CASE STUDY · COMMERCIAL SOLAR INSTALLER · 5 MIN READ

Eco Power Renewable Energy: Treating the First Commercial Solar Meeting as a Discovery Call

every lead so far

100kW+

every lead so far

in the NHS group he met

17 sites

in the NHS group he met

working with our team, roughly

3 months

working with our team, roughly

his rule from day one

No care homes

his rule from day one

14:01

Who Eco Power Renewable Energy are

Before the acquisition, Aiden's business, formerly LW Electrical, spent four or five years as an EPC contractor for some of the big install companies. On those jobs, he says, the sale sometimes let them down by the time they reached site. Being acquired by Eco Power was a chance to "elevate us to the next level" and push into selling.

He describes his own strength as technical installation and operations, not sales, and his team as "more account managers, not from a sales background."

Why it has to be the decision maker

A new owner wants results quickly, and commercial solar does not do quick. An internal sales hire got meetings, but not the decisions, and "before you know it, you're a month into one, one lead." Aiden's conclusion:

“Nobody wants to make a decision quickly which is why you've gotta speak to these decision makers.”

Building that in-house would have meant hiring SDRs: "there's no point sitting there wasting loads of time." Our guide to how to get commercial solar leads compares what each route takes.

The first meeting is discovery, not a proposal

Some businesses ask Aiden for a proposed system at the first meeting. He declines: "I'm not bothered about proposing the system on the first one." He wants to understand the company first. The filter he describes runs like this:

1. 1

   Do they have a need?

   Sustainability, decarbonisation or cutting energy costs. He also asks whether they are doing ESG reporting yet, and if not, what is motivating them.

2. 2

   Are they interested in solar to help with it?

   If not, there is nothing to book.

3. 3

   Are they ready for a serious chat now?

   "If yes, again, then you know we're gonna book them in."

   Only then is a meeting booked, and the first meeting is about getting to know them.

“It's gotta be a discovery, you know, we've gotta get to know 'em. We've gotta understand the motivation the company's motivation, the drive.”

Our guide to selling commercial solar sets out a discovery-first process, and if a business mentions ESG or scope 2 reporting, the guide to solar and carbon credits covers what you can honestly claim.

The 17-site NHS group

Every lead so far has been over 100kW, and the biggest was a meeting with the group financial director of an NHS organisation with 17 sites in and around London, including community centres and three general hospitals. Aiden says the group was spending "something like 25 to 30 million a year on not just electricity, but on utility."

After a first and second meeting, he was passed to the strategic facilities manager for sustainability, and was waiting for a framework agreement so the group could roll out one site and then the next. It had not been won at the interview, and other leads at board level were expected to run into the new year. A multi-site rollout like that means a grid application per site; our G99 application guide covers the process.

Tell us what you don't take, and say when a lead falls short

Aiden was clear from the start about one kind of site: "we don't do care homes." Not because they are bad jobs, but because they do not fit how Eco Power prices and runs projects: they add time and there are "loads of hoop to jump through". He says our team listened and asked why, rather than sending them anyway.

He also raised it when the first two leads fell short, because one of our staff had not followed the process. The process was changed, and since then "it's been absolutely fine." When a meeting was not with the decision maker, the answer was simple:

“No problem. We'll give you another one.”

You only pay for appointments that are actually attended, and any that aren't viable we replace. On price, Aiden's view: "you weren't the cheapest, but you weren't the most expensive."

The full interview is in the video above. TNW Marketing's own write-up of Aiden's interview is on tnwmarketing.com. More installers talk about their leads in our case studies and on the reviews page.

Eco Power Renewable Energy case study: FAQ