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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. What's up Solarpreneurs!

Speaker 2 (00:41):

We're back with another exciting episode and we have a special guest on today. Come on from the heat of Las Vegas, the summer heat. We got the man Mikey Lucas on Mikey. Thanks for coming on the show with us today.

Speaker 3 (00:56):

Yeah, dude. Thank you. Thank you for having me. Yeah,

Speaker 2 (00:58):

It's my pleasure. And we were lucky enough to have him out in San Diego, hanging out with us live in the studio. He had normally he's in Vegas, but yeah, I don't know how you survive that heat man is a feeling good. The San Diego weather, like it. It's unbelievable

Speaker 3 (01:11):

Dude, on the beach like two days ago. And I was like, I miss this.

Speaker 2 (01:15):

I know, right? Yeah. Tough to leave here. Um, yeah. I don't know how you guys do it knocking in Vegas, but

Speaker 3 (01:22):

Stay hydrated.

Speaker 2 (01:24):

Yeah. Yeah. But, uh, yeah, I got mad respect for you guys out there working in Vegas. I know you've been in this, uh, quite a long time. Mike, you're one of the vets for sure of the industry. Do you want to tell us a little bit how you got into solar and um, how you ended up in Vegas? All that good stuff. Yeah.

Speaker 3 (01:39):

Yeah. That's why I got recruited, um, by a, a alarm company, um, back in 2013, um, started out in Baltimore and then went to DC and then Fort Lauderdale, Miami, um, I wasn't really sold on the fact of like door to door. I didn't know it was this big of an industry. I had no really clue at that point. Um, they, the guys that recruited me originally and were like, yeah, like you can come out and make like, you know, 60, 70 grand, a hundred grand, whatever in a summer. And I was like, oh, well, the restaurant that I worked at was really slowed in the summer and school was out during the summer. So let me ask my restaurant to see if they'll let me go. And I did. And they were like, yeah, you can, you can leave and come back. And I was like done sweet.

Speaker 3 (02:21):

I was like, Hey, like, would it make sense for me to let them get more hours? I'm like the rookie at the restaurant, you know, 20 years old, 21 years old. And uh, they're like, yeah, that's totally fine. Like no big deal. Like you're going to go do your thing. And I was like, yeah, I'll come back for busy season for conventions at the restaurants in Vegas, on the strip. And, uh, yeah, went out. Um, absolutely got crushed my first, like three weeks, um, in, uh, in Baltimore walking those massive stairs, but uh, selling alarm systems and it was, you know, it was, there's some good crime out there. So like, you know, people were buying alarm systems, but then I knocked into, uh, two different ladies, uh, in DC at that time, which is just like just, you know, around the corner Baltimore. So, um, I saw, I saw a yard sign out and I was like, you know, our house is powered by the sun or installed for free or whatever, zero down kind of concept.

Speaker 3 (03:07):

And I was like, oh, that's really cool. Like I saw solar like once or twice back home in Vegas when I was growing up. And I was like, that's really cool, but it's really expensive. And then, uh, I asked, I was like, Hey, like, can you tell me a little bit about your, your solar system? And the lady was like, not having it. She had solar city and she was like, not having it something. And anyway, no, she liked to solar, but she's not having me asking her questions. Okay, gotcha. No, she loved her solar, but so yeah. It's like when you pay money for it and it's, it's cheaper. And I was like, okay, awesome, sweet. Yeah. Like, you know, I was like not having a good day selling alarms. I'd probably, that's like, you know, had one at the time, but I had to go get a second or third deal.

Speaker 3 (03:42):

So I just kept knocking. I was like, let me just talk to somebody. I haven't talked to them in a while. And then it was, I took over and they have an alarm system that had been solar on it in DC. And after I sold it, um, I was like, Hey, like, can you tell me a little bit about this like solar system and? They were like, oh yeah, it was this, this, this like helped out. We didn't, you know, it was like either a lease or PPA. So like, yeah, we didn't have to put any money in our pocket. And we're, you know, our rates only going up 2.9% and yeah. You know, and, uh, you know, we got a lower rate and you know, the rates were higher out there. So like they dropped it significantly. You'll see, you know, big savings or whatever.

Speaker 3 (04:13):

And it's like, wow, that's awesome. I asked my manager, George. And he was like, yeah, this is not what we're doing. Like we're doing alarm systems, solar take too long, blah, blah, blah. And I was like, no, like George, this is what it is like we're having people pay $70 a month. They're saving $70 a month without paying anything. So we should do this. And he's like, no, David, we're not, it takes too long. And I don't know, this is, you know, going on 20, not 20 years ago, this is almost 10 years ago now. And at that time, solar was not a big thing. So after that summer, I came home, got back in the restaurant, uh, Gordon Ramsay steak, and, um, wanted to sell, sell door to door. And at that point it was like, Hey, like, can I sell and see, you know, alarms and soul in, in, in Vegas. And they were like, yeah, we actually have an alarm solar office in Vegas. I was like, perfect. So I got into solar at that time. And, uh, I think it was 20. Got, I got 2013 or 2014 started selling then, and then moved in with solar city. After I lost a bunch of deals to solar city, I was at can't beat them, join them. So I went and got paid solar men and wages, solar city for like two and a half, three years.

Speaker 2 (05:15):

There you go. It's been a long time. Well, now you are, I guess, off the mic. We were talking about this. We had like a 30 minute conversation on every single origin of as a solar history. So we'll keep it, that can meant a little bit condensed version for the podcast, but you can go hit Mikey up for every last detail if you want. But yeah, I guess the, to cut this long story short, basically now you're in Vegas. You have your own a dealer with Titan that right? Yup. Okay. What 40, 47 reps you said? No, we're good.

