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How to Separate Yourself from Competition Without Dropping Price - Jake Hess
60 Plays4 years ago
SOLARCON April 21st - 23rd, 2022
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DISCOUNT CODE: solarpreneur25
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Thanks to our sponsor Pi Syndicate for this episode!
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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.
00:00:19
Speaker
I teach you how to avoid the mistakes I made and bring in the top solar dogs of the industry to let you in on the secrets of generating more leads, falling up like a pro and closing more deals.
00:00:31
Speaker
What is a 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, what's going on solopreneurs?
00:00:44
Speaker
We are doing a one of a kind podcast because right now we're actually standing up in a room
00:00:50
Speaker
which I've never done a standing up podcast.
00:00:52
Speaker
So we're going to see how
Guest Introduction: Jake Hess
00:00:53
Speaker
it goes.
00:00:53
Speaker
But we're here with the one, the only Jake Hess.
00:00:58
Speaker
Sorry, Jake, thanks for coming on the show with us today.
00:01:00
Speaker
No worries.
00:01:01
Speaker
I love it.
00:01:02
Speaker
Yeah, it'll be cool.
00:01:04
Speaker
We're at door-to-door con here.
00:01:06
Speaker
We're in a room we found.
00:01:08
Speaker
There's cheerleaders outside, so we apologize if you hear any people cheering in the background.
00:01:14
Speaker
But, I mean, we got Jake Hess.
00:01:16
Speaker
How could you not cheer for this guy?
00:01:18
Speaker
And this guy's doing amazing things.
00:01:20
Speaker
Probably one of the most well-known people in the solar industry, so awesome to have you on, Jake.
00:01:25
Speaker
So do you want to kind of share how you got started in solar?
00:01:29
Speaker
You're with Solar Academy, so I guess kind of how you got into consulting and that whole background.
00:01:34
Speaker
Yeah, first I want to say thanks for having me on.
00:01:36
Speaker
This podcast has definitely been a popular one.
00:01:38
Speaker
This is strategic planning.
00:01:40
Speaker
I know I've been holding off a little bit.
00:01:42
Speaker
No, it wasn't very strategic.
00:01:44
Speaker
I've been yelled at a lot to be on it, and I'm sorry for missing it.
00:01:46
Speaker
But this is an iconic moment for me too, so thank you.
00:01:49
Speaker
Of course.
00:01:51
Speaker
Yeah, this is great.
Jake Hess: From Security to Solar Success
00:01:52
Speaker
So I started selling solar in 2013 for Vivint Solar, and it was a ride trying to figure out how to sell that.
00:02:03
Speaker
You know, coming from home security, I feel like I had to unlearn how to sell in order to learn how to sell solar.
00:02:09
Speaker
It was a weird way of thinking.
00:02:10
Speaker
Everything was different.
00:02:12
Speaker
And then from there, you know, I worked for a couple other companies and found a model that I really liked by a buddy, Rob Casale, who's going to be over at SolarCon.
00:02:22
Speaker
I liked his model and decided, hey, I can make one too.
00:02:26
Speaker
And I built a company, ended up selling that and building the Solar Academy and now working on the first year of SolarCon.
00:02:33
Speaker
Let's go.
00:02:34
Speaker
Yeah, we'll talk more about SolarCon, but that is the first, I think, first ever, like, solar conference coming up.
00:02:40
Speaker
It's in April, right?
00:02:41
Speaker
Yeah, there's other ones where it's mostly tech, like SPI and some other, you know, it's mostly tech-based and software-based, but this one is for the whole industry.
00:02:50
Speaker
We can talk about it later.
00:02:51
Speaker
Cool, cool.
00:02:52
Speaker
So, yeah, we'll jump into that.
00:02:53
Speaker
And so, yeah, like you said, you were in sales, you started your own company.
00:02:58
Speaker
So why did you decide to sell your company and get into more consulting with Solar Academy?
00:03:04
Speaker
Actually, I hadn't sold the company yet.
00:03:08
Speaker
I just decided one day that I wanted to stop with the solar sales company and
00:03:15
Speaker
take everything I had learned and give it to the industry because I had been hearing across the industry how the training could be better at some places.
00:03:25
Speaker
And I just wanted to take the knowledge that I had and try to make a difference.
00:03:29
Speaker
Okay, awesome.
00:03:30
Speaker
And so you think that's kind of, you enjoy more teaching other people and helping increase sales and having your own company, you think?
00:03:36
Speaker
You know, I used to work at Olive Garden at the time.
00:03:39
Speaker
I thought it was really hard.
00:03:40
Speaker
And then I knocked doors.
00:03:41
Speaker
And then I thought that was hard.
00:03:42
Speaker
Then owning a business was hard.
00:03:44
Speaker
I really thought consulting might be a step easier.
00:03:47
Speaker
Just like any of those things and anything that probably anyone goes through, it definitely has its challenges that you could never anticipate until you're in it.
00:03:54
Speaker
Yeah.
00:03:55
Speaker
Yeah.
00:03:56
Speaker
So it's not easier, but I do enjoy it.
00:03:58
Speaker
Okay.
00:03:59
Speaker
So what's been harder, like, now that you've done both, what do you say are the differences?
00:04:02
Speaker
Like, what's harder about consulting versus owning your own company?
00:04:06
Speaker
Well, I mean, think about it like when you're selling solar, you're selling like a tangible item that goes on their house, right?
