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Sam Taggart 00:38
Hey everybody, this is Sam Taggart with the D2D podcast and I am here with a well overdue longtime-coming guest. You guys know him as the solar cheat code solar guru Bill freaking Murphy, and I was privileged to be out there in Florida Keys hanging out with him, he came to door door con spoke there blew minds. And a lot of people know him online. He is the solar master. He’s created courses he’s created, marketing, you know, strategies and trends and services to help people grow their lead base in solar. So talk to me, Bill, like What’s up, man?
Bill Murphy 01:15
Well, first, thank you, Sam, appreciate you taking me on the podcast. I’ve been wanting to do this for almost two years now. And it’s an honor to be here with you and your badass home studio that you got set up. Okay. Looks like goals right there for myself too. So. But yeah,
Sam Taggart 01:34
no, it’s a we filmed so much content. Right content? And,
Bill Murphy 01:39
You know, I mean, it’s it just gives you that motivation to just keep doing it. Right.
Sam Taggart 01:45
Yeah. So tell us kind of how you got into solar, because obviously, you’ve been kind of the solar expert, you’ve helped a lot of people you sold a lot of solar, you’ve built a pretty successful solar business, but now you help business owners, kind of where do you Where do you get started? I mean, don’t get cut from the typical Utah cloth? You know what I mean?
Bill Murphy 02:02
Right, exactly. I left a six figure job to join a solar company as a sales manager, I was in the gym distance I worked for gold’s gym for like eight years and had like eight gyms under my belt for as like a regional position. And the only problem with that is like a 24 hour job because these gyms never closed so I had a little kid at the time. And you know, if an overnight dude calls out, it’s me in there, and it’s just the the gym business is weird. It’s kind of like the restaurant is it’s like a lot of infidelity and steroids and drugs and all that drinking, you know, the whole thing. But I joined this little tiny solar company in Concord, New Hampshire. And I’ll never forget it because I joined. I got hired on the first of November, it was by this GM who was who had just left this big role at like Comcast to come to the same company because he saw potential. And on November 30, so 30 days later, he pulls this chair up next to my desk, and he’s like, you know, we’re dissolving the company. I’m taking the installation crews, we’re starting our own thing. I can’t take you with me, right. I’m like, Holy moly. So I decided to stay there as like the first employee like the only employee Merlin into that year. And it just ended up being really awesome. We did like six and a half million bucks that year. And then we grew over 10 million The next year, and I ended up making partner and I was up I was up there doing that for like four years since 2012. in Hampshire. Wow. Yeah, man. So it’s been cool, man.
Sam Taggart 03:42
So you then were like, what? what point did you say I need to stop making killer money and solar and leave to make no money in marketing, like, you know, not saying no money, but like leave on the entrepreneurial journey of like, the unknown.
Bill Murphy 03:56
Well, so I used I bought like this course, on how to generate leads as like real estate agents. And I started using it for my own sales teams. And I think the month before I started the solo Chico, which this week is two years ago, I started the solo Chico, this is the first week that I ran my first webinar ad. And I was I was, you know, making 20 to 30k managing a sales team. Using these leads that I was generating myself online and installing in Houston. And I just was like, You know what, if I could do this on the side, if I could help other solar companies on the side, maybe it could be like this other source of income. And the first 30 days we signed up like 25 companies and I made like 50,000 bucks. I was like holy, you know, this is definitely something that is going to work and I had never sold the so I stopped selling solar power that same month. To jump full time into the solar cheat code. I just felt like I had this opportunity but You know, we got 800 clients in two years. And it’s just been really exciting to be, you know, positioned the way we are now. And just very fortunate to be hooking up with so many badass is because we just, we just cultivate people who already have this track record of completely being incredible and making things happen for themselves. And then I just give them some extra tools to do more of it. And then I get to take the credit because they just continue to do what they’ve always done, just using social media and stuff. So it’s been awesome.
Sam Taggart 05:33
I love it. I love it. Um, so what do you Okay, so you have these 800 companies? And obviously, in a 40 minute podcast, we’re not going to be like, okay, dump every frickin nugget you can on us. But what are some of the main principles that you teach these companies?
