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, what's going on solopreneurs?
Speaker: We are doing a one of a kind podcast because right now we're actually standing up in a room
Speaker: which I've never done a standing up podcast.
Speaker: So we're going to see how it goes.
Speaker: But we're here with the one, the only Jake Hess.
Speaker: Sorry, Jake, thanks for coming on the show with us today.
Speaker: No worries.
Speaker: I love it.
Speaker: Yeah, it'll be cool.
Speaker: We're at door-to-door con here.
Speaker: We're in a room we found.
Speaker: There's cheerleaders outside, so we apologize if you hear any people cheering in the background.
Speaker: But, I mean, we got Jake Hess.
Speaker: How could you not cheer for this guy?
Speaker: And this guy's doing amazing things.
Speaker: Probably one of the most well-known people in the solar industry, so awesome to have you on, Jake.
Speaker: So do you want to kind of share how you got started in solar?
Speaker: You're with Solar Academy, so I guess kind of how you got into consulting and that whole background.
Speaker: Yeah, first I want to say thanks for having me on.
Speaker: This podcast has definitely been a popular one.
Speaker: This is strategic planning.
Speaker: I know I've been holding off a little bit.
Speaker: No, it wasn't very strategic.
Speaker: I've been yelled at a lot to be on it, and I'm sorry for missing it.
Speaker: But this is an iconic moment for me too, so thank you.
Speaker: Of course.
Speaker: Yeah, this is great.
Speaker: So I started selling solar in 2013 for Vivint Solar, and it was a ride trying to figure out how to sell that.
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.
Speaker: It was a weird way of thinking.
Speaker: Everything was different.
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.
Speaker: I liked his model and decided, hey, I can make one too.
Speaker: And I built a company, ended up selling that and building the Solar Academy and now working on the first year of SolarCon.
Speaker: Let's go.
Speaker: Yeah, we'll talk more about SolarCon, but that is the first, I think, first ever, like, solar conference coming up.
Speaker: It's in April, right?
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.
Speaker: We can talk about it later.
Speaker: Cool, cool.
Speaker: So, yeah, we'll jump into that.
Speaker: And so, yeah, like you said, you were in sales, you started your own company.
Speaker: So why did you decide to sell your company and get into more consulting with Solar Academy?
Speaker: Actually, I hadn't sold the company yet.
Speaker: I just decided one day that I wanted to stop with the solar sales company and
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.
Speaker: And I just wanted to take the knowledge that I had and try to make a difference.
Speaker: Okay, awesome.
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?
Speaker: You know, I used to work at Olive Garden at the time.
Speaker: I thought it was really hard.
Speaker: And then I knocked doors.
Speaker: And then I thought that was hard.
Speaker: Then owning a business was hard.
Speaker: I really thought consulting might be a step easier.
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.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: So it's not easier, but I do enjoy it.
Speaker: Okay.
Speaker: So what's been harder, like, now that you've done both, what do you say are the differences?
Speaker: Like, what's harder about consulting versus owning your own company?
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?
Speaker: They see the value and they have savings.
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.
Speaker: That's kind of,
Speaker: It's kind of a hard sell.
Speaker: Especially for like solar guys, we all think we're the best.
Speaker: We don't need to learn more.
Speaker: We're all the best, right?
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.
Speaker: or knowledge that sometimes organizations don't want to share.
Speaker: So we just fill in the gaps with some of the smart people out there that might be focusing on other things.
Speaker: Gotcha.
Speaker: Yeah, no, and I think it's cool with trainings.
Speaker: I've learned a lot from you, a lot from different.
Speaker: We're at Door to DoorCon, a lot of different styles, a lot of different ways of training.
Speaker: So what are the gaps that you guys feel over at Solar Academy?
Speaker: What do you think is the missing stuff that you guys are specializing in?
Speaker: So that's a good question.
Speaker: So a lot of people say that we're technical based.
Speaker: And yes, we do teach a lot of technical stuff about solar.
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.