The Importance of Technical Knowledge in Solar Sales
00:04:12
Speaker
They see the value and they have savings.
00:04:14
Speaker
When you're selling mentorship or coaching, it can get complicated because what you're, I mean, to translate it, it's going to say basically, hey, give me money for what I have in my head and I'll tell it to you.
00:04:24
Speaker
That's kind of,
00:04:26
Speaker
It's kind of a hard sell.
00:04:28
Speaker
Especially for like solar guys, we all think we're the best.
00:04:31
Speaker
We don't need to learn more.
00:04:33
Speaker
We're all the best, right?
00:04:34
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, and there are so many good things out there, so many good teachers, and everyone does have a lot of skills and talents, but there is some misinformation or some things that people need accelerated knowledge on.
00:04:47
Speaker
or knowledge that sometimes organizations don't want to share.
00:04:51
Speaker
So we just fill in the gaps with some of the smart people out there that might be focusing on other things.
00:04:57
Speaker
Gotcha.
00:04:58
Speaker
Yeah, no, and I think it's cool with trainings.
00:05:00
Speaker
I've learned a lot from you, a lot from different.
00:05:03
Speaker
We're at Door to DoorCon, a lot of different styles, a lot of different ways of training.
00:05:06
Speaker
So what are the gaps that you guys feel over at Solar Academy?
00:05:11
Speaker
What do you think is the missing stuff that you guys are specializing in?
00:05:15
Speaker
So that's a good question.
00:05:16
Speaker
So a lot of people say that we're technical based.
00:05:20
Speaker
And yes, we do teach a lot of technical stuff about solar.
00:05:25
Speaker
But this is the first time and first industry I've ever sold anything in where sales reps laugh at product knowledge when every single book and every single thing we've ever learned is that product knowledge is extremely important.
00:05:36
Speaker
Most people don't know on a solar panel what the difference between a 1225 and a 2025 is.
00:05:39
Speaker
You know what I mean?
00:05:42
Speaker
And it's like, you know, we've got to know this stuff so we know how to beat our competition.
00:05:47
Speaker
So we do get into the technical aspect of it, but that's to teach people how to sell stronger.
00:05:52
Speaker
I would say our main focus is teaching sales.
00:05:54
Speaker
Most of our reviews on Facebook and stuff is all, hey, we close jobs, we close more sales.
00:05:59
Speaker
But we do teach the product knowledge to help with that.
00:06:02
Speaker
Yeah, okay.
00:06:03
Speaker
Well, this is probably embarrassing, but I don't even know if I know what a 1225 or a 20, 2025 is.
00:06:08
Speaker
2525, sorry.
00:06:08
Speaker
Okay, so what is that for?
00:06:10
Speaker
Yeah, just, I mean, you probably do.
00:06:12
Speaker
It's just, I word it, the way it's worded sometimes, but on a solar panel, most solar companies say it has a 25-year warranty on the panel.
00:06:20
Speaker
Yeah.
00:06:21
Speaker
Oh, okay.
00:06:21
Speaker
But then there's a difference between a product warranty and a power output warranty.
00:06:25
Speaker
Right, okay.
00:06:26
Speaker
And the power output warranty doesn't actually, it's not actually kilowatt hours that they're promising on the power output.
00:06:32
Speaker
It's power, it's electricity that can run through the panel at any given time, not what it's going to produce for the house.
00:06:37
Speaker
And that's a big misunderstanding in this industry.
00:06:39
Speaker
Yeah, okay.
00:06:40
Speaker
Yeah, stuff like that.
00:06:41
Speaker
That's true.
00:06:42
Speaker
Yeah, because I think you can probably agree there's, you know, it's also with the people we're selling, they don't know these things.
00:06:48
Speaker
Like, we don't know what we're not telling them, if we're not explaining it to them, right?
00:06:51
Speaker
And we're having angry customers later down the road where we thought we were saying, oh, 25 years, you're getting everything covered, you're getting everything taken care of.
00:06:59
Speaker
It's warranty across the board when I guess at the end of the day there's a lot of separate warranties.
00:07:04
Speaker
Yeah, there are.
00:07:05
Speaker
There are a lot of separate ones.
00:07:07
Speaker
What I like to tell homeowners in the home when I present, now the only reason I present these things to a homeowner is if I'm trying to beat my competition.
00:07:15
Speaker
I'm saying, I'm making myself look like the good guy because I'm exposing things that no one else did or probably can't for that matter and explaining it in such a way where they can understand it.
00:07:28
Speaker
And essentially when I do that, not just with solar panels, but inverters, how the electrical works, you know, the processes, I tend to know those a little bit better.
00:07:37
Speaker
What I'm doing is I'm eliminating my competition because I'm no longer selling them anything.
00:07:42
Speaker
I'm helping them understand how all of this works.
00:07:44
Speaker
Yeah.
00:07:45
Speaker
I think that's fire and it's something you've taught me is kind of explaining it in a way that you're not like bashing your competitors but how do you explain it without because you know how these guys will get in there and they go, then solar sucks, oh this that like bash on companies so how do you educate people in a way that's not like
00:08:02
Speaker
Bashing them?
00:08:03
Speaker
That's a good question.
00:08:05
Speaker
This completely discredits them, but it doesn't sound like you're bashing them.
00:08:09
Speaker
I say, I have them pick a favorite mom and pop shop that they like to go to.
