Transcript
Speaker: Welcome to the Solarpreneur Podcast, where we teach you to take your solar business to the next level.
Speaker: My name is Taylor Armstrong.
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.
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.
Speaker: What is a solopreneur, you might ask?
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.
Speaker: Okay, so I am stoked for today's podcast because we've got someone that has been in the industry forever.
Speaker: She is training tons of teams, helping out just solar companies, solar teams all over the country.
Speaker: So we've got Michelle Spina on.
Speaker: So thanks for coming on with us today, Michelle.
Speaker: Yeah, Taylor, excited to be here with a solar podcast legend.
Speaker: Have heard your podcast for a long time, so excited to be here.
Speaker: Yeah, appreciate it.
Speaker: So yeah, Jcast connected us and Michelle, right now she is the sales education manager at SolarEdge.
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?
Speaker: 2011 was when I started, yep.
Speaker: Okay.
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.
Speaker: So I'm excited to hear that story, how you got into it.
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.
Speaker: So, uh, excited to jump into it.
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 w as a thing.
Speaker: So let's do that.
Speaker: It's pretty funny.
Speaker: Actually.
Speaker: I was selling, um, luxury items before solar.
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.
Speaker: And, you know, I just, I wanted to get into something that was helping homeowners, helping customers.
Speaker: At that time, I mean, you're totally right.
Speaker: It was, it was really solar was seen as something for the rich people to put on their roofs.
Speaker: You know, it was a cash only situation in a lot.
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
Speaker: for sure, got into it and thought no one's really going solar.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: I mean, it was, you know, 2011, but started out as a canvas supervisor.
Speaker: So had a team of people going door to door.
Speaker: I drove around what I called the, the Ruby, the snack wagon with a bunch of snacks.
Speaker: And my, my canvassing team went out door to door and
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.
Speaker: So it was, you know, just purely educating homeowners on what solar really was at that point.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Okay.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: And that's crazy.
Speaker: And so you were, at what point did they roll out like solar financing and everything?
Speaker: Was that pretty soon after or how did that work?
Speaker: Yeah, it was.
Speaker: So PPA, you know, power purchase agreements, we used the Sunrun financing model.
Speaker: We actually got acquired by Sunrun in 2015, I think, 2015.
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.
Speaker: Okay, gotcha.
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.
Speaker: I'm sure way different now, because obviously, especially in California, solar has been around for a long time now.
Speaker: People know that it works.
Speaker: You know, they see their neighbors getting it.
Speaker: So obviously, much more educated market and everything.
Speaker: But a lot of our listeners, Michelle, they're in markets where it's probably like you kind of got started.
Speaker: Maybe they're selling the first people on the street that even has solar.
Speaker: So what do you think the difference was back then?
Speaker: How would you say you like sold different back then versus now where it's, you know, more educated people or like newer markets?
Speaker: Do you have any advice on that?
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.
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.
Speaker: And it's definitely not a California, just a California thing anymore.
Speaker: I think the just the environment in general is more open to solar than it was in the past.
Speaker: And so more welcoming to solar companies, to solar initiatives.
Speaker: And so homeowners are much more educated.
Speaker: I think even in these markets that are new markets,
Speaker: It's much more about control, predictability.
Speaker: Unfortunately, natural disasters are happening more and more often.
Speaker: And so it's so much less about, hey, I'm going to save you money on your utility bill.
Speaker: And it's more of a robust conversation with, we want to build a smart energy home for you.
Speaker: And we want to give you control and predictability of your utility, as well as peace of mind.
Speaker: That's why even in some of these markets that are just opening, I mean, I think about
Speaker: Texas expanding so much, you know, Illinois batteries are coming into these markets, which we didn't think they would.
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.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Okay.
Speaker: So yeah, do you have any, I don't know, strategies you guys use back then?
Speaker: Was it just like, you know, pounding on those points or with people had those concerns?
Speaker: What would you guys do back in the day to be like, hey, let's, you know, just do it.
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?
Speaker: Yeah, I mean, I think that it's really getting to know what the motivations of that homeowner is.
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.
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
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
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.
Speaker: You know, it's like we're giving them a compliment.
Speaker: Hey, you have a great roof for solar.
Speaker: So it's a kind of a good icebreaker.
Speaker: Um, with these homeowners.
Speaker: A hundred percent.
