Solar Sales Success: How to Sell High Quality Solar vs Cheap Risky Solar (PDF)

Solar Business Academy [email protected] www.solarbusinessacademy.com.au Solar Sales Succ...

Solar Business Academy [email protected] www.solarbusinessacademy.com.au Solar Sales Success How to Sell High Quality Solar vs Cheap Risky Solar In the last section we introduced to you our “Quality Solar Blueprint”. This is our framework we have developed to help you present to a customer the di erences of a quality solar system versus a cheap one. Using that framework, and your better understanding of your customer’s needs you’ve uncovered already, you are now ready to go even deeper into learning how to educate your customers. It’s time to put it all together by learning how to tell a more compelling story based on what’s important to your customers. This is critically important when you are selling quality vs cheap solar systems. Pro Tip - Selling solar is not about educating the customer to become an expert in solar. That’s not possible in an hour or so. Selling solar is about helping customers to spot the di erences between cheap and risky solar, and high quality and reliable solar systems. And to make them emotional about their purchasing decision. As per our Solar Sales Success Framework below, let’s now continue to learn how to Educate your customers. © Copyright - Solar Business Academy - All rights reserved 2024 - Page 1 ff ff  Solar Business Academy [email protected] www.solarbusinessacademy.com.au The Challenge One of the greatest challenges many solar businesses face, is how to sell quality solar systems over race to the bottom cheap systems, and overcome price objections! This challenge often feels overwhelming, with some solar companies advertising race to the bottom, low quality and cheap 6.6kW systems for $2997. You may think to yourself - how can I possibly compete with that? The point is that you don’t have to, and nor would you want to! Those aren’t your customers. The margins are so slim selling solar at such a low price, that many of those businesses will go bust trying to get the high volumes required to be pro table. There are companies however who sell 6.6kW systems for up to $8000 and have built $40M businesses. So what are they doing di erently? "The reality is, that without a great story to tell and educating your customers about the risks involved with cheap solar, your product or service becomes a commodity. And when that occurs, the focus invariably will be on price!” Whereas when we build a compelling and educational pricing story, we are adding real value to the customer and helping them understand the di erence between quality and cheap solar. Our job is to understand our customers and educate them about the bene ts of high quality solar products and installation, trustworthy warranties, great design and aesthetics, and fantastic customer service and support. And when we do that, we become the expert in the eld and turn the customer away from making a mistake with a poor purchasing decision elsewhere. The di erence between price and value When it comes to pricing, it is important to understand there is a di erence between price and value in the minds of most customers. Generally, customers will accept the price being asked if they can see, or understand, the value. Where customers can’t see the value – or what is di erent about what you do – then the focus will always be price! Create a “compelling story” to support your price Supporting your price is not about selling, but simply “educating” and providing your customers with a “compelling story” that supports your price. This story needs to encompass: Linking what you sell or do – to what is important to the customer. Their goals and aspirations. Our Quality Solar Blueprint™ and the 7 keys to a great solar investment. Your points of di erence. Your strengths – what you do really well. Your “Hidden Secrets”. The risks of cheaper alternatives. © Copyright - Solar Business Academy - All rights reserved 2024 - Page 2 ff ff ff fi ff ff ff fi fi  Solar Business Academy [email protected] www.solarbusinessacademy.com.au The Quality Solar Blueprint™ Here is our “Quality Solar Blueprint™” again that we introduced to you in the last section. We have developed this model that highlights the 7 key points of di erence we think a solar customer should care about when purchasing a quality solar system. One that will perform well, be reliable and well supported for the life of the system. We will now explore how your points of di erence compare with our 7 key points in our Quality Solar Blueprint™ above. This is just a guide, and feel free to use this model or add in your own points that are right for your business. Let’s explore this further in the exercise below. EXERCISE #1 Your points of di erence The next step is to make a list of what is di erent about what you do – your product or service, your sta , the way you manage customer relationships, design solutions etc. relative to the competition. What are the di erences with your quality solar solution compared with the competitors cheap or low quality solution? What should your customers care about? Using our Quality Solar Blueprint™ as a starting point, write down your top 5 to 7 quality di erences you think are most important and rank them in order of importance. If you have previously done your Unique Selling Proposition (USP) or Customer Value Proposition (CVP) in our Solar Business Success course, use those statements and ideas to help inform your answers below. © Copyright - Solar Business Academy - All rights reserved 2024 - Page 3 ff ff ff ff ff ff ff  Solar Business Academy [email protected] www.solarbusinessacademy.com.au Fill out the tables below to understand your points of di erence and what this means for your customers. Rank # Our quality di erences 