Solar Sales Uncensored
Solar Sales Uncensored
Solar Secrets: Building Trust in a Crowded Solar Sales Space
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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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 Mr Linney Fairfield from the great Carolina region. He is one of my business partners. In fact, he didn't know I was going to say this, especially that first year of getting started in a new venture with solar. Anytime I had a question and I knew I had to have facts, I called Linney. In fact, I felt so bad because I wore out that phone number. I was only ever calling him with problems, with like high level questions.
Speaker 1:But that's really his background and what we're going to focus on today is solar secrets, building trust in a very crowded market and solar sales space. There's no better guest I could have than Lenny. A little bit about him before I bring him up. He's been in the solar space for four years and he is already one of the most highly respected solar sales reps. He comes from a background of it as an independent wealth manager spent over 17 years doing that, and what I love about what this conversation today is we're going to touch on that transition from the wealth side over to solar and how he still leads and advises his clients. Through that training from a previous career. It's mind blowing. He has a beautiful wife and he has hopefully you're ready for this five kids. God bless him, and he's leading one of the top solar sales teams as well. So, without further ado, linney, how are you, my friend?
Speaker 2:Aaron Browning. What's up, brother? So excited to be here. Didn't take a thousand episodes.
Speaker 1:We had a joke when we kicked off the podcast a few months ago that he would be guest 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:Yes, sir, I appreciate. Just moved outside of Raleigh, north Carolina and excited about it, very excited to be honored to be an honorary solar icon. Just FYI.
Speaker 1: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 of you, lenny. If you don't mind, man, I know I teased it. Okay, give the audience your quick, I don't know. One to two minute background, starting with the wealth as a wealth side, if you don't mind.
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely Coming from you. Being a financial advisor, a wealth manager, I literally took clients portfolios, managed them 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 was very successful at it. I enjoyed it. It was fun while it lasted. The time came when the markets were no longer fun to deal with and charts were no longer fun to look at and that's when I basically sold my practice and started looking for something I could do full time. That I enjoyed, and solar definitely has me hooked. I love it.
Speaker 1:How did you find solar? How did solar find you? Tell me more about that.
Speaker 2:Interesting question. I had a. I actually worked. When you first start in an industry 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 larger company that actually did solar, learned the basics, which was great, but, just like when I started in the financial industry, recognized very quickly up front that wasn't where I was going to be. I was much more independent. I needed to be able to tell people exactly how things work, exactly how the financing work, the technology, everything. So I needed something that gave me the freedom to be able to do what's right for the customer every time, no matter what.
Speaker 1:This is uncensored man. You're going to hear me say it a lot. I know it's part of the reason you love the show. What was the other company? We're not using names. What did they block you from saying? What made you feel like you were in handcuffs, if you will, and not to be able to advise the client like you'd now can?
Speaker 2:There comes a time, with any kind of company, if you're not feeling comfortable with the value proposition that they're basically telling you, forcing you, if you will, this is what you're going to say At the end of my time with them. I was literally taking things off proposals because they were on there and I didn't want them on there, like they didn't make sense to me and I couldn't be. I wasn't able to translate that over to a customer, so it wasn't going to work. Just those things that companies locked people down financing One option, panels one option Okay, what if that battery that we have is not the best one for my client? I need the freedom to be able to give them what's right.
Speaker 1:How long were you at the previous company?
Speaker 2:Just over a year. Near the end, it was very sketchy. I wasn't really doing a whole lot of sales because I couldn't Like. It was the point where I needed something different. I needed what was right for my customers. And once you've been with a company for a long time in your new and in industry, you start learning things. And once I started really digging in, installs started happening. I noticed there's a better way to do this. For sure, this is not the best way to do it, so that's what, just like every other year in my life, practically in my adult life I went out and became self-employed. I'm the best boss of it anyways. Yeah, really.
Speaker 1:So where did you get your knowledge base? For solar though, Because I'm a great example, I can sell the heck out of solar. I think we did 250 deals our first year. Some crazy number of lives A number like that, at least crazy to us. I don't know a tenth of what in terms of ground mounts and this panel and all of that. I'm just being really transparent. Where did that knowledge come from? Because most solar sales people do not have that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I tell you, it's just, it's been experienced more than anything else. I've been a have had the opportunity to do Gosh at least 20 ground-mount systems, being in rural Carolina as I do them all the time. So that's where I got that basis of knowledge. And then people who started. It's funny you can be in an industry for four years and you're considered a no-gee. I don't know, I don't get that, but the knowledge just comes from experience as things happen. The best opportunity to learn that, I found, is when things don't go right. Something's challenging. Okay, let's fix it. That's what part of my value proposition to customers are. Look, you're not getting this company in the system, you're getting me like I'm gonna do every, I'm gonna fight to you, for you, to the very end, and if it doesn't go perfectly, that's okay, I'm gonna fix it. I'm gonna find out what the issue is and fix it. So that's been my philosophy and that's given me a wealth of knowledge in the time.
