Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
Did Time Magazine Just End The Solar Industry?
70 Plays2 years ago
- https://www.youtube.com/@solarpreneurs
- goals.solarpreneurs.com
- oneliners.solarpreneurs.com
- https://solciety.co/ - JOIN SOLCIETY NOW!
- SIRO APP - LEARN MORE!
- Thanks to our sponsor Pi Syndicate for this episode!
- DOWNLOAD THE CHEAT SHEET HERE!: TOP 10 MOST DOWNLOADED EPISODES OF ALL TIME
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction to the Solarpreneur Journey
00:00:03
Speaker
Welcome to the Solarpreneur Podcast, where we teach you to take your solar business to the next level.
00:00:08
Speaker
My name is Taylor Armstrong.
00:00:10
Speaker
I went from $50 in my bank account and struggling for groceries to closing 150 deals in a year and cracking the code on why sales reps fell.
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.
Impact of Media on Solar Industry
00:00:41
Speaker
Hey, what's going on, solarpreneurs?
00:00:43
Speaker
Today, we're going to be talking about the recent Time Magazine article that just about destroyed the solar industry as we know it, or did it.
00:00:53
Speaker
We're going to be talking about that.
00:00:54
Speaker
I'm going to give you my thoughts, my reaction, and hopefully give you a little insight.
00:01:00
Speaker
So welcome to the show.
00:01:01
Speaker
My name is Taylor Armstrong.
00:01:03
Speaker
We're here to help you close more deals, generate more leads and referrals, and hopefully have a much better time in the solar industry.
00:01:10
Speaker
Whenever you're listening to this, hope you're doing awesome.
00:01:13
Speaker
I recently just got back from Thanksgiving, had a great time, got me a couple of deals on Black Friday.
00:01:21
Speaker
And good just recharging.
00:01:22
Speaker
Our team finished up a little competition, which I thought was genius doing a competition right before the holidays, get everyone grinding as hard as possible.
00:01:31
Speaker
And now I'm looking forward to just, you know, getting deals, but not having to stress about going all out like we were in this competition.
00:01:41
Speaker
But as I mentioned, today we're going to talk a little bit about this recent Time Magazine article.
00:01:48
Speaker
So you might see me if you're watching the video version, I'm going to be kind of looking back and forth at the screen here.
00:01:54
Speaker
Got some notes on it.
00:01:55
Speaker
But if you have not read it already, Time Magazine came out with this article.
00:02:02
Speaker
It's titled How Solar Sales Bros Threaten the Green Energy Transition.
00:02:07
Speaker
And it came out on November 23rd of 2023.
00:02:12
Speaker
Okay, so maybe you're listening to this way after then, but I think there's still some
00:02:18
Speaker
Interesting points for whenever you're listening to this.
00:02:21
Speaker
And a lot of people are freaking out if you're a member of any Facebook groups, any solar groups, which I definitely encourage.
00:02:29
Speaker
It's cool getting in on all the conversation there.
00:02:33
Speaker
A lot of people are freaking out and just saying that this article destroys the solar industry.
00:02:39
Speaker
And it does say some pretty harsh things about us.
00:02:42
Speaker
But a lot of it is true, unfortunately.
00:02:46
Speaker
So what I did, I broke down just kind of four main points that I had as I was reading this.
00:02:54
Speaker
Go read it if you haven't already.
00:02:56
Speaker
It's probably about a 10 minute read.
00:02:58
Speaker
But the author of it, her name's Alana Samuels, Samuels, something like that, Alina Samuels.
00:03:08
Speaker
however you pronounce it.
00:03:09
Speaker
She obviously did her research.
00:03:12
Speaker
She is a little bit biased.
00:03:14
Speaker
There's some things that I think she missed the mark on.
00:03:18
Speaker
A lot of things she did get right.
00:03:21
Speaker
But this article, it's obviously...
00:03:24
Speaker
you know, written with a little negative bias on it.
00:03:27
Speaker
It's just like anyone that's looking not to go solar, they're going to find reasons to not go solar.
00:03:33
Speaker
But anyone looking to go solar, they're going to find the reasons to go solar.
00:03:37
Speaker
Right.
00:03:37
Speaker
And Alana, in this case, she's looking for negative things about the solar industry.
00:03:44
Speaker
And yeah, she's going to find quite a few.
00:03:47
Speaker
But she is not she's not commenting at all on the flip side.
00:03:51
Speaker
It's obviously a very negative thing.
00:03:53
Speaker
Um, she doesn't really talk about anything positive that has come from solar, unfortunately.
00:03:58
Speaker
So just keep that in mind.
00:04:00
Speaker
And, um, I know some people have sent her an email might be a good thing to do.
