Hi folks
Well, it could be applicable, as I see the trends shifting on how the business
is done, as you've pointed out below. Understanding and creating a strategy on
adapting to the changing market trends, as we know requires some time, effort,
research and help.
Getting prepared is the next step. Develop the systems/processes if you believe
you need to close on 1 visit. Its a big commitment and ponder whether even in a
lease, $0 down, if folks sign 20 page documents and don't read the fine print
and get, like a doctor, a second opinion, regardless of how sweet the deal is.
You and any small shop can offer great service and very personal attention to
customer care. Its not when things are going well, do people remember- its what
you did when it didn't that is seared into their cerebrums.
Wrenches here are uniquely ready to show off their knowledge, experience,
expertise and craftsmanship. Your brands have been around for a long time and
market your longevity accordingly.
Don't give up on financing- know you can tap into the credit union entities-
they're clamoring to write loans. Went to our local building trade show
yesterday- evidenced by a handful of credit unions eager to have you go green
and the terms are very affordable for consumers and they have multiple ways of
doing it, not just a refi or home equity, which can be time consuming to write
and process. There are great personal loans now that are 60 months, 4.5%;
minimum $5k loan; they'll also do up to 180 months @ 8%. Plenty of time to
recoup the incentives and have a payment that is lower than what they're paying
now (at lease out here its applicable).
In alot of ways, it seems that solar is now affordable to many folks and the
technology- on the grid tie stuff is less complicated than the first days of
being able to interconnect to the utility, so I'm optimistic for whats possible.
Aloha, Keith
________________________________
From: Mark Frye <ma...@berkeleysolar.com>
To: 'Keith Cronin' <electrich...@yahoo.com>; 'RE-wrenches'
<re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org>
Sent: Sunday, January 29, 2012 9:03 AM
Subject: RE: [RE-wrenches] NABCEP Sales
Keith et. Al.
Not really sure that this is appropriate for Wrenches
but.....
Here in California, the big installers like SolarCity and
Sungevity etc. are moving to closing the sale on the first visit to the site,
cleaning up the details after the fact.
But, the big thing now is that these groups have succesfully
integrated the financial services into the product offering. 0$ down leases are
now the main offering.
This is a huge bar that the small shops can't even begin to
touch.
Mark Frye
Berkeley Solar Electric Systems
303 Redbud Way
Nevada City, CA
95959
(530)
401-8024
www.berkeleysolar.com
________________________________
From: re-wrenches-boun...@lists.re-wrenches.org
[mailto:re-wrenches-boun...@lists.re-wrenches.org] On Behalf Of Keith
Cronin
Sent: Sunday, January 29, 2012 10:39 AM
To: RE-wrenches
Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] NABCEP
Sales
Jessie
Great question and it spawned a few additional questions.
1. How many on the list here do urban only or 97% on
grid vs off grid systems?
2. How many urban solar folks today, have segued to
mostly micro inverters vs string inverters?
3. How many wrenches here do mostly battery
systems?
4. How many folks here have sales engineers or sell
systems themselves?
5. If you have a sales team, what are they allowed to
do? Go on the roof and measure? Open an electrical
panel/meter?
Reason I ask, is the trends seem to be shifting in our
area and perhaps because its more urban. Sales folks are trained to do
preliminary work- google earth/pictometry etc.
Then have a baseline for system sizing, prior to the
site visit. They contact prospects and go over their needs and get the electric
bill prior to the visit.
If the prospects express all of the buying signs or its
a referral- hot to trot, many companies here will give a proposal within the
second visit, pending the electrician/pre inspection to dial in the electrical
and roof verification items to ensure whats being proposed can actually be
installed for final proposal presentation. Many companies don't allow sales
folks on roofs or near electrical panels for many reasons including liability
and lack of background.
So, if you're a small company- all electricians, so to speak, this test and
the supporting framework would be very helpful.
For alot of the larger companies- and I mean over 5-10+ sales force, I
believe the structure of how they approach prospects has shifted over the last
couple of years, especially in light of micro inverters and their relative
design simplicity. I believe this trend will continue, as we see more and more
micro or AC output modules entering into the marketplace.
For the folks that are doing off grid stuff, I've always found it to be a
more unique niche, as its a very technical sale and requires a deeper skill
set,
as the competence of the sales/designer/installer/service team is usually a
small group of people from a small company, but I reserve the right to be wrong
about this. I see a future when and where we will all be off grid and there
will
be a huge market to service the energy storage devices that support our
baseline
energy from solar or another non firm energy resource to power our futures, as
grid saturation and feeder capacities at the utility level will cause us to
head
in this direction, naturally.
Aloha,
Keith
________________________________
From: Jesse Dahl
<dahlso...@gmail.com>
To: Wrenches <RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org>
Sent: Sunday, January 29, 2012 8:05
AM
Subject: [RE-wrenches]
NABCEP Sales
Hello,
I'm prepping for the
NABCEP sales exam and was wondering if others on here have taken it? What
are your thoughts?
Jesse
Sent from my
iPad!!!
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