Speaker 1:I love that. We talked with a lot about that on our team calls or private calls about, first and foremost, solar is in the construction industry. There are problems, aren't every file? I don't think I've ever had a single one I haven't been doing as long as you have where everything was just smooth, it was butter. There's always issues and we teach that, expect them. It's just like real estate. Things are going to freakin show up. Well, I love that you just said is your solution based, and I remind you all the freakin time you have a customer that wants solar, especially if you sold it correctly they have a big reason, a big why would everyone label it? We have a company that wants to sell it and and Lenny wants to sell it. When you have those three things, you got to figure out a solution. There's a way to get it done and we're gonna get it done, and so I freakin love that man.
Speaker 2:Go the pie in the sky expectations. A lot of people leave with their customers. It's not a good idea. Give them realistic expectations.
Speaker 1:Yeah, the other piece with that too, that's huge. With sale, it's managing expectations. I let the client know we're gonna have hiccups, we're gonna have speed bumps. So we got to get through and I love that you're selling yourself, especially over your company. That's a whole different episode as well. Oh my gosh, make sure that we're the brand and not just the company. It's cool to talk about them so she were the great company like ours that has awards and all the other stuff. But first and foremost, you're getting a business with Lenny. People want to know they're getting a business with Lenny. They want to know they can pick up that phone and he is going to fight, he's gonna claw to get this deal done and I love that you're leading with that man.
Speaker 2:You know what you'll love this. I literally now model my practice after Realtors. What a realtors brand themselves all the time and I think that's phenomenal way to brand yourself as a Solar professional solar planner, if you will. I don't like the sales rep title. Don't give me the sales rep title. I had a client call me this a sales rep the other day and I almost cried like literally over zoom 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 got to close every deal, got to close every deal. No, you don't. Being a planner, I can confidently go in and say I'm taking care of, it's not. My situation is beautiful. I'm gonna give the customer what's right. My favorite reviews are the ones that are five stars, that I told people not to go solar and they gave me reviews. I pride myself on that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you're separating yourselves, really what the title is gonna be and a crowded space and, by the way, solar professionals. I try not to use solar sales people. It's hard. We got to talk to all the various companies that listen. You might be in a state like the Carolinas, virginia, maryland, where I'm at to, where it's not saturated yet, but it will be. This is going to be real estate. I say it every single episode and so you got to be able to separate yourselves and I like that.
Speaker 1:He's going into it trying to figure out if the client's even a fit. When you go in with that mindset, we're gonna take a deep dive on that today. It changes everything. Instead of having commissioned breath like everyone else, what do you mean? Everyone's a fit like we're putting glass on that roof. I'll figure it out. Some people it doesn't make sense for, and I just I can't stress that enough. It's something else you said too and I've heard you say it a lot from stage when you train is that you and your wife, you guys, are partners on this company, correct? Yes, that's awesome that you and Starla are solar planners and not solar sales reps. What does that mean? What is the difference to you guys?
Speaker 2:Yeah, you just nailed it by the commission breath statement. You can tell a sales rip within two minutes of meeting on most of the time, whereas when I show up, a lot of times people have the expectation of a sales rep. And when I show up, you you can actually 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 work for you, I'm gonna tell you. The last thing I need is an unhappy customer. I don't want that. I want every customer be happy. Even if there's challenges in the process is okay, they're still gonna be happy in the end. It's just what? Just a different mentality is coming from that cons Consults giving consults rather than sales pitches. I think that's very important. And having options being with a company that gives us the ability to give people Different options based on their where they live and their preferences. Having four panels to choose from, four batteries to choose from, different inverte I think it's vital to give people what they need.
Speaker 1: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 you haven't read the purple cow, go check it out, how you recommend. But it's all about this topic separating yourselves from the masses, doing something it's different 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 running deals as Lenny with our company. I can't speak for all, but we're gonna have between three and five different solar panels from different Manufacturers that we're able to show them and I feel very confident with that number. That three to five range, that's huge.