Speaker 3 (05:46):

Yeah. So we, we actually just got acquired. So I sold the company, um, a couple of a couple companies actually split from it. So we sold a couple of them off. Um, got acquired by a larger company. That's like 10 times larger than this. Um, and now I'm consulting for the company. So I don't actually work for the company, but I, but now I'm a consultant for that company. So there's, there's not just not just me going out and just selling, but now I'm consulting because they don't just own one company. They own, it's like mark Cuban of the companies. Like they own all these smaller dealers like me, but I'm just, you know, peanuts, but they want, they thought that I was the best for, you know, how to teach and sell solar, you know, work for Sam tiger fell a little bit time that I was doing that and got some experience there. I was like, oh, coaching is what I do is what I like. I'm not Michael Jordan, but Phil Jackson. Yeah. I cannot be the best at hitting the three point at, you know, the law on the buzzer beater, but I can teach the team on how to get to that point. So I was like, okay, so that's what I'm doing now. Okay.

Speaker 2 (06:38):

So you can solve for the entire, like all their different areas. Yeah.

Speaker 3 (06:43):

Yeah. And then I've got a couple of clients that I still work with on the side. I'm not on the side of them with them, but you know, uh, aside from that, I would say within that contract, but, um, yeah, I'm going for going for a, to be at the largest solar consultant pay $2 million a year, which is what I'm actually like, that's what I'm going for right now. Like there's certain metrics I have to hit and that's, I'll be a consultant being paid $2 million a year. So I'm pretty excited about that. Let's do

Speaker 2 (07:08):

It. Yeah. That's awesome. And yeah, what's really cool about Mikey. Um, everyone needs to be following them on Instagram. You got, um, I get some great, you know, nuggets just from following you, so appreciate you all the content you share on that. Thank you. But, uh, yeah, I know guys learned a ton from you and, um, you've coached a lot of reps, like you said, you've, we're consulting with door to door experts, Sam Taggart, um, own multiple businesses. You have, it seems like you get your hands in. Almost every business you can think of. He does it all. And we'll talk more about that here in a minute. Um, but yeah, for solar reps, I guess, what is it that draws you to just the coaching side of it? What made you realize that you wanted to be more than just the coach instead of necessarily like, you know, selling a time? What, what draws you to the more of the coaching consulting Mickey?

Speaker 3 (07:52):

So at solar city, um, I was never in the top 20% and then the top 20%, then you had to be selling, you know, 18 deals or more at that time. Like if you're not selling that many deals, you're not in the top 20% of the whole company. So I was still selling an average of like 11 or 12 deals a month, but I wasn't in the top 20%, but the top 200% guys always got more attention. And so it was kind of cool. Cause I was like the college kid in high college football college baseball that had a fight for the, to get up, to get to pros. And to me that top 20% going to the trips or Hawaii and whatever. Right. Um, that was pros for me. I was like, Hey, I want to be around the John. Frampton's the Taylor McCarthy's I want to be around these top guys.

Speaker 3 (08:30):

I, um, you know, court Reynolds and guys like that. And Elon Musk, like I want to be around these guys. Um, I, I really never was. So I had to figure out how to get to that point. So I have a, I have a soft, I have a soft spot in my heart for the guys that are the 21 to 40% company. So we can get those guys, the ones that actually have the drive. Those are the ones that actually stay a lot longer in the, because they still have to fight to make it. And they don't, you know, that you can't just rely on, you know, their good looks like they have to actually get better at it. Like I wasn't a natural born salesman. I wasn't naturally like I'm an introverted extrovert. I'm not really, it's not my favorite thing to do is go speak on stage even though I do.

Speaker 3 (09:12):

It's not my favorite thing to do, to speak in front of a office of 120 people. I don't, I'm not like this is, I'm so excited. I'm like freaking out sweating, sweat and doing that. But, um, yeah, just, just to help the, the 40 to 21%, which then helps all companies in all offices, in all owners out. Because if you can get those guys there, they'll stick around and there'll be loyal. So yeah, the goal was really to help the 40 to 21%. And that was the guys that actually wanted it to be there. The other guys you see, like, for instance, like yourself, probably even like, you're not alone ranger, but like, you know, a lone Wolf, but like you, you almost, you don't want to put bumpers on guys like that. You gotta let them run. Right. And then helping them find out like through person development, I've been sober now from a synthetic heroin for it's like going on nine years now. So I've had to through personal development, find out how to get better. And then that rolls over into, you know, the person development side of like getting better at not just, you know, not just going out and making money, but being a person of value. So figuring out how to do that and helping guys find what their, why is, what their passion is and you know, how, how we're going to actually change the world. I'm that weird kid that thinks I'm going to change the world. And I actually like got it. Ones

Speaker 2 (10:25):

That are crazy enough to think that usually are the ones that change it

Speaker 3 (10:29):

Day. I was like, dude, that's Steve jobs. I, didn't no idea. I'm like, yeah. I'm like the guy that I really think I can change the world.

Speaker 2 (10:39):

That's awesome. But no, I love that because I can relate a ton. Cause I've never been like, you know, that top I've always been, you know, one of the top, but I know for sure there's guys slinging more deals than I am. And that was like, basically the reason I started the podcast is just to be around that. Like you said, a lot of times, if you're not the top guy, then it's tough to get around those guys. So that's what I'm trying to change in the industry. Like Cal can we get around these top producers and learn from them and help the guys that aren't like the natural born salesman? Like I know for sure. I'm not in, that's cool to hear. We can really on that. But yeah. Another big thing you mentioned that I love is just like, there's so many guys struggling with external factors in this industry.

Speaker 2 (11:16):

That's holding them back. He talked about overcoming like addiction, heroin, all that. I see it so many times where that's like guys are addicted to different things in the industry. There's guys, you know, drugs, pornography, all types of different things that guys are just seeing that holds them back from having success in sales, in different things in our industry. And I love hearing guys that have overcome those things because it's a huge problem. Any guy I think, um, I mean, I'm sure you've seen a lot of guys have like add and the industry ADHD, we all want to like change stuff for all, you know, in different business ventures and stuff. I know you're in 20 different things, so it's like, how can we help guys, um, get better, maintain the focus and really get rid of these distractions and things that are holding them back. So yeah, I really just respect that, that you're trying to help, um, guys out. And so, um, I know you're consulting training right now and I want to talk about kind of shift gears. You're in quite a few different masterminds yourself. Um, we're talking about that off the mic here or off the recording. Um, so right now, how many different masterminds are you in McGee?

