Tired of relying on shoddy solar lead providers who only seem to have expired or recycled solar leads? Is your social media marketing not bringing in the solar leads you want? Wish you could get more appointments from the doors your team is hitting? Believe it or not, there’s a much easier way to increase your solar leads without doing too much extra work.

The method I’m about to break down for you allowed us to instantly 5X our exclusive solar leads from doorknocking.

We didn’t have to knock a single extra door than we normally do. And the best part? Using this method realized a massive increase to our sit and closing rate.

 

The reason for that is pretty simple: these strategies help you zero in on the hottest solar leads by first ensuring you’re looking in the areas with the most people looking to go solar, and then helping you get the absolute most out of your efforts in that area.

1. Make sure you’re knocking in the right areas

 

You want to focus on areas where homes are close to each other. There are two reasons for this.

First, you don’t want to have to walk too far. Every minute you spend traveling to the next house is time you could be spending collecting a lead.

Knocking doors is a numbers game, so you want to be able to squeeze as many doors into your day as you can.

Always remember: your #1 asset in solar is people. And your #1 obstacle is time.

 

The second reason is that areas where homes are closer to each other have a better sense of community and trust.

This isn’t speculation – it’s an established fact. And that means those solar leads are far more likely to give you referrals.

 

2. Look for middle and upper-middle-class neighborhoods

 

These are the best demographics for exclusive solar leads.

Their financial position has them in a place where they still respect money and savings. And while that’s also true of lower-class homeowners, they have a tendency to be too skeptical which will lead to too many fails and no-shows to make them worth your time.

Not to mention 30%-40% of lower-class homeowners usually fail the credit check. You want no more than a 5% failure rate where you’re knocking.

 

On the flip side, fully upper-class homeowners are too wealthy to care about savings.

You might find some solar leads who are genuinely interested in the environmental benefits of solar power, but without money as a motivator it’s going to be a huge waste of your time.

Remember that solar is a numbers game, meaning middle and upper-middle-class neighborhoods are your best bet.

Do this and you can finally stop relying on subpar solar lead providers.

 

3. Don’t hit different territories

 

Lots of sales teams seem to think that the more territories you hit, the better. In fact, it’s just the opposite.

 

For one, targeting more neighborhoods means you have to drive and sit in traffic more – both for collecting solar leads and for the install. Trust me, that’s a lot of wasted time that’ll add up.

Your goal shouldn’t be to hit 500 neighborhoods and get 10% of each. Instead, it should be to hit 5 neighborhoods over the course of 1-2 years and get 60%-80% of each.

You’ll also want to make sure there are no weird utility issues in the area (like taking a full year to get a permit).

 

Consolidating to a small number of neighborhoods also builds up awareness, brand, and social proof.

The more people in a single neighborhood that go solar with you, the more well-known you’ll become in that area.

Do this right and you’ll achieve the Halo Effect – where if you close a number of deals in a small enough area, homeowners will start contacting YOU to get installs done. At the same time, though, make sure it’s a big enough area where you can knock for 4 weeks and still not hit every home.

 

4. Find a community leader

 

This strategy takes a little more work to pull off, but if you make it work then expect your pipeline to rapidly fill up with exclusive solar leads.

Ideally, you want to find the leader of the local Homeowner Association, the mayor of the town, or some other prominent figure in the community.

The point is to find someone that everyone knows. Once you do, build a strong relationship with them. Get them into solar, then shoot a video testimonial with them.

 

After that, you’ll want to use that video whenever you can.

Use it during knocking, include it in emails, and show it on video calls. Community leader sponsorship makes solar sales 5x-10x more likely.

So if you can get that video testimonial, you’ve got a massive sales weapon in your arsenal.

The trick, of course, is getting that one person to go solar with you in the first place.

 

5. Ask customers to post about you on local social media

 

Social media marketing for solar takes longer to build up than the other strategies in this list.