Bill Murphy 05:53
Well, we teach him, we teach him to be different, but irrelevant. So people become immune to ads that all look the same marketing and all looks the same on the newsfeed right there hit up with videos and GIFs and memes and news and all that stuff. And if they if you can sort of cut through and construct an advertisement that speaks intimately to that person, it’s going to slow them down, right? If they see something that is, you know, something that they see every day, or if it’s hyperlocal. You know, they’re going to take more notice than if like, if I were to run an ad, like a lead generation campaign to like Houston, there’s like 3.7 million people in Houston. Right, but just north of Houston. There’s this town called the woodlands, which is a very famous town, ritzy. Lots of golf courses, lots of golf courses. So if I ran something to a woodlands, it would be much higher resonation. Right, per capita, if you will, then if I try to run some to the entire Houston area, so that’s sort of like the angle we take. Right? So sort of clustering targeted cut through.
Sam Taggart 07:04
So let’s say I’m, let’s say I’m a little solar company. Let’s take it I’m in the woodlands, and I’m trying to target the woodlands. What kind of message resonates with like, let’s say that rich trying to go after some bigger systems? Is there a specific message that’s maybe different than the blanket message that I’m going for of like zero down free solar? Yeah. I mean, like, you see all the ads out there. I’m just curious, like, What message would if you’re starting your solar company again, like, what’s kind of the angle or the message you take in that neighborhood?
Bill Murphy 07:34
Well, you can take, you can take a bunch of I mean, there’s so many different angles, right? But what we found to work really well, in cultivates like, a better quality lead is to accentuate the existing incentives in the area. Like, for example, like when you go to the door, right, you’re not there to sell solar power, you’re there to explain to them about the new net metering program, you see them saying, so if you can, if you can just like take whatever program you have available, whatever incentives, and then take the benefit out of that, and then put the benefit into like a headline. Right? So maybe, for example, in Texas, there’s a property code that prevents homeowners associations from denying the installation, they have to approve as long as everything’s like, compliant, right. So like, that could be a headline, it could be, you know, hey, your Hoa is is now you know, approving all qualifying solar installations, right. And you can use the name of the HOA to really cut through to that neighborhood. But again, you don’t have to go the whole zero down, or, you know, fake programs that don’t exist, like veteran savings, programs that aren’t really real, they’re just sort of right, or rebates and incentives that aren’t really religious, if you can pull out the whatever’s existing in that market, even if it’s just net metering. Your your messaging should be, you know, congruent with what people can already take advantage of, because that’s going to generate a more qualified, well informed lead, who isn’t just kicking tires, or looking to get a vacation voucher from you for sitting down for an appointment, right?
Sam Taggart 09:14
Is that typically, dude, so speaking of like, incentives to meet with you, you know, I was at the Utah Utes football game, and it was like, get your free blanket by coming and meeting, you know, get a huge football blanket and, you know, come meet with us at a solar appointment. You know, I’ve seen all sorts of types of hooks or incentives. Is there certain types that you’ve sent seen best to incentivize people or is there like an overkill where it’s like, you’re giving too much and people are just meeting you just to get your gift or?
Bill Murphy 09:47
I think, I think the incentive to meet is definitely part of the sales process. I don’t think it should be the marketing side. Like for example, Mike, Michael Donal in Key West. I mean, hearing him Explain how he pitches just to sit down as an appointment was mind blowing, because it’s just like, you know, hey, what’s your wife’s favorite restaurant or whatever. And he’s like, you know, I’ll buy you dinner, even if you don’t go solo, you’ll get dinner at the Olive Garden, because you told me it’s your wife’s favorite restaurant. But you know, the messaging, like you should generate the lead first, and then on the contact, when you’re actually trying to get that appointment tie down, is when you can bring in that incentive, because if you move that incentive up to the top, where it’s the messaging, then it’s just, it’s like a fishbowl at a, at a home improvement show like you just get a bunch of leads, who want to win the raffle thing and aren’t really interested in talking to you. So it’s almost better to filter out those people at the beginning and just put a real live benefit in the marketing side of things. That way, you have a well qualified, interested homeowner, who can then be incentivized to actually sit with you with some sort of free giveaway if they show up, right?
Sam Taggart 10:58
Yeah, so let’s kind of talk about this show ratio. So I found so I ran a team of a bunch of senators, right, we had about maybe 7080 senators, and they were going to knocking appointments we had about a 50% show ratio. Now you’ve watched a lot of people. You’ve watched a lot of people switching to virtual leads, things like that. From my understanding, it seems to have a little lower show ratio on some of these guys as lead source, I guess what’s been your experience on a on an on your lead probabilities? Like what’s your show ratio? And then what are ways that you can help increase the show ratio, whether you’re knocking, whether you’re, you know, doing an online program, like what would you recommend to kind of increase the show ratio.