00:08:13
Speaker
It's not a franchise.
00:08:14
Speaker
And I say, okay, look, if you could be the business owner for that, or you could own all of Walmart, would you do that?
00:08:21
Speaker
Which one would you do?
00:08:22
Speaker
Because I own some companies, but if I could be the owner of Walmart, I would be, I've made it, right?
00:08:29
Speaker
And so you can't blame, just like these solar companies that come and meet with you, you can't blame them because they don't know how to teach you this stuff.
00:08:35
Speaker
That's just because the organization they work for, like Walmart, for example,
00:08:39
Speaker
who's a genius, because I wish I owned it, they don't have the resource to teach their sales reps to this level, but the mom and pop shops do.
00:08:47
Speaker
The only difference between us and them is we just spend a lot of time on it, but the sales rep that you met with, you probably liked them, right?
00:08:53
Speaker
They're like, yeah, we did.
00:08:55
Speaker
I'm like, yeah, he's probably a really great guy.
00:08:57
Speaker
He just happens to work for Walmart, so it's not his fault.
00:09:00
Speaker
It's just a matter of the, it's a product of the circumstances.
00:09:03
Speaker
Love that.
00:09:04
Speaker
Go
Consulting Customization for Solar Companies
00:09:05
Speaker
rewind that.
00:09:05
Speaker
That's awesome.
00:09:07
Speaker
Yeah, that's super good to know.
00:09:09
Speaker
Yeah, and so many guys, I think that's a good analogy, though, because it's true, the bigger companies are... I mean, you look at these bigger companies, a lot of them are saying, oh, go sell pure PPAs, and they don't even know how to sell loans.
00:09:21
Speaker
Yeah, they don't.
00:09:23
Speaker
Exactly.
00:09:23
Speaker
So, no, it's good stuff to know.
00:09:25
Speaker
And so, yeah, technical knowledge.
00:09:28
Speaker
So you find a lot of companies you start consulting, they don't really have much knowledge on this, or there are some companies that...
00:09:34
Speaker
Do you train on it more than others?
00:09:36
Speaker
Is that a pretty common thing?
00:09:37
Speaker
You just see most people don't have the technical?
00:09:40
Speaker
Oh, most companies that we mentor, oh my goodness.
00:09:42
Speaker
We tried having a structure.
00:09:44
Speaker
It is impossible because every single company out there, they have their strengths and they have their weaknesses.
00:09:51
Speaker
And they're all so different and they all want to start in different places.
00:09:54
Speaker
One company might need help building culture.
00:09:57
Speaker
Another one might need help understanding PPAs.
00:09:59
Speaker
Another one might, you know, and so it changes between every company.
00:10:03
Speaker
So it is difficult to keep a schedule because everyone does have their strengths.
00:10:08
Speaker
We just try to accelerate them in some of the areas where they could possibly improve
00:10:12
Speaker
And it's them telling us that.
00:10:14
Speaker
It's not like we're going in here and saying, you suck right here and here.
00:10:17
Speaker
They're telling us, hey, we're lagging here, and we make our recommendations to show them what we did.
00:10:21
Speaker
Yeah, that's cool.
00:10:21
Speaker
And so do you have any specific, I don't know, stories or examples, like a company that maybe was struggling or not doing the greatest before you started working with them?
00:10:29
Speaker
and then the specific steps, it's like, okay, do this, do this, and then you just saw amazing results, or I don't know if you have any stories or anything.
00:10:37
Speaker
I mean, we have tons of them with sales reps.
00:10:39
Speaker
The companies that have brought us on, yes, we have a lot of success stories with them.
00:10:42
Speaker
One of my favorites to work with right now is Savage Roofing out of Illinois.
00:10:46
Speaker
Okay.
00:10:47
Speaker
They just listen to everything.
00:10:50
Speaker
And one of the hardest things is when people don't listen.
00:10:52
Speaker
It's like when we were little kids, mom says, don't touch the hot pot, and you grab it.
00:10:57
Speaker
Mom, why didn't you tell me?
00:11:00
Speaker
It really does hurt.
00:11:01
Speaker
I know you said it hurt, but you didn't say it really hurt.
00:11:06
Speaker
They don't even do that.
00:11:07
Speaker
They don't try to touch the hot pan.
00:11:08
Speaker
They just listen, and they are accelerating faster than any other organization we've worked with.
00:11:13
Speaker
And I absolutely love working with organizations like that.
00:11:18
Speaker
Even the company you worked with before, with Bennett and Brent Attaway, Bennett Maxwell, you guys were amazing.
00:11:24
Speaker
You had so many good things going on, I barely dabbled in a little bit.
00:11:27
Speaker
And Brent said, just about a week into it, we saved him a couple hundred thousand dollars just on savings.
00:11:34
Speaker
They didn't know that they were losing.
00:11:36
Speaker
Yeah, that's huge.
00:11:37
Speaker
That's cool.
00:11:38
Speaker
And what about like with reps?
00:11:39
Speaker
I know you guys do consulting for companies and reps, right?
00:11:42
Speaker
Yeah, sales reps, companies, yeah.
00:11:44
Speaker
Okay.
00:11:45
Speaker
So what's the difference?
00:11:45
Speaker
Like training, if you're training just a rep, is it more just focused on what they need or what would you say there?
00:11:52
Speaker
So, oh, there's a big difference.
