2. Solar Success: Trust, Innovation, and Networking with Adam Hammill
Hello, everyone. Welcome to the Business Boost Hour podcast. My name is Eric Beals.
Crystal Privett:And I'm Crystal Privett. This is The Single CEU Podcast.
Eric Beels:Alright. And today, we have, Adam Hamill here today. Say hi, Adam.
Adam Hammil:Hi, Adam.
Eric Beels:Perfect. Exactly how we rehearsed it. And so Adam, he, is in our chapter at bni Escondido. He is an amazing solar person, and he has I've actually known you for a really long time, actually. That's true.
Eric Beels:I I, like, always forget that. And then I remember that I'm like, I've I've known I've known Adam for, like, 15 something years now. I've known you in, like, those back in the college days and whatnot.
Adam Hammil:Well, Crystal and I actually go way back as well.
Crystal Privett:Actually, we do. We're
Adam Hammil:really together.
Adam Hammil:We worked together before BNI.
Crystal Privett:Yeah. I think he's done about 3 or 4 of my houses with roofs and solar.
Eric Beels:Oh, wow. So I the the reason I wanted to have you on here, Adam, is because I've and and I've kinda heard, like, pieces just I don't know when we've had one to ones and such, but I I feel like there's just a lot that I haven't, like, learned about you on on all the different avenues of how you kinda got to where you are in your your solar company. And so what what the the the theme that I really wanted to kind of go over on this episode here is just being innovative and what what that what that kind of looks like. So before we kinda get into that, Doug, just can you just, talk a little bit about, like, about who you are, what you do, and and kind of, like, what your what your passion is and what your mission is and things like that?
Adam Hammil:Sure. Well, if if I was to break it down to one thing, I would say I'm a problem solver. And trying to solve problems is kind of what helped me arrive at this business as a way to solve a problem for a whole bunch of people. And, being Scottish and Jewish, I'm always focused on saving money. So I think as, you know, looking at what are the biggest expenses that I or that most people have to deal with?
Adam Hammil:And if you live in Southern California, energy is a huge expense. There are a lot of people that spend much more money every month on electricity than they spend on their car payment. There are people who spend more on electricity than a house payment in some cases. It's completely nuts. And it's not like that everywhere else in the world.
Adam Hammil:So we're in a unique place where that becomes very important. And I got involved in the solar industry, you know, really kinda early on, I guess, when the sort of solar gold rush was happening for solar farms in Southern California and in a lot of other places. And I realized, hey, we can sell this energy to the utility companies. We could build this stuff in the desert where land is cheap. And after working on that for at least 2 years kind of full time, I realized solar farms don't make any sense.
Adam Hammil:It doesn't make sense to put solar panels in the middle of nowhere because it costs more money to bring that power.
Eric Beels:Was this your own company, or were you working with somebody else?
Adam Hammil:This was my own company, but I was just a one man show at the time. And it costs more to bring that power to the cities than it costs to build the facility in the first place. I think we see all these power lines and we think they're just sitting there, like, waiting to receive your electricity, but they're not. Every single one of those is used to capacity. They only build it when they need it and it's all used to capacity right from the start.
Adam Hammil:So you wanna build a 150 megawatt solar farm, you need to also build a 150 megawatts of capacity or pay for a 150 megawatts of capacity to get that power to where it's going. So it ends up just being a giant tax shelter for the ultra rich. But I had learned all this stuff about solar, which is weird because my background is in audio engineering and Christian ministry. But I just kinda got interested in renewable energy. It was really hydrogen technology that brought me to that place.
Adam Hammil:I was trying to couple that with these solar farms, but then when I realized the solar farms didn't make sense, I had all this knowledge that I had gained from going to all the trade shows and conferences, and I wanted to put that to work. Mhmm. So I ended up getting together with some friends of mine who had been in construction their whole lives and just shifting focus of the company. And instead of being a one man shop, actually, you know, employing these guys and installing solar on roofs. And, you know, we started, I guess I've always been open to sort of innovative and and new technologies.
Adam Hammil:And I didn't know it at the time, but we ended up being the 1st company to install grid connected battery storage in our utilities territory.
Eric Beels:Mhmm.
Adam Hammil:And if I'd known that, I probably never would have tried it because it was a just an unbelievable challenge at the time. But now we have all of this experience and expertise and everyone you know, you really have to have batteries with solar now to save money. So being on the kinda, you know, bleeding edge of that, allowed us to gain a bunch of experience that's really helping us now and allowing us to stay relevant and and honestly stay in business when while a lot of our competitors go away. Mhmm. So, you know, I would say to anyone, you know, a lot of people just wanna keep things simple, and I'm all in favor of keeping things simple.
Adam Hammil:But if you're not open to some of the new developments in technologies in your field, whatever your field might be, you might end up becoming irrelevant down the line. Yep. So that worked out, you know, hugely beneficially to us in the long run. Mhmm. And at the time, you know, who would have known that that things would go the way that they have?
Adam Hammil:And the batteries would become, you know, almost mainstream really now.
Eric Beels:Mhmm. So so you so for you, it kind of was it sounds like like you wouldn't have always called yourself like an innovator in this regard, although you kind of turned you kind of turned into doing those a lot of those things like what you did with the and the and the solar industry. So what are, like I feel like that's kind of like a slippery slope. Like, you could be so innovative that no one understands what you're trying to do and stuff too. And it kind of like, you know, can, like, if you're like, some, sometimes you can be too maybe forward thinking that no one understands what you're even talking about or whatever.
Eric Beels:And whatever you're a lot of what you're talking about, I'm just like, okay, solar grid stuff. I I kind of understand what what you're talking about. I don't really know how it relates to this. I just know I plug in my light into the wall and it turns on, and I don't really know how that happens. But I understand it's that's an extremely important aspect.
