D2DCon 2024 | Secrets to Scaling Solar: How Cody Thiel Grew eEquals to 700+ Installs with Elite Sales Teams | The D2D Podcast

In this episode of The D2D Podcast, Cody Thiel, CEO of eEquals and a solar industry veteran, shares how he scaled his business from 20 to over 700 installs in just a year. Cody talks about overcoming challenges in the solar market, building elite sales and operational teams, and the importance of maintaining integrity in high-ticket sales. He also reveals the strategies behind reducing installation times, incentivizing teams, and creating long-term relationships with customers.

Cody discusses his book Selling Sunshine, a practical guide for solar sales professionals looking to maximize their earnings. He highlights the need for a clear, customer-centered approach and explains how treating clients like long-term partners can lead to greater success in the solar industry.

You’ll find answers to questions such as:
How do I scale a solar sales business from 20 to 700 installs?
What are the top attributes of a high-performing solar sales team?
How can I reduce solar installation times effectively?
What’s the best way to handle customer objections in solar sales?
How can incentives improve team performance?

Get in touch with Cody:
LinkedIn: Cody Thiel
Website: eEquals

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Transcript

00:07
Hey y'all, welcome to the D2D podcast. I'm joined here today on opening day of D2D Con 7 with Cody Thiel. Cody has been in the solar industry probably for, what would you say, over a decade? Eight years, not quite a decade yet. Oh, we're just knocking on the door though. That's awesome. Uh, Cody, Cody has been in the training side, building businesses, running businesses, owning businesses, writing books. He's been a lot.

00:37
What we're trying to accomplish is just hear from his perspective of what's allowed him to be so successful In the solar game, so I'm just gonna start off and say Cody welcome. Thank you. Please please please give us a little background on yourself Tell us you know where you started how you started and we'll jump in from there. Yeah That like when you said success, I was like man I don't know if I describe myself successful because I see you know from from the individual perspective

01:06
ups and downs. But yeah, I know I started in solar 2015 out in Arizona. And I was only there for a year and a half and then that metering started going away and I thought the market was done. People are still out there crushing it. So that was like a good learning lesson. But I, to give a shout out to Sam and the door to door experts, I was working for Segora solar, which is one of their early consulting clients. Yeah. And you guys came in, did a great job. And that was my first like real like

01:36
where we just were able to take a company that was doing 20, 30 sales to 160 within a year. That was a really cool experience. I worked with Jonathan Gibbs over at Set and then Lumio. Because when you were at Set though, we also teamed up again. The door-to-door experts and everything, we started sending in sales orgs and stuff. Yeah, diverting them around. That's awesome. And then after that, I was like, man, these guys are doing so good.

02:06
I want to try the risk be myself. So I'm partnered with a company out in Illinois. And last year, the first year, we're struggling. I think we did, we're doing like 15, 20 installs a month. Maybe 20 plus, yeah, about 20 installs a month. Last year, we cleared 700 and had a very profitable year, which is nice because Solar didn't have much of a profitable year. Well, with Illinois, right? It's you got the SRAC program. But talk to me about the install rate.

02:36
you've had an unbelievable install rate. I mean, we have people like 90, 120 days out, getting sketchy at that 180 where it's like, oh, I have to go back to the lenders and stuff like that. But you have had such a short, decent install time, but you're getting a high percentage. Talk to me about that. The first thing is, we say no to a lot of people. So when we first started doing our own installs, I wanted to be the Harvard of solar.

03:06
Harvard only has like 8, 9, 9,000 undergrad students. It's the most famous institution ever. So I was like, I just want the elite of the elite for both sales and ops. Let's get them in and say no to everybody else. So that was the first thing. The second thing is just like having really great, bold salespeople that say, you know, they know what to say, no one ought to say, they're not afraid to tell a customer no. But when you do that, it's like a pullback and people want to come at you. The other thing is just like saying no to certain areas. I know that sound like saying no.

