D2DCon 2024 | The Power of Consistency: Kayla Mooney’s Journey from 0 to 150 Solar Sales and a Golden Door Award in Her First Year | The D2D Podcast

In this episode of The D2D Podcast, host Rozz Osborn interviews Kayla Mooney, a sales manager at Glyde Solar and a Golden Door Award winner. Kayla shares her incredible journey from working as a preschool teacher to breaking into the world of door-to-door solar sales. Within her first year, Kayla closed 150 solar deals, earning her a Golden Door Award, an honor bestowed on the top 1% of salespeople in the U.S.

Kayla reveals the key factors behind her success, including consistency, discipline, and a positive mindset. She discusses her transition from teaching to sales, how her background helped her simplify complex information for customers, and how she built a strong network in the D2D space. Kayla also dives into the importance of preparation, setting non-negotiable goals, and overcoming challenges such as rejection and self-doubt. Her story offers actionable insights for anyone looking to excel in door-to-door sales and build a career in the solar industry.

You’ll find answers to key questions such as:

• How consistency and discipline can drive success in door-to-door sales
• How to build rapport with customers and increase trust?
• What are some strategies for staying motivated and overcoming challenges in sales?
• What are the benefits of simplifying complex information for clients?
• How to set and achieve big goals in the competitive world of door-to-door sales?

Ready to level up your solar sales game? Visit Glyde Solar and discover how they make the transition to clean energy seamless. 

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Transcript

00:07
Welcome everybody to the D2D podcast. We got a very special D2D con special today. That is our location, the Golden Door Deep Dive continuing the series. We got Kayla Mooney with us. Golden Door winner, one of the last to trickle in. Kayla, how are you? How are you liking D2D con? It's good. Honestly, like I've made a lot of connections in the past few days. And I think that's the most beautiful part of this is the connections.

00:37
I dove into all the workshops. Yeah. You know, it was my first year. And I was really like, my vision really opened up last year of just like what's possible. And now like, I spent a little more time getting to know people and networking this year, which has been even, it's just broadened my horizon so much. And I did catch a few speakers, which was good. But it's been beautiful. I know, that's kind of half the reason like you come to D2DCon is to like meet people that you wouldn't normally meet. Like, and somebody talking to like the Pest guys,

01:07
I'm like, dude, do you even know who Michael O'Donnell is? And they're like, no. And I'm like, how do you, what? What do you mean you don't know who he is? You benefit so much from that. Yeah, so it's really cool, like, across industries, like there's no recruiting, we're neutral ground, so love that you're benefiting from that. But so Kayla, I really want to dive into your story. How did you get in the industry? What was your first year like? Like, let's dive in. Yeah, so I got into the industry

01:36
Melissa Ramiza. Shout out. I was going to say shout out. Everyone knows who she is, right? So I actually met her online, became pretty good friends. And I just saw what she was doing on Snapchat. And I was like, what do you do, right? Yeah. And so kind of thought of her. Her pictures are like, 12 kilowatt. I was like, what's a kilowatt? Tax guy. You're like, what is a kilowatt, right? So I hit her up. And she's like, yeah, I do door to door. I sell solar. And I went to school for biology. I've installed solar systems. So I had that little bit of curiosity. And of course, you know how it goes.

02:06
make this much money I was like BS. Excuse me? No way. How old are you? 28 years old? And I was like prove it. So I went, met the team, you know, got into it and I realized like money aside but just the culture, the environment, the people that were there and the things that they were doing to really affect people around them and like that's been what I've always wanted to do is do something big, you know, because you don't, a lot of people don't have an impact into like their society and do things that are

02:36
And that's really, you know, my vision for going to school was like, I want to learn how everything works and be able to make an impact where I can leave a legacy, right? And so I saw that and I was like, this could be a really good vehicle to be able to like create a team and elevate everybody around me and really like bring everybody up. And that was like, it was huge. I think these people just want everyone to succeed. And you know, they're helping people along the way. They're helping people save money. And it was just, it was so intriguing to me. And I was a preschooler.

03:06
teacher before. Oh, nice. So I taught, right? And I taught young kids to make things super simple and clear. And I was like, I could teach people about solar, right? So I was like, you know what? I'm making 19 an hour. I was happy with where I was at, but like it wasn't a vehicle to get me to the ultimate freedom that I wanted. Yeah. So I was like, if I go and I give it my all, she's like, knock 100 doors, you can find success. If not, go back to what you're doing. And I was like, is it worth the risk? Absolutely.

