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117. Do You Know How to Successfully Knock Doors In the Dark??
39 Plays5 years ago
Is it a taboo to knock in the dark?? I mean, as solarpreneurs trying to scale our success while selling it's pretty crucial that we aren't scaring away our potential leads and even hot leads. It makes the whole matter worse though when you scare people away before they even meet you. The reason your managers tell you that selling at night isn't smart is simply because they don't know how to do it the right way.
I of course always recommend my students and team wear these light up lanyard keychains to make sure they're setting the right first-impression when they knock on doors and, even when the sale seems hopeless, help others make investments in themselves.
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Transcript
Introduction to the Solarpreneur Podcast
00:00:03
Speaker
Welcome to the Solarpreneur Podcast where we teach you to take your solar business to the next level.
00:00:08
Speaker
My name is Taylor Armstrong.
00:00:10
Speaker
I went from $50 in my bank account and struggling for groceries to closing 150 deals in a year and cracking the code on why sales reps fell.
Learning from Mistakes: Expert Secrets in Solar Sales
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.
00:00:43
Speaker
What's up, solarpreneurs?
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Speaker
Taylor Armstrong
Seasonal Challenges: Fall and Winter in Solar Sales
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Speaker
here.
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Speaker
How are you?
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Speaker
Back with another episode here to help you close more deals, generate more leads, get more referrals, and hopefully make your life a lot easier as a solar sales rep, solar business owner, or whoever you may be involved in the solar industry.
00:01:05
Speaker
So today we are in the fall season, winter season, I should say.
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I'm in San Diego, so really it's basically the same weather all the time here.
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It is getting a little chilly.
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But with that being said, a lot of people use the fall winter weather as a time to dial back down, not work as much, give up easier than usual, not close as many deals.
00:01:30
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I hear it all the time from newer reps, especially it's darker earlier.
00:01:37
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People are busy with the holidays and
00:01:40
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Really, you could come up with all sorts of excuses, especially right now we're in the middle of COVID pandemic.
00:01:47
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So we've been dealing with this for an entire year, basically, of excuses we can tell ourselves.
00:01:53
Speaker
But now I know a lot of people are dealing with new obstacles during this winter season.
00:01:59
Speaker
That's what we're going to talk about today.
Overcoming Objections: Changing Mindsets about Darkness
00:02:01
Speaker
Something that's especially now we just hit daylight savings time, which here in California where I'm at, it is dark.
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It's five o'clock.
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It's dark outside.
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And it's not late, but it's dark.
00:02:19
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What we're going to talk about today is how can you continue to dominate even when it's darker earlier, even when it's winter.
00:02:26
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For those of you that are in different markets, maybe it's snowing outside.
00:02:32
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And that I won't be able to speak as much about.
00:02:35
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I've never knocked in the snow personally.
00:02:38
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I should go and do that.
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I'll fly out to Utah where I'm from, go knock a little bit.
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But I do enjoy the weather, so if you want to not knock where it's freezing, then hit me up.
00:02:48
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We'll hook you up with an opportunity out here in California.
00:02:53
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But it does get dark extremely early, so today we're going to talk about that.
00:02:57
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How do you continue to knock?
00:02:59
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How do you generate leads?
00:03:01
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How do you continue working even when it gets darker earlier, even when you can come up with plenty of excuses?
00:03:09
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So I've got a few tips, things that have helped me.
00:03:11
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And then obviously I always love to hear from our listeners.
00:03:15
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What are you guys doing to dominate in the dark?
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So here's the tips.
00:03:21
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The first thing is you have to realize that it's not actually late when it's dark.
00:03:28
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You hear, like I said, it's dark at five o'clock, but is it late?
00:03:31
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No.
00:03:32
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Five o'clock, that's not late.
00:03:35
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I don't think anyone's going to bed that early.
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So you've got to realize that that's a thought you tell yourself.
00:03:42
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Grant Cardone says any objections that you think you hear, any objections you hear, they were your objection first.
00:03:51
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So if you have this thing in your head going, it's too late to knock, it's too late to be outside talking to people, it's too late to be working, guess what?
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That's your objection.
00:04:03
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That's not the customer's objection.
00:04:05
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That's something that you're telling yourself and it's coming across in your work ethic and what you're doing.
00:04:11
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So realize that it's not actually late.