Bill Murphy 11:43
So there’s that everyone talks about follow up, right, and how important it is, and how to automate it and the whole thing. And really, what they forget is the position that follow up after they couldn’t sell the person. So after the appointment already happened, there’s this crucial time from when you set the appointment to when it happens, I call it the pre appointment follow up, which is like your opportunity to truly get in front of that person in you know, you have to do the whole, I just used to send people a picture of me like holding my kids, like a three sentence biography of why I do this, in agenda, very important to have that agenda, a list of references with phone numbers, and then maybe like a link to my Google reviews or something like that. So they would get that in a text message. And, you know, of course, you have
Sam Taggart 12:32
four separate text messages, you know what I mean? Like, I think sometimes, like, it could be separate. It doesn’t have to be one long, like, here’s like frickin read a novel, it might be here’s a picture of me and my kids, then the next day, here’s a picture of our review site, and then the next day, and so they’re kind of like man, like I’m gonna be there dude. Like, you know, it might be okay to break that up. And it might be okay to just do it all on one. I don’t know I’m just I’m brainstorming with you. But it’s that pre appointment follow up I
Bill Murphy 13:01
think you’re exactly right. It’s a fantastic idea to split those up. All you’re trying to do is put a face like your face to your name because they’re just people have these schemas right? You know what a schema is. It’s like a preset you know, filter what people think you’re about to do to them just because you’re a sales guy. And if you can just break down that role before you get there then if you’re not playing the salesperson role, the homeowner is far less likely to play the homeowner who doesn’t want to be sold role see so it’s more of a human human relationship at that point. But I mean in terms of like so the so the booked appointments like so flow from lead to set is about 20% that’s usually you know, sometimes like 15 you know, you want to make small optimizations then sometimes you get like 25 30% in any given month but it fluctuates
Sam Taggart 13:54
meaning they booked the appointment they actually sat with you
Bill Murphy 13:57
In the actually sat so it’s because you know, when you door knock, you’re taking the initial step right so they’re they’re not they’re almost in a being sold mode just inherently because of the way the conversation started right online. If they’re taking that first step, they’re in the buying mode. So as long as you have that pre appointment follow up most of the appointments that you book should set we see about 75% show up rate to the appointments at book cool. Yep.
Sam Taggart 14:29
So a little higher. So now, I guess the next question would be, I’m out there worried to knock right now. And I’m in COVID I’m in pandemic or maybe I’m I’m fat and happy because I’ve been stuck on a couch for two months. And now I’m like, wait, my manager wants me to knock now. My owner I’m supposed to go knock. I gotta get my team’s out knock now like I gotta go knock now. I literally get I’m gonna be just vulnerable and honest right now. I was like, Man, I’m probably losing my game. I usually not consulting all summer. knockin with teams going out knocking different products and shoes. And I’m like, I haven’t been traveling. I haven’t been knocking. I feel like a fake. Like, I’m like, I’m like, crap. Like, I need to get in the field. So I called my buddy, I’m supposed to go knock within this week just to like dust the rust off, man. Like, I’m just like, like, no joke. Like, I’m like, I got to stay relevant. I gotta stay stay sharp. So
Bill Murphy 15:21
I get I think you were in like, four different cities or something like that the same week that he came all the way down to Key West with us. You know, so yeah, it must the change in pace must have been extreme for you.
Sam Taggart 15:34
Oh, dude, I’m talking. That was like two months ago. Oh, isn’t that long ago? Dude, I was in four cities. That same week, dude. I mean, the hustle and bustle was happening. So like, I’m just kind of like, Man, I’m getting lazy, like, What the freak, but I think a lot of people Dude, I was biking with an owner the other day, he’s got like, 400 reps. And I was like, What’s yours? Or your teams? And yeah, I’m like, Are your team’s antsy to knock? And he’s like, surprisingly, they all got lazy. And I was like, fetch, like, how do we get back out there? But I think a lot of people are like, Oh, how do I get creative and get alternative ways to go get the same amount of volume, same amount of numbers, without having to do it the way I used to do it. So help me out. I’m that Rep. I’m kind of like, dude, I’m feeling it. I need a little supplemental love. What do I do?