03:36
then I go back to what I was doing and I learned something about myself. Yeah. And if I succeed, I could change my life. So I took the 30 days, banged on 100 doors, attached myself to her, emulated what she did. I got 12 sales within my first two weeks. Wow. And she was like, okay, you should move up into closing. And I was like, okay, like I'll try it. And I was terrified. I was like, what if I fail? You know, and all that. Yeah, of course. And I went into closing and I killed it. You know, and I started like inviting my friends in

04:06
building a group of people around me that like were my best friends and really like elevating their lives. And it was just, it was wild. Yeah. It's been a wild ride, but yeah, my first year, um, I started in May, 2022. Um, and then I worked, um, and I closed, I would say close to like 150 deals. I made about 350 grand my first year in solar and like completely changed my life by my first house. And like,

04:36
It's been a wild ride, honestly. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, it sounds like that. I mean, here you have your preschool job. And I think a key part of that is you were kind of happy and comfortable before, but you wanted to take that chance. And that's so huge for people, because we find so much complacency and comfort. What really motivated you to want to break out of that? So I guess for me, I've always been that person, even before the preschool.

05:06
I did a lot of work from home. I did TESOL, and that was like, I had the freedom, right? And it was all about freedom. That's it. I love to travel. I've traveled since I was 15 years old, and that's my ultimate goal, is to be able to travel and have that freedom to do what I love. And I didn't have that. You know, and I was like, this could give me what I want, which is that freedom of time, you know, to be able to go out and like, travel and try good food and like, have experiences in life and make memories, right?

05:36
like what I wanted and I was like I'll try it and if it works like that's what I'll work towards yeah and it's it's it's crazy because it's like yeah you can't have that kind of freedom 19 bucks an hour like when push comes to shove yeah really and it's awesome to see people like willing to take that risk a lot of people do take the risk and it doesn't work out why do you think it doesn't work out for them there's a lot of reasons honestly the biggest one that

06:06
the work that they put in, like the hard work. And it, hard work, right? Going out and knocking doors. It's scary, you get a lot of rejection. There you go through a lot of mental loops when you have hard days. And a lot of people can't keep that even keel through the hard days and just keep pushing and have the belief in themself. They get into that spiral of like, you know, that guy just yelled at me, like I didn't get anything in the past three days, like maybe I'm not good at this, maybe I should go back. And they have this like,

06:36
and wavering like negativity and they start going down versus you know what, I'm gonna take the same opportunity, what can I do better? That positive outlook, find solutions. And I see a lot of people, they're like, okay, I'm gonna make excuses because I didn't do good. And they wanna protect themselves from that failure and that fear. And like, at the end of the day, I'm just like embrace that shit. Like embrace it and learn about yourself. But there's also, on the other hand, some people are just not good at it.

07:06
just not made for it. And that's why I tell people like, come in and try it and like, some people they don't have the social skills and they're not willing to learn. If you're willing to learn, I think even some people that might not have that skillset, they could learn but, I would just say the hard way. You gotta have the desire. Yeah, and that perseverance and like, being able to self motivate, that's another huge one because I don't micromanage them. You're 10.99, you do what you want, you make your own schedule, right? Yeah. And so a lot of people are so used to being

07:35
told what to do, when to be there, if you're not here you're reprimanded. You have to take the accountability yourself and be the one that's like, I don't have to be there but I want to be there. I get to be there and I'm going on the doors. It's hard to really have that self motivation. It's easy to be like, wake up, I don't have to go to work today, I could just chill and play video games. And most people just do that, it's easier. So much more comfortable to take that easy path.

