October 17, 2023 • 41 mins
Uncover the secrets of successful solar sales with our esteemed guest, Lenny Fairfield, a powerhouse in the Carolina solar market. Lenny, renowned for his innovative strategies, reveals the driving forces behind his stellar career transition from wealth management into solar sales. Don't miss out as we journey through his unique approach, treating sales like a realtor, and how his focus on customer involvement in system design sets him apart from the crowd.
Ever wondered how to stand out in a crowded market? Lenny has some answers for you. He weighs in on the crucial role of differentiation in solar sales and how he navigates the choppy waters of customer expectations. You'll learn the value of personal branding and the perks it brings in fostering trust with clients. We also dive into Lenny's secret weapon - a personalized video message, effectively automating his pitch and saving valuable time.
But that's not all. As the conversation evolves, we examine the financial benefits solar offers property owners amidst rising electricity rates. Lenny presents an intriguing view on the rule of 72 and its role in demystifying those benefits. We also explore a plethora of financing options and their significance in the customer journey. Wrapping up with a candid talk on leadership in solar sales, Lenny sheds light on his effective two-step approach. So, grab your headphones and get ready for an enlightening chat that will leave you inspired and informed.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello, welcome to another episode of solar sales
uncensored.
I am your host, aaron Browning,and I'm super fired up for
today's VIP guest.
We have none other than MrLinney Fairfield from the great
Carolina region.
He is one of my businesspartners.
In fact, he didn't know I wasgoing to say this, especially
that first year of gettingstarted in a new venture with
(00:21):
solar.
Anytime I had a question and Iknew I had to have facts, I
called Linney.
In fact, I felt so bad becauseI wore out that phone number.
I was only ever calling himwith problems, with like high
level questions.
But that's really his backgroundand what we're going to focus
on today is solar secrets,building trust in a very crowded
market and solar sales space.
(00:41):
There's no better guest I couldhave than Lenny.
A little bit about him before Ibring him up.
He's been in the solar spacefor four years and he is already
one of the most highlyrespected solar sales reps.
He comes from a background ofit as an independent wealth
manager spent over 17 yearsdoing that, and what I love
about what this conversationtoday is we're going to touch on
(01:02):
that transition from the wealthside over to solar and how he
still leads and advises hisclients.
Through that training from aprevious career.
It's mind blowing.
He has a beautiful wife and hehas hopefully you're ready for
this five kids.
God bless him, and he's leadingone of the top solar sales
teams as well.
So, without further ado, linney, how are you, my friend?
Speaker 2 (01:22):
Aaron Browning.
What's up, brother?
So excited to be here.
Didn't take a thousand episodes.
Speaker 1 (01:29):
We had a joke when we kicked off the podcast a few
months ago that he would beguest 1000.
I said there's no freaking way,we're waiting for 1000.
So we got him on early.
But, lenny, everything's good.
Speaker 2 (01:37):
Yes, sir, I appreciate.
Just moved outside of Raleigh,north Carolina and excited about
it, very excited to be honoredto be an honorary solar icon.
Just FYI.
Speaker 1 (01:47):
I know that man, I love that and we don't use that
phrase lightly or very often.
I think there's one of two ofyou, lenny.
If you don't mind, man, I knowI teased it.
Okay, give the audience yourquick, I don't know.
One to two minute background,starting with the wealth as a
wealth side, if you don't mind.
Speaker 2 (02:00):
Yeah, absolutely Coming from you.
Being a financial advisor, awealth manager, I literally took
clients portfolios, managedthem actively.
I was a stock geek, if you will.
I had my Series 7, Series 66.
I had fee based management.
So I had everything and wasvery successful at it.
I enjoyed it.
It was fun while it lasted.
(02:20):
The time came when the marketswere no longer fun to deal with
and charts were no longer fun tolook at and that's when I
basically sold my practice andstarted looking for something I
could do full time.
That I enjoyed, and solardefinitely has me hooked.
I love it.
Speaker 1 (02:34):
How did you find solar?
How did solar find you?
Tell me more about that.
Speaker 2 (02:38):
Interesting question.
I had a.
I actually worked.
When you first start in anindustry like this, you don't
know anything.
Right, I didn't know anything.
I knew I could talk to people,so I took advantage of that and
I ended up working for a largercompany that actually did solar,
learned the basics, which wasgreat, but, just like when I
started in the financialindustry, recognized very
quickly up front that wasn'twhere I was going to be.
(02:59):
I was much more independent.
I needed to be able to tellpeople exactly how things work,
exactly how the financing work,the technology, everything.
So I needed something that gaveme the freedom to be able to do
what's right for the customerevery time, no matter what.
Speaker 1 (03:14):
This is uncensored man.
You're going to hear me say ita lot.
I know it's part of the reasonyou love the show.
What was the other company?
We're not using names.
What did they block you fromsaying?
What made you feel like youwere in handcuffs, if you will,
and not to be able to advise theclient like you'd now can?
Speaker 2 (03:27):
There comes a time, with any kind of company, if
you're not feeling comfortablewith the value proposition that
they're basically telling you,forcing you, if you will, this
is what you're going to say Atthe end of my time with them.
I was literally taking thingsoff proposals because they were
on there and I didn't want themon there, like they didn't make
sense to me and I couldn't be.
I wasn't able to translate thatover to a customer, so it
(03:50):
wasn't going to work.
Just those things thatcompanies locked people down
financing One option, panels oneoption Okay, what if that
battery that we have is not thebest one for my client?
I need the freedom to be ableto give them what's right.
Speaker 1 (04:04):
How long were you at the previous company?
Speaker 2 (04:07):
Just over a year.
Near the end, it was verysketchy.
I wasn't really doing a wholelot of sales because I couldn't
Like.
It was the point where I neededsomething different.
I needed what was right for mycustomers.
And once you've been with acompany for a long time in your
new and in industry, you startlearning things.
And once I started reallydigging in, installs started
happening.
I noticed there's a better wayto do this.
(04:27):
For sure, this is not the bestway to do it, so that's what,
just like every other year in mylife, practically in my adult
life I went out and becameself-employed.
I'm the best boss of it anyways.
Yeah, really.
Speaker 1 (04:40):
So where did you get your knowledge base?
For solar though, Because I'm agreat example, I can sell the
heck out of solar.
I think we did 250 deals ourfirst year.
Some crazy number of lives Anumber like that, at least crazy
to us.
I don't know a tenth of what interms of ground mounts and this
panel and all of that.
I'm just being reallytransparent.
Where did that knowledge comefrom?
Because most solar sales peopledo not have that.
Speaker 2 (05:01):
Yeah, I tell you, it's just, it's been experienced
more than anything else.
I've been a have had theopportunity to do Gosh at least
20 ground-mount systems, beingin rural Carolina as I do them
all the time.
So that's where I got thatbasis of knowledge.
And then people who started.
It's funny you can be in anindustry for four years and
you're considered a no-gee.
(05:22):
I don't know, I don't get that,but the knowledge just comes
from experience as things happen.
The best opportunity to learnthat, I found, is when things
don't go right.
Something's challenging.
Okay, let's fix it.
That's what part of my valueproposition to customers are.
Look, you're not getting thiscompany in the system, you're
getting me like I'm gonna doevery, I'm gonna fight to you,
(05:42):
for you, to the very end, and ifit doesn't go perfectly, that's
okay, I'm gonna fix it.
I'm gonna find out what theissue is and fix it.
So that's been my philosophyand that's given me a wealth of
knowledge in the time.
Speaker 1 (05:53):
I love that.
We talked with a lot about thaton our team calls or private
calls about, first and foremost,solar is in the construction
industry.
There are problems, aren'tevery file?
I don't think I've ever had asingle one I haven't been doing
as long as you have whereeverything was just smooth, it
was butter.
There's always issues and weteach that, expect them.
It's just like real estate.
Things are going to freakinshow up.
(06:14):
Well, I love that you just saidis your solution based, and I
remind you all the freakin timeyou have a customer that wants
solar, especially if you sold itcorrectly they have a big
reason, a big why would everyonelabel it?
We have a company that wants tosell it and and Lenny wants to
sell it.
When you have those threethings, you got to figure out a
solution.
There's a way to get it doneand we're gonna get it done, and
so I freakin love that man.
Speaker 2 (06:32):
Go the pie in the sky expectations.
A lot of people leave withtheir customers.
It's not a good idea.
Give them realisticexpectations.
Speaker 1 (06:40):
Yeah, the other piece with that too, that's huge.
With sale, it's managingexpectations.
I let the client know we'regonna have hiccups, we're gonna
have speed bumps.
So we got to get through and Ilove that you're selling
yourself, especially over yourcompany.
That's a whole differentepisode as well.
Oh my gosh, make sure thatwe're the brand and not just the
company.
It's cool to talk about them soshe were the great company like
ours that has awards and allthe other stuff.
But first and foremost, you'regetting a business with Lenny.
(07:01):
People want to know they'regetting a business with Lenny.
They want to know they can pickup that phone and he is going
to fight, he's gonna claw to getthis deal done and I love that
you're leading with that man.
Speaker 2 (07:09):
You know what you'll love this.
I literally now model mypractice after Realtors.
What a realtors brandthemselves all the time and I
think that's phenomenal way tobrand yourself as a Solar
professional solar planner, ifyou will.
I don't like the sales reptitle.
Don't give me the sales reptitle.
I had a client call me this asales rep the other day and I
(07:30):
almost cried like literally overzoom and I'm like look, I'm not
a sales rep.
I don't need you to go solar.
That's not.
That's what a sales rep is.
The, the mentality of you gotto close every deal, got to
close every deal.
No, you don't.
Being a planner, I canconfidently go in and say I'm
taking care of, it's not.
My situation is beautiful.
I'm gonna give the customerwhat's right.
(07:51):
My favorite reviews are theones that are five stars, that I
told people not to go solar andthey gave me reviews.
I pride myself on that.
Speaker 1 (08:00):
Yeah, you're separating yourselves, really
what the title is gonna be and acrowded space and, by the way,
solar professionals.
I try not to use solar salespeople.
It's hard.
We got to talk to all thevarious companies that listen.
You might be in a state likethe Carolinas, virginia,
maryland, where I'm at to, whereit's not saturated yet, but it
will be.
This is going to be real estate.
I say it every single episodeand so you got to be able to
(08:21):
separate yourselves and I likethat.
He's going into it trying tofigure out if the client's even
a fit.
When you go in with thatmindset, we're gonna take a deep
dive on that today.
It changes everything.
Instead of having commissionedbreath like everyone else, what
do you mean?
Everyone's a fit like we'reputting glass on that roof.
I'll figure it out.
Some people it doesn't makesense for, and I just I can't
stress that enough.
It's something else you saidtoo and I've heard you say it a
(08:42):
lot from stage when you train isthat you and your wife, you
guys, are partners on thiscompany, correct?
Yes, that's awesome that youand Starla are solar planners
and not solar sales reps.
What does that mean?
What is the difference to youguys?
Speaker 2 (08:55):
Yeah, you just nailed it by the commission breath
statement.
You can tell a sales rip withintwo minutes of meeting on most
of the time, whereas when I showup, a lot of times people have
the expectation of a sales rep.
And when I show up, you you canactually tell, just based on
how I act and how I treat people, that I'm not going down that
road.
Look, if it's not gonna workfor you, I'm gonna tell you.
