entry level sales and marketing

appointment coordinator

solar consultant

appointment generator

brand ambassador

Momentum Solar

Momentum Solar is a great company to work for as one of the top solar contractors in the country. They offer an excellent product and tout competitive commission pay outs. 

However, in my short time I learned a few things about Momentum that didn't line up with what I learned in training. My issues boil down to three things: schedule, leads, and commission payout. 

Obviously the solar specialist position is on call 6 days a week 9 to 9. Customer no shows and cancels at the door are to be expected, but they should not be the norm. In a given week more than half of my company appointments would not sit. The issue is that in a given day, I might spend the entire day driving from no show to no show only to sit with one person out of the original 5 appointments. I expected there to be some no shows, but momentum promises hot confirmed appointments, meaning they call the homeowner two to three hours before the appointment to make sure they are available. What they were actually doing is sending me to try and sit with someone who ghosted them on those confirmation calls! The CRM has all these metrics and grades for the quality of these appointments, but they are asterisked so you cannot see the kind of appointment you are walking into. In the end, I spent lots of time driving around all across the state for like 2 to 4 sales in a good week. 

Leads. They are aggressive with their appointment setters. The majority of the appointments that I sat with said they clicked on some ad on the internet and then started receiving tons of calls from momentum to set an appointment. Then they received a bunch of calls asking the same questions over and over (hot confirming calls) so when I pull up to the home their guard is so high, nothing I say brings them back down. Often times these homeowners are price shopping so the hot confirming process just confirms that I am going to try and sell them, which makes selling much harder! Granted, I am not the best salesperson by a long shot, but I know not to annoy my clients before I have even gotten in the door! The main issue is that Momentum is spending its resources on the wrong kind of leads, wasting time with people who are not ready to make a decision, let alone even willing to sit and chat. This means as a specialist, your are dealing with more negativity than I think is necessary for this work. Also, from the customers perspective, it looks pretty desperate that we are trying so hard to get them to sit, which does not make us look good. 

Commissions are extraordinarily low for the amount of work and time you will have to put into your sales. To make fat checks you have to close more appointments, which means you need to sit as many people as possible and sign them. This becomes more difficult because momentum wants one-sit closers. So to get those results out of the kind of appointments they are setting is asking a lot. You dont just have to sell solar, you gotta start rebuilding trust because of how aggressive the company was in setting this meeting up. Even if you manage to get the sale, you have to be available to hold the homeowners hand because momentum does very little to keep everyone updated through out the process. I had projects that were shown as cancelled in my CRM only to have the homeowner call me a few weeks later wondering what is going on with his project. Turns out the retention team cancelled my deal because the homeowner didn't respond to one email. Had to rescue the deal and call customer service to get the ball rolling again. 

Anyway, it is a lot of work: the hours, the leads, the pay, and lack of organization is going to have you stretched so just be aware.

I loved most of the team here, they are easy to talk to and made me feel comfortable. Know how to laugh and don't take things too seriously.

My concerns with the job:

I didn't feel 2 weeks of training was adequate for new hires to feel completely comfortable in hindsight. It felt rushed, and there was a ton of emphasis on memorizing the script, which claims to be "psychologically backed," but ends up sounding cringe in actuality. Homeowners I met with were rude and most did not want to hear the script the way we learned it, so don't freak out about it too much. You'll end up figuring out how to use it in your own words in action. 

Something that irritated me was presumed confirmation of homeowners time. They don't call to confirm before you drive to meet one, so you could end up wasting an hour and some in gas for a cancelation or no show. On top of this, homeowners are not notified if you are running late to their appointment, which I thought was inconsiderate and a bit stressful. 

One co-worker who vetted out won a bonus gas card that he still hasn't received after a month of vetting out. Management told him they were unsure of why. Sounds a little strange to me. 

If a homeowner reschedules an appointment but you were the last one to see them, they give it to someone else (unless they request you specifically, I suppose.) I didn't know this before hand which really frustrated me. I just feel like for a company to claim "operates with integrity," why are they not supporting building relationships with consultants/homeowners? As a homeowner I'd feel off if a new consultant showed up to my door the next visit, especially if I didn't know we could request them again. 

They may try to tell you any sales you made after leaving do not go to you. I had to advocate a bit on the situation before I was finally told you may be able to keep some of it if paperwork is clean. 

