The Industry Is In A State Of Rapid Growth
The first reason a career in solar is a good idea is that the industry has exploded over the last decade thanks to more affordable and accessible technology, and that trend shows no sign of reversing anytime in the near future. Solar power output in the U.S. is now over 62.5 gigawatts over 35 times what it was in 2008. It took the U.S. forty years to get to one million total solar panel installations, a mark hit in 2016. In the three years since the number has already doubled to two million 40 years of prior progress accomplished in just three.
That incredibly rapid growth is driven by more affordable solar technology and a rapidly growing awareness regarding the impact fossil fuels have on our planet. Solar panels are only going to continue to get cheaper and more accessible, and the more widespread they become, the more rapidly overall adoption will accelerate. That makes it a great time to get into the business.
Address Homeowner Objections In Real
Of course, while walking potential customers towards a solar purchase, most homeowners are likely to ask questions and object to things that seem unclear. We know that a sales reps ability to confidently and correctly answer customer questions and objections is critical to closing a deal. In fact, data from the Modernize Home Services Survey tells us that the top 3 reasons homeowners hesitate before purchasing with a solar company are:
- Lack of communication
- Lack of expertise
- Unclear and confusing quotes
Sales Mode allows solar reps to demonstrate their expertise with a clear run-through of every aspect of the system before laying out all of the details in an easy-to-understand quote.
What Skills Does A Solar Salesperson Need
Ahlman stressed the importance of time and data management to keep track of important information and manage a busy schedule of meetings. A solar salesperson needs to coordinate calls and visits with busy prospects. Arriving late to an appointment or double-booking someone for a call can quickly sour a relationship.
Vorobyova noted that salespeople need to be able to quickly and clearly explain how much in additional savings a household can enjoy as a result of state and local solar policies.
Communication and self-awareness helps, said Vorobyova. You have to know how to talk to pretty much everybody. Every single day, you meet so many different people from different backgrounds. The majority of them have never looked into solar. The most important skills communication and being a people person.
Ahlman agreed. Speaking is very important being clear with what youre saying and communicating clearly what our promotions are.
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The Keys To Selling Solar
In a webinar with Greentech Media, Aurora Solar team members Elliot Goldstein and Kenneth Williams present practical strategies for improving your residential solar sales, based on their personal experiences selling millions of dollars in solar installations for leading U.S. solar companies.
They identify three questions that your sales conversation should answer for every prospective customer:
Price psychology dictates that sticker shock can curb enthusiasm, unless the advantages are well laid-out beforehand. Elliot cautions that, If they dont want to get away from their utility yet, youll price shock your customer.
But, if each of these questions is answered well early on, youre much more likely to win the customers business. Heres how to tackle these topics in your sales pitch.
All The Tools Right At Your Fingertips
All in all, Sales Mode is designed from the ground up to make sure your sales team can:
- Adapt to individual customer needs
- Make changes in real-time
- Show multiple options to help close the deal
Whether you use it on a tablet or computer, Sales Mode helps demonstrate your companys expertise and value in real-time. From inputting current electricity usage, to system design, environmental impact, and financing information, Sales Modes intelligent features can help your customers understand their solar energy system, with complete customization and control for solar sales reps, in homes and on the go.
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Things To Ask Your Home Solar Energy Installer/salesperson
Once you have decided to take the next step in switching to home solar power after pre-qualification you will be contacted by a local solar company representative. This representative will be either be a sales person or a solar power installer that will come to your home for accurate final assessments and estimates. Below is a list of 10 important questions to ask a solar representative that comes to your home.
1. Are you licensed, bonded and insured?
Does your company have all of the necessary licenses to install home solar power in this area? These licenses may include electrical, solar specific as well as utility company . As with any type of home improvement or construction contractor, insurance and bonding is important for your protection.
2. Is my roof right for home solar power?
Part of your pre-qualification process is an advanced satellite analysis of your home roof and its orientation to the sun. One thing that cannot be determined accurately in the online home solar qualification is the actual physical condition of your roof. Ask the solar representative about the condition of your roofing material and the structural integrity of your roof.
3. What is the right type of solar power agreement for me?
4. What happens if my home solar system doesnt perform as promised?
If your new home energy system does not perform as promised what recourse do you have?