(09:15):
The last thing I need is anunhappy customer.
I don't want that.
I want every customer be happy.
Even if there's challenges inthe process is okay, they're
still gonna be happy in the end.
It's just what?
Just a different mentality iscoming from that cons Consults
giving consults rather thansales pitches.
I think that's very important.
And having options being with acompany that gives us the
(09:36):
ability to give people Differentoptions based on their where
they live and their preferences.
Having four panels to choosefrom, four batteries to choose
from, different inverte I thinkit's vital to give people what
they need.
Speaker 1 (09:50):
Yeah, lots of dissect there, man, that's one of my
personal pitches closing tactics, strategies, tools to separate
us.
By the way, audience, if youhaven't read the purple cow, go
check it out, how you recommend.
But it's all about this topicseparating yourselves from the
masses, doing something it'sdifferent to help you stand out
in a crowded marketplace.
But I tell you all the time,typically on I'll talk about the
East Coast.
That's mainly where I'm runningdeals as Lenny with our company
(10:12):
.
I can't speak for all, butwe're gonna have between three
and five different solar panelsfrom different Manufacturers
that we're able to show them andI feel very confident with that
number.
That three to five range,that's huge.
Our competition is showing a one, sometimes two, and usually
it's made by the same company.
It's almost like windows.
Like you have the top of theline window for manufacturer a
and then here's the entry levelManufacturer a.
(10:33):
Ours is completely different.
It is three to five differentsolar panel manufacturers.
So we're truly able to buildthe system with the client and
design it for them by them, andit really helps separate us and
I know I get that feeling when Itell them that I Really the
deal is already sold.
I can feel like their shoulderscome down.
It's like this Wow, I canactually pick it like they're
blown away that they have aninput in this.
(10:55):
Thoughts on that.
Speaker 2 (10:56):
I think that, oh, absolutely, being in the coastal
Carolinas for so long, Iliterally moved to the coast
because of solar.
That's the reason I was therebeing able to offer people a
panel that if they have aconcern of, if they're getting
batteries Most likely they'reconcerned about hurricanes.
We don't have them every year,but it feels like it really does
.
So having the ability to say Igot a panel that's hurricane
(11:17):
rated regularly It'll 150 milean hour.
Winds is what it's rated.
We can do that if it'ssomething that's important to
you now.
That said, I was also in NewOrleans the day after Hurricane
Ida and I saw up solar panelseverywhere.
I've never seen so many solarpanels in my life, honestly,
because the roofs were shreddedand next to them were panels
still in place.
Wow, being able to takepictures of that and share that
with people like there's.
(11:37):
They're all great quality tierone panels, but here's one
that's just a little bit higherwind rated and there's a lot of
Little communities along thecoast actually require that and
people don't know that.
One of my one of my biggestthings about separating myself
Is when I go into an appointmentwith somebody and I immediately
can tell by what the clientsaying what they were told by
the other person, especiallywhen it's not true or accurate.
(12:01):
Maximum system size they comein with a 12 kilowatt system and
the maximum is 10.
In this power company I've wonso many deals just by being
honest about that.
Speaker 1 (12:11):
That separates you too.
People want to be led.
I tell you all the time if I'mnot a solar pro and I'm hiring
Lenny, I'm hiring him becausehe's a solar professional.
Tell me what I need to do, Tellme the rules, lead me, show me
what needs to get done.
Explain it to me for sure.
But I also want to be led, andso I love that.
By the way, that was one of mybiggest pet peeves early on.
I've gotten desensitized to ita little bit.
I now expect it, but I wasblown away at the number of I
(12:34):
hate using the word lies becauseI believe in the good of
everybody, but just where peopleweren't being forthcoming when
I was competing undersizedsystems and just things that
were told on the install timesand everything else it was tough
, man, I didn't like it.
So I like the idea that you'recoming in as a planner.
You're coming in as that voiceof reason and educator, whatever
you want to label it.
(12:55):
What other factors are youhelping them plan?
Are you helping to decidewhether or not this even makes
sense?
Speaker 2 (13:01):
Yeah, so a lot of it has to do with their lifestyle
and a lot of times, especiallyif there's a net meeting
situation where they're gettinga full credit Whoa sorry,
bloopers are real.
Yeah yeah, I want to make surethat they get all the
information up front and if theydon't have a need for a battery
, I want to make sure theyunderstand why a lot of people
want to know that they thinkthey need a battery right away
and right now, going forward.
Honestly, most people do, butif they don't, I want to make
(13:24):
sure they don't have a need fora battery.
Speaker 1 (13:25):
Why do you say that?
Speaker 2 (13:25):
by the way, why do most people do, Because net
metering in the United States isbasically going away and solar
is under attack currently by allthe power companies, especially
the big ones.
They're looking for ways to beable to trip us up and not allow
us to help people go solar andhave some kind of negative
feedback that people have toovercome in order to go solar.
And not having a net meteringcredit that's one to one is one
(13:50):
of the ways they do it.
Well, the way around that iswith batteries.
Batteries costs are droppingsubstantially and right now it
actually has a financial rewardin a lot of cases with a lot of
power companies.
Almost the entire state ofNorth Carolina does not offer a
one to one net meeting scenario.
Speaker 1 (14:08):
So, if you had a percentage, what percentage of
batteries are you at leastrecommending to your clients?
Is it 90% or is it?
Speaker 2 (14:14):
almost every single appointment they're going to see
a battery.
The size kind of depends ontheir kind of what they reveal
to me as we're going, you'llfind that most of the people you
talk to just assume it comeswith it.
That's another separating issue.
No, my price is the same as theother company.
But you know what?
They don't have a battery onthere and I do.
(14:34):
Those kind of scenarios aredifferent equipment.
A lot of times if you see otherquotes or proposals, they'll
have a generic 400 watt panel.
They won't actually even listthe panel because they don't
know if they have it.
They don't know what they have.
Our company actually has greatsupply chain.
I even tell customers we choosenot to participate in supply
chain issues.
We're not going to do it.
(14:55):
If I give you a panel today,the 90%, 99%, 95%, something
like that, that's how often it'sgoing to stay the same.
Speaker 1 (15:02):
I love that.
Okay, so the two factors you'vementioned so far on the
planning side are the batteryand then whether or not Siller
makes sense, any other factorsthat you're helping to advise
them and plan for.
Speaker 2 (15:14):
The goal of having an appointment positioned as a
planner is that, no matter whatthey do, no matter which system
they want, they're going tochoose me.
Why?
Because when you sit me next toa sales rep and I'm giving you
the planning portion, it's nightand day.
I've actually had situations.
(15:36):
Chris Hart and I had a situationone of his first deals.
The guy kept going back andforth and I gave him the best
price we could as a planner upfront.
It's like this is what theprice is.
And the other company was$10,000 more that he had already
signed with.
He canceled them, came to usand then he tried to go back to
the other company because theydropped their price so far.
(15:57):
And I literally told him he waslooking for us to negotiate and
I'm like look, I gave you thebest price up front and if you
can literally go to this othercompany that just dropped their
price $10,000 on, you go for it.
If you think that's what's bestfor you, do it.
He's okay.
And he literally.
That's how we ended it.
(16:17):
Two days later I told Chrisgive him two weeks.
Two days later he called meback.
So the other company's just toosketchy.
I'm like all right, let's dothis.
Speaker 1 (16:26):
The solar sales reps.
You mentioned that youliterally almost cried on a Zoom
call the other day.
Is it just the commissionbreath that has you turned off
by what you're saying thecompetition do?
What are the factors?
Speaker 2 (16:37):
No, there's a lot.
I would call it sketchyactivities out there, like I
said, using generic panelshowing clients screenshots of
here's your monthly payment, butit's literally the net monthly
monthly payment.
They're not even explaining howfinancing works.
Being in a consultation and Ido the funny thing is and you
probably want to know more aboutthis is I don't even do
(16:58):
presentations anymore.
Speaker 1 (16:58):
I don't know if you're aware of that.
No, tell me more man.
Speaker 2 (17:01):
For those of you watching the YouTube version.
Speaker 1 (17:03):
My whole chair just changed.
I love little nuances like this.
Speaker 2 (17:07):
Now we're getting into the secret.
Speaker 1 (17:09):
It's uncensored brother.
Now that you mentioned it, wegot to go there, Okay, so what
are you doing?
Speaker 2 (17:13):
Man, I'm outed, okay.
So I have systems in place, andwatching solar icons honestly
helped me recognize that Ineeded a system in place.
So it's great that you guys aredoing that.
My system right now I literallyhave 90% of what I do is mentor
deals.
So I'm mentoring a rep who'sfairly new in the industry,
(17:35):
teaching them how to do it,closing their deals for them.
Our system set up great forthat.
But also, with any appointment,when someone sets an
appointment up in my calendar,they're going to get a
confirmation email.
When they get the confirmationemail and text message, it has a
video attached.
Please, with a note, pleasewatch this video before our
appointment.
It'll save you 20 minutes atleast on the appointment.
(17:57):
And I tell you, aaron, I'mshocked.
I've had one person in the lastsix months say no, I didn't get
a chance to watch the video.
What's the video?
So, everyone, I can't tell youthat.
Speaker 1 (18:10):
It's uncensored.
You don't have to tell meexactly what.
Yeah, screw it, man.
You got to tell us something.
Is it you doing a presentation?
Is it why solar?
What's the context of it?
Speaker 2 (18:19):
You're killing me.
You're killing me, smalls.
Yes, it's my solar presentation.
I've done probably a couplehundred projects now using the
same presentation and one day Ijust realized you know what?
I got a think limit list Likehow can I free up some time?
I'm saying the same thing threetimes a day, six days a week,
every single day, every singleweek.
(18:40):
How can I automate this?
Speaker 1 (18:42):
Okay.
So I got to fess up.
I'm doing the same thing.
I've been very secretive aboutit too.
I teased it on a podcast acouple of weeks ago and I was
like do I do this, do I not?
I left some of it in there.
I don't think people caught itthough, because I haven't been
hit up a lot about it.
So you're doing yours more fromcontribution.
I was going crazy.
The first 20 minutes of everypresentation I was doing over
(19:03):
Zoom, because I'm 100% virtual,was the same doggone thing and I
said I'm going to lose my mind,like I know that's part of
sales and you got to get used toit.
But gosh, I was going crazy.
I said there's got to be abetter way.
So I recorded myself doing that20, I think it's 21 minutes
long, the presentation like whyour company?
Why solar?
How does it work?
How's that metering work?
I did it in a way probablysimilar to you, where it was
general, but you also felt likeit was a little bit personal.
(19:25):
So, without me saying Lenny, Iwas like hey, good afternoon, so
good to see you, like one ofthose.
Well, a couple of things.
I'll go ahead and share it withyou now.
And also the audience is.
We used our team app and I'llthrow a link in the chat for
those that don't have it.
Most of it is free, that youcan use.
Uploaded the video there so Ican track it.
That was the big thing that Isee some people trying to copy
this model.
First step in the process, Ijust sent everything over to our
(19:45):
engineering team.
It's going to take a day or twoto get that back.
I just sent you over a videothat talks about exactly why
you're going to partner with ourcompany, how this all works.
I need you to carve out 20minutes between now and when we
meet tomorrow at 4pm to do that.
If you do it, it's going tosave you 20 minutes.
More importantly, it allows usjust to focus on your house.
Tomorrow afternoon Can youcommit and I get a tie down and
(20:06):
then my app tracks it.
