We all know that the local contracting business is built on word-of-mouth, relationships and trust. Renewable energy is no different. People LOVE talking about their new solar or geothermal system, so figuring out of to leverage that word-of-mouth is the most powerful marketing effort you can undertake.
This is the second article in a series of columns on marketing for renewable energy companies. The first article described how to generate customer leads by holding a geothermal or solar workshop. These are four suggestions for what to do next. Keep in mind you can use all of these ideas with solar photovoltaic, geothermal or solar thermal systems. For the sake of this post, we will use geothermal for consistency.
1) Document the whole installation process from A to Z. Loves Geothermal, in Maryland, is a great example of this. Burn the pictures and videos you have from working on the project onto a CD and give it to the customer when you’ve completed the project. Make sure to have a branded introduction at the beginning of the video, but make it short. Just include your company name and contact information. What will this do? If friends of your customer ask about the system, they will have an awesome video to show, and they will pass your name around. Also, any questions that the customer isn’t able to answer for his or her friends can be redirected to your business.
You can use the CD on future sales calls. Aside from cash, people just want to make sure that the technology works and that you can complete the job. Showing a video of your team doing the work for a customer who loves you will decrease their fear.
Lastly, if you have a website, you can easily use the video and/or pictures on it. Most potential customers will check your website before making a decision.
2) Create a customer video. Similar to documenting the whole process, shoot a short video of the client and have them describe why they went with geothermal, how they felt as the process went along, and if they’ve been happy with the finished system. Just as you can use the installation video to secure future sales, this is proof of customer satisfaction.
3) Offer tours of existing installations. This depends on the type of relationship you have with the client, but one of the best ways to convince someone who’s on the fence is for them to see a happy customer and a system that is operating. Also, if you schedule a regular tour, you can bring many potential clients on a visit at once, which makes your sales process much more efficient. This is also a good way to keep in touch with old customers to make sure they’re satisfied and to find out if they’d like any more work done in the future.
4) Write a newspaper article. Green gets press. If your installation is one of the first in town, call the local newspaper to see if they have anyone who covers environmental issues. Pitch a story about how a local homeowner is taking advantage of government grants to decrease their heating bills and make sure to follow up, providing any information they may need. If it’s not one of the first projects in town, pitch it as a trend and suggest they interview a few different system owners.
About Brian Hayden
