With the ever-increasing competition in the industry, solar installers are always looking for new ways to generate solar commercial leads. Generating quality solar leads has become ever more critical today. While it’s likely the hardest of tasks to generate solar leads for your business, it’s among the essential things you must do to see your business thrive. Even if you are generating steady business already, effectively generating new leads is crucial to growing as a company.

While marketing initiatives tend to be costly and drain your company resources, there are ways you can generate leads to effectively grow your business and build a positive reputation in the industry. With the US market alone in need of almost 7.85 billion solar panels, a lot of potential leads are out there, and you need to figure out ways to spot them effectively.

To assist you with your endeavors, here we have listed some of the ways the top companies use to generate commercial solar leads. Try them out, and you’ll surely get the leads flowing in.

1. Solar Leads Lists

It is probably the most common method of generating solar leads, and likely you have also bought a solar leads list for your business before. While referrals and inbound marketing give you results in the long haul, many businesses look for leads ready to close and generate income instantly. Buying solar leads is a proactive approach to quickly bringing in leads.

This method works best for companies looking for short-term business and can afford exclusive, high-quality leads. This type of active commercial solar lead generation gives you better control over the solar leads lists you want to buy. However, sometimes, the lists you buy don’t provide quality data. Besides, it is also likely that one of your competitors might have bought the same solar leads list and even closed a few sales too.

2. Social Media For Extended Reach

While your business website is the backbone of your inbound marketing strategy, extending your reach with other methods is inevitable. Social media is where most of your customers might be, and you must ensure your company’s presence there.

If you don’t have a strong social media presence, you should first determine the platform where your best prospects spend most of their time online – Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, or Instagram. While most residential clients are likely socializing on Instagram and Facebook, the best solar commercial leads would be on LinkedIn.

Once you are clear about the platform you’ll be targeting, you can review and tailor your ad strategy accordingly. Once everything is in place, start posting content regularly on your social accounts – at least a couple of times a week. Mix the content you generate – including your business’s testimonials, videos, and blog posts – with the valuable content shared by solar news websites and even other local businesses. It will help you establish your business as a valuable resource for solar information, and your prospects will likely come flocking in.

3. Referrals

Referrals are undoubtedly one of the best ways of generating solar leads. Most of the referrals are pre-qualified and most likely to buy from you. However, the challenging part for most solar businesses is building a network and a referral system. But once you have built your network, it can be your number one method of closing sales.

The most reliable source of building trust is your best friend enthusing about a solar installer’s professionalism, skill, and integrity. Especially regarding solar panels and other major purchases, 83% of customers believe referrals from their circle are the most trusted source of information.

This method works best for motivated solar businesses that are ready to spend some time building an effective network. Unfortunately, it’s not some quick-fix method; it takes time to produce results. Besides, you have to rely on your customers as it’s their choice to recommend your business to people they know.

4. Third-Party Websites

Today, many third-party websites have set up extensive databases of solar installers and top prospects. They offer solar-curious prospects quotes from several solar installers in their vicinity and also share reviews about them. These websites can be a good option for effective commercial solar lead generation.

When commercial prospects search Google for some keyword phrase related to solar, it leads them to these third-party websites. Featuring your business in such resources could be a great way of generating organic leads.

Remember, however, that the saturation of the solar market in your local area determines if it is worth paying the price. In relatively unsaturated locales, the leads generated from these 3rd party sources will be more valuable as it is less likely for your competitors to have snatched them already. On the flip side, this method doesn’t put you in the driving seat, as you still have to wait and watch when the third-party resource gets in touch with a new lead.

5. Property Intelligence

Property intelligence is quickly becoming popular among solar installers as a source of commercial leads. The reason behind it is that this method offers businesses a quick way to find on-demand solar leads. Furthermore, you can filter out any solar leads that do not align with your services and typical project scope.

Quite often, lead lists that are available too easily don’t ensure quality leads. The lists you buy aren’t filtered specifically for you. You are more like paying for the quantity than the quality.

On the contrary, the property intelligence platforms let you freely scan the market and filter out leads based on the specific metrics you prefer. You have complete control over the process and can generate quality leads quickly and repeatedly.

There are different ways to generate commercial solar leads, but you have to focus on quality more than anything. The methods above can help you find quality leads in a short time and without draining your budget. Give them a try!

Most solar professionals don’t take lead generation seriously, partly because it’s not their favorite part of the job and partly because it’s a relatively new marketing concept. However, as a solar business owner, you should know that you need leads to achieve your ultimate business goals.

Every aspect of the solar business, including sales, installation, and meeting the needs of customers, starts with leads. And commercial solar lead generation doesn’t have to be an uphill task. If you’re looking to boost solar digital marketing activities for your business, here are some of the successful ways to generate commercial solar leads.

List your business in solar company directories

Many solar customers opt for online searches when they are looking for solar companies. They use search terms like “solar companies near me,” “best solar companies,” or “solar installers in [location]” to find companies that appear on the top pages of the search engines.

As a solar company, you want customers to find your business whenever they conduct online searches. However, this could be difficult, especially if you’re a startup business. Google often prioritizes companies with the most traffic and an established history of posting relevant content—like directories.

This means that if you list your business on solar company directories, your business is likely to show up whenever customers do online searches. You just need to list your business on top directories like Solar Reviews, Consumer Affairs, Clean Energy Experts, and others that show up the highest in Google rankings.

It’s equally important to get listed on industry association directories, which include NABCEP (The North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners), which runs two directories on its website. Similarly, the Solar Energy Industry Association (SEIA) runs a directory that includes all stakeholders in the solar industry.