First time I did this Lennythis lady I have to be careful
with names because she'scurrently going solar with us
she watched it 17 times in 24hours Blew my mind, dude, if you
guys think I didn't sell thatdeal.
Blew my mind the other.
You got me excited.
Now.
The other cool part with that,lenny, is it also shows you the
people that aren't that serious.
I know you've said you've onlyhad one, not watch it.
(20:26):
I've had a couple to where theyset the appointment and the
reason I bring that up guys andgals listening.
I want to be able to flush outwho my hot appointments are,
immediately the ones that aresofter.
They're not willing to carveout 20 minutes.
Man.
It's a big red flag.
But I'd rather find that out 24, 48 hours prior to me missing
dinner with the family to run anappointment that they aren't
taking serious 100% agree.
Speaker 2 (20:49):
Like it's a big red flag.
If someone says they haven'tLike the person who watched it.
They're definitely not solarright now.
Everyone else who's gone solar,they watched the video and
you're right.
They'll watch it three and fourtimes and it's insane how good
it is.
And you know what?
I've been at this for fouryears now.
I've actually had people callme for the year after say I
(21:10):
couldn't use the tax credit.
You didn't tell me.
And I've always had the becauseI'm presenting as a planner.
I've always had the same exactpresentation.
For this reason, nobody cancome back and say you didn't
tell me.
Yeah, I did.
I tell everybody the exact samething just to make sure that we
cover it.
So I'm telling people about thetax credit.
(21:32):
I don't know about theirpersonal situation, that's more
between them and theiraccountant but I told you the
exact same way I tell everybodyNow.
Speaker 1 (21:39):
I got the video.
That's interesting.
Speaker 2 (21:41):
So it's also a safeguard for you and your
business to protect yourselves.
Speaker 1 (21:43):
It is.
Yeah, I never thought about itFor, like I said, mine was
selflessly for time.
It was going crazy.
Are you also running that sametwo step formula for mentee
deals, or just for your personaldeals?
Speaker 2 (21:54):
Oh, absolutely Every single appointment that I have
multiple today and they've allgotten the video and hopefully
had a chance to watch it and, aspart of the when I have a
mentee, especially confirm theappointment, when you confirm
the appointment, ask them ifthey watched it.
Speaker 1 (22:07):
That's the cool thing about the app, man, that you
might want to add.
That nuance is.
Now I know I can tell theywatched 70% of it.
I know exactly where they leftoff.
The other cool thing with thatdoing it this way that first
lady, it was just one of thosewhere everything just lined up
and it just I need that.
When it reaffirmed what thevision was and now I know you
have the same vision she showedup with a page of notes.
The other really, yeah, butnormally when you, depending on
(22:30):
the personality, type wholedifferent podcasts, some people
don't like to ask questions likethat if they're not prepared.
So when I was doing the 21minute thing, I might get a
question or two, but sometimesthey wouldn't and therefore I
wouldn't get the close becausethey had other questions.
They would email me later andhave to answer.
That takes that away, becausenow they've had time to write it
down.
The other really cool part man,this is going to sound really
egotistical, but it is what itis.
(22:50):
I'll hop on that, that secondcall after they've seen the
video and they'll turn theircamera on and I'll literally see
them fix their shirt, do theirhair.
I was like that's the guy fromthe video Like it, edifies you
in a weird way that also helpsyou get the sale.
So back to the mentee thing,because this has been a little
bit harder for me because, andfor those of you not, with our
company, one of the five ways wecan get paid is by being an
(23:11):
expert and helping close dealsfor people in the company.
We always say no, but it's notalways no.
Sometimes it's people that justdon't want to run appointments.
I got some of those on my teamas well.
They're like bird dog and theutility bills.
They get paid 50% of thecommission, we get paid 50.
So with our company it'sanywhere from I don't know three
to six, seven grand for each ofus.
So it's a great income stream.
What I love about it is you wakeup every day, especially if
you're like Lenny and I, whereyou're out there.
(23:33):
You come from contribution,helping people.
You wake up every day to deals.
I give away more deals to othermentors than I can even take,
and I know Lenny does too.
Back to the original question.
When I'm doing that strategywith a mentee and you can see
that they didn't watch the video, I'm repping that mentee that.
Hey, if we don't haveconfirmation, I don't have
verification.
They watched it.
We're pushing that appointment,making them know that ahead of
(23:54):
time.
Speaker 2 (23:55):
I'm not because I will still do the appointment.
I'll do the presentation live.
I have to.
That's funny.
You asked that because Iliterally just had an
appointment that just beforethis and I and they caught me
off guard because they hadn'twatched the video.
That's two now that haven'twatched the video.
So I had to literally Changedirection and change gears real
quick and get ready, for Iwasn't ready.
I almost forgot how to do it.
Speaker 1 (24:16):
Yeah, that's why I love.
So I'm running mine to where Iwon't run it, and I'm not saying
that's the the right answer yet, but I'm doing it for my sanity
.
I've also from the a few thathave not watched it.
They tend to go ghost as well.
So it's not the just thatthey're avoiding it, especially
if you phrase it where it'sabout them.
It saves them time, allows usto focus on them and their house
.
It's all about them, right?
(24:36):
You're making it about them,not us, that you're really gonna
flush out whether they haveskin in this game and how
serious they are.
So I'm toying with that.
But I always feel bad with thementee because it is their lead,
but I let them know ahead oftime.
Here's the way I do it, here'sthe strategy, and so far the
feedback has been great.
But that's really cool.
You're running that too.
Any other little nuances thatyou didn't know you were gonna
share?
On that two-step approach?
Speaker 2 (24:55):
That's that right.
There is a game changer.
I didn't expect to share thattoday.
I thought I was the only onedoing it.
I'm glad to hear you're doingit.
It's not doesn't surprise me,because when you're going 150
miles an hour, it's a beautifulthing to add to your situation.
Mentees, though?
Mentees watching that video hasbeen hugely beneficial.
They understand exactly wherewe're going and what the goal is
.
By the end of the appointmentand Actually I've had more
(25:17):
people since I started the video100% virtual More people be
prepared to go forward that day,which is not something I
usually.
I don't push that if they'reready, but I've noticed that a
higher not a huge percentagehigher, but a higher percentage
of people are ready to go thatfirst.
Speaker 1 (25:34):
That's a really interesting man.
I think the data we have, wehit, we're gonna be collecting
from this over the next couplemonths and quarters, is gonna be
huge.
What, where the other place Igot this idea from?
And Chris Hart, my partner,will challenge myself Are us on?
This is treating it like a realestate business?
I know you led with that.
That is our background.
That is where we made ourfortune that I tell people all
the time this is real estate 20,25 years ago, and so the stuff
(25:56):
we're doing is 10 years ahead,20 years ahead, and one of those
is separating yourselves.
And so I remember that littlenugget I was gonna give you one
of the happens to be anotherlady that that watched it.
We got on the zoom.
I already have the app thatsays she watched it.
So I know and I'll say let'sstart with any questions.
I have the slide just in caseand she goes I gotta be really
honest with you and I think shecalled me sir and I was like no,
my name's Aaron.
Like I want to be like equals,but I thought it was fun.
(26:18):
That's the power of the videobecause, by the way, she was
older than me.
I truly think that was just thevideo she said.
I want to let you know thatyou're the only person that sent
me a Personalized video priorto actually meeting.
I was like wow, anyone.
I tell it wasn't totallypersonalized, but I was like
tell me more.
She was like every other person.
It was just trying to get themeeting, trying to get to my
kitchen table or get her on azoom.
(26:38):
You actually sent meinformation for me she does her
words for me to see if I evenwanted to meet with you.
And she was like I just itliterally like I got like the
goosebumps.
I was like dude, as I call it,too, but I was like that is
awesome.
So there's so many ways you canwin on this.
I don't, I can't think of anegative.
I really freaking can't.
Speaker 2 (26:56):
I expected negative, but I shouldn't have because I
predetermined what was gonnahappen Maybe less than half of
the people watching it.
It's not been this.
That's one place where Chrisand I differ for sure.
I respect Chris immensely, butI like the idea of treating it
like a realtor would treat theirbusiness.
I think we are the brand tosome extent, I think.
Speaker 1 (27:14):
I think we are the brand a hundred percent man.
And, by the way, that's anothermistake we're gonna see people
do is they're going in talkingabout their company, a ABC solar
, whatever it is.
I think it's a big mistake, andthe problem with smaller
companies probably where youfirst got cut your teeth Is that
you can't do that.
You got to go in with theircompany because they own it with
.
When I am like my emailsignature says it, when I'm on
the phone Doing a discovery call, I tell them you're talking
(27:36):
with the owner excuse me of XYZsolar, and they're like, really,
I'm like, yes, I'm gonna startusing that sales rep language.
I'm not a sales rep, I didn'tknock on your door.
Like you're getting the owner,the person that can make every
decision with you, is going tobe on that zoom Call.
I think that's part of thereason why they're fixing their
hair, doing the shirt orwhatever.
It's because of that and that'ssomething I love about our
company is that we're able toposition ourselves and I
(27:56):
Although I will mention mycompany when I'm talking about
like awards and things like thatto your point.
That's not the focal.
The focal is they're getting me, they're getting in business
with me.
They're getting my cell phonenumber.
I'm the one that's gonna go towar forum.
I'm gonna get the deal done.
All that other stuff.
The fact I happen to park mycompany's flag with XYZ solar is
the icing on the cake.
Speaker 2 (28:16):
Exactly like a realtor does.
Same concept the person in youdoesn't change, even if the
company did.
And like the cool thing aboutabout the situation we're in,
I've been approached with manydifferent opportunities and I'm
gonna get.
I've proven it when I did.
When I was a wealth manager, Iwent were to the company at the
time.
That was the best for mycustomers.
(28:37):
Fun, that was it.
That was my onlydecision-making factor what's
best for my customers in the end.
If that's somewhere else, thenI'll be somewhere else.
If there were somewhere else,now I'd already be there.
That's the conversations I have,conversations that I have with
a lot of sales reps or solarreps.
Look, if there's somebody elsesomewhere else to be, that was
better right now, I wouldalready be there, and if then
there will be, if there is, I'llbe there.
(28:58):
It's just the way it is.
I am.
Speaker 1 (29:00):
I love it, man, I love it, and people are missing
this.
They really are, especially ifyou're not with our company.
They're going out there flyingthe flag and I get you're proud
of it, but you don't separateyourself.
Here's the other byproduct fromthat.
This is where I learned this.
Even though I was trained on it, I'm a big believer.
Unfortunately, you got to getburned.
Sometimes you could hearsomething a thousand times.
God knows.
My wife will tell me that allthe time we were calling expired
listings in my real estatebusiness.
(29:21):
That's a listing that our homefor sale that didn't sell and
then it goes back up and it'spublic knowledge, the die-hards.
It's almost like a door knocker.
We're beating that door.
We're calling, we're mailing.
I get on the phone.
I do what I do.
I'm scripted.
I get the appointment.
I'm excited.
It was a million-dollar listingappointment.
I think it was for two dayslater, right?
I recall correctly.
She calls 24 hours later andcancels.
I said no, what do you mean?
(29:41):
Like when I put it on mycalendars with ink it's not
pencil, like I used to say allthe time, they would laugh and
she goes Erin, I was lookingforward to meeting you.