Speaker 1: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 the line window for manufacturer a and then here's the entry level Manufacturer a. Ours is completely different. It is three to five different solar panel manufacturers. So we're truly able to build the system with the client and design it for them by them, and it really helps separate us and I know I get that feeling when I tell them that I Really the deal is already sold. I can feel like their shoulders come down. It's like this Wow, I can actually pick it like they're blown away that they have an input in this. Thoughts on that.
Speaker 2:I think that, oh, absolutely, being in the coastal Carolinas for so long, I literally moved to the coast because of solar. That's the reason I was there being able to offer people a panel that if they have a concern of, if they're getting batteries Most likely they're concerned about hurricanes. We don't have them every year, but it feels like it really does. So having the ability to say I got a panel that's hurricane rated regularly It'll 150 mile an hour. Winds is what it's rated. We can do that if it's something that's important to you now.
Speaker 2:That said, I was also in New Orleans the day after Hurricane Ida and I saw up solar panels everywhere. I've never seen so many solar panels in my life, honestly, because the roofs were shredded and next to them were panels still in place. Wow, being able to take pictures of that and share that with people like there's. They're all great quality tier one panels, but here's one that's just a little bit higher wind rated and there's a lot of Little communities along the coast actually require that and people don't know that. One of my one of my biggest things about separating myself Is when I go into an appointment with somebody and I immediately can tell by what the client saying what they were told by the other person, especially when it's not true or accurate. Maximum system size they come in with a 12 kilowatt system and the maximum is 10. In this power company I've won so many deals just by being honest about that.
Speaker 1:That separates you too. People want to be led. I tell you all the time if I'm not a solar pro and I'm hiring Lenny, I'm hiring him because he's a solar professional. Tell me what I need to do, Tell me the rules, lead me, show me what needs to get done. Explain it to me for sure. But I also want to be led, and so I love that.
Speaker 1:By the way, that was one of my biggest pet peeves early on. I've gotten desensitized to it a little bit. I now expect it, but I was blown away at the number of I hate using the word lies because I believe in the good of everybody, but just where people weren't being forthcoming when I was competing undersized systems and just things that were told on the install times and everything else it was tough, man, I didn't like it. So I like the idea that you're coming in as a planner. You're coming in as that voice of reason and educator, whatever you want to label it. What other factors are you helping them plan? Are you helping to decide whether or not this even makes sense?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so a lot of it has to do with their lifestyle and a lot of times, especially if there's a net meeting situation where they're getting a full credit Whoa sorry, bloopers are real. Yeah yeah, I want to make sure that they get all the information up front and if they don't have a need for a battery, I want to make sure they understand why a lot of people want to know that they think they need a battery right away and right now, going forward. Honestly, most people do, but if they don't, I want to make sure they don't have a need for a battery.
Speaker 1:Why do you say that?
Speaker 2:by the way, why do most people do, Because net metering in the United States is basically going away and solar is under attack currently by all the power companies, especially the big ones. They're looking for ways to be able to trip us up and not allow us to help people go solar and have some kind of negative feedback that people have to overcome in order to go solar. And not having a net metering credit that's one to one is one of the ways they do it. Well, the way around that is with batteries. Batteries costs are dropping substantially and right now it actually has a financial reward in a lot of cases with a lot of power companies. Almost the entire state of North Carolina does not offer a one to one net meeting scenario.
Speaker 1:So, if you had a percentage, what percentage of batteries are you at least recommending to your clients? Is it 90% or is it?
Speaker 2:almost every single appointment they're going to see a battery. The size kind of depends on their kind of what they reveal to me as we're going, you'll find that most of the people you talk to just assume it comes with it. That's another separating issue. No, my price is the same as the other company. But you know what? They don't have a battery on there and I do. Those kind of scenarios are different equipment. A lot of times if you see other quotes or proposals, they'll have a generic 400 watt panel. They won't actually even list the panel because they don't know if they have it. They don't know what they have. Our company actually has great supply chain. I even tell customers we choose not to participate in supply chain issues. We're not going to do it. If I give you a panel today, the 90%, 99%, 95%, something like that, that's how often it's going to stay the same.
Speaker 1:I love that. Okay, so the two factors you've mentioned so far on the planning side are the battery and then whether or not Siller makes sense, any other factors that you're helping to advise them and plan for.
Speaker 2:The goal of having an appointment positioned as a planner is that, no matter what they do, no matter which system they want, they're going to choose me. Why? Because when you sit me next to a sales rep and I'm giving you the planning portion, it's night and day. I've actually had situations.
