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How to Have an "Edge" in Your Solar Sales - Michelle Spina SolarEdge
63 Plays4 years ago
SOLARCON April 21st - 23rd, 2022
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Thanks to our sponsor Pi Syndicate for this episode!
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Transcript
Introduction and Taylor's 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.
What is a Solopreneur?
00:00:31
Speaker
What is a solopreneur, you might ask?
00:00:33
Speaker
A solopreneur is a new breed of solopro that is willing to do whatever it takes to achieve mastery, and you are about to become one.
00:00:41
Speaker
Okay, so I am stoked for today's podcast because we've got someone that has been in the industry forever.
00:00:47
Speaker
She is training tons of teams, helping out just solar companies, solar teams all over the country.
Meet Michelle Spina
00:00:54
Speaker
So we've got Michelle Spina on.
00:00:57
Speaker
So thanks for coming on with us today, Michelle.
00:01:00
Speaker
Yeah, Taylor, excited to be here with a solar podcast legend.
00:01:04
Speaker
Have heard your podcast for a long time, so excited to be here.
00:01:08
Speaker
Yeah, appreciate it.
00:01:09
Speaker
So yeah, Jcast connected us and Michelle, right now she is the sales education manager at SolarEdge.
Michelle's Transition to Solar
00:01:18
Speaker
But what more intrigues me is we're just talking before the recording, you've been in solar since what, 2012, is that right?
00:01:23
Speaker
2011 was when I started, yep.
00:01:29
Speaker
Okay.
00:01:30
Speaker
So yeah, we're just joking that we're like the dinosaurs of the solar industry because 2011, man, I didn't even know that people were doing solar really back then.
00:01:40
Speaker
So I'm excited to hear that story, how you got into it.
00:01:44
Speaker
And then of course, we'll talk about just what your role is today, helping people in the sales education and just sharing the knowledge about SolarEdge.
00:01:52
Speaker
So, uh, excited to jump into it.
00:01:54
Speaker
So I guess first things first, you want to tell us how you got into the solar back in 2011 when I didn't even know that was a thing.
00:02:01
Speaker
So let's do that.
00:02:02
Speaker
It's pretty funny.
00:02:03
Speaker
Actually.
00:02:04
Speaker
I was selling, um, luxury items before solar.
00:02:08
Speaker
So I was selling, if you can imagine high-end meat products, uh, grass fed beef, um, and I was selling that to restaurants, um, in San Luis Obispo County.
00:02:19
Speaker
And, you know, I just, I wanted to get into something that was helping homeowners, helping customers.
00:02:27
Speaker
At that time, I mean, you're totally right.
00:02:29
Speaker
It was, it was really solar was seen as something for the rich people to put on their roofs.
00:02:34
Speaker
You know, it was a cash only situation in a lot.
00:02:37
Speaker
a lot of cases and my next door neighbor happened to work for REC Solar in San Luis Obispo and it was an installer and they were a cash only business and they were selling Sunrun financing eventually but
00:02:54
Speaker
for sure, got into it and thought no one's really going solar.
00:02:57
Speaker
Yeah.
00:02:58
Speaker
Right.
00:02:59
Speaker
I mean, it was, you know, 2011, but started out as a canvas supervisor.
00:03:05
Speaker
So had a team of people going door to door.
00:03:07
Speaker
I drove around what I called the, the Ruby, the snack wagon with a bunch of snacks.
00:03:12
Speaker
And my, my canvassing team went out door to door and
00:03:15
Speaker
It was, you know, a lot of people that that were just doomsday preppers thinking, you know, oh, solar is for for when, you know, the doomsday hits and I can actually have power when the power is out.
00:03:26
Speaker
So it was, you know, just purely educating homeowners on what solar really was at that point.
00:03:34
Speaker
Yeah.
00:03:34
Speaker
Okay.
00:03:35
Speaker
Yeah.
00:03:36
Speaker
And that's crazy.
00:03:36
Speaker
And so you were, at what point did they roll out like solar financing and everything?
00:03:40
Speaker
Was that pretty soon after or how did
Evolution of Solar Sales Training
00:03:43
Speaker
that work?
00:03:43
Speaker
Yeah, it was.
00:03:43
Speaker
So PPA, you know, power purchase agreements, we used the Sunrun financing model.
00:03:50
Speaker
We actually got acquired by Sunrun in 2015, I think, 2015.
00:03:57
Speaker
And so I ended up working over there, eventually got into the training side of things and became a training manager over there, worked my way up.
00:04:08
Speaker
Okay, gotcha.
00:04:09
Speaker
Well, yeah, what I'm really curious about is, well, I mean, back then, I'm sure you were getting a lot of like, oh, I don't even know if solar works or oh, like no, none of my neighbors have done this.
00:04:21
Speaker
I'm sure way different now, because obviously, especially in California, solar has been around for a long time now.
00:04:27
Speaker
People know that it works.
00:04:29
Speaker
You know, they see their neighbors getting it.
00:04:31
Speaker
So obviously, much more educated market and everything.
00:04:34
Speaker
But a lot of our listeners, Michelle, they're in markets where it's probably like you kind of got started.
00:04:39
Speaker
Maybe they're selling the first people on the street that even has solar.
00:04:43
Speaker
So what do you think the difference was back then?
00:04:46
Speaker
How would you say you like sold different back then versus now where it's, you know, more educated people or like newer
Then vs. Now: Solar Market Challenges
00:04:53
Speaker
markets?
00:04:53
Speaker
Do you have any advice on that?
00:04:55
Speaker
Jennifer L. yeah that's a really good question, and I agree, I have the opportunity to work with sales reps all around the country now.
00:05:01
Speaker
Jennifer L. When I was on the the second side of things I did to we helped to open a lot of these new markets.
00:05:07
Speaker
And it's definitely not a California, just a California thing anymore.
00:05:13
Speaker
I think the just the environment in general is more open to solar than it was in the past.
00:05:20
Speaker
And so more welcoming to solar companies, to solar initiatives.
00:05:25
Speaker
And so homeowners are much more educated.
00:05:27
Speaker
I think even in these markets that are new markets,
00:05:32
Speaker
It's much more about control, predictability.