Eric Beels:And so I guess what I'm trying to get at is, like, what is, like did you have times where maybe you were, like, you ran into some weird hurdles that with with kind of being innovative, like, you oh, I would love to do it. I wanna do it this way, but, like, it's just not working out that way, because of, I don't know, x y z, whatever it might it might be.
Adam Hammil:Well, all the time. And, I mean, I think anybody who started a business has probably been through challenges and struggles like that.
Crystal Privett:Yeah. You have to pivot.
Adam Hammil:Exactly. And I think with, you know, anything in construction, you have to deal with permits, and you have to deal with you know, we have to deal with utility companies. And it seems like at every step along the way, you're told no. Whether it's banks that don't wanna finance you, whether it's cities that don't want to give you a permit, whether it's utility companies that don't want to approve your solar array, they're all trying it just seems like they're all trying to shut you down because a lot of our systems are built around, I mean, it seems that they're just built around saying no. If your project doesn't fit just cookie cutter into what's been generally accepted, it can be a real challenge.
Adam Hammil:And so you have to approach that innovatively in order to to make things happen and and say, like, I understand this is different. So let's work together to figure out how we can make it happen. We want to comply with all of your rules and regulations. Help us understand those so that we can. And in doing that, we developed a bunch of really great relationships with a lot of cities and their permitting departments with the interconnection department at SDG and E where we're essentially on a first name basis with most of the main people that work there.
Adam Hammil:Then even just last week, we were speaking to one of them. And, you know, we're talking now about these cars that can power homes. So you can charge your car potentially during the day when the sun is up. If the power goes out, the car can actually power the home. Wow.
Adam Hammil:Apparently, none of those have been installed in San Diego County yet.
Adam Hammil:Mhmm.
Adam Hammil:But we we were actually sort of invited to, you know, test pilot those projects, which is really exciting. And, you know, I think that's another direction that things are headed. So it's those relationships and really just having that, you know, let's work together mentality that, you know, I think that's and I think that's where creativity really goes hand in hand with innovation, because it's just finding a solution. And you can have the best idea in the world, but if you don't have the sort of, just ability to work together with whoever you have to work with to bring that idea to reality, it just remains an idea. And, you know, I think that's like I said, I think that's true in a lot of different areas.
Adam Hammil:Our area is particularly challenging because we have to work through a lot of bureaucracy to do what we do. And any contractor of any kind who has to deal with permits will tell you that's the case. But that's where creative solutions come in and can make things not only, you know, less expensive, but less time consuming and also therefore less expensive. And that's that's where we're seeing a lot of the developments today. People think of solar and battery technology as being a, you know, real innovative thing.
Adam Hammil:But a lot of this technology has been around for a long time. The innovation is just finding a way to implement it that's legal and safe. So, you know, being able to do that, I think, is something that's, you know, myself and a lot of my colleagues in my industry are working really, really hard at. And we spend a huge amount of our time behind the scenes figuring out ways to make this stuff work. And, you know, people think, oh, it's gonna it's getting better and it's changing and it's like, it's not changing that much.
Adam Hammil:It's just maybe the user interface is changing so it's easier to use or the implementation is changing where it's less expensive to implement. So when people ask me like, hey. Well, the battery prices are coming down. I'm I'm waiting till they come down. It's like, well, battery prices aren't you know, maybe they will, but I think that's that's probably a long way off.
Adam Hammil:The reason batteries are less expensive now than they were a year ago is simply because they're drastically easier to install. Mhmm. It requires, you know, like, 2 electricians like, one full day for 2 electricians, less labor than it did a year ago using some of the newer technology that's out. So we're able to do much more I'd say our installations are much more streamlined where we don't have a whole bunch of boxes on the wall. It's really just one box and a shutoff switch using the existing panel.
Adam Hammil:And that's a big deal, in terms of the cost of the customer and the time savings. Was that something we created? No. Not necessarily. 1 of the manufacturers did, but we're always trying to stay up to speed on what those latest developments are.
Adam Hammil:When we spotted that, we said, this is gonna be a huge, huge time saver. We need to make sure we're doing that and that we're, you know, one of the first to be doing it. We're not the only one doing it, but it makes a big, big difference on the bottom line. And just at the end of the day, then the customers benefit with, you know, with the product.
Adam Hammil:Mhmm.
Crystal Privett:In BNI, we pair innovation plus tradition. How can you speak to tradition in a live solar?
Adam Hammil:Yeah. It's interesting. I mean, I think if if I was to say what are, like, what are our values or whatever as a company, we've always had, you know, customer service has been a really, really important thing for us and I think a a place where our industry struggles. I think our industry has a really bad reputation for being, just a giant sales machine that just wants to make people part with their money. And and I think we we wanted to be something really, really different.
Adam Hammil:So, I mean, our tradition has always been to find the best solution for the homeowner, not for us as the solar company, which for us has meant, you know, we're not doing things like leasing or power purchase agreements. We wanna bring the maximum value to the homeowner and they get the, you know, maximum tax credit, not some investor that's taking the tax credit away. And that kind of that value kinda goes right through everything we do from top to bottom. Like, we're not bringing the best value if we're not installing as efficiently as we can or selling the best stuff. I was interviewing a potential employee once, and he was shocked that we cared about the equipment we installed.
Adam Hammil:He had been working in the industry for a long time, and he he was just amazed. You actually care what solar panels you use. Wow. Because he was coming from a situation where he was just forced to install whatever stuff management bought, and it didn't whether it made sense or not. And to me, that's just unimaginable.
Adam Hammil:How could you not care about what equipment you're selling? We wanna sell the best equipment at the, you know, at the best price and with the best warranties and all of these things.
Eric Beels:Who cares if it came from the dump? Just grab it right there. There. It'll get dirty anyways.
Adam Hammil:Well, it's and I think but you see that in a lot of businesses. Right? It's like, hey. We've got a container of solar panels that's been sitting in the desert somewhere for, you know, 3 years. Transaction.
Adam Hammil:Yeah. Crazy, crazy deal on it. So that's what we're gonna sell. And, you know, to an extent, solar is a commodity. And maybe it it as long as as long as it works, it kinda doesn't matter.