Speaker 2:Chris Hart and I had a situation one of his first deals. The guy kept going back and forth and I gave him the best price we could as a planner up front. It's like this is what the price is. And the other company was $10,000 more that he had already signed with. He canceled them, came to us and then he tried to go back to the other company because they dropped their price so far. And I literally told him he was looking for us to negotiate and I'm like look, I gave you the best price up front and if you can literally go to this other company that just dropped their price $10,000 on, you go for it. If you think that's what's best for you, do it. He's okay. And he literally. That's how we ended it. Two days later I told Chris give him two weeks. Two days later he called me back. So the other company's just too sketchy. I'm like all right, let's do this.
Speaker 1:The solar sales reps. You mentioned that you literally almost cried on a Zoom call the other day. Is it just the commission breath that has you turned off by what you're saying the competition do? What are the factors?
Speaker 2:No, there's a lot. I would call it sketchy activities out there, like I said, using generic panel showing clients screenshots of here's your monthly payment, but it's literally the net monthly monthly payment. They're not even explaining how financing works. Being in a consultation and I do the funny thing is and you probably want to know more about this is I don't even do presentations anymore.
Speaker 1:I don't know if you're aware of that. No, tell me more man.
Speaker 2:For those of you watching the YouTube version.
Speaker 1:My whole chair just changed. I love little nuances like this.
Speaker 2:Now we're getting into the secret.
Speaker 1:It's uncensored brother. Now that you mentioned it, we got to go there, Okay, so what are you doing?
Speaker 2:Man, I'm outed, okay. So I have systems in place, and watching solar icons honestly helped me recognize that I needed a system in place. So it's great that you guys are doing that. My system right now I literally have 90% of what I do is mentor deals. So I'm mentoring a rep who's fairly new in the industry, teaching them how to do it, closing their deals for them. Our system set up great for that. 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 confirmation email and text message, it has a video attached. Please, with a note, please watch this video before our appointment. It'll save you 20 minutes at least on the appointment. And I tell you, aaron, I'm shocked. I've had one person in the last six months say no, I didn't get a chance to watch the video. What's the video? So, everyone, I can't tell you that.
Speaker 1:It's uncensored. You don't have to tell me exactly 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:You're killing me. You're killing me, smalls. Yes, it's my solar presentation. I've done probably a couple hundred projects now using the same presentation and one day I just realized you know what? I got a think limit list Like how can I free up some time? I'm saying the same thing three times a day, six days a week, every single day, every single week. How can I automate this?
Speaker 1:Okay. So I got to fess up. I'm doing the same thing. I've been very secretive about it too. I teased it on a podcast a couple 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 it though, because I haven't been hit up a lot about it. So you're doing yours more from contribution. I was going crazy.
Speaker 1:The first 20 minutes of every presentation I was doing over 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 to it. But gosh, I was going crazy. I said there's got to be a better way. So I recorded myself doing that 20, I think it's 21 minutes long, the presentation like why our company? Why solar? How does it work? How's that metering work? I did it in a way probably similar to you, where it was general, but you also felt like it was a little bit personal. So, without me saying Lenny, I was like hey, good afternoon, so good to see you, like one of those. Well, a couple of things. I'll go ahead and share it with you now. And also the audience is.
Speaker 1:We used our team app and I'll throw a link in the chat for those that don't have it. Most of it is free, that you can use. Uploaded the video there so I can track it. That was the big thing that I see some people trying to copy this model. First step in the process, I just sent everything over to our engineering team. It's going to take a day or two to get that back. I just sent you over a video that talks about exactly why you're going to partner with our company, how this all works. I need you to carve out 20 minutes between now and when we meet tomorrow at 4pm to do that. If you do it, it's going to save you 20 minutes. More importantly, it allows us just to focus on your house.
Speaker 1:Tomorrow afternoon Can you commit and I get a tie down and then my app tracks it. First time I did this Lenny this lady I have to be careful with names because she's currently going solar with us she watched it 17 times in 24 hours Blew my mind, dude, if you guys think I didn't sell that deal. 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 only had one, not watch it. I've had a couple to where they set the appointment and the reason I bring that up guys and gals listening. I want to be able to flush out who my hot appointments are, immediately the ones that are softer. They're not willing to carve out 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 an appointment that they aren't taking serious 100% agree.