Don’t Skimp on Instagram

Instagram is a powerful social media platform that draws a big following of homeowners interested in solar energy. You can leverage this platform to generate commercial solar leads because the prospects will already have you in mind when they are looking for installers.

You can utilize Instagram for commercial solar lead generation by doing the following:

Posting consistently

You need to be consistent with your posts to command the faith and prospects of your prospects. For instance, you can start by posting once a week and advance to posting twice or three times a week. While doing that, you need to plan your content ahead of time to allow you to maintain a consistent schedule.

Some of the tips to excel on Instagram include:

• Posting before and after photos
• Posting photos of projects in progress
• Posting videos of specific processes
• Photos from recent company events
• Testimonials and reviews
• Announcements and launches
• Related quotes, graphics, or memes

Importantly, you should also post at the right time of day. According to research, posts done in the afternoon from Monday through Friday attract the best following. However, you should test different times and days of the week to determine what works best for you.

Use hashtags properly

On Instagram, hashtags are like keywords that people use to find your business. Instagram allows you to use up to 30 hashtags each month, but it’s upon you to use them wisely. Pick on the hashtags people are likely to search for but are not so competitive. For instance, if you pick a general hashtag like #solar, the competition is quite huge, and your post may not stand out among 4 million others.

Use Customer Referrals and Testimonials

Many people are investing in solar, so you can use your existing customer base to generate commercial solar leads. Ask for a testimonial and reward customer referrals to generate more leads. This strategy works like a charm because it instills more confidence, knowing that someone you know is comfortable with a product or service.

Utilize Google Ads and SMS Marketing

You can also use Google Ads and SMS marketing for commercial solar lead generation. While Google Ads for solar marketing could be expensive, you can implement the following strategies to keep your costs in check:

• Set daily budgets
• Narrow down to specific target locations
• Set up specific campaigns with relevant keywords

Alternatively, you can use SMS (Text message) marketing for commercial solar lead generation. According to research, 98 percent of text messages are read by their recipients. Only 20% of users open e-mails. If you’re unfamiliar with SMS marketing, you can start by building a database of phone numbers using a keyword text-in promotion.

How does it work? You simply need to ask people to text a certain keyword to a short code to win something. Use various avenues to promote the offer, including social media channels, e-mail lists, and others. One of the key advantages of text-in promotions is that they allow people to automatically opt-in to get text messages from you in the future.

Utilize Content Marketing

This strategy targets people searching for solar products online. Content marketing simply means using digital content like blog posts, social media posts, and informational articles to promote your solar business. To be successful with this strategy, you should invest in quality content that is informative and aims for a higher ranking on search engines.

For instance, a person may look for solar panel costs on a search engine like Google. If you have a blog that targets the same search keyword (solar panel costs), it should rank high on the search engine. This means your business is likely to be noticed easily on search engines.

People clicking such content are taken directly to your website if you have relevant content on your blog. Consequently, you get more leads without using an ad. According to research, content marketing yields an average of 54 percent more leads than traditional paid marketing ads. This saves businesses approximately $20,000 a year.

Drawing commercial solar leads can be a daunting task for many business owners. However, with the strategies mentioned here, you can boost your commercial solar lead generation. To learn more about generating commercial solar leads, contact Solar Exclusive today!

Solar leads are buyers interested in switching to solar energy and typically generate other leads via landing pages, radio ads, TV commercials, and toll-free lines.

A good relationship with these potential buyers is highly important, starting with generating the best solar leads. How one interacts with the leads should be more of being there to support them throughout the entire process rather than just selling them the solar power system.

Here are some tips for developing strong relationships with your solar leads:

1. Appeal to customers

Going solar may present a strong value proposition for your prospect, but in today’s cutthroat solar sales environment, you will need to do more to stand out. A rising body of research supports what most sales professionals already know. If your prospect likes you and feels a connection with you, they are significantly more inclined to conduct business with you.

It can be difficult to define likeability, and many people believe that you either have it naturally, or you don’t. But there are a few unambiguous guidelines that, by science, consistently make a salesperson likable. People are liked by those whom they identify with. Start by posing inquiries that demonstrate a sincere interest in your prospect and their particular circumstances.

Try complementing your prospect for certain qualities in addition to asking thoughtful questions. It can be about their house, loved ones, or pet. It will demonstrate attention to detail and give them confidence, making them like you more.

Science also teaches that emotions spread easily. Take advantage of this by being enthusiastic and energetic throughout your pitch. Laugh and smile! A prospect will return the favor with good emotions that increase their likelihood of purchasing if they sense your optimism and believe you are genuinely excited to speak with them.

2. Mirror the Customer

Mirroring is one such tactic that, while it may not initially feel natural, is scientifically proven to increase likeability. When someone mirrors, they essentially copy what they hear or see. It may involve mirroring your prospect’s body language and reiterating their words. Almost every prospective client will ask questions or voice reservations during a pitch. Many of these questions have been asked to you more times than you can count.

Even though you’ve probably heard it all before, you don’t want your prospect to think that you’re dismissing their worries as unfounded. Instead, you should give them a sense of being heard and demonstrate your sincere comprehension of their perspective. In this situation, mirroring is useful. When you address their worries, simply repeating what they said will make them feel as though you are truly listening, which you are.

3. Build trust in your pitch

Of course, being likable doesn’t help much when trying to sell solar. Additionally, you must build trust. We discussed social proof and how many potential customers still view going solar as a risky investment. Because of this, you must incorporate trustworthiness as a fundamental component of your brand and incorporate trust into every solar sales pitch.

