Don’t Forget The Little Details
I think some of the big takeaways for me were, you know when you’re trying to scale an operation, I think a lot of times you’re growing so quickly that you forget to do the little detail things. Those small details are what keep the growth going and that’s what like helps you get to that next level. You have to follow the process and not forget that the small things make the big things happen. Without all those small things, you leave holes and the big things will have no support for them to become successful. So, do not forget all the small details it takes to make the large-scale plans happen.
Scale Back For Long-Term Growth
I think one of the biggest takeaways that I had from today was that sometimes it takes one step back to take two steps forward. We had talked about the little cocoon and the butterfly analogy. Sometimes you see reps that they really want to get to that management level and they they want to help grow the company but they’re not willing to take the step back and potentially lose some income in order to help other people gain that income to then get to that next level. You have got to take the time to transition and change into the new position.
Stop Babysitting
The most common thing we see, and listen up if you’re a sales rep trying to become a manager. You’re a manager that’s in this what we call “the tunnel” where you’re like man, I am just babysitting. Right before the summer a lot of people are going to go through this dip. Meaning, that last year they were the top rep, but now they got 20 guys and then they’re going to sit there and babysit, and then their production dips. Before they know it, they’re like “Crap, I’m not selling. I’m spending all my time babysitting.” Then they are doing this for how much? Like 10 extra thousand dollars on an override? Or whatever it is for the summer. Then they can’t have the foresight to see those sales reps flying as a butterfly so they’re not willing to go into the dark cocoon and really take that step back from babysitting their reps. You need to influence them with your own actions and lead from the front. This way, you’re seen as the top sales rep and the leader of the pack. They will be watching your numbers and want to keep up with you, or they don’t. You don’t want the sales people on your team that you have to babysit. Let them fall behind. You will pick up new additions along the way that can keep up with you.
Push Through The Tunnel
Now, they either fall back or they can withstand the cocoon and then they break out and eventually become a butterfly and now they’re managing a good organization our team below them. It’s like having that vision that forethought of being able to like see the potential opportunity in it. I think everybody in the industry wants to get to that point. But, to get there it’s being willing to and then having the grit necessary to like push through that that tunnel. Like, I think it’s totally right. There’s going to be pushback. There’s two sides to every story. So, as you grow an organization like you’re going to have attrition
and attrition will have their side of the story and you’ll have your side of the story but like being resilient enough to stick to who you are in your core principles to grow an organization that is so important.
View Yourself As A Product
If you take a step back or you make a change in the operational integrity of the sales flow or the commission structure, you can’t be afraid and let reps hold a gun to your head and control the entire industry when what’s valuable is what you’re putting in place. The system, the process, the vehicle with which they’re going to make money, your sales organization, or your install arm, is just a vehicle for someone else to create capital. So, you have to look at yourself as a product. What makes sense to somebody who may have started it with you may not make sense to somebody who’s coming in as a new rep and the opportunity always has to keep getting greater and greater and greater. If you reduce the opportunity moving forward, you’re no longer a good product. So viewing your business as a product for sales reps is like a key fit to culture. Where it’s like they can come in and implement themselves into your systems.
Recognize Your Momentum
Obviously, you can’t be that perfect well-oiled and obviously, you’d have me out here to come help with that and then it’s a continued journey. Like you’re not satisfied with where you’re at, right? We won’t be in this meeting, but like have you seen this? With time, you’re almost like darn it, if that one rep would have come now where we’re at today, he would have been awesome! But, he came like a year ago when we weren’t so cool, you know what I mean? Unfortunately, we couldn’t supply that product or that environment that he needed to perform here back then. As you get better, you have to notice
it’s easier to retain those guys or it’s easier to attract those guys. Momentum is a cool cruel mistress, right? It’s really hard to push that snowball up the hill, but then once you get to the top of that hill and it starts rolling down, it is an amazing experience. It’s like you’ve got those systems in place, you’ve got the people in place, and you’ve got the network that is generating success.
Success Breeds Success
Ya know, success breeds success. Other people come into the organization and they see all the success your current guys are having and they’re able to just join in on that momentum and have that immediate success. It kind of helps you scale even quicker because they step right into something that’s working. It’s awesome. Also, it’s like the proof of concept, right? When you start an endeavor, it’s just an idea. When you prove the concept and you have tangible growth and people can see how much someone has in their bank account not versus what they were promised, that’s a powerful motivator and recruiting tool for reps. It’s proof.
It’s so funny because it’s such a classic way of recruiting. It’s like, you want to see my back end or you want to look at my 1099. There’s a reason why that works. I couldn’t fake to you what the government says I owe in taxes, you know? This is the real document. What’s interesting is I consult a lot of businesses where they use other industry proof. They are like our top rep is making 60 grand here, but in theory, working in solar roofing pests whatever, those are all companies where you can make 300 grand or 500 grand, but you recruit off of this standard. Well, there are people in the industry making 700 grand, but they are using some guy making 60 grand as their top rep for proof that this industry is stable. But, that is crazy because it’s like you’re never going to make more than the person above you.
Your Network Is Your Networth
So, surrounding yourself around the right kind of people is going to have a massive payout, right? Your network is your net worth. So, I think talking about momentum and being able to recruit guys easier and stuff like that, then I think it helps when you’ve got a lot of people that are having success. Do that and it’s like, all I have to do is just copy what this guy’s already been doing. I can do exactly what he did to be successful.
Keep Your Promises
Anyone can make you a promise. But, a promise unkept is worthless. A promise kept is meaningful. So, it’s like, if you keep your promises and you actually can show someone what’s in their bank account, not what they were promised, right? If those three things don’t match up, then there will never be reciprocity between the reps and the sales company. If the sales company and the reps can match up between what was promised and what’s in their bank account, then you retain and that snowball starts to roll down the hill. It’s like not about us anymore. It’s the success of the guys and it’s all about them and what they’ve done because we’ve pushed the snowball and those guys have just continued it on. All we have to do is continue to keep our promises to the guys and that allows them to go recruit the world based on their own success. All the success is theirs. It’s not ours. I think a lot of times when people are recruiting they’re recruiting on the success that they had and they want to be your manager or whatever and it’s like what kind of success did that person help others create? It doesn’t matter how much the person made that’s recruiting you. It’s what he did to help other people obtain their success.