00:05:37
Speaker
Unfortunately, natural disasters are happening more and more often.
00:05:40
Speaker
And so it's so much less about, hey, I'm going to save you money on your utility bill.
00:05:44
Speaker
And it's more of a robust conversation with, we want to build a smart energy home for you.
00:05:50
Speaker
And we want to give you control and predictability of your utility, as well as peace of mind.
00:05:56
Speaker
That's why even in some of these markets that are just opening, I mean, I think about
00:06:01
Speaker
Texas expanding so much, you know, Illinois batteries are coming into these markets, which we didn't think they would.
00:06:08
Speaker
And, and so, yeah, it's, it's much more control predictability, peace of mind, then, then, hey, we can save you some money on your utility bill.
00:06:17
Speaker
Yeah.
00:06:18
Speaker
Okay.
00:06:19
Speaker
So yeah, do you have any, I don't know, strategies you guys use back then?
00:06:22
Speaker
Was it just like, you know, pounding on those points or with people had those concerns?
00:06:27
Speaker
What would you guys do back in the day to be like, hey, let's, you know, just do it.
00:06:31
Speaker
You're gonna have the peace of mind any like strategies you would advise people right now they're dealing with those same things that you dealt with back then?
00:06:39
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, I think that it's really getting to know what the motivations of that homeowner is.
00:06:44
Speaker
You know, we can't always just assume that they will want to just save on the utility bill or they want to help the environment or they're concerned about blackouts.
00:06:54
Speaker
We want to be able to ask questions on what their, for number one, their understanding of solar is first in these new markets, but then also if they've had any experience with friends and family members that have had solar before or
00:07:09
Speaker
um what their motivations are so some questions around that um what their current energy usage is what they expected to get to you know and so i think that that especially if you're going door to door um is super helpful but also you know if you're in a neighborhood that has solar in it you can always refer to that person or that area where hey so and so got solar in your area and you have a great roof for solar too
00:07:35
Speaker
It was interesting back then when we were canvassing and even still now that homeowners actually like to hear that they have a good roof for solar.
The Importance of Product Knowledge
00:07:44
Speaker
You know, it's like we're giving them a compliment.
00:07:47
Speaker
Hey, you have a great roof for solar.
00:07:49
Speaker
So it's a kind of a good icebreaker.
00:07:52
Speaker
Um, with these homeowners.
00:07:53
Speaker
A hundred percent.
00:07:54
Speaker
Yeah.
00:07:55
Speaker
And, uh, yeah, a lot of trainings now is, you know, there's different apps and things like that where you can show the homeowners, like how the sun's actually hitting their roof.
00:08:03
Speaker
So, um, that's something I've talked about in the podcast, just pulling up on the phone and being like, Hey, you see how the sun's hitting your roof.
00:08:10
Speaker
Yeah.
00:08:10
Speaker
You guys get like a hundred percent sun exposure back there.
00:08:13
Speaker
I think it really creates interaction helps out a ton.
00:08:16
Speaker
For sure.
00:08:17
Speaker
So great.
00:08:18
Speaker
Yeah.
00:08:18
Speaker
Great point with that.
00:08:19
Speaker
And so something that's changed a lot too, is I'm sure you can agree, Michelle is just the level of training compared to, I mean, I've started in 2016 and there was almost no like training besides just the training I got in my company.
00:08:33
Speaker
Um,
00:08:34
Speaker
And a lot of alarm guys were starting to transition from alarms to solar and just kind of playing the techniques.
00:08:40
Speaker
What have you noticed?
00:08:41
Speaker
I don't know.
00:08:42
Speaker
How would you say the training has kind of evolved?
00:08:45
Speaker
Like, did you even have really training back then in 2011 when you got started?
00:08:48
Speaker
Or was it kind of just like, yeah, just get out there and tell people about it?
00:08:51
Speaker
Or what type of trainings you have back then?
00:08:54
Speaker
Zero training.
00:08:55
Speaker
I'll tell you that much.
00:08:55
Speaker
Yep.
From Sales to Training
00:08:56
Speaker
It was like, here's those modules.
00:08:58
Speaker
They go on the roof, they collect sunlight, and they change things with the utility.
00:09:03
Speaker
So I agree.
00:09:04
Speaker
I mean, there's so much training out there.
00:09:07
Speaker
Along with training, there's so much more competition out there than there was before.
00:09:11
Speaker
So the really well-educated
00:09:13
Speaker
Sales reps are the ones that are really winning in the home, I think.
00:09:17
Speaker
And their manufacturers like SolarEdge are providing a lot of training, but then there's these people that are very successful in the solar industry that are giving their time, like you, to educate these newer sales reps that are getting into the business, which is just so great to see.
00:09:36
Speaker
It's really a network and a community alongside these more formalized trainings.
00:09:42
Speaker
So I love to see that.
00:09:44
Speaker
Yeah.
00:09:45
Speaker
Yeah, no, it's crazy the level now because I'm sure it was the same for you when I got started.
00:09:50
Speaker
I mean, I would try to go to other people that I heard were really good at other companies and they're like, no, we're not going to talk to you.
00:09:56
Speaker
It's like, so it goes off where today you got door-to-door con, you got all these events.
00:10:00
Speaker
We got solar con coming up.
00:10:02
Speaker
Now you do, you guys have, you know, YouTube channel, a lot of trainings too.
00:10:07
Speaker
So it's really cool to see the level of training that, you know, we have available to us now.
00:10:12
Speaker
I agree.
00:10:12
Speaker
We're all working towards the same thing.
00:10:15
Speaker
And I think people have realized like, Hey, let's all work together to grow this industry as opposed to, you know, Oh, I don't want to give you my secret sauce.
00:10:23
Speaker
Um, I think people are working together more, which is good to see.
00:10:25
Speaker
Yeah.
00:10:26
Speaker
And so I want to ask you, Michelle, how come, so you transitioned from like selling yourself.
00:10:31
Speaker
Now you're in a training role.
00:10:33
Speaker
What was that transition like, and why did you decide to kind of make the transition into like what you're doing now instead of just going out and selling solar still?
00:10:41
Speaker
Yeah.