According to science, customers are far more likely to make a purchase when they believe their salesman is an industry expert. Your professionalism and self-assurance in your business, yourself, and product will be helpful in this area. Provide facts and solid data to support your statements if you want to make your pitches more credible. But don’t just give data to your audience. Instead, showcase your knowledge by telling your audience true stories.

To demonstrate social proof, you may, for instance, offer client testimonials from the past. People will be more inclined to believe you when they can see how effectively you’ve worked with past clients and the outcomes they obtained from working with you, whether they are potential investors or clients. Our minds are wired to connect with stories as humans. It’s crucial to explain your motivations, whether you’re giving a speech, a keynote address, or anything in between. When we comprehend how our story relates to the stories of individuals around us, connections begin to arise. Avoid getting so caught up in analytics and stats that you neglect to highlight the human element of your company.

4. Show interest in your leads

People are more likely to like and trust businesses that genuinely care about their problems. People who provide you with their information should be contacted by your sales staff, ideally as soon as possible after receiving it. Personalize your initial communication with a lead. Don’t thank them for their email address or other contact information in an automated, cookie-cutter form letter. Have a salesperson send a personalized note as a follow-up. Mention how you found the contact’s information and use their name.

Ask them questions about themselves:

1. What are their goals with solar power?
2. What concerns do they have about energy use?
3. What do they know about solar?

Encourage them to ask questions about your business, but avoid making a hard sell. The goal is to show that you are interested, not to try to sell them something.

5. Reflect on their concerns.

You can develop empathy and relationships with others, including your leads, by actively listening to them. Reiterating or paraphrasing the other person’s concerns and asking them questions to gain a deeper understanding are two essential elements of active listening. Leads are more likely to feel connected to your business when your solar sales professionals take the time to improve on certain traits that make them stand out from the rest.

Conclusion

With each passing year, solar energy gains popularity. Installers will continue to be in high demand as solar marketing spreads. Consider implementing any of these strategies if you want to increase your solar leads. Applying even a few of these suggestions can increase the number of organic solar leads you generate for your solar business, including residential and commercial solar leads. It can also increase the number of high-quality solar leads you convert into paying customers.

The success of any business is paramount at all levels of business across all industries. Solar energy has emerged as one of the rising industries in global business. Recently, the industry has seen an increase in venture capitalists and a spark of interest by many people.

On a day-to-day basis, solar companies run different types of activities. These include solar electricity installation and marketing their businesses. The use of solar energy has become increasingly popular recently, as individuals and businesses embrace green energy sources. Solar water heating installation, solar ventilation, solar lighting, and portable solar are some of the activities solar companies perform.

All companies aim to be successful in their field of business. This is particularly key for all solar companies. For solar companies, generating quality solar leads is an important component. So how can solar companies increase their profitability?

Various efforts are directed to increase productivity and profitability to succeed in its day-to-day activities. Some sought-after methods include; digital marketing, increased sales, quality solar leads, and increased customer retention. All these are attempts aimed at increasing the success rate of solar companies.

How to Make Your Solar Company More Profitable

Numerous businesses have made money from solar energy installations thanks to the solar industry’s ongoing growth while providing enormous value to their clients. Although there has been significant market expansion, the ability of many businesses to compete effectively in this cutthroat industry has unfortunately been hindered by poor business practices.

Let’s look at how the solar market functions, some of its hazards, and some particular pointers on how to reduce inefficiencies and increase sales to help you make your solar company more successful.

The same principles that make other businesses successful apply to solar companies: more revenue and lower operational costs. The following 4 tactics can help your business prosper on both fronts and generate quality commercial solar leads.

1. Align Your Sales Team

Scaling a business is impossible without the proper personnel. Every firm has several crucial positions, but for the sake of this article, we’ll concentrate on your immediate revenue producers: salesmen. And while it is expensive and time-consuming to headhunt the top candidates, you can save a lot of time and money on the hiring front by doing all in your power to maintain your best employees once you hire them.

There are several ways to accomplish this. The first step is to make onboarding and training as easy and painless as possible. Consider this: It takes a new salesman longer to ramp up before they begin to earn commissions. They will be less content the longer that takes. Making sure those salespeople have all the tools they need to make deals, even after only one meeting, comes in second.

Before a contract is signed, every subsequent homeowner meeting means two things: more time passes, and the homeowner is more likely to choose someone else. In any case, this can result in less business and dissatisfied salespeople.

Both of these sectors can benefit from tools like Sales Mode. It was created with salespeople in mind, enabling them to generate proposals, collaborate with clients on modifications, and even e-sign documents while they are still in the same room.

2. Get Rid of Inefficiencies

Creating precise site designs to avoid follow-up visits, contract revisions, and other expensive project delays is the single most effective way for solar companies to lower operational costs. Change orders are one of the biggest problems impacting developers’ profit margins, and solar specialists indicate that new designs often increase project costs by $583.

Developers who want to keep costs down must take all reasonable measures to precisely predict every component, cost, and factor because change orders affect between 10% and 30% of all solar projects.

Solar enterprises may develop quick and precise roof models, including bankable shade reports, with the use of software like Aurora’s, which will help them waste less time and money.

3. Sell Yourself

Knowing how to effectively promote your solar firm is the final and most crucial step in gaining pleased clients. One of the finest ways to be considered for new local solar development is to make your firm name known within your service region using online and offline marketing strategies. You are responsible for determining the best strategies for positioning your brand’s value in front of your target audience once you have determined its main selling points.

