Appointment booking for solar energy company

I have two thoughts:

1) If they aren't on the hook for 1.5 hours, then they aren't interested. So you don't want them anyways.

OR

2) They are interested and the sales presentation at the appt needs to be reeled in. Does it REALLY take 1.5 hours?

Either way - can the appointment not be more of a quick explanation? Seems like the sales people need to get on selling more than the explanation. They either want it or they don't. There isn't much I'd let someone come in my house for 1.5 hours and explain to me. If I'm going to buy it, sell it to me and do it, don't walk me through the 50 step process.

My question is this... Why mention the 1.5 hours? The at home visit by nature of the business is obvious, there are onsite factors that need to be looked at. Roof angles and the direction of the sun vs how the house is placed Where the power box is etc. etc. How the assorted lines and or tubes will and can be run. A good comparison would be satellite TV, and its installation process. You simply don't know till you get there.

Word it as your companies way to ensure the Estimate given is as accurate as possible instead of hitting the customer up later for additional charges, people don't like hidden additional charges!

I would simply skip mentioning the 1.5 hours and go right into the home apt, and what they will be looking at.

Do you have access to the guys/gals that go to the actual appointments? Ask them how long the appointment takes. If it takes less time, Tell the customer that you are "Supposed" to say that it is 1.5 hours ( leaves the possibility open it may take that long ) but having spoke to our pre install team they say it usually takes x amount of time.

Hope that Helps!

I'm guessing you're required to slate that time for the in home sales person so lets focus on one possible way to help you over come it.

One thing I LOVE to say when a prospect tells me they don't have enough time is that nobody has enough time (re-frame) until they learn/discover that the first years utility savings averages X per year.

Then divide the savings into the 1.5 hours for them and say, that's X per hour you paid yourself. You're worth it too.... and then keep on rolling to set the appointment according to your script.

I know it's a little bold but you said your competitive so you're probably are a type A personality so you can handle it.

Go get um!

Man that does seem like a huge amount of time. If I was that solar company I would shorten the appointment time down to 20-30 minutes. Even 15 if I could. People dont want strangers in their house for that long.

Conversions would go WAY up. You should ask the owners if you can perform a split test to see which one converts better.

Or, just do a better job convincing the prospect that the only reason they need to set aside 1.5 hours is because they will have so many questions after seeing the huge savings and benefits.

I agree with what Savidge said, and would also be interested in hearing what Cluade has to say. Those damn Kirby demos take forever. I personally wouldn't sit for a sales appt for an hour and a half, however that's how long I chat with an offline client.

I would say that the appt will take some time. The rep that specializes in solar will need to do some calculations and configurations to determine the best possible options. They say the appt lasts an average of 1.5 hours, however, I rarely see that happen. It really depends on a few things. The way yourt home is structured, the different options that would be the most beneficial, and how many questions you ask. The reps main job is to make sure you have the most informationpossible.

Think I saw a video of Claude saying something like. It will only take 15 minutes unless you have questions.

If they are hooked during the 15 minutes, the pitch can take 2 hours, just keep it interesting and to the point. If they are interested they will have questions.

Here is a bit of a quick outline of how I would handle it.

If I were setting the appointments for myself, I'd just not mention the length of the appointment. "It takes 90 minutes" is a killer, no way around it. And you are setting the appointments for other reps. So if you say that the appointment takes 20 minutes, your reps will scream at you and blame you for them not making a sale. If you are allowed to do this, schedule the appointment for "between 7 and 8PM", instead of 7PM sharp. That way you know you'll have at least an hour, and the rep just shows up at 7PM.

If they specifically ask you how long it takes, you can reverse it by saying "We want to answer all your questions. We schedule 90 minutes, to give you as much time as you need to get your questions answered. Fair enough?"

So now you are giving them time..they aren't giving you time.


I don't know how much latitude you have with your script, or your reps...but it's an idea.


You have to give them a good reason, from their point of view, and to why they would want you to stop by.

What can you only do in person? Measure, take a layout of the home, answer questions that pop up in the moment. Show the different options in physical form so they can make an informed decision.

Maybe say "Would you like a customized estimate for your home?"

After they say "Yes", say "We don't want you to buy what you don't need, or what won't work. So, I'll arrange for a technician to come out, take measurements, show you a few options, and answer any technical questions that come up. The service is free. That way, you'll have the information you need when you decide it's time to do something. OK?".

You have to sell the idea to your manager, and the reps, that they are called technicians. Why? Because "representative" scares the hell out of prospects.

See how I made it to the prospect's advantage to have a technician come out? I gave reasons that sounded good. And it sounds like the technician isn't even prepared to accept their order. Of course, once the rep does his thing, they will want to buy, as they should.

I don't know how these ideas will fly in your office, but I promise you that they will work.


Added a minute later;

Damn you Aaron! I swear, I didn't see your post until after I posted my response. I guess great minds think alike, eh?

Ok now before I schedule this I want to make sure we give you enough time to get all your questioned answered. For this reason we like to make sure the tech we send out and you both have at least an hour and half open. Do you have this open?

I understand that and please be aware that we use this 90 minute schedule for your benefit. The appointment could very well get over much soon. But we never want to rush our customers or their questions. So we commit our techs to a full 90 minutes. So would you be free till 4:30 that day?

Great let's schedule this for you. John, one of our techs, will be at your home on wed at 3pm. He will call you before he arrives. Is ###-###-#### the best way for him to contact you that day?