Speaker: Yeah.
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.
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.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: You guys get like a hundred percent sun exposure back there.
Speaker: I think it really creates interaction helps out a ton.
Speaker: For sure.
Speaker: So great.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Great point with that.
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.
Speaker: Um,
Speaker: And a lot of alarm guys were starting to transition from alarms to solar and just kind of playing the techniques.
Speaker: What have you noticed?
Speaker: I don't know.
Speaker: How would you say the training has kind of evolved?
Speaker: Like, did you even have really training back then in 2011 when you got started?
Speaker: Or was it kind of just like, yeah, just get out there and tell people about it?
Speaker: Or what type of trainings you have back then?
Speaker: Zero training.
Speaker: I'll tell you that much.
Speaker: Yep.
Speaker: It was like, here's those modules.
Speaker: They go on the roof, they collect sunlight, and they change things with the utility.
Speaker: So I agree.
Speaker: I mean, there's so much training out there.
Speaker: Along with training, there's so much more competition out there than there was before.
Speaker: So the really well-educated
Speaker: Sales reps are the ones that are really winning in the home, I think.
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.
Speaker: It's really a network and a community alongside these more formalized trainings.
Speaker: So I love to see that.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah, no, it's crazy the level now because I'm sure it was the same for you when I got started.
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.
Speaker: It's like, so it goes off where today you got door-to-door con, you got all these events.
Speaker: We got solar con coming up.
Speaker: Now you do, you guys have, you know, YouTube channel, a lot of trainings too.
Speaker: So it's really cool to see the level of training that, you know, we have available to us now.
Speaker: I agree.
Speaker: We're all working towards the same thing.
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.
Speaker: Um, I think people are working together more, which is good to see.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: And so I want to ask you, Michelle, how come, so you transitioned from like selling yourself.
Speaker: Now you're in a training role.
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?
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: I mean, I will say that selling solar is a lucrative business.
Speaker: I loved to help customers and homeowners go solar.
Speaker: I think transitioning into the training field has really helped me to see the holistic market and not just one region.
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.
Speaker: I even had a couple today that reach out, Hey, I'm in the home.
Speaker: I want to talk to you about
Speaker: how I can sell the value of SolarEdge to this homeowner.
Speaker: And so I'm able to see such a wide spans of this community of solar reps.
Speaker: And I think to your point, six years, 11 years in the industry, it's a long time.
Speaker: And so I think that it's kind of our responsibility to continue sharing our experience with
Speaker: because there's so many new people coming in.
Speaker: And so if we have that experience, if we've seen the evolution of solar, we should share it.
Speaker: And so that's why I moved over to training.
Speaker: Okay, gotcha.
Speaker: And so you're a SolarEdge.
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?
Speaker: Yeah, so the really good news is SolarEdge brought me in specifically because they didn't want just
Speaker: nerd talk on technical stuff.
Speaker: It is very clear and I know that the sales reps don't go in and sell an inverter, right?
Speaker: They're going in and selling a solution.
Speaker: They're going in and selling the system and what benefits it brings.
Speaker: They're not going in and selling
Speaker: Hey, Mr. Homeowner, this is an inverter on the wall, right?
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.
Speaker: And so my whole focus is really helping to understand in simple terms, not technical engineering terms,
Speaker: what our product does.
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.
Speaker: So that's kind of why I'm here.
Speaker: Nice, I love that.
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.
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.
Speaker: You don't have to know anything about the panels.
Speaker: Just tell them they're black.
Speaker: And it was like very basic stuff.
Speaker: And I think that's how it is, especially these guys that come from different industries, alarms, whatever.
Speaker: They just come in and they just sell it.
Speaker: So it's good.
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.
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.
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?
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.
Speaker: So I'm not super, super technical on stuff.
Speaker: But to your point earlier, homeowners are more educated than they were before.
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.
Speaker: And so
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.
Speaker: And to your point about all of the training that's available online, homeowners are researching that too.
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.
Speaker: Yeah, it's funny.
Speaker: I'm in a lot of like solar Facebook groups, you know, on Facebook and all that.
Speaker: And I always thought it was just like solar reps in there asking questions and everything.
Speaker: But I'm seeing more and more.
Speaker: There's actual like homeowners in there asking questions about.
Speaker: I know like, like, holy cow, these guys are in there.