4. Make Prospects Find You

The development of high-quality leads is an ongoing challenge for solar enterprises. From recommendations to outright lead purchases, there are many different tactics available. And if carried out correctly, any of these strategies can be highly effective. Creating leads from online visitors is one lead generation strategy that every business should have in its toolkit. So, you should provide a simple way for homeowners who visit your website to research to raise their hands and declare, “I want solar.”

Companies can get an advantage in this field using tools like Lead Capture AI. Prospects don’t need to click away from it or send an email because it’s incorporated into your website. They only need to enter their address and an estimated electricity bill to determine if solar will work in their home. Lead Capture AI will then show them the results.

Your salesmen won’t call or schedule an appointment with a possible lead unless they’re certain that the homeowner’s home qualifies and they’re interested. This is accomplished by letting potential leads self-qualify.

Conclusion

The solar industry is thriving. But to keep your company thriving, you must ensure you’re doing everything possible to bring in money and reduce waste. This seems obvious, but it can be easier said than done. Maximum efforts have to be applied in areas that generate revenue for the business, whereas liabilities within the business need to be trimmed down. It is essentially beneficial to use the best solar leads to create high customer conversion rates. This will aid in the sustainability of the business and promote the growth and profitability of the solar business.

As many business owners and individuals opt for solar power, the commercial solar industry is gaining traction with each passing day. Across the world, there’s an urgent need to reduce our carbon footprint, which is one of the reasons to go solar and green.

Even as more consumers opt for solar, how do solar companies target their customers? It’s mainly through commercial solar lead generation. Generating commercial solar leads is one of the best ways for solar businesses to target their clients and grow their businesses.

Here are four simple steps to commercial solar lead generation:

Create Value

The first step in generating solar leads is to create value in your products and services. Like any other business, you have competitors in the solar business, and any slight opportunity will take your prospects to the other side. Therefore, creating value is the nectar you use to attract your audience. What do you offer which can make your prospect come to you and leave your competitor?

Value creation creates engagement. It develops a relationship between you and your audience. You can create a space for engagement by offering informational, commercial solar content, offering free eBooks, and free videos. These tools are the first step to giving you an edge over your competitors.

Have a Strong Call-to-Action

As a solar business owner, you aim to sell your products and services. After providing value, you must close the deal by telling your prospects what to do next. People often need a nudge or two to make a purchasing decision. Your call to action could be just what they need to buy your products.

Some of the most powerful call-to-action strategies include:

• Call us today
• Get a free quote
• Get a free assessment today
• Leave your details below
• Learn more
• Contact us
• Book a service

With a proper call-to-action strategy, potential customers are likely to respond because it eliminates mental overload and makes it easier for customers to act immediately after reading relevant content on your website.

Automate Your Booking Calendar

So you have provided value, made a call to action, and your prospect responds in the affirmative. When the business starts moving in the right direction, it’s time to use every tool to ensure that it remains the same and moves forward. One of the tools you can use to help is an automated booking calendar.

An automated booking calendar achieves the following objectives:

• It helps you track your meetings and allows you and your leads to know when you’re free.
• It reminds you of the person you’ll meet with next and appointments.
• It eliminates forgetfulness when it comes to appointments and meetings.

Follow Up and Remain Consistent

You have come a long way from creating value, initiating a call to action, automating your systems, and utilizing social media. Now it’s time to follow up and remain consistent. Following up needs persistence, and it involves the following four stages:

• Quit Zone: In this zone, you don’t need to use an e-mail or a phone call to follow up. One follow-up correspondence would just be enough within the first three days.
• Casual Zone: You get a bit more proactive and effective in this zone. Here you send follow-up correspondence after long periods like 14 days, 30 days, or 45 days. It doesn’t work well for cold leads.
• Annoy Zone: Here is where you start to irritate the lead. You shift from being a professional to an annoying salesperson. In this zone, you send follow-up correspondences every day or after every two days.
• Persist Zone: In the “persist zone,” you become more effective, consistent, and persistent, but without annoying your leads. Implement an incremental or fixed sequence of follow-up correspondences.

Usually, there’s room for improvement. These strategies are not cast in stone. Importantly, you should study the workflow to help you choose what works best for your business. The four steps mentioned here are proven and trusted to generate commercial solar leads.

All the same, solar business owners should understand that not all lead generation strategies deliver results. However, with these steps, users have noticed a marked increase in leads and conversions.

Generating Commercial Solar Leads with Experts

Commercial solar lead generation can be a daunting task. However, if you engage a company that specializes in generating commercial solar leads, you can find it simple. The best thing is to engage the experts and concentrate on other important aspects of your business.

Research shows that the biggest marketing companies don’t go door-to-door to promote their products or services. They have discovered that the secret lies in generating high-quality solar leads. If you’re looking for an expert in generating solar leads, Solar Exclusive is the solution. The company mines solar data and ensures that your website maintains traffic, which you can convert into customers. Book a strategy call now and get started.

Marketing methods have significantly changed over time, and many businesses don’t find the old way of advertising fruitful in the digital era. Poor marketing and advertising methods are likely to cause poor response times and waste time and resources. One of the modern ways of marketing is through online leads.

So, how can businesses convert their online solar leads into buying customers? Read on to find out:

How Do Solar Companies Turn Their Leads Into Customers?

Before delving into how to turn leads into actual customers, the first question is, how does the solar company generate leads? Many solar dealerships rely on the basics, such as keeping their website updated and mobile-responsive. They run simple Google Ads campaigns and quote sites such as SolarQuotes or 3 Quotes.

However, more proactive dealerships take their lead generation a notch higher by optimizing their Google Ad campaigns to derive conversion goals. They also set up conversion trackers to highlight where their online solar leads are coming from. Additionally, they set up marketing automation tools to grab and qualify leads.

