This Blog was Originally Published at : Facing Solar Sales Challenges? Here’s How to Overcome Them With more people opting for clean energy solutions, the solar industry is quickly growing and so is the competition in the solar market. According to recent studies, the global solar energy market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 11.5% from 2023 to 2030. However, as the demand is increasing, more companies are entering this solar space, making it harder to increase solar sales. In this crowded solar market, solar sales professionals are facing many challenges like difficulty in attracting solar leads, high CAC, inconsistent demand, and more. So, how can you overcome these challenges? How do you outshine competitors offering similar products and services? The answer to this lies in understanding your challenges and finding the best solution for them. In this guide, we will tell you about the solar sales challenges that most solar companies face, along with practical solutions and tips to overcome them. It will help your business to grow faster even in a competitive environment. What is Solar Sales? The process of selling solar panels, and other related equipment or services is called solar sales. Solar sales process involves multiple steps from generating leads to managing, nurturing, and educating them to finally turn them into customers. The main goal of solar sales is to convince prospective for to invest in solar energy. It is beneficial for both solar companies and the customers. Solar sales involves these steps: Generating Solar Leads is Tough Do you know, 91% of marketers say lead generation is the most important aspect of their business, but still, 37% of marketers consider generating high-quality leads as one of their biggest challenges? With the growing competition in the solar market, generating leads is also one of the main solar sales challenges faced by marketers. Many solar companies in the market are vying for the attention of prospective customers. This makes it more difficult for you to grab their attention and convert them into clients. What’s The Solution? In order to generate solar leads, you might already be utilizing methods like SEO, digital marketing, content writing and marketing, etc but these tactics are not enough to outshine competitors. In today’s automated world, you need to use technology to overcome the solar lead generation challenge: Use Solar Lead Generation Tools: You must use lead generation tools like SunLead. These tools can be easily integrated into your website to provide instant solar quotes to visitors based on their energy usage. What’s more interesting is that they even provide visuals of the solar panels installed on the visitor’s rooftop by using their address. It makes it easy for them to understand the benefits of solar and visualize installations beforehand. List of best lead generation tools for solar companies here. It’s Difficult to Manage Consistent Follow-Ups Effectively managing follow-ups is another solar sales challenge faced by companies. It needs a lot of effort and patience to continuously follow those leads, understand their requirements, and provide effective solutions. One issue in this is lack of persistence; studies indicate that 44% of sales representatives give up just one follow-up call and then forget. This leads to missed sales opportunities from high-quality leads and makes them turn to competitors. What’s The Solution? CRM Integration: You must use Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems to properly manage solar leads. Many companies including Hubspot, Salesforce, and Sunbase, provide an all-in-one solar software suite, including a CRM system. They can integrate web forms to auto-capture solar leads and track their status. They help solar companies keep proper track of all the leads at one place, saving a lot of time. The only guide for SEO that solar companies need CAC is too High In every industry, including solar, the Customer Acquisition Costs (CAC) are high. If you purchase solar leads from third-party providers, it costs approximately $80 to $150 per lead. Even 80 to 90% of these leads are cold or unqualified, which results in a low conversion rate. On average, 1 out of 20 leads is likely to become a paying customer. This means an average CAC of around $2,000, which is way too high. What’s The Solution? Use Data For Marketing: If you want to reach high-quality solar leads at a lower cost, you must use data-driven marketing strategies. You can use different free and paid tools to form segments as per user behavior and preferences. These segments can be for email marketing, paid advertising, etc. It will help you improve your conversion rates without overspending. Invest in the Right Tools: There are many tools that helps solar companies generate leads and reduce CAC. SunLead, for example, offers a solar quotation tool that converts website visitors into solar leads by simply offering them instant quotes and rooftop visuals. At the cost of buying one solar lead, you can take a complete one-year subscription to SunLead and generate your own high-quality solar leads. Incorporate Referral Programs: Besides this, you can use referral programs to acquire new customers with the help of your existing customers. Although many companies think it’s an outdated strategy, however according to a study, 86% of B2B purchases are influenced by word-of-mouth referrals. You can offer many discounts, free services, and other advantages to your customers for referring your services to others. Best places in USA for solar energy Educating Customers is Difficult Many prospective customers are unfamiliar with the cost, benefits, and long-term savings of solar power. They need to understand concepts and terms like solar loans, Net Metering, etc.