Speaker: Most people don't know on a solar panel what the difference between a 1225 and a 2025 is.
Speaker: You know what I mean?
Speaker: And it's like, you know, we've got to know this stuff so we know how to beat our competition.
Speaker: So we do get into the technical aspect of it, but that's to teach people how to sell stronger.
Speaker: I would say our main focus is teaching sales.
Speaker: Most of our reviews on Facebook and stuff is all, hey, we close jobs, we close more sales.
Speaker: But we do teach the product knowledge to help with that.
Speaker: Yeah, okay.
Speaker: Well, this is probably embarrassing, but I don't even know if I know what a 1225 or a 20, 2025 is.
Speaker: 2525, sorry.
Speaker: Okay, so what is that for?
Speaker: Yeah, just, I mean, you probably do.
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.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Oh, okay.
Speaker: But then there's a difference between a product warranty and a power output warranty.
Speaker: Right, okay.
Speaker: And the power output warranty doesn't actually, it's not actually kilowatt hours that they're promising on the power output.
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.
Speaker: And that's a big misunderstanding in this industry.
Speaker: Yeah, okay.
Speaker: Yeah, stuff like that.
Speaker: That's true.
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.
Speaker: Like, we don't know what we're not telling them, if we're not explaining it to them, right?
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.
Speaker: It's warranty across the board when I guess at the end of the day there's a lot of separate warranties.
Speaker: Yeah, there are.
Speaker: There are a lot of separate ones.
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.
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.
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.
Speaker: What I'm doing is I'm eliminating my competition because I'm no longer selling them anything.
Speaker: I'm helping them understand how all of this works.
Speaker: Yeah.
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
Speaker: Bashing them?
Speaker: That's a good question.
Speaker: This completely discredits them, but it doesn't sound like you're bashing them.
Speaker: I say, I have them pick a favorite mom and pop shop that they like to go to.
Speaker: It's not a franchise.
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?
Speaker: Which one would you do?
Speaker: Because I own some companies, but if I could be the owner of Walmart, I would be, I've made it, right?
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.
Speaker: That's just because the organization they work for, like Walmart, for example,
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.
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?
Speaker: They're like, yeah, we did.
Speaker: I'm like, yeah, he's probably a really great guy.
Speaker: He just happens to work for Walmart, so it's not his fault.
Speaker: It's just a matter of the, it's a product of the circumstances.
Speaker: Love that.
Speaker: Go rewind that.
Speaker: That's awesome.
Speaker: Yeah, that's super good to know.
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.
Speaker: Yeah, they don't.
Speaker: Exactly.
Speaker: So, no, it's good stuff to know.
Speaker: And so, yeah, technical knowledge.
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...
Speaker: Do you train on it more than others?
Speaker: Is that a pretty common thing?
Speaker: You just see most people don't have the technical?
Speaker: Oh, most companies that we mentor, oh my goodness.
Speaker: We tried having a structure.
Speaker: It is impossible because every single company out there, they have their strengths and they have their weaknesses.
Speaker: And they're all so different and they all want to start in different places.
Speaker: One company might need help building culture.
Speaker: Another one might need help understanding PPAs.
Speaker: Another one might, you know, and so it changes between every company.
Speaker: So it is difficult to keep a schedule because everyone does have their strengths.
Speaker: We just try to accelerate them in some of the areas where they could possibly improve
Speaker: And it's them telling us that.
Speaker: It's not like we're going in here and saying, you suck right here and here.
Speaker: They're telling us, hey, we're lagging here, and we make our recommendations to show them what we did.
Speaker: Yeah, that's cool.
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?
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.
Speaker: I mean, we have tons of them with sales reps.
Speaker: The companies that have brought us on, yes, we have a lot of success stories with them.
Speaker: One of my favorites to work with right now is Savage Roofing out of Illinois.
Speaker: Okay.
Speaker: They just listen to everything.
Speaker: And one of the hardest things is when people don't listen.
Speaker: It's like when we were little kids, mom says, don't touch the hot pot, and you grab it.