00:10:42
Speaker
I mean, I will say that selling solar is a lucrative business.
00:10:45
Speaker
I loved to help customers and homeowners go solar.
00:10:49
Speaker
I think transitioning into the training field has really helped me to see the holistic market and not just one region.
00:10:56
Speaker
So I get to see the whole country and being able to help sales reps even now, even from the manufacturing side, you know, I'm on the solar edge side, but I help sales reps every day.
00:11:07
Speaker
I even had a couple today that reach out, Hey, I'm in the home.
00:11:10
Speaker
I want to talk to you about
00:11:12
Speaker
how I can sell the value of SolarEdge to this homeowner.
00:11:15
Speaker
And so I'm able to see such a wide spans of this community of solar reps.
00:11:23
Speaker
And I think to your point, six years, 11 years in the industry, it's a long time.
00:11:29
Speaker
And so I think that it's kind of our responsibility to continue sharing our experience with
00:11:37
Speaker
because there's so many new people coming in.
00:11:39
Speaker
And so if we have that experience, if we've seen the evolution of solar, we should share it.
00:11:46
Speaker
And so that's why I moved over to training.
00:11:48
Speaker
Okay, gotcha.
00:11:49
Speaker
And so you're a SolarEdge.
00:11:51
Speaker
So it sounds like it's more kind of like the technical training or you still do like cells type training too, or is it more on technical side and educating people about SolarEdge specifically?
00:12:00
Speaker
Yeah, so the really good news is SolarEdge brought me in specifically because they didn't want just
00:12:07
Speaker
nerd talk on technical stuff.
00:12:10
Speaker
It is very clear and I know that the sales reps don't go in and sell an inverter, right?
00:12:14
Speaker
They're going in and selling a solution.
00:12:17
Speaker
They're going in and selling the system and what benefits it brings.
00:12:21
Speaker
They're not going in and selling
00:12:22
Speaker
Hey, Mr. Homeowner, this is an inverter on the wall, right?
00:12:24
Speaker
So my whole purpose at SolarEdge is to help sales reps to understand the value of SolarEdge so that they can incorporate that into the whole solution.
00:12:35
Speaker
And so my whole focus is really helping to understand in simple terms, not technical engineering terms,
00:12:43
Speaker
what our product does.
00:12:44
Speaker
And, you know, with this whole ecosystem of products we're coming out with, so we have batteries, we have EV chargers, it's a different conversation with homeowners than just PV only.
00:12:54
Speaker
So that's kind of why I'm here.
00:12:56
Speaker
Nice, I love that.
00:12:57
Speaker
Yeah, that's something I've learned from JKS2, our connection that we had, is just the importance of at least knowing basic stuff about the products.
00:13:07
Speaker
Because let me tell you, when I first got in the industry, it was like, oh, you just tell them that they're not going to have to pay an electric bill.
00:13:13
Speaker
You don't have to know anything about the panels.
00:13:15
Speaker
Just tell them they're black.
00:13:16
Speaker
And it was like very basic stuff.
00:13:19
Speaker
And I think that's how it is, especially these guys that come from different industries, alarms, whatever.
00:13:25
Speaker
They just come in and they just sell it.
Continuous Learning in Solar
00:13:27
Speaker
So it's good.
00:13:27
Speaker
I mean, a lot of guys can get a lot of sales, but I think what's really separating, especially when you get customers that do want a little more product knowledge or they want to feel more secure in their decision, I think they're going to go with the people that can explain more about the products too and give them that kind of extra comfort.
00:13:46
Speaker
So yeah, but why would you say it is important to know, like, like say I'm selling a storage inverter and all that.
00:13:51
Speaker
Why would you say it's important to know like product knowledge and, and things like that that you are training on versus just rep that's only into sales training only?
00:14:00
Speaker
Yeah, so I mean, first and foremost, my goal is to simplify these these talking points and really make it digestible for homeowners as well.
00:14:09
Speaker
So I'm not super, super technical on stuff.
00:14:11
Speaker
But to your point earlier, homeowners are more educated than they were before.
00:14:16
Speaker
And so if you're the sales rep that comes in, and you don't know the information that the homeowner knows, like they're telling you, you're losing your credibility.
00:14:25
Speaker
And so
00:14:26
Speaker
I think it's important for those sales reps to have confidence in themselves to go into the home and understand the product because a lot of homeowners are educated.
00:14:36
Speaker
And to your point about all of the training that's available online, homeowners are researching that too.
00:14:41
Speaker
So, you know, when they're coming in, we have to be a more educated group of people to really win in the home and feel confident asking for the business from that homeowner.
00:14:51
Speaker
Yeah, it's funny.
00:14:52
Speaker
I'm in a lot of like solar Facebook groups, you know, on Facebook and all that.
00:14:57
Speaker
And I always thought it was just like solar reps in there asking questions and everything.
00:15:02
Speaker
But I'm seeing more and more.
00:15:03
Speaker
There's actual like homeowners in there asking questions about.
00:15:07
Speaker
I know like, like, holy cow, these guys are in there.
00:15:11
Speaker
We're like talking about commissions, how much we're going to make on a deal and all that.
00:15:15
Speaker
Well, yeah.
00:15:16
Speaker
I mean, I've seen it too, but a lot of homeowners lately too are also becoming sales reps.
00:15:22
Speaker
I mean, how many, how many homeowners do you know that went solar and now they're selling solar because of that?
00:15:28
Speaker
So I think, you know, some of it's that too, is they were, we're also recruiting people to, to become sales and solar experts.
00:15:35
Speaker
Yeah, for sure.
00:15:36
Speaker
And yeah, if not sales reps, I mean, a lot of them are becoming kind of like ambassador type.
00:15:42
Speaker
I don't know, you know, just giving referrals and stuff like that.
00:15:46
Speaker
So yeah, no, I think it's super important.
00:15:48
Speaker
So yeah, kind of transitioning.
00:15:50
Speaker
I want to talk too about, so you sold diamonds before you got into solar, right?
00:15:55
Speaker
Diamonds, first high-end meat, second.
00:15:58
Speaker
Yeah, so luxury items.
00:16:01
Speaker
Luxury.