Bill Murphy 16:21
Well, you know, of course, the obvious answer is to be able to generate opportunities online, you know, and a lot of reps are sort of left to whatever their company will provide them. You know, it’s not, they don’t have control over that, right? They can’t say, hey, I want 20 booked appointments this week, and then get it. In a lot of you know, we
Sam Taggart 16:41
call them we call those lead babies, meaning they’re just, there’s, they’re, they’re a worm. Let me give you the analogy that and don’t hate me for this, but it’s, but okay, you’re gonna love this. So it’s because I’m the rep I’m speaking to the rep not to the owner. In this situation, the owner, we’re gonna have a whole different conversation. So I’m a rep, and I’m calling my owner. I’m like, dude, I want 20 appointments this week, the owner sitting there going, Yeah, don’t we all effin want 20 appointments this way? You know, I mean, if I could give you 20 appointments, I would I just, we’re not doing that. So what does the owner say to the rep, he’s like, go freakin hunt, right? He’s like, go get your own food. So I look at it as like you’re a mama bird, or you’re a baby bird in the nest. And you’re so dependent on the mama bringing you back the worms. And if mama doesn’t bring you a worm, you’re just gonna starve and die. And I see so many of those people in this industry. And I love why I love you, Bill, I’m just gonna have to give you the biggest column in the world right now, is because you being a marketer, being an online guide, you have never changed the tune, like since day one, you’re like, I’m not here to replace 100% of your hustle. I’m here to supplement I’m here to hopefully replace a lot of it. But never lose the like, the hunt, the hustle, the grind the go, like, whatever that is. And I think a lot of people listening to this might think, Oh, I can sit on my couch, show up to an appointment at two, and then I’ll make a million dollars. Like no. Anyway, so I had to say that. So I’m the I’m the I’m the I’m the I’m the dude, I’m the dude that’s sitting in the nest waiting for mom, like, but I’m like, crap, I don’t want to go fly. Yeah, how do I go create my worms? You know what I mean? Like that. That’s what I want to know.
Bill Murphy 18:22
Well, I mean, just just right off the bat, you know, if you like self branding, personal branding, right? No company that you work for, is gonna get upset with you for personal branding, right. And, you know, again, that’s how you begin to build lead loyalty. And lead loyalty isn’t really a term that anyone has talked about before. But it’s a real thing. Like people log into social media, like Instagram and Facebook to engage with other people, they look for things to engage with, that will improve their lives. And if you can, if you can put your image and your likeness in front of people over and over again, then they begin to want to go solar with you versus, you know, a brand in people like to do business with people far more than they do brand names. And that’s just sort of what we bank on as as salespeople, right is your selling yourself. I mean, that’s essentially what it is. So my advice Well, I,
Sam Taggart 19:18
I experienced like not to call you out, but I experienced that literally yesterday. I’m like, I gotta list one of my properties. And I have lead loyalty to a certain realtor just because of the value the personal relationship the the exchange that he brings via his content. And I’ve I know 50 realtors, I get a call that I’m like, I need to list this fast. I have a lead loyalty to x realtor. Calm saying, Hey, get my house listed today. Like that happened to me yesterday. Love that. Keep going.
Bill Murphy 19:49
Yeah, no, it’s right. It’s true. It’s it’s sort of like the the easiest way to do business. But like I don’t recommend, you know, having a profile picture or a profile name where it’s like Bill, the energy expert Murphy, you know what I’m saying is sort of like calls out like, Hey, I’m a sales guy. Just Just use your name. Just be yourself. Right, be authentic. And people will respond, you know, and yeah, I mean, that’s the first step to sort of building that personal branding, right?
Sam Taggart 20:19
So what’s the ratio? I think this is always the question I had is, you know, let’s say I have 20 posts or 10 posts, how many of my posts should be about solar or roof or whatever? And how many posts should be about me and my family or me just live in life? Is there like a specific ratio that you found is too much too little?
Bill Murphy 20:40
Well, there’s no specific ratio, there is a method it’s called the whip effect. And I learned this from Ryan Stillman. But it’s, it’s, you know, two posts for them one post for you. So it’s like you get in people’s newsfeed, you know, you’re delivering some sort of value, couple times, you know, morning launch. And then at the end of the day, once you’ve already in theory got into a bunch of people’s newsfeeds with your giving posts, it’s now a post for the business. Right. So that’s kind of the organic way and that builds on itself. I mean, what’s his name? Sean Whalen, Sean Whalen. He posts one video on Facebook and he gets 1000s of likes and comments and shares within a matter of an hour or two. And it’s because he’s been doing this consistently, right? He, there’s no days off. It’s and that’s what it is. I mean, you have to make your part of your daily routine, too, for that one for you, every single day, no days off. And I’m telling you, you build a massive following with with your reach, like you’d be in to reach more people with subsequent posts. It’s how the algorithm rewards you, right? It wants to see you putting engaging stuff out there. And it just elevates you to the top right.
Sam Taggart 21:51
Yeah, I love that. I love that. So let’s say, you know, I don’t have a huge network. It’s not like I have like a ton of friends that own homes. You know what I mean? Here’s like, I’m a, I’m a 23 year old sales guy. And I’m not like sitting there with a bunch of homeowners that I can sell a roof for a solar thing to how do I expand my network? How do I grow my reach to a proper buyer audience?