I loved everything you said,but I just realized I have three
other agents coming from EXPRealty.
Oh, I said, oh my gosh, ma'am,there are 90,000 of us.
We're all independentcontractors.
Right then I changed.
I never got the appointment.
It was too late.
It was too late.
So now I went into it.
(30:01):
Why am I even mentioning EXP,where 90,000 people live?
Why am I mentioning power?
Why am I mentioning whatevercompany you're with?
Separate yourselves.
If that's important to them,you can talk about it, but
they're not getting intobusiness with them.
She thought we were all thesame and I was like that mistake
will never, freaking, happenagain.
And so I'm.
Yeah, especially if you startto join some of these larger
solar companies, it's going tohappen.
I've run against other repsSorry to use that word at power
(30:25):
who they had the same lead orwhatever it was, I don't
remember the source of it towhere we're competing and it's a
healthy market.
Obviously I want to berespectful on that, but you got
to separate yourselves.
Speaker 2 (30:34):
Absolutely, and you are like when you're the brand
and you have the knowledge andyou're able to say that gosh,
engineers are my favorite.
Like engineers are the most.
Speaker 1 (30:44):
Oh, I will totally disagree.
They are not my favorite.
Talk about it, though.
Speaker 2 (30:49):
But people who are financially savvy, the investors
in the group, the investors inthe group, the investors real
estate investor yeah, that's me,they.
I can, literally.
I got on the phone.
One of my reps had anappointment last week.
I was at an install, in frontof a house watching the install
go up.
I don't get to go in very often, but he called me out of the
blue because he had this guythat was talking about
(31:10):
investment return and let's mywheelhouse, let's bring it on.
So I literally was able to havethis upper level conversation
Using words from my past thatmost people wouldn't even
understand, to be able to bringthis guy around to.
Okay, now it makes more sense.
You can't use a tax credit.
Have you thought of this?
Oh no, I hadn't thought of that.
That does work for me.
So got the guy his juices going, gave him answers that he
(31:33):
really wanted.
He wanted somebody to be ableto talk to him about these
things and in the end it'srecent, so hopefully he'll go
forward.
He's got to check with the CPA,got to check with his
investment.
You know that kind of thing.
Gosh, if you're going to talkto your CPA or your investment
guy or gal, bring them on.
Speaker 1 (31:50):
Let me talk to him.
Speaker 2 (31:52):
You know 100%, with these inflation the way it is
right now, if financial plannersare not talking to their
clients about their energy bill,they're making a big mistake
and I'd love to be able toeducate them just like Run with
that for a second man because Ihaven't heard anyone else say
that that's a big one.
Speaker 1 (32:08):
What does that mean to you?
So if your financial personthat you're going to is not
talking to you about potentiallygoing solar, it's a mistake
Like?
Why, like dumb that down forsomeone who's brand new to solar
, thinking about getting in.
What does that mean?
Speaker 2 (32:20):
Yeah.
So a couple of differentscenarios.
You got tip right now.
You got North Carolina isprobably the most difficult
state to sell in my opinion, andI sell in all of them, so I
have a pretty educated view.
Power electricity rates are nothigh right now.
They're not tremendously highlike they are in other states
like California.
So we're literally selling orpresenting against inflation and
(32:45):
what's going to happen?
Luckily we have third partyverified evidence that power
bills here are going to doublein the next three years.
That's literally what they'resaying.
It gives us an opportunity tohave that conversation from the
batteries.
Here's how a battery returnsfinancial return for you.
And then the other scenariothink about this is similar.
(33:05):
Someone owns a property right,and they're a real estate
investor.
That's great.
There's a ton of them out thereright now.
They buy a house, they bring arenter in.
The renter basically pays offthe house, right.
Why in the world would theythen turn around and let them
rent their electricity from thepower company when they can
easily go solar, get ownershipof the power situation and
(33:28):
monetize it?
Charge the renter $300 more permonth on their rent and include
the power bill in it.
Now you've just monetized on asecond level that you never
thought about, that's strong man.
Speaker 1 (33:41):
I love that you're planting that seed with the
potential customer in case thatfinancial person doesn't endorse
this.
What a mistake they're making.
So now, the minute they startto say no, they're already armed
with it.
You're essentially spoonfeeding them what to ask and
what to say in case you don'tget that meeting with them.
Genius.
Speaker 2 (33:58):
A lot of people don't realize that financial planners
and investment managers weliterally talk about inflation
every day.
Same concept with rateincreases.
It's all about inflation.
Your bill is going to be double.
I use the rule of 72.
You divide 72 by whateverinvestment return you think you
can get.
It'll tell you how long ittakes to double your money in
(34:19):
investment.
It works the same way with rateincreases.
If some energy company likeDuke is going to raise your
rates 6% per year, you divide 72by 6, 12 years.
Your bill is going to be doublewhat it is today.
Speaker 1 (34:33):
That's every single appointment for me, that's the
value that goes back to thatplanner versus just being a
solar sales rep man.
Where are your thoughts rightnow on the lending side, the
financing side?
Are you still recommending alot of loans?
Are you seeing more cash deals?
Are you doing leases?
What are your thoughts?
Speaker 2 (34:48):
There's a lot of scenarios there and that's
another need that I havepersonally.
I need the ability to be ableto change the financing based on
the customer's needs.
I like to talk about a lot ofpeople don't realize that the
dealer fees in our industry arehigher as the loan interest rate
goes down.
I like to talk about my mom'sloan.
That's what I did with my mom.
I say to every appointment nowI gave her this 10% loan.
(35:09):
Why would I do that to my mom?
I'm a horrible son.
No, let me explain.
I go through and I show peopledifferent options.
Here's 4.99%.
Look what it does when I changeit to 12%.
Do you have cash?
Do you have retirement funds?
Do you have home equity thatyou could tap?
Let's talk about it.
Let's get out there and talkabout it.
A lot of my closes aren't sameday closes.
(35:30):
I know I just made a wholebunch of solar sales reps cringe
just now, but that's theplanner mentality.
The planner mentality saysthey're going to do it today,
they're going to do it tomorrowand the next day or a week from
now, whenever it's comfortablefor them, do I present it and do
I try and close everyappointment?
Yes, absolutely, I know it'sright for them.
I need them to understand it'sright for them.
(35:52):
If they're not there yet, Igive them the opportunity to be
able to cringe numbers orwhatever it is that they need to
do, but I always make afollow-up appointment.
It's usually almost all thetime within three days.
Speaker 1 (36:05):
You said a couple of key words.
I know our mutual friend, ChrisHart.
I know his position on this.
Talk to me about leases,because we talk about ownership
and things like that.
I know the solar landscape ischanging.
It's drastic.
How much has changed just in myfirst year?
What are your thoughts onleases?
Are you a fan?
Are you not?
Why it's uncensored man?
What is it?
Speaker 2 (36:25):
I'm also going to say that I'm going with a limitless
mindset as of a couple ofmonths ago.
I don't want to discount them.
I know, for instance, any statereally, but state of South
Carolina if someone can't usethe tax credits, 55% of the
system is normally covered bytax credits.
In that scenario, am I going tolet these people purchase their
(36:45):
power from Dominion or some bigenergy company, knowing that
it's going to be double whatthey're paying today, 10 years
from now?
The responsible part of me as aplanner wants to have that
available.
So I do.
I have it available If peopleneed it and it's best for them.
Gosh what.
A 3% increase in their rate isway better than what they're
(37:07):
going to get from any powercompany.
Going forward, the responsibleside of me says, yeah, we got to
be a lot better.
Speaker 1 (37:12):
It's very well said.
I feel the same way.
My blank reaction when we firststarted seeing these more and
more was oh my gosh, it goesagainst everything I believe in.
I'm ownership guy, my realestate background, yeah.
But the more I really preachand I love that you said it in a
different way but coming intosituations with an open mindset
versus being closed, I thinkthat's a problem.
(37:32):
A lot of seasoned solar reps,planners, whatever they are in
their companies we're makingthat mistake.
We don't know.
We don't know the environment'schanged.
If that's the only way thatgets them solar, is it a better
option?
For most it is.
It absolutely is.
It might not have been theultimate win I wanted, but it
just didn't line up.
This is still a win.
I totally agree.
I love that we have that in ourwheelhouse.
(37:53):
I really do.
Speaker 2 (37:55):
Then, as solar takes off, people are going to be
searching for houses with solar.
That transaction, if you will,with the home changes, owners is
going to become much moresmooth, much smoother than it
has been in the past.
That's in the downside toleases, whereas now I can assure
you, five to 10 years from now,it's going to be a no big deal
at all.
It's going to be very easy.
(38:15):
People are going to expect it.
It's just going to be part ofthe list.
Speaker 1 (38:20):
I would be remiss if I didn't ask you, given your
extensive professionalbackground prior to solar, what
advice would you have forsomeone who's also a
professional, who's getting thatitch to either do solar
full-time or add it to whatthey're doing?
Any advice you have for aprofessional that's thinking
about adding it similar to whatyou did?
Speaker 2 (38:38):
Absolutely Sort of the professional that we tend to
deal with, whether it be realestate agents, mortgage brokers,
roofers.
They want to get into solar butthey don't know how and they're
really concerned about notknowing anything about it.
If I had taken that, I wouldhave never done a solar.
If I had thought about it thatway.
(38:58):
This is just not possible.
You literally are going tolearn as you go.
You're not the cool thing aboutthe way things are set up.
If you grab somebody like me,who knows what they're talking
about, or you, who knows muchmore than the average person
who's coming on board like arealtor, let us be the one that
helps mold the system.
Give the customer what theyneed.
(39:19):
Understand as much of thetechnical aspect as we need to,
and you'll learn it as you goProbably the biggest mistake I
see.
Roofers are a great example.
They're very good at what theydo.
They're making a ton of money,great income doing roofing.
The last thing they want to dois stop and learn solar or have
their people stop and learnsolar.
Let us come in.
(39:40):
I've actually have a websitethat's around this very subject.
I'm going to be your directorof solar.
I'm going to come in.
I'll close the deals for you.
As we go, you'll learn how theprocess works.
If it makes sense for you tothen start learning how to close
great, you know what I findProbably 80% of the roofers and
professionals.
They like to have thatmentor-mentee relationship way
(40:02):
more than three to five.
Speaker 1 (40:03):
Dude, I'm bringing you back for another podcast on
that.
I wrote that down.
I'm stealing it.
Director of solar, doing itthat way, especially with our
enterprise platform.
It's a plug-and-play businessmodel.
That's what business ownerswant.
They don't want to getdistracted to your point.
They see the revenue, they seethe income stream.
You're foolish Once you see it.
You can't unsygette a state allthe time.
They're just trying to figureout the time on task.
How do they do it?
You're offering that solutionimmediately.
(40:25):
Freaking genius brother.
Speaker 2 (40:28):
I can give it to them with very little investment
from them.
They can join in whenever theywant.
They don't have to put it allup front Like customers.
Same thing, I love it, man.
Speaker 1 (40:39):
I know I speak for our audience here.
This was fire.
I love that this went a wholedifferent angle than what you
and I had even preliminaryplanned for.
We took the gloves off.
We definitely made ituncensored.
We shared something that'sworking for both of us as of
right now.
We're the only two people Iknow running that model, that
two-step approach.
I speak for the audience.
Thank you, man.
You dropped some nuggetsLooking forward to round two,
when we bring you back for thedirector of solar conversation
(41:01):
through enterprise.