Speaker: Mom, why didn't you tell me?
Speaker: It really does hurt.
Speaker: I know you said it hurt, but you didn't say it really hurt.
Speaker: They don't even do that.
Speaker: They don't try to touch the hot pan.
Speaker: They just listen, and they are accelerating faster than any other organization we've worked with.
Speaker: And I absolutely love working with organizations like that.
Speaker: Even the company you worked with before, with Bennett and Brent Attaway, Bennett Maxwell, you guys were amazing.
Speaker: You had so many good things going on, I barely dabbled in a little bit.
Speaker: And Brent said, just about a week into it, we saved him a couple hundred thousand dollars just on savings.
Speaker: They didn't know that they were losing.
Speaker: Yeah, that's huge.
Speaker: That's cool.
Speaker: And what about like with reps?
Speaker: I know you guys do consulting for companies and reps, right?
Speaker: Yeah, sales reps, companies, yeah.
Speaker: Okay.
Speaker: So what's the difference?
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?
Speaker: So, oh, there's a big difference.
Speaker: I've never been asked this question, but I'm glad you did.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: We want to build everyone up that comes to us.
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.
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.
Speaker: That does absolutely no good for anybody.
Speaker: Right?
Speaker: And it's different for a business.
Speaker: They want to be slapped around and told what they're doing wrong.
Speaker: They want that, right?
Speaker: But the sales reps, there's no sense in doing that.
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.
Speaker: Okay, so it's just kind of based on their needs, whatever you see that they need.
Speaker: Yeah, and we try to complement the business.
Speaker: So we don't want to change the business's processes.
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.
Speaker: So it's kind of custom.
Speaker: versus getting a manual and getting a few videos and saying, hey, this is the keys to success.
Speaker: We are extremely hands-on doing Zoom trainings or even in person quite a bit.
Speaker: Yeah, that's awesome.
Speaker: Yeah, and so as Jake talked about, he came in when I was running a team with Bennett and Brenton.
Speaker: Yeah, you helped us out a lot.
Speaker: And I think one of the main takeaways I got from your trainings that you gave us is just like the electrical piece.
Speaker: And I know you never liked me referring you as the electrical guy because...
Speaker: Just so happened to be, those were like all the trainings he came in for us.
Speaker: I know you like to be known as a sales guy, but no, it all goes hand in hand, right?
Speaker: And so with the electrical stuff, I think that's something important that a lot of guys forget about.
Speaker: Can you talk about, like one of the trainings you did for us was just knowing when people need MPUs, things like that.
Speaker: Oh, yeah, of course.
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?
Speaker: I'll try and dive in.
Speaker: You tell me how I'm doing.
Speaker: Navigate me the right way.
Speaker: Okay.
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.
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.
Speaker: When you do that, for example, do the math if you guys want, if you're following along with this.
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.
Speaker: If you use the 400 watt panels, you can only fit 13 of those with the IQ7+.
Speaker: Right?
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.
Speaker: And if you try to go higher with the larger watt panels, you following me on this?
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.
Speaker: Just by using 400 watt panels instead of 330 watt panels.
Speaker: Is that because you have to use a different inverter?
Speaker: Yeah, it's because it's a different inverter which pulls more power off that bus bar and you're forcing upgrades simply.
Speaker: And it could be the exact same brand, possibly even the exact same panel.
Speaker: One's just higher watts and one's not.
Speaker: And so I would encourage reps to just do some math and figure out how to get larger offsets without forcing electrical upgrades.
Speaker: Yeah, okay.
Speaker: And so how do you tell if they're going to need an upgrade?
Speaker: I think there's some equation on it, right?
Speaker: Oh, yeah.
Speaker: We have lots of equations.
Speaker: Basically, a proposal that you would get from...
Speaker: Aurora, Solo, Sinobi is one of my favorites.
Speaker: If you get a proposal from them, it might take you some time to build it.
Speaker: Whereas if you know the formulas, you can do it in less than 15 seconds.