Bill Murphy 22:18
Well, there’s gold mines in groups, like buy sell trade, like, in Houston, there’s ones like 25,000 people in it, and you gotta you got to read the group rules, gonna make sure you’re not getting kicked out of those things. Because you can make a lot of money if you’re able to stay in there. And they’ll allow you certain days a week to post about, you know, what you do. And, you know, again, the idea should be what can you deliver to people not like, you don’t want to say, Hey, I sell solar power, come talk to me, it should be, it should be, hey, here’s how your rebate in your market or here’s how your utility will actually net meter, your your solar generation, this is how it works like an explainer video, right? And then Pete, you set up your profile for people to engage, right? So people will watch your stuff in those groups, then they’ll inherently come snoop around and check you out. And then hopefully, you’re starting up dm conversations.
Sam Taggart 23:14
Can I show a living example of how you did that. So if you’re listening to this, what I’m doing is I’m actually going to my Facebook right now. And I’m going to show you how bill Murphy is a practice what you preach kind of guy. And I’ve watched bill Murphy from last two years creep up like at first I’m like, Who is this guy, but he was posting in our group. So I’m going to go to the DDD tribe Facebook group, if you haven’t joined the Facebook group, you’re missing out, DDD tribe, and I want to I want to search this group for Bill Murphy, but I want to search back in 2017 18. You know, I’m saying like, you know, like when you were first getting your start, like, what was the approach? Bill Murphy, like when you say I practice what I preach, I’m sitting here gone. I’m gonna put in the search thing, Bill Murphy. And I’m curious what’s gonna pop up, right? So it’s like, okay, obviously, it’s probably a bunch of cons, but I want to rewind to 2018 and, and your posts weren’t like, hey, let me sell you solar cheat code and come to my event. It was, here’s some training on solar. Here’s like, dude, you were doing the most like, here’s my best closes here’s my best this like, I’m gonna go way back, you know, I’m saying like, way back. And, um, but do you remember that? You remember that? I’m assuming right? Like, you’re saying, like, that’s how you started to build your brand. It was a slow game of building a relationship with everybody going wow, this stuff’s actually good. I remember people were like, why are you proving all this stuff? And I’m like, cuz it’s really good. Like I you know, I owe 2018. I can just hit the date. Here we go. 2018. So here we go. I’m talking 2018 little posts a bill Murphy right here. They negotiate like a ninja is the title. Ooh, classics Dude, look at bill Murphy negotiate like a ninja. And then he’s got another one interest rates aren’t real percent I’m here to deliver him in his car teaching getting some engagement getting some love, you know, 13 comments, here we go 28 comments like, you know, I’m saying like, the reason why you always ask for the sale and he’s got closing techniques and he’s got, you know, these value and I was like, Who is this cat and I was like crap, his stuffs actually legit, I got to approve it. So but but you know, I’m saying it. It’s a it’s, it’s he didn’t come in being like, hey, come by my stuff Hey, come, I’m gonna want to sit work for me. Like he wasn’t recruiting wasn’t this and all of a sudden, you look where he’s at now. And he’s got 800 people that that trust what he’s doing. So I just thought that was an interesting like, thought to kind of bring up but it’s like you took the same approach
Bill Murphy 25:51
Was the only thing I knew how to do. And I frickin I frickin knew if I just put myself out there that people would be like, what is this? This is out of the normal, right? And that’s exactly what happened. So I’m just, I’m just thankful that groups like yours existed and everyone was so welcoming. I didn’t get like any hecklers. On my free training. I wasn’t like, you know, now you’re on an ad. And people will just comment to say that they hate my face, like randomly, you know? Pay traffic is such a it brings out all the crazies. But
Sam Taggart 26:26
do you delete those? Hey, my question is, do you delete them? Or do you just leave them? Like, if I respond? You just respond. Okay?
Bill Murphy 26:33
Like, if someone if someone’s really nasty. I’ll just say like, You want me? You know?
Sam Taggart 26:40
Yeah, you’re just jealous, dude. I had people straight up. I mean, I’m not trying like, dude, I’m just blessed. I, I done a lot of things, right? Things went in my way. And that’s what got me to where I’m at. Like, I’m not saying it was all me. But I think there have been people that have openly just confessed, hey, I actually hated you for the last year or two, just because I, you know, I was wondering why I hate you. And I go, I think it was because of jealousy. And then I’m like, dude, I appreciate you just opening up, man. Like, I’m not trying to hate on you. Like, I’m not trying to hurt anybody, dude, I’m just trying to do my thing. And I think a lot of people get this, like, I better comment because I’m unhappy with where I’m at. And I’m mad about where he’s at. And it’s something to be aware of via social media.
