What are door-to-door solar sales?

Door-to-door solar sales is a process where solar salespeople go door-to-door to promote and sell solar products and services.

This type of selling solar systems can be very effective, as it allows the salesperson to connect with potential customers one-on-one and build a rapport.

Steps involved in Solar Sales Process

There are four main steps in the door-to-door solar sales process:

Research your territory

The first step in any door-to-door selling campaign is to research your territory. You'll need to identify which neighborhoods or areas are most likely to be interested in solar products and services.

This can be done by looking at demographic data, such as income levels and average home size.

Make initial contact

After you've identified your target territory, it's time to make initial contact with potential customers.

This can be done by going door-to-door and leaving flyers or door hangers.

It's also important to have a good elevator pitch prepared so that you can quickly explain what you're selling and why it's beneficial.

Qualify potential customers

The next step is to qualify potential customers. This means determining whether or not they are actually interested in solar products and services.

This can be done by asking questions about their current energy usage and bills. You should also find out if they've considered going solar in the past.

Set up a meeting

Once you've qualified a potential customer, you'll need to set up an appointment. This is where you'll provide information about the product or service and try to close the sale.

It's important to remember that not everyone you talk to will be ready to buy, so don't get discouraged if you don't make a sale right away.

Now, While you, reason with your sales team on how you can employ the four points to devise a successful sales strategy, we gathered a few of the benefits door-to-door solar sales have to offer to make a more substantial argument advocating door sales.

Benefits of Door-to-Door Solar Sales

There are several benefits of door-to-door solar sales, and in this section of the blog, you will be uncovering a few benefits and bonus tips on each benefit it has to offer.

One-on-One with Potential Customers

Door-to-door Solar Sales are one of the many ways to connect with potential customers and explain the benefits of energy independence.

It's also a great way to get a feel for someone's energy needs and see if solar is a good fit for their home or business.

How do door sales work in a real-life scenario?

• Knock on Doors- Solar sales reps knock on doors in neighborhoods where they think there might be interest in going solar.
• Introduce and Set up a meeting- Following knocking, the solar sales reps then introduce themselves. They also ask if the homeowner is interested in learning more about solar, and set up a time for a free consultation.
• In case of a "Yes"- The sales rep will then go over different financing options and help the customer choose the best option for their needs and sign the one they deem best.
• Cost Estimates- The sales rep will also provide an estimate of how much money the customer could save on electricity by going solar.

The whole process usually takes about an hour, and is a great way to get those people invested in solar who would not have considered it before.

Plus, we already know it's a great way to establish familiarity with customers that are likely to convert.

An Additional Tip

A Solar salesperson typically should work in teams of two or three, so they can cover more ground and reach more potential customers per day.

Most importantly, they always follow up after the initial meeting to make sure the customer is happy with their decision and answer any questions they may have.

Building Relationships

Whether it is local solar companies or a nation-wide solar company, building relationships is a must! Door-to-door sales are a great way to build relationships with potential customers. After you acquaint yourself and your company and learn about their demands, you can decide on How to serve them the best.

Doing regular door-to-door sales also shows you are invested in your community. People will appreciate it when you reach out to them personally, and they will want to do business with you.

Explaining the Benefits of solar in a personal way.

You can convince prospects on How solar can fetch them immediate savings on their electric bill, how rooftop solar panels are a cleaner way to produce energy, and also inform them about how much energy they consume.

So don't forget to incorporate the importance of sun, solar panels, and a roof into your sales pitch.

What to keep in mind for Customer Interaction?

• Research is the Key- Be sure to do your research on the area you'll be canvassing. This way, you can target homeowners who are more likely to be interested in solar power.
• Dress and Act Professionally- Remember, the first impression counts. So dressing up for home visits as a part of your job is as important as acting politely and professionally when dealing with prospective customers.
• Keep Business Cards Handy- Always have literature or business cards on hand so that interested homeowners can contact you after your initial meeting.

With a little preparation, door-to-door selling can be a great way to increase interest in solar power purchase agreements.

When you are on the field doing your job you will discover your strong suit when it comes to solar sales and have your own list of Do's and Don't's.

If you already have a list of things sales reps should keep in mind when interacting with a customer, feel free to share with us your inputs in the comments below.

Get Instant feedback

Door-to-door sales also give you the benefit to obtain feedback from customers in real-time, which can be helpful in furthering your sales pitch and in avoiding red flags if any.

Instant Quotations

A door-to-door salesperson can provide potential customers with an instant quote or multiple quotes for solar panel installation.

Money is a deal breaker or maker for most people, hence With the right quotes at hand, this qualifies as the best strategy to get people to invest in solar.

In addition, door-to-door salespeople can also help their customers work out a financial deal by letting them know the upfront cost for the whole process of installing a solar system.

This also ensures transparency on your part as you are furnishing instant quotes for your clients right in front of them so that they can pay up their cost and it works as an advantage for you.

Close sales on the spot

This is the most common and effective method of selling.