00:16:02
Speaker
Is meat considered a luxury item or is that...
00:16:05
Speaker
Well, if, you know, if the steak is $300, I'd consider it luxury.
00:16:10
Speaker
You know, I don't think you really need that, but so, yeah, I would say it's a very high end meat.
00:16:17
Speaker
Okay.
00:16:17
Speaker
I don't know.
00:16:18
Speaker
Me could get that crazy.
00:16:19
Speaker
Is this like coming from golden cows or something?
00:16:21
Speaker
How do they sell for that much?
00:16:24
Speaker
Yeah, I know.
00:16:25
Speaker
I mean, it's all the value of, you know, of what people perceive.
00:16:28
Speaker
So, yeah.
00:16:29
Speaker
Yeah.
00:16:30
Speaker
True.
00:16:31
Speaker
So yeah, I know you had like, you know, we were talking before you had experience with that, just kind of not disqualifying customers.
00:16:38
Speaker
I know you were really good with like the question base selling.
00:16:42
Speaker
So can you talk a little bit about that, how that helped you?
00:16:44
Speaker
I don't know, maybe in solar and selling these high ticket, these high value items.
00:16:49
Speaker
And how did you use that in solar and also using question base for selling solar and talk about
Question-Based Selling
00:16:55
Speaker
that?
00:16:55
Speaker
Yeah.
00:16:56
Speaker
So I think that that what I learned from diamonds and high end meat is that if people value what they're buying or what you're selling, they will purchase it regardless of what the price is.
00:17:09
Speaker
And sometimes we disqualify or apologize for the price of things when we don't need to.
00:17:15
Speaker
And I think that that happens in solar, too.
00:17:18
Speaker
So I'm
00:17:19
Speaker
I mean, I think solar batteries is a big one.
00:17:22
Speaker
I think it's mindset a lot of times where we're saying ourselves as sales reps, batteries are too expensive.
00:17:29
Speaker
And the homeowner is not the one telling us that.
00:17:32
Speaker
So using question-based selling, asking questions of the homeowner of when was the last blackout you had?
00:17:40
Speaker
How how did your family deal with that?
00:17:43
Speaker
What is your emergency plan?
00:17:45
Speaker
What was most uncomfortable to you about that blackout?
00:17:48
Speaker
Having that conversation with the homeowner not automatically disqualifying and selling against a battery but instead seeing what those motivations are with the homeowner
00:17:58
Speaker
And having them answer their own question, you know, if they're saying, yeah, I'm scared of the blackout, we have extended blackouts here.
00:18:05
Speaker
And I need a priority for me is backup power.
00:18:10
Speaker
That homeowner has sold themselves on a battery at that point.
00:18:13
Speaker
And you as the sales expert that they trust, it's your opportunity now to
00:18:19
Speaker
offer them something they asked for, which is a battery solution, regardless of what that price is, because the value of whatever you're selling is what's important to the homeowner.
00:18:28
Speaker
You know, so we I think a lot of times we apologize internally about some sort of price or.
00:18:35
Speaker
I mean, Taylor, how many times did you go to a homeowner, especially in these new markets?
00:18:39
Speaker
We're seeing that savings isn't the biggest thing.
00:18:41
Speaker
So if sometimes when sales reps see, oh, I'm not going to be saving this homeowner that much money, therefore, this homeowner is probably not going to go solar.
00:18:50
Speaker
We're not seeing that, you know, homeowners have other buying motivations.
00:18:55
Speaker
And so we just need to get out of our own head and stop kind of apologizing for price.
00:19:01
Speaker
So I think that that's what I learned from the high end products is people were coming in and buying twenty thousand dollar diamonds on a Monday.
00:19:09
Speaker
They didn't need that.
00:19:10
Speaker
You know, so we're we're actually helping homeowners, you know, control their energy, have more predictable energy.
00:19:18
Speaker
Um, and so we're adding so much more value that way with this product.
00:19:23
Speaker
Yeah, no, a hundred percent.
00:19:24
Speaker
I love that.
00:19:25
Speaker
Like, cause it's happens to me still all the time where I'm the, Oh, they can't like afford a battery.
00:19:31
Speaker
Like really anyone can afford solar, but yeah, you don't know their situation.
00:19:35
Speaker
You don't know what they want.
00:19:37
Speaker
So I think it's a great point you make asking them the questions, figuring out what really is important to them.
00:19:42
Speaker
And then, uh, for me, I just like to look for proof of all the other things they bought.
00:19:46
Speaker
Like, oh, they bought this car.
00:19:48
Speaker
They bought this, you know, 75-inch TV.
00:19:51
Speaker
Right.
00:19:52
Speaker
Like, they can for sure buy a solar.
00:19:54
Speaker
I mean, we're going to save them money every month.
00:19:56
Speaker
Or even if it is more than what they're paying, it's like, come on, pay 20 bucks more a month for a battery if that's what they want.
00:20:03
Speaker
Right.
00:20:04
Speaker
So, yeah, I think that is something that reps do all the time, including myself, you know, disqualifying them and all that.
00:20:11
Speaker
But yeah, that's huge.
00:20:12
Speaker
And so do you sell, do you help people selling a lot
Comprehensive Solar Solutions
00:20:18
Speaker
of bad?
00:20:18
Speaker
Is that kind of a lot of what your training is geared towards now is helping people figure out the batteries and offer those to customers too?
00:20:25
Speaker
Yeah, so I mean, with SolarEdge, we have this ecosystem now where you can sell PV with a battery and EV charger.
00:20:34
Speaker
So we have all these other smart energy devices that are kind of a part of the ecosystem.
00:20:38
Speaker
So my focus lately has been,
00:20:41
Speaker
how do we get to what that homeowner's motivations are so that we can offer at the end a recommended solution that is best fit to what they told us in the needs analysis?
00:20:51
Speaker
So maybe that's battery, maybe that's battery EV charger and solar, you know, so and recommend that and control the sale there to say,
00:21:00
Speaker
Sarah Holtzman, M.D.: Mr homeowner you told me that you are going to get an electric vehicle in the next year, so you also told me you have some blackouts that you're concerned about.