Bill Murphy 27:24
It is and, and I mean, what I’ve learned one of them, one of the things that I’ve learned the last couple of years is like people are mirrors of themselves, you know, they totally reflect what they experience in their day to day lives. Like if someone’s nasty to me, like I’m thinking, he’s getting that everyday in his personal life. I feel bad for that dude. Right? But, you know, again, it’s like, I’ve, you know, you do go through that, that, that transition where people are, they hate until they become your clients, right? And you can almost tell where people are in terms of like their awareness of you. Like if someone gets on the phone with one of my guys and they’re like, I just saw I just saw one of the app these ads and here I am on a call with you. That’s that guy’s gonna be way harder to convince into the sole Chico prover. And then someone’s who was like, you know, I’ve been following your videos, I saw your stuff. I think this is really cool. You know, so any case when you get those hecklers, like, you can tell they’re going to be sucked into the rest of your marketing, like, you know, if they’d comments on a on one ad. I’m like, you just get out of here. You’re not gonna be here, but
Sam Taggart 28:34
you’re gonna see me. Dude, if you’re listening to this, I guaran friggin tee you they get it. They’re like, I can’t get through. I should go to YouTube. I can go to freakin Facebook and Instagram. And all I see is Bill’s face. Is because you got he got you. He pixeled the shit out of you. You better you better just so anyway, I think that Sorry, I were in
Bill Murphy 28:57
The worst part of seeing all like these COVID-19 informational articles. And then it’s like solo Chica. You know, like on the article. I’m like, ah, I don’t know if I should be next to a COVID-19 headline. as frequently as
Sam Taggart 29:14
No, I love this. So. Okay, last question. And then I’m gonna just add Well, two more questions. Um, one, if I am a solar owner, we spoke to the rep a little bit. How do you think okay, the people have this like, almost it’s like an ethical or internal or weird debate. And I’m talking to those midsize and companies that have like, yeah, we’re crushing door to door. How do I introduce online marketing without distracting from my core identity of a door to door company? But how do I add a channel? Like how like, what do you say to that guy? That’s like, Man, I’ve thought about I wanted to dip my toe. It didn’t work. I paid for that. You know what I mean? Like, how do you help that guy?
Bill Murphy 29:54
Well, if they have the right people, right, I would always take the guy who is like, you know, you know that This guy is going to turn an opportunity into a sale more often than most in your office, right. And if you can explain to that guy, look, we’re going to we’re going to beta test, this new appointment setter model where you know, these leads come in online versus on the doors. As long as he’s in tune with what the homeowner is seeing on the messaging, it should be very, very similar to what they’re already done much different. It’s really just an opportunity. Again, it’s another way to get another opportunity, you still have to take them from being mildly interested to actually Hey, let’s meet that is still on your plate, which, you know, you guys are so talented that there should be no issue whatsoever, right?
Sam Taggart 30:41
Yeah. No. So I think that a lot of people think they have to change their whole identity. I think a lot of people also introduce it the wrong way. Meaning like you just introduced it as I’m just another setter. Just think of it as Tim, the lead gen. Tim comes and gives you appointments, like if I can get you five more appointments a week, why not like, and it cost me x per appointment? I’m already paying for appointment for a setter anyway. Why not? Why not introduce Tim, the new marketing source of internet, you know what I mean, instead of Tim the setter,
Bill Murphy 31:15
Right, and, and, you know, there’s this conundrum that you face when you’re prospecting whereas, you know, you, you know that your best return on investment, like the bet the most profitable hours that you have any given day, is when you’re sitting across the table, from someone closing them. And, you know, when you’re out there canvassing, you’re obviously having to balance those two. And when you can be canvassing but also have appointments and opportunities being generated without you being physically present. It just increases your sits at the table. So it’s like, you know, when you can shift in do more of the high value activities. That’s sort of like how you actually break through that next level. Right. So it’s kind of I mean, yeah, I
Sam Taggart 32:02