03:36
sounds like a very negative thing. I should have started that more positive, but actually, I think the door-to-door industry is known for just welcoming everything in, which no point's good, but it's also like you need to know how to bin and sort your time. And that's really important, saying yes, the best, and the other opportunities, they'll figure themselves out, the 80-20 rule, follow the best, and the best will come. I love that. I love that. I think we do get

04:06
the 80-20 rule, I think you start seeing those little wins start becoming bigger wins. And just because you're able to focus on that stuff, right? And you know, I want to jump into... Again, guys, I want to tell you this much. That's unheard of. His percentage is unheard of. I mean, it's amazing. So I want to jump into your writing ability, right? I'm pretty sure you just

04:36
about how it came to fruition, how this whole idea came. Because we all talk about it, like we all, oh I want to write a book, oh I want to do this, but we never do it. What was the straw that broke the camel's back that you're like, this has to be out, this has to be in people's hands? Yeah, well, I started for an install company in 2018, I was working for one and they had no manual. And I'm just a systems person, I suck at sales actually, to be candid. And so for me,

05:06
have to write it out and follow a script. And so I had written this out and I was talking with Jonathan Gibbs. He was like, why don't you just like publish this, like make it to a book format and publish it. So, um, like two years ago, I just had a little extra time in my hands and I just spent a week, that was it and did 90% of the work in a week and said, what, if I was starting out, what would make me the most amount of money if I just had two weeks to learn, that was it, right? Like got to condense that timeline because we're in commission sales. The faster we get paid, the

05:36
So just made it short of possible as direct possible like manual on for solar How do you set a lead or get a lead and close a deal so people can get that like? Reduce that timeline. Yeah, so And then sat wrote in two weeks a week two weeks sat there for like a year Oh, I just got stuck in draft mode. Okay. I didn't like know the publishing thing I had a friend that was like all this hey publish Amazon Amazon So I just paid him said hey you finished the rest of the logistics and then they did learn less

06:06
We published it, and anyway, now it's a really good manual for our, we use it internally. We haven't done a lot of promotion about it, but other people have caught on. Selling Sunshine, how to make 100k in solar in a year. So yeah, it's really small, very direct. So would you say, so you know, anytime the DD experts go into a company and consult or anything like that, we have onboarding process, and we have that calendar and things like that. Would you consider your book on the lines of like, hey, this is like what I would consider

06:36
Bible like your people need this to understand how to go from a to z in a sense of like the sales process Or what's that really look like? Yeah, it's definitely sales focus. I would say it's like your field guide Okay, like like someone parachutes you out in the middle of the woods. How do you survive, right? What was the basics you have to know to survive? That's what it is. Got it. Yeah. No, I love that I think that's super important. I mean I've been in the industries of you know roofing and solar I've seen it, you know for about a decade

07:05
more roofing than solar, but I always feel that that's the miss. No matter what, it's never like pen to paper, it's never, you always just throw them to the wolves and cross your fingers. And I think when people can come to their senses and say, hey, we need something written out, our reps need this support. So I tip my hat to you for that because that's awesome. I think it's a miss and I think you fix that, right? And you know, Cody, talk to me.

07:35
You've seen the industry, the solar industry evolve in the roller coaster ride. What are your thoughts on what's going on in the industry now and where do you think it's going in 2024 and in your opinion, where do you think you see it in the next two, three years or so? Yeah, right now it's rough. You see a lot of people exiting on both the company side and individuals. And for me, I'm just like,

08:05
time to get in. Like there's industries that go through that downturn like we built solar 1.0 from 2010-2012 to now and that model's failed and it's and the economy's showing that and so a lot people like oh solar's done or i'm tired of it whatever but like every industry goes to this the 1.0 always fails if you got out of the internet in 1998 like yeah a ton of people did

08:35
And they got out, like, we're done. And it's like, dude, that wasn't even, that was first quarter. That was first quarter. You know, and so, like, we're just in first quarter, halftime, like, we're just getting started. The good news is, like, a lot of the crap's getting out of there, so now we get to reinvent from, like, all our past mistakes. So now's the best time to get in. I'm loving it. So, what would you say...

