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Speaker 1 (00:03):

Welcome to the Solarpreneur podcast, where we teach you to take your solar business to the next level. My name is Taylor Armstrong and went from $50 in my bank account and struggling for groceries to closing 150 deals in a year and cracking the code on why sales reps fail. online teach you to avoid the mistakes I made and bringing the top solar dogs, the industry to let you in on the secrets of generating more leads, falling up like a pro and closing more deals. What is a Solarpreneur you might ask a Solarpreneur is a new breed of solar pro that is willing to do whatever it takes to achieve mastery and you are about to become one.

Speaker 2 (00:42):

What's up. So we're preneurs. Welcome to another episode and I'll be honest. This is the second time I am recording this episode right now. I had some fire money content that I was spitting, and I don't know what happened cause they didn't press record, but I go and replay the recording and dead silence crickets. So I'm back for another one. So hopefully it's even better than the first time I recorded it. Um, but I am currently in lake Powell, Utah right now. So just to preface this, if you heard some waves hitting the shorter that's, what's going on standing on top of the top of a houseboat right now, recording some content for my solar preneur peeps. So I'm dedicated. I want to show you guys that I am committed to helping you improve your lives as solar cells, professionals. So let's jump into it this episode today.

Speaker 2 (01:37):

I want to talk about gratitude. We've talked, had a lot of guests on that have talked about the importance of gratitude. Earl capuli was one probably about a month ago. He is known as Mr. Gratitude. So go listen to his, if you haven't already. But the reason I'm thinking so much about this is because I went to a conference a couple of weeks ago in Dallas, Texas. Um, you guys probably heard me talk about it was the knock star conference, Danny PESI Tanner McCarthy that had been on the show. They run the knock star movement. They did an awesome event to definitely check out, going to their next one. Bat this event, they brought a guest. His name is John Israel. And if you haven't heard of him, he is known as Mr. Thank you a little bit different than Mr. Gratitude, but Mr. Thank you.

Speaker 2 (02:24):

And what he did was he wrote, uh, um, five, thank you cards a day for 365 day streets every day. And it took him about an hour and a half a day on average to write these cards. So these weren't just little, you know, little notes. These were full-blown thought out, thank you cards. And he couldn't write them, write them to more than three people. Hey, so we're cutting. Just keep writing. Thank you cards to his wife. He could only do a max limit of three per person throughout the course of a year. Pretty incredible what he did. So he wrote a book on it. He's spoken to all types of, and he's really created a movement and change people's lives in the process. So super inspiring dude. And the reason I got thinking about him so much is because I am on this boat, reading his book, it's called the Mr.

Speaker 2 (03:17):

Thank you project. And then the book, he just documents the journey, what he did and talks about it. And so the reason I'm thinking about it so much, because I hadn't experienced actually, before I left on this little trip that went hand in hand with some of the things he talks about. So I'll get that, get to that in a second. And actually I shared this experience on Instagram. So if you're not falling already go shoot me a fall at Taylor J Armstrong. And I shared kind of a crazy story that happens, got some feedback from some listeners here, but there isn't that remind to me is Mr. Thank you. He talks about this thing called the gratitude loop. And what happened was he was at an event eight years ago and he speaking at it after he gets done speaking, one of the ladies at the event comes up and says, Hey John, I appreciate your message.

Speaker 2 (04:09):

This is exactly what I came to the conference to learn. He tells him, thank you. And his response was, yeah, well I missed a couple of big parts that were really important to the whole message. I was running short on time. I'm sorry about that could have been. So he basically shot down the appreciation that this lady showed and the lady's like, okay, well, I thought it was great. Then she turned and walked away. And has he went on to think about this? He's like, what was I doing? Did I just respond to someone's? Thank you with an apology. What is wrong with me? Hey, and so I got thinking about this. How many times do we do this? It sells people. How many times do we do this in our lives? Where someone is trained to give us thanks. We shut it down. We say, no, it's nothing.

Speaker 2 (05:01):

We got to change these things. And I've done it time after time. Even a lot of our listeners here, you all shot me messages like, Hey Taylor, thanks for the podcast. Thanks for what you shared today. That's exactly what I needed. This helped me close the deal, things like that. And I want to apologize to those that I have shot down that things at times. Cause I know for sure I've responded with people out is nothing. Uh, yeah, well that episode wasn't that good, but glad you got something from it. I've sent out messages like that and response. So this was kind of a slap in the face to me as I was reading. This is, and that's this point with it is we need to accept compliments and reflect gratitude. Okay. So was point is if someone takes the time to give you a gift, pay you a compliment or acknowledge the great work you do.