Together with leveraging social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to boost company profiles, these companies invest in paid ads on social media platforms while looking for sponsorships or local events to promote awareness. Consequently, they end up with many online solar leads. But the big question is, how can they turn the leads into actual customers?

Here are Key Tips to Turn Online Solar Leads into Real Customers:

Follow up

After generating leads, the company needs to follow up with a 1-2 minute call to confirm their interest. This follow-up also allows the business owner to prioritize leads and give the details of those ready to commit to the sales team.

It also allows the owner to separate those in the awareness and consideration stage and nurture them through the marketing automation tools.

Get Customer Referrals

Satisfied customers can pass the good words about a company that served them well. This is one way to promote awareness while maximizing sales. As a solar company owner, you should ask for customer testimonials to add to your website once you complete the job. You can also ask them to do a review on your Facebook page, where you can refer your leads to gain more information from first-hand reviews.

Promote Financial Planning Options

Another way to maximize sales is to promote the financial planning options your company works with. You should have your credentials and accreditations clearly shown on your social media pages and website. This instills confidence in your leads and erases their worry of being scammed.

Be Ready with Case Studies or Examples

Case studies and examples are a good way to show your leads how your business has helped other customers. How has your company helped other customers save money after installing solar? How was the installation process? Do you have in-house installers, or do you subcontract? The answers to these questions are important and can help restore confidence in your business.

Above all, as a solar company, you need to maintain steady communication with the entire team. If any of your staff is going to be busy, ensure that your employees are across high-potential leads to bridge any gap and answer any communication promptly.

How Can Solar Companies Overcome Challenges to Get More Leads?

Challenge #1: Limited Eligibility

When you start at the highest level, you are more likely to experience this challenge because the number of eligible leads and even customers under your belt is fixed. You keep rotating in a small circle that doesn’t get any bigger.

You can rely on solar lead generation companies to get above this challenge. These companies employ experts who know where exactly to cast their net. They often start with a narrow pool of leads that can be eligible to purchase your solar panels. After passing the eligibility test, you must grapple with the next challenge.

Challenge #2: A Diverse, Widespread Market

As a solar company, you’ll also have to contend with the variations you get within your audience. You’ll meet different dialects, personalities, cultures, and beliefs even within a small circle of prospects. To overcome this challenge, you might have to rely more on your outbound sales team to tackle the ever-changing circumstances on the ground, together with the diverse rules and regulations affecting the industry.

Challenge #3: Geography, Proximity, and Load Balancing

The third challenge involves dealing with the issues of location, proximity, and load balancing. Other than connecting with your leads in a local, compliant, and effective way, you must stay away from overburdening your sales team. For instance, it’s nearly impossible to convert over the phone.

Your team may have to visit the person’s house and assess the situation on the ground for successful sale closure. Now, this depends on the geography, proximity, and balancing of your strategies. Your data and calling strategies must match. However, by engaging a qualified company for solar lead generation, you can have all these challenges sorted out on your behalf with minimum effort.

In many instances, online solar lead generation companies such as Solar Exclusive have helped more than 1500 solar companies acquire more leads and turn them into customers. When you engage an expert in this field, you’ll focus on other important areas of your business without worrying about sales and lead generation.

Remaining competitive in the solar industry is continuously getting harder. Companies need to know how they get their online solar leads and how to turn them into actual customers. It may not be easy, but it’s possible. Solar lead generation companies have simplified the work for solar companies.

Any company that needs to boost its business by purchasing perfectly aged solar data should simply book a strategy call. Previous customers have testified to the power of this service, with some saying that it increased their close ratio from 7 to 40 percent.

Solar energy is getting popular daily as more users adopt the renewable energy alternative that aims to lower energy bills while shrinking the carbon footprint. The increasing demand has led to explosive growth as families and businesses install solar panels.

In 2021, more solar businesses sprang up, and many more are still coming up to match the demand of the vast market. So, how can solar companies promote their businesses and at the same time get solar leads? What is the best way to get solar leads? Keep reading to learn more.

Solar Business Marketing

Every successful organization, brand, or cause must invest in proper marketing strategies. To attain this success, solar companies need to understand what their consumers need, how they can fill that need, and the best way to get solar leads that convert to sales.

Yes, it’s possible to promote your business and get exclusive leads at the same time. Companies that are just starting should adopt marketing strategies to help them expand their customer base. Generating exclusive leads is one way to achieve this goal.

All the same, you should know the foundations of marketing—your business and your audience.

Know Your Business, Your Brand

Marketing starts by knowing what you want to sell. Before embarking on a serious marketing campaign, you need to answer a set of questions to help you develop the best solar marketing messages.

• What makes your brand different from the rest?
• Which brand values do you cherish?
• How do you want your potential customers to perceive you?

Knowing Your Audience

Your audience is your target customers. To implement effective solar marketing, you’ve got to match the needs of your target audience. You can do a little research to know who your target audience is, their values, and the concerns and questions they have.

You need to understand what they are nervous about and why they might hesitate to buy solar services or equipment. After knowing what they want, their concerns, and their questions, now it’s time to address their concerns and meet their needs. Some tools to help discover your audience include Sparktoro’s free audience search and Facebook Audience Insight.

After knowing your business and your audience, it’s time to embark on serious marketing. You should implement the best way to get solar leads by using reliable solar marketing ideas. Here are key solar marketing ideas to generate solar leads:

Utilize Customer Referrals and Testimonials

Solar is a major investment for many people, and asking for a testimonial or rewarding a referral could land you more leads. Besides, this strategy works well with your existing customer base. You can use your existing customers to promote your business through word of mouth.