08:58
You know in the solar industry I feel that it's starting to get like a bad name right? I feel like the training is a little They're selling it wrong in my opinion right it's starting it has Yeah, like I Hate that because again coming from the roofing into the solar and stuff like that I try you know I always have my own Sanders right we have standard we want to sell in I don't want to take advantage Of anybody I want to make sense. I don't want to put them in a pickle right What would you say for people who are gonna be watching?

09:28
Like what are your top three things as a sales rep at the table that they should probably be conveying to that homeowner? Yeah, so they're not misleading them or misguiding them Yeah, and they're getting the proper system put on their house that that is best for themselves and their family Yeah, the first rule that I always follow is imagine you're being recorded Like so if you're on record, then you're always going to say the right things Yeah, and I was on record for a long time because I was trying what I did with sam training Yeah

09:58
And so I was like I didn't have to change anything I said because it was already good yeah, that's first thing and then the second thing is like just Treat that customer like a friend one because you're gonna build a better rapport But imagine this is a long-term relationship not a one-and-done Yeah, right and then that's those those are two like basic principles and then the number three don't afraid Don't be afraid to admit you're wrong or call for help Yeah, like any high ticket sale item always has like a closer and a set or like you buy a car or a house

10:28
You deal with multiple people. In home sales, we think, oh, we got to solo, we got to do it ourselves. No, use your support system. Call your manager for help. Call other people to get two-touch closes. That's going to help your closing. The top closers I know, use a team, not just themselves. Right. Well, I think you cover more ground and you get more stuff done when you delegate, right? Yeah. I believe in delegating to elevate, and I think if you can do it, use your team. The one thing that you said I love, like, pretend that you're getting recorded.

10:58
because when anybody's ever struggling in the field, right, knocking, you're always like, hey, go shadow somebody. Or, hey, I'm gonna have so-and-so shadow you. All of a sudden, you revert back to your basics of what you were taught the proper way, and all of a sudden, things start falling in place. You're like, oh wow, yeah, that's all I needed. And in all reality, it wasn't because somebody was with you, it was because you thought about what you were saying, and that if I said the wrong thing, it's going to come up, and I don't want to say the wrong thing.

11:28
I think another thing that people need to start really focusing on or selling on is You know, I always sold as I was selling to my mom or my grandma. Yeah. Yeah Because again, it's one of their largest or biggest investments that they'll ever ever make for their house You know, and it's it's a it's not a necessity, right? It's an accessory Yeah, and and it's like it when they're dumping that it's like you can put them in a bind Yeah, but I always ask the question would you be okay if your parents

11:58
this deal. Would you be okay if you put this deal in front of your 90 year old grandma and said hey I'm gonna get you solar you're gonna do awesome. Yeah it's gonna be you're gonna save so much money. Yeah and if the answer is no well then you know you're doing something wrong. Yeah or you're like I could probably get you a better deal. Well what's that look like? Yeah. Does that make sense? Yep. So I mean I think you hit on a whole lot. You know when it comes to you know the solar energy or solar

12:27
A lot of there's a lot of frustration around like the installers. Yeah, you know, what do you think if if you know? EPCs or somebody's watching this. Yeah. Well in your opinion, what are like? What would you say is a great like?

12:46
attributes or however you want to say like for a good install crew like if you're building this or you're using them or anything Like what's the good signs of like hey, they're gonna do a great job. Hey, I have to question this. Yeah, I mean To kind of pull it back a little bit. Yeah people complain and I'm gonna flack for this People complain about like how bad teaching is in America. Yeah, I'm not saying it's bad There's good and bad, but if we paid people better It's like with installers like The incentives aren't always there

13:16
I've heard that too. If you're a really high, talented individual and you see a sales paycheck and install paycheck, why would you do otherwise? Yeah. It's like one thing we've done is we incentivize our installers. Salespeople go on a trip, we just took our installers on a trip. I love that. The top performing installers gives performance, and we took him out to Utah three days just hanging out, have fun. Oh, cool. So if I'm a salesperson looking for an installer,

13:46
to see like, okay, are they treating their people well? What's their turnover time? Like, are they paying their people higher than other places? Then you're probably gonna have a better experience as a salesperson. Same for ops, like, it's okay to demand enough because it's there, you just have to ask for it. Now your performance needs to rise that occasion. But I know that's like to the point, but yeah. It is. And I would agree with you on 100%. I think when we look at the installers,

14:16
so much and we don't give them enough. I don't think we give them enough support, I don't think we give them enough, you know, pay or incentivize them or anything. I mean, I've been on both sides of sales orders and EPCs and you know, I'm close with a lot of installers, right? And that's the number of like, oh, well we do all this, but oh, you guys are going to, you guys are going on this trip or you guys get this bonus or you guys are, oh, you guys get praise for this. And I think if you can take that culture of what you do with your sales team.