Speaker 2 (05:52):

Pause, soak it in and say, thank you for your welcome there's to be said for being humble. And there's another thing to be said for allowing others to contribute to your life. It's not as much about horrifying you as it is honoring the vulnerability in generosity of another person, bold enough to take the time to appreciate you. So it's, you're someone that struggles accepting. Thanks from other people. Let that be a lesson to you. We all need to practice this thing. He calls it the gratitude loop. What it is is when you open a gratitude loop, that's you expressing gratitude saying thank you. And if that loop is left open, how do you feel? He gives an example. If you went up to a crowd that says, Hey, thank you for, I don't know. Thank you for being my friends today. They just stare at you say nothing.

Speaker 2 (06:45):

What's that's going to feel like it's going to feel awkward. I'm going to feel weird. You go say thank you to the crowd. They do nothing don't even acknowledge. It feels like a slap in the face, right? It's an uncomfortable, it's weird. Almost seems offensive. So that's his point with the gratitude loop is when we go around, we say, you're welcome. That's closing the loop, right? So don't leave God two loops open. And then the second piece that I learned from his book, as I'm reading here is give up the need to be appreciated for your generosity. Hey, and the story that goes along with this, the reason I'm thinking about so much about this right now is because on my Instagram, I actually talked a little bit about what happened, but the experience was is that before I left on this little trip, I'm on, I made it a personal goal.

Speaker 2 (07:41):

I said, okay, I want to close three deals before I leave. I got Monday and Tuesday of all is all this week. I want to close three deals can be pretty good. Right? Two days of work in closed three deals. And the reason I set the goal too, is because I knew I had, I had a handful of solid appointments set up, given my I'd given myself a good shot to actually attain the goal. Okay. And so I go out some of this neighborhood they're condos and here in California, the good news is with condos. Townhomes, H ways can't restrict homeowners from putting solar up there. They can make it super difficult, but they can't restrict it. So I use this to my advantage. This area didn't have any solar yet. So I said, okay, I'm going to go off. I'm going to cause everyone in the neighborhood, they don't even know they can have solar.

Speaker 2 (08:33):

First thing I do, I talked to the HOA president. Okay. And I'll make this a short story since I already chaired the majority of it on my Instagram. But I, um, talked to her actually at several appointments, but then she canceled the appointment because of some confusion. She thought it was like a government program or she was getting free software. It wasn't. So she said, okay, yeah, you lied to me. I'm not going to meet with you. Canceled the appointment. My Mike, okay. I got three other appointments set up. No problem. I'm still gonna close some deals. These people are stoked. They're like no way. Yeah. We want to go solar. We didn't even know we could have Sawyer go to them as I'm about to close the first one on the week, the guy says, okay, Taylor, whoa, this sounds awesome. But you know what?

Speaker 2 (09:21):

Let us talk real quick to the HOA president. Just because I don't know, we don't want to be the first ones. The neighbors are doing this and we want to make sure it's all good. So what happened? They go and talk this HOA president and she just slams the door on him. She says this kid, he lied to our community. He told me it was a free government program. This isn't it. She just completely shuts them down, talks them out of the cell. And I lose a cell. And then the other ones cancel appointments, turns into a disaster. So it went from being this golden area. I was going to close all these deals there. Now this HOA president just completely, it throws a wrench in my plans and just ends my hopes hitting my goal on the week. So I was devastated. I come up with this plan.

Speaker 2 (10:10):

I said, okay, this area, there's guaranteed. There's going to be deals. And I can even probably go back and close these deals that they had. I just need to get back in the good graces of this HOA president. Okay. So her name's Carol. I go, I come up with this idea. I say, I'm going to go give Carol I thank you card. And to be like Mr. Greg, Mr. Thank you like John is, you'll give her a thank you note and even better. I'm going to give her a box of cookies to go with it. That's something we do for our customers. We send them little gifts, cookies, um, treats stuff to kind of stand out, help them remember us. Let's say how many she didn't buy it, but I'm going to send her some cookies. So I go, I pick up these cookies, um, box of four cookies from a dirty dough here in California.

Speaker 2 (10:57):

That's a Bennett Maxwell has company. They make some giant cookies that have all these crazy flavors. She's a single lady. I'm going to give her a box of 40, these giant cookies and a thank you card. So I go right to thank you card dropping on the porch. And then I'm just like, okay, she gets home at five. I'm going to get a thank you wife. I'm going to get a text from her, a call saying, Hey Taylor, I'm so sorry. You're the best? Come close my whole neighborhood on solar. So I'm waiting. I'm waiting. I'm working. I'll look at my clock at five. Dave, no texts, no calls Mike. Okay. Maybe she was running late. I wait, wait, wait. Six o'clock comes. Nothing. No texts. Seven o'clock eight o'clock nine o'clock 10. O'clock no calls, no texts, nothing. I'm like, what is going on? The Carolyn, I get this. Hey. And actually deliver it to another neighbor is the one that I had almost closed, but that's, you know, camp blow to them. Got a thank you. Text from them. So I'm like, okay. I know, I know they got him. What's going on? I wait two more days, Mr. Courtney. It's been about a week now. And guess what? Still? No, thank you. Texts. No acknowledgements. Absolutely.