In business, it’s comforting to know that someone is satisfied with your product or service and can encourage another person to use the service or product too. The satisfaction you derive from your family and friends can be a great tool to promote your business while getting leads that convert.

Give Your Leads Finance Options

Solar is a huge investment; giving your customers payment plans could help ease the burden of a large upfront investment. Most homeowners or even business owners may not afford a big initial capital investment. Giving them finance options can motivate them to make a purchasing decision.

Master the Needs of the Local Market

As a solar business owner, you can target customers within a radius of your business’s location. In that case, you need to know what the customers in those suburbs look like. For instance, there could be customers in affluent suburbs with too concerned homeowners about price and quality.

You could also be targeting new homes occupied by young families who are more likely to receive solar as a ‘gift’ from their parents instead of buying it themselves. Some suburbs also have older and more established homeowners preparing to retire, so they may focus on reducing energy costs.

You can address the needs of your prospects better if you understand them and their needs.

Spread the Word

Once you get a few customers, you should keep sharing the love of solar. If you are passionate about your business and share the beliefs of your customers, you’re likely to convert leads. Importantly, you should have a competent back-office staff to deal with frequently asked solar questions. Share your knowledge, experience, and benefits associated with solar. This can help your leads see you as the “go-to solar person.”

Review Your Website

Your website is your chief marketer in the online space. Therefore, ensure it’s always updated, mobile responsive, and has the latest products and services you provide. It should also contain timely data on recent tariff charges and other upcoming events. Great content on your website can help promote your business while getting exclusive leads.

Consider E-mail Marketing

E-mail marketing is one of the best ways to market products and services in the digital era. You should set up an automated e-mail campaign, a smart way to help you manage your sales funnel more effectively. Besides, it helps free up your sales team and allows them to focus on quality leads.

An automated e-mail campaign also allows you to track the lead’s interest. You can do this by reviewing open rates, click-through rates, and the actions they take after getting your mail. Currently, several marketing automation tools are available on the market, including MailChimp. You simply need to identify a user-friendly tool with several integration options.

Utilize Social Media

Any business cannot underestimate the power of social media. Millions of customers flock around Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn every day. These platforms have worked well for solar companies that understand their market and the message they want to send to their prospects. They can work for you too.

The solar business is more complex than an average business. Promotion is key in getting customers, and the tips mentioned here can easily get you started.

Generating leads involves getting contact details of potential customers to pursue them for sales. It also involves market research and customer profiling while generating the leads for conversion. Solar technology has gained much traction in the last decade, and many homes continue to adopt the concept.

Some solar businesses resort to buying solar leads, but how can they engage solar lead generation companies to increase their sales? According to a 2017 survey by Pew Research Center, 65% of Americans are keen on utilizing alternative energy sources compared to 27% who believe in the increased production of fossil fuels.

Generating leads for solar companies is an important aspect of increasing their sales. A company that maintains a constant lead flow can get regular new customers leading to constant business growth. As a vital component of marketing strategies, many companies are exploring various ways to generate leads. While some businesses resort to buying solar leads, others leverage the power of lead generation companies.

Why Choose Solar Lead Generation Companies?

Solar installation companies can tap on the services of lead generation companies to boost their sales. Solar companies can achieve higher sales conversion rates by maintaining a healthy flow of relevant leads, leading to increased revenue.

Today, lead generation is one of the best marketing methods businesses can use to convert strangers into customers. Here are several ways in which lead generation companies can help solar companies increase their sales:

They Offer a Consultative Approach

Lead generation companies follow a well-defined approach where the focus is on selling solar products. Unlike other marketing methods that may not match your products or services, lead generation focuses on the products.

They Generate Sales-Ready Leads

Lead generation companies can help solar companies acquire sales-ready leads, which their sales teams can manage and transform into potential customers.

They Have Experts in Lead Generation

Companies specializing in solar lead generation have experienced teams skilled in dealing with clients from various categories across different locations. They also optimize their lead generation strategies to help their clients get better ROI.

How Do They Do It?

To start with, solar lead generation companies have qualified consultants that understand the solar business and the target audience. With a strong marketing team, they choose the right marketing channels to get the target audience. This could be through Google Ads, Facebook Ads, Instagram Ads, or a combination of the three.

Next, the UI team develops a landing page that displays the products or services and encourages prospects to follow the lead information. At this point, the technical team also develops a timely delivery mechanism regardless of the channel used for lead generation.

Once everything is up and running, the marketing team embarks on ad campaigns to start generating leads. The marketing team of the lead generation company liaises with the customer’s marketing to get constant feedback and optimize their campaigns according to the feedback.

More Tips for Increasing Solar Sales

In addition to buying solar leads, solar companies can do one or more of the following to boost their sales:

Investing in Solar Software

Solar is one of the industries poised to benefit from new technology. Solar companies should have proper coordination between their sales reps, finance departments, and engineering teams to market their solar products effectively. This may not work well with low-tech methods, which are already outdated and may simply waste time, money, and resources—investing in solar software bridges this gap.

Focusing on Hot Neighborhoods

Business is about customers, and solar companies should focus on where their customers are concentrated. One interview revealed that if one neighbor installs solar, another immediate neighbor is much more likely to do the same than if a neighbor five miles away installed solar.

This is what marketing experts refer to as hot neighborhoods. Solar companies should focus their sales campaigns on hot neighborhoods where households have already started installing the technology.

Using Simple, Clear Pitches

Marketing solar is quite involving—from the proposal and engineering designs to permits and the installation process and financing, a lot of details can be overwhelming to the consumer. If the script is longer, it becomes more confusing to the prospect. Solar marketing teams should build their pitches more slowly, focusing on one or two aspects at a time.