Adam Hammil:But I feel like that's just, you know, that's not going to give you the best result over the long haul. You know, I wanna be able to support my customers and to be in business to continue supporting my customers. And if all of my systems fail or my manufacturer fails and goes away or they're not able to back their warranties or something like that. That's a problem that has ripple effects throughout our business and throughout our customer base. And so we need to be a lot more careful, I think, in selecting what we work with.
Adam Hammil:So I'd say we're very, very selective with what we use and who we work with, whether that be manufacturers, suppliers, even customers. And we also just, you know, have that focus on quality, quality workmanship, quality products. You know, I'm always available for people. If there's a problem, customers call me and they say, hey, this didn't go right. And we make sure we make it right.
Adam Hammil:Mhmm. So, you know, I'd say those are very, very important aspects of tradition within our company that we try to really, you know, instill in every new employee and everybody throughout the business.
Eric Beels:It sounds like what what I'm hearing is is it sounds like you really do kinda take ownership over the panels that you are kind of, like, installing other people's homes. Like, if basically, it sounds like, you know, like, you're not just like like, what you said about your employee that's saying that you that the, like, way you actually you actually care about these things. And and but that's you know, if you're an owner on something, then you you kinda take that ownership of it as well. And I think that's gonna just kind of build, like, a certain trust factor, I think, as well too True. If people know that.
Eric Beels:And, I think that's so that that's a I think that's just a really important quality trait that everybody should have within BNI and just within in your business and everything that you're doing because, yeah, it it you are, like, I'm in a little bit I'm in a different industry, less competition unless, and that I know you're kind of in a bit of a, kind of a I would imagine it's a kind of a cutthroats business. And but I've noticed you've been able to really, like like, stand out from that. What are, like, what are the on like, I think I know you've you've gone to people's homes and stuff too to, like I know you we went you installed solar at my house and and and, I'm not sure how much, like, you still do that, but, like, you know, something about when the owner comes to a place that it speaks kind of volumes about the company as well too. Is there any anything that that you found that's been very beneficial? I mean, I kinda mentioned a bunch of things right there.
Eric Beels:Is there is there particular things that you've found to be beneficial in making yourself stand out from like other solar companies? Obviously, the quality aspect and so to making sure that the panels are good quality and such. And that's a
Adam Hammil:really big
Crystal Privett:deal as well. Too. Not all solar companies do roofing. Correct?
Adam Hammil:That's a really big deal as well. You know, having that that department within the company really sets us apart. A lot of people choose us specifically because we also are a full service roofing company. But, yeah, I think from you know, unfortunately, I don't get to go to customer zones too much anymore. I just stare at a screen all day.
Adam Hammil:But the people who are doing that I
Eric Beels:I'm with
Adam Hammil:you now. You're with you.
Eric Beels:I I I relate a little too much to that.
Adam Hammil:But the people that are doing that I mean, my lead project, consultant, her name is Carol. She actually found us because she had been working in the industry for decades and felt like she couldn't find a company she could trust to take her projects to. And she just intended originally to bring a few projects to us, but ended up working with us full time because she felt like she could really trust us. And I think that's kind of testament to, you know, what we're trying to do. I look at it a lot like, you know, an auto mechanic or a dentist.
Adam Hammil:When you go to an auto mechanic or a dentist, if you don't know about cars or teeth, you really have to trust this person that they're telling you what's right. Mhmm. Because if they tell you you need an engine rebuild or a root pointing treatment or something like that, and you you just all you can do is say yes or go get a second opinion. And I think, you know, we we spend all of our time researching all of these things. And I think in our industry in particular, people spend 10 minutes on Google and think they're an expert.
Adam Hammil:And, honestly, it's you know, there's so much more that goes into this stuff. And all of this information that you find on the Internet is colored by, you know, sponsorships or, you know, whatever whoever's paying the most for SEO and things like that. And I think, you know, there's there's just experience counts for so much. Mhmm. So we're really installing on people's homes the same thing that I would install on my house.
Adam Hammil:And Mhmm. You know, that that's kind of what I'm thinking. Like, what would I if I was installing solar for my own mother,
Adam Hammil:what would I be for it? What would I If I owned
Eric Beels:this place, what would I be putting on it?
Adam Hammil:And not just what would I put on, but how would I install it? Because there are a whole bunch of different mounting methods and different, you know, equipment that can be used for that. And and and so I think that's, you know, all of those things, each one of those little decisions along the way where we really take time to think about and are always open to change and innovation when a new product comes out. So, I I think that's a huge, huge part of it. And really just trying to help our customers focus and, you know, to to cut through the noise from whatever they're hearing on the TV or the radio, whatever crazy incentives or, you know, the governor's gonna pay for your free solar to say, like, look, nothing is free.
Adam Hammil:This all costs money. It's just a matter of what you pay versus what you get. And once we clear away all the fluff, you know, what you get is very important. What you pay is very important. What it produces over its lifetime is what, you know, determines how it pays for itself.
Adam Hammil:And really being able to do that from a place of, you know, I guess just the the knowledge, but also the fact that almost everyone who finds us found us by referral. And that's why BNI is so important to us as a company because we we really only work by referral. All of our competitors, not every one of them, but the vast majority are buying their business by, you know, buying leads, hiring crews of kids to go knock on doors and do canvassing and bring people in. And then it's just you're paying the canvasser, you're paying the closer, you're paying all these different people. We just really don't do any of that, and we really don't want to.
Adam Hammil:People find us when they're looking for someone they can trust because their neighbor or their friend or their relative used us. And just doing that, we've grown every year we've been in business. Mhmm. And I joined BNI in 2013. I had really just started doing my business full time, and it just hit me.
Adam Hammil:Someone had introduced me to BNI a couple years before. I wasn't really doing anything, like, direct to consumer type sales. It didn't make sense. But it just hit me, hey. We're selling to regular people now.