00:04:14
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It's just dark.
00:04:17
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Okay, and you can go listen to other podcasts, anyone that has been knocking doors for any amount of time.
00:04:23
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You heard these alarm guys, pest control guys, pretty much from any different industry.
00:04:28
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Go listen to the Door-to-Door podcast over Sam Taggart's podcast.
00:04:34
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He interviews people all the time.
00:04:36
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I was just listening to one of his episodes.
00:04:38
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He interviewed a girl, actually.
00:04:41
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that I think manages for an alarm company.
00:04:45
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She told stories about how she is knocking literally until midnight a lot of nights.
00:04:51
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She's out working, out hustling super, super late.
00:04:56
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And I mean, it's a lady, so obviously ladies are generally more cautious later it gets, right?
00:05:06
Speaker
So if a girl can go out there and knock until midnight,
00:05:10
Speaker
then I think anyone should be able to do it, right?
00:05:14
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We're telling ourselves excuses if we're not willing to get out there and hustle.
00:05:19
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So get it out of your head.
00:05:20
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Get that excuse out of there.
00:05:22
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Go listen to those other podcasts if you want to hear people that are knocking until literally midnight.
00:05:28
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If they're doing it, then it can be done.
00:05:30
Speaker
Okay, and then the second tip is...
Tactics for Evening Sales: Visibility and Approach
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Look for clues.
00:05:36
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You can use this to your advantage.
00:05:39
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When it's late, you can see what lights are turned on.
00:05:44
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It's a lot easier to tell who's home and who's not home.
00:05:48
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So in a way, it's actually easier.
00:05:50
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In a way, you should be talking to more people.
00:05:51
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And I get it.
00:05:53
Speaker
Some people are going to answer the doors less.
00:05:55
Speaker
Some people don't want to open the door when it's dark.
00:05:58
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But generally, you're going to talk to probably just as many people when it's dark because that's
00:06:04
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reason because of the clues you're able to identify.
00:06:08
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Look for garage doors that are open.
00:06:10
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Look for lights that are on.
00:06:13
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And granted, all the people from the alarm industries, other industries, if they're knocking until midnight, they're not knocking every door.
00:06:21
Speaker
So I'm not saying go knock till midnight and knock every single door.
00:06:24
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You got to be strategic about it.
00:06:26
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That's what they're looking for.
00:06:27
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They're looking for clues.
00:06:28
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They're looking for people who are home.
00:06:31
Speaker
And at the end of the day, even if you absolutely refuse to knock in the dark or go out and work, guess what?
00:06:38
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You still got a huge opportunity.
00:06:40
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Go out and hustle all day, generate leads, and schedule all your appointments for when it is dark.
00:06:46
Speaker
Then you won't have to be cold calling, knocking on doors in the dark.
00:06:52
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Just schedule your appointments for after dark, and that solves the issue right there.
00:06:57
Speaker
But inevitably, appointments are going to fall through.
00:07:00
Speaker
There's going to be times where you don't have anything scheduled for those evening hours.
00:07:06
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You need to be willing to get out there and hustle.
00:07:09
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Go and take someone out if you need to.
00:07:11
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Go train someone.
00:07:12
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Knock with another rep.
00:07:15
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But don't be afraid to get out there.
00:07:16
Speaker
Okay, and the other tip I have is use names to your advantage.
00:07:21
Speaker
Okay.
00:07:23
Speaker
In previous episodes, I've talked about how we train all of our reps to use a name list.
00:07:29
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So keeping track of who you've talked to in the neighborhood, who you've already scheduled appointments with.
00:07:35
Speaker
And this becomes, I think, even more important when you are knocking in the evening hours.
00:07:41
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So if they know you just finished with Joe across the street,
00:07:45
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and you're just coming swinging by here the last stop of the night, then they're way more likely to listen to you.
00:07:51
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And use that in your evening pitch too.
00:07:54
Speaker
Bring it up before they do.
00:07:56
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If you've been in sales, you know that we need to bring up objections before the customer does.
00:08:02
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So it's no different when you're out there.
00:08:04
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If it's dark, bring it up before the customer can.
00:08:06
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Hey, Mr. Jones, I know it's dark outside.
00:08:09
Speaker
It gets dark super early now, right?
00:08:11
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But yeah, you guys are actually the last person I needed to let know what's going on out here.