I think that would be epic andgame-changing for sure.
Lenny, thank you very much.
As you guys know, in GALS we dothis for free.
We do it to pay it forward in aspace that's craving leadership
and creating guidance.
If you got any value and I knowand pray you did please like
subscribe and share this episodewith anyone else who's perhaps
a professional thinking aboutgetting in solar or already in
(41:22):
solar, looking to 10X their game.
We're here to serve Hope.
Everyone has a great day, lenny.
Thank you again.
We'll talk soon.
My friend Appreciate it brother.
Thanks.
Hello, welcome to another episode of solar sales
uncensored.
I am your host, aaron Browning,and I'm super fired up for
today's VIP guest.
We have none other than MrLinney Fairfield from the great
Carolina region.
He is one of my businesspartners.
In fact, he didn't know I wasgoing to say this, especially
that first year of gettingstarted in a new venture with
(00:21):
solar.
Anytime I had a question and Iknew I had to have facts, I
called Linney.
In fact, I felt so bad becauseI wore out that phone number.
I was only ever calling himwith problems, with like high
level questions.
But that's really his backgroundand what we're going to focus
on today is solar secrets,building trust in a very crowded
market and solar sales space.
(00:41):
There's no better guest I couldhave than Lenny.
A little bit about him before Ibring him up.
He's been in the solar spacefor four years and he is already
one of the most highlyrespected solar sales reps.
He comes from a background ofit as an independent wealth
manager spent over 17 yearsdoing that, and what I love
about what this conversationtoday is we're going to touch on
(01:02):
that transition from the wealthside over to solar and how he
still leads and advises hisclients.
Through that training from aprevious career.
It's mind blowing.
He has a beautiful wife and hehas hopefully you're ready for
this five kids.
God bless him, and he's leadingone of the top solar sales
teams as well.
So, without further ado, linney, how are you, my friend?
Speaker 2 (01:22):
Aaron Browning.
What's up, brother?
So excited to be here.
Didn't take a thousand episodes.
Speaker 1 (01:29):
We had a joke when we kicked off the podcast a few
months ago that he would beguest 1000.
I said there's no freaking way,we're waiting for 1000.
So we got him on early.
But, lenny, everything's good.
Speaker 2 (01:37):
Yes, sir, I appreciate.
Just moved outside of Raleigh,north Carolina and excited about
it, very excited to be honoredto be an honorary solar icon.
Just FYI.
Speaker 1 (01:47):
I know that man, I love that and we don't use that
phrase lightly or very often.
I think there's one of two ofyou, lenny.
If you don't mind, man, I knowI teased it.
Okay, give the audience yourquick, I don't know.
One to two minute background,starting with the wealth as a
wealth side, if you don't mind.
Speaker 2 (02:00):
Yeah, absolutely Coming from you.
Being a financial advisor, awealth manager, I literally took
clients portfolios, managedthem actively.
I was a stock geek, if you will.
I had my Series 7, Series 66.
I had fee based management.
So I had everything and wasvery successful at it.
I enjoyed it.
It was fun while it lasted.
(02:20):
The time came when the marketswere no longer fun to deal with
and charts were no longer fun tolook at and that's when I
basically sold my practice andstarted looking for something I
could do full time.
That I enjoyed, and solardefinitely has me hooked.
I love it.
Speaker 1 (02:34):
How did you find solar?
How did solar find you?
Tell me more about that.
Speaker 2 (02:38):
Interesting question.
I had a.
I actually worked.
When you first start in anindustry like this, you don't
know anything.
Right, I didn't know anything.
I knew I could talk to people,so I took advantage of that and
I ended up working for a largercompany that actually did solar,
learned the basics, which wasgreat, but, just like when I
started in the financialindustry, recognized very
quickly up front that wasn'twhere I was going to be.
(02:59):
I was much more independent.
I needed to be able to tellpeople exactly how things work,
exactly how the financing work,the technology, everything.
So I needed something that gaveme the freedom to be able to do
what's right for the customerevery time, no matter what.
Speaker 1 (03:14):
This is uncensored man.
You're going to hear me say ita lot.
I know it's part of the reasonyou love the show.
What was the other company?
We're not using names.
What did they block you fromsaying?
What made you feel like youwere in handcuffs, if you will,
and not to be able to advise theclient like you'd now can?
Speaker 2 (03:27):
There comes a time, with any kind of company, if
you're not feeling comfortablewith the value proposition that
they're basically telling you,forcing you, if you will, this
is what you're going to say Atthe end of my time with them.
I was literally taking thingsoff proposals because they were
on there and I didn't want themon there, like they didn't make
sense to me and I couldn't be.
I wasn't able to translate thatover to a customer, so it
(03:50):
wasn't going to work.
Just those things thatcompanies locked people down
financing One option, panels oneoption Okay, what if that
battery that we have is not thebest one for my client?
I need the freedom to be ableto give them what's right.
Speaker 1 (04:04):
How long were you at the previous company?
Speaker 2 (04:07):
Just over a year.
Near the end, it was verysketchy.
I wasn't really doing a wholelot of sales because I couldn't
Like.
It was the point where I neededsomething different.
I needed what was right for mycustomers.
And once you've been with acompany for a long time in your
new and in industry, you startlearning things.
And once I started reallydigging in, installs started
happening.
I noticed there's a better wayto do this.
(04:27):
For sure, this is not the bestway to do it, so that's what,
just like every other year in mylife, practically in my adult
life I went out and becameself-employed.
I'm the best boss of it anyways.
Yeah, really.
Speaker 1 (04:40):
So where did you get your knowledge base?
For solar though, Because I'm agreat example, I can sell the
heck out of solar.
I think we did 250 deals ourfirst year.
Some crazy number of lives Anumber like that, at least crazy
to us.
I don't know a tenth of what interms of ground mounts and this
panel and all of that.
I'm just being reallytransparent.
Where did that knowledge comefrom?
Because most solar sales peopledo not have that.
Speaker 2 (05:01):
Yeah, I tell you, it's just, it's been experienced
more than anything else.
I've been a have had theopportunity to do Gosh at least
20 ground-mount systems, beingin rural Carolina as I do them
all the time.
So that's where I got thatbasis of knowledge.
And then people who started.
It's funny you can be in anindustry for four years and
you're considered a no-gee.
(05:22):
I don't know, I don't get that,but the knowledge just comes
from experience as things happen.
The best opportunity to learnthat, I found, is when things
don't go right.
Something's challenging.
Okay, let's fix it.
That's what part of my valueproposition to customers are.
Look, you're not getting thiscompany in the system, you're
getting me like I'm gonna doevery, I'm gonna fight to you,
(05:42):
for you, to the very end, and ifit doesn't go perfectly, that's
okay, I'm gonna fix it.
I'm gonna find out what theissue is and fix it.
So that's been my philosophyand that's given me a wealth of
knowledge in the time.
Speaker 1 (05:53):
I love that.
We talked with a lot about thaton our team calls or private
calls about, first and foremost,solar is in the construction
industry.
There are problems, aren'tevery file?
I don't think I've ever had asingle one I haven't been doing
as long as you have whereeverything was just smooth, it
was butter.
There's always issues and weteach that, expect them.
It's just like real estate.
Things are going to freakinshow up.
(06:14):
Well, I love that you just saidis your solution based, and I
remind you all the freakin timeyou have a customer that wants
solar, especially if you sold itcorrectly they have a big
reason, a big why would everyonelabel it?
We have a company that wants tosell it and and Lenny wants to
sell it.
When you have those threethings, you got to figure out a
solution.
There's a way to get it doneand we're gonna get it done, and
so I freakin love that man.
Speaker 2 (06:32):
Go the pie in the sky expectations.
A lot of people leave withtheir customers.
It's not a good idea.
Give them realisticexpectations.
Speaker 1 (06:40):
Yeah, the other piece with that too, that's huge.
With sale, it's managingexpectations.
I let the client know we'regonna have hiccups, we're gonna
have speed bumps.
So we got to get through and Ilove that you're selling
yourself, especially over yourcompany.
That's a whole differentepisode as well.
Oh my gosh, make sure thatwe're the brand and not just the
company.
It's cool to talk about them soshe were the great company like
ours that has awards and allthe other stuff.
But first and foremost, you'regetting a business with Lenny.
(07:01):
People want to know they'regetting a business with Lenny.
They want to know they can pickup that phone and he is going
to fight, he's gonna claw to getthis deal done and I love that
you're leading with that man.
Speaker 2 (07:09):
You know what you'll love this.
I literally now model mypractice after Realtors.
What a realtors brandthemselves all the time and I
think that's phenomenal way tobrand yourself as a Solar
professional solar planner, ifyou will.
I don't like the sales reptitle.
Don't give me the sales reptitle.
I had a client call me this asales rep the other day and I
(07:30):
almost cried like literally overzoom and I'm like look, I'm not
a sales rep.
I don't need you to go solar.
That's not.
That's what a sales rep is.
The, the mentality of you gotto close every deal, got to
close every deal.
No, you don't.
Being a planner, I canconfidently go in and say I'm
taking care of, it's not.
My situation is beautiful.
I'm gonna give the customerwhat's right.
(07:51):
My favorite reviews are theones that are five stars, that I
told people not to go solar andthey gave me reviews.
I pride myself on that.
Speaker 1 (08:00):
Yeah, you're separating yourselves, really
what the title is gonna be and acrowded space and, by the way,
solar professionals.
I try not to use solar salespeople.
It's hard.
We got to talk to all thevarious companies that listen.
You might be in a state likethe Carolinas, virginia,
maryland, where I'm at to, whereit's not saturated yet, but it
will be.
This is going to be real estate.
I say it every single episodeand so you got to be able to
(08:21):
separate yourselves and I likethat.
He's going into it trying tofigure out if the client's even
a fit.
When you go in with thatmindset, we're gonna take a deep
dive on that today.
It changes everything.
Instead of having commissionedbreath like everyone else, what
do you mean?
Everyone's a fit like we'reputting glass on that roof.
I'll figure it out.
Some people it doesn't makesense for, and I just I can't
stress that enough.
It's something else you saidtoo and I've heard you say it a
(08:42):
lot from stage when you train isthat you and your wife, you
guys, are partners on thiscompany, correct?
Yes, that's awesome that youand Starla are solar planners
and not solar sales reps.
What does that mean?
What is the difference to youguys?
Speaker 2 (08:55):
Yeah, you just nailed it by the commission breath
statement.
You can tell a sales rip withintwo minutes of meeting on most
of the time, whereas when I showup, a lot of times people have
the expectation of a sales rep.
And when I show up, you you canactually tell, just based on
how I act and how I treat people, that I'm not going down that
road.
Look, if it's not gonna workfor you, I'm gonna tell you.
(09:15):
The last thing I need is anunhappy customer.
I don't want that.
I want every customer be happy.
Even if there's challenges inthe process is okay, they're
still gonna be happy in the end.
It's just what?
Just a different mentality iscoming from that cons Consults
giving consults rather thansales pitches.
I think that's very important.
And having options being with acompany that gives us the
(09:36):
ability to give people Differentoptions based on their where
they live and their preferences.
Having four panels to choosefrom, four batteries to choose
from, different inverte I thinkit's vital to give people what
they need.
Speaker 1 (09:50):
Yeah, lots of dissect there, man, that's one of my
personal pitches closing tactics, strategies, tools to separate
us.