Speaker: That's awesome.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: And Bennett learned that really, really well, as you know.
Speaker: He's a smart guy.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: And so, yeah, I know there's a bunch of formulas.
Speaker: I'm sure guys can hit you up.
Speaker: I know you have cheat sheets and stuff.
Speaker: Maybe you'd be willing to share with some of our listeners.
Speaker: Sure, absolutely.
Speaker: For Taylor's followers, I will share what you need.
Speaker: Cool.
Speaker: Love it.
Speaker: So we'll try and put that in the show notes.
Speaker: But, yeah, just really, I think, figuring out if people need an upgrade or not.
Speaker: And, yeah, knowing that, and I know it saved us a ton of NPUs because you taught our team.
Speaker: It just had to be like...
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.
Speaker: But if we as the sales reps know that, hey, we could avoid this NPU, I know you saved our company.
Speaker: That's probably what Brent was talking about when you saved us.
Speaker: A hundred grand or whatever.
Speaker: A couple hundred grand, yeah.
Speaker: Most of the companies that we audit their CADs and look at are electrical.
Speaker: The average right now is about 48% of the electrical upgrades that we get rid of just by looking at the CADs.
Speaker: And it really boils down to human error.
Speaker: It's not much that the systems at all of these installation organizations are wrong.
Speaker: It's human error.
Speaker: Or lack of knowledge on the sales side.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: No, it's massive.
Speaker: And it could be costing you thousands in commissions because most of us are paying all this out of our commissions.
Speaker: Where if we could have known that, hey, let's drop a couple panels instead of doing an NPU.
Speaker: We're going to save the customer more.
Speaker: We're going to make more commissions on it.
Speaker: So I think that's a huge tip you shared with us.
Speaker: Thank you.
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.
Speaker: Because I think, especially with the bigger companies, a lot of times reps are just getting dropped off in these cookie cutter areas.
Speaker: Recovering from COVID here.
Speaker: Yeah, November 1st.
Speaker: Both getting COVID.
Speaker: Just kidding.
Speaker: But yeah, a lot of these companies, they're just dropping their reps off in the cookie cutter neighborhoods.
Speaker: They're just knocking all day.
Speaker: So what's your style of knocking?
Speaker: Like, let's say someone drops you off today in a neighborhood.
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?
Speaker: Oh, yeah.
Speaker: Oh, my gosh.
Speaker: I turn into like a profiler for the FBI or something.
Speaker: I like Jason Bourne.
Speaker: I get dropped off.
Speaker: I start walking down the streets and start to notice like every single little thing on a house.
Speaker: Like, you know, our tire marks going into a garage and kids stuff in the yard.
Speaker: And when's the last time they mowed their lawn?
Speaker: I mean, by the time I walk by a house, I think I know their social security numbers.
Speaker: And I assess, and I don't just immediately start knocking.
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.
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.
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.
Speaker: Just because
Speaker: it increases the chances a little bit.
Speaker: Now, I'm not saying it's right or wrong.
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.
Speaker: Once I have about four or five of those, and I try to bump another house, it's like I'm addicted.
Speaker: I keep walking around to find which ones, and then once I have the best five,
Speaker: with the highest probability of closing, I only go to those five.
Speaker: And, you know, when I end up closing those, then I've increased the chances of closing the Mercedes next door.
Speaker: But if I knocked the Mercedes next door first, it would be a lower chance and a waste of time, right?
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.
Speaker: That's what you should be doing.
Speaker: So pick the easy ones.
Speaker: Pick the ones you know are going to get it or are going to benefit.
Speaker: the ones you believe you really can close.
Speaker: You have a pattern when you've been selling.
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.
Speaker: And start with those.
Speaker: I mean, have a plan.
Speaker: Don't go out there and just start knocking for no reason.
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.
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?
Speaker: Did that make you money?
Speaker: And we're like, no, but they said yes to an appointment.
Speaker: And you're like, who cares?
Speaker: That's not going to make you money.
