CASE STUDY · COMMERCIAL SOLAR INSTALLER · 5 MIN READ

Harvest Green Developments: Four Site Meetings, Two G99 Applications

site meetings at the interview

4

site meetings at the interview

G99 applications submitted

2

G99 applications submitted

average size of those sites

140 to 150kW

average size of those sites

the business's usual average system

About 400kW

the business's usual average system

7:18

Who Harvest Green are

Harvest Green Developments is a commercial solar specialist that is "increasingly la layering in battery storage and EV charging mix as added services." James Clifford has been its business development director for almost seven years, and the business works with some larger clients. It was the first time Harvest Green had tried this kind of outside lead generation.

The problem every commercial team has: timing

Harvest Green has its own team canvassing the market and researching which businesses might want solar and storage. James's point is that the early stage is slow and hit and miss:

“it's challenging to be in the right place at the right time with someone who wants to move forwards.”

He says the business can talk to some clients for "two, three years before they really engage with the process", because the timing, the budget or other plans for their capital are not right. The businesses he met through our team were different: engaged, interested and "ready to look at solar actively", so the team could go "straight into design development in terms of gaining permissions and obviously costing out a solution for them".

From the first visit to a G99 application

Of the four sites he had seen, two clients signed letters of authority, and Harvest Green submitted a G99 application for each: "So we've submitted two G99s off the back of that". He hoped at least one more of the four would follow.

The G99 is, in James's words, "the next, next step of assessing whether those sites are gonna be suitable" for what Harvest Green is trying to do. If you are taking a commercial lead to that stage, our G99 application guide and the printable G99 checklist cover the forms, fees and timescales, and the guide to grid connections reform explains what the changes mean for larger jobs.

Neither project had been signed at the interview. James was clear about whose job that is: "I'd like to think that both of them will move forward with solar. Obviously it's our role to make sure that's with Harvest Green Developments rather than our competitors."

Clients who knew why he was there

His biggest worry before starting was that the businesses would not be ready for the meeting. That has not happened:

“each of the clients has been engaged with that process, so they've clearly been, consulted with and prepped for the meeting that's been happening.”

He also asked for "little bits of extra detail that we would normally like to find", and says the team was receptive to it. That is worth doing whatever leads you take: tell your supplier exactly what you need to know before a visit. Our commercial solar survey checklist is a good starting list.

System sizes, and why drop-outs are not a loss

The four sites averaged around 140 to 150kW. Harvest Green's own average is "somewhere nearly in the region, round about 400 kilowatt", and adding battery storage raises the value of each job.

James expects some leads to fall away, as in any pipeline. His experience is that most who drop out were never going to buy from anyone yet:

“So it's not a loss to us because they wouldn't have moved forward with anybody.”

Business customers tend to ask about the tax position early. Our guide to solar panels and capital allowances covers what to tell them.

Paying for attended appointments

Asked whether paying for attended appointments suits a business like his, James said yes: Harvest Green wants to grow its portfolio, and for that "we just gotta have a bigger sales funnel." The ideal stage to meet a business, he says, is when it is engaged with looking at solar, getting quotes and doing its due diligence.

You only pay for appointments that are actually attended, and any that aren't viable we replace.

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

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