How to Achieve GOAT Status in Solar Sales - Taylor McCarthy
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Speaker 1 (00:03):
Welcome to the Solarpreneur podcast, where we teach you to take your solar business to the next level. My name is Taylor Armstrong and 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 fail. online teach you to avoid the mistakes I made and bringing the top solar dogs, 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 Solarpreneur you might ask a Solarpreneur is a new breed of solar pro that is willing to do whatever it takes to achieve mastery and you are about to become one.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
We are back in the studio today, got back from a trip to Dallas last weekend, actually with the man of the hour who is here with us today, I'm excited to finally get him on the show because we have got the legends and the myths Taylor McCarthy. So thanks for finally coming on the show with us Taylor. Hey bro. I'm really happy to be here. I'm excited. We're going to get this to drop some drops. Some of the heat for everybody right now. Oh yeah. And everybody knows anyone with a name like Taylor, they're going to be bringing the heat. They're going to be bringing the value tips in the solar industry. So Taylor's in the room. Let's go. Good stuff. So, uh, yeah, we just got back from your events, Taylor, the Knockstar, um, the, uh, Knock Fest, I should say, or sorry, a Door to Door Fest, get all these events confused.
Speaker 2 (01:35):
Um, so it was great events. You guys put a ton of time into it. So tell me, how was it? You, you recovered from the events, you guys put a lot of work into that. Yeah, man, definitely a lot of stress going into that, like being able to prepare that big of an event and you know, wanting to deliver and have it come from a genuine place, you know, um, you know, when we first started north starting university, it was really just a project to say like, Hey, like let's get it back to the next generation. We'll do a six week bootcamp. We'll design a competition around the bootcamp where we can train, hold people accountable and really help them get results. And then it transformed into, you know, us wanting to do this event and, you know, putting together people that really had validity that we're walking the walk and making the plays right now.
Speaker 2 (02:20):
And you know, it turned out really good. You know, the best part about it was the relationships. I feel like I've formed and you know, just to be able to really give back and hold nothing back because you know, it's something that genuinely bothers me. Like why is there so much mediocrity in our space? Why isn't there everybody's a millionaire, right? Because we get the chance to write our own paycheck. Every single day, we get the ability to tell somebody what we're worth and go improve that on a day-to-day basis. You know, that was one thing that I wanted to deliver for people was to be able to not only give them motivation and teach them things, but to really give them something that they can take, you know, like specific one-liners or, you know, reasons why people say yes or reasons why people say no or understanding what to say when somebody says, I want to think about it.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
You know, that's why we designed the actual Solar Knock Cards, which has all the common objections and all the nasty words that people have to eliminate from their vocabulary. And then the slicks specifically, you know, to be able to engage people while they're on the doors and to give the door to door sales and in the best percentage and the certainty that they want to be successful. Yeah. I love that. And I tell this story all the time, but when I first started in solar, there was so much like hidden stuff that people didn't want to say. It's like outside of my company, I going get any coaching at all. Um, I literally go to top guys at other companies. So I was with a pretty small company. So I hit up the top dudes, other companies, they'd be like, no, we're not telling you anything.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
Like, come on, man, I'll buy you dinner. Let's go. Just like, tell me a few lines that are working for you and nothing, no one say anything. So what I love about you is you hold nothing back. And like you're saying in this event, you literally gave us, I think every line that's working for you, everything you say out there, and I've never heard someone just break it down into the exact words they're saying, which you can have vines even a couple of years ago. Um, so yeah, that's was a money events and definitely worth the money for that, for your stuff alone that we heard. Um, but yeah, what I want to ask you, Taylor, when you guys first started this whole Knox star thing, were you planning on doing live events or was it just going to be the original coaching thing is sort of evolved since you yeah, I mean, you know, just to be very blunt, like Dan was the one that took the lead on saying, Hey, we have to do this event starting to put the pieces together.
Speaker 2 (04:43):
And you know that wasn't initially my idea. I'm not the type of guy that's going to say, Hey, I'm throwing this huge event. You know, it's kind of like first comes to the action then comes the motivation, right. You know, we started to put one foot in front of each other and we started to kind of make the plays that we needed to make. And you know, the next thing you know is we have a full event with 400 people in it. And you know, when you're around and surrounded around all those people, you know, I really don't know what I'm going to say when I go up on stage, because I don't speak from my brain and speak from my heart the same way that I don't know what I'm about to say over the next 30 to 45 minutes, it's just, I have this intention to say, Hey, like I'm being selfish.
Speaker 2 (05:22):
If I don't give everything that I have back to the industry and to help other people. And that's just what it comes down to because you really think about it. How many people get into door to door sales that just straight up never make it, like they only wait make it two, three weeks because they don't know this information. And they go two to three weeks without getting paid. And then they say, Hey, um, I'm going to go back to my job at seven 11 or I'm going to go back to my hourly job. See the problem is, is there's two zones. There's the, the comfort zone and the danger zone. We all strive to achieve things like money. The greatest motivator of all is the need to be comfortable. But what happens is we get, we get frustrated. And when that frustration dwells, the average person will withdraw or they will quit, right?
Speaker 2 (06:10):
Because they start to self doubt themselves. They don't have that certainty. And when you're armed and you have the ammunition to say, Hey, I've got nine or 10 different ways to handle this. You know, we did a play. Somebody had a specific, you know, objection. And, you know, I handled it and everyone was like, oh, that was nasty. You handled it like four or five different ways. Well, I know nine or 10 different ways to handle that. What came out came out. But if you only have one way to end the one objection or concern, you know, then you, you really put yourself into a corner rather than learning new ways and different ways to say different things. And you know, I'd probably say that the two most important things within my presentation is repetition and clarity. I'm very clear with what I explained to people.