Speaker 3 (12:22):

A four. Okay. Or 5, 5, 5.

Speaker 2 (12:28):

See, okay. Um, so how

Speaker 3 (12:31):

Plus I'm being coached by two different people right now. Oh yeah. Yeah. High performance coaches.

Speaker 2 (12:35):

Okay. So yeah. Yeah. That's about as many masterminds and coaches you can have at one time. Um, so how have you, I guess, how have you benefited from all these masterminds and I guess w what's the importance of those in your life? It was even gone through them.

Speaker 3 (12:49):

The main thing, the main, like the main, main thing that I needed was I'm not the type of person where I'm like, Hey, I want to, I, I get value. This is not me. I, I don't get value from being the smartest best looking most, uh, you know, wealthy person in the room have the nicest, I don't get value from people saying, wow, Mikey Lucas is here. Oh my God. Like, I'm like, no, like I'm just a normal person, dude. Like grew up in normal Las Vegas. Like my dad's still, my family still has our 91 RV. Like we're not special. Like we just, like, I don't get value from people being like, wow, Mikey, I mean, that happens. But like, I don't, that's not my thing. I'm not like, oh, wow, that's all I get. You know? Um, if I didn't have that and I'd think less of myself, right.

Speaker 3 (13:37):

I wanted to be, but I was, I was continuing to be in that position where I was always the largest fish in the room, the biggest fish in the pond. And I'm like, I gotta be uncomfortable and get into a bigger fish ponds, bigger rivers, bigger oceans. And the only way to do that was to be in a mastermind. So I got, um, invited into thrive with colehatter pass through the interview process. And it was the most uncomfortable thing in the world because I was like, these people are so much richer than I am and they're way better. And then come to find out sure. A lot of them had more money, but they're just like me and you they're just like me. And yeah. So it was, I needed, I needed personally for myself to be in an ocean that I wasn't the biggest fish anymore because I wouldn't, you know, show me your five best friends.

Speaker 3 (14:24):

We'll show you. We're going to be at in five years concept, like in all aspects of life. Um, but I've yeah, I've learned, I learned a ton, um, being coached by high-performance coaches, uh, Mike says next a high-performance coach of mine. Uh, they've been coached by my Michael Berg. Just got a, his program recently. Oh, cool. Um, like those, those types of, of like accountability, like nobody, everybody says they want to be held accountable if they don't really want to be held accountable. Um, for me, I get, I flourish when I'm actually being told, Hey, you're doing this really. But if you did this and this and this slightly different or somewhat better, you would get to the next level where you're gonna be able to help more people. And I'm like, okay, like that's what I need. I want to be, I don't want to be, I don't want it yet.

Speaker 3 (15:01):

I don't want to be yes, man. Like don't tell me, oh, you're so great at what you do. Like that's fine. I, I know that I'm not for self-sabotage. I don't want you to, I actually have to train my guys out of that. Most of them like, oh, door suck. I was terrible there. I'm like, I have to convince them to not do that. I'd say, Hey look, like, what are the three things you do right first? And then we go to one thing you did you think you messed up on the opposite round? Cause it were so pushing. Like I sucked here. I didn't do well there. I had my transition sock. My tonality was terrible. It's like relax buddy. But yeah, no masterminds. Um, yeah. I just, I know that. I don't know. And I know that I don't know everything and you know, I, I want to be around people like, you know, Henry Ford quote of like, I don't have to know everything I've got, uh, I think he said like a petroleum button, like a plastic button.

Speaker 3 (15:48):

Okay. And six plastic buttons in front of me with the, I can call anybody with any of the answers that I need. So just masterminds have helped me grow and see that there's so much more out there that people that actually have money that are in those types of masterminds are actually trying to give back a lot more than I thought. Cause most people think, oh, you've got money. You're uh, you know, your POS or, you know, you're just selfish. Like you drive a Ferrari. It's like, no dude, these dudes that have like nicer cars are like giving away hundreds of thousands, if not millions of dollars a year. Yeah. That's awesome. And philanthropy. So it's yeah. That's

Speaker 2 (16:24):

Cool. Yeah. And you can only grow if you're around people like that and yeah. Like, you know, off the recording, you're just saying how like guys know in the mastermind, if they screw over one person, then they're getting booted out of the group and they can't come back in. That's awesome to have that level of trust and that level, you know, accountability and all that. And it's like, you know, you're going to improve and take guys to the top with you. But yeah. My other question was like being in so many masterminds here in so much information from all different people, um, like how do you, how do you actually like decide what you're going to implement and how do you actually like, you know, get value from all of these and take it into one because I mean, I'm in one mastermind right now and I feel like there's a lot to like implement and, and improve on. But I can't imagine being in four and then having like two separate coaches and stuff like that. So how do you decide, okay, this, this is worth my time money. I'm gonna spend it. How have you decided to like be in that many different groups and not get overwhelmed and I guess pick and choose which one, you know, can benefit somebody.

Speaker 3 (17:22):

I was telling you earlier. I was like, there was one mastermind that I said I wasn't, I wanted to be in, had the money to be in, it could have got into it, but didn't remember. So I turned that one down, even though I would want it to be in that one. I'm still able to say no to certain of them, a certain masterminds. Um, luckily I haven't been in a mastermind that I didn't really appreciate and like, and learn from and grow from and also add value to. But, um, the things that I don't learn a lot about, but hold this in and I'm like trying to like, Hey, like I should probably know about this is like marketing. Yeah. Like, you know, marketing and things like that, where it's like, you know, for instance, like what you're doing now, it's like, you're building your personal brand up.

Speaker 3 (18:03):

And you know, I been, I was two, two years ago. I was like, I don't know why I want to build a personal brand, but I'm just a doorknocker that sells solar panels and teaches people how to, you know, develop and make money and invest money. But, um, things like that, I just archive them. I'll take notes on them and I have tons of notes and then four times a year I'll go back through and I have this ideas list. So assistants of mine, um, if I'm ever like, Hey, like that's an idea. They have a list of ideas that Mikey says, this is an idea. And it's usually something that pops up or I heard somebody saying something I'm like, Hey, that's an idea. Let's try to figure out how to do that. They have a whole list of that. I'm just archiving those, come back to Stephanie.