Speaker: We're like talking about commissions, how much we're going to make on a deal and all that.
Speaker: Well, yeah.
Speaker: I mean, I've seen it too, but a lot of homeowners lately too are also becoming sales reps.
Speaker: I mean, how many, how many homeowners do you know that went solar and now they're selling solar because of that?
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.
Speaker: Yeah, for sure.
Speaker: And yeah, if not sales reps, I mean, a lot of them are becoming kind of like ambassador type.
Speaker: I don't know, you know, just giving referrals and stuff like that.
Speaker: So yeah, no, I think it's super important.
Speaker: So yeah, kind of transitioning.
Speaker: I want to talk too about, so you sold diamonds before you got into solar, right?
Speaker: Diamonds, first high-end meat, second.
Speaker: Yeah, so luxury items.
Speaker: Luxury.
Speaker: Is meat considered a luxury item or is that...
Speaker: Well, if, you know, if the steak is $300, I'd consider it luxury.
Speaker: You know, I don't think you really need that, but so, yeah, I would say it's a very high end meat.
Speaker: Okay.
Speaker: I don't know.
Speaker: Me could get that crazy.
Speaker: Is this like coming from golden cows or something?
Speaker: How do they sell for that much?
Speaker: Yeah, I know.
Speaker: I mean, it's all the value of, you know, of what people perceive.
Speaker: So, yeah.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: True.
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.
Speaker: I know you were really good with like the question base selling.
Speaker: So can you talk a little bit about that, how that helped you?
Speaker: I don't know, maybe in solar and selling these high ticket, these high value items.
Speaker: And how did you use that in solar and also using question base for selling solar and talk about that?
Speaker: Yeah.
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.
Speaker: And sometimes we disqualify or apologize for the price of things when we don't need to.
Speaker: And I think that that happens in solar, too.
Speaker: So I'm
Speaker: I mean, I think solar batteries is a big one.
Speaker: I think it's mindset a lot of times where we're saying ourselves as sales reps, batteries are too expensive.
Speaker: And the homeowner is not the one telling us that.
Speaker: So using question-based selling, asking questions of the homeowner of when was the last blackout you had?
Speaker: How how did your family deal with that?
Speaker: What is your emergency plan?
Speaker: What was most uncomfortable to you about that blackout?
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
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.
Speaker: And I need a priority for me is backup power.
Speaker: That homeowner has sold themselves on a battery at that point.
Speaker: And you as the sales expert that they trust, it's your opportunity now to
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.
Speaker: You know, so we I think a lot of times we apologize internally about some sort of price or.
Speaker: I mean, Taylor, how many times did you go to a homeowner, especially in these new markets?
Speaker: We're seeing that savings isn't the biggest thing.
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.
Speaker: We're not seeing that, you know, homeowners have other buying motivations.
Speaker: And so we just need to get out of our own head and stop kind of apologizing for price.
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.
Speaker: They didn't need that.
Speaker: You know, so we're we're actually helping homeowners, you know, control their energy, have more predictable energy.
Speaker: Um, and so we're adding so much more value that way with this product.
Speaker: Yeah, no, a hundred percent.
Speaker: I love that.
Speaker: Like, cause it's happens to me still all the time where I'm the, Oh, they can't like afford a battery.
Speaker: Like really anyone can afford solar, but yeah, you don't know their situation.
Speaker: You don't know what they want.
Speaker: So I think it's a great point you make asking them the questions, figuring out what really is important to them.
Speaker: And then, uh, for me, I just like to look for proof of all the other things they bought.
Speaker: Like, oh, they bought this car.
Speaker: They bought this, you know, 75-inch TV.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: Like, they can for sure buy a solar.
Speaker: I mean, we're going to save them money every month.
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.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: So, yeah, I think that is something that reps do all the time, including myself, you know, disqualifying them and all that.
Speaker: But yeah, that's huge.
Speaker: And so do you sell, do you help people selling a lot of bad?
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?
Speaker: Yeah, so I mean, with SolarEdge, we have this ecosystem now where you can sell PV with a battery and EV charger.
Speaker: So we have all these other smart energy devices that are kind of a part of the ecosystem.
Speaker: So my focus lately has been,
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?
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,
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.
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.
Speaker: And have them, if they need to, pare down to what they're comfortable with today.
