The sleazy sales culture of the solar industry

Published: Wed, 12/06/23

December 6, 2023

TOGETHER WITH

We did it. We made it to December. Now we just have to make it to January before we get a chance to make it to February, then the spring, summer, and fall, before another glorious year is in the books. Embrace the grind and you shall prosper; fight it and everything will fall apart. But for now, enjoy this week’s edition of The Quota.

NUMBER OF THE WEEK

171

Top performers speak at an average of about 171 words per minute, while the rest of the team speaks at around 182 words per minute

Source: Sales Insights Lab

SALES ROUNDUP

Here’s what’s happening in the sales world this week:

A salesman for a Laredo-area home builder was sentenced to three years in prison for orchestrating an illegal mortgage fraud scheme. Edmundo De La Torre pleaded guilty April 19 to orchestrating a scheme in which he altered hundreds of documents to get otherwise unqualified buyers’ approval for government-backed mortgages. He forged financial statements, bank statements, paycheck stubs and letters of reference for at least 38 otherwise unqualified homebuyers. You can read more about it here.
The New York Jets might be having a rough go of it this year after losing their star quarterback on its first possession of the season, but that doesn’t mean they haven’t put the benched Aaron Rodgers to good use. In a video released by the Jets, Rogers took on the role of ticket salesman, putting on a headset and sitting behind a desk like the rest of us, and convincing a skeptical fan to come to the team’s game against the Falcons. You can check out the video here.

FEATURE

Image: iStockPhoto

How a sleazy and dishonest sales culture is threatening the solar industry

TIME Magazine recently published a piece on the way sleazy sales culture is infiltrating the solar industry across America. Because solar is an industry that isn’t heavily regulated and has no barrier to entry, there is plenty of room for people without any renewable energy experience to enter the fray. And while there are plenty of honest, ethical, and hardworking solar sales reps out there, a contingent of unethical (and sometimes criminal) reps threatens to tarnish the industry for everybody else.

According to the Energy Information Association, the U.S. added 6.4 gigawatts of small-scale solar in 2022, the most ever in a single year. Tax credits, increasingly high electrical bills, and the promise of reducing one’s carbon footprint all make solar an attractive prospect. But it’s also an attractive prospect to people who can make thousands of dollars off one sale — people who have no idea how the technology actually works and who are willing to lie about it to close the deal. Because you don’t need a license or indeed any training to sell solar in most states, vast networks of independent contractors fan out and “blitz” neighborhoods with their pitches, conveniently ignoring Do Not Call lists and No Soliciting signs while targeting elderly and low-income consumers.

These independent contractors negotiate a “red line” with the installers, or the base price at which they need to sell the solar system. If they can persuade homeowners to pay more, even twice as much, they pocket the difference, which can and does incentivize all sorts of unethical and even criminal behavior.

“Solar is ground zero for consumer fraud right now,” Andrew Milz, a consumer attorney based in Pennsylvania, told TIME. “The industry is just littered with bad actors trying to put solar on as many roofs as possible as fast as possible.”

Here are some of the lies that these solar sales hucksters (who misleadingly call themselves “energy consultants”) use in their dishonest pitches:

1. You can get free solar panels from the government. (You can’t. You can only get tax credits that take maybe a third off of the price.)

2. You can get off the electrical grid completely. (Without a solar battery, an expensive addition, you probably can’t.)

3. The panels will only take a couple of weeks to install (unlikely).

4. They work for the local utility (also unlikely).

Many reps call themselves service providers, not solicitors, so they can ignore “No Soliciting” signs, and present themselves as saviors looking to take down the big bad utility companies. They also present solar as an alternative to having an energy bill, when in fact, the vast majority of homes with solar pay a utility bill too. They scare homeowners with claims that their energy bills will double in the next year (probably untrue) and act appalled when these homeowners tell them what they currently pay in energy usage, no matter what the number is.

The consequences of these misleading sales are real. TIME discovered dozens of lawsuits filed by people who bought solar under pressure and with bad information they were given, whether they were lied to about the energy savings or the length of time to complete their installs.

But for now, solar sales, whether in its current or more ethical form, is here to stay. Every few years, there’s a new industry that blows up, attracting thousands of fly-by-night sellers looking to make some quick money without much thought about ethics, customers, or their own long-term prospects. For now, solar happens to be it. But, like all other industries with high rates of unethical or illegal behavior, sooner or later it will either become regulated, or disrupted by something new. In the meantime, buyer beware.

SALES INSIGHTS THAT MATTER

Who doesn’t want more efficiency from their sales team? After all, more efficiency means more dollars on the bottom line 🚀

Our friends at Qwilr have created a free (un-gated) guide to Metrics That Move Sales Efficiency, breaking down the sales metrics that matter for small to medium businesses, with a range of scorecards and best practices you can easily implement from today.

All the information you need in one handy resource - now that’s efficient 💪

Get the free guide now!

MEME OF THE WEEK

Source: Instagram -- Sales Humor

LOOKING FOR A NEW SALES JOB?

Tired of unreachable prospects? Overbearing managers? Too many meetings that could have been an email?

Try a fresh start with a role at Cox Business! Cox offers:

Competitive salary plus top-notch bonus & incentive plans
Full benefits (including healthcare from day one)
Extra perks (like free home internet, cable and smart home automation)
Career advancement and professional development

Browse open sales roles from entry-level to leadership positions here.