There is of course, no reimbursement for gas and no base pay. Which you probably already knew via their application. I'll tell you now, this isn't the place for you to start if you don't have a safety cushion. All the driving and nature of sales makes it unreliable for those living paycheck to paycheck. 

You might be able to make this work if you have something to pull from, can navigate pushy, rude homeowners, build rapport easily, and communicate well. But these sales aren't easy, and most of the potential comes from your ability to generate SGRs. But don't expect to come out making what they tell you is possible in the first year. It's a bit misleading and I think it's encouraged to get you to stay, despite discrepancies. 

Be prepared for the homeowners to be soul sucking energy vampires. There are good ones, but the bad ones are impenetrable. They'll disrespect you, tell you they don't want to hear anything but the numbers, talk over you. One woman took a picture of me on her snapchat and asked for my name and then walked away while I spoke to her husband. Weird.

Most people will want to think about it. Fair. But you are pushed to get them to sign (and of course it's your paycheck), which can be challenging to roll through "no's" and push back. 

I genuinely loved some in management, they were kind, supportive and communicated consistently. I think there is room for improvement for more clarity on communications. Some stories one manager told were embellished to garner people to stay. There was also some brash words spoken to a coworker that made her cry, which left her feeling unsupported and discouraged. 

Overall, good experience to grow from. Not a stable career or job to dive into without precautions and resources.


Sign in, get on the phone, set a lot of appointment.  A chat is used in Microsoft Teams and other team members are encouraging.  Supervisors are for the most part. We are not calling people who are genuinely interested in Solar, so this is more of a pushy slimy sales position to get another salesman in the door.  I feel as though I mislead individuals by telling them it's at no cost and there is no commitment, because once sales steps in the door, they most likely will not lease without getting the commitment & a signed contract. Sometimes the Rep's don't show up for a appointments.  You do set your own goals, if you reach them, you are celebrated you told get more. when you get more, they are more.  It's really never enough.  It's presented as though they just want you to get paid, the push for same day or next day to get to this people quick.  I believe management must be incentivized on what their team does which why nothing is ever good enough.  Other team member doing the same thing are very supportive, but management tires to motivate by publicly putting metrics up for everybody to see.  If you're perform poorly, you'll be highlighted in the chat.   Motivation is if they can do it so can you.  You can move up or down to the "good" leads vs. the "bad" leads.  The good lead is a smidge better than the bad.  You'll be able get more appointments on the good one.  But the bad one is very bad, they old addresses old number, and we call incessantly & they're angry, but they expect us to push to the point that people hung up.  If you don't do that, you're not doing your job.  If you schedule an appointment past 2 days out, you didn't do your job.  The tactic of creating top performers is negative. they highlight every negative point of people's performance.  Never a positive highlight just every that you need to work on & get better.  So the good feedback is very little and followed you better do that again.  Micromanaging off the charts!  They literally make you say exact words, which makes people think that you aren't human on the phone.   If somebody says they are sick the response should be "you'll feel better tomorrow, I have a 12, 3 or 5 I can hold for you"    You're expected to assume every homeowner you speak with is lying & not feel sorry for them.   It's a very demotivating position, and you will just feel like a number & not sincerely helping people you just get an appointment to get a cutthroat salesman there.  They announce that they're holding contests tell you all about it, then that's the last you hear of it, so follow through from management is horrible with giving praise.  When you get moved up, this help build confidence or make you feel like you're doing a good job.  There is literally a note posted that says, "You must get appointments, or you will be moved back to green" (the lousy leads) There nothing motivating about that statement.  Fear motivation, scare them into doing their job.  You have very brief meetings with your leaders that consist of do I tell you., you don't this.  They don't want push back, just listen to what I say.    They move managers up and down, and nothing is said, just go about yourself like the is normal.  When you're the bottom feeder you're worth of knowing anything, just get one the phones & do your job. 

Yes you can probably make great money with Momentum.  They try to warn you ahead of time the training is "intense", which it was!, but F me for not asking exactly what that meant.  

From day 1 they hand you a bagel (with cream cheese), and the first of many super super long winded scripts to memorize and regurgitate back to them the next day in front of the whole class , which can be an embarrassing sh.i.t show, but it get's better because they hand you another beast of a script the following day whether you have the first one committed to memory or not. (You Won't)

This goes on every single day for two weeks.  The whole time you're so stressed out because it's just soooo much they want you to prove to them you know and never having enough time to get the first one down, so you're always behind.