14:46
Right and just apply it in all aspects and give them metrics give them something show the appreciation The problem is is I think we had caught up in the all day every day of grind Yeah, and we don't forget that the littlest appreciation goes so far Yep and I think we miss that because we want to go go go go go and we feel that all this heat is like on our back And it's like why aren't you installing this much or why aren't we doing this like come on come on come on come on? Yeah, and instead it's like hey, we're actually doing well good. You're doing great. Hey, we're getting backed up

15:15
from us. How can we support not bark bark bark bark bark. It's just how do I assist how do I help. How does this make sense for us in order to make you guys feel comfortable that you're doing the best job possible and we're installing as quickly as possible. Right. So I think that's super super good. What would you say you know just looking at looking back through the career that you're at and where you're going. What were you what would you say are the three best

15:45
that you love about solar and what are the three best things that are like like questionable like I just I look at myself and I'm like I love the idea of renewable energy yeah right I love that I think that's a that's sexy I think it can turn a lot of homeowners on it's like no pun intended yeah because we can just flip that switch and turn them on right away but no it's like I think there's a lot of great things yeah but I also see it on the back end or other

16:15
That number's not sexy. Yeah. This isn't sexy. Or, oh, wow, well, how if this was a, I'll probably get flack for this, too. It's like, if it was a more reasonable, I wouldn't even say reasonable is the right word, but like the payouts and stuff. Because again, it's like, is it necessary to pay that much? Yeah. Is it like, where can we, or how can we, or are we being greedy? Does that make sense? Yeah. I see there's a lot of people out here.

16:45
ton of people that I'm friends with that just sell it to sell it. Yeah. And get it, get it on the house and they, they go off of volume. Yep. Right. Instead of, instead of like, Hey, I actually sell five deals at this much. Yeah. It's like, Oh, I'm just going to sell it and just keep selling. Cause I love selling and I know I can make a lot of money rather than the ones that are, I feel that take advantage. Yeah. And I think that's where the sex like that turn off and that's like, yeah, yeah, like rhyming, like rhyming. You know, to kind of ask that question. I

17:15
answer the question. I look at the solar industry, like car industry in the 50s and 60s. Like nobody blames manufacturers for not putting seat belts in cars. It's like, we just didn't know. Yeah. Everybody looks back and they're like, man, we were really stupid. I think that's what people are going to look at the solar industry as is like, like, yeah, they should have done better. We know better now, but we are all kind of dumb. We didn't wear seat belts, you know? And so like looking back, like some of the fun stuff is it is

17:45
DNA into stuff, you know, and see like, cool, I built this platform and now other people are using it. That's true. That's like seeing that in the industry is really cool. Like the things that like maybe you regret is I think we don't we want to we want to build so far so fast, you know, and it's like, well, actually, it's okay to just enjoy some of the time. Yeah, you know, it's okay to do it in phases. It's like not all it's not like all or nothing. It's like, hey, we're gonna make it to this point. Let's enjoy that.

18:15
We got a we got a shift and we got to this level and so many people are just like probably for most like They're so focused on making money or taking advantage or competition like they're ruining relationships Yeah, and it's like guys you just slow down a little bit and works like needed. It's so nasty. I want it now It's like that Willy Wonka girl, you know, it's like Value long-term relationships like these people are gonna be a business for decades and it's gonna not just be in solar

18:45
through people over and just do people right, you have a lifetime of business to handle. Like look at that and then you won't have any regrets versus like it can be pretty cutthroat or it should be sometimes. Dude, I love that, I love that. So I wanna shift gears. You know, how many DDDcons have you been to this far? There's seven of them. This is four, five? Awesome. Yeah. No, I love that, that's great. Yeah. There's a couple of things. One, what do you feel the...