By the way, audience, if youhaven't read the purple cow, go
check it out, how you recommend.
But it's all about this topicseparating yourselves from the
masses, doing something it'sdifferent to help you stand out
in a crowded marketplace.
But I tell you all the time,typically on I'll talk about the
East Coast.
That's mainly where I'm runningdeals as Lenny with our company
(10:12):
.
I can't speak for all, butwe're gonna have between three
and five different solar panelsfrom different Manufacturers
that we're able to show them andI feel very confident with that
number.
That three to five range,that's huge.
Our competition is showing a one, sometimes two, and usually
it's made by the same company.
It's almost like windows.
Like you have the top of theline window for manufacturer a
and then here's the entry levelManufacturer a.
(10:33):
Ours is completely different.
It is three to five differentsolar panel manufacturers.
So we're truly able to buildthe system with the client and
design it for them by them, andit really helps separate us and
I know I get that feeling when Itell them that I Really the
deal is already sold.
I can feel like their shoulderscome down.
It's like this Wow, I canactually pick it like they're
blown away that they have aninput in this.
(10:55):
Thoughts on that.
Speaker 2 (10:56):
I think that, oh, absolutely, being in the coastal
Carolinas for so long, Iliterally moved to the coast
because of solar.
That's the reason I was therebeing able to offer people a
panel that if they have aconcern of, if they're getting
batteries Most likely they'reconcerned about hurricanes.
We don't have them every year,but it feels like it really does
.
So having the ability to say Igot a panel that's hurricane
(11:17):
rated regularly It'll 150 milean hour.
Winds is what it's rated.
We can do that if it'ssomething that's important to
you now.
That said, I was also in NewOrleans the day after Hurricane
Ida and I saw up solar panelseverywhere.
I've never seen so many solarpanels in my life, honestly,
because the roofs were shreddedand next to them were panels
still in place.
Wow, being able to takepictures of that and share that
with people like there's.
(11:37):
They're all great quality tierone panels, but here's one
that's just a little bit higherwind rated and there's a lot of
Little communities along thecoast actually require that and
people don't know that.
One of my one of my biggestthings about separating myself
Is when I go into an appointmentwith somebody and I immediately
can tell by what the clientsaying what they were told by
the other person, especiallywhen it's not true or accurate.
(12:01):
Maximum system size they comein with a 12 kilowatt system and
the maximum is 10.
In this power company I've wonso many deals just by being
honest about that.
Speaker 1 (12:11):
That separates you too.
People want to be led.
I tell you all the time if I'mnot a solar pro and I'm hiring
Lenny, I'm hiring him becausehe's a solar professional.
Tell me what I need to do, Tellme the rules, lead me, show me
what needs to get done.
Explain it to me for sure.
But I also want to be led, andso I love that.
By the way, that was one of mybiggest pet peeves early on.
I've gotten desensitized to ita little bit.
I now expect it, but I wasblown away at the number of I
(12:34):
hate using the word lies becauseI believe in the good of
everybody, but just where peopleweren't being forthcoming when
I was competing undersizedsystems and just things that
were told on the install timesand everything else it was tough
, man, I didn't like it.
So I like the idea that you'recoming in as a planner.
You're coming in as that voiceof reason and educator, whatever
you want to label it.
(12:55):
What other factors are youhelping them plan?
Are you helping to decidewhether or not this even makes
sense?
Speaker 2 (13:01):
Yeah, so a lot of it has to do with their lifestyle
and a lot of times, especiallyif there's a net meeting
situation where they're gettinga full credit Whoa sorry,
bloopers are real.
Yeah yeah, I want to make surethat they get all the
information up front and if theydon't have a need for a battery
, I want to make sure theyunderstand why a lot of people
want to know that they thinkthey need a battery right away
and right now, going forward.
Honestly, most people do, butif they don't, I want to make
(13:24):
sure they don't have a need fora battery.
Speaker 1 (13:25):
Why do you say that?
Speaker 2 (13:25):
by the way, why do most people do, Because net
metering in the United States isbasically going away and solar
is under attack currently by allthe power companies, especially
the big ones.
They're looking for ways to beable to trip us up and not allow
us to help people go solar andhave some kind of negative
feedback that people have toovercome in order to go solar.
And not having a net meteringcredit that's one to one is one
(13:50):
of the ways they do it.
Well, the way around that iswith batteries.
Batteries costs are droppingsubstantially and right now it
actually has a financial rewardin a lot of cases with a lot of
power companies.
Almost the entire state ofNorth Carolina does not offer a
one to one net meeting scenario.
Speaker 1 (14:08):
So, if you had a percentage, what percentage of
batteries are you at leastrecommending to your clients?
Is it 90% or is it?
Speaker 2 (14:14):
almost every single appointment they're going to see
a battery.
The size kind of depends ontheir kind of what they reveal
to me as we're going, you'llfind that most of the people you
talk to just assume it comeswith it.
That's another separating issue.
No, my price is the same as theother company.
But you know what?
They don't have a battery onthere and I do.
(14:34):
Those kind of scenarios aredifferent equipment.
A lot of times if you see otherquotes or proposals, they'll
have a generic 400 watt panel.
They won't actually even listthe panel because they don't
know if they have it.
They don't know what they have.
Our company actually has greatsupply chain.
I even tell customers we choosenot to participate in supply
chain issues.
We're not going to do it.
(14:55):
If I give you a panel today,the 90%, 99%, 95%, something
like that, that's how often it'sgoing to stay the same.
Speaker 1 (15:02):
I love that.
Okay, so the two factors you'vementioned so far on the
planning side are the batteryand then whether or not Siller
makes sense, any other factorsthat you're helping to advise
them and plan for.
Speaker 2 (15:14):
The goal of having an appointment positioned as a
planner is that, no matter whatthey do, no matter which system
they want, they're going tochoose me.
Why?
Because when you sit me next toa sales rep and I'm giving you
the planning portion, it's nightand day.
I've actually had situations.
(15:36):
Chris Hart and I had a situationone of his first deals.
The guy kept going back andforth and I gave him the best
price we could as a planner upfront.
It's like this is what theprice is.
And the other company was$10,000 more that he had already
signed with.
He canceled them, came to usand then he tried to go back to
the other company because theydropped their price so far.
(15:57):
And I literally told him he waslooking for us to negotiate and
I'm like look, I gave you thebest price up front and if you
can literally go to this othercompany that just dropped their
price $10,000 on, you go for it.
If you think that's what's bestfor you, do it.
He's okay.
And he literally.
That's how we ended it.
(16:17):
Two days later I told Chrisgive him two weeks.
Two days later he called meback.
So the other company's just toosketchy.
I'm like all right, let's dothis.
Speaker 1 (16:26):
The solar sales reps.
You mentioned that youliterally almost cried on a Zoom
call the other day.
Is it just the commissionbreath that has you turned off
by what you're saying thecompetition do?
What are the factors?
Speaker 2 (16:37):
No, there's a lot.
I would call it sketchyactivities out there, like I
said, using generic panelshowing clients screenshots of
here's your monthly payment, butit's literally the net monthly
monthly payment.
They're not even explaining howfinancing works.
Being in a consultation and Ido the funny thing is and you
probably want to know more aboutthis is I don't even do
(16:58):
presentations anymore.
Speaker 1 (16:58):
I don't know if you're aware of that.
No, tell me more man.
Speaker 2 (17:01):
For those of you watching the YouTube version.
Speaker 1 (17:03):
My whole chair just changed.
I love little nuances like this.
Speaker 2 (17:07):
Now we're getting into the secret.
Speaker 1 (17:09):
It's uncensored brother.
Now that you mentioned it, wegot to go there, Okay, so what
are you doing?
Speaker 2 (17:13):
Man, I'm outed, okay.
So I have systems in place, andwatching solar icons honestly
helped me recognize that Ineeded a system in place.
So it's great that you guys aredoing that.
My system right now I literallyhave 90% of what I do is mentor
deals.
So I'm mentoring a rep who'sfairly new in the industry,
(17:35):
teaching them how to do it,closing their deals for them.
Our system set up great forthat.
But also, with any appointment,when someone sets an
appointment up in my calendar,they're going to get a
confirmation email.
When they get the confirmationemail and text message, it has a
video attached.
Please, with a note, pleasewatch this video before our
appointment.
It'll save you 20 minutes atleast on the appointment.
(17:57):
And I tell you, aaron, I'mshocked.
I've had one person in the lastsix months say no, I didn't get
a chance to watch the video.
What's the video?
So, everyone, I can't tell youthat.
Speaker 1 (18:10):
It's uncensored.
You don't have to tell meexactly what.
Yeah, screw it, man.
You got to tell us something.
Is it you doing a presentation?
Is it why solar?
What's the context of it?
Speaker 2 (18:19):
You're killing me.
You're killing me, smalls.
Yes, it's my solar presentation.
I've done probably a couplehundred projects now using the
same presentation and one day Ijust realized you know what?
I got a think limit list Likehow can I free up some time?
I'm saying the same thing threetimes a day, six days a week,
every single day, every singleweek.
(18:40):
How can I automate this?
Speaker 1 (18:42):
Okay.
So I got to fess up.
I'm doing the same thing.
I've been very secretive aboutit too.
I teased it on a podcast acouple of weeks ago and I was
like do I do this, do I not?
I left some of it in there.
I don't think people caught itthough, because I haven't been
hit up a lot about it.
So you're doing yours more fromcontribution.
I was going crazy.
The first 20 minutes of everypresentation I was doing over
(19:03):
Zoom, because I'm 100% virtual,was the same doggone thing and I
said I'm going to lose my mind,like I know that's part of
sales and you got to get used toit.
But gosh, I was going crazy.
I said there's got to be abetter way.
So I recorded myself doing that20, I think it's 21 minutes
long, the presentation like whyour company?
Why solar?
How does it work?
How's that metering work?
I did it in a way probablysimilar to you, where it was
general, but you also felt likeit was a little bit personal.
(19:25):
So, without me saying Lenny, Iwas like hey, good afternoon, so
good to see you, like one ofthose.
Well, a couple of things.
I'll go ahead and share it withyou now.
And also the audience is.
We used our team app and I'llthrow a link in the chat for
those that don't have it.
Most of it is free, that youcan use.
Uploaded the video there so Ican track it.
That was the big thing that Isee some people trying to copy
this model.
First step in the process, Ijust sent everything over to our
(19:45):
engineering team.
It's going to take a day or twoto get that back.
I just sent you over a videothat talks about exactly why
you're going to partner with ourcompany, how this all works.
I need you to carve out 20minutes between now and when we
meet tomorrow at 4pm to do that.
If you do it, it's going tosave you 20 minutes.
More importantly, it allows usjust to focus on your house.
Tomorrow afternoon Can youcommit and I get a tie down and
(20:06):
then my app tracks it.
First time I did this Lennythis lady I have to be careful
with names because she'scurrently going solar with us
she watched it 17 times in 24hours Blew my mind, dude, if you
guys think I didn't sell thatdeal.
Blew my mind the other.
You got me excited.
Now.
The other cool part with that,lenny, is it also shows you the
people that aren't that serious.
I know you've said you've onlyhad one, not watch it.
(20:26):
I've had a couple to where theyset the appointment and the
reason I bring that up guys andgals listening.
I want to be able to flush outwho my hot appointments are,
immediately the ones that aresofter.