Speaker: So that's something I remember.
Speaker: You guys should not even care about the appointments.
Speaker: Just care about the installs.
Speaker: I know I came off strong on that one.
Speaker: I have no excuse for that.
Speaker: But I do believe that.
Speaker: I did that at my organization.
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.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: All of a sudden, incentives are put towards installs versus, hey, bro, we've got five bills today.
Speaker: It's like, it doesn't matter.
Speaker: Are you closing jobs?
Speaker: And once that measurement changes, then everyone else adapts and changes because everyone wants that recognition.
Speaker: They want to feel like they're contributing to a team and to their own lives.
Speaker: So inherently, everything does change for the better is what I believe.
Speaker: Yeah, yeah.
Speaker: No, I like that.
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.
Speaker: Go to everything.
Speaker: But it's like that's where the money is at is where the installs are going to take place.
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.
Speaker: Yeah, good memory.
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.
Speaker: I remember the night I was laying in my bed,
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.
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.
Speaker: Those two recipes right there turned me into a highly efficient sales rep.
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
Speaker: Every home has been knocked a billion times.
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.
Speaker: Would you agree?
Speaker: Oh yeah, absolutely.
Speaker: For sure.
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.
Speaker: And so before we forget, I just wanted to hear a little bit.
Speaker: We've got SolarCon coming up.
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?
Speaker: Yeah, absolutely.
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.
Speaker: Like I cannot believe that they're in our industry with how great these people are.
Speaker: And then I meet their kids and their family.
Speaker: I see how their kids run up to their dad and just absolutely love him and the smile on his face, you know.
Speaker: And it's like, and then I go to another state and they're like, oh, I hate that guy.
Speaker: I'm like,
Speaker: Wait, you would like them, I promise you.
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,
Speaker: All of us can hear it directly from the horse's mouth.
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.
Speaker: And that's the idea behind SolarCon is put all of that under one roof and let everyone talk to each other.
Speaker: Let admin have a space to talk.
Speaker: Women in solar should have a place to talk.
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
Speaker: Screw this, Dior P. While they're just trying to screw me over.
Speaker: Oh, my goodness.
Speaker: There's so much, even like the installers being like, oh, we're not getting paid.
Speaker: We do all the work and things like that.
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.
Speaker: It is.
Speaker: It's wild.
Speaker: We own Solar Objections, Solar Growth, and Solar Advice, which is the newer one.
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.
Speaker: And some days, like let's say, God forbid, we're flying somewhere.
Speaker: Someone posts something, I can't believe you're allowing this in these groups.
Speaker: Private messages to us.
Speaker: And we're like, we were just flying.
Speaker: Like we literally been traveling all day.
Speaker: We don't like these things in our group.
Speaker: That's why you're here.
Speaker: But it does happen.
Speaker: It happens like wildfire everywhere.
Speaker: I know.
Speaker: Pretty sad.
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.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: So, yeah, I look forward to it.
Speaker: And when is SolarCon for all those that want to check it out?
Speaker: Yeah, it's April 21st, 22nd, and 23rd.
Speaker: The website is attendsolarcon.com.
Speaker: Okay.
Speaker: Because we want you to attend.
Speaker: And it's in Salt Lake City.
Speaker: Sweet.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: So, yeah, for all our listeners, all our solopreneurs, make sure you go get a ticket.
Speaker: We're going to put in the show notes a link where you can get your ticket exclusive for solopreneur listeners.
Speaker: And then also I'm going to be on a panel there.
Speaker: You're going to be hanging out with Jake.
Speaker: Remember, you are the average of the five people you surround yourself with.
Speaker: So you want to hang out with my man Jake and yours truly.
Speaker: So we're going to be looking forward to it.
Speaker: And then before we wrap up here, Jake, where can people connect with you more on?
Speaker: I know you've got your Facebook groups you just mentioned and we'll link to those.
Speaker: But anywhere else you want to point people if they want to connect to you or learn more about Solar Academy.