5. Who takes care of solar building permits and inspections?
6. What is the warranty on my home solar panels?
How To Find Qualified Solar Leads Online
Since organic leads come to your business directly without an attached fee, you may be wondering why do solar companies only get 65 percent of solar leads this way? Why not 100 percent? The main reason is that organic leads tend to be unreliable and unpredictable, and the efforts required to get them such as participating in events or building a great website also have costs associated with them. To smooth out the unpredictability of organic solar leads, most solar companies today now rely on two distinct strategies for the remaining 35 percent: direct sales and advertising, and partnering with online solar lead companies like EnergySage.
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Abc: Always Be Closing
Its an old sales adage, but its true. If you want to close more solar sales, you should always have your eyes on the prize. Dont race to the finish line and pull out the big contract without listening to your customers, of course but always remember why youre engaging with a solar prospect and lead them towards the value in order to close more deals.
We hope these closing techniques give your teams closing ratio a healthy boost. Oh, and if they could use more leads to use these tips on, RGR is here to help. We offer the best quality solar leads and the best customer service in the industry. Get in touch with us today and give your solar installation business a serious boost.
You Dont Have To Worry About Maintenance
Solar panels dont require much maintenance. With improvements in production systems, solar panels are becoming more efficient.
Although a better solar technology system means a higher installation price, you wont have to spend much on its maintenance once it is installed.
Its only the installation price thats higher for solar panels. However, the solar panels output allows you to make enough savings.
Manufacturers advise the owners to have their solar panels clean every few years. Yet, many of the systems work even when they are dirty. Nonetheless, a reputable installer will be available to guide you on maintaining your solar panels. So, it should be hassle-free.
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How To Create A Marketing Funnel For Your Solar Business0
More and more businesses and individuals are tapping into renewable energy, so the solar energy industry is developing at a rapid pace. Experts predict the global solar energy industry will reach $223.3 billion by 2026. Acquiring new leads, however, is still a challenge for many solar businesses.
The first question many companies have is what audience should we target or how can we generate more quality leads? Many educated consumers know exactly what products they need and are ready to make an informed decision. There are also many people who have never thought about purchasing anything associated with solar energy and are just starting to explore it. To succeed, you should target both audiences.
Obviously, your offerings should be visible for consumers who are actively searching for solar power products and services.
However, you should also appeal to potential customers who are still not sure what they want. Its almost impossible to predict what type of marketing content will motivate a particular consumer to take action. For example, people may look for specific information on switching to solar energy, and your educational content may help them.
Unfortunately, many businesses only focus their marketing efforts on the easiest targets and create their content for consumers who are about to purchase something. As a result, these companies miss out on many good opportunities to convert others and lose potential revenue.
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Do I Need The Most Efficient Panels Out There
Dont let your solar tech upsell you on the most efficient solar panels on the market! Most panels on the market today are going to offer you the wattage output you need and remain cost effective.
So why would you spend more money on the most efficient PV array?
Youd only want the most efficient array if you have limited surface array to mount it on. Thats when high-end modules such as those from SolarWorld would make sense. They produce a higher wattage output for around the same space requirement as competitors, but for an added expense.
Say you need a solar array to output 7 kW to power your home. Lets compare two brands of solar panel, each with different wattage, pricing, and array coverage:
- 433 ft² total array coverage
- $8400 total
- 456 ft² total array coverage
- $7150 total
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Bottom Line: Maybe You Should Just Close The Door
There really isnt a good reason to say yes to a door-to-door salesperson. Theyre not going to offer you a deal that you couldnt get either by calling the company yourself, and you risk either paying more than you should, or going with a worse installer than if you took a little time to do your research.
The safest thing to do when a door-to-door salesperson comes knocking? Politely say no thanks, and close the door.
Do independent research and get multiple quotes on your own, or use The Solar Nerd to get quotes. We avoid referring people to companies that use high-pressure sales tactics, and instead prefer small local solar installers that focus on doing high quality work.
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See Sales Mode In Action
Learn how Sales Mode can help you close more business.
When selling solar, an educated, engaged homeowner is one of your best weapons. A salesperson that can provide a detailed, yet easy-to-understand proposal tailored for that specific customer is more likely to close, and close quickly.
The customer experience is really important when it comes to solar sales, it is what separates a good or a great solar company from a not so great solar company, Bogdan Zlatkov, Content Marketing Manager of Aurora Solar, said in a recent webinar. And it tends to matter a lot more than we think it does.
