Are you looking to scale your solar business this year?

If you want to teach people a new way of thinking, don’t bother trying to teach them. Instead, give them a tool, the use of which will lead to new ways of thinking.
— R. Buckminster Fuller

In our experience, there are some common problems that solar companies need to overcome in order to scale successfully.  Scaling a business can be extremely difficult if you don't have the right tools. The CRM tool we recommend is HubSpot because it gives you the operational efficiency you need to grow.

Is your solar business experiencing any of the problems listed below?

1. The business doesn't have a single source of truth

Not having a single source of truth is perhaps one of the biggest challenges we hear about when trying to grow a business. Multiple CRMs or outdated spreadsheet management are a common source of pain for growing solar companies.  This can be a headache for the whole team.  The goal is to have data that is manageable and accessible.

2. The sales and marketing teams are misaligned

This is a common problem and one that is easily spotted by managers and owners. Typically you'll find each department only caring about certain goals, and not considering the entire buyer journey.  The business goal is to have the  sales and marketing departments communicating and learning from each other.

3. The need for more automation to reduce manual tasks

So much time can be wasted on manual tasks that can be automated. You can set up simple or complex automation tools that also help you manage follow-ups.

4. A lack of visibility on marketing ROI

Solar companies get a point where they need to be able to justify marketing spend against actual cost per lead.  Marketing campaigns can be tracked and dashboards can be set up to allow at-a-glance results on current spend.

5. Still using excel spreadsheets to manage leads

A lot of solar companies are embarrassed to admit to this, but we get it. When you're starting out this is a quick and easy way to keep track of leads.  It's enough to get it out of your head and into action. Using an excel spreadsheet to manage sales pipelines however has limits, and you'll get a point where this task becomes so manual that you'll know you're ready to make this process more efficient.

6. Sales reps are not closing the sale

With manual handling, it can be hard to see at which point a sales rep lost the sale.

With automation and efficient processes, you can use status fields to show you the journey the lead took and at which point the sale was lost.

7. Pipelines can be managed better

Often a solar business offers multiple solar solutions. Solar panels, inverters, batteries, off grid, hot water systems, pool heat pumps and the like.

You can set up sales pipelines and assign specific sales reps to product specific leads so that leads are not lost and sales are attributed to the correct pipeline.

8. Sales reps are not contacting leads fast enough

You know the scene, you get a lead and by the time the sales rep calls them back they have already engaged with a competitor. We often see this problem when you rely on third party solar quote companies to recommend you as a dealer in a specific area. You will be one of three company recommended, so you have to be quick. 

If you generate your own leads, then they're all yours! From the moment the lead makes contact via a paid ad or website form, your sales team will be notified. You won't have to compete for attention.

9. The database needs to be segmented to not only prioritise sales but communicate better with leads

Segmenting your database will help improve the reach across internal teams, improve your conversion rate and will help you communicate more effectively with leads showing interest i your company.

10. We can't import and export data easily

Some existing solar CRM's are not very user-friendly. Most solar companies are looking for easy ways to import and export data, with field mapping functionality so double-handling issues are eliminated.

11. We need at-a-glance reporting dashboards

Easy, at-a-glance customised reporting dashboards can be set up so you don't have to go data mining for basic information. You can report specifically on marketing activity, sales activity, or contact reporting.

12. We need to integrate other tools used in the business

HubSpot Integration allows you to easily sync information between platforms.

Google Analytics, Google Ads, LinkedIn, Xero, EventBrite, Gravity Forms, Bit.ly, Unbounce, Databox, HotJar, MessageMedia (SMS Marketing), and Zapier - to name a few.

13. We want to automate campaign tracking

We can create tracking URLs to help you to measure the effectiveness of your marketing campaigns and help you move the lead closer to the sale.

14. We need customer conversations tracked within one place (email and phone)

HubSpot allows Outlook and Gmail emails to be tracked within the system automatically. You can choose emails what to track and un-track. You can also make and log calls from within the HubSpot CRM.

15. We want to improve lead conversion rates

HubSpot's analytics tool provides data insight and helps you make better decisions to improve conversion rates.

16. We need a customer ticketing system to manage queries

Setting up a user-friendly ticketing system allows the business to prioritise incoming requests, maintain SLAs, and provide a great customer experience.

17. We want to improve marketing activities (landing pages, forms, email marketing, SMS marketing).

HubSpot's Marketing Hub gives you access to a bunch of marketing tools and data all in one platform. You can improve your blog, SEO, social media management, ad tracking and measurement and live chat services.

If you can relate to some of these pain points then it's time to take action.