Browse open roles!

QUIZ

What is the largest solar company in the United States?

A. First Solar
B. ExxonMobil
C. SunPower
D. NextEra Energy

SALES FAILS

Each week, we bring you the most cringe-worthy sales moments from across the web. To submit your sales fail story for consideration, click here. (Don't worry, you'll remain completely anonymous).

This isn’t exactly a Sales Fail, but it might be my best sales story ever. About ten years ago, I was working as an AE for a large company. This was long before remote work, so we were always in the office doing a combination of inbound and outbound prospecting. I wouldn’t exactly call it a boiler room environment, but it wasn’t too far off from that.

Our branch manager was a hard-charging young guy who had dropped out of college to climb the corporate ladder. He was in his mid-20s but was already super successful. He was also an arrogant hard-ass. He watched everybody like a hawk and when he talked about himself, it was always in really glowing terms, as if he was a narcissist.

I did not have a great relationship with this manager. In fact, I wanted to leave the company because I couldn’t stand how toxic he made the environment for everybody else. Not everyone felt this way, though, and I think most people really only cared about how much money they were making. I am a millennial, and was the youngest rep there, so maybe that’s why I cared about the culture more than others did.

Things seemed to be coming to a head, and I was probably weeks away from quitting. Then, one night, I went to a local restaurant with one of my friends. I lived in the same town where the office was located, but the manager did not. I was enjoying a drink when I looked over and saw my manager in a booth with one of the girls who worked on our sales support staff. They were looking into each other’s eyes and holding hands across the table.

But here’s the kicker: the sales manager was married to somebody else. When they saw me, they both turned bright red. Then he came over and put his hand on my shoulder and started talking to me as if we were best friends. It was the most bizarre experience, since he had been like a drill instructor to me up until that point.

After that happened, everything changed. It was as if there was an unspoken agreement between us that I would keep my mouth shut about what I saw, and in exchange, he would treat me better at work, which he did. I stayed there for another few months but then left when I got a better job somewhere else. Last I heard, he was a VP for a well-known software company, and still married to the same woman.

Anonymous Location withheld

GRAPH OF THE WEEK

Source: LinkedIn Poll -- December 2023

WORTH A PEEK

Do you think you could succeed in sales at a fledgling SaaS startup? Some of you already have, but others might be wondering if you’ve got the right background to make it work. Entrepreneur Jason Lemkin recently posted a 6-part test to help founders hire sales reps. See if you would get a passing grade here.

ASK THE QUOTA

Want to submit a question and be featured in our advice column? Click here. (Don't worry, you'll remain completely anonymous).

Dear Quota Team

About six months ago, I joined a software company. It’s my first software sales job, so I was pumped to make the switch from B2B payment services. The base pay I am getting is higher than I was making before, and the culture is definitely better since the previous job basically didn’t have much culture to speak of.

The problem is that nobody seems to need our software. We get leads, book meetings, and have good conversations with prospects, but at the end of the day, they seem to think our software isn’t necessarily worth paying for. I am not the only one this is happening to. Other reps are basically saying the same thing.

The company is less than four years old and pivoted into this new niche before I joined. They have a lot of funding and tell us we have nothing to worry about from a jobs standpoint, but I came here to make money selling, not just collecting my base pay and wasting my time. Do you have any advice for what I can/should do?

Frustrated in the Northeast

Dear Frustrated,

It sounds like your company hasn’t found product-market-fit yet, and they’re finding this out through your (and your sales coworkers’) efforts. Basically, they have money, and they have a product, but they don’t have a product that people are willing to pay for.

Since they’re well-funded, you can probably stick it out, though there’s a very good chance they’ll cut sales staff when they realize they have to go back to the drawing board. It might help to try to make it a year before moving on so that you have a solid twelve months of SaaS sales on your resume when applying.

But if you don’t think you can take the uncertainty and tediousness of waiting for engineering to ship a product you can sell, then you should start looking now. Startups aren’t for everyone, and there’s a lot of chaos and ambiguity you have to put up with. In any case, stay motivated and make sure you understand the industry landscape. If you’re committed, you’ll be fine. Good luck.

Quiz Answer: D. NextEra Energy is the largest solar company in the U.S. — (you can read the source article here)

SHARE THE QUOTA

Help us grow, and we'll send you a reward!

{% if subscriber.custom_field['RH_REFLINK'] != '' %}

Share The Quota, get cool stuff!

Know a salesperson who’d love The Quota? Give them your unique referral link (below), and we’ll give you some awesome rewards when they subscribe.

facebook

twitter

PS: You have referred people so far

{% endif %}

How did you like today's story?

Today's email was written by Ken Kupchik, Erica Furgiuele, Steve Rado, and Emily Hill.

Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up here.

Looking for a new gig or to hire for your sales team? Check out our jobs board — powered by RepVue.

Looking to take your sales career to the next level? Check out Ian Koniak, our Preferred Sales Coaching Partner.

Advertise with us

Books

QUOTA MEDIA LLC

651 N. Broad Street., Suite 206
Middletown DELAWARE (DE) 19709
USA

Unsubscribe | Change Subscriber Options