After all, by providing a great experience, a company is less likely to collect unfavorable reviews and more likely to be recommended by the customer to a friend. This is incredibly critical for growing a solar business, especially as, according to a survey by Green Tech Media, 80% of solar buyers go on to make referrals after purchasing solar.
With traditional tools, this is easier said than done. This is where Sales Mode comes in. Sales Mode lets sales teams deliver customizable, customer-friendly proposals to homeowners, while the rep is in the room.
In this blog, well highlight how Sales Mode can help reps educate the customer, address their objections, and achieve that elusive one-call close.
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Advice For Other Entrepreneurs Who Want To Get Started Or Are Just Starting Out
Get a job in whatever industry that you are looking to start a business in. For example, if you want to start a clothing line, go to work for a smaller clothing company . Learn as much as you can before starting your own company. You will gain invaluable hands-on experience and save yourself a lot of rookie headaches, time, and money!.
Know your financial and marketing numbers inside out. Its the difference between having a business and having a hobby.
Embrace Customer Resource Management Technology
Solar sales is extremely competitive and requires a high level of involvement from sales teams. Time and resources are both at a premium and any edge you can find to save on both can put you at a distinct advantage over the competition. A good solar CRM will provide that edge by centralizing all of your solar companys activities, from lead generation and management, to sales calling, to outbound marketing, to billing and payments, meeting and installation scheduling, and beyond. A CRM also automates as many of those tasks as possible, eliminating much of the most time-consuming work to free up your team to focus more on sales pitches and other revenue-generating activities.
CRMDialer is the solar industrys top customer resource management platform, offering everything your company needs to find and manage leads more efficiently, maintain constant contact, provide more custom-tailored solutions and presentations, and much more, all while slashing waste and reclaiming lost time.
To see the platform in action and explore everything it can do to help boost your solar sales, start your free 14-day trial of CRMDialer today!
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Trying To Convince Does Not Work
If you approach prospects with a plan to convince, it will not work. You may have already noticed that no matter how hard you try to convince prospects that the solar brand you are selling is out of the world, they do not care.
People do not get convinced because they have no trust in you or what you are saying. We cant blame them as they got many knocking their doors all the time with similar offers.
Instead of trying to convince prospects, get to know people what they are looking for or what is their current situation. Your solar product comes second.
Once you know their story, you can connect with them and show them how the product you are selling is going to make their lives easier.
Move On To The Last Step But Gracefully
If a prospect is serious about buying, the sales executive needs to walk the person through the process with finesse. The prospect may have to discuss the matter with his/her family or boss to make a decision and might say, Let me discuss this with and then get back to you.
In this situation, pro advice is to ask new questions without being pushy, by saying something like, Sure. If you dont mind, may I ask what you want to think about most? The prospect will most likely tell you that. Then you can quickly follow up later for a demo session.
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Ask Questions Then Ask For The Close
Why do so many solar salespeople fail at closing the deal? They spend too much time talking, and not enough time listening.
Every customer has his or her own set of reasons for going solar. Figure out what your client hopes to achieve by going solar, and show them how solar meets their needs. Overcome any objections as they come up by providing honest, simple answers that prove the value of going solar.
If you do these things, then closing the deal will be as easy as asking.
Take Us Through The Process Of Designing Prototyping And Manufacturing Your First Product
At the time I still had some money saved up from my mortgage days but decided to do everything on a shoestring budget. I rented a desk in my friends office and rolled up my sleeves and got to work.
The first thing I had to do was to learn the basics of how the solar industry works. There werent any books at the time because the industry was just too new, so I just cold-called random people I found on the internet and started putting the pieces together.
Heres what I learned:
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Proposal – A solar company designs a solar system based on the electricity usage that a homeowner or business has used in the past 12 months. Its then presented to the client.
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Permit design plans – Once the client has signed an agreement to purchase a solar system , then design and permit plans are created by an engineer.
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Permits – These plans are then submitted to the local city or county to get building permits issued.
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installation – The next step is for the system to be installed by a team of installers and electricians.
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Utility approval – the last step is to submit for approval to the local utility company to get attached to the electrical grid. This allows the client to sell their excess electricity back to the utility company.
One of my cold calls put me in touch with a local solar equipment distributor, Affordable Solar.
Know your financial and marketing numbers inside out. Its the difference between having a business and having a hobby.
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