To help guide you through the Sales Process we’ve put together a Sales Process Checklist for you. This is useful for you in making sure you are not missing anything, and to use as reference material to spot if you did miss something and that is why your deal is not going smoothly. 

Qualified Lead

• Got into the house 

• Got an Electric Bill

• Final Consultation scheduled within 1-3 days out 

• Decision makers will be at Final Consultation

• Main objection known

• Referrals gotten

• Selfie video post-Qualified Lead

Pre-FC (Final Consultation)

• Appointment confirmed day before and day of

• Any information requested by Customer before the FC has been sent

Closed-FC (Final Consultation)

• Reviewed design

• Reviewed proposal / presentation

• Documents signed including NEM

• $2000 deposit if cash agreement

• Referrals gotten

• Scheduled Tentative Install date

• Set Expectations for next contact

• Thank you follow up sent

• Takeaways to discuss in morning meeting listed

Open-FC (Not Closed)

• Second appointment has been scheduled

• Reviewed Appointment Notes with Manager, Reasons it didn’t close, Ways it could have been avoided

• Follow up thanking for the meeting sent

Survey

• Sent reminder to Homeowner

• Referrals gotten

• Post-survey selfie follow up

Design Received

• Design reviewed to make sure matches homeowner’s wants/needs

• Got redesign done if necessary

• Necessary proposals reviewed 

Permits Received 

• Followed up with homeowner to schedule installation (within the next 7 days)

• Reminder before installation sent

Install 

• Morning text sent

• Handwritten letter and gifts delivered

• Referrals sheet picked up

• Expectations for inspection given

• Selfie video sent

Post-Install

• Completion certification signed

• Let customer know they will be getting a customer experience call as well as an email for their SolarEdge log-in so they can see how much their system is producing

30 Days Post Activation 

• Reminder sent to client that utility billing won’t reflect solar yet

60 Days Post Activation 

• In-person meeting done

• Outlined how to read new utility post-solar bill

• Emphasized savings 

• Customer sent proof to referrals

What is a qualified lead?

Qualified Lead is the first and most important stage of the sales process. A qualified lead is a homeowner, is genuinely interested in learning more about solar and converting to that power source, and is qualified for Solar as far as their roof and having good credit. Qualified leads are found by door knocking, a lead we get, or a referral. 

Who initiates a qualified lead?

The qualified lead is initiated by a member of the Sales Department.

What is required for a qualified lead?

Customer information - Full name, email, address, and phone number. This is so we can track them in our records going forward.

Must work with property owners - The property owner is the only one with the authority to have solar installed on their home. We cannot work with tenants or renters. We only work on single family homes.

Must be a single family home - There are legal and logistical challenges with installing solar on duplexes or condos. At this time we will only install on single family homes. 

Electric bill - The homeowner must either provide an electric bill, annual electric usage data or utility account number. 

Qualifying credit score - A credit check is required to go solar with financing. Any homeowner we work with should have a strong credit history. If a cash deal, we will need some proof of strong credit or income (as mentioned above)

Set a firm FC date - The Final Consultation date must be set at this time to confirm the commitment of the homeowner. FC’s are best set no sooner than 72 hours after the meeting. 

Home must have an eligible roof type - Eligible roof types include: composite shingle, concrete tile, clay tile, flat roof, gravel, and metal. Ineligible roofs include light or clay tile and wood shake. Ask the homeowner if they know what type of roof they have and how old it is. If the homeowner doesn’t know, take a look yourself and determine what it might be.ar, reach out to your local Survey Manager by talking with your Team Manager.

What is a final consultation?

During the final consultation, the Sales Consultant meets with all decision makers to answer questions and finalize the agreement between the company and the homeowner. 

What is the purpose of the final consultation?

The purpose is to create a legally-binding agreement protecting both the company and the homeowner’s interest in going solar, as well as fully educate the customer and set the right expectations for the installation of their PV system. 