00:04:05
Speaker
Um, you can see a wide range of reactions if you want to check out any of the Facebook groups.
00:04:10
Speaker
Okay.
00:04:10
Speaker
But I'm going to give you my reactions and I divided it just in the four little thoughts I had and would love to hear your thoughts as well.
00:04:18
Speaker
You can hit me up on social media.
00:04:21
Speaker
Okay, but here's my first takeaway from it.
Building Trust with Social Proof
00:04:24
Speaker
Number one, especially with articles, with press, with things like this coming out, I think it's more important than ever to have social proof.
00:04:35
Speaker
And I talk about this a lot in the podcast.
00:04:38
Speaker
And if you follow me on social media, you see it.
00:04:40
Speaker
But things like videos, video testimonials, videos,
00:04:46
Speaker
references, nameless, lists of your references divided, divided up like that.
00:04:53
Speaker
And the reason is because as we get more publicity like this, the trust unfortunately goes down, especially for door to door folks like ourselves, like myself, maybe you're not door to door folk, but however you're prospecting.
00:05:08
Speaker
Articles like this do make it tougher because people hear these things and the trust goes down.
00:05:14
Speaker
So that's my first takeaway is more than ever, you need to be collecting this social proof.
00:05:22
Speaker
Nameless testimonials, videos, you've written testimonials.
00:05:27
Speaker
I prefer the videos.
00:05:28
Speaker
Just keep all this and use it in your presentations.
00:05:32
Speaker
because it just is getting harder and harder for people to trust guys coming up to their door or gals coming to their door.
00:05:40
Speaker
So that's number one.
Maintaining Credibility in Solar Sales
00:05:41
Speaker
Number two, we all need to be careful about stretching the truth.
00:05:45
Speaker
And so I'm going to skip to a section.
00:05:49
Speaker
I think this was probably like
00:05:52
Speaker
paragraph known.
00:05:54
Speaker
So this part says the untruths salesman.
00:05:59
Speaker
I'm scrolling through it and there's like a bunch of ads that keep skipping my place here.
00:06:03
Speaker
It says the untruths salesman and they're mostly manpedal are often very similar.
00:06:07
Speaker
They say you can get free solar panels from the government.
00:06:11
Speaker
You can't.
00:06:12
Speaker
There are tax credits available.
00:06:13
Speaker
I'm quoting it right.
00:06:15
Speaker
Tax credits available, but they only take off about one third of the price.
00:06:18
Speaker
They say you can eliminate your energy bills and become independent from the power company.
00:06:23
Speaker
They say panels will be hooked up in a matter of weeks and they work and the sales reps work for the local utility and that they are not even actually selling anything, but are instead that they're not selling anything, but instead energy consultants whose job is to look at customer utility bills and see if solar is a good fit for their home.
00:06:44
Speaker
Okay, so let's break that down a little bit.
00:06:48
Speaker
So she just mentions four
00:06:52
Speaker
kind of stretches that people say.
00:06:55
Speaker
And I think probably if, if we haven't said this ourselves, we've all heard people who have made these statements.
00:07:04
Speaker
It's the first one you can get free solar panels from the government.
00:07:07
Speaker
Hey, I used to say this all the time.
00:07:11
Speaker
So this is something that we need to eliminate from our vocabulary.
00:07:15
Speaker
Solar is never free.
00:07:18
Speaker
So she, I think she hit the nail on the head right there.
00:07:20
Speaker
We need to watch it when we're saying free.
00:07:23
Speaker
And I've noticed over the years, I think that used to work more in the beginning out here in California where I'm at.
00:07:29
Speaker
But over the years, I see free almost like triggering people that they listen less because they start to think of it's free.
00:07:38
Speaker
It's a scam.
00:07:39
Speaker
Nothing's free.
00:07:40
Speaker
Right.
00:07:41
Speaker
So how about changing that with like no out of pocket costs?
00:07:47
Speaker
You don't pay anything to put them up there.
00:07:49
Speaker
Just eliminating the word free.
00:07:51
Speaker
Hey, cause we never, yeah, it's not free, right?
00:07:54
Speaker
Whether we're selling it, whether we're doing loans, leases, PPAs, it's not free.
00:07:59
Speaker
Hey, and then the second one, she says they, they say you can eliminate your energy bills and become independent from the power company.
00:08:07
Speaker
And so this one, I think, um, you know, it kind of depends on the market right here.
00:08:12
Speaker
So I think for the author, Alina, um,
00:08:16
Speaker
because she goes on to say it's unlikely without a solar battery.
00:08:19
Speaker
It's like every utility is a little bit different.
00:08:22
Speaker
So I think this kind of depends on the utility, right?