00:11:53
Speaker
I've never been asked this question, but I'm glad you did.
00:11:56
Speaker
Yeah.
00:11:57
Speaker
We want to build everyone up that comes to us.
00:12:00
Speaker
So if they're working with an organization that we don't necessarily agree with some of the practices or some of the lack of training, we would never throw the company under the bus because the sales reps have already made a decision.
00:12:14
Speaker
Basically, if we throw the company under the bus for saying, we're smarter than you are for the decision you made, you're an idiot for working there.
00:12:20
Speaker
That does absolutely no good for anybody.
00:12:22
Speaker
Right?
00:12:23
Speaker
And it's different for a business.
00:12:25
Speaker
They want to be slapped around and told what they're doing wrong.
00:12:28
Speaker
They want that, right?
00:12:30
Speaker
But the sales reps, there's no sense in doing that.
00:12:33
Speaker
And so what we really try to do is just edify the areas, sorry, we try to edify the business and help them accelerate in areas that they may be lacking.
00:12:43
Speaker
Okay, so it's just kind of based on their needs, whatever you see that they need.
00:12:47
Speaker
Yeah, and we try to complement the business.
00:12:49
Speaker
So we don't want to change the business's processes.
00:12:51
Speaker
So sometimes when we're training reps, we have to know what the processes are that they operate under and then give our recommendations.
00:12:57
Speaker
So it's kind of custom.
00:12:58
Speaker
versus getting a manual and getting a few videos and saying, hey, this is the keys to success.
00:13:04
Speaker
We are extremely hands-on doing Zoom trainings or even in person quite a bit.
00:13:09
Speaker
Yeah, that's awesome.
00:13:10
Speaker
Yeah, and so as Jake talked about, he came in when I was running a team with Bennett and Brenton.
00:13:16
Speaker
Yeah, you helped us out a lot.
00:13:17
Speaker
And I think one of the main takeaways I got from your trainings that you gave us is just like the electrical piece.
00:13:23
Speaker
And I know you never liked me referring you as the electrical guy because...
00:13:28
Speaker
Just so happened to be, those were like all the trainings he came in for us.
00:13:32
Speaker
I know you like to be known as a sales guy, but no, it all goes hand in hand, right?
00:13:38
Speaker
And so with the electrical stuff, I think that's something important that a lot of guys forget about.
00:13:43
Speaker
Can you talk about, like one of the trainings you did for us was just knowing when people need MPUs, things like
Understanding Electrical Requirements in Solar Sales
00:13:49
Speaker
that.
00:13:49
Speaker
Oh, yeah, of course.
00:13:50
Speaker
So can you talk about, I know maybe it's hard to just talk about without seeing, but any tips you can give on that?
00:13:56
Speaker
I'll try and dive in.
00:13:57
Speaker
You tell me how I'm doing.
00:13:58
Speaker
Navigate me the right way.
00:13:59
Speaker
Okay.
00:13:59
Speaker
You know, I get a lot of people out there, they believe that selling higher watt panels, like 400s, 420s, we got these new 370s, they think that's really good sometimes.
00:14:11
Speaker
But what it's doing is it's actually, if you use Enphase, for example, or even SolarEdge, you have to upgrade the level of inverter that you're putting on higher watt panels.
00:14:20
Speaker
When you do that, for example, do the math if you guys want, if you're following along with this.
00:14:26
Speaker
on a 100 amp panel with a main breaker and a 100 amp bus bar, with panels that are 330 watts or less, you can fit 16 of those on there with an Enphase IQ7.
00:14:39
Speaker
If you use the 400 watt panels, you can only fit 13 of those with the IQ7+.
00:14:44
Speaker
Right?
00:14:45
Speaker
And so if you do the math between the 16 and the 14, you actually get a larger system size with the 16 panels that are a lower watt panel.
00:14:54
Speaker
And if you try to go higher with the larger watt panels, you following me on this?
00:14:59
Speaker
If you try to go higher on the 13 panels, if you try to make it 14, then you're forcing an electrical upgrade.
00:15:05
Speaker
Just by using 400 watt panels instead of 330 watt panels.
00:15:09
Speaker
Is that because you have to use a different inverter?
00:15:12
Speaker
Yeah, it's because it's a different inverter which pulls more power off that bus bar and you're forcing upgrades simply.
00:15:17
Speaker
And it could be the exact same brand, possibly even the exact same panel.
00:15:22
Speaker
One's just higher watts and one's not.
00:15:24
Speaker
And so I would encourage reps to just do some math and figure out how to get larger offsets without forcing electrical upgrades.
00:15:31
Speaker
Yeah, okay.
00:15:31
Speaker
And so how do you tell if they're going to need an upgrade?
00:15:35
Speaker
I think there's some equation on it, right?
00:15:39
Speaker
Oh, yeah.
00:15:39
Speaker
We have lots of equations.
00:15:41
Speaker
Basically, a proposal that you would get from...
00:15:44
Speaker
Aurora, Solo, Sinobi is one of my favorites.
00:15:47
Speaker
If you get a proposal from them, it might take you some time to build it.
00:15:50
Speaker
Whereas if you know the formulas, you can do it in less than 15 seconds.
00:15:54
Speaker
That's awesome.
00:15:55
Speaker
Yeah.
00:15:55
Speaker
And Bennett learned that really, really well, as you know.
00:15:58
Speaker
He's a smart guy.
00:15:59
Speaker
Yeah.