Speaker 2:Like it's a big red flag. If someone says they haven't Like the person who watched it. They're definitely not solar right now. Everyone else who's gone solar, they watched the video and you're right. They'll watch it three and four times and it's insane how good it is. And you know what? I've been at this for four years now. I've actually had people call me for the year after say I couldn't use the tax credit. You didn't tell me. And I've always had the because I'm presenting as a planner. I've always had the same exact presentation. For this reason, nobody can come back and say you didn't tell me. Yeah, I did. I tell everybody the exact same thing just to make sure that we cover it. So I'm telling people about the tax credit. I don't know about their personal situation, that's more between them and their accountant but I told you the exact same way I tell everybody Now.
Speaker 1:I got the video. That's interesting.
Speaker 2:So it's also a safeguard for you and your business to protect yourselves.
Speaker 1:It is. Yeah, I never thought about it For, like I said, mine was selflessly for time. It was going crazy. Are you also running that same two step formula for mentee deals, or just for your personal deals?
Speaker 2:Oh, absolutely Every single appointment that I have multiple today and they've all gotten the video and hopefully had a chance to watch it and, as part of the when I have a mentee, especially confirm the appointment, when you confirm the appointment, ask them if they watched it.
Speaker 1:That's the cool thing about the app, man, that you might want to add. That nuance is. Now I know I can tell they watched 70% of it. I know exactly where they left off. The other cool thing with that doing it this way that first lady, it was just one of those where everything just lined up and it just I need that. When it reaffirmed what the vision was and now I know you have the same vision she showed up with a page of notes.
Speaker 1:The other really, yeah, but normally when you, depending on the personality, type whole different podcasts, some people don't like to ask questions like that if they're not prepared. So when I was doing the 21 minute thing, I might get a question or two, but sometimes they wouldn't and therefore I wouldn't get the close because they had other questions. They would email me later and have to answer. That takes that away, because now 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 it is. I'll hop on that, that second call after they've seen the video and they'll turn their camera on and I'll literally see them fix their shirt, do their hair. I was like that's the guy from the video Like it, edifies you in a weird way that also helps you get the sale.
Speaker 1:So back to the mentee thing, because this has been a little bit harder for me because, and for those of you not, with our company, one of the five ways we can get paid is by being an expert and helping close deals for people in the company. We always say no, but it's not always no. Sometimes it's people that just don't want to run appointments. I got some of those on my team as well. They're like bird dog and the utility bills. They get paid 50% of the commission, we get paid 50. So with our company it's anywhere from I don't know three to six, seven grand for each of us. So it's a great income stream.
Speaker 1:What I love about it is you wake up every day, especially if you're like Lenny and I, where you're out there. You come from contribution, helping people. You wake up every day to deals. I give away more deals to other mentors than I can even take, and I know Lenny does too. Back to the original question. When I'm doing that strategy with a mentee and you can see that they didn't watch the video, I'm repping that mentee that. Hey, if we don't have confirmation, I don't have verification. They watched it. We're pushing that appointment, making them know that ahead of time.
Speaker 2: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 I literally just had an appointment that just before this and I and they caught me off guard because they hadn't watched the video. That's two now that haven't watched the video. So I had to literally Change direction and change gears real quick and get ready, for I wasn't ready. I almost forgot how to do it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's why I love. So I'm running mine to where I won'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 that have not watched it. They tend to go ghost as well. So it's not the just that they're avoiding it, especially if you phrase it where it's about them. It saves them time, allows us to focus on them and their house. It's all about them, right? You're making it about them, not us, that you're really gonna flush out whether they have skin in this game and how serious they are. So I'm toying with that. But I always feel bad with the mentee because it is their lead, but I let them know ahead of time. Here's the way I do it, here's the strategy, and so far the feedback has been great. But that's really cool. You're running that too. Any other little nuances that you didn't know you were gonna share? On that two-step approach?
Speaker 2:That's that right. There is a game changer. I didn't expect to share that today. I thought I was the only one doing it. I'm glad to hear you're doing it. It's not doesn't surprise me, because when you're going 150 miles an hour, it's a beautiful thing to add to your situation. Mentees, though? Mentees watching that video has been hugely beneficial. They understand exactly where we're going and what the goal is. By the end of the appointment and Actually I've had more people since I started the video 100% virtual More people be prepared to go forward that day, which is not something I usually. I don't push that if they're ready, but I've noticed that a higher not a huge percentage higher, but a higher percentage of people are ready to go that first.
Speaker 1:That's a really interesting man. I think the data we have, we hit, we're gonna be collecting from this over the next couple months and quarters, is gonna be huge. What, where the other place I got this idea from? And Chris Hart, my partner, will challenge myself Are us on? This is treating it like a real estate business? I know you led with that. That is our background. That is where we made our fortune that I tell people all the time this is real estate 20, 25 years ago, and so the stuff we're doing is 10 years ahead, 20 years ahead, and one of those is separating yourselves.