Who initiates a final consultation?

The Sales Consultant schedules a time to meet with the homeowner and other decision makers. Next, the consultant will organize sales proposals, the preliminary design, any additional documents that may be required. Once all documents are in order and the consultant arrives at their home, the final consultation is initiated. 

What is required for a final consultation?

All qualified lead requirements must be met, a survey scheduled, a design, proposal and (if applicable) HOA Approval form must be generated, and a survey date must be agreed upon between the homeowner and the Sales Consultant.

What makes a final consultation complete?

The final consultation is considered complete with a signed HOA Approval form (if applicable) and a fully executed agreement between the homeowner, your company and in some cases the finance partner. The NEM agreement and other documents as needed must be signed. Company must receive either a down payment or an approved credit check by a finance partner. Site Survey Scheduled. A referral sheet has been offered and the intended installation date has been discussed, while next steps and expectations are set. 

End Result: Signed customer contract, signed HOA Approval form (if applicable), signed financier requirements, signed Net Energy Metering (NEM) application, and other documents signed as needed. Survey Scheduled. A referral sheet has been offered and asked for.

What is permitting?

Permitting is when the company submits and gets approved a full building and electrical permit pack to an AHJ (Authority Having Jurisdiction), usually a town hall. Every AHJ is different. Some are very fast, and others may take up to a couple weeks to approve the pack.

What is the purpose of permitting?

The purpose is to request permission from an AHJ to do construction on a home and to determine that the construction will meet local, structural and electrical regulations. This permission is required to move forward with the process.  

Who initiates permitting?

The Sales Consultant submits a Final Consultation. 

What is required for permitting?

All qualified lead, final consultation, survey, design, and HOA Submission Process (if applicable) requirements must be met, as well as a full understanding of the local regulations by the design team and permit team.

What makes permitting complete?

Once an AHJ stamps a permit pack for approval, a permit coordinator will pick up the stamped permit pack and deliver or ship it to the local installation partner warehouse in-person or online if applicable, and as soon as it is confirmed that it was received it is complete. 

What is the company’s expense of permitting?

Thousands of dollars of time, energy and resources of the sales team, survey scheduling team, survey team, preliminary design team, contract and proposal team, the customer’s time and your time in the consultation, permit pack design team, permit coordinating team and management.

End Result: Stamped and delivered permit pack.

PERMITTING - INSTALL SCHEDULING

Know Your Territory

As a salesperson the key to a smooth permitting process is knowing about the area you are working in. Every town has a different permitting process. Some towns have a same-day online process while others can have a process that takes multiple weeks and is very complicated to get approval. If you have never had an install in a town you want to canvass in it is best to ask your manager if X Company has installs in that town already, find out how long it takes to get a permit back in that town and also determine if any other forms might be required to have a permit approved in that town. By being aware of the territory you are working in you will be able to avoid delays that will shake the homeowner’s confidence in working with X Company. 

When the Permit is Approved

Usually the permit is the part of the process that we wait on to be able to schedule the installation. Assuming that the homeowner’s financing is complete, as soon as the permit is approved you will be notified on the software. At this point you will want to call the homeowner to congratulate them on receiving permission from the town and offer the homeowner the next available installation date. 

“Hey Bill, How are you? Excellent. I’m doing great. So just like I told you the last time we spoke, I wanted to call you today to let you know that we just received your approved building permit back from the town. Congratulations! This means we have everything we need to move forward. The next step is to get you on our installation schedule. Last time we talked we scheduled you tentatively for the 25th of the month, but we’d love to get you installed even sooner since the permits went faster than expected. I was thinking we could pencil you in for the 19th, would that work for you?”