00:21:07
Speaker
Sarah Holtzman, M.D.: And of course you want solar, so my recommendation today is that you have one battery one EV charger with alongside your PV system and so start out with that best solution for the homeowner.
00:21:19
Speaker
And have them, if they need to, pare down to what they're comfortable with today.
00:21:24
Speaker
So we call it kind of the good, better, best solution, where you're offering up the best solution for the homeowner and then paring it down, negotiating on what that homeowner needs today versus maybe you can come back in six months and sell them the other thing.
00:21:38
Speaker
So I think that's really what we focus on is
00:21:41
Speaker
To your point, I think we kind of say, well, this is going to be too expensive or it's not time yet, or we didn't ask the right questions, but it's all about what that customer values.
00:21:53
Speaker
And so if we bring in a recommended solution that they deserve today based on what they told us,
00:22:01
Speaker
then have them tell us that they can't, you know, they don't have the appetite or the funds to cover all of it.
00:22:08
Speaker
So then at that point, we pare down.
00:22:11
Speaker
So it's really about that.
00:22:12
Speaker
It's really controlling the sale, asking for the business, and then recommending the solution that best fits that homeowner, whether that's PV or that's PV plus a bunch of other stuff.
00:22:23
Speaker
Yeah.
00:22:24
Speaker
Okay.
00:22:25
Speaker
So you're almost like if they, if they say, oh yeah, we're having a lot of blackouts, feed and see that they would benefit from those things.
00:22:30
Speaker
Oh, we're going to get an EV soon.
00:22:34
Speaker
You'll put all those things in, but then it's like, if you see some hesitation from them or they're like, uh, this is a lot.
00:22:40
Speaker
Then at that point you would almost try and be like, okay, well let's get you just the PV and then add that stuff later.
00:22:45
Speaker
Is that kind of how you do it?
00:22:46
Speaker
Well, I think that's where question-based selling comes in.
00:22:48
Speaker
You know, if that homeowner says something like, wow, that was more than I anticipated.
00:22:52
Speaker
Then you go back to questioning.
00:22:53
Speaker
Well, you know, you told me that blackouts was a big deal.
00:22:57
Speaker
This is how much that battery is going to cost you as a part of this contract.
00:23:02
Speaker
Do you see that as being top priority to you today?
00:23:05
Speaker
Or is that something that you might want to look into in six months?
00:23:08
Speaker
And so I think that those are where those questions come back in of you pare it down based on what that customer is prioritizing.
00:23:17
Speaker
Um, and you know, the EV charger is, is the easiest upsell.
00:23:21
Speaker
Um, it's a strategy we've been using to differentiate in the house.
00:23:25
Speaker
So if you're coming up against a competitive bid in the house, that's just a PV.
00:23:30
Speaker
Um, and you're able to say, well, our, our PV system actually includes an EV charger.
00:23:36
Speaker
Um, you know, to the sale, you're now differentiating yourself as, as a smart energy expert, not just a PV consultant.
00:23:44
Speaker
Yeah, I think that's super powerful, especially when you're dealing with people that are shoppers and all that.
00:23:49
Speaker
Yeah.
00:23:49
Speaker
Then it's not even, you're not comparing the same product anymore.
00:23:52
Speaker
It's like, you know, you're getting, you know, EV, you're getting battery.
00:23:55
Speaker
So I love that.
00:23:57
Speaker
And another thing I see too, and especially newer reps, Michelle, is they start getting more and more educated on solar.
00:24:03
Speaker
It's like, you'll get this rep that's super excited.
00:24:06
Speaker
He knows very little about solar and he's just like, just, just do it.
00:24:09
Speaker
You're going to save money.
00:24:11
Speaker
And a lot of these reps, they'll do super good just because they have the excitement and all that.
00:24:15
Speaker
But then what I see is sometimes almost the more they get educated, they're still, they, they'll almost like give too much information.
00:24:23
Speaker
Um, like customers, they have all this knowledge now they'll give the customer so much information that starts causing like overwhelm.
00:24:30
Speaker
I'm sure you've seen it too.
00:24:31
Speaker
Absolutely.
00:24:32
Speaker
And so do you have any tips with that?
00:24:34
Speaker
I know you know a ton about your products and just everything.
00:24:37
Speaker
So do you have any tips on how to just like simplify it as you get, gain this new knowledge, how to like simplify it for homeowners and not have it like backfire on you by giving them too much information?
Simplifying the Technical for Customers
00:24:49
Speaker
Yeah, gosh, that's a, such a good point.
00:24:51
Speaker
I think that's probably the biggest thing is we see these reps that get so overly educated and then, um, it's like a deer in headlights with homeowners.
00:24:59
Speaker
They just, they glaze over, they don't know what's going on.
00:25:02
Speaker
And I think that part of it is I like to use analogies with homeowners, things that they can relate to.
00:25:09
Speaker
And so to that point, if we're talking about a battery solution, I like to use analogies like the cell phone battery, batteries that you work with every single day in your life.
00:25:20
Speaker
If you are streaming a video on the cell phone, then it's going to deplete your battery faster than if you're just using it for texting.
00:25:27
Speaker
Right.
00:25:27
Speaker
So that's kind of like what your solar battery would do.
00:25:30
Speaker
If you have the air conditioner on that battery, it's going to drain that battery.
00:25:34
Speaker
If you have the lighter loads like a light, the lights in the house, that's going to be a lighter load.
00:25:40
Speaker
It's going to help you keep that battery life.
00:25:42
Speaker
So I kind of like to use analogies when I can with homeowners in order to make them better understand how the solar is going to work with them.
00:25:52
Speaker
But what I like to say to sales reps is if you're you need to know the why, like if a homeowner has a question about how things work, definitely know the why, but try to do it in like one to two sentences and try to simplify it down to something that is one to two sentences.
00:26:13
Speaker
And think about something that you for sure don't understand as a consumer.
00:26:17
Speaker
Like what is something that you would go and buy that you wouldn't understand the beginning of it?
00:26:25
Speaker
To me, I was thinking about it this morning, it's golf clubs.
00:26:28
Speaker
If I went into a golf store, like I can tell you right now, I have no idea why you need more than
00:26:36
Speaker
two golf clubs.