Speaker 1:And so I remember that little nugget I was gonna give you one of the happens to be another lady that that watched it. We got on the zoom. I already have the app that says she watched it. So I know and I'll say let's start with any questions. I have the slide just in case and she goes I gotta be really honest with you and I think she called me sir and I was like no, my name's Aaron. Like I want to be like equals, but I thought it was fun. That's the power of the video because, by the way, she was older than me. I truly think that was just the video she said.
Speaker 1:I want to let you know that you're the only person that sent me a Personalized video prior to actually meeting. I was like wow, anyone. I tell it wasn't totally personalized, but I was like tell me more. She was like every other person. It was just trying to get the meeting, trying to get to my kitchen table or get her on a zoom. You actually sent me information for me she does her words for me to see if I even wanted to meet with you. And she was like I just it literally 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 can win on this. I don't, I can't think of a negative. I really freaking can't.
Speaker 2:I expected negative, but I shouldn't have because I predetermined what was gonna happen Maybe less than half of the people watching it. It's not been this. That's one place where Chris and I differ for sure. I respect Chris immensely, but I like the idea of treating it like a realtor would treat their business. I think we are the brand to some extent, I think.
Speaker 1:I think we are the brand a hundred percent man. And, by the way, that's another mistake we're gonna see people do is they're going in talking about their company, a ABC solar, whatever it is. I think it's a big mistake, and the problem with smaller companies probably where you first got cut your teeth Is that you can't do that. You got to go in with their company because they own it with. When I am like my email signature says it, when I'm on the phone Doing a discovery call, I tell them you're talking with the owner excuse me of XYZ solar, and they're like, really, I'm like, yes, I'm gonna start using that sales rep language. I'm not a sales rep, I didn't knock on your door. Like you're getting the owner, the person that can make every decision with you, is going to be on that zoom Call.
Speaker 1:I think that's part of the reason why they're fixing their hair, doing the shirt or whatever. It's because of that and that's something I love about our company is that we're able to position ourselves and I Although I will mention my company when I'm talking about like awards and things like that to 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 phone number. I'm the one that's gonna go to war forum. I'm gonna get the deal done. All that other stuff. The fact I happen to park my company's flag with XYZ solar is the icing on the cake.
Speaker 2:Exactly like a realtor does. Same concept the person in you doesn't change, even if the company did. And like the cool thing about about the situation we're in, I've been approached with many different opportunities and I'm gonna get. I've proven it when I did. When I was a wealth manager, I went were to the company at the time. That was the best for my customers. Fun, that was it. That was my only decision-making factor what's best for my customers in the end. If that's somewhere else, then I'll be somewhere else. If there were somewhere else, now I'd already be there.
Speaker 2:That's the conversations I have, conversations that I have with a lot of sales reps or solar reps. Look, if there's somebody else somewhere else to be, that was better right now, I would already be there, and if then there will be, if there is, I'll be there. It's just the way it is. I am.
Speaker 1:I love it, man, I love it, and people are missing this. They really are, especially if you're not with our company. They're going out there flying the flag and I get you're proud of it, but you don't separate yourself. Here's the other byproduct from that. This is where I learned this. Even though I was trained on it, I'm a big believer. Unfortunately, you got to get burned. Sometimes you could hear something a thousand times. God knows.
Speaker 1:My wife will tell me that all the time we were calling expired listings in my real estate business. That's a listing that our home for sale that didn't sell and then it goes back up and it's public 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 listing appointment. I think it was for two days later, right? I recall correctly. She calls 24 hours later and cancels.
Speaker 1:I said no, what do you mean? Like when I put it on my calendars with ink it's not pencil, like I used to say all the time, they would laugh and she goes Erin, I was looking forward to meeting you. I loved everything you said, but I just realized I have three other agents coming from EXP Realty. Oh, I said, oh my gosh, ma'am, there are 90,000 of us. We're all independent contractors. Right then I changed. I never got the appointment. It was too late. It was too late. So now I went into it.
Speaker 1:Why am I even mentioning EXP, where 90,000 people live? Why am I mentioning power? Why am I mentioning whatever company you're with? Separate yourselves. If that's important to them, you can talk about it, but they're not getting into business with them. She thought we were all the same and I was like that mistake will never, freaking, happen again. And so I'm. Yeah, especially if you start to join some of these larger solar companies, it's going to happen. I've run against other reps Sorry to use that word at power who they had the same lead or whatever it was, I don't remember the source of it to where we're competing and it's a healthy market. Obviously I want to be respectful on that, but you got to separate yourselves.
