And how can OpenSolar and SunWiz increase your chances of WINNING?
Wouldn’t it be amazing if every proposal you sent out to a prospect won you the job?
Now, we’re not saying OpenSolar will do that for you automatically. (But we reckon just using OpenSolar will improve your odds).
But maybe with a little guidance, your solar business can start hitting home runs more often.
Some OpenSolar users have permitted us to analyse their OS accounts to guide them where they should focus their efforts to maximise their chances of success. They’ve agreed we can publish aggregated anonymous analysis of their results for the purpose of sustainable industry growth.
What we’ve found so far is fascinating.
What's your Solar Success Rate?
There’s a wide range of success rates out there. Some companies successfully convert more than 40% of their proposals into sales within 90 days, whereas for others that figure is below 10%. The chart below shows the 90-day success rate for five such companies, and indicates that a typical success rate is slightly over 20%.
Are you Churning through customers too fast?
At first, we thought that this simply reflected different business models. We expected that some high-volume companies would relentlessly seek quick wins, whereas smaller companies might spend more time converting prospects into sales.
The chart below shows small businesses don’t necessarily have a more efficient or effective sales process. (The x-axis is the capacity proposed in the last 90 days). There are some high-volume companies that convert just as well as low-volume companies. However, more data is needed to draw conclusions (after all, the larger businesses shown here install about 100kW per month).
Are you focussing on the right customer segment?
Focussing on the right customer segment can enhance your chances of success. The larger businesses in our sample (coloured green and teal below) tended to have much better success rate in residential sales than in commercial sales. However, there were other businesses that did much better in converting commercial sales, albeit at lower volumes.
Price isn’t the primary determinant of successful sales
A lot of the solar industry is involved in a race to the bottom. But it doesn’t have to be a competition to see who can drop their pants the furthest.
Among the companies that have shared their data with us, it’s true that lower priced systems are twice as likely to sell as higher priced systems (see below). And yet, plenty of businesses persist in proposing higher-priced systems. How can they do that and stay in business?
How to sell at a high price and stay in business
A lot of factors are involved in successfully selling at a high price. One of the keys to doing so is understanding your prospect success rate. OpenSolar’s CRM enables you to mark jobs as won, and doing so helps you manage a well-run business. SunWiz can extend the benefits of OpenSolar’s CRM by revealing your most successful products, salespeople, and segments.
SunWiz, an OpenSolar Expert Partner, has an insightful service called SunBizAdvisor that provides that guidance. It’s a service that shows your business where you best should focus your efforts to maximise your chances of success. Sign up now on this page
In our next article, we’ll go into more depth about how businesses can charge a higher price than their competitors and not only stay in business… but thrive!