Thanks for the replies, guys. Have read them all, and seems I am unable to thank specific posts. But, thanks Claude, Aaron, Rus and Paul.

The reason why it takes an hour and half because the "consultant" who is showing up will also be trying to sell the system there and then.

I have read your responses, seem decent will give them a shot. I like the idea of using 'technician' - I've been using 'consultant', will be changing that. The reason why prospects don't like people showing up, because the first thing which goes through their head is someone will be there for 4 hours trying to pressure sell them.

This is what I was working on today:

"An hour and a half, I don't want that!"

"I completely understand your reservations, Mr Smith, however this is completely for your benefit. It seems you have a basic understanding of the solar trade so it shouldn't take that long at all (it will). We like to ask for an hour and a half because if you're interested, you may have many questions and queries which need answering. However, if you decide during the consult that it's not something which would would benefit you, just tell him or her to sod-off, like I said it's completely no obligation. At the end of the day, all you've lost is a little bit of time and maybe a cup of tea, to my understanding they even bring their own biscuits. Can I assume you're like myself and want to see everything in black and white and have all the facts and figures to look at first? (answer will ALWAYS be yes), fantastic, bearing this in mind would a morning, afternoon or evening appointment suit you best?

If they still say no, I instantly hang up and move on.

Cold calling is difficult. Because I don't know what it's like elsewhere, but everyone we cold call are the people who haven't registered on Directory X or the TPS. This means everyone I call gets at least 4 cold calls a week. So I've been working on my opening script as well.

"Hello, Mr Smith? Speaking. Hello, my name's John, I'm just doing a quick call from xxxx, I believe our company called someone in your property roughly a year ago (we didn't, but you can guarantee someone has and they'll remember a call, but not who's it's from or where), relating to solar energy, but it wasn't something you were interested in, or you weren't viable for it at the time, is this right? yeah but we still aren't interested.. Fantastic, we understand that, however we kept you on our system in case of any new development, which is the reason for my call today Yeah..

I've done this over 100 times now, but if you successfully complete this pitch without the customer hanging up at a previous point it works great. I love getting passed that bit. Usually the prospect is trying to get me off the phone asap, but now, all they want me to do is talk, they're pretty much always interested in what you have to say.

It may be in the way you're telling them it's going to be an hour and a half. Or it may be you haven't driven up their desire enough by that point. Many times I tell people we'll need about "an hour to two of uninterrupted time" and never ever ever never get anyone balking. Ever.

Found the thanks button, turns out I have my res up too high.

The reason many presentation like this are so long is because they are designed to move a prospect through all the buying phases. Discovery - Paying.

I agree with most on this thread.
It's got to be 15-20 mins top.
What are they talking about for 90 mins?
* Do you want solar panels?
* It will save you x money on your electricity bills.
* This is how much?
* You get this exceptional after sales support!
* When do you want them fitted?

Job done! =)

Thanks

I see a lot of replies that feel 90 minutes is to long and that around 30 minutes or so is what they feel would be an ideal time to go through a sales presentation.

Not pointing fingers at any one who's posted in this thread but from what I've read in the past on this forum is that most can't sell their way out of a wet paper bag!

Sorry but if that's you, you aren't going to EVER sell a 10k, 15k, 20k solar panel system in 30 DAMN minutes. If you think you can you aren't qualified to give that type of feedback in any authoritative sense, it's just opinion.

This reminds me of a post a couple of years ago on this forum about Facebook and Hulu allowing users to indicate if they liked or disliked an ad, or if they didn't want to see a particular ad.

Several people said that was utterly stupid for these companies to allow users to control what ads they see.

I retorted, and told them when you have a multi-billion dollar company I'll listen to you.

The point is, this company has already figured out the optimal sales process and all this discussion about the length of the sales presentation isn't even ON TOPIC to the OP's original question! lol

Also Claude's suggestion is very smart... Mr. Home owner we give you the 90 minutes to ensure any and all your questions are answered.. oh and by the way if you and the technician or finished in 60 minutes be ready to entertain him for 30 minutes. We don't allow them to leave early. HAHAHA

HAHA this question was ment for me and me only. Don't listen to anyone here. I set solar appointments every day. Look out for the PM

Don't tell them how long the appointments gonna take unless they ask. if your manager says you have to tell them ignore your manager. he wont tell you anything when your the top appointment setter. and if they ask tell them " it will take less then an hour depending on how many questions you have" people like to block there days in hours so if they think its only gonna be an hour out of there day it comes off better. hope that makes sense if not i can go more in depth and don't be one of the armatures that asks for the appointment by saying. " will you be available tomorrow?" "when will you be available?" I have a Friday at 3 or Saturday at 3 witch one works best?" this is the biggest mistake appointment setters make. anyways im not gonna give away all my secrets. and im not gonna teach the entire board how to set appointments.

and the biggest tip I can give you is stop appointment setting and get into outside sales. once upon a time I worked as an appointment setter at now probably the largest solar company in the US became the top producer within a week. got cocky and felt like I was to good for $10/Hour, walked into the outside sales office shut the door behind me and pitched the outside sales manager on why he needs me until he gave me the job. First month in outside sales made 5 figures, company car, gas allowance, full benefits, bonuses. if you want a good sales job that's the way to go.

Solar City, First Solar Inc., ....???