Solar technology adoption is growing rapidly, and as more consumers enter the market in search of renewable energy solutions, more and more opportunity exists for new solar technology retailers. But the solar industry represents an interesting dynamic. New businesses are entering to fill the ever-growing demand, but at the same time, equipment prices are constantly falling as the technology gets better and better. That makes solar energy sales an incredibly competitive market, where companies are constantly fighting to differentiate themselves and earn additional market share. One tool that represents a huge edge in that competition is customer resource management software. A good CRM can positively impact almost every aspect of a business, but it’s their impact on the customer-facing and sales sides of the solar game that makes them so valuable. 

 

CRMs Help Companies Get More Out of Every Lead

Leads are the lifeblood of sales, and if even one slips through the cracks, it represents money that your company can’t afford to lose. Traditional lead management is clumsy and inefficient at best, and in many companies, it effectively doesn’t exist at all beyond an email chain or a spreadsheet. With a customer, resource management platform like CRMDialer, that all changes. Leads can be tracked in incredible detail, with every interaction automatically assigned to a lead’s account, and all information accessible by agents and sales staff in a matter of a few clicks. The result is near-perfect situational awareness on who your leads are, which are the hottest, where they are in the sales process, and how best to close them. With CRM software, your solar company can ensure no quality lead ever slips through the cracks again. 

 

CRMs Enable Better Communication, Service, and Support

It’s very difficult for solar equipment companies to differentiate themselves based on product because there is essentially zero brand awareness among consumers. As a result, companies are limited in what they can do to stand out. Competing on price is always an option, but it’s a bad one in a market where prices are constantly falling anyways. The best way to stand out is through unmatched service and support – the kind of differentiation that earns word of mouth referrals. Customer resource management software is ideally suited to improving service and support levels because it centralizes all your communications into a single point of control and enables easy tracking of the contents and results of each customer interaction. That means every time your team speaks with a customer, they’ll have easy access to every piece of information they could possibly need to help that customer feel special and ensure their questions or problems are dealt with effectively. The value of that can’t be overstated. 

 

CRMs Help Streamline and Manage Installation Scheduling

Installations represent extra revenue on top of your company’s equipment sales, and they’re an important part of keeping your business healthy and profitable. But a tech showing up at your customer’s house or place of business could very well be the first and only time they interact on a face-to-face basis with your company. As such, it’s extremely important that your installation and service calls go off without a hitch. A huge part of that is carefully managing the schedule. We’ve all heard nightmare stories of cable or telephone customers being asked to be available for an 8 or 12-hour window and then left hanging. With the proper use of a  good CRM tool, you can ensure your customers never have to ensure a similar experience. Tools like CRMDialer fully integrate all of your scheduling into the same platform as your communications and customer management. That means you can accurately manage your scheduling and easily share calendars and other important client details with your techs right through the CRM. Rescheduling or reassigning a new tech is also incredibly easy, ensuring your customers will walk away from their installation experience ready to provide a glowing review to their friends. 

 

CRMDialer is a leading customer resource management tool ideal for companies in the solar industry. In addition to providing powerful lead management, communication, and scheduling tools, CRMDialer also offers a full billing and electronic payments suite, an industry-leading power dialer, internal chat, advanced analytics and reporting, and much more.