Speaker 3 (18:44):

Got them. Exactly. Exactly. Or if it's like, Hey, like, you know, I was with Dom, Dom Carney this weekend and he's, he's like a drop shipping gangster. And I'm like, I don't know how to do that. And I don't really think that has any applications to solar, but if I ever need to figure out, you know, supply and demand is like, like I can, I can go to him and ask him a question, stuff like that. So, yeah. Um, yeah, that's awesome. I'll archive them. And then, okay. So there's, there's like if you go to an event, I always teach guys this no matter what, if I ever see them at an event, I'm like, Hey dude, if you're going to be at an event like this, you know, 10 X growth con, there's going to be like three things I learned from Dave already.

Speaker 3 (19:21):

There's going to be like three things that you're gonna, that you're going to be able to tell me about what 2019 DOR con was about. Right. You're gonna remember like three things and that's it. So look for those three things, write everything else down and then focus on those for the next six months. And that's it. It's a good idea to just overwhelm ourselves. It's same thing in a book. Like if you told me, you know, three things you learned about pitching anything and you know what, what's the wait, what? Like, you know, they tailor what's, what's the what's what do you remember most about pitching anything? You're going to tell me two to four things. Right. And that's it. So it's the same thing. Whenever I go into a book, we try to retain everything because we're told to add like, and we're not going to be able to, then it's like reverse psychology.

Speaker 3 (19:58):

It's like, you're not going to remember everything. So now I got to try to remember everything. Yeah. But you're not going to, so you might as well go into it with the proper expectation of like, Hey, we're about to walk into a storm. Let's not have every, you know, let's not have the couches in the, in the, in the, you know, everything out let's, let's Batten down the hatches, go into the storm correctly and know how to navigate through this. So it's really just about being able to navigate, um, and just archiving and knowing that yes, it's exciting. Yes. It was awesome content, but you cannot apply it right now because if you do that, it's not, yeah. It's not gonna help your team. Yeah. I was going to say it's selfish, but I've learned more like you have to be more selfish to help your team out kind of, kind of thing, but it's selfish in a bad way. Yeah. Yeah. It's like using money for the wrong thing. It's selfish in a bad way because you end up going on this tangent that doesn't help your team out at all, or the people that you're around. So you just archive it. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (20:46):

I love that. And yeah, I agree. A hundred percent just cause I've heard, um, you know, I've spent a lot of money in like personal development, the courses, the programs, the events, but that's one of my biggest issues is I go to these things then yeah. You asked me two months later, what I even got from that thing. And there's been times where I'm like, yeah, I don't know. I can't remember anything from that. Just spent two grand to go to that event, but I don't know what I took away, like why I went to it. So I think there's people out there like, you know, like me that go to these things that don't get stuff out of it that don't apply it and that's a big issue. So yeah. I appreciate that. That's something I'm going to start doing right down the street things. I will

Speaker 3 (21:25):

Add one thing to that. Yeah. Um, I learned it from Tony Robbins and you know how like he like helps people to jump up whatever. Yeah. So he talks about like your state, like if you're not in a super excited, like I'm here, I'm alive, you know, I'm alert. I'm well, like I'm in that type of a state, you know? Um, you're not, if you're not in an emotional state, it's not going to stick. So if you're kind of like slumping back, whatever, like I'm not really, I mean, I don't know what I'm gonna get out of this, but I'm gonna try to get something out of it. You know, if you don't set the proper expectation and then continue not just setting expectations that you can set all the, oh, I've got great intentions to go make a million dollars and buy a Ferrari, knock on doors, selling solar panels in Southern California.

Speaker 3 (22:00):

But you know, road, the good, you know, the, the road of good intentions leads to hell or whatever, you know, it's like, you don't just have to have good intentions. You don't set it right up. You can, you need to set the expectation. But if you're not continuing to stay at a high energy level of like, I'm here, like something that you have, I need for the very next level of chess, like the very next move. I need that at the, and I've, it's almost like an adventure, like a treasure hunt, like history and treasure hunts back in the day, you said it really excited me. So like, I'm always like, there's one thing I'm like, what's that the one thing was that the one thing, and then just try to emotionally with your teams after sit down and be like, how can we apply this?

Speaker 3 (22:39):

And what did we learn and why? And just like, dig, dig, dig, dig. Yeah. It will help your teams help. It'll help your teams get more out of it as well. Okay. And then just train on that for 2, 3, 4 months after that. Not every single time, but train on those so that they, so that you don't go spend a bunch of money on a team to go to a Tony Robbins event or Greco-Roman van or, you know, knock store, door, order van. And then all of a sudden it's like, you know, we have no idea why we did. Yeah. Sales went up. We could, but we can't duplicate it because we don't know why that's okay.

Speaker 2 (23:07):

Awesome. I love that nugget right there. Yeah. You're already seeing me this, that, um, what I thought was really cool is you have your reps. You're creating that culture of learning in your offices right now. And you're actually paying reps to, you know, read books. You give them like basically incentives to read a book and then train on the material they learn. Cause yeah. How many times will you just take it in? We have no idea what we remember. Think that's a big thing that will change that is go out and train someone, go out and teach someone. What you learned is grant Cardone says that to you don't truly know something until you can teach it to another person. That's some, yeah. So that's the money advice right there too. Um, but yeah, my second question with Mikey is like, with all your masterminds and coaches, all that you've joined, how do you decide, like not being in the mastermind?

Speaker 2 (23:51):

How do you set? Okay, this is going to be worth my time, my money and my investments. How do you decide that? Cause I know some people out there are thinking of maybe getting a coach, maybe you're thinking of joining a rockstar or I mean, we're launching coaching. There's all these coaches out there, all these programs you can go join, but how do you decide, okay, this is going to really move the needle in the direction that I need. This is going to get me the help and how, what what's helped you to, I guess, make that decision when you've tried to join these groups.