08:05
Yeah, if you can decisively do that discomfort though, it pays massive dividends in the future. Yeah, which is awesome So I want to dive into your golden door story So you started May of 22 and now that's forward actually rewind the clock to a year ago January 2023 I don't know when you decided officially like I'm gonna be a golden door winner, but what was that process? What was your path to get a golden door? So obviously Melissa has told me about it

08:35
can do this. Here's a path for you, right? She helped me really create that roadmap. And really it's a numbers game. You figure out what you need to do, you map it out, you make sure you're pacing. If not, you bust your ass to get there, right? But for me, it was setting myself up for the months prior to January because I was like, we need to have a big January, a big February. It's just like a race. You start off out front, you have that lead the whole way. Okay. So I think it was October either, it was one of the September

09:05
And at the time my company was taking like four five six months to install systems So I still had deals that were from January and July that were going in but I made sure those three months prior To January I had a big month 18 deals 20 23 deals 15 deals So that when I walked in I had 60 deals set up. Yeah, let alone the ones that weren't you know We're getting installed from July August, you know, so

09:35
Really, it's just that preparation. You know, because it's like, oh, I can come in right now. It's January. If you want to get a golden door, it's going to be a little more difficult, because what's your average install time? So that means between what? Like, maybe February, March, and December, you have to get installs. Which means that means you only get to November, maybe October, because it takes two months to install. So you really have to create that roadmap and understand how the system works, right? Absolutely.

10:05
biggest hack to getting a Golden Door for the year is, like you said, like setting it up beforehand, realizing like give yourself that two month window. Cause if you're starting, if you have the goal, and if you set your goal in January, that I'm gonna hit a Golden Door, you're setting yourself up for a lot more work to be done. Cause it's like, if you do the prep work beforehand, it's not that you can't do it. You can totally do it. Everybody can do it. It's just like that prep work beforehand though, it just takes.

10:35
you ahead and it carries that momentum carries over so I absolutely love that so what about like kind of the more like mental battles staying consistent things like that yeah so I think that's a big portion of door-to-door is the consistency and I've been through a lot of hard shit I've been through a lot of hard shit in my life you know and what I've realized is that you can you can work through those things but no matter what you're gonna end up past it

11:05
And you choose how to handle that. If you want to let it bring you down and follow that, you can do that. But it's like you get the hard things, and I decided to keep an even kill and look for solutions. Right? And a lot of people see those hard things and they just start falling down that hole. You know, and those hard things, like they can make you or break you. And you get to choose. Yeah. And so for me, like, I've been through something hard and decided to be reactive, right? And emotional. Like, oh, this is the worst thing.

11:35
Like this is gonna ruin everything and having that expectation Versus like this is what happened. It is what it is Yeah, I can choose to either see the positive or see the negative I can learn from it or let it kill me right and so really like learning to I Think problem-solving is one of the biggest things that got me through the year was like, yeah shit was hard things happen I switched companies in the middle of the year. I took two months off my brother got in the accident Yeah, and I was like, you know, this is where I'm at

12:05
best of it and I figure out a way to have that situation make me better and that's really I feel like what pushes me through is just problem solving. What's the situation and find as many solutions as I can to that problem and then narrow it down to the most efficient. That's really my mindset about like everything. And it's so cool and well what's awesome about that that's really just sales isn't it? It's like sales is just nothing but problem solving.

12:35
Master problem solver. Absolutely. It's like you can't close someone unless you're solving the problem in my opinion. So it's so cool to see how that carries over, not even in just sales, but in life as well. Do you have any other life lessons that the doors have brought you? Just stay consistent. That consistency is what's going to build. Everyone says 1%. Do that 1% thing. And I do that every day. Since I was young, I was like fucking 12 years old. And I was like, I need to do that.

13:05
choose to do something that makes me better every day. I wanna learn something every day, even if it's something little, where I feel like gratitude, like, oh, I got better today. And that's what's like, okay, you look five years from now and those little tiny things add up and make you feel confident, they make you feel good, and they make you feel happy, and they make you successful. And a lot of the people are like, okay, I'll go to the gym once a week. That's not gonna bring you anywhere. You need to do that every day.

13:35
simple I make my bed every morning you know you know they say you do that you see instant success as soon as you wake up because you know what you know that you should do that everyone thinks about it but they don't do it and that's an easy one of the easiest things to release dopamine to feel successful yeah you come back to something that's organized clean all right something simple so that little 1% thing I start my day with that every day yeah I mean

14:04
The compound effect you know what I mean it's like you have that going and you have it going long enough That takes effect because if I go to the gym once a week for one week, and then I go Twice a week the next week, and then maybe once the next week It's like I lose the magic of the compound effect because that consistency is not there. It's not there It's almost like I wasted my time in a way I don't think you're quite wasting your time because it's always gonna be beneficial But the magic of the compound effect isn't quite there

14:34
So, if you're open to it, I'd like to kind of dive into, I know you had some hard things during the year, and that's kind of always the like, everyone always has an excuse, and crap always hits the fan. What's your real trick to helping navigate that? I know we kind of talked about problem solutions and whatnot, but especially those really tough external things that happen that we cannot control. What would you say for that?