Speaker 2 (06:55):
And I repeat things over and over multiple different ways, multiple, you know, uh, multiple different ways. And I say it different, uh, in different tonalities because you know, a lot of times you say something to somebody and they don't understand. It's not what I say. It's not how I say it. It's how I can make them feel. And it's some things will just go in one ear and out the other one. So, you know, I really need them to retain this information. I do that through repetition and clarity. Yeah. And that's huge. And something you're talking about at the events is how many times have we all heard it and have a presentation we're getting ready to close. I'm like, wait, but I still don't have money for this. It's like, are you kidding me? We just went over like 30 minutes saying, it's not going to cost you anything out of your pocket.
Speaker 2 (07:36):
Um, so that was huge. And you gave us some solid lines to just sorta like, repeat it. Cause you don't want to repeat the same things over and over. But it's like what you're saying, if you can repeat it, approach it in a different way. And then you talked about activating the senses, getting them to write it down, things like that, which I loved bowls at points you had. So, um, so if you didn't, if you didn't go to the events, I know some people are probably itching to hear somebody of lines and everything, but do you want to give us some of the ways Taylor, that you sorta like free explain these things to not just like repeat the same, uh, you know, same stuff over and yeah, definitely. So w what you have to realize is right now, you guys are hearing, right.
Speaker 2 (08:16):
That's what you're doing. You're listening to what we're saying, right? And that's the first way that you learned something, but you have to realize the way that the people that we serve, these families that we serve, the way that they're going to learn solar is by hearing reading, saying, in writing these techniques, and you need to hear something, read something, write something and say something six times to retain 62% of that information. Okay. If I say things one time too, that's good. But if I tell you something and I say, Hey, it's easier by show you and I'm handing them something. Now they're starting to read and hear me, right? And then if I ask them a question and get them to talk, now they're hearing reading and saying, buying is not a spectator sport. It's an involvement sport. I am an assistant buyer, and the process is not to the customer, it's for the customer.
Speaker 2 (09:14):
And I need to take their hand and I need to lead them through the process. So the same way that we have a formula or a roadmap for a homeowner, when we get inside of the home, we also have a formula or a roadmap, um, for the actual, uh, door presentation, which unfortunately I just haven't seen anybody really break it down to the ridiculous of what it's going to take to be able to actually go through the process of selling somebody. And, you know, it starts with you, it starts with mentality. It starts with affirmation, right? The things that I think about are going to lead to an emotion, and that will make me feel a certain way. That feeling will make me judge myself and make a decision about the way that I'm going to approach my debt. Right? But it's the same thing.
Speaker 2 (09:57):
When I approach a homeowner that first three seconds, there's going to be thoughts that go into their head. Those thoughts will create an emotion. Those, that emotion will make them feel a certain way about me, my product and my service when I knock on their door. And that feeling that they have will lead to them, judging me, which will lead to their end. That decision people rarely buy up people. They don't like trust or no. So that's the first thing that I focus on. Also have like a demeanor, like, I really don't care if you do this or not like this is going to happen with, or without you. And that's the first part of where I sit and stand. Right? Um, it starts with me affirming what I want to do. I need to have affirmation, right? Affirmation. Like this is a done deal. These guys were already talking about it. You know, the next thing I'm going into is who I am and why I'm there. Oh, Hey sir.
Speaker 2 (10:49):
Actually, the reason I'm confident, I'll pretty much just cut to the chase. You know how you have FPL here for the electricity, right? So that's typically how I'll start my presentation. I'm telling them who I am. I'm telling them why I'm there. The reason I'm coming by is like a little bit different. I'll pretty much cut to the chase. You know how you have blank for your electricity, right? That's a very cut and dry, quick process. They're going to say, yes, I'm giving myself the best percentages and I'm taking what maybe has five or seven seconds like 20 or 30, because I've created a little bit of curiosity. Right? And that's what I want to focus on to create curiosity. I then need to tell a story. So if you break it down, affirmation who you are, why you're there. Then I need to tell a story.
Speaker 2 (11:34):
And I need to do that by asking a question. Typically, once I say, Hey, do you know how you have FPL here for the electricity? They say, yes. I say, Hey, I don't know if you know, right. And I might spin that to, Hey, I don't know if you know what's going on in the state. Hey, I don't know if you know what's going on here in Cape coral. Hey, I don't know if you guys remember last year, the ballot, right? You guys might've remembered. You guys voted on something called grid pardoning. That's why all the polls, the wooden poles have been switched out for metal on us. 41. We have a little bit of an issue. It is serious. We're not trying to come down on anybody. However, it is important, right? I need to tell a story to create curiosity and through creating curiosity on painting a picture in their head, also known as imagery, right?
Speaker 2 (12:17):
Because that's how I'm going to get them interested. Um, by telling that story, asking a question and then creating a really big problem, right? I need to create pain within the process. If there's no pain, they will not change. Right. And that's one thing. The two things that I noticed most solar professionals don't do good enough job at is really telling a story on why this is a big deal, right? We maintain a grid. That's 135 years old, right? They have to constantly maintain this grid. That's why they have all these fees and surcharges here in Florida. We get all of our power from out of state. One out of every $4 exits the Florida economy. It goes into the Georgia economy because the power goes through something. You can call the trans mission. Substation goes through a distribution substation, and then eventually gets to the house.
Speaker 2 (13:05):
So if I can show them something, as I'm telling it to them, and I can create that really good story on why I'm there, which is a hundred percent true. Every single time, there's no like gimmicks or anything. It's just, unmaking it very serious because it is a huge problem. Right? And if you don't feel like it's a big problem, then you're going to get transitioned off of the doorstep. One or two things is going to happen. My belief is going to teleport out of my body, into you, and you're going to feel, Hey, this kid says the part. It makes sense. Okay. Maybe we should go to step two, right? Because I'm a firm believer that no matter what situation I go in, they're in a much better situation to own their power. Then be at the mercy of the power company, right. They, instead of them taking that money every month and throwing it into a dumpster, they're now redirecting it to their piggy bank where they're writing the checks to themselves every month, because they're the owner of their power.