Speaker 3 (24:19):

What I trade places with where they're at right now. If I wouldn't trade places with Cole Hatter two years ago, I want to join his mastermind. Okay. I wouldn't trade places with ed Mylet or Andy Frisella. I wouldn't have joined the mastermind. I wouldn't, I wouldn't done it. Okay. So I, I'm not going to trade places with you right now where you're at currently, not where you're going to be. I won't join your mastermind. Hmm. Okay. Because I'm trying to get better. And I, and I, you know, you're not have to be perfect. You don't have to be perfect. And there are certain things that I don't know about with where your personal yet Cole Hatter, Andy Frisella ed mallet. But if the majority of it seems as if I would trade places with you, then I can one, I can add value to you because I'm a lot younger lung younger than ed Mylet.

Speaker 3 (25:08):

I can give him that spark again, that he felt at 29 years old, where I'm at and encourage him. So that's my main, that's like the main, main filter. If that doesn't pass that, then it's definitely not, but there's a significant of process after that. But that's the main thing. If I won't trade places with them and like whole life success, not just money ed, my life was a toll, you know, not a nice person. I wouldn't like any of his content. He's one of my, like, you know, idols who I look up to as an all star to me, dude. Love him. Nice. Yeah. I love that. That's great advice

Speaker 2 (25:44):

Right there. Yeah. Go see what they're doing. Um, cause he had a lot, a lot of talk for sure on social media. Um, guys seeing they're making money's driving Lamborghinis, but would you actually want to trade place with them? And a lot of guys they're super successful in business, but maybe they're going to their third doors. You know, it's like, if you don't want that, if you want all the money, go learn from them. But if you want to be successful in marriage and other stuff, don't go learn from them. Like Elon Musk. He's what launching all these coming Tesla taking rockets to Mars and all that stuff. But on his, I don't know, third gone through divorce and all that work in 80 hour weeks. Like maybe, maybe if you don't want to work 80 hour weeks and launch rockets, then go, go find a mentor that you do want to learn from.

Speaker 2 (26:27):

So yeah, that's a love that that's for sure. And nugget right there. Um, and yeah, I want to shift gears, Mikey. You've had obviously a ton of success in the solar industry, coaching reps, helping train. And I love what you're saying about training your reps, just creating that culture of them to learn and them to really themselves and make their own adjustments because that's another thing is like, you need a good coach, but also you need to train yourselves to, um, they really recognize things you can improve on. So can you talk about a few of the things I know we were talking off the recording here. Can you talk about few things that you've implemented in your training of reps in, in your offices that you've done to help create that culture just of learning and helping them make their own improvements?

Speaker 3 (27:07):

Yeah. So the main, the main thing is to create a self-sufficient golden door award-winning rep. Okay. The main thing is to create a self-sustainable golden door award-winning rep, which, you know, rep leader manager, regional manager like create the self-sustainable. So how do you get to that 0.1? It's they can, they don't, they don't need, they need, they can, they have the capability to make decisions, critical, critical thinking on their own. Most people that are in their twenties and even in their thirties, we're not taught that I don't care how many books you've read you. Weren't taught that. And if you didn't, the one thing I really like about door-to-door is that we are being challenged every single day to think critically, you know, police show up and you're like, I don't have a permit to knock your, what do I do? How do I get out of this?

Speaker 3 (27:57):

You know? So like you have to think critically. Right? Um, so yeah, the, the main thing is to create the self self-sustainable golden door award winner, um, in any industry that is how do you do that? There's a few ways that we do that, that I've, I've tried lots of things like, oh, it's not like a book club or like a mastermind style. But like, if you don't, if you don't take into consideration this one thing, um, it's likely going to fail, which is people only do what they're incentivized to do. So if we know that, you know, if you, if you're only going to do what you're incentivized to do, then you have to figure out what with you personally tailor how you can reward yourself, right. How you can have a specific amount of your finances put away to go and swipe a card and be like, oh, I just bought some $60 pair of Lulu shorts or whatever, right.

Speaker 3 (28:41):

Or a hundred dollars. I don't even know that they're a hundred. Okay. Um, I'm at the room at the Nordstrom's rack or whatever, you know, the Lulu rack or whatever, get them on sale. But, um, you know, uh, you know, find out what, what, what, what to do to incentivize you, to get to where you want to be. Um, in that we have two different things that we do that we were talking about earlier. The first one is that we pay for. So we call ourselves a personal development company that just so happens to sell smart home products. So that's when recruiting, it's a little recruiting nugget right there. Like, Hey, like, you know, oh yeah, come make a bunch of money. No. Like, Hey, come and learn how to personally develop, make a bunch of money and then invest it. So there's three parts towards not just making much money.

Speaker 3 (29:20):

Everyone's like, yeah, I'm making a bunch of money. Look, I've got my model three or whatever. Okay, cool. Like where are you going to charge your car out here in San Diego? Right. Then I kinda went anyways. So the money part's there, but the personal development and then also investing it is very important. So, um, what we do is we have a book club. Um, we incentivize our guys every, every, all everybody gets this, um, whether you're in or whatever. Um, and everybody has a Booklist everybody's virtually required to do this. Right. Um, but they're incentivized to do it so that it's not like, oh, I got a buck. So when, when, when I initially say test book, report, people go and start getting anxiety or freaking out. A lot of my guys, you know, they like straight a students and they're like, oh God, this is no big deal.

Speaker 3 (30:02):

But they're 24, 23, 29, 34 years old now. And they're like, you know, they don't want to take tests anymore, but if I can incentivize them and show them how they are going to become a better person when they do this and it's going to lead into better habits, which then gets them to what they want and the freedom that they want within their life, I can help them by paying them $50 for the book, for them to read the book or listen to the book they write, they write a two page front and back report on it. And I tell them like, look, dude, cheat. I don't care. Go online. You know, rich dad, poor dad quotes and write down all the quotes you see there. And obviously, you know, we can, we're going to tell, but I'm like, dude, like if you're loo, if you can only do one page of notes for yourself, am I asking for an essay?