00:26:38
Speaker
Like, why are you carrying those around?
00:26:39
Speaker
I don't know.
00:26:41
Speaker
But if I went into the golf store, and they were giving me a bunch of technical jargon and information, I might walk out.
00:26:47
Speaker
But if that sales rep could tell me why this brand, why this golf club, and why this price in a simple way, I would trust that person, that they're the expert, right?
00:26:59
Speaker
And they have the best judgment on it.
00:27:00
Speaker
And so
00:27:01
Speaker
That's what us as reps need to understand is they're looking to us for our expertise and they're trusting us in giving them the best solution.
00:27:09
Speaker
So we don't have to over explain.
00:27:11
Speaker
Yeah.
00:27:12
Speaker
No, that's a great point.
00:27:14
Speaker
Just because as you know, I mean, a confused mind always says no, right?
00:27:19
Speaker
So it's like, yes, if you can educate them without confusing them, make it simple in their head, then that's what they're going to say yes to.
00:27:25
Speaker
But, you know, I've learned it the hard way many times is where I'm, I think I'm explaining all this cool stuff.
00:27:31
Speaker
And then I just see them gloss them over and they're like, okay, yeah, Taylor, send me an email.
00:27:36
Speaker
We're going to do some research.
00:27:38
Speaker
So it's like, if it sounds confusing, then.
00:27:40
Speaker
they're going to think in their head, oh, I got to do some research.
00:27:42
Speaker
I need to understand this better.
00:27:44
Speaker
Have you ever been in the middle of having that explanation and you already know you've gone too far?
00:27:50
Speaker
Yeah.
00:27:52
Speaker
Yeah, you can see it in their face a lot of times.
00:27:55
Speaker
But sometimes it's too late.
00:27:56
Speaker
I don't know, you can try and go back and simplify it, but get to the point of that.
00:28:05
Speaker
Yeah, well, great tips.
00:28:06
Speaker
So I want to talk just as we kind of start wrapping up here, Michelle, I want to talk about like SolarEdge and just give people some info on that.
SolarEdge Training Initiatives
00:28:15
Speaker
And then here just kind of what you guys are doing specifically with the training.
00:28:19
Speaker
and, uh, you know, how reps can get more training on that if they want to.
00:28:22
Speaker
So you, you guys are starting, we're talking before the other day, you said you guys are starting like a YouTube channel or you already have one, or can you tell us a little bit right now about the training you do specifically?
00:28:33
Speaker
Yeah.
00:28:34
Speaker
So my whole focus here is sales sales training.
00:28:36
Speaker
We, we built a new program called the solar edge sales elite.
00:28:40
Speaker
Um, we have a lot of events, live events, um, contests, giveaways, selling tools,
00:28:47
Speaker
we've been able to provide to sales reps.
00:28:50
Speaker
If you're part of sales elite, there's a newsletter that comes out with all of this information.
00:28:55
Speaker
You can sign up if you go to solaredge.com.
00:28:59
Speaker
You'll see a sales elite page on there.
00:29:01
Speaker
And I think that's number one, that's the best place for sales reps to get all they need.
00:29:08
Speaker
We also have an edge, edge academy, which is
00:29:11
Speaker
a self-paced online learning portal that's that has sales focused content in it too.
00:29:18
Speaker
There is NABCEP continuous learning credits associated with it also, which I think is important for a lot of reps who are getting the NABCEP certification.
00:29:27
Speaker
And then as you mentioned, YouTube channel,
00:29:30
Speaker
We have some sales videos on there now.
00:29:32
Speaker
We have a sales playlist called Edgeonomics 101.
00:29:37
Speaker
And sales reps have been using those for homeowners too, because as I mentioned, I'm an analogy person.
00:29:43
Speaker
There's analogies in those videos that help homeowners to understand our products as well as just how solar works in general and batteries.
00:29:52
Speaker
Yeah.
00:29:52
Speaker
Okay.
00:29:53
Speaker
What is, for those who don't know, what is the NABSEV?
00:29:55
Speaker
Is that like the...
00:30:24
Speaker
In order for it to stay relevant.
00:30:26
Speaker
And so our training is a part of those continuous learning credits.
00:30:31
Speaker
Okay, gotcha.
00:30:33
Speaker
And so with what you do now, do you like travel around to different teams give trainings or what do you do kind of on like a day to day basis as the educator and all that?
00:30:42
Speaker
Yeah, so I do a lot of virtual training.
00:30:45
Speaker
So I had seven back to back yesterday, if you can imagine with a bunch of sales reps.
00:30:50
Speaker
But also, yes, in person, I love to get out in person.
00:30:54
Speaker
I was just in Utah, was in Texas before that.
00:30:57
Speaker
And my goal is to get out more in person so that we can
00:31:01
Speaker
really get that energy flowing and do some role plays, do some objection handling, but definitely, you know, virtual training as well as, as needed.
00:31:11
Speaker
It's really my goal.
00:31:14
Speaker
Yeah, that's awesome.
00:31:15
Speaker
So is there anything as you're traveling to these different teams, given virtual trainings, is there stuff that you like, I don't know, tell reps about either solar edge or maybe something where it's like a light bulb where like, oh, wow, I didn't know that about solar edge or oh, I didn't know this.
Innovations in Solar Technology
00:31:29
Speaker
Anything that you see that like resonates a ton on trainings that maybe people don't know or that really helps them?
00:31:35
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, I think that one of the big values of SolarEdge, if you're selling PV only, is that we have the highest efficiency product.
00:31:43
Speaker
So we have kind of a hybrid solution, you know, with the inverter on the wall, the optimizers on the roof.
00:31:48
Speaker
And that solution is allowing us to harvest more energy from the roof in one central source.
00:31:56
Speaker
which equates to about three additional days of production on an annual basis for homeowners just because our technology is more efficient.
00:32:04
Speaker
And so we are adding production to homeowners homes just because of the technology.
00:32:10
Speaker
So I think if we're selling PV, that's a really good selling point for homeowners.
00:32:15
Speaker
Um, you know, we were able to build larger systems, uh, with solar edge because of our flexibility.
00:32:21
Speaker
Um, we're not, uh, we're able to avoid a lot of main panel upgrades.