Speaker 2 (13:55):
Right. And I use a lot of glamor words, a glamor word is a commonly known word. That's uncommonly used. And I use different words like, you know, unparalleled, you know, fantastic, robust redirection. You know, there's a new program. That's gonna allow you to redirect your payment towards owning your power. It's called the redirection program. You would literally divert what you would've paid to the utility company into a piggy bank. And that would eventually end. So you own your electricity, right? So I'm utilizing these words to really pick up their senses and realize it's not just what I'm saying. It's not how I say it. It's how I make them feel. And if I can make them feel like, Hey, what he's saying is right, and this makes sense, right? They're going to move to the next step with me. They might not necessarily say I want to do this, but they're going to sit there and listen to me for those extra 20 or 30 seconds.
Speaker 2 (14:46):
And then there's extra 20 or 30 seconds is going to lead into an extra 20 or 30 seconds. And eventually I'm going to break them down. It's like Yukon, Cornelius, the guy from, you know, back in the day on the, on the old movies. And he's, you know, he's chipping away. Right. And you have to chip away and eventually get to the process where it makes sense for these homeowners boom nuggets right there. And I'll be your, uh, I'll be your testimony because I mean, I went through your program, just started implementing some of these lines. You're saying, um, I, I hadn't done, I hadn't gotten over 10 cells for probably the last eight, nine months granted COVID and everything. But just from him implementing these lines and going through this stuff that you and Danny taught, it was like hit 12 cells that month had my best month in the past year with COVID and everything.
Speaker 2 (15:33):
So guys, if you haven't what I would do, just put this whole section on, repeat, listen to the lines that Taylor saying. Cause literally just by doing those things in implementing some of these lines, it's like crazy how much of a difference that you make. Um, so versus getting them through it, whereas getting into the psychology of why people say yes, but then also realize there's a psychology behind why people are going to tell note to tell you no. And the reason people are going to say yes, right? And in, in, in door to door sales, direct sales, it isn't easy, right? 99% of people couldn't handle what we do. That's why 99% of people don't do it. Right. And you look at the, the real psychology. If you really want to understand why somebody is going to say yes to you, right? You are the product or service, right.
Speaker 2 (16:20):
They're going to believe more about the conviction that you have and why this makes sense for their situation and your technical skills. Right. Um, E excited and enthusiasm. Enthusiasm is the spirit you have within you. When I was 18 years old, I started selling Verizon file store door. I used to skip my last class, a high school and, uh, had a 1.8 GPA in high school. And I would work for $86 a sale. And, um, I remember hearing the guy with the most energy makes the most money, right? So like your energy and your enthusiasm, and then the way that you decide to serve customers, yes, you are the product or service, your energy and enthusiasm and the way that you generally try to serve people. You know, I have to build that authentic communication, that authentic connection with people when I meet them for them to feel that way.
Speaker 2 (17:07):
Like I am genuinely helping you. Like if I go through this process with you, you'll do it a hundred percent. You would say, yes, it's just the hardest part of my job is timing. But what I'm going to do is I'm going to show you apples to apples, your current situation, compared to how it would be, if you redirected towards owning your electricity and like, I'll show you the fast and then you'll make the decision. But at the end of it, and the biggest problem is if I don't understand this, like the back of my hand, you're not going to be able to understand that, to make a decision, right? And then the reasons why people will say no, because you might get to the end of your presentation. And they said, Hey, I want to think about it. Um, there's something called the circle of persuasion that you have to go through and loop back and forth and go right through this multiple times, because get the, I want to think about it.
Speaker 2 (17:50):
I get the, I'm not making a decision today, but I keep looping through this formula to be able to get myself to that final. Yes, because at the end of the day, they're going to commit to one of three things. They're either going to commit to the utility company and say, Hey, powering my home from the power company. And the utility company is my best option. And if they are a firm believer at the end of my presentation, that paying the fees and surcharges and being at the mercy of the power companies, their best options, cool. I'll shake their hand and I'll say, Hey, if that's the way you'd feel after I've told you everything, I need to tell you that I'm cool with that, right. Option two is they're redirecting into a piggy bank where they own their power. They're turning a liability into an asset or option three is we go to submit your application and they deny you.
Speaker 2 (18:33):
And then in that case, you're stuck. I mean, you could go to the seven 11, go buy a $20 scraps to get one a million dollars, say, yes, I'm buying a brand new solar system and you can't get it because the system is grid grid dependent. It's gonna inter connect to the grid, right? So utilizing takeaways and, um, the reasons why people aren't going to move forward. Number one is lingering questions, right? People have lingering questions and sometimes they don't tell you. And that's the benefit of the slicks is like the five main questions I like to go on offense and show them this before man, like people always have five main questions. What happens to my roof? What happens if I move? What is the bottom line cost of doing this? Who's going to serve as a system. And when do I start saving money?
Speaker 2 (19:13):
And I want to bring up all those five lingering questions beforehand. I also want to bring up, it sounds way too good to be true. Bottom line started. If you're going to fall into one or two categories, category one, everything that I just said made complete and total sense. You know, somebody that's benefited from going solar or categories here just sounds way too good to be true. And you're probably sitting there like, wait a second. What's the catch. The catch is simple. When I say that I have your full attention, right. It catches simple. What's the main reason you picked it. You know, the utility company as your provider in the first place. Exactly. You never had a second option right now. You see these lines are a natural part of me because I've internalized them. Right. And that's how you learn something is by utilizing it and then internalizing it and then you reinforce it.