Speaker 2:Absolutely, and you are like when you're the brand and you have the knowledge and you're able to say that gosh, engineers are my favorite. Like engineers are the most.
Speaker 1:Oh, I will totally disagree. They are not my favorite. Talk about it, though.
Speaker 2:But people who are financially savvy, the investors in the group, the investors in the group, the investors real estate investor yeah, that's me, they. I can, literally. I got on the phone. One of my reps had an appointment last week. I was at an install, in front of 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 guy that was talking about investment return and let's my wheelhouse, let's bring it on. So I literally was able to have this upper level conversation Using words from my past that most people wouldn't even understand, to be able to bring this guy around to.
Speaker 2: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 really wanted. He wanted somebody to be able to talk to him about these things and in the end it's recent, 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 talk to your CPA or your investment guy or gal, bring them on.
Speaker 1:Let me talk to him.
Speaker 2:You know 100%, with these inflation the way it is right now, if financial planners are not talking to their clients about their energy bill, they're making a big mistake and I'd love to be able to educate them just like Run with that for a second man because I haven't heard anyone else say that that's a big one.
Speaker 1:What does that mean to you? So if your financial person that you're going to is not talking to you about potentially going solar, it's a mistake Like? Why, like dumb that down for someone who's brand new to solar, thinking about getting in. What does that mean?
Speaker 2:Yeah. So a couple of different scenarios. You got tip right now. You got North Carolina is probably the most difficult state to sell in my opinion, and I sell in all of them, so I have a pretty educated view. Power electricity rates are not high right now. They're not tremendously high like they are in other states like California. So we're literally selling or presenting against inflation and what's going to happen? Luckily we have third party verified evidence that power bills here are going to double in the next three years. That's literally what they're saying. It gives us an opportunity to have that conversation from the batteries. Here's how a battery returns financial return for you. And then the other scenario think about this is similar.
Speaker 2:Someone owns a property right, and they're a real estate investor. That's great. There's a ton of them out there right now. They buy a house, they bring a renter in. The renter basically pays off the house, right. Why in the world would they then turn around and let them rent their electricity from the power company when they can easily go solar, get ownership of the power situation and monetize it? Charge the renter $300 more per month on their rent and include the power bill in it. Now you've just monetized on a second level that you never thought about, that's strong man.
Speaker 1:I love that you're planting that seed with the potential customer in case that financial person doesn't endorse this. What a mistake they're making. So now, the minute they start to say no, they're already armed with it. You're essentially spoon feeding them what to ask and what to say in case you don't get that meeting with them. Genius.
Speaker 2:A lot of people don't realize that financial planners and investment managers we literally talk about inflation every day. Same concept with rate increases. It's all about inflation. Your bill is going to be double. I use the rule of 72. You divide 72 by whatever investment return you think you can get. It'll tell you how long it takes to double your money in investment. It works the same way with rate increases. If some energy company like Duke is going to raise your rates 6% per year, you divide 72 by 6, 12 years. Your bill is going to be double what it is today.
Speaker 1:That's every single appointment for me, that's the value that goes back to that planner versus just being a solar sales rep man. Where are your thoughts right now on the lending side, the financing side? Are you still recommending a lot of loans? Are you seeing more cash deals? Are you doing leases? What are your thoughts?
Speaker 2:There's a lot of scenarios there and that's another need that I have personally. I need the ability to be able to change the financing based on the customer's needs. I like to talk about a lot of people don't realize that the dealer fees in our industry are higher as the loan interest rate goes down. I like to talk about my mom's loan. That's what I did with my mom. I say to every appointment now I gave her this 10% loan. Why would I do that to my mom? I'm a horrible son. No, let me explain. I go through and I show people different options. Here's 4.99%. Look what it does when I change it to 12%. Do you have cash? Do you have retirement funds? Do you have home equity that you could tap? Let's talk about it. Let's get out there and talk about it.
Speaker 2:A lot of my closes aren't same day closes. I know I just made a whole bunch of solar sales reps cringe just now, but that's the planner mentality. The planner mentality says they're going to do it today, they're going to do it tomorrow and the next day or a week from now, whenever it's comfortable for them, do I present it and do I try and close every appointment? Yes, absolutely, I know it's right for them. I need them to understand it's right for them. If they're not there yet, I give them the opportunity to be able to cringe numbers or whatever it is that they need to do, but I always make a follow-up appointment. It's usually almost all the time within three days.