19:15
the evolution of it has been. Yeah. And then what are you most excited about for these two days every year? Because if you've been consistent, I get excited. I get amped, not only because I'm part of the team and I've seen what the back end looks like, but it's just fun to see everybody and hear what 2024 is going to hold for them and just set that tone, right? So I think for me, the best thing is just the people. Cool. You know, I'm really grateful that you guys put this together because it's like we just focus on our own little street or our own little office.

19:45
come and get like I'm an introvert and I like it drains me to come here but I love it because it's like I get to see all these people and like FaceTime and talk like that's that's my favorite part is the networking but also like you just see the best practices and say what are you doing what are you doing like then you can take back and like reset you know yeah I think I think I'm with you in that as well I love the community and I love the openness I think what Sam has done to set that you know there's no secret sauce

20:15
It's like everybody, I'm doing this, you should be doing this. It's not like, hey, I'm doing this. Kick rocks, right? And I think I get excited about that because I love seeing the way other people's minds work and perspective, right? I think when you see things from our lens all the time, it's just a tunnel vision almost, and you don't get to see what's really out there. But when we step back and say, oh wow, I never thought of that. Oh well, that's good, wow. I don't think that would work for me, but I could see why it's working for you in that model type deal, right?

20:45
But then you take it all home and when you decompress and you're looking at notes or anything like that, it's like, Oh my god, it was well worth the ticket. It was well worth, you know, it's just it's just one It's like you it's just so rewarding and so grateful for the information that was beat able It's just amazing all around. I do agree What else like is there anything else that you just want to get off your chest or anything? I mean, I mean that series it's just like, you know, you have the mic and there's things like

21:14
your ah-hahs or your big like, oh man, I just want this, this is my goal, or this is my ambition for Solar. And then actually, you know what I mean? Yeah, what's been on my mind lately is sometimes people like, they get so worried about restarting, right? Solar's like big restart year, or someone they're worried about like, hey, something didn't work out, or maybe it wasn't even my fault, and I have to like redo again. And like, I've had several moments of my life, and what I've learned is like,

21:44
and love those moments because you can take all the bad habits away and put them in. It's like when you recruit a new rep. Sometimes you're like, I like the new reps the best because you don't get the trauma most of the time. And you don't get the bad habits. So treat your own life like that. When there's a new stage, take away the bad habits. Take away all the old baggage and start new. Don't be afraid of starting new. I love that. And that was funny because we just had our VVIP with all of our circle members and everything.

22:14
I don't know how to say it. I'm always bad at it. Is it Tewila? Yeah, I think so. Yeah, in Utah? Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Anyways, so we were there and it was breakthrough. And there's some in there that were starting over. And it was just really cool to see and have them speak to that because their thoughts were the exact same way you just said. And I think you're right. I think people don't need to fear that or be ashamed of that or anything because everybody, when you're trying to do

22:44
things and make big waves and make impact there's going to be the times where you have to restart and that's okay it's just now you just know the fast track to get where you were at a different on a different path yep and that's why I love failure you know I invite failure I tell my kids that my kids get mad and frustrated and it's like no I think that's great I said because go do it again yep I said I'm gonna I can tell you that you're not gonna do what you just did again yeah yep and I said so you're just looking at

23:14
As a kid would and it's like oh man. I can't do this. Oh, this is the worst, but I'm seeing it as in dude You're learning. Yeah, this is the best way you're gonna learn is by oh, hey, that's oh I fell well You don't put your leg there. Yep Put it over here. Yep. Does that make sense? Yeah, I love it. Yeah, I love that So I think I think that's awesome. I think that's a great vision Guys, that's all that I have for us today, right Cody. Thank you so much for your time I think it was awesome guys go look at his book. What's the book selling sunshine? It's on Amazon, dude

23:44
get it. It sounds like it'd be an awesome little you know first day orientation book to hand to your reps just for them to have a here's your leisure reading. Other than that Cody appreciate you. Cody Teal love it. Thank you. See you soon.