What is a Solar Sales Funnel?
A sales funnel is a series of steps a person gets guided through by you when they’re interested in potentially buying solar for their home or business. The ‘top’ of the sales funnel is that person’s first contact with you, while the bottom of the sales funnel is when someone buys solar for their home or business.
Stages of Market Awareness and Your Sales Funnel
In the marketing world, these different stages of awareness when it comes to solar are called “Stages of Market Awareness.” These include:
- Problem Aware
- Solution Aware
- Product Aware
Problem Aware
At the problem-aware stage, someone might be thinking about their increasing electricity bill and how it’s affecting their family.
Solution Aware
At the solution-aware stage, someone might be considering solar panels as a potential solution to save money on their electricity bill and improve their family’s quality of life.
Product Aware
At the product-aware stage, a person might be researching which kind of solar system makes the most sense for them, such as a Tesla Powerwall or a specific size of the solar panel system.
Designing Your Solar Sales Funnel
When designing your solar sales funnel, you need to decide at which stage of market awareness you want to have your first interaction with people. The earlier in the stages you choose, the more work you’ll need to do in educating and explaining how solar works and how it can benefit people.
Pros of Starting Your Sales Funnel at the Problem Aware Stage
- Less competition at this stage
- Lower cost per click for paid advertising
- Potential to build trust with customers through education
Cons of Starting Your Sales Funnel at the Problem Aware Stage
- More work required to educate potential customers
- Longer time before people are ready to buy
Starting Your Solar Sales Funnel at the Solution Aware Stage
At this stage, you’ll need to do less educating about the problem but still need to provide some information. People at this stage might take one or two months to convert.
Examples of searches at this stage include:
- Should I get a battery with my solar system?
A good way to attract people at this stage could be a solar panel return on investment calculator.
Starting Your Solar Sales Funnel at the Product Aware Stage
At this stage, you’ll pay the highest rates per click on advertising platforms like Google Ads, but you’ll find the quickest conversions. This is where people are likely to call your number, speak to your sales reps, and pay a deposit quickly.
Examples of Google Ads keywords to bid on:
- Buy solar panels
- Solar company near me
- Best solar company Arizona
Stages of a Solar Sales Funnel
The essential steps of any solar sales funnel include:
- Generating Solar Leads: Generate solar leads using various methods, such as Google Ads.
- Lead In: Transfer leads into your solar CRM software and set up automated first contact via SMS and email.
- First Contact Attempt: Try to reach leads by phone, with the best chance of reaching them within 60 seconds of them filling out the form.
- Second Contact Attempt: Make additional attempts to reach leads as people have busy lives and may need several attempts to be contacted.
- Appointment Booked: Receive confirmation from the solar lead that they want to talk to you at a specific time, either over the phone, video call, or in person.
You can expand upon these stages depending on your specific sales funnel strategy.