Adam Hammil:I should go check this out. Well, I joined the chapter the 1st day I visited, and I didn't realize it, but I had just sniped the position from someone who worked for one of the really big yeah. Really big national companies, and he was really upset. But it ended up being a, you know, huge, huge blessing and benefit to us and to the chapter because I think, you know, chapters love, like, small family owned businesses as opposed to maybe, you know, someone who's just a rep for a giant company. It I feel like that's that usually works better in BNA.
Adam Hammil:Not to say that those can't work. We've had a lot of great members who have been parts of a large company as well. But it's it's that the relationship with the customer and the even just, you know, right from the first time you meet them or the first time you ask for the data, the customers are, wow. The other companies that we've talked to didn't ask us for this much information. And it's like, well, we need this information in order to really calculate how the system will work for you and what your savings will be.
Adam Hammil:And, you know, it's just little details like that, I think, that start to show from the beginning. Like, we're looking at a little bit more. We're not just trying to, you know, shove a cookie cutter solution into everyone's home, but really trying to find something that works best and provide options in terms of, you know, the way they can monitor their system, the way they can pay for the system, all those kinds of things. So I I think building those options around the customer rather than building them around what's, yeah, simplest and best for us. Because we could make things a heck of a lot simpler, but we wouldn't be delivering the best product, you know, to our customer at the end of the day.
Adam Hammil:Mhmm.
Crystal Privett:You mentioned earlier that you were a problem solver. I saw this firsthand in a couple of, experiences that you've helped me, with one of the houses where the pitch didn't quite meet meet together and you had to redo the roof a little bit. And then another time that I had, done some solar, and there were some issues with it, and you guys actually came in and repaired some of the issues that a previous solar company had, created. And I know you do that a lot because a lot of solar companies are the fly by night. Not everyone is, quite as stable and, secure in their community as you are.
Crystal Privett:Can you speak to that a little bit?
Adam Hammil:Sure. Well, I think there are a lot of there are a lot of good solar companies out there, but there are a lot of not so good solar companies, or even good solar companies could make a mistake every once in a while. But, yeah, we do a ton of service for existing systems. It's not always the fault of the installers. Sometimes, you know, a a device just fails and needs to be replaced.
Adam Hammil:We can enforce those warranties whether we install the system or not. But we have a and we have a team of specialized individuals, actually 3 guys, whose full time job is service, not just on our systems, but on any system. So a lot of problems we can solve without even going on-site, which is really, really great. We have a a guy who, you know, works in our office answering those calls and walking customers through problem solving before we even have to go. A lot of systems we can monitor remotely without having to go on-site, which is, you know, fantastically beneficial both for the customer and for us.
Crystal Privett:Yeah. Because there's an app. Right?
Adam Hammil:Absolutely. We can
Crystal Privett:track what we're bringing in and how much it costs.
Adam Hammil:Yes. With most systems, there is an app. A few quite a few different apps and quite a few different manufacturers, but we've worked with most of those. And we can help people whether they, yeah, used us in the 1st place or not. And that's how we get a lot of our referrals because we're the ones that came in and helped, you know, fix a system or fix a roof, you know, that someone else had had messed up, from time to time.
Adam Hammil:So that's that's a huge, that's a huge thing for us and something that we, you know, like I said, we derive a lot of our business from that. So a lot of people call us when they have a system that's not doing what they think it should. A lot of times the solution has nothing to do with the system. A lot of times they just need to change their rate plan. They've been switched onto a rate plan without their knowledge that isn't giving them the best benefit of their solar.
Adam Hammil:We love giving people solutions that cost them nothing but save them a lot of money. And a lot of times, we're able to do that whether it's service or just a rate plan change. Mhmm.
Crystal Privett:And he mentioned how expensive solar or expensive electricity is here in San Diego. How about you? My my bill I showed it to my son last month. It was negative $4.
Eric Beels:Nice. So Yeah. I have a lot of negatives, too, actually. It kinda just depends. I I I haven't I don't think I've had one full year since you actually updated, like, one coming up into December, it'd be I think it'll be one full one full one full to the system?
Eric Beels:Yeah. Yeah. Because I had I had you add some adds, add some stuff, but, but I had I thought of an interesting question for you. I'm not really we'll see I'll see if you can, answer, answer this because it sounds like I suspect that this probably happens a lot in your industry where it's like you kind of have, like and I imagine this is probably the downfall actually of a lot of companies. And then I think this can be applicable to other industries that are kind of, like, dynamic and kind of changing in this for you in terms of, like, technology changing.
Eric Beels:But, like, what do you do when you have, like, a rhythm? You have, like, a rhythm where it's like, okay, this is how we install stuff. This is the stuff that we use. And then and I don't really know what this would be, but if something comes out that's, like, completely flips everything on its head, maybe it's a policy change or maybe it's a, some new technology, battery technology that that maybe, you know, a lot of your income with me was coming from batteries, but now it's not anymore. So now it's like, wait a minute.
Eric Beels:Do I have to like this was this was like the bread and butter for the aspect of the company. And I'm not saying it is batteries. I don't know what it is, but and so what do you kind of like, how do you tackle that? Do you kind of do you kind of, like, okay. How do we well, let's just figure out how to move forward with this, or do you kind of make it look maybe a combination of both?
Eric Beels:Or you still do the old stuff while you kind of really developing this? How does maybe you can touch on that a
Adam Hammil:little bit. Well, it's it's an interesting question because those kinds of things happen in our industry all the time. In the industry, we call it the solar coaster for a reason.
Eric Beels:Solar coaster. I like that.
Crystal Privett:I haven't heard that one either either.
Eric Beels:That's good.
Adam Hammil:Because things just change so drastically. And I think it's policy is a big one. So this 30% federal tax credit thing has been a huge deal for our industry for a long time. People think it's gone or going away. It's actually it was renewed for another decade, a year ago.