00:08:15
Speaker
You're right after James across the street.
00:08:19
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You bring it up before they do.
00:08:20
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They can't use that as an excuse.
00:08:21
Speaker
They can't get mad that you're knocking in the dark.
00:08:25
Speaker
So a couple tips for you.
00:08:26
Speaker
Hope these things helped.
00:08:29
Speaker
Really just get out of your head that you can't work.
00:08:31
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Be willing to follow up.
00:08:33
Speaker
Be willing to schedule go backs.
00:08:36
Speaker
Like I said, these are all things that I know it's ideal.
00:08:40
Speaker
You want to be in appointments.
00:08:41
Speaker
You want to be going to scheduled visits when it is dark.
00:08:45
Speaker
But I challenge you, get out there this week, especially if you haven't done it before.
00:08:49
Speaker
Go out, hustle in the dark, put your sweatshirt on, and just do it.
00:08:57
Speaker
And I always feel good after I knock in the dark because, yeah, it is spooky to get out there sometimes.
00:09:05
Speaker
Halloween and all that.
00:09:06
Speaker
I know it's past Halloween now, but it does get spooky out there.
00:09:11
Speaker
But that's my last tip is get a little light out there.
00:09:15
Speaker
We have these.
00:09:16
Speaker
I'll post a link to it.
00:09:18
Speaker
But you can get on Amazon these flashing lanyards.
00:09:23
Speaker
And what they do is they just, the whole lanyard, it has these little lights in it and they're flashing and it's cool.
00:09:30
Speaker
You feel cool out there knocking with them.
00:09:33
Speaker
And it's also a great conversation starter.
00:09:35
Speaker
So we'll post a link to that.
00:09:37
Speaker
But if you're afraid of the dark like me, go out and get a flashing lanyard.
00:09:41
Speaker
It's going to help you see and it's going to help you be seen.
00:09:45
Speaker
And that's going to be something cool to talk about.
00:09:48
Speaker
I also like to use the little mini Segways.
00:09:50
Speaker
They have a light on them.
00:09:51
Speaker
So those are pretty cool.
00:09:52
Speaker
If you're not trying those, go get yourself a little mini Segway.
00:09:57
Speaker
They help you jet super fast door to door.
00:09:59
Speaker
And then you'll also be seen.
00:10:02
Speaker
So it's just a few tips.
00:10:04
Speaker
Don't use that as an excuse.
00:10:05
Speaker
Get out there.
00:10:06
Speaker
Knock on some night doors today.
00:10:08
Speaker
Don't be afraid of it.
00:10:10
Speaker
And most of all, keep dominating.
00:10:12
Speaker
So we'll see you on the next episode.
00:10:14
Speaker
Let me know what you thought of this.
00:10:15
Speaker
Let me know what other tips you have.
Community and Resources for Solarpreneurs
00:10:17
Speaker
As always, we invite everyone to join the Solarpreneur Facebook group.
00:10:21
Speaker
And there we want to talk more discussion.
00:10:24
Speaker
about each topic of the show and connect with our listeners.
00:10:29
Speaker
So I hope you enjoyed the episode and we will see you on the next one.
00:10:33
Speaker
Thanks so much for tuning into today's episode.
00:10:36
Speaker
I know when I got into the industry, I had almost no resources like this.
00:10:40
Speaker
So I hope this show is helping you get the success you deserve.
00:10:44
Speaker
If you found value from anything in this episode today, think about someone who can benefit so you and I can help people fulfill their potential.
00:10:52
Speaker
Zig Ziglar said if you help enough people get what they want, you will get what you want.
00:10:57
Speaker
So I promise by sharing this it will help you grow and improve.
00:11:01
Speaker
The value bombs on today's show will take you one step closer to success, but it's always to the degree that you apply and execute the principles.
00:11:09
Speaker
I've spent the last few years interviewing the top solar experts and helping other reps and businesses discover their potential.
00:11:16
Speaker
If you want more help achieving your goals, then I put together an exclusive video training on three hacks that help me close multiple deals a week while knocking less than 10 hours.
00:11:26
Speaker
And who doesn't want that?
00:11:28
Speaker
So go check it out at webclass.solarpreneurs.com.
00:11:31
Speaker
Once again, that's webclass.solarpreneurs.com to get exclusive access to the training and take your skills to the next level.