COVID-19 took a significant bite out of the global economy in no time at all. Those who have adopted software and practices to work remotely have been able to quickly adapt and close on new business. With the world changing day-to day, now is the time to get creative and ahead of your competition.
Below are 3 essential tools that can help you generate new business for your solar company while working remotely
Solargraf
Solargraf is a dream come true for solar installers. This software provides you the ability to design, quote, and manage all of your projects remotely, all in one place. By integrating with Nearmap and EagleView, measurements are incredibly accurate. To make things even better, they recently added a shading analysis tool to better calculate production numbers.
Interactive proposals can be sent electronically, notifying you when the client opens it, allowing the client to follow up with questions or even sign the dotted line.
Many Americans have been left with more time on their hands, which means they are more likely to explore things that have been left on the back burner. There is no better time to put yourself in a prime position to educate those who are interested in solar. Solargraf is a must have to weather the COVID-19 storm.
Loom
Loom is a free screen recording software that provides the ability to present to clients at their convenience. It is far more valuable to include a customized presentation in an email, as opposed to just words on a screen. Loom allows you to showcase your personality, educate your customers, and earn their trust by showing that you are a living, breathing human being. What makes Loom great is that you don’t need to schedule a specific time with a client to get “facetime” with them. Simply embed the video into an email, and your clients can watch it at their convenience. We have found that using Loom shortens the total amount of time in a sales cycle due to the amount of dialogue that can take place over a brief time period. Can an email do all of that? Get Loom. It’s Free!
Google Hangouts
With so many different options available for scheduling virtual facetime with clients, it is hard to choose which one to use. We love Google Hangouts because of its ease of use with clients on nearly any operating system. Meeting with a client “face to face” can be incredibly valuable in the final stage of the sales cycle.
Using Google Hangouts allows you to get valuable facetime with a client, and share your screen to present and answer any final questions that they likely have. There is a free version available to use this incredibly reliable service. All you need is a Google (G-Mail) account, or have your organization utilize G-Suite’s services.
Conclusion
To conclude, COVID-19 doesn’t mean that your solar sales team can’t be effective. Get creative, and utilize the proper tools to get the job done in this new world. Those who can generate new business now will have the most effective sales teams once the dust settles and the world returns to “normal”.
Nick Schlueter
Senior Project Manager
GreenLancer Energy Inc.
March 20, 2020