Adam Hammil:So we have 9 more years, I believe now, of 30% federal tax credit. A part of me almost wishes it would go away because I think
Adam Hammil:Mhmm.
Adam Hammil:Tax credits and government incentives make people think that it doesn't make sense without that extra help. Mhmm. But the bottom line is solar would make sense with or without government help whether you have to buy batteries or not. It still makes sense.
Crystal Privett:How how long does it take for solar to pay for itself? That's a good question.
Adam Hammil:It is a good question. And that changed a lot with this new policy change that really required batteries. And that policy change was it. They call it NEM 3. NEM is net energy metering.
Adam Hammil:3 is is really just the 3 point o version of net metering, which gives you very, very little credit for solar that you put on the grid. Mhmm. If you already have solar, you're grandfathered for 20 years on whatever the net metering arrangement was when you installed. But for new customers, they really don't get any credit for putting their power onto the grid. Maybe an average of 5¢ per kilowatt hour, but they're paying an average of maybe 40¢ a kilowatt hour for power they take off the grid.
Adam Hammil:Well, that doesn't really help you very much, does it? So you need a battery to store that energy for yourself so you can use it at least through the most expensive time of day, which is typically 4 PM to 9 PM.
Crystal Privett:So you're taking your energy when it's not peak hours, so you're not using as much of that.
Adam Hammil:Exactly. So before that change, our solar systems typically paid for themselves in about 4 years for an average customer, which is incredible. That's including the 30% federal tax credit. With the batteries, we're finding paybacks ranging from 6 to 10 years depending on the usage profile. And that people, oh, 6 to 10, that's not even worth it.
Adam Hammil:Well, if the system lasts 20 to 30 years, a 6 to 10 year payback is fantastic. Mhmm. And we're basing those paybacks on some really, really conservative inflation numbers. Like, we're saying power is only going up by, I think we're saying 4% per year. But if we expect inflation to be 3%, we're really saying so power is only going up by 1%.
Adam Hammil:And if we look back at the last, like, decade, it's been, like, over, like, it's been around 10% per year almost, including and and when you try to look this number up online, it's almost impossible to find it because inflation isn't included in, you know, in the numbers. So Sure. It's it's, it's a tricky thing. We try to estimate really, really conservatively because we want people to have a better experience than what they expect.
Eric Beels:Yeah. It don't set the expectation too much. Right? Then it doesn't do that yet.
Adam Hammil:But the other challenge is no one really knows how much they're saving. Because once you stop paying that electric bill, you don't know what it would be. And it takes a really kinda complicated, you know, spreadsheet to figure that out. And and so we have customers calling us all all the time. Like, my system's not working.
Adam Hammil:It's not saving me as much money as it used to. And, you know, we can run those numbers and say, hey. If you didn't have your system, your power bill would be, like, $1200 a month right now. So I know you're upset that it's 100 or 200, but that's really nothing. And if you change your rate plan to this, it'll be even less.
Adam Hammil:So, you know or we could potentially add a battery. And, you know, there are certain customers, even with grandfathered systems, who can save a lot of money with a battery and experience like a 6 year payback, especially those who have electric vehicles.
Adam Hammil:Mhmm.
Eric Beels:And a
Adam Hammil:lot of people think, yeah, I want a battery to charge my vehicle. And you don't you don't want a battery to charge your vehicle because the vehicle battery is almost It's like 8 times
Eric Beels:totally dry. Right.
Adam Hammil:The
Adam Hammil:vehicle's 8 times bigger than the the home battery. But what you do want that home battery for is that there are these rate plans, if you have an electric vehicle, that are extremely inexpensive from midnight to 6 AM. And to take advantage of that rate plan, you have to pay a really high rate from 4 PM to 9 PM. So the battery takes care of your 4 PM to 9 PM peak period so that you can charge the car very inexpensively in the middle of the night.
Adam Hammil:And, you
Adam Hammil:know, these these are things that a lot of people just you know, they know there's a rate plan for electric cars. They know you're supposed to use it if you drive 500 miles a month. You know, there there are all kinds of, you know, little metrics, but they're not really sure why. They don't understand how much it'll save them or whether it'll save them money at all. So we try to, you know, answer those questions for people, and we have some fairly advanced software package that packages that help us make those assessments, really, really accurately so that people can, you know, make those changes with confidence that they're going to be, you know, saving money.
Adam Hammil:They can you know, it's it's a big, big investment to make, in the first place. And I just I feel like I wouldn't wanna make it unless I knew this was really gonna work. Because, you know, that's when we we have customers calling us. They have a 3 year old system that isn't working while your investment it doesn't matter what you paid for the system. If it's not working, it's it was a bad investment.
Adam Hammil:Right? So it's what the system's uptime is very, very important. The fact that it's gonna last as long as as we said it would last. Even if it does pay for itself in, you know, 6 years or 10 years, you really need it to last that 20 years to really get what you paid for.
Adam Hammil:Mhmm.
Adam Hammil:So, you know, I think that that kinda ongoing support is really, really important, and I think that's a place where some of our competitors struggle and where we thrive.
Adam Hammil:Mhmm.
Eric Beels:But I think that's a fear factor too of, like, it breaking as well too. It's like, oh, it's it's gonna save you as much. But then, you know, there's there's, I know there's certain things where, like and and I know in in my industry, there's a lot of, like, there's a lot of software promises and a lot of softwares I use, like, make these promises, and then they just simply don't do those things. And so this kind of I mean, that's software, so there's like less of a just a bulk investment on things. But with solar, it's like you're I think, what's the reliability of those panels.
Eric Beels:So I think that's an important aspect. So, are they like I don't know. Do panels like Do they kind of fail often? Is that something you ever have to really worry about? Or is is is it user error installations?
Eric Beels:Or
Adam Hammil:Panels don't fail very commonly. It happens. And there are some, you know, there are panels that have been recalled, for instance. Some entire, you know, makes of panel have been have been recalled, and the manufacturer came and took them away. But it it's not very common.