15:04
And the key word of what I hear is what you cannot control. And you need to let go of what you cannot control and focus on what you can control. And that's it. Like, you can look at all these things and get mad about these things or let it bring you down, but you can't control them. You can only control how you react to them and your view on how you see that and how you let it affect your life. I had the hardest year of my entire life last year. Hardest year. I could dive into it, but

15:34
Year of my life and I still hit my goals because it was a non-negotiable That's something I learned in door-to-door is create those non-negotiables And if you don't say you're like, oh, it's non-negotiable. I'm gonna go to the gym and then you let it down You can't even trust yourself. Yeah, you know and so like that non-negotiable thing That's really what I did was like there I'm doing this and if not, I'm dying trying to hit my goals if I give it my all Then that is what it is, right? but

16:04
Sorry, I had something else to say. I was trying to think. Um. All right, what was the question? I guess it's navigating through external, non-controllables and whatnot. And especially like, you know, push like.

16:21
going like and hitting your goals during that. Yeah. Because yeah, crap will hit the fan. People are like, oh, see you goal. Yeah. It's the first thing to go. I don't know. I think I'm just aware of the fact that you can make an excuse. But I don't like to let myself down. Yeah. I don't want to use an excuse and just be like, well, I don't need to do the things that I said I'm going to do because I don't have to. I don't want to make excuses. That's just who I am. I feel like if you make excuses,

16:51
Performing yourself and your identity and like your self-belief and that's that's hard at the end of the day I have to be okay with myself before anything and so that means holding my word to myself So that I can trust myself and believe in myself So when I say I'm gonna do something I'm gonna do it and that helps build my confidence and my happiness Just being like I don't need excuses like do they cross my mind? Yeah Like they still do but I'm like I'm gonna choose the right thing Yeah, you know cuz I I've chosen

17:21
past to use excuses and it's disappointing and I disappoint myself and then I'm like yeah and I'm down and I'm like man you just have disbelief in yourself and I've just chose to love myself enough to put that time in and really build the person that I want to be. Be the best version of myself that I can be. Totally, totally and I think that's absolutely beautiful and I appreciate you sharing all of that. Now kind of diving in a little bit to the sales tactics side of it. You're in Colorado right?

17:51
Denver so Colorado Denver Big Denver shout out so and then you work please work mostly as a closer, correct? You do a lot of door knocking too and so now I do I was doing a lot more self-gen's back My focus is more on building now, so I'm more

18:08
with the guys and try to get them successful. I feel like it's selfish for me to go out. Like at the end of the day, like it's a struggle that I've had is being like, yes, I can make more money going to self-gen and hit my goals faster, but I think it's selfish because I have such a high closing ratio and a high retention rate. And so I have a lot of value that I can supply to my guys to help them come up. Now I could just say, I don't need to do that, right? But I chose not to because I want to be able to elevate these guys too.

18:38
I'm probably gonna end up taking a lot more setter deals this year than self-jetting. Totally. And I think that's honorable too because it's like, like you said, you're doing it for your guys to help them. It's like, I want less cancels for them. I want less things to them because I know I can provide that value to the homeowner and to my setters, which honestly in turn is gonna retain your guys. Yeah. And I just want to affect as many people as I can because I see the opportunity and I'm like, it's lonely at the top by yourself. I've been there.

19:08
and you're like, yeah, I made it, but I don't have anybody to share it with. Yeah, totally. You know, and that's not where I want to be. I want to be the woman that's up, and everybody's up, and I have a strong team, and it's family-like, and it's like, that's, to me, more important than going out and selling more. It really is. I would rather... I have a huge heart, right? And I love seeing everybody around me build their life and go through life with them and see their successes, and it's just beautiful. I came from a very, very humble beginning.

19:38
And so to be able to see and hear people's stories, like I brought a guy here from Vermont, and he told me his mom's living in a car, and he's struggling, and he's dealing with depression, because he feels like he's going nowhere. And he came out here, he texted me after he left. He came here yesterday, I met the guys, went to the after party. He looked like a little kid in a candy store. And he texted me and was like, I had the best weekend of my life. And he wanted to make me cry, because I'm just like, dude, he hasn't seen that. He hasn't seen people accept him.