00:16:00
Speaker
And so, yeah, I know there's a bunch of formulas.
00:16:01
Speaker
I'm sure guys can hit you up.
00:16:03
Speaker
I know you have cheat sheets and stuff.
00:16:05
Speaker
Maybe you'd be willing to share with some of our listeners.
00:16:07
Speaker
Sure, absolutely.
00:16:08
Speaker
For Taylor's followers, I will share what you need.
00:16:11
Speaker
Cool.
00:16:11
Speaker
Love it.
00:16:12
Speaker
So we'll try and put that in the show notes.
00:16:14
Speaker
But, yeah, just really, I think, figuring out if people need an upgrade or not.
00:16:19
Speaker
And, yeah, knowing that, and I know it saved us a ton of NPUs because you taught our team.
00:16:23
Speaker
It just had to be like...
00:16:25
Speaker
Because at the end of the day, most of the time, the people working in the office, they're not going to know any of this stuff.
00:16:30
Speaker
But if we as the sales reps know that, hey, we could avoid this NPU, I know you saved our company.
00:16:35
Speaker
That's probably what Brent was talking about when you saved us.
00:16:37
Speaker
A hundred grand or whatever.
00:16:38
Speaker
A couple hundred grand, yeah.
00:16:42
Speaker
Most of the companies that we audit their CADs and look at are electrical.
00:16:45
Speaker
The average right now is about 48% of the electrical upgrades that we get rid of just by looking at the CADs.
00:16:52
Speaker
And it really boils down to human error.
00:16:54
Speaker
It's not much that the systems at all of these installation organizations are wrong.
00:16:58
Speaker
It's human error.
00:17:01
Speaker
Or lack of knowledge on the sales side.
00:17:02
Speaker
Yeah.
00:17:03
Speaker
No, it's massive.
00:17:04
Speaker
And it could be costing you thousands in commissions because most of us are paying all this out of our commissions.
00:17:09
Speaker
Where if we could have known that, hey, let's drop a couple panels instead of doing an NPU.
00:17:14
Speaker
We're going to save the customer more.
00:17:15
Speaker
We're going to make more commissions on it.
00:17:17
Speaker
So I think that's a huge tip you shared with us.
00:17:20
Speaker
Thank you.
00:17:21
Speaker
And the other big takeaway I got, maybe you can talk a minute about, Jake, is just like when we're out knocking, just focusing more on where are the installs at.
00:17:33
Speaker
Because I think, especially with the bigger companies, a lot of times reps are just getting dropped off in these cookie cutter areas.
00:17:41
Speaker
Recovering from COVID here.
00:17:43
Speaker
Yeah, November 1st.
00:17:44
Speaker
Both getting COVID.
00:17:45
Speaker
Just kidding.
00:17:47
Speaker
But yeah, a lot of these companies, they're just dropping their reps off in the cookie cutter neighborhoods.
00:17:51
Speaker
They're just knocking all day.
00:17:52
Speaker
So what's your style of knocking?
00:17:54
Speaker
Like, let's say someone drops you off today in a neighborhood.
00:17:57
Speaker
I know you taught me this, but for our listeners, what would you do if you're like going out and knocking instead of just mindlessly knocking?
00:18:03
Speaker
Oh,
Maximizing Door-to-Door Solar Sales Efficiency
00:18:04
Speaker
yeah.
00:18:04
Speaker
Oh, my gosh.
00:18:05
Speaker
I turn into like a profiler for the FBI or something.
00:18:09
Speaker
I like Jason Bourne.
00:18:11
Speaker
I get dropped off.
00:18:12
Speaker
I start walking down the streets and start to notice like every single little thing on a house.
00:18:16
Speaker
Like, you know, our tire marks going into a garage and kids stuff in the yard.
00:18:20
Speaker
And when's the last time they mowed their lawn?
00:18:23
Speaker
I mean, by the time I walk by a house, I think I know their social security numbers.
00:18:28
Speaker
And I assess, and I don't just immediately start knocking.
00:18:32
Speaker
I walk around the neighborhood a little bit briskly, so it looks like I'm walking with purpose so I don't frustrate the owners that are there.
00:18:39
Speaker
But what I'm doing is I'm mentally picking the homes that I'm going to go talk to that have the highest probability of closing.
00:18:47
Speaker
pool is in the backyard, kids, a bunch of kids, cars, if there's a Mercedes next door, pristine condition, but right next door to that with the kids, toys in the yard, and a 4Runner, and a minivan, they could essentially, I would put that at a higher percentage than the manicured yard with the black Mercedes.
00:19:05
Speaker
Just because
00:19:06
Speaker
it increases the chances a little bit.
00:19:08
Speaker
Now, I'm not saying it's right or wrong.
00:19:09
Speaker
The Mercedes might actually buy versus the other person, but I'm assessing which homes are gonna have the highest probability of closing, and I look at so many things.
00:19:19
Speaker
Once I have about four or five of those, and I try to bump another house, it's like I'm addicted.
00:19:26
Speaker
I keep walking around to find which ones, and then once I have the best five,
00:19:30
Speaker
with the highest probability of closing, I only go to those five.
00:19:34
Speaker
And, you know, when I end up closing those, then I've increased the chances of closing the Mercedes next door.
00:19:39
Speaker
But if I knocked the Mercedes next door first, it would be a lower chance and a waste of time, right?