I was freaking out the whole time and you'll say to yourself over and over, "How the F do they expect anyone to memorize THIS MUCH?" It wouldn't be nearly as bad if they just gave you more time to get it.  Even one of the managers teaching the material didn't have it all memorized.

You have to vet your knowledge before they let you talk to their leads which they have no shame in telling you exactly how much they pay for each lead multiple times.  The vetting is a do or die situation and if you're not prepared it feels like a shot to the gut. I was comfortable with the majority of it after the most studying and memorization I've ever done in my whole life including college.   Even then I still didn't feel I knew enough of the material to where I would pass. 

The regional management is under pressure to  outperform other regions of the company and  that pressure trickles down to all the new sales people  in regards to the window of time they give you to know everything, vet, and start selling, and how much you sell.     

And if you think you can ditch the script once you're in the field, they make you turn on an app that listens to your whole encounter and keeps track of random key words from the script to make sure you're using it. 

If you have a good brain for memorization and not easily discouraged every time you think they couldn't possibly give you more sh.i.t to memorize, and you're able to vet out, you will have then deserved every dollar you make with them.

One last thing to be aware of, they don't do a great job of giving you enough practice dealing with the signing process or loan document explanation you need to go over with the client if you do close a deal.  Once you vet they slap a company shirt on you and you're out the door selling the same day.  Maybe you'll get a chance to shadow another sales rep, but that doesn't always happen.  

That was the biggest reason I decided it wasn't for me. I'm not going to look like a total idiot at the end of all this training just to fumble over a long list of closing procedures, loan conditions and exclaimers, pretending to the customer it's not my fault I don't  know what I'm saying while I'm on the phone with my manager who's trying to explain it .  Sorry, they need to NOT rush that part of the process.    

Hope this helps someone

As someone with experience in the solar industry. I implore you, explore other options.

I'll begin with the pay, as it is probably why you're here. In simple terms, it's far less than even the stingiest of their competitors. The commission structure is intentionally confusing for new employees. It sounds great from them, sure, but in reality for the vast majority of employees, the pay is .06 per watt; far below industry standard. 

They lure you in with a 10k sign on bonus but very few receive more than 1k as it is based on specific performance markers, and details of your work, that are intentionally glossed over in training. 

A red flag you will notice is less than small handful of employees have been with Momentum more than a year. Odd for a company operating 10+ years, right? You quickly learn why.

 Appointments are scheduled sometimes as soon as an hour beforehand, and often more than an hour away. You will be unable to make any outside plans as you will not know your schedule for the day even just hours ahead of time. Classes, clubs, and hobbies, cannot coexist.  

The scheduling is 8am-8pm they will tell you, but meetings often are more than 3 hours  (not including drive time) and so it is not uncommon to return home from your 8pm after midnight. 

 They will tell you everyone must work on the last day of the month... or last 2 days...or 3... it will change at their whim. This is done regardless of your schedule and plans. But regardless of time of the month, they WILL schedule you on days off and you WILL be held accountable if unavailable.

 It all beings begins at 8:30am, where you and others are singled out and interrogated  daily in front of 50+ peers to recite random parts of a (painfully cringe) sales pitch. Humiliation is intentionally, and frequently used to keep you in line. All cameras must be on. Are you driving on the highway to an appointment during the zoom and can't join exactly at 8:30 while merging?  No excuse. Expect a call from management. 

You are put in these scenarios often. You will get in trouble  because you didn't make the client with Alzheimer's to sign a 25 year contract. You should've called their next of kin. These are real conversations management had with us. This is the only solar company I have experienced where not 1, but multiple of your coworkers are actively being sued by clients at any given time.

On a sillier note, as if in grade school, they will make you send them pictures of your notes after meetings. You are required to record your meetings with clients (oftentimes unbeknownst to said clients) so it can be critiqued by management. Momentum has this weird mix of childlike micromanagement as if you'd put your shoes on backwards if not for management over your shoulder, but ironically little to no support when you actually need them.

Don't put yourself through this. 