They're not willing to carveout 20 minutes.
Man.
It's a big red flag.
But I'd rather find that out 24, 48 hours prior to me missing
dinner with the family to run anappointment that they aren't
taking serious 100% agree.
Speaker 2 (20:49):
Like it's a big red flag.
If someone says they haven'tLike the person who watched it.
They're definitely not solarright now.
Everyone else who's gone solar,they watched the video and
you're right.
They'll watch it three and fourtimes and it's insane how good
it is.
And you know what?
I've been at this for fouryears now.
I've actually had people callme for the year after say I
(21:10):
couldn't use the tax credit.
You didn't tell me.
And I've always had the becauseI'm presenting as a planner.
I've always had the same exactpresentation.
For this reason, nobody cancome back and say you didn't
tell me.
Yeah, I did.
I tell everybody the exact samething just to make sure that we
cover it.
So I'm telling people about thetax credit.
(21:32):
I don't know about theirpersonal situation, that's more
between them and theiraccountant but I told you the
exact same way I tell everybodyNow.
Speaker 1 (21:39):
I got the video.
That's interesting.
Speaker 2 (21:41):
So it's also a safeguard for you and your
business to protect yourselves.
Speaker 1 (21:43):
It is.
Yeah, I never thought about itFor, like I said, mine was
selflessly for time.
It was going crazy.
Are you also running that sametwo step formula for mentee
deals, or just for your personaldeals?
Speaker 2 (21:54):
Oh, absolutely Every single appointment that I have
multiple today and they've allgotten the video and hopefully
had a chance to watch it and, aspart of the when I have a
mentee, especially confirm theappointment, when you confirm
the appointment, ask them ifthey watched it.
Speaker 1 (22:07):
That's the cool thing about the app, man, that you
might want to add.
That nuance is.
Now I know I can tell theywatched 70% of it.
I know exactly where they leftoff.
The other cool thing with thatdoing it this way that first
lady, it was just one of thosewhere everything just lined up
and it just I need that.
When it reaffirmed what thevision was and now I know you
have the same vision she showedup with a page of notes.
The other really, yeah, butnormally when you, depending on
(22:30):
the personality, type wholedifferent podcasts, some people
don't like to ask questions likethat if they're not prepared.
So when I was doing the 21minute thing, I might get a
question or two, but sometimesthey wouldn't and therefore I
wouldn't get the close becausethey had other questions.
They would email me later andhave to answer.
That takes that away, becausenow they've had time to write it
down.
The other really cool part man,this is going to sound really
egotistical, but it is what itis.
(22:50):
I'll hop on that, that secondcall after they've seen the
video and they'll turn theircamera on and I'll literally see
them fix their shirt, do theirhair.
I was like that's the guy fromthe video Like it, edifies you
in a weird way that also helpsyou get the sale.
So back to the mentee thing,because this has been a little
bit harder for me because, andfor those of you not, with our
company, one of the five ways wecan get paid is by being an
(23:11):
expert and helping close dealsfor people in the company.
We always say no, but it's notalways no.
Sometimes it's people that justdon't want to run appointments.
I got some of those on my teamas well.
They're like bird dog and theutility bills.
They get paid 50% of thecommission, we get paid 50.
So with our company it'sanywhere from I don't know three
to six, seven grand for each ofus.
So it's a great income stream.
What I love about it is you wakeup every day, especially if
you're like Lenny and I, whereyou're out there.
(23:33):
You come from contribution,helping people.
You wake up every day to deals.
I give away more deals to othermentors than I can even take,
and I know Lenny does too.
Back to the original question.
When I'm doing that strategywith a mentee and you can see
that they didn't watch the video, I'm repping that mentee that.
Hey, if we don't haveconfirmation, I don't have
verification.
They watched it.
We're pushing that appointment,making them know that ahead of
(23:54):
time.
Speaker 2 (23:55):
I'm not because I will still do the appointment.
I'll do the presentation live.
I have to.
That's funny.
You asked that because Iliterally just had an
appointment that just beforethis and I and they caught me
off guard because they hadn'twatched the video.
That's two now that haven'twatched the video.
So I had to literally Changedirection and change gears real
quick and get ready, for Iwasn't ready.
I almost forgot how to do it.
Speaker 1 (24:16):
Yeah, that's why I love.
So I'm running mine to where Iwon't run it, and I'm not saying
that's the the right answer yet, but I'm doing it for my sanity
.
I've also from the a few thathave not watched it.
They tend to go ghost as well.
So it's not the just thatthey're avoiding it, especially
if you phrase it where it'sabout them.
It saves them time, allows usto focus on them and their house
.
It's all about them, right?
(24:36):
You're making it about them,not us, that you're really gonna
flush out whether they haveskin in this game and how
serious they are.
So I'm toying with that.
But I always feel bad with thementee because it is their lead,
but I let them know ahead oftime.
Here's the way I do it, here'sthe strategy, and so far the
feedback has been great.
But that's really cool.
You're running that too.
Any other little nuances thatyou didn't know you were gonna
share?
On that two-step approach?
Speaker 2 (24:55):
That's that right.
There is a game changer.
I didn't expect to share thattoday.
I thought I was the only onedoing it.
I'm glad to hear you're doingit.
It's not doesn't surprise me,because when you're going 150
miles an hour, it's a beautifulthing to add to your situation.
Mentees, though?
Mentees watching that video hasbeen hugely beneficial.
They understand exactly wherewe're going and what the goal is
.
By the end of the appointmentand Actually I've had more
(25:17):
people since I started the video100% virtual More people be
prepared to go forward that day,which is not something I
usually.
I don't push that if they'reready, but I've noticed that a
higher not a huge percentagehigher, but a higher percentage
of people are ready to go thatfirst.
Speaker 1 (25:34):
That's a really interesting man.
I think the data we have, wehit, we're gonna be collecting
from this over the next couplemonths and quarters, is gonna be
huge.
What, where the other place Igot this idea from?
And Chris Hart, my partner,will challenge myself Are us on?
This is treating it like a realestate business?
I know you led with that.
That is our background.
That is where we made ourfortune that I tell people all
the time this is real estate 20,25 years ago, and so the stuff
(25:56):
we're doing is 10 years ahead,20 years ahead, and one of those
is separating yourselves.
And so I remember that littlenugget I was gonna give you one
of the happens to be anotherlady that that watched it.
We got on the zoom.
I already have the app thatsays she watched it.
So I know and I'll say let'sstart with any questions.
I have the slide just in caseand she goes I gotta be really
honest with you and I think shecalled me sir and I was like no,
my name's Aaron.
Like I want to be like equals,but I thought it was fun.
(26:18):
That's the power of the videobecause, by the way, she was
older than me.
I truly think that was just thevideo she said.
I want to let you know thatyou're the only person that sent
me a Personalized video priorto actually meeting.
I was like wow, anyone.
I tell it wasn't totallypersonalized, but I was like
tell me more.
She was like every other person.
It was just trying to get themeeting, trying to get to my
kitchen table or get her on azoom.
(26:38):
You actually sent meinformation for me she does her
words for me to see if I evenwanted to meet with you.
And she was like I just itliterally like I got like the
goosebumps.
I was like dude, as I call it,too, but I was like that is
awesome.
So there's so many ways you canwin on this.
I don't, I can't think of anegative.
I really freaking can't.
Speaker 2 (26:56):
I expected negative, but I shouldn't have because I
predetermined what was gonnahappen Maybe less than half of
the people watching it.
It's not been this.
That's one place where Chrisand I differ for sure.
I respect Chris immensely, butI like the idea of treating it
like a realtor would treat theirbusiness.
I think we are the brand tosome extent, I think.
Speaker 1 (27:14):
I think we are the brand a hundred percent man.
And, by the way, that's anothermistake we're gonna see people
do is they're going in talkingabout their company, a ABC solar
, whatever it is.
I think it's a big mistake, andthe problem with smaller
companies probably where youfirst got cut your teeth Is that
you can't do that.
You got to go in with theircompany because they own it with
.
When I am like my emailsignature says it, when I'm on
the phone Doing a discovery call, I tell them you're talking
(27:36):
with the owner excuse me of XYZsolar, and they're like, really,
I'm like, yes, I'm gonna startusing that sales rep language.
I'm not a sales rep, I didn'tknock on your door.
Like you're getting the owner,the person that can make every
decision with you, is going tobe on that zoom Call.
I think that's part of thereason why they're fixing their
hair, doing the shirt orwhatever.
It's because of that and that'ssomething I love about our
company is that we're able toposition ourselves and I
(27:56):
Although I will mention mycompany when I'm talking about
like awards and things like thatto your point.
That's not the focal.
The focal is they're getting me, they're getting in business
with me.
They're getting my cell phonenumber.
I'm the one that's gonna go towar forum.
I'm gonna get the deal done.
All that other stuff.
The fact I happen to park mycompany's flag with XYZ solar is
the icing on the cake.
Speaker 2 (28:16):
Exactly like a realtor does.
Same concept the person in youdoesn't change, even if the
company did.
And like the cool thing aboutabout the situation we're in,
I've been approached with manydifferent opportunities and I'm
gonna get.
I've proven it when I did.
When I was a wealth manager, Iwent were to the company at the
time.
That was the best for mycustomers.
(28:37):
Fun, that was it.
That was my onlydecision-making factor what's
best for my customers in the end.
If that's somewhere else, thenI'll be somewhere else.
If there were somewhere else,now I'd already be there.
That's the conversations I have,conversations that I have with
a lot of sales reps or solarreps.
Look, if there's somebody elsesomewhere else to be, that was
better right now, I wouldalready be there, and if then
there will be, if there is, I'llbe there.
(28:58):
It's just the way it is.
I am.
Speaker 1 (29:00):
I love it, man, I love it, and people are missing
this.
They really are, especially ifyou're not with our company.
They're going out there flyingthe flag and I get you're proud
of it, but you don't separateyourself.
Here's the other byproduct fromthat.
This is where I learned this.
Even though I was trained on it, I'm a big believer.
Unfortunately, you got to getburned.
Sometimes you could hearsomething a thousand times.
God knows.
My wife will tell me that allthe time we were calling expired
listings in my real estatebusiness.
(29:21):
That's a listing that our homefor sale that didn't sell and
then it goes back up and it'spublic knowledge, the die-hards.
It's almost like a door knocker.
We're beating that door.
We're calling, we're mailing.
I get on the phone.
I do what I do.
I'm scripted.
I get the appointment.
I'm excited.
It was a million-dollar listingappointment.
I think it was for two dayslater, right?
I recall correctly.
She calls 24 hours later andcancels.
I said no, what do you mean?
(29:41):
Like when I put it on mycalendars with ink it's not
pencil, like I used to say allthe time, they would laugh and
she goes Erin, I was lookingforward to meeting you.
I loved everything you said,but I just realized I have three
other agents coming from EXPRealty.
Oh, I said, oh my gosh, ma'am,there are 90,000 of us.
We're all independentcontractors.
Right then I changed.
I never got the appointment.
It was too late.
It was too late.
So now I went into it.
(30:01):
Why am I even mentioning EXP,where 90,000 people live?
Why am I mentioning power?
Why am I mentioning whatevercompany you're with?
Separate yourselves.
If that's important to them,you can talk about it, but
they're not getting intobusiness with them.
She thought we were all thesame and I was like that mistake
will never, freaking, happenagain.