Adam Hammil:There are some panels that degrade fairly quickly. We have replaced panels for people quite a few times, but one of the things that I think people miss, they think if I'm investing, let's say it's $30,000 in a renewable energy system and then it will shoot if this fails, I'm gonna have to buy it again and it'll probably be even more expensive 10 years down the line or whatever. But one of the really cool things about a lot of our systems is that not the entire system needs to be replaced. So there are a number of systems that are, like, 10 to 12 to 20 years old where we've replaced the panels, but we can reuse the racking.
Adam Hammil:Mhmm.
Adam Hammil:We can reuse the inverters in some cases. A lot of those things are are future proofed to an extent depending on the you know, as long as the manufacturer is still around and things like that. But if it's working, there are a lot of people who've said, look, your Your your system the the the guts of your system are still working. We can just swap the panels out, and that costs a lot less than the initial system. So, you know, those are some things that, you know, people are always concerned about.
Adam Hammil:I don't think I wanna do it yet because I'm waiting for it to become more efficient, to reach that next level. And it's like, look, it always is getting a little bit more efficient. All that matters, like I said, is what you get versus what you pay.
Eric Beels:It's like waiting for the most powerful iPhone.
Adam Hammil:Right. Exactly. They always say in every event.
Eric Beels:It's always like, this this at this event, we're releasing the most powerful iPhone ever. It's like, of course, you are.
Adam Hammil:That's right. I hope it is. Otherwise, it better not be slower.
Adam Hammil:There a new one if it's not as powerful. And so exactly. You're right. And that thing I I say to people all the time, like, hey. If I could sell you one solar panel that was enough to power your whole house forever, but that one solar panel cost $1,000,000, would you buy it?
Adam Hammil:Well, no. Of course, I wouldn't buy it. That doesn't make any sense. That'd take a long time to spend $1,000,000 on electricity. So okay.
Adam Hammil:Well, if I sell you this whole system that costs $30,000, that's gonna basically reduce your energy bill to next to nothing. You know, does it really matter how efficient it is? All that matters is that it did what we said it would do. It might take a couple more panels to do it. You know, a lot of people are obsessed with finding the best, most efficient, everything.
Adam Hammil:We don't look at that. We look at the cost effectiveness of the the device or the product. So we we never I couldn't say never. I don't think we've ever sold the most efficient solar panel because the most efficient solar panel costs
Eric Beels:Super expensive.
Adam Hammil:Like, you know, 30% more than the next most efficient solar panel. Well, that doesn't make any sense. You know, when the efficiency difference is like, you know, maybe 6% or something like that, we'll just install one more panel of the other type and save yourself a lot of money. So, you know, those are the kinds of things that we're looking at. But, you know, your your, you know, Google researcher is gonna find, well, I want this one and I want that one.
Adam Hammil:You know, the those and historically, in our industry, that most expensive top of the line product, those companies don't last. Because as soon as there's some problem, and we saw that recently with, SunPower declaring bankruptcy. They were sort of one of the, you know, leading companies are in in our industry. They spun off their manufacturing arm. And then when everything happened with net metering changing, they just they didn't make it.
Adam Hammil:And that's kind of the ultra premium top of the line product. We've seen that kinda over and over again. So we want that product that's gonna be a workhorse from a company that's not just a bunch of, you know, investors, but actual solar, you know, technicians who are trying to, you know, not just make a quick buck, but make a really high quality product.
Eric Beels:Mhmm.
Adam Hammil:And that's, yeah, that's served us well.
Crystal Privett:That's so great. And I think it's awesome also as BNI members, we get to hear your commercials. So I get to stay abreast to all of the solar news. It actually helped me meet that cutoff, so I got to be part of that that last generation. And I when I first started BNI, you were the president, at of our chapter at that time.
Crystal Privett:What do you think the biggest takeaway from being a member at BNI has been for you?
Adam Hammil:I I love so much about BNI. I tell people all the time, even if I didn't need the referrals, I need the people. And it's it's that network of, like, always knowing there's you're gonna have a solution to whatever your problem is through that network. Well, if I'm a problem solver, I need to be a problem solver for my customers. And when my customers call me with a need, whether it's, you know, for a painter or a dentist, I have a solution for them.
Adam Hammil:Or sometimes I have 3 solutions for them because it isn't just your chapter, it's the whole network.
Adam Hammil:Mhmm.
Adam Hammil:And, you know, if if someone's gonna go get 3 quotes, I want them to get 3 quotes from 3 different people that I know and trust if I can, you know, if I have that many. So I think growing a network is really critical to anyone who's trying to grow a business. So BNI has been great for me because it's always kept me at the top of my game in terms of knowing what I'm looking for, always being ready with that, like, you know, 15 second elevator pitch for someone who wants to know what you do and why you're different. So the in those ways, BNI has been super, super helpful for me. And then just, you know, the the experience of, you know, being being a leader in the group, which you're just about to experience, our new president, that'll be it's it's it's great.
Adam Hammil:And I think, you know, you you gain so much in terms of just respect from the people around you. You know, it's it's been, you know, now being involved more at the Chamber of Commerce in our city. It's you know, everyone knows me. Like, oh, you're in BNI. That's cool.
Adam Hammil:There's a bunch of people here from BNI.
Adam Hammil:That that
Adam Hammil:what you know, what's that group about? That's really great.
Crystal Privett:Like the ladies golf tournament we were.
Adam Hammil:Exactly. Yeah. Exactly. So it's and it's it's just this powerhouse of networking people who, it's all you know, just take over the city with, you know, participation and really being there for others. And and, you know, the larger community sees and appreciates what we're doing.
Adam Hammil:So that's been really helpful for me. That's been really helpful for my business. I think it's been helpful for others as well, you know, that have been a part of all of that. So if I don't know where my business would be without BNI, like I said, I started in BNI at the very, very beginning. And for most of the years that I've been in business, BNI has represented about 30% of our business.