00:19:44
Speaker
So you're constantly, when you're in these neighborhoods, you're constantly trying to increase your percentages of probability of closing all of the time.
00:19:53
Speaker
That's what you should be doing.
00:19:54
Speaker
So pick the easy ones.
00:19:56
Speaker
Pick the ones you know are going to get it or are going to benefit.
00:19:58
Speaker
the ones you believe you really can close.
00:20:00
Speaker
You have a pattern when you've been selling.
00:20:02
Speaker
If you look back at all of the homes that you've been closing and the demographics of them, and you have a pattern where you can actually look at your own statistics if you keep track and recognize which ones have the highest probability for you.
00:20:14
Speaker
And start with those.
00:20:15
Speaker
I mean, have a plan.
00:20:16
Speaker
Don't go out there and just start knocking for no reason.
00:20:21
Speaker
Yeah, that's awesome because what I see all the time, I think you see it too, is that people get so happy that they closed the deal or that they went and booked an appointment.
00:20:29
Speaker
I remember you when you were doing trainings for a team, you're like, why are you guys even tracking that you booked an appointment?
00:20:36
Speaker
Did that make you money?
00:20:36
Speaker
And we're like, no, but they said yes to an appointment.
00:20:40
Speaker
And you're like, who cares?
00:20:42
Speaker
That's not going to make you money.
00:20:43
Speaker
So that's something I remember.
00:20:47
Speaker
You guys should not even care about the appointments.
00:20:49
Speaker
Just care about the installs.
00:20:52
Speaker
I know I came off strong on that one.
00:20:55
Speaker
I have no excuse for that.
00:20:58
Speaker
But I do believe that.
00:20:59
Speaker
I did that at my organization.
00:21:01
Speaker
And I noticed the mentality drastically changes because all of a sudden when people are putting up fours and fives all week and it starts turning into zeros, that gets really embarrassing and it really starts ramping up production.
00:21:14
Speaker
Yeah.
00:21:15
Speaker
All of a sudden, incentives are put towards installs versus, hey, bro, we've got five bills today.
00:21:20
Speaker
It's like, it doesn't matter.
00:21:22
Speaker
Are you closing jobs?
00:21:23
Speaker
And once that measurement changes, then everyone else adapts and changes because everyone wants that recognition.
00:21:29
Speaker
They want to feel like they're contributing to a team and to their own lives.
00:21:33
Speaker
So inherently, everything does change for the better is what I believe.
00:21:38
Speaker
Yeah, yeah.
00:21:39
Speaker
No, I like that.
00:21:40
Speaker
I think that was some of the best training I heard from you focusing more on the installs because it's true we get so focused on going to the next door but we're not thinking about does this have a high probability of closing or even simple stuff such as like looking to see if it could be a renter if they have cars parked over the lawn because coming from pest control that's how we were trained just like go hit every single door.
00:22:01
Speaker
Go to everything.
00:22:02
Speaker
But it's like that's where the money is at is where the installs are going to take place.
00:22:05
Speaker
And then I think another thing you talked about is looking at a map, right, even before you pull up to the neighborhood and just don't you go target the homes with the pools and things like that.
00:22:15
Speaker
Yeah, good memory.
00:22:16
Speaker
Yeah, I pull up my own Google Maps on my phone and laying at night, I remember specifically when I did this neighborhood, I was in it for two and a half years.
00:22:24
Speaker
I remember the night I was laying in my bed,
00:22:27
Speaker
and I was just, I scrolled in real deep and I was looking at the homes and I put a star on it if it had a swimming pool and no solar.
00:22:34
Speaker
And then I created this road map for myself the next day and then just followed it to a T with what I expressed before about becoming Jason Bourne in the neighborhood.
00:22:45
Speaker
Those two recipes right there turned me into a highly efficient sales rep.
00:22:50
Speaker
mechanical training with your with the way that you speak and your body language and hands and stuff that you can learn but have once you learned all of that having a plan is going to be your best steps for success yeah that's fire and so everyone that's listening this maybe you're assigned areas stuff like that but I think it's extremely important just focus more on where you can get the installs go to the places where you have the highest probability because especially I mean me and you were in San Diego
00:23:17
Speaker
Every home has been knocked a billion times.
00:23:20
Speaker
Especially if you're in saturated areas, it's making your life so much easier if you can find that low hanging fruit and focus on the dills that have the highest probability to install.
00:23:30
Speaker
Would you agree?
00:23:31
Speaker
Oh yeah, absolutely.
00:23:32
Speaker
For sure.
00:23:33
Speaker
And so, Jake, I know you have, we could go on for days with the training, but maybe our feet are getting tired when we're standing up here.
00:23:41
Speaker
And so before we forget, I just wanted to hear a little bit.
The Birth of SolarCon: Unifying the Industry
00:23:45
Speaker
We've got SolarCon coming up.
00:23:46
Speaker
So can you talk to us a little bit about why you decided to start that event and just give us some info on that for all the people that want to be coming?
00:23:54
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely.
00:23:57
Speaker
So I have been traveling across the country quite a bit and I meet some people and they're just some of the coolest people I've ever seen probably in my life.
00:24:06
Speaker
Like I cannot believe that they're in our industry with how great these people are.
00:24:09
Speaker
And then I meet their kids and their family.
00:24:11
Speaker
I see how their kids run up to their dad and just absolutely love him and the smile on his face, you know.