If the Permit is not Approved

Occasionally we will submit a permit and it may take some time before we finally hear back from the permitting office just to find out that the permit was not approved. In most cases, this is an easy fix. Our design and permitting team will simply make the requested revisions and resubmit the corrected permit. In most cases even with a revision we should be able to get the permit approved in a reasonable timeframe however it is important to update the homeowner if we begin to get close to the timeframe you initially told them. The last thing you want at this stage is for the customer to cancel because they feel left out of the loop if permitting is taking longer than initially

expected. The more accurate you can be in setting expectations the better the customer will feel about working with you and X Company. 

When a Permit is Disapproved because of Construction / Unpermitted Structures on the Property

This is uncommon, and usually we become aware of the possibility of this happening early on in the Qualified Lead and Survey steps, however it still can occur that due to Construction or Unpermitted Structures on the Property, that we will not get approval to move forward until the homeowner sorts it out. These can vary on a case-by-case basis. Ask your team manager for guidance and stay in good communication with the homeowner about what is happening and what they need to do.

Greeting Text 

On the morning of the installation, send a text to the homeowner in order to establish communication for the day. It is best to thank them for choosing X Company and find out if they will be home for the duration of the installation. This will allow the homeowner to easily notify you if for some reason our crew is not on time or if something seems out of the ordinary. If possible, find a good time to stop by to see the homeowners in person during the installation. 

Arrive with Gifts

When you arrive to the installation it is always good to arrive bearing gifts. Try to bring a thoughtful gift like the homeowner’s favorite type of wine or a gift card to their favorite restaurant. Any gift that is genuine will be very appreciated and increase the likelihood you will get referrals.  

Use the Referral Sheet

In some cases a homeowner might only give you a couple referrals before this point in the sales process. If you arrive at the install with gifts for your homeowner, it is highly unlikely that at this point if you ask for more referrals that they would not have more to give you. At this point, your homeowner will be excited about their decision to go solar and will at minimum be able to point you to the neighbors in the neighborhood who might be interested in going solar. The only scenario where you do not get referrals is if you do not ask. 

Recanvass the Area

After visiting the homeowner at the install, it is a great time to canvass the area. It's likely that you spoke with homeowners who were skeptical or unavailable when you first went through the area and by coming back while their neighbor is being installed you are able to leverage the installation going on as social proof that other people are excited enough about your product to go all the way through with it. You will be surprised by how effective this tactic is, social proof is a very compelling reason to at least explore a product. In addition, when you recanvass an area it proves your commitment as a professional which can also sway a homeowner who may have previously been skeptical. 

Inspection 

The installation is not complete until the inspection is approved. The inspection is usually within a week, almost always within 2 weeks. However, many times it can be same day or next day!. The inspection is when a representative from the town and a representative from our install team assess the work done to make sure it was done according to the plans that we originally submitted to the town. As a salesperson you will not be required to attend the inspection. In most cases the inspection is approved on the first appointment. If the inspection is not approved the first time, it is typically a quick thing that we need to add or change in order to gain approval. 

Installation

What are the stages of an installation?

A. Installing the racking equipment. This is a frame that holds the solar panels in place on the roof. It is made out of lightweight aluminum that requires minimal roof penetration. It’s black to match the panels and sits about 2 to 2 ½ inches above the surface of the roof. Whenever roof penetration is made, it is straight into the rafter of the roof. We fill the hole in the rafter with a water-proof sealant and install a metal disc that allows us to hook on the racking equipment. 

B. Lay down the optimizers. An optimizer is a small device that relays the production information of the solar panel to the inverter. An optimizer will be placed in the location where each panel will be fixed to the frame.

A. Installing and stringing the inverter. An inverter is a white box about the size of an electrical panel that converts the electricity produced by the solar panels from a direct current to an alternating current, which is the type of power a home uses. The inverter also takes the information collected by the optimizer and outputs it to a customer dashboard that both the homeowner and Install Company have access to. This information reveals the production of the solar panel and other useful data. The inverter will be installed typically near the electrical panel and utility meter of the home. The stringing is connecting the inverter to the electrical panel of the home so that energy produced by the solar panels is transferred to the home for its use.