Confessions of a Solar Salesman:

Do residential solar sales reps have a bad reputation? Is this reputation justified, or is it perhaps just another salesman cliché? Let's be honest: Does anyone like salespeople?

If we go by a recent Time magazine article, it might appear true. This article paints a negative picture of solar salespeople. It also leans on the financialization of the solar industry as the main problem, but in reality, solar finance is just a tool and an important one.

Without finance, the solar market would be significantly smaller, and homeowners could not take advantage of solar's real economic and other benefits. Where would the car industry be without loan products? Should we blame the tools or the toolmen?

There is a lot to unpack here. There are definitely sales tactics to be aware of, avoid, or at least, know how to recognize and address. In subsequent posts, I will cover each topic below in greater detail, discuss bad practices, and, perhaps, even humbly offer suggestions on practices to deliver value to the customer, a sustainably profitable solar transaction, and a win for both the client and the solar industry.

• Solar Finance is Complicated: There are many finance options and acronyms: TPO: PPA vs. Lease and market APR term loans vs. long-term low APR loans. What is the real cost of solar or solar finance to the homeowner over time? Some sales tactics use financial products to hide large margins or generate extra commissions. Longer-term loans reduce the monthly costs, but they can significantly add to the real cost of the project when you consider the loan term, interest cost, and added upfront costs. This is a common point of confusion and frustration among homeowners.

• Sales Training & Strategy: Keeping the sales process and information simple creates more sales, but it might not always create a fully informed customer. It's hard to strike a balance between informed and bamboozled. What are the policies of the Company selling the product, and do they promote price gouging?

• Solar Design: Most solar proposal tools are not great at creating accurate proposals, especially in regions of the country where steep roof facets, shading from trees, and the building itself are often incorrectly measured or not measured at all. It's a real challenge for the industry. Selling a Purchase or a PPA based on poor data can fundamentally change the proposed offer from the final offer. Change orders happen. Some customers cry "bait and switch." Sales are lost. Both the customer and sales departments are frustrated.

• Solar is not one size fits all: Every home is unique when it comes to solar design. This can create confusion for customers. Even identical neighboring houses across the street from each other can have completely different solar propositions. The orientation of the useable roof space relative to the sun. How the homeowner uses electricity. Environmental conditions and shading. The solar size and costs are very custom for each home and homeowner. This makes it hard for customers to understand solar. It's not like buying a car, where the Car model is the same in each brand dealership. Only the price, finance terms, sales experience, and service might differ. This is not the case with solar. It's a very custom product.

• Sales Organizations and Incentives: Are the Solar solution provider's goals aligned with the customer's goals? Solar companies need to be profitable. Salespeople need incentives to sell. Is there a way to align these business realities and prevent customers from being exploited?

All industries can suffer from bad actors. Certainly, some people and/or solar sales organizations have policies or goals that don't align with their clients. I think because solar is a high-ticket value item with lots of moving parts, bad actors can exploit the knowledge gap between salespeople and homeowners, which can create an opportunity for exploitation.

Whether the homeowner makes an informed decision and gets the solar solution they deserve can ultimately depend on the salesperson's experience, knowledge, sales approach, company policies, and their integrity. Beyond 'Caveat emptor' and "Choose Wisely.' I will explore these topics in greater detail in future posts with the objective of helping bridge the knowledge gap between the property owner and the solar sales side.