love that. Yeah, I love that. And, and I don’t think I think that there’s a there’s a balance, okay, so I want to speak to and I’m going to maybe contradict you in some ways, you might want to hate me and fight me on this for a second. So anybody listening don’t this is Sam’s doctrine, same opinion. There’s a balance of how much you and how you distribute leads. So I’ve watched talented guys that go make half a million dollars a year drop to making half of that, because they get lazy, and they don’t know how to mind. They don’t know how to juggle the balance between downtime and appointment time. I mean, you know what I mean? So what I what I caution people with with any kind of lead, whether that’s a set or closer model, and you know, if your identity as a self Jen beat the streets, we all frickin get our own deals, no leads, and you’ve got this culture of that, I caution you introducing leads, just to do it the right way so that you don’t spoil or, or or kill some of that cultural Mojo you got going on? And I’m sure you’ve seen that. Right. So how do you avoid creating lead babies or creating dependency or like entitlement to these leads? As you add this to companies? You know, it’s
Bill Murphy 33:20
A really good question. And I’m glad you asked that. And, you know, I don’t necessarily have the perfect answer. I think as long as you run a capitalistic sales office, right? Not that’s that’s in comparison to communism, right? You don’t just give leads up, you get a lead, you get a lead, you get a lead. Right? Exactly. So the killers, right, the killers get the increase opportunity, because the killers are far less likely to get lazy just because they’re inherently motivated. Plus, when the lower level guys, maybe the newer guys see the killers, getting the additional opportunities, it motivates them to become their own killers. So all of a sudden, you’ve created the sales office of killers that just kick out anyone who’s who’s weak, and develop that culture where everyone’s competing. So that’s that’s kind of the best way I would do it only dish out the additional opportunities to people who are your like, as a business owner, they’re your best return on investment.
Sam Taggart 34:25
Yeah, 100% agree. And I would add a word of caution. You might want to help. Maybe general like you got to make sure that like now you don’t have like the middle at the middle grade talent. Now being more and more jealous and envious of the killers because like, well, they’re killers because you give them leads and you don’t give us leads. So there’s a balance of emotional balance. Like there’s a there’s a dance you have to play. And if you’re not cautious about being transparent or not transparent when it Like, you know what I mean, having this like emotional IQ to balance the team, because those guys are like, well, if you gave me as many leads as you gave him, I’d sell as many as him. And you’re like, Well, no, like, you know what I mean. So as a manager, you’re dealt with the conundrum of lead distance dissemination. And my advice would be put a system rules, roadblocks systems, so that you make sure you don’t destroy the culture and the, you know, because guys, oh, they’re like wolves, they see a little piece, the little rabbit, they’re gonna eat as much of that rabbit as they can. And they’re not like, well, I care about your livelihood, you take the leg in the head, you know, I mean, like, no, I may just scrap it, I’m gonna just take mine, you know what I mean? And that’s sales guys mentality. So I would want if I’m a salesman, listening to this, be cognizant of your, you know, entitlement and the way that you’re showing up for the office and how you’re either contributing to the culture, or You’re distracting from the culture. And then if you’re a owner and a leader, make sure that you approach this with some, some consciousness, because I think that you could hurt yourself, sometimes more than help yourself, if not implemented the right way. That would be my two cents. And I don’t know if you have any input on that.
Bill Murphy 36:14
But I 100% agree, you know, and in really, like, things become real. When that top producer, you’ve been feeding extra opportunities when they do get lackadaisical, and you do take that away from them. Right? Then it’s like, it shows everybody, top producer shows the middle guy, like, hey, it’s not, it’s not a given, you have to consistently produce, right to get
Sam Taggart 36:37
it. And then the other side, and another side of it is the second year, lead flow slows down, that guy goes, where am Elisa, and you’re like, I don’t know, the ads not working as well as it was last week, like, like, and so you’ve got to have some systems in place to say, hey, this isn’t a handout. This isn’t a this is a supplemental, we all still have the grind, we all still need to know where our roots came from, we all still need to know how to go self generate leads and referrals and beat the streets, whatever that is. And I think that in any industry, you need to make sure you go eyes wide open when implementing leads. And I think it’s a great supplemental, it’s a great way to make more money. We shouldn’t shy away from it. But I think that a lot of people just need to make sure that they know what’s what’s ahead of them before they just say, oh, give me leads. And then they don’t realize, ah shizz I frickin spoiled these guys. And now they’re frickin entitled to lead babies looking for their worm, you know what I mean?