I worked for this company for years. I did work for 7 different departments over the years just bouncing back and forth wherever the company needed me most at the time. I knew almost every step of the process this company runs through and worked my way into management. I was fed promise after promise about my position and potential within the company. Time after time, the promises would be broken. The pay was never as good as they said it would be, and if the company decided one of the departments they needed me in while bouncing me around shouldn't pay as much, they would cut my pay without warning. After a large layoff, that I was a part of, the company offered relocation to some employees, but claimed they had nowhere to pivot me to. Me. The only one in that layoff who could proficiently work in 7 departments. This company also does not do severance pay or anything of the sort. My layoff was on the spot, no warning and the only thing I received was a promise that they "wouldn't fight me on unemployment." Besides my personal frustration, this company is not somewhere to have on your radar for several more reasons. Communication between departments is almost non-existent company-wide. It leads to a lot of very difficult situations for both employees and customers. There is very little work-life balance for some departments and absolutely no balance at all for others. Pay raises have to be begged for and promotions are frequently not worth it at all. Many management positions pay less than the workers they manage and come with 5 times the headache. While some employees are still begging to make the money they deserve from paycheck to paycheck, Momentum offers international vacations to sales reps who already have the highest income potential in the company anyway. Some major decisions for specific offices and even for the whole company are made with very little thought or research and are expected to be followed without question. The company is very dishonest with its customers especially early on in the process with them. I would honestly suggest that if you find yourself working here, get your experience for your resume, and then use it to get a better job somewhere else.

I haven't been at this company a long time (3 almost 4 months now) but am immersed enough in the culture now to understand the environment. All the call center employees mostly seem to be working from home and this is a plus for me. I was actually grateful to get this position because other positions I was being offered just weren't enough pay. I am starting to see some issues sadly. Nothing I think I cant work through but I am a little upset. I'm noticing a bit of favoritism in team meetings. Yes it's online but it's still very apparent. I'm not really too quiet either so it's not like I'm not trying to participate and being shy or something. Numbers are shown to everyone at the meetings. It doesn't matter if your doing good or bad they display it for all to see. Sometimes this seems a bit uncomfortable not just for the people doing bad but even for those doing good. Certain people are always praised. At first you just think ok they must be doing a great job. Then you realize that it's more so favoritism and it wouldn't matter if other people did a great job. It's all about those same few people all the time. This week I decided to ignore all this and not let it get to me. Guess what, my numbers are great this week. I think this type of situation with favoritism is common to these type of jobs. Once you ignore it and do your thing you'll be better off (for anyone else feeling this way). By all means don't quit or give up. Other people don't have to pay your bills you do. Managers will help with questions most of the time. This is one thing I haven't found in other places. Again this is through teams in group chats. So also be prepared to be put on the spot in these chats if you mess up for all to see. It's just the culture of this company. They call it team work and being part of a team. Other companies I've worked for this was never done. Meetings about sales always praised the best but also inspired everyone to do their best. Telling the team their all doing great but then praising the same 2 or 3 people for like 10 minutes isn't going to help the rest of the team. There are also situations where putting people on blast in a group chat is just not appropriate. I'm not speaking from bitterness or wishing I was the best. I'm speaking as a person who is participating and sees the same trend everyday. Its a shame because the pay is good. Commission can be great. All about keeping your head level I guess. 

One of the most important things I wish I had known ahead of time is that you’re expected to close sales the same day, on the first visit. This expectation was not clearly stated in the job description, and had I known, I likely would have reconsidered the role. 

The training process consisted mainly of memorizing a very lengthy, 20+ page script, which at times felt overly scripted and patronizing toward the customer. There was little room for adapting your own style or building authentic rapport, which made interactions feel forced and unnatural, especially with more informed or hesitant customers.

You will wake up not knowing if your “pre-set” appointments will hold or cancel last-minute. You drive hours across your assigned territory, often showing up to homes where homeowners forgot, aren’t interested, or claim they never scheduled.

Customers who want to think about their decision or take additional time are often treated as a failure on the representative’s part, and management expects you to overcome these objections aggressively.

There is a weekly meeting where representatives are regularly put on the spot and questioned about their performance, recent appointments, and any sales that didn’t close. These meetings can be highly stressful and often felt more like public interrogations than actual coaching or support.