Once you are done establishing a relationship with your potential clients, after discussing all the technical details and they are convinced of the services or products that you are selling them, you can close the sale then and there on the spot and draft a contract.

This is a benefit as it gets things done immediately as you don't have to waste time running around trying to get hold of your client and scheduling meetings for every step of the process.

Generate leads for future sales.

It's a great way to meet potential customers and get your name out there. Plus, it's great for lead generation for future sales.

Door-to-door canvassing can be very effective if done correctly as it is one of the right tools for making a sale.

How do you Secure future leads?

• Understand your product or service- Be prepared with information about your product or service, and understand them well enough to be able to talk about them in a manner useful for decision-making for the customers.
• Carry Brochures, answers, and an exemplary attitude- Have brochures ready to give out, be ready to answer any questions potential customers may have regarding your product, and to reiterate, Be polite and respectful. This is critical when dealing with anyone, but especially important when going door to door. Keep in mind that people are busy, and may not want to be bothered.
• Don't Force a Sale- This brings us to our next point, don't be pushy or try to force your way into someone's home. If they're not interested, move on and don't take it personally. Always remember that there is a fine line between being persistent and bothersome, you definitely don't want to be the latter.
• Always Follow up- It's important to follow up with potential customers, but don't overdo it. A few phone calls or emails should suffice. If you start to become a nuisance, you'll only hurt your chances of making a sale.

Door-to-door canvassing can be a great way to generate leads and sales for your business as long as you do it correctly.

Instilling these suggestions on the job can help you make the most of your time spent doing it.

However, if you are keen to know to increase your sales success. Read our blog post on How to Increase Door-to-Door Sales Success Rate?

Not Comfortable Approaching Strangers?

This Section is for you, Keep Reading!

Before moving on to the drawbacks of solar sales, we thought of giving you an extra bonus suggestion to ensure success in your sales attempt under all circumstances.

What if you're not comfortable approaching strangers?

You undoubtedly wouldn't want to strike up conversations with 10-20 people a day and face rejections.

So What is the solution for this you ask?

• Local businesses
• Promotions at Events/Fairs

Local business

You can consider partnering with a local business that gets foot traffic in your target market.

They can promote your products or services to their customers, and you can split the profits.

This is a great way to get started without having to do all the legwork yourself.

Promotions at a Community Event or fair

Another option is to set up a booth at a community event or fair.

This gives you the opportunity to introduce your services to people in person and give them details about your business.

Make sure you have plenty of business cards and flyers to give out and be prepared to answer questions and write down all your questions for them as well.

There are many ways to sell door to door, so find the one that works best for you and get started, but before you do it is also important that you keep in mind the probable flaws this method of selling has so that you can focus on avoiding them.

Drawbacks of Door-to-Door Solar Sales

The following are the 5 drawbacks that are most common during door solar sales-

• Time-consuming
• Difficult to find interested potential customers.
• People are less receptive to door-to-door salespeople.
• Need to make several attempts before you qualify a customer.
• Rejections and Hang-ups

Regardless of the minor drawbacks, this is still a very efficient way of selling. Using a door to door sales software makes most the above drawbacks go away, making it way more effective for your solar business. So what are you waiting for? Book a demo session for Sunbase Door to Door Sales Software.

Did you know that average door-to-door sales conversion rate is 2-3%? Do you want to read about how a solar company increases their door to door success rate? Read our blog post on "How to Increase Door to Door Sales Success Rate?"

Sunbase's Door Knocking Software

All marketing and sales are based on probability, only a certain number of prospects will agree to listen or eventually become customers. For even the most seasoned door-to-door salesperson with the best sales pitch, it’s still about numbers.

Not every homeowner is going to instantly scream Yes and be ready to share their personal details or schedule an appointment with your sales rep to get pitched.

When it is a number's game, you know the job will be time consuming and repetitive, and that's where Sunbase door to door software comes in. With the power of automation, you will save your company and solar sales reps lots of time, energy and money!

So, We encourage you to invest 10-15 minutes in a quick demo session where we can review functionality to make sure it would be the right fit based on goals.

The Benefits of using Sunbase's Door-To-Door Canvassing App-

• Increases Sales Rep Productivity
• Easy to enter and Track Prospect Information. 
• Time spent on follow-ups has reduced as a product of CRM Automation, without neglecting important tasks that drive conversions. 

At Sunbase, we’ve worked with many different companies across the country in developing their lead canvassing programs into fine-tuned campaigns.

Our Canvassing Software provides the best deal in framework to not only be efficient while performing the door-knocking tasks, but we’re also able to automate many other factors that can massively boost conversion metrics.

Conclusion

Throughout this article, we tried to explain the relevance of door-to-door solar sales. It discussed the process, and benefits of the method of selling solar. Visit our website to know more about our all-in-one software for solar companies. Thank you for reading!

About Sunbase

Sunbase helps solar companies succeed through a suite of Solar CRM tools like Solar Lead Management Software ,Solar Proposal Software, etc.! To book your free demo or an appointment, contact us here.