By Carter Lavin, special to Solar Power World
Study after study shows that over 90% of Americans love solar. So how come less than 1% actually have a solar array? Considering that there are only about 300,000 solar homes in the U.S., it’s likely that over 90% of Americans may not even know anyone with a solar array. This means that most people only have a vague sense of what it means to go solar.
People like solar, but it’s not a part of their world. Even a well-informed customer might think, “Sure, going solar seems easy and will save me money, but who actually does it?” It’s no wonder residential installers spend an average of $2,000 to $4,000 to acquire each customer, and it takes an average of nine months for a homeowner to go from considering solar to signing a contract.
In order to translate people’s warm and fuzzy feelings about solar into signed contacts, the industry needs to earn potential customers’ trust. The main way installers earn homeowners’ trust is through referrals from satisfied customers. While that is essential to an installer’s growth, it is also a slow-going process. To build up trust and its network quickly, installers should also partner with established organizations in order to benefit from the halo effect while accessing a larger network.
Across any solar installer’s territory are dozens of organizations that have a wider reach, richer community connections, and more credibility than the installer itself. These include civic groups, activist groups, faith communities, schools, camps, and social groups. Partnering with a community group helps ingrain an installer into the community, increasing the installer’s credibility and network.
A partnership between an installer and an organization can take many forms, such as a collaborative volunteer project, organizational sponsorship, or a referral partnership. Structuring the partnership to incentivize the organization to leverage its network and promote the installer is critical. Many installers already volunteer with a local charity, but if the charity doesn’t promote the installer’s good work, the installer loses out on a great marketing opportunity. Providing a financial incentive to the partner organization for each sale it helps originate, as Sungevity does with the Sierra Club, can be highly cost-effective. However, this may not be suitable for all organization types.
Although partnerships can come in many forms, they each require three key elements to help an installer bridge the trust gap and generate quality leads.
- First, the organization must have better credibility and a larger network – or at least, a more engaged network – in the community than the installer. If the organization doesn’t, what does the installer get from the partnership?
- Second, the installer must be able to support the organization’s promotional efforts and be capable of handling the increased customer volume. If the installer isn’t able to help the organization and its community, why would the organization partner with them?
- Finally, the installer must provide high-quality installations and customer service. Shoddy work harms the reputation of an installer, its partner, and the entire solar industry.
While developing partnerships with community organizations requires patience, it can provide a significant source of revenue for an installer and jump-start its referral program. By integrating into the community and working with trusted organizations, installers can transform solar from an intangible idea in the minds of potential customers to a real-life solution with a wider customer base.
About the author:
Since 2008, Carter Lavin has helped over two dozen clean energy organizations connect with their audiences. His experience includes launching PR and inside sales, organizing and managing conferences, trade show marketing, market research, and managing social media campaigns. Carter has worked in nearly every sector of the solar industry including thin-film and crystalline module manufacturers, trade groups, installation, micro and string inverter manufacturers, off-grid hybrid power systems providers, energy monitoring software developers, and racking. He earned a BS from Georgetown University where he studied international energy and environmental security.