The solar industry is on a bit of a hot streak (no pun intended.)
Thanks to evolving customer demand, as well as legislation designed to encourage investment in the space, solar energy has never been more popular than it is now.
This represents a HUGE opportunity for solar companies. But it’s not all gumdrops and rainbows. As the industry grows, solar companies need to adapt and grow with it. One of the best ways to do that is to invest in new technologies.
The right technology will help your company find and connect with new prospects, as well as differentiate itself in an increasingly competitive market.
In this guide, we’ll explain what solar sales software is, the eight best solutions in this category, and the benefits your solar sales team can expect to enjoy once it begins using one of these tools. Does that sound like a plan? Then let’s get started!
What is solar sales software, exactly?
Solar sales software encompasses everything your team uses to close deals, from canvassing and engagement tools to CRM apps and proposal design solutions.
Basically, if you use a piece of technology to sell solar, it can be defined as “solar sales software”. Obviously, this represents a large collection of tools—many of which will serve different purposes in the solar sales process.
Keep that in mind when we review specific solar sales software in the next section.
Here’s what all the best solar sales software have in common: they’re designed to simplify solar sales for sales reps. The trick is finding the right solution for your needs. After reading the reviews below, you’ll know exactly which solutions to use.
8 Best Solar Software Solutions for Sales Teams
As mentioned above, we’re about to list the eight best solar sales software solutions. Just remember, many of the solutions below were designed to do different things. You need to decide which tools fit your needs and desired workflow.
Make sense? Great, we’re about to dive in…
SPOTIO
Best for: Field sales engagement. SPOTIO is ranked #1 in the Field Sales category, and was a 2023 G2 Best Software Winner.
If your company deploys an outside sales team, you need SPOTIO. Why? Because SPOTIO was specifically designed for field sales purposes.
With SPOTIO, solar sales reps can contact, engage, and close more deals thanks to a host of powerful, easy-to-use features. The fact that reps can use SPOTIO throughout the entire sales process, from beginning to end, is one of the main reasons why it’s used by thousands of people in the solar industry on a daily basis.
Key features:
- Prospecting: Find homeowners that fit your target profile with SPOTIO’s Lead Machine tool. Want to only contact people between 24 and 45 years old, who care about the environment and have good credit? Done.
- Canvassing: Canvassers can use SPOTIO to set appointments from the field; then easily pass new leads (along with their details notes) to closers.
- Rep Tracking: How do your reps spend their time in the field? SPOTIO’s Rep Tracking feature will tell you, which will help you decide if poor performance is due to a lack of effort or training. (Note: this feature can be disabled.)
- Route Planning: Want to boost solar sales rep productivity? Reduce windshield time. This is easy to do with SPOTIO, which helps reps plan efficient routes between prospects so they spend less time in the car.
- Multi-Channel Communications: One-visit closes are rare—even for the best sales reps. In fact, the average solar deal takes about nine months to close. Stay in touch with prospects during this time via calls, emails, and text messages, which SPOTIO will automatically capture for you.
- Sales Automation: Data entry tasks kill sales rep productivity. That’s why SPOTIO is designed to automate this process. Use the tool to automatically capture information and store it for future use.
- CRM Integrations: What CRM do you use? Doesn’t matter—SPOTIO integrates with just about all of them, including a few favorites in the solar industry like Solo CRM, Salesforce, and Zoho.
- Custom Sales Reporting: Finally, SPOTIO makes it incredibly easy to report on your sales team’s success. Better yet, said reports can be customized to only include the data you and your superiors care about.
Solo CRM
Best for: Customer relationship management.
Solo CRM was built for solar and roofing professionals. As such, the CRM tool has all of the features users need to close deals—and none of the ones they don’t.
One of the best things about Solo’s solar sales software is that it expertly combines speed of use with affordability and excellent customer service. The result? A tool that’s easy to operate, naturally boosts productivity, and won’t break the bank.
Key Features:
- Speedy Proposals: Create custom proposals that include your company’s unique offerings and branding, in as little as 15 minutes.
- e-Signature Capabilities: Close deals faster with binding digital signatures.
- Engineering Documents: Get the NABCEP- and SONNEN-certified engineering docs you need in less than 24 hours.
- Important Integrations: Solo integrates with several lenders, allowing sales reps to run credit checks and secure financing from inside the platform.
Aurora
Best for: Proposals and design.
Aurora’s solar sales software includes tools to help sales reps connect with and sell to customers. What sets it apart from other apps, however, is its proposal design functionality, which is definitely a high-end feature. With Aurora, solar sales reps can create eye-catching design proposals that help them get to “yes.”
Key Features:
- Lead Capture: Build lead capture workflows that quickly qualify prospects.
- 3-D Modeling: Create 3-D solar designs that wow prospects—in 30 seconds.
- Custom Proposals: Send custom proposals, complete with images and videos, to help make your solar company stand out from the competition.
- Contract Generation: Generate contracts with e-signature capability.