Emphasizing The Financial Advantages

To capture the attention of solar consumers, they need to know how installing solar will help solve their financial problems. For instance, they need to know that solar panels can reduce their monthly utility bills and increase the net worth of their properties. They can also be told that the government offers tax incentives covering up to 30 percent of installation costs.

Linking Up With Real Estate Agents

Real estate agents are important proxies when it comes to marketing solar. They often have first-hand information on who is buying or selling a property. By networking with them, solar companies can attract potential customers, as many people who buy properties may want to renovate and customize their property.

Using The Web

In the digital era, every business relies on a website for online visibility. A good website and social media profiles are great tools for marketing. With a good online presence, a solar company has the opportunity to display and separate the company from the competition.

A company website will have its logos, certifications, and projects. It also contains testimonials from satisfied customers. Consequently, visitors to the website and social media pages are drawn to invest in the company’s products or services.

Solar companies have various options for marketing their products. They can invest in the services of lead generation companies in addition to buying solar leads. Solar lead generation companies have the right personnel and marketing strategies to help solar companies increase their sales.

Solar companies can elevate their sales with the additional tips mentioned in this article. For additional information about lead generation companies, book a strategy call here.

References:

• https://www.solargraf.com/tips-for-increasing-solar-sales/
• https://inklik.com/lead-generation-company/
• https://inklik.com/blog/5-ways-to-increase-leads-for-solar-companies/
• https://fuzen.io/how-to-increase-solar-sales-10-practical-tips/

The success of any marketing campaign or ad solely relies on understanding your audience – your expected buyers. Doing so involves understanding their pain points, challenges, beliefs, greatest fears, and motivations.

Without these aspects, your marketing campaign or strategy cannot succeed. Besides, marketing to everyone is similar to marketing to no one. The key is finding your niche and investing in perfect marketing for them. This strategy equally works in generating online solar needs.

Fortunately, numerous specialists in the market specialize in helping solar companies uncover their ideal customers. However, each customer and customer persona is different, and so are the clients. Here, we will discuss the top four most common types of customers in the solar industry everyone should know, including their greatest motivations and pain points:

1. Calculated and frugal investors
2. Climate change advocates
3. Energy independence seekers
4. Tech enthusiasts

Calculated and Frugal Investors

This category comprises the most popular solar consumers today but the most careful with their money. Their biggest goal is to spend as wisely as possible and, where possible, be lean. They boast an immense understanding of the solar climatic impacts even though their main goal is to enjoy the most from every coin they spend.

They typically comprise families with 2 or 3 children, with either one or both parents working as full-time professionals. They own decently large homes with heaters and AC systems, even though energy conservation is the least of their concerns. They are, however, keen about government rebates, the power company they are working with, how much they pay, and whether they are on contract or not.

With their existing smart meter readings on file, these investors can calculate their payback period, making them highly analytical. However, they don’t mind paying more to get better quality solar products and services – they look forward to anything that increases the value of their investment.

Pain Points

• These consumers are overly busy with their professional jobs. So, they are keen on finding someone trustworthy to explain the investment to them.
• They are also cautious about solar installers who overpromise but under-deliver in the end.
• They are aware of solar companies that don’t refund based on warranty issues and are keen about falling victim to the same.

Motivations

• They long for the highest possible ROIs and know that the solar ROI is between 2 to 3 years.
• They want full control of their power and bills.
• They want to maximize the rebates while still available.

Climate Change Advocates

Their biggest goal is to save the environment, no matter what it takes. Some of the most popular techniques include composting, among other recycling methods, while voting for the Greens party. Despite being younger, they are pretty educated with a significant understanding of the science behind climate change. While they understand that their efforts are as small as water drops in the ocean, they still appreciate the impact they make.

This category of solar consumers fears that the world would be in a worse state if they don’t take responsibility today. With such tiny efforts, future generations can enjoy a better world as it is today. Some of the leading vices they are tired of include bribery in leadership and general pollution across the world.

To them, paying a little extra to make the desired difference is crucial. Solar installations, for instance, aren’t about saving money but a reflection of who they are. If you do a good job for them, they will tell their family and friends about you and eventually become your greatest advocates and marketers.

Pain Points

• The politicization of climate change is their biggest disappointment. They believe that the issue is science-backed and thus requires no debate on whether it affects humans or not.
• They believe that the next generation will suffer the most if nothing is done to save the environment today.

Motivations

• They look forward to being great leaders in curbing climate change and its effects.
• They want to educate the world about solar panels and their impact – making a statement and not saving money.

Energy Independence Seekers

This group comprises people who believe in solar panels as their exclusive energy source. That way, they can control the current generation besides the storage and electricity consumption. They are mainly older in age, probably semi-retired, whose children have moved out, and they have the financial abilities to become independent.

They have slightly smaller homes making energy independence easier and possible. They are also likely to be composting and growing their own food due to the need for independence. They are keen about their electricity bills and are aware of when they contribute to the grid or not.

Pain Points

• Fluctuation makes it tough for them to predict and control their budget.
• They feel powerless against the yearly increase in their power bills.
• They are most frustrated with regular power outages.

Motivations

• They long for peace of mind and have fewer things to worry about.
• They look forward to living off their land instead of relying on others.

Tech Enthusiasts

This group mostly comprises the earliest adopters of technology – and is passionate about it. They perceive solar as the future of energy generation and want to be among the first to enjoy it, making cost-effectiveness and climate change bonuses. Their smartphones allow them unlimited access to their usage information and solar system benefits, which they also share with their loved ones.