Speaker 2 (19:55):
Right? Um, the other reason why people aren't going to move forward as an inadequate explanation of benefits, right? Different buyers require different amounts of information to be soul, right? No, nobody wants to be sold. Nobody wants to buy something. They want to own it. Right? So I need to really explain to them the benefits. And you know, what I like to do is when I go in for my clothes and even on the door, I say, Hey, there's an agenda because it gives them a roadmap. I go over four questions. They're called. Can we pay the questions that I'm going to go over your costs of doing nothing really show you apples to apples. What you're going to end up spending a month on power a year for power and how much you're going to have to actually give to the landlord. Um, next, we're going to explain to you what we believe are MCSS will try those five main buttons, remove costs, service, savings, recap, design, and I'll say the numbers.
Speaker 2 (20:42):
And then we'll actually submit your application. Um, with the questions are pretty basic. We want to make sure that are both, how many years have you literally it was called word of mouth advertising. And if you've lived here for six years, we want the credibility, but also the visibility from using a roof because people will see the panels. Um, peace of mind is something that people want out of this because the rates are just going to consistently go up. You know, there is one program that allows you to have a 0% escalator, meaning that your price on month one, your cost, your investment for your system would never, ever go up. We want you to understand the difference between renting and owning. That's a critical part. People are going to cancel. If they are just saving 50 bucks a month and they take out a loan, they realize it's after.
Speaker 2 (21:24):
I need them really to understand the difference between resting versus owning. And I want to pull a hypothetical like, Hey, what am I going to do to convince you to go back to renting your house? And I use a checkbook analogy, right? So Taylor, if you were my, if you were the customer right now, I'd say, you know, like, um, Taylor, I have a hypothetical situation for you. You know, hypothetically, if I pulled the checkbook out of my pocket right now, and I was willing to write you a check and hand it to you. Um, so I could be the owner of your home, um, because I wanted the title and I wanted ownership of the home. I would continue to live here. I would let you continue to live here, but you would just have to write me a check every single month so I could pay off the mortgage.
Speaker 2 (22:05):
Is that something you would do? Would you go back to renting your house? If I was willing to buy it from you and you just had to write me a check every single month, would you do that? Would you go back to rent? No way. No. Why wouldn't you do that? Because I've already been paying towards own and owning the house. It'd be like taking a step back right now. Why would I want to do that? Because you would get my house basically, and then you would get my paycheck or you would get the same concept with your electricity. Right? See, the problem is solar has been very, very, very expensive. And all these neighbors like Judy, she lives right here in the home right here on the corner. She was really smart about it, but she did not win the lottery. She did not take money out of her checking account, nor did she pivot from her stock portfolio.
Speaker 2 (22:52):
She just realized that if she was paying the electricity for rent or a liability, that she wanted to turn that into an asset where she now had the control. Right? And that's where I want to explain the difference between renting versus owning. And I want you to really verbalize because I can go through my, can we pay process? I'm actually writing down all the answers, right? Because when I get to the very end of the process, I want the value to be as high as possible. That when I show you what your fixed monthly payment is, that I can assume in transition and go right into, you know, the clothes and how this would make sense. Um, and then I have the 10 pillars of reasons why people want to go solar. There's $0 out of pocket. You add equity to your home. You own your power source.
Speaker 2 (23:34):
You eliminate fees and surcharges. People do this, that are tech savvy. You get a fixed payment twenty-five year warranty, production guarantee, the better environment, the cost into an investment. And then you get the 20% federal tax credit, crazy golden nuggets spread there. And for, for everyone, that's listening to audio, Taylor's been holding up these, um, these slicks. Um, so we're going to release the video version. I would definitely suggest listening to that. And then we'll ask them at the end where you guys can get a hold of these things, because these things are game changers too. Um, but no, I think it's super valuable stuff. So again, just re if you anyone that's listening, if you hear these lines on repeat, start to implement them, it's gonna increase yourselves for sure. I mean, I know you guys already have dozens of success, stories of people implementing these things, increasing their sales.
Speaker 2 (24:25):
Um, but what about Dale or for people that, um, are hitting highly saturated area? It's been knocked the ton. Oh, you're the fifth solar guy here. Cause I'm in San Diego. One of the most competitive markets done on people here, um, slinging solar. So what do you do? What are your, some of your lines for those neighborhoods where you get no, you're the fifth solar guy here and what are you doing to differentiate, differentiate yourself from all those other guys that came. So first is how you envision yourself, right? Like I do not care if they've been talked to by four other solar guys that dead, they just haven't talked to me about it, right? Because what I'm going to be telling them is completely different. You know? So like this is completely, totally different. This is completely different. So, you know, before all these companies come out and say, we want to sell you this, or we want to sell you that were utilizing you guys as reference points or what we call model homes.
Speaker 2 (25:16):
How many years have you guys even lived here? Right. And I want to take it away from them right now. If you've been approached about solar, you have to understand what their misconception is and you need to tell them, Hey, the biggest problem in solar is if I don't understand this, like the back of my hand, you're not going to be able to understand it. A lot of the people are telling me a lot of people say, they're not interested without actually seeing a proposal and understanding, you know, what their house would look like with the panels. And actually somebody showing them apples to apples, what their current situation is compared to their new situation. You know? So I try to get really real about their situation. I pull up their house with an application called Sunseeker where I can show them the hours that are hitting their house.
Speaker 2 (25:58):
And I want to actually personalize their situation right off the bat. Now, if somebody has already been talked to about going solar, you know, I want to figure out the reasons why, you know, what they were told and you know, really why they didn't move forward. But I also want to be convicted and say like, if I go through this process with you, you'll do it. You know? Like, what was the main reason you picked, you know, Edison as your power provider in the first place. Okay. You, weren't thinking about closing out the account. Right. You know, how many years have you lived here? Okay. So seven years, hypothetically, if the power company called you on the phone right now and said, you guys have been super loyal for the last seven years, we've been taking all the payments and we put them into a piggy bank for you.