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.
Speaker: So I think that's really what we focus on is
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.
Speaker: And so if we bring in a recommended solution that they deserve today based on what they told us,
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.
Speaker: So then at that point, we pare down.
Speaker: So it's really about that.
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.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Okay.
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.
Speaker: Oh, we're going to get an EV soon.
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.
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.
Speaker: Is that kind of how you do it?
Speaker: Well, I think that's where question-based selling comes in.
Speaker: You know, if that homeowner says something like, wow, that was more than I anticipated.
Speaker: Then you go back to questioning.
Speaker: Well, you know, you told me that blackouts was a big deal.
Speaker: This is how much that battery is going to cost you as a part of this contract.
Speaker: Do you see that as being top priority to you today?
Speaker: Or is that something that you might want to look into in six months?
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.
Speaker: Um, and you know, the EV charger is, is the easiest upsell.
Speaker: Um, it's a strategy we've been using to differentiate in the house.
Speaker: So if you're coming up against a competitive bid in the house, that's just a PV.
Speaker: Um, and you're able to say, well, our, our PV system actually includes an EV charger.
Speaker: Um, you know, to the sale, you're now differentiating yourself as, as a smart energy expert, not just a PV consultant.
Speaker: Yeah, I think that's super powerful, especially when you're dealing with people that are shoppers and all that.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Then it's not even, you're not comparing the same product anymore.
Speaker: It's like, you know, you're getting, you know, EV, you're getting battery.
Speaker: So I love that.
Speaker: And another thing I see too, and especially newer reps, Michelle, is they start getting more and more educated on solar.
Speaker: It's like, you'll get this rep that's super excited.
Speaker: He knows very little about solar and he's just like, just, just do it.
Speaker: You're going to save money.
Speaker: And a lot of these reps, they'll do super good just because they have the excitement and all that.
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.
Speaker: Um, like customers, they have all this knowledge now they'll give the customer so much information that starts causing like overwhelm.
Speaker: I'm sure you've seen it too.
Speaker: Absolutely.
Speaker: And so do you have any tips with that?
Speaker: I know you know a ton about your products and just everything.
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?
Speaker: Yeah, gosh, that's a, such a good point.
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.
Speaker: They just, they glaze over, they don't know what's going on.
Speaker: And I think that part of it is I like to use analogies with homeowners, things that they can relate to.
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.
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.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: So that's kind of like what your solar battery would do.
Speaker: If you have the air conditioner on that battery, it's going to drain that battery.
Speaker: If you have the lighter loads like a light, the lights in the house, that's going to be a lighter load.
Speaker: It's going to help you keep that battery life.
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.
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.
Speaker: And think about something that you for sure don't understand as a consumer.
Speaker: Like what is something that you would go and buy that you wouldn't understand the beginning of it?
Speaker: To me, I was thinking about it this morning, it's golf clubs.
Speaker: If I went into a golf store, like I can tell you right now, I have no idea why you need more than
Speaker: two golf clubs.
Speaker: Like, why are you carrying those around?
Speaker: I don't know.
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.
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?
Speaker: And they have the best judgment on it.
Speaker: And so
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.
Speaker: So we don't have to over explain.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: No, that's a great point.
Speaker: Just because as you know, I mean, a confused mind always says no, right?
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.
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.
Speaker: And then I just see them gloss them over and they're like, okay, yeah, Taylor, send me an email.
Speaker: We're going to do some research.
Speaker: So it's like, if it sounds confusing, then.
Speaker: they're going to think in their head, oh, I got to do some research.
Speaker: I need to understand this better.
Speaker: Have you ever been in the middle of having that explanation and you already know you've gone too far?
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah, you can see it in their face a lot of times.
Speaker: But sometimes it's too late.
Speaker: I don't know, you can try and go back and simplify it, but get to the point of that.
Speaker: Yeah, well, great tips.
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.
Speaker: And then here just kind of what you guys are doing specifically with the training.
Speaker: and, uh, you know, how reps can get more training on that if they want to.
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?
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: So my whole focus here is sales sales training.
Speaker: We, we built a new program called the solar edge sales elite.
Speaker: Um, we have a lot of events, live events, um, contests, giveaways, selling tools,
Speaker: we've been able to provide to sales reps.
Speaker: If you're part of sales elite, there's a newsletter that comes out with all of this information.