Solar Labs
Best for: Commercial design proposals.
SolarLabs is similar to Aurora (mentioned above). The difference is that SolarLabs is ideal for commercial solar projects, rather than home-based ones.
With SolarLabs, users are able to track leads, use AI to quickly design commercial solar systems in both 2-D, and 3-D, predict power production, and more.
Key Features:
- Design Creation: Build commercial solar plans with ease.
- Run Simulations: Predict power production and simulate shading patterns.
- Attractive Proposals: Close more deals with beautiful proposals.
- Monitor Pipeline: Track leads and always know where you stand.
Salesforce
Best for: Customer relationship management.
You’re in sales, which means you’ve definitely heard of Salesforce. How do we know this? Because it’s the largest, most popular CRM tool on the planet. With it, users can do… Well, a lot. Track your pipeline, increase rep productivity with automation, engage prospects on a deeper level, forecast future results, and more.
Key Features:
- Sales Automation: Automate follow-ups and other tasks to close more deals.
- Deal Management: Monitor customers and pipeline stages. Doing so will help you focus on your best leads before they fall through the cracks.
- Email Tracking: Connect with your top prospects via email and move them through the buyer’s journey at a consistent clip.
- Reporting: Get detailed insights you can use to improve rep performance.
Acculynx
Best for: Proposals and design.
Acculynx was made to help roofing contractors grow their businesses. But that doesn’t mean solar sales teams can’t use the tool, too. After all, where are most residential solar panels installed? That’s right, on roofs.
With Acculynx, your reps will be able to manage their relationships with prospects, build estimations in seconds, manage projects, and generate reports.
Key Features:
- CRM Tools: Track your leads, from initial contact to contract signings.
- Estimates: Create estimates with measurements, profit margins, and more.
- Mobile App: Access the information in Acculynx from a cell phone or tablet.
- Reporting: Quickly gauge sales performance to find areas to improve.
JobNimbus
Best for: Proposals and design.
Next on our list of solar sales software, JobNimbus.
Like Acculynx (mentioned above) JobNimbus wasn’t created specifically for solar sales teams. Instead, it was designed to help contractors of all types. Even so, the app can make the solar sales process easier because of its feature set.
Key Features:
- Increase Profits: Manage leads, project revenue, and collect payment faster.
- Get Organized: Calculate costs and send professional estimates in less time.
- Boost Efficiency: Automate tasks and access data from a mobile app.
EagleView
Best for: Proposals and design.
EagleView makes it easy to generate accurate proposals thanks to its industry-leading roof dimensions and shading analysis tools.
Basically, you can tap into this solar sales proposal software to access aerial imagery, which can then be used to properly assess the dimensions of a potential customer’s roof, as well as any obstructions in the area.
Key Features:
- Accuracy: Generate install-ready PV designs based on precise data.
- Convenience: Create reports for solar planning without getting on roofs.
- Coverage: Access aerial imagery for 94% of the U.S. population.
Benefits of Solar Sales Software
Now that we’ve covered the best solar sales software available, let’s talk about why you should invest in one of these tools. There are six main reasons:
Improved rep productivity
The right tool will help your reps get more done in less time. Features that automate data entry tasks, assist in the proposal creation process, and help field reps plan more efficient routes will result in more closed deals for your company.
Greater pipeline visibility
Who are your top prospects? If your reps don’t know the answer to this question, they’re probably not spending their time wisely. Solar sales software will help you and your team understand your pipeline so you can get the most out of it.
Faster proposal designs
Proposals don’t draft themselves. And every minute your reps spend in front of a computer is a minute they aren’t talking to customers. Solar software streamlines the proposal process, while helping reps maintain peak professionalism.
Better project visualization
To sell solar, you need to make prospects understand the benefits of this kind of energy. This is much easier to do when they can actually “see” the panels on their roofs and the ways in which they’ll transform their power needs. Fortunately, many solar sales software programs are able to visually simulate projects.
Increased close rates
What’s your ultimate goal? To increase solar sales. The right software will help you do this by giving you all the tools you need to engage customers, i.e. automated communication sequences, sales tracking metrics, and custom reports.
Better customer experience
Finally, solar sales software helps reps provide a better customer experience to every prospect they encounter. How could it not? When reps are able to easily communicate with leads and provide them the information they need in a timely manner, potential customers will feel respected and valued.
Close More Deals With Solar Sales Software
Ready to boost sales for your company? Invest in solar sales software. Doing so will allow you to boost rep productivity, better understand your pipeline, design winning proposals in a flash, and provide top-level customer service.
The question is, which solar software should you choose? Only you can make that decision, but if you employ field sales reps, SPOTIO would be a good choice.
As mentioned earlier, SPOTIO was specifically designed for outside sales teams. Because of this, it has the tools field sellers need to close deals. This is why thousands of solar sales reps use SPOTIO everyday to engage customers.
Learn more about SPOTIO and how it can help your company today!
