CASE STUDY · SOLAR INSTALLER · 5 MIN READ

Start Solar: Why Its Head of Sales Spreads the Work Across Several Routes to Market

opt-in solar leads

70

opt-in solar leads

deals closed

8

deals closed

value of those deals

~£64k

value of those deals

of the leads still to contact

~20%

of the leads still to contact

7:13

A head of sales from outside solar

"My name's Mark Hyde. I'm head of sales here at Start Solar. I've been involved in the business for the past 4 months." He did not come up through the industry: "I've not come from a solar background", but he has "Pretty much always been involved in sales."

This interview is about opt-in solar leads at residential-sized installs, which is a different product from the commercial site appointments on Solar Surveys UK. What carries over to any installer is how Mark thinks about where the work comes from.

Never one route to market

Mark uses several channels at once: "looking at some of the socials looking at working with celebrities also obviously organic lead growth as well as working with lead generators." His reason is risk:

“if you're just working with lead gen then if they're struggling for leads then obviously your business is struggling. If you're only working on organic leads if the system goes down then you're not going to be getting leads in.”

"We're seeing the benefits of it is to actually diversify where you're getting your leads in." If you are building the same mix, our guides to solar advertising, solar SEO and partnerships and referrals cover the other channels, and how to get commercial solar leads puts them side by side.

How he chose a lead generator

"I was contacted by numerous lead generators," Mark said, and he sifted them in two rounds.

1. 1

   First round: the numbers

   What got a provider to the next stage was "our conversations about the size of deals or number of leads and the price point of the leads."

2. 2

   Second round: how they deal with problems

   "the stage of actually placing the order was because you guys shown a pragmatic approach to doing business"

   He expects that some leads will not work out at some point, and wanted a provider who would talk it through: "these particular leads haven't worked or they need to be replaced. So, kind of let's be pragmatic and let's see if we can come to an agreement."

Our guide to solar lead companies in the UK has questions to ask at each round. On Solar Surveys UK the rule is set out up front: You only pay for appointments that are actually attended, and any that aren't viable we replace.

Eight deals from 70 leads, and the fifth not yet called

Two to three months in, the numbers were: "we've had 70 leads from yourselves and out of the 70 leads, we've closed eight deals". The value was "about 64,000".

About a fifth of the leads were still to be contacted: "probably about 20% of the leads that have come over we have yet to make contact with. So potentially it could maybe ek up to maybe 10 deals." Our team suggested automated follow-up flows to reach them, and Mark picked up tips on automating his systems that he plans to explore.

The lesson for any installer: the leads you never call cannot close. Following up quickly, and keeping at it, is part of selling solar whatever the size of job.

Q: Would you recommend us to other companies who are looking to scale up their lead gen?

Mark: I would want to say no I wouldn't recommend you just so obviously you keep passing the leads to ourselves ... I would have no hesitation in recommending to any business including solar them to work with you

The full interview is in the video above. TNW Marketing's own write-up of Mark Hyde'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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