Crystal Privett:Wow.
Adam Hammil:So and then now we've kinda grown to the size. We have these, you know, large commercial clients and things like that. And, like, you know so it isn't 30% anymore. But how could I leave the group that gave me all you know, that basically gave me what I have in terms of this business? We now you know, like I said, when I started out, it was really just me.
Adam Hammil:We now have about 40 employees. And, that's in large part thanks to b and I and just the continuous support from this group and the continuous referrals and just bolstering of that business by people who really believe in me and then what we're trying to do. Mhmm.
Eric Beels:Yeah. I mean, it sounds like like, hey, if you've kind of factor in the, like, the the relationships that you've kind of built from it, then it might even be it might like, I know for me, it's, if I, like, kind of trace kind of every like, all my my my business kind of where it come like, it almost all of it come sources from BNI in some way. Like, it it's like so we're talking, like, referral from a tier to tier, like, tier 3, the tier 3 plus
Adam Hammil:Oh, yeah.
Eric Beels:Kind of stuff. If I do that, it's, like, 80, 90% for me. Right. It's, like, crazy. But, I mean, not all of it is, like, directly not, like, let you know this person, you know, sending me, like, referral.
Eric Beels:It's like, oh, they gave me they introduced me to this person, and then that person introduced me to another person. And if you factor that when I factor that in, I'm like, dang. There's a there's a lot, like, coming
Adam Hammil:from me. Love a tool to help me do that. If there's someone out there who has developed a tool for tracking 2nd 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th tier referrals, I would love that tool. I would love to try to figure it out myself because it's so it's hard to track.
Adam Hammil:Yeah. Really is.
Eric Beels:But that's that's
Adam Hammil:right. And when you've been in BNI for a decade plus, it's it's happening. I know it's happening. And but every once in a while, you know, trace one back. I'm like, oh my goodness.
Adam Hammil:How many more times is this happening than I realized?
Eric Beels:Yeah. Yeah. I mean, when you have, like, the app to kinda, like, you know, put in your referral or whatever. Sure. Or you're thinking for Cole's business.
Eric Beels:But, I mean, I think that's very, like it's it's like a surface level tracking methodology just kinda like trucks
Crystal Privett:Pure one. Yeah.
Eric Beels:Yeah. That that's that that's, yeah. I don't know if I don't nothing no software, like, comes to mind besides just kinda like building something in a like a like a spreadsheet program or something. Yeah. You know?
Eric Beels:But maybe a CRM, maybe certain CRMs. Maybe you might be We should
Adam Hammil:figure out a way. There's I'm sure there's some simple way, and there's some genius watching this podcast
Adam Hammil:who's gonna write in about it, I hope.
Crystal Privett:We'll make sure he gets your contact info at the end. Yes. We actually happen to have a most incredible audience. So is there anything that you would like the audience to take away, from this podcast?
Adam Hammil:You know, I think as as far as BNI, I would say stick with it. Like, I hear from people all the time, like, oh, I'm just not getting what I thought I would from this, and it just takes time. And I've seen so many people, leave before they've kind of reached that, you know, peak.
Adam Hammil:Mhmm.
Adam Hammil:And, I think once you get past that peak, you don't leave till you retire. And I and it's, you know, it's every business is different. Every person is different. But if you do the things that BNI says to do, I don't know that I've ever seen that fail over the long term. So, you know, I would say but then as far as my business goes, I would want people to know, yes, things have changed, but solar still makes so much sense.
Adam Hammil:Yes, you need to have batteries to save money with solar, but if you're moving into a new home, and it doesn't have solar, don't hesitate to look into it. It's going to solve your energy problem. It's going to eliminate a significant expense or severely reduce a significant expense. It will pay for itself. The products on the market right now are fantastic, and I would love to come tell you all about it.
Eric Beels:I have another question for actually, one final question. And I wanna and I wanna see if so this might kind of put you on the spot a little bit with this. But if you were to kind of because you mentioned you're a problem solver. If you were to kind of, like, break down, like, what is your process on problem solving? I'm a processes guy.
Eric Beels:I'm fascinated about processes. This is, like that's processes is, like, my jam. That's what I I love building processes. What would what would your process be? I'm like, okay.
Eric Beels:I we have a problem. What's, like, what do you kinda do to kind of try to figure out what like, what do you kinda start with first and then kinda like and not not I mean, you could maybe apply it to to solar, but I would imagine that there's that there's that there's a certain process that you have that's like to kind of figuring that out, that could also be applied to other businesses as well.
Adam Hammil:The most challenging part for me of problem solving is that I hear about the problem, and I just wanna spring into action and fix it before I've gathered all of the information. So, you know, when I get a customer complaint, that that nothing upsets me more than getting a customer complaint. I'm like, come on, guys. Why aren't we better than this? But I look in you know, when I look into it, I realize, okay, This was just a communication issue or, you know, there were some wires crossed here or there.
Adam Hammil:Somebody misunderstood something. So, you know, the first part is get all the information. And that's exactly what we have to do just when we're trying to provide a solar quote for someone. Their problem is they're spending a bunch of money. Well, why are they spending a bunch of money?
Adam Hammil:Is it because they're they just bought an EV and they're on the wrong rate plan and they don't understand how these things work? Is it just that they've got a really an old and inefficient house, and there are really some things that need to be done there first before we address the utility bill?
Eric Beels:Neighbors plugging into your outlet
Adam Hammil:in the house. Well, exactly.
Adam Hammil:Or just a, you know, ancient I talked to one guy. I said, my electric bill is $750, and nothing's changed in my house for 60 years. I said, when you say nothing's changed in your house,
Adam Hammil:what do
Adam Hammil:you mean? So I've got the same 7 refrigerators and freezers, and I'm like, that is not what you want. That those those are, like, old oversized compressors, and all of your seals will have completely failed. And those things are just running 24 hours a day. Oh, what do you mean?
