During the consultation, work hard to get enough information to develop a customer proposal.
A great tool for proposal development is offered by PandaDoc and it can be integrated with your CRM (Customer Relationship Management) software.
Whatever you use to develop your proposal, the proposal should include:
- Executive Summary
- System Details
- Lifetime Financial Breakdown
- System Costs
- Customer Approval & Sign-off
Executive Summary
The executive summary includes details of what the customer can expect from the solar brand they have chosen to install in terms of grid energy use and overall household energy costs. It should also include information showing when a project’s projected break-even point will be reached and savings to be expected beyond the break-even point.
This summary should have the preparer’s name, the company’s name, and the preparer’s contact details.
Further, it should invite the customer to contact the preparer directly with any questions, comments, or concerns regarding the proposal or the solar system proposed.
Since many homeowners are concerned about how solar panels will look, include pictures in your proposal to show that today’s panels are as attractive as they are effective.
System Details
This section provides the details of the particular solar brand that is being recommended for installation. Include:
- System size,
- Estimated annual energy production in kWh Production,
- Solar panel model number and panel quantity in units, and
- Inverter model and inverter quantity in units.
It is best to provide this in the form of a table.
Lifetime Financial Breakdown
This section should provide a table of the expected lifetime costs and savings of the proposed solar system. The table should include:
- System Lifetime Savings – based on system life in years (i.e., 25)
- Utility Savings
- Break-even Point in Years
- Increased Property Value
- Total Return on Investment (ROI)
System Costs
This section details the costs associated with the solar system brand being proposed for installation. The table should include: the name, price, and quantity of panels, inverters, misc. hardware, and installations before tax credits and assistance programs that the customer will qualify to receive once the system is installed.
Then, in a separate table, detail federal and state tax incentives or rebates. Include any other incentive the customer is eligible for once the system is in place.
Customer Approval
Finally, there should be a place where the customer can sign off once they have reviewed the proposal and are satisfied with it. After that is done, you can create an installation contract for final approval and signature.
This can be done in person with a paper version or entirely online depending on what your system supports and your customer wants. In fact, the entire proposal can be sent via a mobile phone, but the personal touch is preferable with most people.
Give time to the crafting of your customer proposal. And be sure to find out as much as you can from your potential customer so that the proposal addresses their requirements and concerns.
The successful completion of this step takes us to the final part of this series: Closing the Deal.