00:24:16
Speaker
And it's like, and then I go to another state and they're like, oh, I hate that guy.
00:24:20
Speaker
I'm like,
00:24:21
Speaker
Wait, you would like them, I promise you.
00:24:24
Speaker
If you met them, and it dawned on me, I realized maybe all of this animosity between installers and sales reps and dealer fees on loans and this software is better than that one, maybe if we just all get it under one roof,
00:24:38
Speaker
All of us can hear it directly from the horse's mouth.
00:24:40
Speaker
We can meet the people in the industry, and we can actually make a difference by unifying the industry rather than keep it completely separated, which it has been.
00:24:49
Speaker
And that's the idea behind SolarCon is put all of that under one roof and let everyone talk to each other.
00:24:55
Speaker
Let admin have a space to talk.
00:24:57
Speaker
Women in solar should have a place to talk.
00:25:00
Speaker
you know the dealer should be able to or the loan company should be able to explain why their deal fees are the way that they are and have people understand it we just we wanted to unify everyone I love that anyone can go on these I mean I know you see it every day going on these Facebook groups and things like that you get reps saying oh
00:25:17
Speaker
Screw this, Dior P. While they're just trying to screw me over.
00:25:21
Speaker
Oh, my goodness.
00:25:22
Speaker
There's so much, even like the installers being like, oh, we're not getting paid.
00:25:26
Speaker
We do all the work and things like that.
00:25:29
Speaker
I mean, you're in a lot of these Facebook groups, so that's got to be where some of it comes from, right, is seeing all this miscommunication and agnostic stuff like that.
00:25:37
Speaker
It is.
00:25:37
Speaker
It's wild.
00:25:38
Speaker
We own Solar Objections, Solar Growth, and Solar Advice, which is the newer one.
00:25:44
Speaker
And the filters that we have on those, I mean, in a given day, we have 100 hits on our filters to manage those things.
00:25:52
Speaker
And some days, like let's say, God forbid, we're flying somewhere.
00:25:56
Speaker
Someone posts something, I can't believe you're allowing this in these groups.
00:26:00
Speaker
Private messages to us.
00:26:01
Speaker
And we're like, we were just flying.
00:26:03
Speaker
Like we literally been traveling all day.
00:26:06
Speaker
We don't like these things in our group.
00:26:07
Speaker
That's why you're here.
00:26:08
Speaker
But it does happen.
00:26:09
Speaker
It happens like wildfire everywhere.
00:26:12
Speaker
I know.
00:26:12
Speaker
Pretty sad.
00:26:13
Speaker
No, I think that's a great step where hopefully we can change some of those, you know, miscommunications and animosity and all understand each other better.
00:26:23
Speaker
Yeah.
00:26:23
Speaker
So, yeah, I look forward to it.
00:26:25
Speaker
And when is SolarCon for all those that want to check it out?
00:26:27
Speaker
Yeah, it's April 21st, 22nd, and 23rd.
00:26:29
Speaker
The website is attendsolarcon.com.
00:26:33
Speaker
Okay.
00:26:35
Speaker
Because we want you to attend.
00:26:37
Speaker
And it's in Salt Lake City.
00:26:39
Speaker
Sweet.
00:26:39
Speaker
Yeah.
00:26:40
Speaker
So, yeah, for all our listeners, all our solopreneurs, make sure you go get a ticket.
00:26:44
Speaker
We're going to put in the show notes a link where you can get your ticket exclusive for solopreneur listeners.
00:26:50
Speaker
And then also I'm going to be on a panel there.
00:26:52
Speaker
You're going to be hanging out with Jake.
00:26:53
Speaker
Remember, you are the average of the five people you surround yourself with.
00:26:57
Speaker
So you want to hang out with my man Jake and yours truly.
00:27:02
Speaker
So we're going to be looking forward to it.
00:27:03
Speaker
And then before we wrap up here, Jake, where can people connect with you more on?
00:27:07
Speaker
I know you've got your Facebook groups you just mentioned and we'll link to those.
00:27:09
Speaker
But anywhere else you want to point people if they want to connect to you or learn more about Solar Academy.
00:27:14
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely.
00:27:15
Speaker
Before that though, for all the listeners on here, I've worked with Taylor for a long time.
00:27:19
Speaker
And everybody in this industry that I come across has everything good to say about him.
00:27:25
Speaker
and I'm very thankful that he runs things like this and I'm honored that he's gonna come speak at Solarcon and kind of teach everyone what he gets off these podcasts and what he learns.
00:27:35
Speaker
For all you listeners out there that have been loyal to him, is it okay to say if we give him a 25% discount?
00:27:39
Speaker
We'll create a unique code for you.
00:27:41
Speaker
Cool.
00:27:42
Speaker
I'll get with my marketing guy and get you that link so we can put it in there.
00:27:46
Speaker
And to get a hold of me, my cell phone number is 619-916-6027.
Conclusion: Industry Collaboration and Contact Info
00:27:53
Speaker
Feel free to shoot me a text.
00:27:54
Speaker
I love interacting with the industry and helping reps where I can.
00:27:58
Speaker
Don't be discouraged if I don't reply to it immediately.
00:28:00
Speaker
I have a lot of people coming in, but I do like to help out where I can.
00:28:04
Speaker
You can go to Facebook, any of those groups.
00:28:08
Speaker
Come to SolarCon.
00:28:09
Speaker
It's going to be amazing.