Speaker 1:You said a couple of key words. I know our mutual friend, Chris Hart. 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 is changing. It's drastic. How much has changed just in my first year? What are your thoughts on leases? Are you a fan? Are you not? Why it's uncensored man? What is it?
Speaker 2:I'm also going to say that I'm going with a limitless mindset as of a couple of months ago. I don't want to discount them. I know, for instance, any state really, but state of South Carolina if someone can't use the tax credits, 55% of the system is normally covered by tax credits. In that scenario, am I going to let these people purchase their power from Dominion or some big energy company, knowing that it's going to be double what they're paying today, 10 years from now? The responsible part of me as a planner wants to have that available. So I do. I have it available If people need it and it's best for them. Gosh what. A 3% increase in their rate is way better than what they're going to get from any power company. Going forward, the responsible side of me says, yeah, we got to be a lot better.
Speaker 1:It's very well said. I feel the same way. My blank reaction when we first started seeing these more and more was oh my gosh, it goes against everything I believe in. I'm ownership guy, my real estate background, yeah. But the more I really preach and I love that you said it in a different way but coming into situations with an open mindset versus being closed, I think that's a problem. A lot of seasoned solar reps, planners, whatever they are in their companies we're making that mistake. We don't know. We don't know the environment's changed. If that's the only way that gets them solar, is it a better option? For most it is. It absolutely is. It might not have been the ultimate 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 our wheelhouse. I really do.
Speaker 2: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 more smooth, much smoother than it has been in the past. That's in the downside to leases, 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. People are going to expect it. It's just going to be part of the list.
Speaker 1:I would be remiss if I didn't ask you, given your extensive professional background prior to solar, what advice would you have for someone who's also a professional, who's getting that itch to either do solar full-time or add it to what they're doing? Any advice you have for a professional that's thinking about adding it similar to what you did?
Speaker 2:Absolutely Sort of the professional that we tend to deal with, whether it be real estate agents, mortgage brokers, roofers. They want to get into solar but they don't know how and they're really concerned about not knowing anything about it. If I had taken that, I would have never done a solar. If I had thought about it that way. This is just not possible. You literally are going to learn as you go. You're not the cool thing about the way things are set up. If you grab somebody like me, who knows what they're talking about, or you, who knows much more than the average person who's coming on board like a realtor, let us be the one that helps mold the system. Give the customer what they need. Understand as much of the technical aspect as we need to, and you'll learn it as you go Probably the biggest mistake I see.
Speaker 2:Roofers are a great example. They're very good at what they do. They're making a ton of money, great income doing roofing. The last thing they want to do is stop and learn solar or have their people stop and learn solar. Let us come in. I've actually have a website that's around this very subject. I'm going to be your director of solar. I'm going to come in. I'll close the deals for you. As we go, you'll learn how the process works. If it makes sense for you to then start learning how to close great, you know what I find Probably 80% of the roofers and professionals. They like to have that mentor-mentee relationship way more than three to five.
Speaker 1:Dude, I'm bringing you back for another podcast on that. I wrote that down. I'm stealing it. Director of solar, doing it that way, especially with our enterprise platform. It's a plug-and-play business model. That's what business owners want. They don't want to get distracted to your point. They see the revenue, they see the income stream. You're foolish Once you see it. You can't unsygette a state all the time. They're just trying to figure out the time on task. How do they do it? You're offering that solution immediately. Freaking genius brother.
Speaker 2:I can give it to them with very little investment from them. They can join in whenever they want. They don't have to put it all up front Like customers. Same thing, I love it, man.
Speaker 1:I know I speak for our audience here. This was fire. I love that this went a whole different angle than what you and I had even preliminary planned for. We took the gloves off. We definitely made it uncensored. We shared something that's working for both of us as of right now. We're the only two people I know running that model, that two-step approach.
Speaker 1:I speak for the audience. Thank you, man. You dropped some nuggets Looking forward to round two, when we bring you back for the director of solar conversation through enterprise. I think that would be epic and game-changing for sure. Lenny, thank you very much. As you guys know, in GALS we do this for free. We do it to pay it forward in a space that's craving leadership and creating guidance. If you got any value and I know and pray you did please like subscribe and share this episode with anyone else who's perhaps a professional thinking about getting in solar or already in 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.
Speaker 1:Thanks.