Turning Solar Panel/Home Improvement Leads Into $1.4 Million With Cold Calling

How Dan Got Into Sales: At 19 years old, Dan started his sales journey with a health and wellness direct sales company called ViSalus. To support himself while building his business, Dan decided to work as a telemarketer at Presidential Home Designs, a Hollywood-based home improvement company. Through coachability, eagerness to learn, and resilience, Dan quickly rose through the ranks and generated impressive results.

Learning Telemarketing at Presidential Home Designs:
During his first seven days at the company, Dan turned cold auto-dialed leads into warm relationships that generated over $250,000 in revenue. His experience in doing thousands of in-person cold approaches and learning from top-producing direct salespeople the 6 months prior to this gave him an edge. Within the first month, Dan joined the VIP section with the top-producing telemarketers, and within the next two months, his leads generated an additional $300,000 in sales.

Rising In The Ranks: Seeking more growth and responsibility, Dan joined a smaller company, GH Solar, as a telemarketer. He saw the potential to quickly become a trainer and manager.

The Strategy: Dan’s success in cold calling came from learning and following a proven system, which included clear and concise communication starting with a basic pitch, fact-finding questions, and rapport-building techniques. He adapted and improved these methods through constant practice, study, and mentorship from direct sales masters like his personal mentors in Visalus, Jeffery Combs; a top producing sales expert and high-performance trainer for NFL players and executives, and his trainer at Presidential Home Designs.

The Results: Dan’s work at GH Solar generated over $850,000 in new business for solar panel installation sales within six months. He trained new telemarketers and was offered a management position.

Transition Into Tech Startups: Although Dan considered transitioning to a field sales role, he sought more meaning, autonomy, creativity, and impact from his work. He decided to enter the world of tech startups, where he could work towards a mission with inventors seeking to build something big. Dan returned to New York with the intent of starting or joining his own tech startup. He met seasoned founder Vlad Vukicevic who became a friend and mentor. Dan soon after joined Meural, Vlad’s new art tech startup, to continue his professional development in business and sales in a new venture he was extremely excited about.

Key Takeaways: Talent is developed through hard work, repetition, and learning from top performers in the field. Sales success comes from following a proven system, constant practice, and mentorship. Cold calling and direct sales techniques can be applied across various industries, from home improvement to SaaS, and consumer tech. The ideal is for sales reps to be passionate and believe in the product or service they are selling as this not only significantly improves their performance but also makes their work more enjoyable.