Speaker 2 (26:36):
And on your 20 or your 25, you just don't have to pay a power bill because you own your electricity. Right? Like, um, I use specific lines, like, you know, like, um, we'll go through a quick role-play here. So like, um, like, like Taylor, um, how many years ago was it that you moved into the hall? Uh, it's been like six years now. A little bit. Okay. So six years ago when you moved into the house, I don't know if you move the furniture on yourself, you had a moving company, but that first day that you moved in, I know you didn't hesitate to call the power company. Typically what happens is you call them, you tell them your name. They said, okay, where's the B address? And then your, your, your lights is turned on and like 30, 45 minutes or whatever. But at that time, six years ago, if you would've called the power company and they said, Hey, before we turn the lights on, we need to send a representative out to your house.
Speaker 2 (27:24):
Kind of like I'm here right now. And you were to have two options. You are not just forced to have that one option where you had to rent the power, pay the fees, pay the surcharges, and always have to maintain this hundred and 35 year old infrastructure. They said, we have a second option because we're here right now. When we proposed the idea to actually use your roof as a power plant, where you're producing power onsite, you own that electricity. You have the ability to have a fixed payment that nine out of 10 times is going to be lower than what you currently pay. You will not pay any fees and surcharges. And then you'll have an end game with that because you're producing clean energy, right? You're also going to be incentivized, kind of like, if you go speeding 110 miles per hour down the highway, you're going to get a ticket.
Speaker 2 (28:09):
But when the government and they want you to do some thing, right, they're incentivizing you. And they said, Hey, we're going to actually pay you 26% of the federal tax credit to actually do this. If given that option, when six years ago, when you moved into the home, would you have at least have the representative come out to your house? Yeah, no doubt. So it was the only, the only difference is I just don't have an Edison logo on my shirt. Right? You want to paint imagery into their head to be able to show them, Hey, there's multiple options. And you know, a lot of the time when, when people are getting combative with me, you know, sometimes I'll just say, I'll just stop. And I'll say like, sorry, this is not a sales process. You're actually starting to make me feel a little uncomfortable.
Speaker 2 (28:52):
Right? I'm not a dentist. I've never performed a root canal in my life, nor am I looking to pull any teeth to that, right? Like, like I'm going to help you genuinely help you go into a better situation. It's just the hardest part of my job is timing. Right? That's the hardest part of my job. That's a reason why somebody is not going to move forward. Right. And then have that presentation down, pat. So we started with the affirmation who you are, why you're there creating a story and asking a question, right? Then I want to create the pain. Then I want to go into a problem. Then I want to go into the solution that I want to tell them how they're involved. Then I want to tell them how they're awarded that. I want to tell them why it makes sense. And then I want to transition it.
Speaker 2 (29:34):
And I want to assume, assume, assume, right? I always want to take the sales presentation as far as I possibly can. I don't want to be pushy. I'm not a used car salesman. But if I go through this process with you, you'll do it a hundred percent. You would say yes. And you have to have that conviction. The same that you're hearing my voice. If I'm like military, dude, you might not do this. Or like, Hey, this doesn't make sense for you. Like, no, like you're going to do it. It says, I have to explain it to you. Right? That's the biggest problem in the solar industry is people don't fully understand it and they try to explain it to you. And you get confused when you say no. And I would expect you to say no, right? But my job is very cut and dry.
Speaker 2 (30:09):
Right? I want to show you what your bill last month would have been. If you would have already had solar. And then I want to show you the actual design of the system. Do you know roughly, just roughly what you guys spend a month on the electricity, like 1 50, 1 50. Okay. So $150 is what you spend every single month to the utility company. You turn your lights on. You don't get any equity. Your power's not your house. Isn't worth more. It's not like, Hey, I've paid for power for 25 years. Now I'm going to go sell my house. And my home is going to be worth X amount more because you don't get anything in return. But if it's $150 that you spend a month fair to say over the course of a year, it's eight, $1,800, $1,800 comes out of your pocket to maintain a grid.
Speaker 2 (30:54):
That's over 130 years old. And it put this into perspective for you. If it's $1,800 in a year, what does 18,000 represent to you? In one year, you're giving the utility company. If you're donating $1,800 to the utility company in 10 years, what is $18,000 to you? I guess what I would have spent what I would have paid the utility company. It's 10 years of paying for power. If the rates never went up next 10 years, the rates could potentially double. They're not going to go down 50% because we use our natural resources, right? And that's why we have this problem. It is serious. We're not trying to come down on anybody. However, it is important, right? If you break down the last seven years that you've lived here, you've almost invested. Or I shouldn't say invested, I should really use the word donate because that utility company took all this money that you gave them.
Speaker 2 (31:48):
And I believe that these CEOs of these power companies should not be making millions of dollars a year. I believe that if we have 135 year infrastructure, we should all be paying for it. Not just the consumers. You see, I'm a consumer myself. And whenever I put myself in these types of situations, I want to find somebody with expert product knowledge. Because if I get confused anywhere along this process, I'm going to say no, right? And I use this to help the homeowner relax because your greatest enemy is the client's fear, right? And if they're scared, they don't want to make the wrong decision. So as an assistant buyer, that's the first thing on the top of my food champions. I need to really help them relax. Then I need to go into a really good, intense statement. Then I need to go through the, can we pay questions and get them to talk about why I should pick their home.
Speaker 2 (32:36):
Then I want them to circle the reasons why they like that. They should go solar. Then I want to explain to them what we believe. I want to show them apples to apples. Hey, this is what your average monthly bill comes to. This is what you pay average per year. This is how many kilowatts you consume per month. This is how many kilowatts consumed per year. This is what you're going to pay for power over the course of X amount of time. This is what you're getting for a tax credit. If you don't do anything. So I'm showing them apples to apples, almost like a Ben Franklin closed, Hey, if you could stay with your current situation, this is how it's going to be. If you move to a new situation, this is what it's going to be. I do not care if you do it, this this is going to happen with, or without you.
