How to sell solar remotely in times of social distancing?

People are at home and consuming more electricity than ever.

In other words, they are paying more for electricity than they were doing previously.

We all know that grid electricity is costly and people are searching for alternatives for saving money on it.

What could be a better option than solar electricity?

Solar entrepreneurs, it is high time to help people in saving money through Solar Power Installation.

How would you do it in the times of social distancing?

You know, the sale is a well-defined process that involves the following steps:

• Searching for the right prospective
• Pitching him the product by explaining its features and benefits
• Personal Meeting
• Follow-ups
• Conversion (Installation)

You need more physical interaction to follow these steps. But you are not able to meet them in person because of social distancing.

Also, you can’t speak so loudly that your voice reaches their homes, convincing them to go for Solar.

Then how to sell solar remotely in times of Social distancing?

You need to find a suitable medium that tells about yourself and your business.

Different channels can help you in closing the deal remotely.

---

Face to face interaction
​

Video conferencing provides a great alternative for personal meetings. You can see people and talk to them regardless of their physical location.

When you interact with your prospects, you can explain about your company, the solar products better through your facial expressions and body language helps in communicating the entire message clearly, not leaving room for any misunderstandings or misinterpretations.
 
Moreover, the client sitting on the other side can see your face, recognizes you.

Gradually, a relationship starts building and the client feels connected. All this helps in building trust and closing the deal.

You can connect with your team through video conferencing and can explain the work and other things easily that require visual communication, saving time, and increasing overall productivity.

Video conferencing offers video and audio conferencing, chat, meeting recording, screen sharing, white-boarding, live streaming to communicate with the team and the client.

Popular video Conferencing Software: Zoom, Microsoft teams

---

Solar Feasibility Spreadsheet
​

Once you are successful in making your point and igniting interest in his mind about solar, you can ask his energy needs, budget, and return expectations from the solar investment.

The Solar Feasibility Spreadsheet enables you to design the solar power system and know the financial feasibility within a few minutes of getting inputs from the client.

Imagine yourself, the long-lasting impact you are going to leave in his mind when you provide the result so quickly.
​
This sheet helps in sizing the complete solar power system and calculates the annual return offered by it through various discounting methods.

---

E-mail Marketing
​

Though face to face interaction is very important in the first phase of communication for breaking ice and building trust.

But your client may not always prefer it afterward and the reasons could be many like he might be busy in other work or may not always feel comfortable to take out time for video conferencing as it requires the physical presence of the person.

But you cannot leave your prospective unattended.

The other mode of communication to be in touch with him is E-mail.
You can send information about the next course of action through e-mails without disturbing her/him or without taking any extra time.

He can check and go through them as per his convenience.

Certain things that are explained in writing.

For example, when you design the complete solar power system according to her/his requirements and find financial feasibility.

There are a lot of technical terms, variables, charts, excel sheets, and pictures that are involved in doing so.

One cannot understand it completely unless it is provided in written form.

The best way to communicate this complete information is through e-mail.

He can go through the complete information and if any query arises then he too can revert you through e-mail and get the answer from your side.

There are times when you want to send general information like your company profile, products and services to many people you know in your business circle.

It seems difficult as it requires time to type the e-mail address of each person and then send it separately.

But not with the latest e-mail marketing software.

You can send one mail to many people simultaneously or at the same time.

The e-mail marketing software like Mailerlite, Aweber, and GetResponse offer many features like pre-built beautiful templates, a grouping of persons based on interest, age, and location helping you to provide customized solutions to each of them.

---

Create a Website
​

In the times of social distancing when personal meeting with the new prospect is difficult then, how would you acquire the contact information of people interested in your product and services?

Create your online presence through a website.

People are surfing the internet more than ever in these uncertain times and therefore your chances of being found in the search engines are quite fair.

So, it a good idea to have a website for your company.

There are many options available in the market for creating a website.

To make your work easier, let me advise you on the one which is quite popular and is one of the easiest website builders available.

It is WEEBLY.

---

​Let me give you its brief overview:
​
This San Francisco based company was started in 2007 and has all the tools that can take accelerate your business growth.

• The entrepreneurs can build their website within a few minutes that anybody would love to visit and shop.
• Its drag-and-drop feature is very easy to use empowers you to build the website within a few minutes.
• It has a complete e-commerce solution helping you to grow your business online
• You can even build, edit and manage your website through your smart phone
• Responsive themes that can fit any screen size of PC, laptop or a smartphone
• You can add a blog to your website and can promote it through content writing
• Third-party integrations
• Powerful SEO tools help search engines to find you.
• It is powering more than 50 million websites (including mine www.adityagreens.com) around the world.

Therefore, create a good website with the relevant information and when visitors will find your beautiful and see the content, product, and services of their interest, they will exchange their contact information through forms or newsletters in an expectation to hear more from you.

When you get their contact information like e-mail addresses, start pitching him about your solar products and services make video calls, send e-mails, and make efforts to convert him into a client.

When customers can’t visit your company then you should make company visit the client’s home through a website.
​
Sometimes, your customer may not feel talking to you or is not comfortable in face to face interaction then how would you let him feel your presence.

---

Write an E-book
​

Why not write a small e-book on Solar Energy, Designing a solar power system, Basics of solar installation, etc?

Mention and insert links of your product and services at the right places in the e-book.

If your e-book is interesting and informative then more and more will read it and will click on the product links, they will be directed to your online store, increasing the likelihood of sales that too without physically interacting with the client.

In this way, a e-book is very effective medium of marketing your product and services remotely in the times of social distancing.
If you feel that you should sell it then you can price it too.

Many platforms offer this feature. The 2 popular platforms are:

• Gumroad
• Sellfy

---

Online Solar Course
​

You know all about Solar, Why not educate your client, home-owners and solar energy students through an online course?

In times of social distancing, people are spending more time at home and are searching for options to enhance their skills.

Youronline solar course can prove to be a good option for them.

Try creating the one and sell it on your website or other platforms like:

• Thinkfic
• Podia

That offers all features which are required to sell remotely the online course.

You will get all information needed from scratch to launching the course from these websites.

This can prove to be an alternate source of income in addition to your main business.

---

Conclusion
​

Whatever strategy you adopt to connect with your clients but don’t leave them unattended in these uncertain times.

“Remember gone clients seldom come back”
​
Please don’t create a gap

Your efforts in connecting with them through these innovative ideas will pave way for your success in the future.