Want to sell more solar panels? Perfect your solar sales pitch.
The truth is, most people will benefit from solar energy. But you have to convince them that the investment will be worth their while.
In this article, we’ll share seven tips to help you create the ultimate door to door solar sales pitch—the kind that will get prospects excited to buy from you.
Does that sound like a plan? Then let’s dive in!
7 tips to create a high-converting solar sales pitch
Field sales is hard, and getting harder.
61% of reps think selling is more difficult today than it was five years ago. Fortunately, a great solar sales pitch will make things easier!
Implement these seven tips to crush your quotas and achieve success.
Understand your ideal customer profile (ICP)
First things first, you have to understand your audience to create a high-converting solar sales pitch. Then build an ideal customer profile (ICP) to match.
In the solar industry, ICPs are normally:
- Homeowners: Since renters don’t own the homes they live in, they won’t want to talk to you about solar. Focus your energy on homeowners.
- Financially Responsible: Few people can purchase solar panels without financing. Because of this, a prospect’s credit score is vital to the sales process. Identify financially responsible prospects to sell to.
- Geographically Relevant: Solar isn’t a viable option for everyone. Ensure your prospect’s homes get enough sun, face the right direction, etc.
The above information will get you started. But you really need to study your specific market to learn about your potential customers. Who are they and what unique challenges do they face in regard to energy?
Once you have a firm understanding, you can use a tool like SPOTIO’s Lead Generation, which will help you pinpoint quality leads in your territory using 200+ data attributes, such as home ownership status, age, and credit capacity.
Structure your pitch around 3 questions
Now that you know who to target, you can begin to craft your door to door solar sales pitch, which should address these three questions:
Why should I invest in solar?
If you can’t answer this question for potential customers, you won’t make many sales. Fortunately, it’s a simple one. Your prospects should invest in solar because it will result in a smaller electricity bill, cleaner energy, and a higher home value.
Why should I invest in solar now?
The benefits of solar are clear. The best solar sales pitch will make these benefits so clear and enticing that the prospect will want to invest in panels right now.
The cost of utilities is currently skyrocketing. The government offers a variety of incentives to encourage people to invest in solar technology. And you can always offer limited-time opportunities to increase urgency and drum up sales.
These are legitimate reasons for prospects to invest in solar today, not tomorrow.
Why should I choose your company?
Finally, your solar panel sales pitch needs to highlight the value of your company.
There are a lot of solar businesses out there. Why should your prospects buy panels from you and not one of your many competitors? Hopefully, the answer is because your company offers some kind of unique value, such as:
- More Financial Savings
- A Better Solar System
- Higher-End Features
- Amazing Customer Experiences
- Greater System Reliability
Take a moment to think about your company and the ways in which it outperforms the competition. Then use these things in your solar sales pitch.
Open with a question
We’re just going to say it: most solar sales pitch scripts are boring.
Why? Because they start with a generic introduction that’s more likely to put prospects to sleep than it is to make them want to buy solar panels.
Skip the standard intro and start your solar sales pitch with a question instead. Doing so will automatically engage your audience. They’ll hear your question—even if it’s a rhetorical one—and automatically think about their answer.
Asking questions is a great way to build relationships with prospects, too. Especially since the majority of solar sales reps don’t take the time to do this.
Here are a few questions you can ask your prospects:
- Have you ever noticed… ?
- You’re probably experiencing… Right?
- Is it just me, or does it seem like… ?
Remember to sell solutions, not panels
Are you trying to sell solar panels to your prospects? If so, your door to door solar sales pitch will fail. Always remember…
You don’t sell solar panels, you sell energy-related solutions.
This is important because your prospects don’t actually care about the panels. They care about lower electricity bills, being environmentally conscious, boosting the values of their homes, and the other benefits related to solar.
The truth is, solar panels are expensive. The only way you’ll convince someone to make a purchase is to present said panels as a solution to a pressing problem.
This is why it’s important to understand your audience. When you understand them, you’ll know which benefits to highlight in your solar sales script.
Use customer stories to build trust
Going solar is a big decision.
The panels are expensive. They’re installed on people’s homes—likely the largest investments they’ve ever made. And the technology, while gaining popularity, is far from mainstream. Only 3% of U.S. electricity comes from solar energy.
Because of these things, many of your prospects will be hesitant to buy solar panels. One of the best ways to earn their trust and close deals is to highlight other people who have already made the switch to solar and loved the experience.
In other words, tell prospects about your happiest customers.
Have you sold a solar system to anyone else in the prospect’s neighborhood? If so, how much money does that person save on their electricity bill every month? These bits of information will go a long way towards a sale.
Use data and visuals
Nobody buys solar because a sales rep told them to.
You have to show prospects that solar panels are a worthwhile investment, which is easier to do with substantial data and visuals aids.
Tell prospects how much money they can expect to save per month. Then tell them about the rising energy costs in their area. Finally, estimate the elevated savings your customers will enjoy in the future thanks to solar.
These are a few of the main data points that matter. But they aren’t the only ones.
If your prospect is environmentally conscious, share data regarding the benefits of clean energy. If your prospect plans to sell their house in a few years, share data regarding the ways in which solar panels increase home values.
One last thing: to make the data you share more palatable, use visuals. Graphs, pie charts, and diagrams make complex information easier to digest.
Use external factors to create urgency
While we already touched on urgency, it deserves a bit more attention.
The more urgent you make your solar sales pitch, the more successful it will be. Fortunately, urgency is incredibly easy to create when selling solar panels.
Here are a few ideas:
- Solar incentives are always changing. There’s no guarantee that the amazing offer available to the prospect today will be there in a few months.
- Energy prices are on the rise. Your prospect’s energy bill might be agreeable now, but it might not be in a year or two.
- The value of solar could increase. Solar panels are becoming more popular. As demand from them grows, the cost to install them could go up.
- External factors might play a role. Your prospects could be worried about their electricity bill in the summer. Or charging their new electric vehicle.
Your solar door to door sales pitch should hit on, at least, one of these four points to increase urgency. The one you choose will depend on your specific prospect.
Final thoughts
If you want to succeed in solar sales, you need a killer solar sales pitch. After reading this article, you have the knowledge to create one for yourself!
But there’s always more to learn, right? Download your free solar sales eBook for more insights on the solar sales process. In it, we cover everything from the current state of the solar energy to optimizing every stage of the solar sales funnel.