Speaker 2 (33:14):
I've got about 11 and more of these to do today. Um, but if you want to take a part of the project, the next step is actually getting the utility company to process the redirection. If they denied the application, then you're stuck. Right. And I take it away at that point, right? So I'm not going to sound needy, right? The same way that if the customer starts to, you know, give me a hard time. Like, I just have a demeanor. I don't care if you do it or not. It's your bill. You know, like the TVs, aren't going to look any different. They're not going to flicker the lights. Aren't going to look any different. And I almost have a demeanor, Hey, if, if you don't do this, like you, you might as well just keep the lights on. And the TV's on all day when you go to work, you know, like, it's, it, it doesn't make sense to me because I have the Zite belief that it does not make sense to them to continue to waste money.
Speaker 2 (34:01):
Right. I definitely feel as if people hesitate to pay full price on things they don't need to. Right. That's a jab. Right? I use that when I'm in the field, right. I definitely feel as if people hesitate to pay full price on things they don't need to. What was the main reason you picked the Edison in the first place? Okay. You guys, weren't thinking about canceling the account, right? So all these little jabs are kind of making them feel like, Hey, am I making the right decision? I want to avoid the wrong decision. Well, guess what? Through my conviction and through my passion and my product and my service, they're going to start to doubt their current situation and say, dude, we're getting screwed, right? Why would we pay all these fees and surcharges? Hey, this kid looks, the party sounds apart. He's showing me stuff.
Speaker 2 (34:39):
He's backing up. What he's saying. When I go to the field, I have like 14 different slicks. If they ask me about a hurricane, if they asked me the difference between the old Stouffer's the new stuff, where the sun direction comes, you know, I have all this different ammunition that I can show them something, as I say something right. And my dad has always told me documentation beats conversation. That's another thing that I say to them, like, no, everything that I'm saying is good, but, uh, documentation beats conversation, you know, this is the hardest part of my job is time. And if I go through this process with the old, do it a hundred percent, you'll do it. And then I assume transition, Hey, I'll pop back by around five. Or Hey, if there's a small place, we can sit. I go through these questions.
Speaker 2 (35:20):
And, uh, you know, I just have that belief that they're going to do it. You know, I don't say anything special. I don't have a complicated presentation, you know, but what I do have is I have a lot of belief in my product and service and people are going to be more persuaded by that than my technical skills, powerful stuff. And I love that. And it's true. There's so much confusion in this. Especially out here in Southern California, I think that's basically the number one reason people don't have solar. So they got confused by loss guy that was pitching like a PPA. We used program. It's a big thing out here, but we come in, we can show them different options, give them that knowledge. And then people are way more confident. I had a lady just two weeks ago. That's an older lady canceled.
Speaker 2 (36:01):
Cause she was confused on like one tiny thing in the documents. Didn't tell me, just call up the company in canceled. I'm like, what? Then you go back, just clarify things to her, helped her gain an understanding. And she was back on board. So yeah, I see that all the time. I'm sure you do. People don't understand it. So they just cancel. They're confused. They don't want to do it. That's what I try to say, Hey, there's a new program. That's going to allow you to redirect your payment. It's called the redirection program. So if you noticed all these people that put up the wind turbines behind their houses, or like the solar panels on the roof, they did not win the lottery. They did not take money out of their checking account, nor did they pivot from their stock portfolios. What they realized was they were at the mercy of the power company.
Speaker 2 (36:43):
But if they could divert that payment towards a piggy bank or they owned their electricity rather than paying for rent every month, that's something that they wanted to do. Right. See, the hardest part of my job is that timing aspect and being able to explain it so they understand it because I need them to fully understand it for them to have the confidence and certainty that they're making the right decision. I love that. That's super powerful. Okay, guys, implement those lines again. Repeat these. It's going to change the way you sell. Um, and I know another thing you do just like reducing the cancellations is those hypothetical questions. That's something that I'd been trying to implement a lot is just asking the hypothetical's like you're saying, Hey, what would you do? If, if SDG, if Edison came back, they said, we're going to switch you onto the old program, getting them to agree with that.
Speaker 2 (37:29):
Um, so that's super powerful. What other geometry, other things that are helping you, um, reduce cancellations and things that have helped the guys you're coaching. Yep. So there's one specific question that I asked right before I walked out of the house. Understand practice does not make perfect, only perfect practice makes perfect. So you're going to need to stick this line word for word, if you want to utilize it. But if you can learn this one last line, it's going to completely eliminate your cancellations. Um, so Taylor, give me an example of your last one of your last homes. What was their average payment to the utility company and then what was their payment for solar? And give me a hundred percent offset just to make it easy on this one. Yeah. Um, I think my last one is, uh, probably one 70 was their average to the utility company.
Speaker 2 (38:22):
I think one about one 40 was their payments for the solar. Okay, great. So great example. All right, Taylor. So I really appreciate the time that we shared. Um, I have one question before I leave. Hypothetically, if you were to close your eyes right now and you already have the solar panels installed in the roof and you knew that you own your electricity and you knew you had a fixed payment that went into a piggy bank every month and it was $140. And you knew that rate would never go up because you owned your electricity. You had the panels installed. Um, your payment was one 40. It would never go up. And then you've heard somebody ringing your doorbell. You were cooking dinner or whatnot. And you went to go look who it was. You peeked out, you open your door and it was Edison and Edison tried to talk to you.
Speaker 2 (39:10):
And they said, Hey, we want you to rip off the panels. We want you to go back to renting your electricity. We want to put you into a variable rate where the rate can go up, but we're going to start you off at an average of $170, right? If that situation were to happen, you already had the panels installed in the roof. You had the $140 fixed payment that we talked about. And then Edison came and knocked on the door, try to convince you to rip those panels off. And they told you that your new rate would be one 70 and every time you made one of those payments, they would take the money and put it back into the infrastructure. And you would not have any sort of asset. You would not get the tax credit. If that situation were to happen, what would you say?