00:08:26
Speaker
So it's a good reminder for us, research the net metering laws, whatever utility you're in, like what are you actually going to eliminate when people go solar and make sure you're making accurate statements about this.
00:08:40
Speaker
So I think she left a little bit out when it comes to that.
00:08:44
Speaker
It's going to kind of depend on the market.
00:08:46
Speaker
The third one, she says, they say the panels will be hooked up in a matter of weeks.
00:08:50
Speaker
Okay, and here again, I think Elena, like, in some cases, they can be hooked up in a matter of weeks.
00:08:58
Speaker
I've had installs as quick as 10 days before.
00:09:03
Speaker
So yeah, you shouldn't say they're gonna be installed and turned on and everything, because that's probably very unlikely.
00:09:13
Speaker
But Elena, she leaves out a little bit of details on this.
00:09:18
Speaker
And then she says that they work for the local utility.
00:09:23
Speaker
I've never heard of solar guys working for the utility.
00:09:26
Speaker
So that's another thing I've heard guys say, no, we work in conjunction with the utility.
00:09:31
Speaker
Just be careful.
00:09:32
Speaker
Like I've noticed, yeah, you can say words that aren't lying, but like the closer you're saying, if you're saying we're working in conjunction with the local utility, you just need to be careful, especially with older folks, because a lot of times they aren't listening and they perceive that you are actually working for the utility.
00:09:52
Speaker
And then when they found out you're not, guess what?
00:09:54
Speaker
They feel like you lied to them.
00:09:56
Speaker
because that's what they perceive.
00:09:57
Speaker
Even though he didn't come say, hey, I work with your utility, right?
00:10:01
Speaker
So hopefully none of us are saying we work for the local utility, but that is a good point.
00:10:06
Speaker
We need to be careful about, you know, being perceived as that.
00:10:11
Speaker
And then the last one she mentions is that we're not actually selling anything, but are instead energy consultants whose job is to look at customers' utility bills to see if solar is a good fit for their home.
00:10:22
Speaker
So yeah, this is one.
00:10:25
Speaker
Like, yeah, it's kind of a gray area.
00:10:27
Speaker
I get I get what she's, you know, concerned about here.
00:10:31
Speaker
But for me, like our job at the door, we shouldn't be selling solar at all.
00:10:36
Speaker
And so, yeah, should they know that we are there, that that is our job?
00:10:40
Speaker
We are, you know, solar salespeople.
00:10:43
Speaker
Hopefully they understand that.
00:10:44
Speaker
But at the same time, I think this is a bit of a gray area because, you
00:10:49
Speaker
I'm not selling anything at a door.
00:10:50
Speaker
Yeah, I'm selling an appointment to help them learn more about solar.
00:10:55
Speaker
But they should never think that we are there to sell them solar at the door.
00:10:59
Speaker
It's going to create pressure.
00:11:01
Speaker
Right.
00:11:02
Speaker
So, yeah, I understand Elena here, but I think there is more to the story than what she's brought up.
00:11:07
Speaker
And this is where, you know, that negative bias comes in.
Ethical Sales Practices
00:11:13
Speaker
All right, so that's takeaway number two.
00:11:15
Speaker
Just be careful about stretching the truth.
00:11:17
Speaker
All right, and number three, she talks about how people, like at all costs, are trying to get the cell.
00:11:30
Speaker
See if I can remember where she put that.
00:11:34
Speaker
Okay, so this is the next section down.
00:11:39
Speaker
But she says the gurus online don't talk much about the benefits of renewable energy.
00:11:44
Speaker
Instead, they highlight how much money salespeople can make.
00:11:47
Speaker
They also advertise a flat frat like atmosphere where a community of peers will cheer you on and fist bump you as they sell solar.
00:11:54
Speaker
Okay.
00:11:56
Speaker
Well, yeah, guess what?
00:11:58
Speaker
That's that atmosphere is what hypes people up.
00:12:01
Speaker
You got to have some excitement, right?
00:12:04
Speaker
But yeah, I think here we need to care about the benefits people are getting by going solar.
00:12:11
Speaker
It's not all about the money.
00:12:13
Speaker
right?
00:12:13
Speaker
And unfortunately, there are people that they care more about their paycheck than actually helping someone.
00:12:19
Speaker
And I feel it's a little bit different for me out here in Southern California.
00:12:23
Speaker
We have the highest rates in the country.
00:12:25
Speaker
And so out here, there are very few people that won't save money by going solar and that won't greatly benefit.
00:12:34
Speaker
But I understand, especially in other markets I've been in, recently I did a blitz to Idaho and
00:12:42
Speaker
I've sold systems in Utah.
00:12:44
Speaker
I've been out in Texas a little bit.
00:12:45
Speaker
And out there, you get these homes where there's a lot more trees than California.