Speaker: Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker: Before that though, for all the listeners on here, I've worked with Taylor for a long time.
Speaker: And everybody in this industry that I come across has everything good to say about him.
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.
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?
Speaker: We'll create a unique code for you.
Speaker: Cool.
Speaker: I'll get with my marketing guy and get you that link so we can put it in there.
Speaker: And to get a hold of me, my cell phone number is 619-916-6027.
Speaker: Feel free to shoot me a text.
Speaker: I love interacting with the industry and helping reps where I can.
Speaker: Don't be discouraged if I don't reply to it immediately.
Speaker: I have a lot of people coming in, but I do like to help out where I can.
Speaker: You can go to Facebook, any of those groups.
Speaker: Come to SolarCon.
Speaker: It's going to be amazing.
Speaker: Or reach out to us on the Solar Academy website.
Speaker: Okay, awesome.
Speaker: So go reach out to Jake.
Speaker: I know you appreciated the advice he shared with us today on the show.
Speaker: And then we hopefully will see everyone at SolarCon coming up.
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?
Speaker: Oh my goodness, yes.
Speaker: You guys, what I'm about to say makes the most common sense.
Speaker: It's like the most common sense in the world, but we could all use a reminder on common sense sometimes.
Speaker: At least that's what my dad told me growing up.
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
Speaker: about 99% of the sales reps haven't actually even read through that whole contract and understood what's in it.
Speaker: But here's the crazy twist to that.
Speaker: And this is how I sold so much.
Speaker: I would actually leave a printed contract with the homeowner before signing them.
Speaker: I would come back another day.
Speaker: I use a two-touch close method.
Speaker: And leave it with them to look through.
Speaker: But I highlighted where all the highlights were in this thing.
Speaker: And it's crazy.
Speaker: These contracts are actually...
Speaker: they work to your benefit.
Speaker: I ask the homeowner, I say, hey, what are you literally risking right now?
Speaker: Because we're about to come put solar on your house for zero dollars.
Speaker: You've given us nothing.
Speaker: It's an unsecured loan, or if it's a PPA or lease, you've given us zero dollars.
Speaker: We're warranting the roof.
Speaker: We're taking on all the risk.
Speaker: We're paying for it.
Speaker: What is your risk?
Speaker: And they're like, whoa.
Speaker: And I'm like, just look through the contract.
Speaker: I know everything that's in there.
Speaker: You guys are going to love it.
Speaker: It protects you more than it protects us.
Speaker: I love that.
Speaker: Because most reps are too scared to do that to bring up the problem.
Speaker: They go...
Speaker: But if they cancel, if I say stuff like that, they're so scared of it.
Speaker: I can't help them reach a contract.
Speaker: They'll see something they don't like.
Speaker: Just get through it as quick as possible.
Speaker: But lean into it, though.
Speaker: Lean into it.
Speaker: I would challenge anybody out here.
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.
Speaker: Everything in that contract is to protect that homeowner, and you should use that to your advantage.
Speaker: It's wild.
Speaker: The understanding of this contract is so backwards.
Speaker: It favors the homeowner.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: That's true.
Speaker: Well, great advice.
Speaker: So, Jake, thanks again for coming on the show.
Speaker: And, guys, we'll see you at SolarCon.
Speaker: Let Jake know you appreciated his podcast today.
Speaker: And thanks again for coming on.
Speaker: Thank you, Taylor.
Speaker: Thank you.
Speaker: I appreciate it.
Speaker: Talk soon.
Speaker: Hey Solarpreneurs, quick question.
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?
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.
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.
Speaker: And it's called Solcite.
Speaker: This learning community was designed from the ground up to level the playing field and give solar pros access to proven mentors and
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.
Speaker: Currently, SoulCity is open, launched, and ready to be enrolled.
Speaker: So go to SoulCity.co to learn more.
Speaker: and join the learning experience now.
Speaker: This is exclusively for solopreneur listeners, so be sure to go to solcity.co and join.
Speaker: We'll see you on the inside.