They can easily replace their gas appliances with electric ones to enjoy the most out of their solar systems. They are also solar enthusiasts, explaining why they are present on Reddit, Whirlpool, and other related platforms, and they have an immense understanding of the science behind solar panels.

They are also passionate about their computers and, in the process, may venture into crypto mining and other subjects that use lots of energy. They are mostly young adults living with their parents and young homeowners who recently moved out – most of them don’t have the financial ability to invest in solar systems immediately. However, they may be interested in the future. Their hearts and minds are mostly on TikTok and other social media platforms, creating content to educate and entertain their fans. The successful ones can become generational brands.

Pain Points

• They worship technology and will do anything to stay on top.
• They envy friends with the latest tech and want the same for themselves.
• They are rebellious towards control by parents, large corporations, guardians, and governments.

Motivations

• They dream of generating optimal power from solar panels and consuming it as they wish.
• They may not have money today and will most likely buy a Tesla when they do.

There are various categories of solar consumers today. Discussed above are the most popular ones. Read through to find your niche and uncover your company’s potential in generating online solar leads.

The solar energy industry has been rapidly growing in recent years. Solar companies and installers are also gaining popularity. Many home and business owners are embracing renewable energy and solar power options. As such, many people spend ample time researching alternative energy sources before contacting a solar installer. Interested clients contact more than one solar installer to find the best option, meaning your solar proposal needs to provide all the information to close your sale. Thus, knowing how to write a successful solar panel proposal gives you a competitive advantage and can also make or break your business. However, too many installers get this step wrong, either by erring on the side of providing too much detail in their proposals or insufficient detail. Today, I will explain how to streamline the process so that your solar proposal stands out from the crowd and helps you close more clients.

Solar Installation Pricing

The average customer uses solar panel installation costs as the most important criterion. It might be tempting to hide pricing information, but honestly, don’t bother. Instead, frame any upfront or ongoing costs and investments that deliver the tangible results outlined in the return on investment section. Be very open with your client. Let them know the actual cost involved depending on what they would like, residential or commercial solar panels. This will help them be mentally and financially prepared for their expectations. You can even offer a free quote. This can give you a competitive edge because most companies offer their quotes at a fee. A free quote will always be a win on your side, whether the potential client buys or not. You can use this strategy to gather homeowner information and include them in your marketing strategy.

Solar Financing

There are many different ways to pay for a new solar panel installation. It would be best if you outlined the relative pros and cons of whatever financing options you offer. Talk about the upfront initial investment. Displaying the information on a graph will allow your clients to choose the financing options. Include payment forms such as leases, loans, power purchase agreements, PPA’s, or cash from savings. Your solar proposal should include a payback timeline for the client to review, depending on the upfront or initial investment costs. If you offer multiple financing options, include different breakdowns of the customer’s return on investment. Listing the names and credentials of any lenders or financing partners you work with is a good idea.

Return on Investment

Many customers focus on pricing, but instead, the long-term ROI of their solar investments should take the lead. This is the whole point of seeking renewable energy solutions. Therefore, beginning your proposal with a summary of the savings of installing a solar panel reminds your client that the installation will provide a return on investment. In your proposal, explain the value of the solar panel installation on a monthly. Explain the projected amount of money the solar system could save the client. Put more emphasis on how the system will eventually pay for itself. Include details like:

• Estimated savings in 1 Month
• Estimated savings in 1 Year
• Estimate lifetime savings
• Estimated property value increases
• Projected carbon offsets

Warranties and Guarantees

Most PV panels sold in the US come with 20-25 years of protection. Warranty coverage for inverters and batteries ranges from 5 to 15 years. This section is where you highlight the manufacturer’s warranties for whatever products you carry. Many installers offer performance or production guarantees. Add these details here – including the full scope of responsibilities, maintenance and repairs should the customer face a problem. Address the common misconceptions surrounding PV technology. People need to feel good about their decision to go solar. Provide your clients with the confidence they need to go solar.

Licensing

Since the solar market is emerging, it is largely unregulated, and new installers are popping up all the time. Thus, you need to reassure your client that the installation experts are professionals who will respect and preserve their property during the whole process.

• Provide licensing details for each of the solar installers, contractors, or builders
• Provide photos of past completed solar installations
• NABCEP certifications or other types of industry-specific training
• Provides references or testimonials of prior work

Your job as a solar installer is to build trust with prospective clients. Thus, providing references from past customers, photos, and licensing details ensure the homeowner that the process is credible and reliable. Sprinkling reviews and customer testimonials throughout your solar panel proposals also helps a lot. The client can be convinced that if you did a good job with a previous client, you could do the same for them.

Tip

Make sure you use easy-to-understand language when filling out a solar proposal for a potential client. Your competitor may win the client’s contract if a client does not understand the wording. Reduce technical terms and the use of hard-to-understand words. Understanding the solar proposal is critical for customer commitment. Remember that your prospective clients are not experts in the solar industry and can get easily confused when faced with too much technical information. Don’t intimidate your clients by using technical language. Give each customer a personalized experience so that they can feel cared for.

Finally, your clients work hard for their money. Solar panels are a major investment with a high rate of return. By explaining the above details in the solar proposal in a simple and easy-to-understand way, you can build enough trust with potential clients to close a sale. In any case, everyone wants to make what they feel is the best choice for themselves and their home while also saving money with a quality product. Therefore, strive to make your solar proposal as appealing as possible while trying to meet all your client’s needs. Are you looking for solar leads to grow your solar company? Here at Solar Exclusive, we are highly dedicated to giving you high-quality solar leads.