say widely accepted, most useful podcasts that we've done here on Solrepreneur.
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Speaker: We will have that in the show notes. Go download it right now. And especially if you have not listened to them, go listen to them and you can re-listen to them. That's going to show you how.
Speaker: So go download it and we'll see you on the other side.