Speaker: You can sign up if you go to solaredge.com.
Speaker: You'll see a sales elite page on there.
Speaker: And I think that's number one, that's the best place for sales reps to get all they need.
Speaker: We also have an edge, edge academy, which is
Speaker: a self-paced online learning portal that's that has sales focused content in it too.
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.
Speaker: And then as you mentioned, YouTube channel,
Speaker: We have some sales videos on there now.
Speaker: We have a sales playlist called Edgeonomics 101.
Speaker: And sales reps have been using those for homeowners too, because as I mentioned, I'm an analogy person.
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.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Okay.
Speaker: What is, for those who don't know, what is the NABSEV?
Speaker: Is that like the...
Speaker: In order for it to stay relevant.
Speaker: And so our training is a part of those continuous learning credits.
Speaker: Okay, gotcha.
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?
Speaker: Yeah, so I do a lot of virtual training.
Speaker: So I had seven back to back yesterday, if you can imagine with a bunch of sales reps.
Speaker: But also, yes, in person, I love to get out in person.
Speaker: I was just in Utah, was in Texas before that.
Speaker: And my goal is to get out more in person so that we can
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.
Speaker: It's really my goal.
Speaker: Yeah, that's awesome.
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.
Speaker: Anything that you see that like resonates a ton on trainings that maybe people don't know or that really helps them?
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.
Speaker: So we have kind of a hybrid solution, you know, with the inverter on the wall, the optimizers on the roof.
Speaker: And that solution is allowing us to harvest more energy from the roof in one central source.
Speaker: which equates to about three additional days of production on an annual basis for homeowners just because our technology is more efficient.
Speaker: And so we are adding production to homeowners homes just because of the technology.
Speaker: So I think if we're selling PV, that's a really good selling point for homeowners.
Speaker: Um, you know, we were able to build larger systems, uh, with solar edge because of our flexibility.
Speaker: Um, we're not, uh, we're able to avoid a lot of main panel upgrades.
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.
Speaker: And I think a lot of reps do that.
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.
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.
Speaker: That's like the easiest cell.
Speaker: I mean, everybody's going EV right now.
Speaker: And, um, to have that level two charger it's compatible with all electric vehicles.
Speaker: Um, it's an easy sell for a PV system.
Speaker: Plus it allows you as a sales rep to sell more solar.
Speaker: Do you know how much solar generally you need to charge a car?
Speaker: I don't.
Speaker: I don't.
Speaker: Educate me.
Speaker: Three to four KW.
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.
Speaker: We're going to add three KW to your system plus the EV charger.
Speaker: So yeah, it's a pretty good, pretty good, pretty good deal.
Speaker: Okay.
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.
Speaker: So those questions you would ask people too.
Speaker: And as you're doing kind of fact finding, Hey, how much do you plan to charge it?
Speaker: Things like that.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: So three, three KW is generally, um, a good rule of thumb to start with.
Speaker: And that's really based on average, um, drive ability.
Speaker: So like 13 to 15,000 miles a year.
Speaker: um, would need to be charged, um, with about a three KW system as we get.
Speaker: And that's, that's, that's the general range of electric sedans.
Speaker: So if we're thinking about a Tesla or leaf or anything like that, so those are the kinds of sedans.
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.
Speaker: Okay.
Speaker: See that that's like knowledge that, I mean, that's game changer.
Speaker: Cause my training was like, Oh, if they want EVs, just throw a couple extra panels on the roof.
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.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: It sounds like we should do a whole other episode on, uh, on how to do the math behind an EV.
Speaker: Yeah, that's good.
Speaker: That's good to know.
Speaker: I didn't know that.
Speaker: So learning something.
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.
Speaker: So I know you're talking about some of the advantages using SolarEdge.
Speaker: Do you know with most of these companies, if they do have different options, comparisons,
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?
Speaker: Or is that just something that a rep would have to know that, oh, this is going to be better for the customer?
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.
Speaker: Um, and, and I do recommend side by side.
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.
Speaker: So if you have that opportunity, um, I've always had a situation where I was able to pull multiple proposals.
Speaker: And I think most people can, if they just click one or the other, they can see two different options.
Speaker: Okay, that's good to know.
Speaker: Because yeah, I didn't know if some of these would like actually show you the difference with them.
