Growing demand for clean energy, solar tax credits, the promise of lower utility bills, and declining hardware costs have contributed to a 10-year boom in the solar industry that’s exploded in a sunburst of growth at 25% annually. In fact, solar is projected to become the largest source of electricity generation by 2040.
Despite this rapid growth, the pool of eligible leads remains relatively small. To be a solar customer, individuals must meet several criteria: they need to be homeowners, have good credit, and own homes with suitable roof conditions.
This makes the competition for qualified leads fierce. To stay ahead, you need an effective lead gen strategy and the right tools to help you convert leads faster.
Equipment and labor costs are relatively similar across the board for solar companies, which means the real competition comes down to customer acquisition. In the U.S. in 2023, 55% of all new electric capacity came from solar energy, so you know you’ve got a hungry market. To make the most of this opportunity, you need to find high-quality leads.
Whether your company buys leads or generates them in-house, the primary objective for solar telemarketing agents is to find potential buyers who meet your established criteria, such as the amount of sun exposure, roof suitability, and creditworthiness.
The most common ways for solar companies to capture prospective panel buyers:
It doesn’t matter if your call center is cold calling to generate leads or calling leads from a qualified list, you have to move through a massive quantity of data, as quickly as you can, and you have to be efficient about it. While there’s been a growing demand for solar panels, there’s ironically also a limited supply of leads due to the challenges faced by businesses in the solar market.
To be a player in the game, you need to drive efficiencies for your leads, your agents, and your management team. That’s where your solar dialer comes in.
The success of your telemarketing efforts—of your entire solar business—depends on the power, capabilities, and flexibility of your call center software. The automated power of a predictive dialer will dramatically improve your campaign productivity and effectiveness.
To increase your company’s bite out of the solar market, here are 5 ways to convert leads faster:
With rising financing costs in the solar market, focusing on high-quality leads is more important than ever. You can’t afford to waste time on leads that don’t convert.
While higher-quality leads might cost more upfront, they ultimately save you money by improving conversion rates. These leads are up-to-date, come from reliable sources, and match your ideal customer profile—such as homeowners with good credit and suitable roofs.
High-quality leads generate better results because they are more likely to convert into sales, reducing the wasted effort your team spends chasing dead ends.
The best dialer on the planet won’t help you if your agents are calling from a bad list. Your staffing costs just go up, morale goes down, and the savings on the cheaper lists you bought are void, and you don’t have the revenue expected from your list purchase.
Likewise, the best list on the planet won’t help if the script your agents are using isn’t effective. “When it comes to knowing how to sell solar panels over the phone, nothing is quite as important to the success of your solar call center’s campaigns as your sales scripts,” Heather Griffin, expert solar consultant, says.
Make sure you have sales scripts that get results and your software gives you the automation of dynamic scripting. Outbound call centers convert more leads when their agents know the right thing to say at the right time.
In today’s market, compliance is essential. Regulatory bodies like the FTC are actively cracking down on deceptive practices in the solar industry, such as misleading financing options and high-pressure sales tactics.
In August 2023, the FTC, CFPB, and the U.S. Treasury took joint action by increasing enforcement, issuing fines, and collaborating with other agencies to protect consumers from unethical solar sales practices.
The TCPA is also introducing stricter regulations, such as the one-to-one consent rule, which takes effect on January 27, 2025. Under this rule, every lead you contact must have clear, direct consent specifically for your company.
You can no longer rely on third-party forms that bundle consent for multiple sellers. Make sure you update your lead-generation processes accordingly to help you stay compliant and avoid costly legal issues.
Don’t focus solely on your cost per lead (CPL). You need to look at the entire picture, with a real focus on understanding your true cost per acquisition (CPA). While a low CPL might seem attractive, if the leads don’t convert, they can end up costing you much more in the long run.
The trick is to be able to get a quick read on how lists (or lead vendors) are performing. If you can get real-time insight into the CPA being delivered by a list or list vendor, then you can make smart, metric-driven decisions. Using tools like Convoso’s List Conversion Report, you can track CPA on a list-by-list basis, giving you the ability to make smart, metric-driven decisions.
If it’s sorely underperforming, you can choose to pull that list and stop wasting more agent time on it. Or if you’re getting great results, then you’ll be in a position to purchase more leads from the same list/list vendor.
With a clear understanding of your CPA, you can maximize efficiency, boost conversions, and ultimately drive better ROI for your solar business.
With consistent efforts, your solar company can gradually build a steady flow of inbound leads—prospects who reach out to you directly. This means the lead is essentially knocking on your door, already interested in what you offer.
Instead of relying only on outbound calls and hoping to find leads who might be somewhat interested in solar panels, building a strong inbound marketing flow will significantly improve your success rate and profitability. Inbound leads are typically more qualified and ready to engage, which boosts conversion rates.
As solar consultant Erik Curren says, “the day may come when you can start to cut back on buying lists and eventually generate all your solar leads in-house. With better leads, your conversion rate will rise, and you’ll sell more solar.”
To achieve this, solar companies need to leverage digital marketing strategies that attract and nurture leads online. By building a robust online presence through SEO, content marketing, and targeted ad campaigns, you can attract more prospective customers who are actively searching for solar solutions.
Building this inbound flow takes time, but once it’s in place, your sales pipeline will be filled with more qualified leads, allowing you to focus on conversions instead of cold outreach.
Good Data + Powerful Dialer = Strong Lead Conversion
And that’s the formula for solar lead generation success. Soak up the rays!
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Convoso is a leading contact center software provider (CCaaS) for sales and lead generation teams. Since 2006, Convoso has remained at the forefront of innovation, consistently developing solutions to foster customer growth while supporting adherence to regulatory standards. Its omnichannel capabilities include conversational AI game-changer Voso.ai to scale sales and revenue further.
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