And so I'm.
Yeah, especially if you startto join some of these larger
solar companies, it's going tohappen.
I've run against other repsSorry to use that word at power
(30:25):
who they had the same lead orwhatever it was, I don't
remember the source of it towhere we're competing and it's a
healthy market.
Obviously I want to berespectful on that, but you got
to separate yourselves.
Speaker 2 (30:34):
Absolutely, and you are like when you're the brand
and you have the knowledge andyou're able to say that gosh,
engineers are my favorite.
Like engineers are the most.
Speaker 1 (30:44):
Oh, I will totally disagree.
They are not my favorite.
Talk about it, though.
Speaker 2 (30:49):
But people who are financially savvy, the investors
in the group, the investors inthe group, the investors real
estate investor yeah, that's me,they.
I can, literally.
I got on the phone.
One of my reps had anappointment last week.
I was at an install, in frontof a house watching the install
go up.
I don't get to go in very often, but he called me out of the
blue because he had this guythat was talking about
(31:10):
investment return and let's mywheelhouse, let's bring it on.
So I literally was able to havethis upper level conversation
Using words from my past thatmost people wouldn't even
understand, to be able to bringthis guy around to.
Okay, now it makes more sense.
You can't use a tax credit.
Have you thought of this?
Oh no, I hadn't thought of that.
That does work for me.
So got the guy his juices going, gave him answers that he
(31:33):
really wanted.
He wanted somebody to be ableto talk to him about these
things and in the end it'srecent, so hopefully he'll go
forward.
He's got to check with the CPA,got to check with his
investment.
You know that kind of thing.
Gosh, if you're going to talkto your CPA or your investment
guy or gal, bring them on.
Speaker 1 (31:50):
Let me talk to him.
Speaker 2 (31:52):
You know 100%, with these inflation the way it is
right now, if financial plannersare not talking to their
clients about their energy bill,they're making a big mistake
and I'd love to be able toeducate them just like Run with
that for a second man because Ihaven't heard anyone else say
that that's a big one.
Speaker 1 (32:08):
What does that mean to you?
So if your financial personthat you're going to is not
talking to you about potentiallygoing solar, it's a mistake
Like?
Why, like dumb that down forsomeone who's brand new to solar
, thinking about getting in.
What does that mean?
Speaker 2 (32:20):
Yeah.
So a couple of differentscenarios.
You got tip right now.
You got North Carolina isprobably the most difficult
state to sell in my opinion, andI sell in all of them, so I
have a pretty educated view.
Power electricity rates are nothigh right now.
They're not tremendously highlike they are in other states
like California.
So we're literally selling orpresenting against inflation and
(32:45):
what's going to happen?
Luckily we have third partyverified evidence that power
bills here are going to doublein the next three years.
That's literally what they'resaying.
It gives us an opportunity tohave that conversation from the
batteries.
Here's how a battery returnsfinancial return for you.
And then the other scenariothink about this is similar.
(33:05):
Someone owns a property right,and they're a real estate
investor.
That's great.
There's a ton of them out thereright now.
They buy a house, they bring arenter in.
The renter basically pays offthe house, right.
Why in the world would theythen turn around and let them
rent their electricity from thepower company when they can
easily go solar, get ownershipof the power situation and
(33:28):
monetize it?
Charge the renter $300 more permonth on their rent and include
the power bill in it.
Now you've just monetized on asecond level that you never
thought about, that's strong man.
Speaker 1 (33:41):
I love that you're planting that seed with the
potential customer in case thatfinancial person doesn't endorse
this.
What a mistake they're making.
So now, the minute they startto say no, they're already armed
with it.
You're essentially spoonfeeding them what to ask and
what to say in case you don'tget that meeting with them.
Genius.
Speaker 2 (33:58):
A lot of people don't realize that financial planners
and investment managers weliterally talk about inflation
every day.
Same concept with rateincreases.
It's all about inflation.
Your bill is going to be double.
I use the rule of 72.
You divide 72 by whateverinvestment return you think you
can get.
It'll tell you how long ittakes to double your money in
(34:19):
investment.
It works the same way with rateincreases.
If some energy company likeDuke is going to raise your
rates 6% per year, you divide 72by 6, 12 years.
Your bill is going to be doublewhat it is today.
Speaker 1 (34:33):
That's every single appointment for me, that's the
value that goes back to thatplanner versus just being a
solar sales rep man.
Where are your thoughts rightnow on the lending side, the
financing side?
Are you still recommending alot of loans?
Are you seeing more cash deals?
Are you doing leases?
What are your thoughts?
Speaker 2 (34:48):
There's a lot of scenarios there and that's
another need that I havepersonally.
I need the ability to be ableto change the financing based on
the customer's needs.
I like to talk about a lot ofpeople don't realize that the
dealer fees in our industry arehigher as the loan interest rate
goes down.
I like to talk about my mom'sloan.
That's what I did with my mom.
I say to every appointment nowI gave her this 10% loan.
(35:09):
Why would I do that to my mom?
I'm a horrible son.
No, let me explain.
I go through and I show peopledifferent options.
Here's 4.99%.
Look what it does when I changeit to 12%.
Do you have cash?
Do you have retirement funds?
Do you have home equity thatyou could tap?
Let's talk about it.
Let's get out there and talkabout it.
A lot of my closes aren't sameday closes.
(35:30):
I know I just made a wholebunch of solar sales reps cringe
just now, but that's theplanner mentality.
The planner mentality saysthey're going to do it today,
they're going to do it tomorrowand the next day or a week from
now, whenever it's comfortablefor them, do I present it and do
I try and close everyappointment?
Yes, absolutely, I know it'sright for them.
I need them to understand it'sright for them.
(35:52):
If they're not there yet, Igive them the opportunity to be
able to cringe numbers orwhatever it is that they need to
do, but I always make afollow-up appointment.
It's usually almost all thetime within three days.
Speaker 1 (36:05):
You said a couple of key words.
I know our mutual friend, ChrisHart.
I know his position on this.
Talk to me about leases,because we talk about ownership
and things like that.
I know the solar landscape ischanging.
It's drastic.
How much has changed just in myfirst year?
What are your thoughts onleases?
Are you a fan?
Are you not?
Why it's uncensored man?
What is it?
Speaker 2 (36:25):
I'm also going to say that I'm going with a limitless
mindset as of a couple ofmonths ago.
I don't want to discount them.
I know, for instance, any statereally, but state of South
Carolina if someone can't usethe tax credits, 55% of the
system is normally covered bytax credits.
In that scenario, am I going tolet these people purchase their
(36:45):
power from Dominion or some bigenergy company, knowing that
it's going to be double whatthey're paying today, 10 years
from now?
The responsible part of me as aplanner wants to have that
available.
So I do.
I have it available If peopleneed it and it's best for them.
Gosh what.
A 3% increase in their rate isway better than what they're
(37:07):
going to get from any powercompany.
Going forward, the responsibleside of me says, yeah, we got to
be a lot better.
Speaker 1 (37:12):
It's very well said.
I feel the same way.
My blank reaction when we firststarted seeing these more and
more was oh my gosh, it goesagainst everything I believe in.
I'm ownership guy, my realestate background, yeah.
But the more I really preachand I love that you said it in a
different way but coming intosituations with an open mindset
versus being closed, I thinkthat's a problem.
(37:32):
A lot of seasoned solar reps,planners, whatever they are in
their companies we're makingthat mistake.
We don't know.
We don't know the environment'schanged.
If that's the only way thatgets them solar, is it a better
option?
For most it is.
It absolutely is.
It might not have been theultimate win I wanted, but it
just didn't line up.
This is still a win.
I totally agree.
I love that we have that in ourwheelhouse.
(37:53):
I really do.
Speaker 2 (37:55):
Then, as solar takes off, people are going to be
searching for houses with solar.
That transaction, if you will,with the home changes, owners is
going to become much moresmooth, much smoother than it
has been in the past.
That's in the downside toleases, whereas now I can assure
you, five to 10 years from now,it's going to be a no big deal
at all.
It's going to be very easy.
(38:15):
People are going to expect it.
It's just going to be part ofthe list.
Speaker 1 (38:20):
I would be remiss if I didn't ask you, given your
extensive professionalbackground prior to solar, what
advice would you have forsomeone who's also a
professional, who's getting thatitch to either do solar
full-time or add it to whatthey're doing?
Any advice you have for aprofessional that's thinking
about adding it similar to whatyou did?
Speaker 2 (38:38):
Absolutely Sort of the professional that we tend to
deal with, whether it be realestate agents, mortgage brokers,
roofers.
They want to get into solar butthey don't know how and they're
really concerned about notknowing anything about it.
If I had taken that, I wouldhave never done a solar.
If I had thought about it thatway.
(38:58):
This is just not possible.
You literally are going tolearn as you go.
You're not the cool thing aboutthe way things are set up.
If you grab somebody like me,who knows what they're talking
about, or you, who knows muchmore than the average person
who's coming on board like arealtor, let us be the one that
helps mold the system.
Give the customer what theyneed.
(39:19):
Understand as much of thetechnical aspect as we need to,
and you'll learn it as you goProbably the biggest mistake I
see.
Roofers are a great example.
They're very good at what theydo.
They're making a ton of money,great income doing roofing.
The last thing they want to dois stop and learn solar or have
their people stop and learnsolar.
Let us come in.
(39:40):
I've actually have a websitethat's around this very subject.
I'm going to be your directorof solar.
I'm going to come in.
I'll close the deals for you.
As we go, you'll learn how theprocess works.
If it makes sense for you tothen start learning how to close
great, you know what I findProbably 80% of the roofers and
professionals.
They like to have thatmentor-mentee relationship way
(40:02):
more than three to five.
Speaker 1 (40:03):
Dude, I'm bringing you back for another podcast on
that.
I wrote that down.
I'm stealing it.
Director of solar, doing itthat way, especially with our
enterprise platform.
It's a plug-and-play businessmodel.
That's what business ownerswant.
They don't want to getdistracted to your point.
They see the revenue, they seethe income stream.
You're foolish Once you see it.
You can't unsygette a state allthe time.
They're just trying to figureout the time on task.
How do they do it?
You're offering that solutionimmediately.
(40:25):
Freaking genius brother.
Speaker 2 (40:28):
I can give it to them with very little investment
from them.
They can join in whenever theywant.
They don't have to put it allup front Like customers.
Same thing, I love it, man.
Speaker 1 (40:39):
I know I speak for our audience here.
This was fire.
I love that this went a wholedifferent angle than what you
and I had even preliminaryplanned for.
We took the gloves off.
We definitely made ituncensored.
We shared something that'sworking for both of us as of
right now.
We're the only two people Iknow running that model, that
two-step approach.
I speak for the audience.
Thank you, man.
You dropped some nuggetsLooking forward to round two,
when we bring you back for thedirector of solar conversation
(41:01):
through enterprise.
I think that would be epic andgame-changing for sure.
Lenny, thank you very much.
As you guys know, in GALS we dothis for free.
We do it to pay it forward in aspace that's craving leadership
and creating guidance.
If you got any value and I knowand pray you did please like
subscribe and share this episodewith anyone else who's perhaps
a professional thinking aboutgetting in solar or already in
(41:22):
solar, looking to 10X their game.
We're here to serve Hope.
Everyone has a great day, lenny.
Thank you again.
We'll talk soon.
My friend Appreciate it brother.
Thanks.
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