00:12:52
Speaker
Um, and the rates are way lower.
00:12:55
Speaker
There's people, they're mostly all loans out there.
00:12:58
Speaker
I think they're starting to be more leases, PPAs.
00:13:02
Speaker
Um, but for a long time, there were only loans.
00:13:05
Speaker
So that prevents a few more issues compared to California, right?
00:13:09
Speaker
Some people are not going to get these tax credits.
00:13:12
Speaker
Um,
00:13:12
Speaker
Some people have way too much shading.
00:13:15
Speaker
They're bigger systems.
00:13:16
Speaker
So sometimes you need to stack panels on north facing roof.
00:13:20
Speaker
So I think we just need to be trained and train our people that sometimes we should walk away from a cell and
00:13:27
Speaker
If you got grandma Betty there, she's 85 years old.
00:13:32
Speaker
She's not going to get a tax credit and her average bill is only $80 in Texas.
00:13:38
Speaker
And yeah, maybe that's someone you should walk away from, right?
00:13:42
Speaker
That'd be a stretch even in California, but Texas, probably not.
00:13:46
Speaker
You're probably not going to sell that person, right?
00:13:49
Speaker
So care more about the person you
00:13:52
Speaker
than your paycheck, right?
00:13:54
Speaker
Know when to walk away from a cell.
00:13:56
Speaker
Okay.
00:13:57
Speaker
And last but not least, the final just takeaway that I got, there's probably a lot more takeaways we could go through, but just to not keep this going all day is I think we should all be listening to our team and listening to ourselves.
00:14:12
Speaker
That's why I'm a big fan of recording myself at the door in presentations and
00:14:17
Speaker
And having others on my team do so as well and coach them.
00:14:21
Speaker
Because I know I've been guilty of saying things that I didn't think was misrepresenting.
00:14:28
Speaker
I thought I was being completely upfront.
00:14:30
Speaker
But then I've shown recordings.
00:14:32
Speaker
I've had other people listen through.
00:14:33
Speaker
And they're like, you probably should be careful saying this.
00:14:37
Speaker
That's not exactly true.
00:14:38
Speaker
Hey, a lot of times we're saying things that's in our head.
00:14:41
Speaker
It's 100% the truth.
00:14:43
Speaker
We're not stretching anything.
00:14:45
Speaker
But I think it benefits everyone when we all hold each other accountable to having ethics as much as possible.
00:14:54
Speaker
So these are just a few of the takeaways I had from this article.
00:14:58
Speaker
I don't think it's going to destroy the solar industry, but it should be a good reminder for us that we need to be as ethical as possible.
00:15:05
Speaker
We need to hold ourselves to a high standard in this industry.
00:15:09
Speaker
Last thing we want is just extreme regulations coming.
00:15:12
Speaker
It probably is coming.
00:15:13
Speaker
Hey, but we don't want to accelerate this.
00:15:16
Speaker
We want to keep as much honor as possible in solar.
00:15:19
Speaker
We're going to be as ethical as possible.
00:15:22
Speaker
And we want to help others do the same.
00:15:24
Speaker
If I know if if we do that, I know we're all going to make more money.
00:15:27
Speaker
We're all going to be perceived much better as an industry as a whole.
00:15:32
Speaker
And it's going to be a lot easier to knock doors and not have people freak out, make our lives a lot harder.
00:15:38
Speaker
Okay, so let me know your thoughts.
00:15:40
Speaker
Let me know your takeaways.
00:15:42
Speaker
And next episode, you're not going to want to miss out on.
00:15:45
Speaker
We've got one of the OGs, one of the greats of the door knocking industry, Jeff Mendes, Poppy Mendes, himself coming on.
00:15:54
Speaker
Incredible episode that we shot last week over the Thanksgiving holiday.
00:15:59
Speaker
So make sure you tune into that.
00:16:00
Speaker
He's going to tell his secrets, how he grew Vivint to be a massive organization that eventually sold for
00:16:07
Speaker
tons of money as we know and he's just gonna share like his secrets to success keep killing it go out and get some sales today and we'll see you on the next one peace out
00:16:19
Speaker
Hey, solopreneurs, quick question.
00:16:21
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.
00:16:31
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.
00:16:43
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.
00:16:54
Speaker
And it's called Solcite.
00:16:56
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?
00:17:11
Speaker
Less than $3.45 a day.
00:17:15
Speaker
Currently, Soul Society is open, launched, and ready to be enrolled.
00:17:21
Speaker
So go to soulciety.co to learn more and join the learning experience now.
00:17:29
Speaker
This is exclusively for solopreneur listeners, so be sure to go to soulciety.co and join.
00:17:36
Speaker
We'll see you on the inside.