Speaker: But yeah, that is good.
Speaker: Okay, well, no, awesome.
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.
Speaker: Yeah, specifically if they want to hear them.
Speaker: You know, more trainings and more specific stuff.
Speaker: So as we wrap up here.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: How can people get in touch with you, Michelle, on if they want, you know, training for their team or something?
Speaker: How, what's the best way to do that?
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: So first and foremost, getting onto SolarEdge Sales Elite, which is just a quick sign up from SolarEdge.com.
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.
Speaker: Always want to help reps.
Speaker: So best way to do that is for you to contact me directly.
Speaker: And I'm more than welcome to do that.
Speaker: We also do have a distribution list for sales elite.
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.
Speaker: Okay, perfect was usual we put we'll put that all in the show notes here of the podcast.
Speaker: And are you on a like social media anything people can follow you or anything you're not doing.
Speaker: You know, I gotta say I my social media game is not great.
Speaker: So I would
Speaker: Get onto the YouTube channel, see Edgenomics 101.
Speaker: I'm on LinkedIn and would love to connect with anybody on LinkedIn, direct message, all of that.
Speaker: I just, I'm not good at social media.
Speaker: So yeah, LinkedIn though, get on it.
Speaker: I'd love to see people on there.
Speaker: Okay, let's do it.
Speaker: And then last question, Michelle, you've been doing this forever.
Speaker: So I'm sure you've seen a lot of reps fail, succeed, a lot of things you've learned in your training.
Speaker: So as you've been through all these years, you're one of the longest standing people in solar, I would say.
Speaker: So what would you say is the biggest difference?
Speaker: Maybe a rep that's struggling right now, things aren't clicking.
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.
Speaker: Any tips?
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Well, and it's a really good point.
Speaker: And I think you can say the same thing being in for six years.
Speaker: There are times when we think,
Speaker: man, is solar going to make it?
Speaker: Or is it, you know, is this worth it?
Speaker: Because, you know, change is,
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.
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
Speaker: You're getting more EV chargers in, you know, parking lots in your area.
Speaker: These are really good things to tell homeowners that excites them.
Speaker: You know, it's like this is expanding, this is growing.
Speaker: And so I think just staying on top of the industry, being open to change and being excited about change.
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.
Speaker: But and then also connecting, you know, we talked in the beginning about this is now a network.
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.
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.
Speaker: I think everyone's open to sharing that knowledge.
Speaker: There's no shame in taking best practices and using them as your own.
Speaker: Let's do it.
Speaker: So I think that's probably the thing I would say.
Speaker: Okay, love that.
Speaker: Was there, I mean, you've been in this 11 years.
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?
Speaker: Like, dang, I don't know if solar is right for me.
Speaker: So, I mean, definitely tough moments.
Speaker: I think sometimes the change management is hard to overcome.
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?
Speaker: You know, and so we're always battling the utility infrastructure.
Speaker: And so that sometimes can be
Speaker: uh, a challenge, but I think there was never a time that I wanted to quit.
Speaker: I don't think, cause I, I love seeing what's coming next.
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?
Speaker: Or is this not going to be okay in a lot of States and it's all worked out for the best.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: So I think that we're always going to be on top.
Speaker: This is a great industry to be in.
Speaker: It's only growing.
Speaker: So I think, you know, I remember when I first started first year when the company hit 100 sales.
Speaker: And I was like, damn, that's a lot of sales.
Speaker: And now, you know, there's teams, just sales teams that are hitting 100 sales a month.
Speaker: You know, so it's like, yeah, it's just growing exponentially.
Speaker: For sure.
Speaker: Well, Michelle, we appreciate you.
Speaker: Thanks for all the value you add.
Speaker: Thanks for all the training you give with SolarEdge.
Speaker: And guys, definitely go hit her up for more trainings.
Speaker: Go follow them on YouTube.
Speaker: Shoot her an email.
Speaker: Let her know you appreciated her coming on the show today.
Speaker: So Michelle, thanks for coming on.
Speaker: And yeah, maybe we'll have to do a follow-up episode, get more into the math and technical stuff.
Speaker: But for now, we'll hit you up.
Speaker: Thanks for having me, Taylor.
Speaker: I really appreciate it.
Speaker: Awesome.
Speaker: We'll talk soon.
Speaker: Thanks.
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