Speaker 2 (39:53):
Yeah, that would, that would suck no way. Would I go back onto that? No way you would never do it. And what I'm telling them at that point is their current situation. Right? I'm telling them their same situation that you're in. Right? So I've went through the process. I've signed all my documents. I've went through the final process in the night, reaffirmed that post-close closed that by asking that question. And if you really did the sales process the right way, they're going to say I would never do that. I would never do it. And then sometimes I'll, I'll take a subtle takeaway. Like keep in mind, like the utility company denies you. Then you are stuck. He better not do that. No. Well, what if they deny me? Can I call them? Is there any, can I go into the office? And I have felt that if you sell the process the right way, right?
Speaker 2 (40:37):
You want to take it away and you want to build that pain because understand if you don't build enough pain, if there isn't a problem, if there isn't pain, they won't change. Right. The pain, the problem, the solution, how they're involved, all the transition process works fire. Yeah. That is a game changer. I still need to memorize that because I think I've, I've tried that a few times. Uh, butchered it a little bit when I tried to do it. So definitely go back re listen to this, get it word for word and yeah, it's for sure. Going to change your cancellations. And last thing I wanted to ask you before we start wrapping up here, um, a big thing that I've learned from you is just vocabulary. Dale eliminates from your presentation. I know pitch is one of the words you don't eliminate. Taylor's making us do pushups and stuff like that when we said pitch at the conference.
Speaker 2 (41:34):
But, uh, can you go through for our listeners, some words that, uh, you teach you coach guys on to eliminate from their sales vocab. Yeah. There's actually a lot of the words that I completely eliminated from my vocabulary. Nasty words are words that will remind a buyer of a bad path selling experience. Right. And the pitch is one of the nastiest words, right? Let me just hear your pitch. Like you want to hear all these different pitches you should refer to pitch as an angle of a roof or a baseball throw that we'd replace pitch with the word present or presentation. Um, other words are like cheaper. I don't use the word cheaper. I use more economical, most economical or more efficient, most efficient. I don't use the word. I don't use the word appointment. Like, Hey, I'm going to set an appointment at six o'clock.
Speaker 2 (42:21):
I'll just pop by and visit. Right. Hey, so I'm going to actually be with the Gonzalez family at five. I'll just pop by, uh, like right at like 5 45. And I'll show you guys exactly what the panels will look like on the roof and what your bill locksmith would have been. Right? Cause people cancel an appointment, but they won't cancel a few pop by and visit. Right. Um, over the summer I had a lady that said, I am not signing any sort of contracts whatsoever today. So that's perfectly fine. This, um, you don't have to sign the contract, but what we are going to do is okay, these three forms and that's, what's going to allow us to get to the next step. And she was okay to okay. The form, but she didn't want to sign the contract because when somebody wants to sign something, they think of bad things.
Speaker 2 (43:01):
I just used the word. Okay, approve, authorize, or endorse. If they say contract, I really liked to use the word forms, paperwork, you know, um, agreement. But I really liked the worst forms in that situation. Um, so there, there's a lot of words that you just want to eliminate that, you know, might not help the process or, you know, they might think like, to be honest, I'd never say that I say to be blunt, right, right. To cut to the chase. I don't want to say, to be honest as I'm insinuates, like, oh, wait a second. Was he, was he honest? You know, so I say to be blunt, I try to add all, but I don't say the word free. Right? I say no costs. Right. And to be able to learn these words, eliminate them. And the opposite of a nasty word is a glamour word.
Speaker 2 (43:47):
And those are words like redirect or unparalleled are really getting them excited. And you also don't want to use those same word over and over and over again, if I said fantastic, nine times in my presentation, you know, then it becomes, and then it just becomes a redundant. Right. And it doesn't actually help the process. Right. The other thing that people want to eliminate is something called seal talk, seal talk is, uh, uh, and, um, um, uh, uh, or words that will take away certainty from your presentation. So when you're arming and eyeing the whole time, you know, that's called seal talk and you want to eliminate that from your, from your vocabulary as well. Yeah. Super important. Yeah. That's, that's been a game changer for sure. I was saying all of these things without realizing them. So something might've been trying to do is just record yourself because a lot of these, a lot of people don't are seeing these things, especially ums, AHS, buts.
Speaker 2 (44:42):
We don't even know we're saying it. So for our Solarpreneurs, go and record yourselves at guarantee, you're probably using a lot of these words without knowing it, especially because whatever everybody does, you just have to be conscious about it, right? Like in work on it, you might get 1% better every day or every week. And that's all it is, is getting really good with your vocabulary and your certainty. Because at the end of the day, the families that we serve, which I also don't use the word customers, right. I don't refer it to customers. They use the families we serve when they start to hear every other word that comes out of your mouth is odd. They're going to say, does this kid really know what he's talking about? I'm a consumer myself. Whenever I put myself in this sort of situation, I'm looking for somebody with expert product knowledge.
Speaker 2 (45:31):
That's part of my intent statement. Right. And if I can stick that during my intent statement and let them know, Hey, my goal is to have you commit to one of these three things, you know, that I'm really laying out the roadmap with how my presentation should go. Whether I'm on the door, whether I'm in the home. I love that super powerful stuff. So yeah, again, record yourselves. See if you are saying any of these trigger words. I know when I first got in the, in solar, I was taught to say all these things like a lot of, a lot of companies don't even teach these things. A lot of guys are saying free appointments. I had never heard that before you taught me that. And once I started replacing appointments with pop by our whole team, we've seen our cancellations go down. We've seen same day appointments, go up clear up for same day, pop bys.
