“No Such Thing As Overnight Success,” SunLife’s Lance Vernon On Mindset In The Age Of Solar

Lance Vernon, CEO of SunLife Solar, helped grow his company by reaching a mammoth 44 million dollars in sales in 2022. Vernon also serves as Chief Revenue Officer for SunBase, the only end-to-end business management software in the solar space. He is a disruptor in the industry, but if there’s one thing he loves more than his business, it’s helping others achieve their goals. Here he shares more on his success to help you do the same.

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Scaling a business is not at all easy, but with the right resources and mindset, anything is possible. This is something that Lance Vernon knows all too well. He is a serial entrepreneur, investor and a team-building aficionado, who has scaled his regional solar consulting firm, SunLife Solar, by almost 500% in one year.

Now, that’s a lot of growth within one year, a number that plenty of business owners and entrepreneurs would feel elated to have. But what most people tend to look past, is the hard work that went into making that growth possible. As Vernon says, “there’s no such thing as an overnight success,” – so what does that type of growth really require?

He shares that there are three main factors for SunLife Solar’s success: SunBase, their all-in-one business management software, their incredibly diverse executive team, and their workplace culture that can be felt from the moment you’re on your first company call. No wonder they have 97% rating on Indeed; driving organic growth as we move into 2023. 

The executive team in question include Director of Sales Raymond Joaceus, who has stood by Vernon’s side for close to five years. Alongside Joaceus are co-founder and elder Vernon sibling Sean, who acts as ‘President of Sales & Chief Officer.’ The rest of the executive team is made up of COO Andrew Egan (alongside his fiancee Rachel Aguilar) & Antoine Bell, the VP of Sales & Brandy Timmers, Sunlife’s National Trainer. 

“To be a top 1% earner in America means you have to be willing to do what 99% of people are not willing to do,” Vernon says. In the solar industry, what most people aren’t willing to do is go door to door, which is why SunLife’s entire team does exactly that. 

“Celebrities like Mark Cuban from Shark Tank and a lot of entrepreneurs come from door to door and are the best people to get motivation from, mindset wise. You have to grind, and you have to have control. You have to have great body language, great tonality, great sales skills. And that’s why our entire team goes door to door. “It gives both companies from both sales reps the best win-win scenario as they’re able to earn more money than they would have relying upon company leads,” he continues.

Having a team that is willing to put in the work, despite their status in the company or even when times are tough and they may face rejection, is a huge part of any business’s success, beyond just the sales industry. Finding these individuals begins with your recruitment. Vernon shares that last year, SunLife had over 65,000 people apply to work for them, and a huge part why is because of their company culture. 

“My saying from last year has been, we have to make our internal culture external. If no one knows who you are, then why are they going to need your service? Why would they want to come to work with you?” he says.

Aside from going door to door, leading sales training workshops and mentoring his team, Vernon encourages his employees to have fun. “Have fun and make money, not make money then have fun,” he says. “If you love what you do, you’re not going to consider it work,” he adds. 

At SunLife, the team regularly go on trips, cruises, and getaways – which are dedicated to driving them to accomplish their goals. But the most important part is that there’s always an element of personal development. 

“You should always be educating, it does not matter if you have a degree. That’s not the way this business works. It is constant, personal and spiritual development. As a leader, you’re leading more than yourself, and you have to be able to provide for your team and give them the best opportunity to grow,” he says.

When asked if he had a last piece of advice for anyone looking to grow and scale their business this year, Vernon says, “sometimes the hardest thing to hear is no. Hearing no is rejection. But what’s even harder is having to say no sometimes yourself, saying no to distractions like social media, friends, or somebody who is trying to pull you away from your goals. That’s even harder, but definitely worth it in the long run.”

SunLife“When you see something as an opportunity, you have to dive into it. I work now more than I ever worked before. I went through crazy amounts of losses, stress, and anxiety, but also grew because of those experiences, so I’m thankful for going through the adversity because that’s what I think has molded me and set me down a path of success,” he concludes.

If you would like to learn about building and scaling a business like SunLife Solar, be sure to connect with Lance Vernon on Instagram or LinkedIn where he shares many other tips and resources!

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