00:32:24
Speaker
So when I sold, um, before I sold a couple of different products and I would design side by side, uh, to see which one was the best one to go with.
00:32:34
Speaker
And I think a lot of reps do that.
00:32:36
Speaker
Um, you would see consistently that, that solar edge has larger systems and can offset the bill more with homeowners because of their flexibility and design.
00:32:45
Speaker
Um, so I would challenge teams to do that, but I think the most exciting part of solar edge right now is our ecosystem, our battery, our energy bank, which is a solar edge battery and our EV charger that I mentioned.
00:32:58
Speaker
That's like the easiest cell.
00:32:59
Speaker
I mean, everybody's going EV right now.
00:33:02
Speaker
And, um, to have that level two charger it's compatible with all electric vehicles.
00:33:08
Speaker
Um, it's an easy sell for a PV system.
00:33:11
Speaker
Plus it allows you as a sales rep to sell more solar.
00:33:16
Speaker
Do you know how much solar generally you need to charge a car?
00:33:20
Speaker
I don't.
00:33:21
Speaker
I don't.
00:33:22
Speaker
Educate me.
00:33:22
Speaker
Three to four KW.
00:33:24
Speaker
So if they're charging their car and you're selling an EV charger to them, you can actually say, we want to give you an EV ready package.
00:33:33
Speaker
We're going to add three KW to your system plus the EV charger.
00:33:37
Speaker
So yeah, it's a pretty good, pretty good, pretty good deal.
00:33:41
Speaker
Okay.
00:33:42
Speaker
So is that like standard three to four KW or I don't know, just cause obviously it depends on how much they plan to charge it.
00:33:48
Speaker
So those questions you would ask people too.
00:33:50
Speaker
And as you're doing kind of fact finding, Hey, how much do you plan to charge it?
00:33:54
Speaker
Things like that.
00:33:54
Speaker
Yeah.
00:33:55
Speaker
So three, three KW is generally, um, a good rule of thumb to start with.
00:34:00
Speaker
And that's really based on average, um, drive ability.
00:34:03
Speaker
So like 13 to 15,000 miles a year.
00:34:08
Speaker
um, would need to be charged, um, with about a three KW system as we get.
00:34:13
Speaker
And that's, that's, that's the general range of electric sedans.
00:34:17
Speaker
So if we're thinking about a Tesla or leaf or anything like that, so those are the kinds of sedans.
00:34:22
Speaker
Once we get into the, the bigger trucks, like the, the Ford lightning, it's going to take a little bit more to charge.
00:34:29
Speaker
Okay.
00:34:29
Speaker
See that that's like knowledge that, I mean, that's game changer.
00:34:32
Speaker
Cause my training was like, Oh, if they want EVs, just throw a couple extra panels on the roof.
00:34:37
Speaker
So it's like, if you don't know stuff like that, then you're getting a call on a year and saying, Hey, our system's not producing enough.
00:34:44
Speaker
Yeah.
00:34:45
Speaker
It sounds like we should do a whole other episode on, uh, on how to do the math behind an EV.
00:34:50
Speaker
Yeah, that's good.
00:34:51
Speaker
That's good to know.
00:34:52
Speaker
I didn't know that.
00:34:53
Speaker
So learning something.
00:34:55
Speaker
And then the other question I had to Michelle, if you're like, say a customer, like, you know, we have access to the different options, different inverters, all that.
00:35:04
Speaker
So I know you're talking about some of the advantages using SolarEdge.
00:35:08
Speaker
Do you know with most of these companies, if they do have different options, comparisons,
00:35:14
Speaker
In some of these proposal softwares, if they like click, oh, we're going to use SolarEdge versus Enphase, whatever, is it going to show like a difference in all of these proposal softwares?
00:35:23
Speaker
Or is that just something that a rep would have to know that, oh, this is going to be better for the customer?
00:35:27
Speaker
No, I mean, I would recommend if you're using a lot of a lot of times you're using a proposal software that allows you to pull multiple proposals based on the equipment.
00:35:35
Speaker
Um, and, and I do recommend side by side.
00:35:38
Speaker
So if you can pull one with a, with one piece of equipment and another with another piece of equipment, comparing is good because then you can go to the homeowners educated to say, I truly did build you the, the one that's most advantageous to your home.
00:35:52
Speaker
So if you have that opportunity, um, I've always had a situation where I was able to pull multiple proposals.
00:35:58
Speaker
And I think most people can, if they just click one or the other, they can see two different options.
00:36:05
Speaker
Okay, that's good to know.
00:36:06
Speaker
Because yeah, I didn't know if some of these would like actually show you the difference with them.
00:36:10
Speaker
But yeah, that is good.
00:36:13
Speaker
Okay, well, no, awesome.
00:36:15
Speaker
And yeah, I know, I know we could go on for hours about like all the SolarEdge stuff, but I'll let people contact you.
00:36:21
Speaker
Yeah, specifically if they want to hear them.
00:36:24
Speaker
You know, more trainings and more specific stuff.
00:36:27
Speaker
So as we wrap up here.
00:36:28
Speaker
Yeah.
00:36:28
Speaker
How can people get in touch with you, Michelle, on if they want, you know, training for their team or something?
00:36:34
Speaker
How, what's the best way to do that?
00:36:36
Speaker
Yeah.
00:36:36
Speaker
So first and foremost, getting onto SolarEdge Sales Elite, which is just a quick sign up from SolarEdge.com.
00:36:42
Speaker
you would get up to date on all of the sales elite information and contests and events, but you can always email me to michelle.spina at solaredge.com.
00:36:53
Speaker
Always want to help reps.
00:36:54
Speaker
So best way to do that is for you to contact me directly.
00:36:59
Speaker
And I'm more than welcome to do that.
00:37:00
Speaker
We also do have a distribution list for sales elite.
00:37:03
Speaker
So if it's easier to remember sales elite at solaredge.com, that can, you can also email that and that would be going toward me to me as well.
00:37:12
Speaker
Okay, perfect was usual we put we'll put that all in the show notes here of the podcast.
00:37:19
Speaker
And are you on a like social media anything people can follow you or anything you're not doing.
