Thread: anyone know anything about selling energy assistance?

interview for a job last night for a subcontractor to PG&E (pacific gas and electric). i would be cold calling pge customers to see if they income qualify for energy assistance. i make an appointment then goto their home to do an audit and see what in their house can be changed or fixed to save energy (light bulbs, sealed exterior doors, caulkling around windows, etc..) for each audit i do i get $76. the only selling is to make the appoint, the company CANNOT sell products, or accept money as they are paid by PGE. i have to do a 2 week school through pge, hotel, per diem, and hourly all paid for. then the first month of work is hourly while im being trained. after that its %100 commission. i can stay at home sched my appointments all day and then go out to them the next, or however i want to sched my week out.

so does anyone know much about these? is the money good? im great with people, have no problem with that, im just thinking about my family and the risk of going from guaranteed money to commission money.

So basically you're trying to set up appointments with lower-income folks? If that is the case, you can probably guess what my reaction/perspective would be.........

As a union electrician, may i suggest you do not do this.

Now, if you wanna sell energy, Look into selling alternative.

MONEY

Look into Viridian or similar companies.

whats the reason for not doing it?lower income doesnt always mean trash. just means people making under 30p-35k a year, which with this economy is quite common.

ill check out viridian, thank you.

viridian sounds like MLM?

Originally Posted by RiseAbove

whats the reason for not doing it?lower income doesnt always mean trash. just means people making under 30p-35k a year, which with this economy is quite common.

ill check out viridian, thank you.

You're going to be dealing with a flakier customer base, at a minimum. If you set up an appointment, then show up and no one's there or they've changed their minds, do you still get paid?

that part i understand, he said that is the only problem they have, selling the free helpful product is easy, but they do get flakes. i only get paid for each completed appt.

I have a theory on jobs that are easy to get and always hiring...stay away!

i agree with this, and i dont want to sound like im defending this job, they arent always hiring, he only keeps a sales staff of 8-10, with 8 on staff now, i just have great qualifications.

my only worry is switching from guaranteed paycheck to 100% commission, but i also know sales is where good money is.