00:28:10
Speaker
Or reach out to us on the Solar Academy website.
00:28:13
Speaker
Okay, awesome.
00:28:13
Speaker
So go reach out to Jake.
00:28:15
Speaker
I know you appreciated the advice he shared with us today on the show.
00:28:19
Speaker
And then we hopefully will see everyone at SolarCon coming up.
00:28:23
Speaker
And then last question before we wrap up here, Jake, for any like, I don't know, newer reps or maybe like a common problem you see with the reps you coach, you train, any like final thing that you wish you would have known maybe starting out or for someone that's struggling in the industry right now?
00:28:39
Speaker
Oh my goodness, yes.
00:28:40
Speaker
You guys, what I'm about to say makes the most common sense.
00:28:43
Speaker
It's like the most common sense in the world, but we could all use a reminder on common sense sometimes.
00:28:48
Speaker
At least that's what my dad told me growing up.
00:28:51
Speaker
You guys, the wildest thing is most people I've talked to in this industry is the contract that they're having the homeowner sign
00:29:00
Speaker
about 99% of the sales reps haven't actually even read through that whole contract and understood what's in it.
00:29:06
Speaker
But here's the crazy twist to that.
00:29:09
Speaker
And this is how I sold so much.
00:29:11
Speaker
I would actually leave a printed contract with the homeowner before signing them.
00:29:16
Speaker
I would come back another day.
00:29:17
Speaker
I use a two-touch close method.
00:29:19
Speaker
And leave it with them to look through.
00:29:21
Speaker
But I highlighted where all the highlights were in this thing.
00:29:23
Speaker
And it's crazy.
00:29:24
Speaker
These contracts are actually...
00:29:27
Speaker
they work to your benefit.
00:29:28
Speaker
I ask the homeowner, I say, hey, what are you literally risking right now?
00:29:33
Speaker
Because we're about to come put solar on your house for zero dollars.
00:29:36
Speaker
You've given us nothing.
00:29:37
Speaker
It's an unsecured loan, or if it's a PPA or lease, you've given us zero dollars.
00:29:42
Speaker
We're warranting the roof.
00:29:44
Speaker
We're taking on all the risk.
00:29:45
Speaker
We're paying for it.
00:29:47
Speaker
What is your risk?
00:29:48
Speaker
And they're like, whoa.
00:29:50
Speaker
And I'm like, just look through the contract.
00:29:51
Speaker
I know everything that's in there.
00:29:53
Speaker
You guys are going to love it.
00:29:55
Speaker
It protects you more than it protects us.
00:29:57
Speaker
I love that.
00:29:58
Speaker
Because most reps are too scared to do that to bring up the problem.
00:30:01
Speaker
They go...
00:30:02
Speaker
But if they cancel, if I say stuff like that, they're so scared of it.
00:30:05
Speaker
I can't help them reach a contract.
00:30:06
Speaker
They'll see something they don't like.
00:30:08
Speaker
Just get through it as quick as possible.
00:30:09
Speaker
But lean into it, though.
00:30:11
Speaker
Lean into it.
00:30:13
Speaker
I would challenge anybody out here.
00:30:15
Speaker
If there's anything in the contract that you think would deter a homeowner from getting it, reach out to me and tell me because I don't believe that there is.
00:30:22
Speaker
Everything in that contract is to protect that homeowner, and you should use that to your advantage.
00:30:27
Speaker
It's wild.
00:30:28
Speaker
The understanding of this contract is so backwards.
00:30:31
Speaker
It favors the homeowner.
00:30:33
Speaker
Yeah.
00:30:33
Speaker
That's true.
00:30:35
Speaker
Well, great advice.
00:30:35
Speaker
So, Jake, thanks again for coming on the show.
00:30:37
Speaker
And, guys, we'll see you at SolarCon.
00:30:39
Speaker
Let Jake know you appreciated his podcast today.
00:30:42
Speaker
And thanks again for coming on.
00:30:43
Speaker
Thank you, Taylor.
00:30:44
Speaker
Thank you.
00:30:44
Speaker
I appreciate it.
00:30:45
Speaker
Talk soon.
00:30:47
Speaker
Hey Solarpreneurs, quick question.
00:30:48
Speaker
What if you could surround yourself with the industry's top performing sales pros, marketers, and CEOs and learn from their experience and wisdom in less than 20 minutes a day?
00:30:58
Speaker
For the last three years, I've been placed in the fortunate position to interview dozens of elite level solar professionals and learn exactly what they do behind closed doors to build their solar careers to an all-star level.
00:31:10
Speaker
That's why I want to make a truly special announcement about the new learning community exclusively for solar professionals to learn, compete, and win with top performers in the industry.
00:31:21
Speaker
And it's called Solcite.
00:31:23
Speaker
This learning community was designed from the ground up to level the playing field and give solar pros access to proven mentors and
00:31:30
Speaker
who want to give back to this community and help you or your team to be held accountable by the industry's brightest minds for, are you ready for it, less than $3.45 a day.
00:31:42
Speaker
Currently, SoulCity is open, launched, and ready to be enrolled.
00:31:48
Speaker
So go to SoulCity.co to learn more.
00:31:52
Speaker
and join the learning experience now.
00:31:56
Speaker
This is exclusively for solopreneur listeners, so be sure to go to solcity.co and join.
00:32:03
Speaker
We'll see you on the inside.