Management feedback was inconsistent. I was told to be more confident, but also criticized for being too serious. Expectations constantly shifted, and it often felt like there was no way to meet them. The environment seemed best suited for aggressive, extroverted closers who can handle constant high-pressure.

Scheduling was also a recurring issue. I was frequently given back-to-back appointments in distant locations, which sometimes made it physically impossible to get to the next customer on time. Even when these conflicts were caused by poor scheduling, I was the one held accountable.

I ultimately had to resign due to a major mechanical issue with my car. Because the company does not reimburse for gas, mileage, or the time spent inside customers’ homes, I had to take another job just to cover the costs of repairs. Throughout my time there, my manager was very cold, offered little support, and often made me feel disposable.

Absolutely the best sales training in the entire industry without question. The training is  2 weeks and the training is extremely difficult. You'll be required to work at least 3 to 4 hours after you're done with training each day to memorize a very long script. Outside of that the job gets easier slowly and more comfortable. 

Hours in which appoint can start are 8:00 am to 8:00 p.m..  Appointments starting at 8, you'll get home close to midnight, sometimes afterward. Some days you'll just have a 9 to 10 hour work day, some days you'll be working closer to 15 hours. That's the worst part of the job. 

Possible to make great money if you're okay with the very hours and the training in the beginning. Very supportive management that's there to help you with anything you need. Meetings every day early morning are mandatory to attend, they don't care if you're driving, which can be dangerous. Meetings in the office every Monday morning very early. 

The job itself (meeting with customers to sell solar)  is fun but easy to burn out quickly because the hours are extremely long. They will also tell you that you stay in a certain area of preference but once you start, you'll be sent all over. a day starting in Suffolk county, then Nassau county, then queens, then Brooklyn, then back to Suffolk county is very common.  Complete abuse and disregard for your car and miles you put on. 

It's almost like the schedule is intentionally designed  for you to burn out and quit so they don't have to pay you for any deals you've done. When you're fired or quit, you do NOT get paid for any pending commissions. Pay compensation can be difficult to understand and very low relative to profit actually made from a project. If you sell a 24kw system which is massive, the deal generates 50k+ profit and you're paid $2400 of that $50k. Other commission jobs pay 50% of a deal profit bare minimum for the person selling it when the lead is provided for you. They have quartly bonus with your compensation plan that are virtually impossible to achieve outside of maybe 20 people companywide. You should learn the million dollar skillset that they teach you (they'll seriously teach you the BEST way to sell solar) and leave for a company that will pay you your worth.

I worked here for a few months in 2018. I was part of the move to the Plainfield location. Honestly, if you're young, ambitious, and want to get started in the sales world, I would recommend it. They teach you to be an aggressive salesman... something which I firmly believe every salesman should know how to do and most importantly, should experience.

Now if you're older with some sales experience under your belt, this is basically a coin toss. I say this because back in 2018 when I was an active employee, there were two platforms M.S operated under. Call tools and velocity.. or velocify. IDK I FORGOT. I JUST KNOW IT BEGINS WITH A "V". Call tools is the platform every new hire starts on. It's essentially cold leads to get your feet wet. Once they see progress, they'll up you to a different tier with slightly better leads, but nowhere near the quality velocity gets. 

I hate to say this, but at some point, there's going to be some luck involved because as you progress and familiarize yourself with the script, rebuttals, incentives, etc it comes down to talking to a CUSTOMER WHO ACTUALLY INQURIED ABOUT SOLAR. Maybe things have changed, but from my experience working here in 18', I was talking to renters most of the time, people who claim they were homeless, calls that were pre-recorded(iykyk), and most notably, clients who wanted nothing to do with solar nor had they previously inquired about getting any information. THIS IS WHY ITS A COIN TOSS. WITH AN ABUNDANCE AMOUNT OF LUCK AND A SPRINKLE OF HARDWORK, you too can move up in the company. Otherwise, you will stay in the same position until they decide to fire you. 

Oh yeah, that's another thing. They hire and fire frequently. Favoritism is also there. Luckily, at some point, I was liked by the managers, but once I saw the company for its true colors, I stopped caring and was eventually let go. 

Overall, I would stay away from this company. The only CONDITION I would RECOMMEND this job is ONLY if you're UNDER the LEGAL AGE of buying alcohol from a liquor store. If you're older, like I said, coin-toss.

Best of luck.

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