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 How our points of di erence bene t the customer The risks or problems our points of di erence help customers avoid © Copyright - Solar Business Academy - All rights reserved 2024 - Page 4 ff ff fi ff ff  Solar Business Academy [email protected] www.solarbusinessacademy.com.au EXERCISE #2 Your strengths Often in business, how to use and communicate strengths is misunderstood. The reality is, customers do not value strengths, expertise, skills etc. unless it is communicated in terms of what it means for them – how they bene t, the problems or risks it helps them avoid. If you have done our Solar Business Success course, you can refer back to the SWOT Analysis you did in Module 1 - Understand Your Business, to assist with this. Fill out the tables below to understand your strengths better and what this means for your customers. Our strengths, skills, expertise How these strengths, skills or expertise bene t the customer The risks or problems our strengths, skills, expertise help customers avoid © Copyright - Solar Business Academy - All rights reserved 2024 - Page 5 fi fi  Solar Business Academy [email protected] www.solarbusinessacademy.com.au EXERCISE #3 Your “Hidden Secrets” Hidden secrets are those things you do behind the scenes, your gems, to provide a quality product or service for your customers – this may include things like: Unique equipment you may use Where or how you source supplies How you come up with recommendations or solutions Systems or processes you use Quality assurance – checklists Unique technical sta , highly skilled in design Things you do behind the scenes the customer is not aware of. Most businesses go to enormous lengths to deliver a quality outcome for customers – however all too often this is “hidden” from the customer – it is therefore not valued. Nor do they appreciate what can go wrong if these steps are not taken! Fill out the tables below to discover your hidden secrets. Our “Hidden Secrets” How our “Hidden Secrets” bene t the customer © Copyright - Solar Business Academy - All rights reserved 2024 - Page 6 ff fi  Solar Business Academy [email protected] www.solarbusinessacademy.com.au The risks or problems our “Hidden Secrets” help the customer avoid EXERCISE #4 The risks of cheap! Another element of your pricing “story” is to be prepared to “educate” the customer as to what can go wrong should they choose to purchase a cheaper product or service. This is not about “hard selling” but simply highlighting to your customer any elements they may not have considered! In most instances, there is always a price to be paid for cheap! It’s risky, and you get what you pay for. Fill out the tables below to uncover what risks your customers may experience in going with cheap solar. Potential risks of cheap How could this impact the customer © Copyright - Solar Business Academy - All rights reserved 2024 - Page 7  Solar Business Academy [email protected] www.solarbusinessacademy.com.au Communicating your pricing story – which means......! When all the elements have been identi ed, the next step is to rehearse your “story” so you can communicate it in a con dent manner, whilst sharing all the key points you wish to convey in a powerful way. A simple way to do this is to link what you do to what is important to the customer by using – “which means”. For example: Points of Di erence Which Means Bene ts Which Means Problem or risk avoided Strengths Which Means Bene ts Which Means Problem or risk avoided Hidden Secrets Which Means Bene ts Which Means Problem or risk avoided Quality Solar Blueprint Which Means Bene ts Which Means Problem or risk avoided Buying Quality Which Means Bene ts Which Means Problem or risk avoided Again, this is not about selling - it is about learning to communicate your story e ectively so the customer can understand the value being provided. Pro Tip - Rehearsal of your compelling story is recommended because: Practice leads to competence. From competence, con dence ows! EXERCISE #5 Your compelling story You now have our Quality Solar Blueprint™ , and have uncovered your own unique points of di erence, strengths, hidden secrets and the risks of cheap. Now write down your business’s compelling story in the table below utilising all those unique points about your business. Actually write a short story using your points of di erence, strengths, hidden secrets, bene ts received and risks avoided using the framework above with “Which Means” throughout the story. © Copyright - Solar Business Academy - All rights reserved 2024 - Page 8 ff fi fi fi fi fi ff fi fi fi fl ff ff fi  Solar Business Academy [email protected] www.solarbusinessacademy.com.au Your compelling story © Copyright - Solar Business Academy - All rights reserved 2024 - Page 9  Solar Business Academy [email protected] www.solarbusinessacademy.com.au Conclusion In a competitive world, pricing is one of the greatest challenges many solar business owners face. Whilst it is natural that customers want “value”, too often not enough time is taken to “educate” the customer about the value being provided! When a customer is “educated”, the more likely they are to understand the value being provided and the risks of cheaper alternatives. An added bene t of doing this work is an “educated” customer is also more likely to share their experience and knowledge gained from you with others, and that leads to more referral business for you! NOTE: Typically you would present your proposal to the customer during the fourth Pitch phase of our Solar Sales Success Framework, after you have fully Understood, Educated and Partnered with your customer, but of course the pricing discussion may come up whilst educating them, and there are no hard and fast rules. It pays to be exible! © Copyright - Solar Business Academy - All rights reserved 2024 - Page 10 fi fl