Speaker 2 (46:18):
As we're not doing an appointment, we're just popping by later in the day. And that's when we're getting results. So, um, super powerful stuff, appreciate you for not holding anything back. Um, and that's what I love about what you and Danny are doing. Guys are changing the industry, for sure. So we're used to it being just the opposite of that. Um, so before we let you go, Taylor, can you, so I've told our podcast listeners, I was in your guys' bootcamp and helped me out, uh, just a ton in the way I sell and definitely got me results. So can you tell our listeners where they can find out more about you guys and maybe tell a little bit about your upcoming bootcamp and everything, if you guys got any spots left in that? Yeah. So it's filling up pretty fast. We just had our event, I believe.
Speaker 2 (47:02):
Uh, we're getting pretty close there because we want to really have that personalized touch over six weeks with every individual. Um, you can find information on www.knockstar.university or you can find all the products information about the six week bootcamp. The way we design the six week bootcamp is not just, uh, you know, a call every week and going over a specific stuff. But what we did was we designed the competition around it really hold you accountable and allows me to be your performance performance, manage you and kind of be your outside director of sales. And my job is to get the most out of you during that six weeks and really to push you, hold you accountable. Not only give you more information, but to get you to produce over that six weeks. And you know, the cool thing about it, like tell her you were within the program, you had, you know, w you had your best, uh, best month in a long time.
Speaker 2 (47:54):
And it was because you pushed yourself when you're up. And your proximity is around some of the top door to door salesmen all around the United States. You know, the coolest part about what we do is we get the opportunity to go prove what we're worth on a day-to-day basis. You can enter a bootcamp against some of the top solar professionals all across the United States. And, you know, there may be somebody that's listening to this podcast right now that not too many people know who you are, but you have that deep down belief in yourself, and you say, Hey, I'm going to go into this and I'm going to take out everybody. I'm going to be number one within this entire bootcamp. I'm going to be one of the guys that goes up on stage. I'm going to be somebody that's recognized, because I understand people strive to get these things that motivate them like money, achievement recognition.
Speaker 2 (48:39):
And when you get out of that motivator stage and you go to demotivators motivators, that's when you're going to be like, Hey, you know, I'm self-doubting myself, but you know, it starts with you affirming having a tunnel, vision, being myopic, believing what you're going to do. I remember when I was first, you know, 18 years old, 14, 15 years in the game, I heard something that said, decisions, decide your wealth. And when I stood in at a company called Platinum Protection with over a thousand sales reps, I looked at everybody in a crowd. I had long hair down to my shoulders, and I had an absolute certainty that I was going to be number one in that company, there was this no s ends about it. I didn't know anything about selling security alarms at all. I just knew that I had that absolute certainty of what I needed to accomplish.
Speaker 2 (49:24):
I put on my blinders and I made plays. You know, I grew up very poor. I watched my parents struggle when I guess that would be my message to everybody is, you know, whether you decide to level up and be a part of our bootcamp or your long program called United, um, or just decide to say, Hey, I'm going to do it on my own a hundred percent, but just put your head down and make the plays because you don't want to procrastinate and wait and wait and wait. You have to eventually make those plays on 31 years old. If I didn't make all the plays in my twenties, I would not be in the position that I'm in right now. And at the same time, I need to keep my foot on the pedal, right? What has got me here to this position is not going to help me get to where I want to go and I have to keep on keeping on.
Speaker 2 (50:05):
And that would be my advice to everybody. That's go. I love that. And I can attest to what Taylor is saying. This guy is one of the most competitive people you will meet. We did a soccer game, and I know you got a soccer game tonight, Taylor, but this guy was more one of the most, uh, rad competitors I've seen on the field and soccer him and a Moe Falah. I thought I was going to have to hold you guys back for a second. You guys were the two top guys tour. And then solar were the two top guys in a soccer team as though all this stuff correlates feed that have that desire, light that fire on yourself, and you're going to go achieve. And that's what I think has been a huge part of your success. Taylor definitely admire you for that. So thanks for dropping some nuggets with us and guys, he just dropped all this stuff.
Speaker 2 (50:48):
A lot of this stuff was from the boot camp. So imagine the value you're going to get from the bootcamp. So if you want additional training, go check that out. And then they also have the Knock Cards, the slicks he's talking about what you can use those on doors in your trainings. Um, working guys find those things out there is that just a knockstar.university to not start out university. You guys can find me on Instagram, Taylor MCC solar, and don't hesitate to reach out because, you know, I've watched my parents struggle. I live week to week, we always got down to our last $20. And you know, like this thing is bigger than myself. You know, God gave me a gift to be able to help others. And I want to be able to help as many people as I can. Well, we appreciate you, Taylor, thanks for all the value you're spreading in this industry. And guys go out and shoot Taylor. And also Danny, that was on the podcast. If you a few weeks back, probably when this releases go tell them you appreciate them, follow them on Instagram and thanks for changing the world. So thanks for coming on the show, Taylor, and we'll have guys sitting up and we'll talk soon. Peace.
Speaker 1 (51:49):
Hey Solarpreneurs. Quick question. 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. For the last three years, I've been placed in the fortunate position to interview dozens of elite solar professionals and learn exactly what they do behind closed doors to build their solar careers to an all-star level. That's why I want to make a truly special announcement about the new solar learning community, exclusively for solar professionals to learn, compete, and win with the top performers in the industry. And it's called Solciety. This learning community was designed from the ground up to level the playing field and give solar pros access to proven mentors who want to give back to this community and to help you or your team to be held accountable by the industry's brightest minds. For, are you ready for it? Less than $3 and 45 cents a day currently society's closed the public and membership is by invitation only, but Solarpreneurs can go to society.co to learn more and have the option to join a wait list. When a membership becomes available in your area. Again, this is exclusively for Solarpreneur listeners. So be sure to go to www.solciety.co to join the waitlist and learn more now. Thanks again for listening. We'll catch you again in the next episode.
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