Let us help you: Using homeowner collateral to supercharge your sales package

You’re on the way to pitch a potential customer on the benefits and value of installing solar on their home. Great! Like SMA, most component manufacturers have likely sent you varying homeowner leave behind materials to, well, leave behind with the homeowner after your meeting.

So what’s the best way to use them? It’s more than just sitting them on their coffee table and exiting the house. Let’s take a look at the best ways to incorporate these valuable materials into your sales pitch.

1. Put the Data Sheet away!

When it comes to marketing collateral, too many installers have grown accustomed to tossing a data sheet in a proposal and calling it a day. While data sheets can be used in the absence of other material, their technical focus and emphasis on trade benefits make them an ill fit for your typical consumer. SMA provides installers with materials that speak to homeowners in terms they understand and appreciate. You value SMA; let us help convey our value in a way that will help you look more professional and on target with today’s consumer expectations.

2. Introduce the materials

Don’t just hand them over, shake hands and head back to your truck. Homeowner materials should be included in the quote packet presented to the customer, just behind the financial documents prepared for their home. As you review the quote packet with your customer, take an extra few minutes and briefly review the manufacturer’s documents to explain why you’re including them. They are valuable pieces that confirm your beliefs in using high-quality components to match the high install quality your company delivers. Additionally, you want the customer to feel comfortable with each manufacturer recommended and have the ability to research them on their own should they chose to do so.

3. Use them to re-state your key points from the meeting

Have the materials be complimentary to your message, not beside the point and never contradictory. Chances are you’re going to tell the customer about the quality of your team’s craftsmanship and reliability of their work. Don’t follow those comments with marketing collateral featuring claims about being the low-cost alternative. This is the time to leave your potential customer with a great impression of how well organized and buttoned-up your company is; using these materials to re-state your key points works to confirm your statements and cast a light on credibility.

4. Let them strengthen your credibility

As a homeowner reviews your proposal, they’ll likely take time to also review and research the manufacturer’s documents. What better way to strengthen your credibility than showcasing how your company uses best-available technology like Sunny Boy inverters. SMA’s well-crafted homeowner collateral pieces will help you stand out from installers using other inverter suppliers and highlight your hard-earned integrity within your market. Additionally, homeowner collateral documents speak to your customers without excessive technical detail and help turn the line-itemed equipment list into something the homeowner can see, understand and, ultimately, feel comfortable purchasing.

5. Allow the leave behinds to generate questions

What’s better than doing follow up calls to families you’ve met with? Having them call you with a few questions they thought of while reviewing the materials you left with them. They’re treating you as the resource and subject-matter expert. Instead of fielding generic follow-up questions, prepare for a more confident customer and one that will be increasingly open to purchasing a solar system. This consumer confidence will help drive questions away from the basics of operation towards the benefits of SMA and the company’s groundbreaking Secure Power Supply feature. This progression helps move the homeowner down the sales path from exploratory discussions to contract signing faster, simplifying and reducing customer acquisition costs.

6. Keep a copy at your desk

When those phone calls come in, you’ll want to have a copy of the homeowner collateral close-at-hand to review the materials with customers and answer their questions without hesitation. This may seem basic, but when the moment comes that you want to review something with the customer and you can’t find your last copy, you’ll thank yourself for pinning one to a wall. And don’t worry about running out; you can always download the latest versions here.