Speaker 2 (12:17):

A N S yeah, it was, it was a little sad. I was hoping I'd get something, but I didn't. And that's the reality of it. They actually used to write, thank you cards to my customers. But this experience with Carol reminded me of why he got discouraged writing. Thank you cards because sometimes I would write dozens and dozens of thank you. Cards, get nothing in return. People wouldn't even acknowledge it. And I did get results from it. I did get an extra referral here and there. People remember him, but it was the scourging that sometimes people wouldn't say anything. So John's point with this is we need to give up the need to be appreciated for generosity. How many times have we given something then been discouraged when people don't say thank you. So John's point is now this may sound counterintuitive after explaining the whole gratitude loop.

Speaker 2 (13:11):

Yes. When people don't reflect back that they received or valued our gifts, compliments or acknowledgements, and the natural reaction is that something is missing. The loop feels open. True gratitude is, is expressed with nothing expected in return. When you feel the frustration that someone didn't appreciate what you did for them, just remember, you never know what other people are going through in their lives, except that you did a good thing, pat yourself on the back and move on. Hey, so this is reminding me. I go like, okay, well, I sent this good thing to Carol thought. I was going to change, change my success in the area, but it didn't. And that's okay. So I'm trying to be okay with that. Hey, and John goes on to talk about how, when he was on day, I think 50 of sending out all these thank you cards.

Speaker 2 (13:59):

He got really discouraged because after 220, thank you cards. Only 20 people responded to thank him for the cards or even acknowledged acknowledged that they got it. And he ended up talking to, um, one of his friends later they'd send a hardtail and they said, John, I got your card a few months back. But the reason I didn't even say thank you or respond to it is because I was going through so much pain in my life. I was going through a really tough breakup. I just couldn't be present to anything positive in my life. So thank you now. But that's why I couldn't. I just was in just, was in some pretty heavy stuff to be able to respond. So think about that next time. You're expressing gratitude, trying to say, thank you. Don't expect anything in return in return. Okay. Be happy with what people respond, whether they respond or don't respond in the challenges.

Speaker 2 (15:04):

First solar preneurs, go out and write. Thank you cards to your customers, right? Thank you. Cards to your managers. Write, thank you cards to those that have helped you get to this point of success in your sales career. Okay? And that's how we're going to change the industry. How many, how many sales people are out there? They're just focusing on the money. Don't care about their clients. This is how we show that we care about our clients. And guess what the side effect is going to be. You are going to get more referrals. You are going to get those people that send cards back. They express appreciation. Hey, but if you don't, it's not the end of the world. How about after you send a hundred? Thank you cards. You don't get one extra referral. You don't get one person saying thanks for the card back.

Speaker 2 (15:49):

Can you live with that? So that's the challenge. I'm going to get John Israel on the podcast. Soon. He's lined up. Um, we're waiting for him to lock down the time with him. So if you know, John Israel go out and shoot him a message say, Hey man, we need you on the solar prenuer podcast. Yeah, we're going to get them on. But in the meantime, he was actually on Sam Tagard store or podcast. You can go listen to his experience there. Do you want to search that episode? Hey, but let's elevate ourselves to that mindset of gratitude. That's how we're going to change this industry. And that's how we're going to really have a better attitude ourselves to go out and close more deals and be grateful for the things that are happening, happening to us. Even in times like this, when you're getting shut down by each way, presence.

Speaker 2 (16:37):

And when deals are canceling, when everything seems like it's going to crap, these are how these are. That's how you're going to get through these tough times is expressing your gratitude and elevating your level of gratefulness to something like John Israel. Okay. So I hope you enjoyed the episode and send it to someone who's going through a tough time. Go and write a thank you card today. Let me know your experience with it. And yeah, I hope this turned out better than the first time again, second time recording it, but appreciate our listeners. And I'm grateful for all you listening to the show and sharing this content in implementing the strategy we talk about. So go out and close some deals and we'll see you on the next one.

Speaker 3 (17:22):

Hey Solarpreneurs. Quick question. What if you could surround yourself with the industry's top performing sales pros, marketers, and CEOs, and learn from their experience and wisdom in less than 20 minutes a day. For the last three years, I've been placed in the fortunate position to interview dozens of elite solar professionals and learn exactly what they do behind closed doors to build their solar careers to an all-star level. That's why I want to make a truly special announcement about the new solar learning community, exclusively for solar professionals to learn, compete, and win with the top performers in the industry. And it's called Solciety. This learning community was designed from the ground up to level the playing field and give solar pros access to proven mentors who want to give back to this community and to help you or your team to be held accountable by the industry's brightest minds. For, are you ready for it? Less than $3 and 45 cents a day currently society's closed the public and membership is by invitation only, but Solarpreneurs can go to society.co to learn more and have the option to join a wait list. When a membership becomes available in your area. Again, this is exclusively for Solarpreneur listeners. So be sure to go to www.solciety.co to join the waitlist and learn more now. Thanks again for listening. We'll catch you again in the next episode.