Spring has sprung, symbolizing new beginnings and brighter days ahead. And for many of us, this season is a chance to revamp old habits and set ourselves up for success for the rest of the year. Spring cleaning is usually focused on the home — but this year, we’re looking at ways to extend this concept to your solar business.
In this blog, we’ll look at three tips for how to clean-up your solar sales processes to close more sales and optimize your workflows for a more efficient sales experience.
Tip #1: Clean Out Dead Leads
You have made several phone calls over several weeks, left voicemails, and sent out a bunch of emails — and you’re still not hearing back from that lead you were hoping to close. It may be time to move on to bigger and better things.
Letting go of a lead you have worked hard for is not an easy task. However, in some cases, cutting your losses helps you refocus on the ones that are still warm and frees up space and time to get new ones.
Take a good, hard look at your leads. Are you still working on leads that have set up camp in your pipeline and won’t move? If yes, create a “last chances” list and give one final push to see if they re-engage.
This push can include:
- A custom proposal tailored to their specific needs — one that zeroes out their electric bill (if possible), shows the environmental impact of their installation, or features just how great panels could look on their home
- A last-chance discount with a deadline, to give them a sense of urgency
- An article, one-pager, or video highlighting “Why you should go solar now,” or “The top 5 reasons you should consider going solar with us”
Make sure you’ve exhausted your options before classifying a lead as cold. But then be prepared to move on once you do.
Tip #2: Declutter Your Sales Approach
Do you find yourself going back and forth between different software tools when you create and present a proposal? If yes, you know how much valuable time (and sometimes valuable information, too) can get lost in the process. Nevermind the less-than-ideal experience it provides to the homeowner.
Look at your current processes and see where the inefficiency is. Are some of your software tools outdated and inflexible? Are you able to make changes in real time without having to manually edit some parts of the proposal? Do you waste valuable time and risk losing leads to your competitors?
One way to declutter your sales approach is to consolidate your sales and proposal efforts into one software solution, like Aurora’s Sales Mode, that allows you to do everything from calculating financial estimates, to creating a design and make changes in real time, and then generating a contract for the customer on the spot.
Tip #3: Polish Up Your Pitch
The solar industry is constantly evolving — and with it, its buyers. A homeowner might have a very different reason for going solar today than they did five years ago, and it’s crucial to know the motivations and hesitations of today’s solar buyers.
One thing almost all consumers have in common today is that they want a personalized proposal — one that speaks to them and their specific needs and wants. Here are a few common problems sales teams face, and how customizing your proposals can help:
- Are homeowners confused about something during your pitch? Include some custom pages to help educate them, like a video or diagram outlining How Solar Works, How Storage Works, or How Incentives Work
- Are you frequently struggling to overcome objections? Get in front of them with custom pages that explain the process in more detail. For example, if your team is coming across objections like, “Nah the market seems a bit iffy, I don’t think now is a good time for me to go solar” you can create a custom page about the benefits of going solar now, including how it increases the value of your home, lets you take advantage of the incentives while you still can, and locks in your price of energy.
- Are you frequently losing to competitors? Add custom pages showing what makes your company different and better than the competition, like an About Us page, Reviews & Testimonials, Awards, etc.
These are just a few examples, but by tailoring your pitch to your audience, you’ll differentiate yourself, better educate the homeowner, upsell more easily on other products, and get in front of any objections. So instead of using another cookie-cutter proposal, you can create a unique experience for the homeowner that you can then refine and polish over time to close more deals.
Learn How Sales Mode can help you deliver customer proposals that close.
And how do you know what your buyer is most interested in (and what they don’t care as much about)? Check out our end-user research that identified five different types of solar buyers. Try to determine which one your next lead might be, and learn what to focus your pitch on when you go knocking on their door.
Ideally, you should be taking inventory of your sales process on a regular basis — not just for spring. But there is no better time to start than today. If you go through these three steps, you are ready to set new goals and boost your conversion rate. Happy cleaning!
What to read next:
3 tips for writing a winning solar proposal — make sure every proposal you send gives you the best chance to close the deal
To close more solar sales, don’t just build relationships with customers – challenge them! — The Challenger Model can help you shake up those tough-to-close leads
The Solar Sales Playbook for Proposals That Close — This guide tackles 5 of the most common solar objections and gets advice from solar sales professionals on how to close them.
Featured image by JESHOOTS.COM.