Adam Hammil:Oh, I did notice I can see the light inside when it I'm like, the light's on inside when it's closed? So, you know, there are it it's it's getting all of the information. Because I think a lot of us wanna just, like, slap a band aid on the problem. And that's you know, I could do the same thing. When we look at somebody's electric bill, it's like, well, let's just put 400 solar panels on that roof.
Adam Hammil:Mhmm.
Adam Hammil:Well, that's not always the best solution. You know, what where's most of your energy usage coming from? Well, it's coming from this really old air conditioner. Well, let's build that into the project and fix it. Or it's coming from this, you know, I've got this really old inefficient well pump.
Adam Hammil:Or I'm running my pool pump for 12 hours a day when I really don't need to be, you know, just things like that that are really simple solutions that don't cost anything. So I'd say, yeah, in all cases, get all of the information. You're not gonna be able to solve any problem effectively if you're just hearing the problem and jumping right to the solution.
Crystal Privett:I've heard you also mention that sometimes complaints can be the biggest turnaround for you because that's an opportunity. Do you wanna speak to that a little?
Adam Hammil:Oh, absolutely. I'm a huge proponent of complaints being an opportunity for growth. I think with, you know, really with anything, it it gives us an opportunity to see where, you know, where we can improve a system or a process or communication, and especially within BNI. So if if you're a BNI member and you're listening to this, when a member comes to you with a problem, always look at that as an opportunity. It's even on membership committee, when people come with complaints, it's an opportunity for us to help somebody grow.
Adam Hammil:It's a big, big deal. So, you know, when you look at those as opportunities, you'll be a lot less upset, but you'll also be able to just grow your team and improve the just the experience that customers are having with your business. So BNI for me has been so good for that because a lot of people just won't say anything. Something goes wrong, they're not happy, they just let it go. That isn't helpful.
Adam Hammil:They're not airing their concerns, they're not feeling heard, and I'm not given the opportunity to improve our process or our team or, you know, take advantage of whatever teachable moment might be happening. So complaints are always an opportunity for growth. Cherish complaints. Ask for them, because those are a great way to just improve and grow your business.
Crystal Privett:And the way that you respond to those can actually create more business because if someone complains and then they're able to see that you were, like, went above and beyond and took actions to make sure that customer was happy. Now you went from having a complaint to now having a referral.
Adam Hammil:Right. A 100%. Well, then, I mean, if you look at Yelp reviews, you look at a company and they've got 400 reviews and they've got a 4.8 star rating. But what do you do? Do you read those positive reviews?
Adam Hammil:No. You scroll down
Adam Hammil:to the 1 star review.
Adam Hammil:You scroll down to the 1
Adam Hammil:star review. You wanna
Adam Hammil:see what went wrong and why. You know? And and are these are these 5 star reviews real? And those one star reviews, oh my gosh. That's an opportunity to make something right, to respond to the customer in a way where everybody can see your response.
Adam Hammil:You can explain what went wrong. You can apologize for things. And and I think, you know, like I said, that's those complaints have been huge opportunities for we get a lot of jobs because of our one star Yelp reviews. People say, we saw those reviews and we saw how you responded. It doesn't look like that happens very often, and so we we, you know, trust you.
Adam Hammil:It's a big deal.
Eric Beels:Yeah. Yeah. That's that that's that's that's it's it's so it seems so backwards. Right?
Adam Hammil:Because you
Eric Beels:it's like, oh, we want the 5 star reviews. But I know it myself. I've I've sometimes, like, kind of rolled my eyes on some of the on 5 stars myself sometimes when I'm kind of, like, going through it. And then sometimes I look for, like, the 4 stars
Adam Hammil:Right.
Eric Beels:Where it's, like, positive, but I'm like, oh, he has letters. It was once I was like, I was like, okay. So now it's real now. Right. 4¢.
Crystal Privett:You buy it
Eric Beels:a little bit. Yeah. Right.
Adam Hammil:You buy it a little bit more. Yeah.
Adam Hammil:But they're in there unfortunately, there's not a Yelp for contractors. We can't go review our customers anywhere. Mhmm. So, you know, but, you know, my my employees complain. They say, you know, do we attract crazy customers?
Adam Hammil:And it's like, no. I think we're just the only company that really took the time to listen to them and work through all of their concerns, and that's why we got the job. And if we can make them happy, we can make anybody happy. Not that any of my customers are crazy. If any of you were listening, you're fine people.
Adam Hammil:But but you know what I mean. It's just it's it's a matter of being able to, you know, listen to concerns, address them, and just do whatever it takes to to make people happy. That goes a long, long way. Mhmm. And those difficult, difficult customers often end up being your best referral.
Adam Hammil:Yep. Mhmm.
Crystal Privett:Yeah. Raving champions.
Eric Beels:Well well, great, Adam. So do if if someone wanted to, like, get in touch with you, leave a one star read. No kidding. Leave it get in contact with you and and, and
Crystal Privett:He did say he left complaints.
Eric Beels:Yeah. He left complaints. So you heard it from him, guys. How can how can somebody get in contact with you?
Adam Hammil:Sure. So our phone number is really easy to remember. It's 76089 Alive, and that's how you get in touch with our service department, with our, roofing or solar departments, or project management. It it's it's all right there, menu driven. Or you can always email me directly.
Adam Hammil:My email address is just adam@aliveindustries.com.
Crystal Privett:And they can find you in the app as well.
Adam Hammil:Absolutely. Yep. We're there under Alive Solar and Roofing.
Eric Beels:Great. Alright. Thanks so much, Adam.
Adam Hammil:Thank you, guys. This has been fun.
Crystal Privett:Yay. Not another boring podcast.
Adam Hammil:Not at all.
Crystal Privett:Thank you, everyone. Thank you for joining us for the Business Boost Hour. My name is Crystal Pravette, and this is Eric Fields. Thank you for joining us, and don't forget to document your single CEU. See you next time.
Adam Hammil:See you
Eric Beels:in the next episode.
Creators and Guests
