My Experience

Week 1: May 14-20

To start my internship, me, my brother, and father drove 24 hours from PA to Austin, Texas. We got to experience the extreme change of weather the further we went south. Once we arrived in Austin, we visited downtown and walked around UT’s campus. My first week of the internship was challenging. I began my door-to-door sales training where I go around neighborhoods and attempt to set appointments for solar panels. I wasn’t very good at this, so I got the door slammed on me about 90% of the time.

Week 2: May 21-27

During this week, we knocked in Georgetown where I had the setter manager knock with me and it helped me a lot. He told taught me tips such as using icebreakers in conversations, presenting the problem and solution, and using a soft close in order to effectively set appointments. I did not get a set for the first two weeks, and knocking with the manager allowed me to finally get six in one day.

Week 3: May 28-June 4

Still knocking in Georgetown, I was finally able to break through and make my first sale with solar panels. I was able to show the family how they could save money by going solar instead of continuing to pay money to their electricity company. It was sold to an elderly family, and I celebrated the first sale by going to a boat party on Lake Travis. They played great EDM music, allowing me to make the most of the moment.

Week 4: June 5-11

I made another sale this week, being able to provide solar to another elderly couple. Most systems are around 8-9 Kilowatts, but this family had a smaller system; so, it was only 3.65 KW. Regardless, it felt amazing to know that I was improving at this job, so I had another weekend celebration by going to downtown Austin for the weekend.

Week 5: June 12-18

In our final week in Georgetown, we decided to make the most of it by getting the entire Austin company together and play pickup basketball before going out to knock. This strategy was effective because I was able to get another 8 KW sale the day before we left Georgetown.

Week 6: June 19-25

This week, I experienced my first blitz. A blitz is where you go a couple hours out to another town in order to make more money. You can make more money because people in smaller towns are more approachable and willing to listen. In Fairfield, I was able to set 28 appointments in 5 days and got a 10 KW sale. I had a lot of fun here as well because we stayed in a hotel and got free complimentary breakfast for the entire week.

Week 7: June 26- July 2

This week we worked in Austin and in a small town called Rockdale. I became a setter trainer and trained a new intern from Mexico City. This was also the first week we experienced triple digits every day.

Week 8: July 3-July 9

This week was a breakout week for me. We ended up doing another blitz in a small, rural town called Wortham. Here, I saw a lot of success as I was able to get three sales all within a 24-hour time period. My boss gifted me and the interns with a boat party as a result of a great week.

Week 9: July 10-16

My boss decided to give me a challenge by knocking by mansions in West Austin. I was up for the challenge, but I really did not know what I got myself into. These places get knocked heavily, so the only time people gave me the time of day was when I asked for water.

Week 10: July 17-23

My final week my boss decided to send me on another blitz for the week to try and reach my commission bonus. I needed 4 sales to reach it, but I only managed to get 2 sales and ended my summer selling 10 solar systems.

End of Internship