00:37:24
Speaker
You know, I gotta say I my social media game is not great.
00:37:28
Speaker
So I would
00:37:30
Speaker
Get onto the YouTube channel, see Edgenomics 101.
00:37:33
Speaker
I'm on LinkedIn and would love to connect with anybody on LinkedIn, direct message, all of that.
00:37:40
Speaker
I just, I'm not good at social media.
00:37:42
Speaker
So yeah, LinkedIn though, get on it.
00:37:44
Speaker
I'd love to see people on there.
00:37:46
Speaker
Okay, let's do it.
00:37:48
Speaker
And then last question, Michelle, you've been doing
Embrace Change and Network
00:37:50
Speaker
this forever.
00:37:50
Speaker
So I'm sure you've seen a lot of reps fail, succeed, a lot of things you've learned in your training.
00:37:56
Speaker
So as you've been through all these years, you're one of the longest standing people in solar, I would say.
00:38:02
Speaker
So what would you say is the biggest difference?
00:38:04
Speaker
Maybe a rep that's struggling right now, things aren't clicking.
00:38:06
Speaker
I don't know if you had any moments where you almost got out of solar or it was super tough for you, but any stories you can share or any advice you can give for someone that is like, dang, I can't imagine being in solar 11 years like Michelle.
00:38:21
Speaker
Any tips?
00:38:22
Speaker
Yeah.
00:38:22
Speaker
Well, and it's a really good point.
00:38:25
Speaker
And I think you can say the same thing being in for six years.
00:38:28
Speaker
There are times when we think,
00:38:30
Speaker
man, is solar going to make it?
00:38:31
Speaker
Or is it, you know, is this worth it?
00:38:34
Speaker
Because, you know, change is,
00:38:37
Speaker
consistent in solar, you know, and so this is an industry that you have to be adaptable to change, you have to be open to change, staying up to date on the most relevant, you know, utilities in your area, regulations, any type of great news, you know, in the in the news in your area is really important, too.
00:38:59
Speaker
So, you know, for example, if you're if your area is getting a incentive for batteries or any type of incentives, or if
00:39:07
Speaker
You're getting more EV chargers in, you know, parking lots in your area.
00:39:12
Speaker
These are really good things to tell homeowners that excites them.
00:39:17
Speaker
You know, it's like this is expanding, this is growing.
00:39:21
Speaker
And so I think just staying on top of the industry, being open to change and being excited about change.
00:39:29
Speaker
I think I've gotten to the point now where I'm like, I could never go to another industry because I love change.
00:39:36
Speaker
But and then also connecting, you know, we talked in the beginning about this is now a network.
00:39:42
Speaker
It's not like people are trying to close the door on us and say, we're not going to share knowledge with you.
00:39:47
Speaker
get in touch with people that you see as succeeding in the industry or follow people you see succeeding in the industry and get their best practices.
00:39:56
Speaker
I think everyone's open to sharing that knowledge.
00:40:00
Speaker
There's no shame in taking best practices and using them as your own.
00:40:05
Speaker
Let's do it.
00:40:06
Speaker
So I think that's probably the thing I would say.
00:40:09
Speaker
Okay, love that.
00:40:10
Speaker
Was there, I mean, you've been in this 11 years.
00:40:12
Speaker
Was there ever a time, I got to ask Michelle, was there ever a time where you thought about like quitting or like went through any tough moments?
00:40:18
Speaker
Like, dang, I don't know if solar is right for me.
00:40:21
Speaker
So, I mean, definitely tough moments.
00:40:23
Speaker
I think sometimes the change management is hard to overcome.
00:40:28
Speaker
There have been times in California specifically, I mean, we're in a time right now, I think, you know, with NEM 3.0 that we're like, man, is this going to be in our advantage or not?
00:40:38
Speaker
You know, and so we're always battling the utility infrastructure.
00:40:44
Speaker
And so that sometimes can be
00:40:46
Speaker
uh, a challenge, but I think there was never a time that I wanted to quit.
00:40:51
Speaker
I don't think, cause I, I love seeing what's coming next.
00:40:55
Speaker
Um, and I will say that there's an 11 years, there's been so much, uh, change and so much, um, doubt sometimes with utilities where it's like, is this going to be okay?
00:41:08
Speaker
Or is this not going to be okay in a lot of States and it's all worked out for the best.
00:41:13
Speaker
Yeah.
00:41:14
Speaker
So I think that we're always going to be on top.
00:41:16
Speaker
This is a great industry to be in.
00:41:19
Speaker
It's only growing.
00:41:21
Speaker
So I think, you know, I remember when I first started first year when the company hit 100 sales.
00:41:31
Speaker
And I was like, damn, that's a lot of sales.
00:41:34
Speaker
And now, you know, there's teams, just sales teams that are hitting 100 sales a month.
00:41:40
Speaker
You know, so it's like, yeah, it's just growing exponentially.
00:41:45
Speaker
For sure.
00:41:46
Speaker
Well, Michelle, we appreciate you.
00:41:47
Speaker
Thanks for all the value you add.
00:41:48
Speaker
Thanks for all the training you give with SolarEdge.
00:41:51
Speaker
And guys, definitely go hit her up for more trainings.
00:41:54
Speaker
Go follow them on YouTube.
00:41:56
Speaker
Shoot her an email.
00:41:58
Speaker
Let her know you appreciated her coming on the show today.
00:42:01
Speaker
So Michelle, thanks for coming on.
00:42:03
Speaker
And yeah, maybe we'll have to do a follow-up episode, get more into the math and technical stuff.
00:42:07
Speaker
But for now, we'll hit you up.
00:42:10
Speaker
Thanks for having me, Taylor.
00:42:11
Speaker
I really appreciate it.
00:42:13
Speaker
Awesome.
00:42:13
Speaker
We'll talk soon.
00:42:14
Speaker
Thanks.
00:42:16
Speaker
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00:42:27
Speaker
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00:42:40
Speaker
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00:42:50
Speaker
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00:42:52
Speaker
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00:43:12
Speaker
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00:43:17
Speaker
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00:43:25
Speaker
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00:43:33
Speaker
We'll see you on the inside.