Speaker 3 (30:47):

But if you can't write down all these two pages, I don't care writing 25, 50 font, doesn't matter, just write it out. And then they present it to a manager and they presented to a manager. It's like, it's a minimum of three minutes to the manager explaining what they got from the book. So the three things, two or three things they got from the book and then explain some of that through some of their notes. So you, you, you know, you retain roughly 10% of what you read or listen to, you know, 20 to 30% of what you read, listen to and write down. And then 60 to 80% of what you read, listened to and then go and teach. And so we've, we've kind of hacked it where we're getting people to actually teach us back to the books. So we're really helping them, reprogram their minds to understand it, think, and it's obviously, you know, they're not going to go and read, you know, I don't know Pilgrim's progress in our, in our sole office.

Speaker 3 (31:33):

It's, you know, they're going to read specific books, the survival guide, pitch, anything, um, how to win friends and influence people, rich dad, poor dad, um, you know, a compound effect, you know, mini habits, um, way of the Wolf that books like this month, Tony Robbins, money master. And they're gonna read books like that and they're going to come back and present it to us. Now, my managers are being taught it by somebody that just read it, that they might not have got that one nugget from that. They just got that. So they're being now taught by everybody else. It's a culture of now we're masterminding coaching and teaching everybody. So it's awesome. Then we buy the book back from them. So they, so we take a picture of the notes. We put it into a Google drive, that all their notes that they've ever written on all these books and they have access to it too.

Speaker 3 (32:09):

And then yeah, we're buying the back of the books. So if they bought on audible, you know, 1499 or whatever the book would cost, we, we give them back that and we give them 50 bucks for the report. So the second one we do that works out really well. We get a lot of it's, it's less, it's less like I've got to read a book and I got to write a report. Like it's people really, really want to do that. And then it also helps with the guys that are not in the top 20% of the company. They want to do that more so they can get more time with the managers. So that's another way to help guys fight, to get to the top. So they want to prove themselves by, Hey, I'm going to be reading all these books on my off time, instead of partying or going to the gym.

Speaker 3 (32:43):

A bunch of times, I'm actually doing personal development or while I'm at the gym, I'm listening to books or whatever. The second thing that we do, um, is that that's very important in the beginning of someone coming onto a door to door company, that they get money right away. That's one of the best ways we pay them. So we pay them off of merit, meritocracy bleed, a meritocracy Ray Dalio talks about when you pay them to personally develop, then you're making them, you know, you're making a monster at that point. That's awesome. If we want to, I want to make people that are like cold killers that are like, I can do anything, you know, pay mind to it. I can do it. Right. The second thing we do is we do that, um, uh, door knocking, critiquing sheet. So I've got a template that we go through, like body language, verbal nonverbal, um, tonality, uh, you have your pullbacks, your takeaways, your objections, and they're writing it out on paper.

Speaker 3 (33:31):

I just scripted it out. I'm like, Hey, like I was told, I think 2015 that this is what one of the top reps did. I was like, well, the top reps doing that, I gotta do that. I would write out, you know, what the, what the common objection I would get and then write out three ways to overcome it. And he showed me this like long book of like all these objections that he's come up with. And a lot of them are just the same over and over again. But he's just like learning and learning and learning. And, and eventually, you know, through the mysterious brain that you have, you come up with something that works and then boom, you just, you know, you're just, you're being on the craft. So, um, we did that. We got them in like a little spiral bound notebook.

Speaker 3 (34:07):

So they can, they're not like loose leaf anymore, a spiral bound notebook where it's like that template. We just printed out like office Depot or whatever. And then, uh, and then now they're now they're being coached and taught through that. So then we pay them $50 as well, $50 for if, if they record the door approach, if they write out the critique on it and the door closes. So if it closes on the spot, they're getting an incentive right in the beginning. And then that creates a culture of someone that's self sustainable, where they don't have to ask you for help in the future. They will ask you for help on bigger things, but they don't have to ask you for help for the little things. Yeah. And that takes a lot of your time up as a, as an owner, as a manager of an, of multiple offices. Like you can't, you don't have that as time like that. Right. And also your managers won't have enough time like that. So we're helping them become and help them find the answer instead of being like, oh, where did I put my keys? You know, it's like, not like you, you, you hung your keys on the door every single day. Cause that's your routine. Your routine is you come home and you work on your script. Right. So yeah, we pay them, we pay them to do that too. So it's awesome. That's sweet. I love

Speaker 2 (35:03):

That culture because yeah, I'm sure you've seen him. The best reps are the ones that go to the managers get the help. There's so many people that just wait to be helped and they're not the ones making the massive improvements. The guys who are going out there chasing it, taking that initiative. It's a powerful idea. Um, what about like for noggin? I'm just curious. Cause like Vegas man, it's like 120 degrees out there. Like how are you getting guys to create that culture of knocking, like getting out there? Cause I mean, I got lazy reps in San Diego and where we got like 75 degree weather out here. So if you can get guys to go out and 120 degree weather, I want to hear what's working for that. So anything you do to create that culture of knocking in that brutal heat,

Speaker 3 (35:44):

What's helped, um, is going in spurts. Okay. Going in sprints, um, having people around as well. So like team knocking, we do a lot of team knocking, um, where, you know, there'll be core groups of like five or 10 people going out to one specific part of the town and they're all spread out and they know that they're all out together. And then the, the car leaders, like the managers, the assistant area sales managers, there are like very in charge of making sure that the, the aura, the mindset is high listening to, you know, you know, I don't know what's that, uh, post Malone used to have friends now I've got Dan and he was like, we're not listening to that stuff. Going out to hood. We're listening to positive stuff, going out to hood like,

Speaker 2 (36:27):

Like the solar premier podcast.