20:08
teach him and want him to grow. Yeah. And it's like, I just want that. Like, you know, it's so why.

20:16
what this industry can do. I love that. It's so nuts. That's awesome. Oh, I love that so much. So obviously, you close at a very high rate. What closing tips and tricks do you have? And how do you have such high retention, too? Yeah, so I would say I build a lot of rapport. I'm very witty. Like, I'm very funny. And I use that to my benefit. Like, I just want to have fun. Yeah. I have a lot of fun. Other than that, like, I pre-frame very well.

20:46
where it's like, hey man, just bringing in the concept, like you, at the end of this, you are gonna make a decision today. You know, it's one of three things that's gonna happen. One, you're gonna recommit to the utility company because you feel like they're your best bet financially. And that's totally fine, it's your money. I got solar on my house, you don't have to do this, right? Two, you're gonna decide, hey, it makes sense and put in the application, and unfortunately, it's the worst boat to be put in, but Excel can deny you, right?

21:16
at you too is Excel approves it, the city approves it, then we put the solar on the house. So pre-framing to them that in reality, they can say no to solar, but they're saying yes to something. And I think when people realize, because people are like, I'm not interested in solar, it's like, I'm sorry to break it to you, but you're going solar regardless, it's on your bill. We are being mandated by the government to do that. So I just want to make it clear that you are going solar. It's just your choice now. Do you want to rent it from the utility?

21:45
company and pay more or would you like to own it and get some benefits and pay a lot less now it is your choice again and if you choose that it you know this is the best fit I'll help you walk through the process and that in itself you know I think really sets that bar to be like okay because a lot of people are like oh I just I'm saying no to solar but they don't realize what they're saying yes to you because you are saying yes to something right you can't say no and shut off your lights so that free-framing other than that like I like to take the emotion out of it a lot of people play off emotion okay I don't

22:15
I will build a little bit of pain, but other than that, I'm a numbers person. My brain is very illogical. Okay. So I'm like, hey man, we're going to take the emotion out of this. You know, like feelings aside, let's just look at the numbers because my job is to put you in the best financial situation possible. Right? Yeah. And so I'm going to break down the numbers, apples to apples, and you're going to, you know, you can tell me at the end what you feel like is best for you and your family. And I also- Make sense. And I try not to sound like a salesperson. Like when I'm going through it, I make every-

22:45
simple like when you sound like a robotic salesperson and you're just doing your pitch they don't want to they don't want to buy people don't want to be sold so I make it pretty simple like yeah the panels go on the roof they produce all the energy they're gonna convert it to use it instead of being like you know I try to make it very very simple and not like salesy I guess like yeah you know exactly well like you said I mean you just break it down very simply like to so that they understand it I think a lot of times us as sales

23:15
through the process because maybe we're nervous or whatever that might look like and then it's like they truly don't understand it then they're not gonna make you know they're not gonna say yes yeah I confused my noises no right exactly yeah and that's that is very true but I have I have the kind of one up because I was a preschool teacher yeah I mean thinking about it like that it's like if I can explain math to a little kid you got to be able to break it down like how do I explain solar to a ten-year-old

23:45
guys like don't treat them like a child. Oh my goodness. Solar pant. They sound like they're talking to someone like hey you're an idiot. Like no they're adults but break it down in the least amount of words possible the most simple way possible so a three-year-old could understand it. And if you can do that because solar is simple you're literally just renting your solar versus owning it. It's very simple. And then it's just show the numbers, right? And become their friend.

24:15
Like honestly, I build a ton of rapport where I'm like, I actually am curious, like what do you guys do? You know, cause I love hearing stories. Yeah. And I can learn something. Sometimes people tell me things and I'll spend half my clothes talking about nothing to do with solar. Yeah. Literally just building rapport. And then they see them like, damn, this is a real person. She's actually like curious. She's listening. She's asking questions. Yeah. And then instead of being like, oh, this is a salesperson. All they're talking about is solar, shoving it down my throat. Why, why, why? Yeah. You know? So just be genuine.

24:45
about the people that you're sitting with. Don't go in there and look at them as a dollar sign. Yeah, absolutely. Because you're not going to succeed. They can see through that shit. People can. 100%. You know? 100%. Well, Kayla, thank you so much for coming on. Yeah, dude. This has been the nugget fill the whole time.