But once you get it going, it’s just as potent as anything else. Make it a point to ask your customers to post about you on their social media. And not just their personal timelines, but local social media as well.

I’m talking local Facebook groups and their local NextDoor group.

It’s the digital equivalent of the Halo Effect, which is one of the most powerful tools you can ask for in gathering exclusive solar leads.

 

If this sounds like asking too much of them, it’s not.

As long as you overdeliver and they’re thrilled with how the install went, they’ll feel obligated to do something to help you (even though they already paid).

It might sound like a waste of time, but it’s easy to do, costs nothing, and you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.

 

6. Introduce yourself to local business owners

 

This is especially effective in small areas.

Think of ways to help them out with going solar and get them additional business. You’ll need to get a little creative here, but if you can give them value then they’ll be much more receptive to going solar with you.

Hand out their business cards during doorknocking. Give out samples of their product to entice homeowners to sit with you.

The point is to build brand awareness in the local community for them so that they in turn will build brand awareness in that same community for you.

If you can get that going, it’s almost like having your own automated solar lead provider.

 

7. Canvas areas where you’re getting installs

Where there’s smoke, there’s fire. If you’re getting lots of installs in a specific area, maximize and double down on that area.

The more you can saturate a neighborhood with your business, the more likely you are to get that snowball effect where solar leads start coming to YOU to get installs done.

 

8. Make sure your reps are constantly improving their pitches

 

This is arguably the most important strategy on the list for collecting exclusive solar leads. If your reps aren’t getting better, they’re stagnating and getting worse. 

 

If their comp plan and rates are good enough, they’ll be naturally motivated to do this without you telling them.

But don’t just ask and hope that they’ll do it on their own. You need to actively motivate them to stay on the ball.

It’s your job to ensure they’re doing this every single day (or at least 5 days a week).

This means they should be doing roleplay scheduling, objections bullpen, agreement drills, pitch tank, final contract tests, and live pitch demos with a manager.

 

A neglected blade doesn’t cut. Like all skills, sales needs to be constantly sharpened.

All it takes is one day of neglect for your reps’ skills to get rusty. And once that happens, their ability to gather solar leads for you starts to weaken.

 

9. Follow-up like your life depends on it

 

This is something I constantly harp on to my clients. People severely underestimate the extent of follow-up that’s needed in marketing for solar.

Literally, you could ignore this entire list except for this one step and still improve your sales by XX%.

 

After every stage in the sales process, there should be a documented follow-up sequence, whether it was successful or not. You simply cannot afford to stay quiet.

If you’re not standing out, then you’re fading into the noise. 

 

If you want to flush your pipeline with exclusive solar leads, you need to get creative.

Get unreasonable. My personal favorite follow-up tool is the selfie video.

It’s an absolute game-changer because it separates you from objections, price comparisons, and the competition as a whole. They’re personable, they’re easy, and done right they leave an enormous impression on the prospect.

 

But regardless of what you do, you should be following up after every single stage.

Follow up after you set an appointment. Follow up if you didn’t set an appointment. Do it after the site survey.

After the permit comes back. After the install is scheduled. Following up shows you’re there for them, that you’re the best solar company to go with.

 

Remember, it’s not a matter of IF they’re gonna go solar but WHO they’re gonna go solar with.

So you gotta show them you’re the right choice. If a prospect doesn’t close, follow up 50-100 times over the next 6 months to a year.

If they still don’t close, follow up once or twice a month for at least 2 years after that.

 

The average solar lead takes 8 follow-ups before they even close.

This means that one of the biggest places where people waste money in their business is not following up enough.

These 9 steps are what I’ve found to be the most instrumental in scaling my solar business. Without them, there’s simply no way I would ever have generated enough momentum to scale up to 9 figures in less than 2 years. Commit to each one. Make them a part of your sales flow. Execute them correctly and you WILL start to see more solar leads flowing in than you know what to do with.
Zain Jan