Speaker 3 (36:29):

Exactly. Right. No joke, dude. Seriously. That's that's that type of stuff is what actually works is why it's, it's freaking door to door. Yeah. I need to know that I can make it that's all people want to know is that they can actually, they're going to make it through this and by hearing it from you, right. Oh yeah. Are, you know, they're gonna listen this podcast going out to it. And I'm like, oh, it was, uh, it was, uh, you know, it was a crap show out there and you know, I can still make it. So, um, yeah. So, uh, car groups works really well. Uh, keeps accountability there, um, incentivizing first or last or first store appointments, last two appointments and making that really, really hype, um, incentivizing, you know, paying for, you know, like gas cards, you know, a little, you know, if they like to go to Dutch bros or Starbucks or whatever, little gift cards here and there for like the person that's, you know, finishing the race, staying out there longer. Um, what else has worked? Uh, yeah, the spurts. So having, uh, we have somebody that drives around to each of our, each of our, um, like sections of where our guys are knocking at drop off snacks, got coolers, little drinks, you

Speaker 2 (37:32):

Know, care package, care

Speaker 3 (37:35):

Packages, awesome. Cold stuff. So it's pretty cool.

Speaker 2 (37:39):

Um, I'm just imagining call of duty, like care package dropping in the battlefield.

Speaker 3 (37:44):

What do you think? We got the idea though. Yeah, that's a, yeah. I mean, staying at staying super hydrated, um, one of the other things is I would mandate mandatory, make them stop in the middle of the day between one and like 2:00 PM and they would get their lunch. They'd go do crowd therapy, NormaTec and red light therapy. So they would be doing, yeah. So they were, the guys that were selling were being paid to go there. Oh, that's cool. Yeah. They'd go be paid to go do crowd therapy, NormaTec and go do rest and recovery. It's like going and being an ice bath and then going back out to work. So they were, they would eat together or in their CarGurus eat together and then wherever the cryotherapy places were at, they'd go and do that. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (38:24):

Wow. That's cool. I'm going to try that. I'd have to try cryo cryotherapy. It's almost like an athlete recovering before the next game or something ice bath before the game. That's well awesome. Mike, you know, I love hearing the high level stuff you're doing and um, again, go follow them. And last thing I want to kind of learn from you is just maybe some specific stuff we can go out and implement out there. Um, for those that are knocking for those that are closing, I know when you're a big things to do and takeaways, and you've talked about that on Instagram. Um, so just do a guest, I guess, give some people some specific things they can do, um, takeaways, pun in standard, right? There are some specific takeaways they can go and implement today. Um, do you mind sharing just, I dunno, some takeaways you guys use maybe in the doors and closes things that are helping you guys, you know, book appointments and close deals out there in Vegas. Sure.

Speaker 3 (39:15):

Yeah. Um, some of that can make the mental right away. One is record yourself. Um, for one they're not recording themselves, I can almost guarantee you, they're not recording themselves. If you're not recording yourself to take it from me, bro, I don't have to work anymore. I've got enough passive income that I don't have to work ever again in my entire life, but I continue to do because I want to make a bigger impact with like global issue stuff. So, um, and that's from me getting better and because I was recording myself on the door and then I would go back and I did, I gave it up for free. Like, I don't know, like six months ago they can DM me or they can DM you that you'll have it as well. Is that critiquing tool. Okay. If you have, if you record yourself and then you go back and you use the tool, you will get better.

Speaker 3 (39:52):

So that alone will make somebody more money than me giving you one pullback, spoonful, one pullback that I do, or one takeaway that I do so different from that pull back and I take away a pullback is, is like a, like a, a time constraint. You know, the main thing that people are not realizing that on doors, um, especially if you're in like a Vegas, Arizona or San Diego or Southern California area where it's, we get knocked a lot. Um, our doors get knocked a lot, um, is you have to relieve the pressure. You have to relieve the pressure. So if you're not throwing in one-liners, um, like, Hey, you know, sorry to bug ya. I actually just wanted to drop off my business card. And I'm not sure if you guys saw the trucks and I just want to invite you over to an open house.

Speaker 3 (40:34):

Um, did, did you guys kind of hear about that or no. See us on nextdoor or Facebook or anything like that or seeing the flyers in the mail? Um, cool. No worries. Yeah, like I said, I actually got to get going here in a second, so I don't, I don't have much time. We're the last house houses here before I get to clock out and go home. Um, so I'll, I'll, I'll do my very best to really, um, alleviate pressure that they have to buy something right now. I'm not leaving until you sign up for solar panels right now, same day.

Speaker 3 (41:03):

So, you know, and that, that also goes back to, you know, burning doors, right. If you burn a door you're vulnerable and it burned a whole neighborhood concept. Um, but yeah, as far as like takeaways goes, um, yeah, so I don't, I don't, you know, there's so for me, um, I tell my guys, Hey, look, you've got 15 permits per month. You can do, um, there's guys that are selling over 15 deals a month, but you know, on average, you know, they're going to hit 15 deals. I go, look, you only have 15. So if you're at 12, you have three permits left in this neighborhood because that's how many deals I'm in this month. So this month I've only got three more permits. Um, I don't know if this is going to be a good fit or not. Um, but if it, if it works out, um, you're going to love it.

Speaker 3 (41:48):

But the catches that I don't know if they're going to select this house because of certain things, or I don't know if this is really going to be a good fit for you or not. Um, you've probably looked into this before. Um, so there's, there's like one there. That one good one there, but it's good. Um, another one, um, is, and I put this on Instagram the other day, cause I was like, can I use some whole time? Um, and I was like, I didn't realize I did it, but I listened to a video and I was like, wait, that's a one liner. That's a break pullback. It was, uh, it was, yeah. So basically really quick. What I'm gonna do is I'm going to go check to make sure you guys have the right meter. Okay. So this was like a little secret that we do. All right here. It is

Speaker 2 (42:24):

Drop that isn't secrets. I mean, I made this up. Yeah.

Speaker 3 (42:27):

Uh, most meters that I've seen have the symbol or the number sequence, um, 30 TA or it's TA 30. Um, and apartment buildings have like 25 or like 15 TA houses have 30 or 50 TA. So if they have a 15 TA it means they're an apartment. Can we put solar on an apartment? Okay. Yes we can. But no, we can't. Right. You're not going to knock an important apartment where they don't own the house. Right, right. They don't own the roof. They don't own it. So if they have a 15 TA it's not going to work. So I'm like, yeah. So if you have a 15 TA meter, like I'm not even gonna waste your time, you're not going to be good fit for this program. You have to pay like five, 10 grand or whatever to get the new meters. And it's just not going to make sense for you.