Bill Murphy 37:34
So as a sales manager and a business owner, you have to think about that I was just on the phone yesterday with the big giant nationwide company, and they had just, we just had the same conversation they had tried providing leads to their teams, because they would think they’d be less likely to leave their company. If they were the source of the of the leads, right? Then the source became intermittent, because it’s not as easy as everyone thinks on that scale. And everyone began to leave. So what they did was they they created a marketplace where they would compile leads, and then the sales rep could actually spend their own hard earned money on. So they can take
Sam Taggart 38:18
you away. Yeah, you got to have some skin in the game, because another one on that is compensation. There has to be some kind of compensation differentiator, meaning if you’re paying the same commission for a lead generated versus a self generated deal, what ends up happening is they don’t feel the pain of like all the energy it took for you to go generate the lead. You know what I mean? I think that’s another big mistake people make is they’re like, a rep is like, well, I closed it, I did all this. It’s like we spoon fed your damn appointment in a lead. like you’d have to go knock in the frickin hot sun. You know, I mean, I think that there has to be this element that people understand what goes into creating leads. I had a rep know I have an expert literally had a call the other day with a person on my team. I handed him a deal. I said, Hey, we have a consulting client. Here he is, here’s the contract, need you go fulfill. It’s a 12 week program. And he’s like, well, I’m doing all the work. Like why don’t I get paid more? I was like, oh, what do you mean, I just handed you a spoon fed? Like, yeah, you’re just fulfilling like, we had to do the marketing. We had, he was two years of him following us. It was, you know, you had to pay a sales commission to the guy like, I’m like, What do you mean like, and he’s like, Oh, yeah, I guess I didn’t look at it that way. And I think a lot of sales reps they don’t realize like, dude, there’s a lot of ad spend money to go do video marketing and you know, production and writing copy and paying for software’s and tools and so if you’re a sales rep Just don’t be such an entitled little punk and realize that that comes to the cost. And if you just don’t treat it nicely, here’s the other part that pisses me off. Oh, they know showed me and you never follow up and you never, you know, try to go and cultivate and take that lead is like that is gold. And you’re like onto the rocks. It’s like dammit, that took me so much time and energy to get that one lead. I think I watch sales reps not appreciate it as much as they should.
Bill Murphy 40:06
Well, it’s like, what it what is the stat 80% of sales are made between six and 12 follow ups. But the only problem with that is like nine out of 10 sales reps follow up three to five times. So if you think about it,
Sam Taggart 40:21
wait, that’s generous dude. Wait, where are you come on with that stat. We’re talking. We’re talking door to door sales reps. That was very generous. I would say maybe one for the guy that doesn’t have add in is not on his Adderall. Like, let’s be real.
Bill Murphy 40:34
Exactly right. And so you figure you figure most of the industry door to door guys are making 100% of their paycheck on 20% of the available sales. Like if they were able to get themselves that’s I call it the sweet zone, you know, six to 12 if they just live there, then they make 100% of their paycheck on 100% of the available sales. Right? So honestly, and you know,
Sam Taggart 41:00
love it. That was like massive nugget. So if you made it this far in the podcast, boom, baby nugget. So congratulations to the loyal following the listeners. We got a wrap up. So Bill, that was like 17 more questions I said we had to but this is just fire. I think we need to have an episode podcast two. coming up soon. I’m sure you’re gonna be back at door to door con. Coming in January. We just happen to hit our events. You know, I guys a sore cheat code event was phenomenal. I’m sure that you’re going to navigate COVID with that as well. Yeah, so I mean, check out bill Murphy, where can they find you? Like they’re interested in learning about marketing? Or they’re interested in kind of working with you? Like, what’s that? How do they contact you?
Bill Murphy 41:44
Let’s just go to my business page on Facebook. It’s just bill Murphy. You can also go to real Bill murphy.com. That’s our website. And yeah, man scheduled time and talk to us, we just we just launched a new brand new program after years of being harassed in an overwhelming demand to put out a program specifically for sales reps. Historically, we’ve only worked with companies. So now we have a brand new program that anyone can afford it, it’s less than 1000 bucks. And it’s it’s to help the individual rep who may be facing more resistance on the doors given these times and being able to teach us some new tricks to continue to feed your family man. Because you know, the way we’re positioned the solar cheat code, we’re ethically obligated to help everybody not just companies, so we’re happy to allow that. Yeah.
Sam Taggart 42:34
And then and that did I appreciate your mission. I appreciate your vision. Appreciate your entrepreneurship, the support you’ve given a lot of people I know. You know, personally, I know a lot of people that have had massive success with your programs. I have clients that use your stuff. And yeah, dude, I appreciate you doing what you do, man.
42:53
just grateful. I’m grateful Sam, thank you very much. And same goes for you. You know you’ve been an inspiration and I’m just anytime I can hook up with you. It’s It’s It’s super beneficial. So I appreciate you having me on.
Sam Taggart 43:05
Thanks, man. Okay, go check out bill Murphy. Real bear Murphy calm. Let’s go. Thanks for being on show man. Thank you.