Speaker 3 (43:05):

Let me just go, make sure you have the right meter. I'm go ahead and grab utility bill. The utility usage looks like just like this. If you're not using enough usage, I, again, I'm not, I don't want to waste your time. It's very, they're really picky with who they allow into the program. I'm going to make sure you have the right meter. And if it, if it works, if you do have the right meter, I'll kind of show your options. And then we'll see whether or not, it's going to be a good fit for us to talk. Otherwise I'll just tell you, Hey, look, I'm not gonna waste your time. I'll just kind of take you off my list of sound fair, cool. Grabbing usage really quick. I'm gonna grab your, grab your meter and I walk away, boom, that, and then, and then when I get to the meter, if they come with me and there's another one, like I'll pull them out of the house and I get them to come look at the meter with me.

Speaker 3 (43:36):

And I'm like, look, obviously I know what I'm looking at. Yeah. I know what I'm looking at. Right. But I, I look as if I'm puzzled, you know, I'm kind of like just pointing out the here. All right. So I kind of like wipe my head, sweat off my head. And I went right back at the meter and I go, um, okay. It looks like you do the right meter. And I pause specifically, I'm not joking dramatic, positive. Cause you're like, oh my God, am I going to qualify? Cause my clients, not every time, but a lot of times, a lot more times than I have seen. And didn't even realize people that shout at me, they're like, they literally said, what's the next step? How do we get qualified? Where do we go from here? You know, what's how do we do the credit check?

Speaker 3 (44:22):

It is, you know, is, is, is there enough spots on this street left? And I'm like, like when you get to clients to do that, it's because they're making the, you're not like, so yeah, if you, if you, you know, if I lower the price of $3 a month and lose $3,000 in commission, you guys sign up today, um, or whatever it looks like, you know? Um, you know, so yeah, doing pullbacks and doing dramatic pause and stuff like that works, it's a lot. So it's like, you know, they want to get them to qualify. So I will pause dramatically and be like, okay, I'm good. Just in case some, some of them got them, some of them didn't

Speaker 2 (44:58):

That gets me stressed. You pause like that, man. I have to try that need like a drum roll going in the exec to pause. Oh yeah. But no, I think that, yeah, I can see that helping a ton and yeah. Any, I think any successful rep is doing that and the pull backs takeaways, because he has taken the pressure off of a yes or no decision. Like that's not the decision. Right. It's just, am I qualified or not? That's the question at that point. So yeah, I think that's a huge key, especially in saturated areas. That's basically, you know, I think the only way to sell in super saturated areas, just taking the pressure off of that decision. Um, well, cool, Mikey, I appreciate all the stuff you've shared with us today. Some golden nuggets you've dropped on us, a ton of takeaways we've gotten from, um, the content you've shared. And I know you're in a ton of different businesses. So guys go give Mikey a fall. If you're not already, he's at dropping some fire, some heat on Instagram every day. So Mikey, where can people find you on Instagram and all that and connect with you? I've got a,

Speaker 3 (45:56):

My Instagram, my Facebook and then YouTube. Um, so it's uh, Mikey Lucas on all three, all three platforms. Um, Twitter, I just got kinda back on in LinkedIn. I kind of just got back on too. Um, and then I've got a book that I'm writing. That's that's me being released here in just under 30 days now. So cool. And then writing for last, like two years to on entrepreneurship, uh, asking the struggles of an entrepreneur of a millennial entrepreneur and how to just encourage, you know, how to get you to stay in the fight instead of, you know, getting your Ferrari and checking out and clocking out and going home and being depressed. Yeah. So yeah, I've got to play something out and then I'll all three of my platforms, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. Mikey Lucas, am I K E Y L U C S O.

Speaker 2 (46:39):

All right, guys, go give him a follow, go buy his book when it comes out. Let's show our appreciation for Mikey, um, given us some secrets today. And so, uh, yeah, I appreciate you again, Mikey, thanks for everything you're doing to coach reps to change the industry and give us more success as we're out there knocking and closing deals. Um, so anything, any last, I dunno, tips or words of wisdom that you would share with, uh, any other solar reps or any of our solar preneurs before we say goodbye here, Mikey. Yeah.

Speaker 3 (47:05):

It's not about how much money you make. It's about how much money you keep and invest. No, the goal shouldn't be to have to knock forever. You know, I can't sit here and tell you, I love knocking on doors. I love knocking on doors because of what it gets me. Yeah. So it's not about how much money you make. It's about how much money you keep and then go and invest. That's why I'm in so many businesses and I don't run all of them. You know, the, the franchise is the ever bulls, the real estate, the Turo business, the Airbnb business. I don't run those, you know, the crypto, obviously I can run crypto, but I'm getting coached on crypto too. So it's like, yeah, make money to go and make money matter and then have passive income coming in to then pay for your lifestyle. Just yes. Make money. But it doesn't matter if you making 50 grand a year, 20 grand a year or 500 grand a year, a million dollars a year. I don't care how much money you make in one year. It's about long-term sustainability. I heard Pitbull say that years ago.

Speaker 2 (48:01):

Nice. Yep. Powerful, powerful. Remember guys, invest in yourself, Mike, he's doing that. I think probably more than anything with all the masterminds and everything, and they're teaching them how to invest in other things where he's getting passive income. So that's a whole new episode for another day, but again, go fall, Mikey, he's doing multiple businesses. You know, the Touro, the, the evitable, the real estate he's in it. Also follow him. And he's going to share stuff on that. So, Mikey, thanks again for coming on. Thanks for sharing with our audience today. And we'll go give you a follow and alike. We're going to go buy your book when it comes out. And so thanks for coming on today and we'll talk to you soon. Thanks Taylor. Appreciate,

Speaker 1 (48:38):

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The SOLARPRENEUR podcast is here to help you close more deals in the solar industry, generate more leads and referrals, and hopefully, have a much better time and situation.