Solar Panel and Battery Sales Tips (UK): Nobody Wants Panels on Their Roof

The bills are on the kitchen table, folded in half, with a highlighter line across the monthly figure. She's done her homework. Two other companies' brochures are under the fruit bowl, and there's a question ready before you've unzipped your bag: "So how many panels would we need, and what does a battery add?"

And most solar reps answer it. Out comes the roof layout, the kilowatt peak, the battery capacity, the inverter. Forty minutes later she's got a fourth number to compare and you've got a long drive home.

My solar panel and battery sales tips come down to one idea. Nobody wants panels on their roof. They want to stop worrying about what the next bill's going to look like. Find out what that worry is for this household, make it real, and sell them the way out of it. The system is just how you get them there.

I've sold heating since before most solar reps were born

I started out door-to-door selling gas central heating, more than 40 years ago. Different kit, same customer: somebody in their own front room, worried about money.

Back then I'd never talk about the boiler until I knew they could afford it, or that I could help them afford it.

I also used to start with "I'm not here to sell you anything, I'm just doing a survey." I had brown hair and no beard then. I still hear solar reps say it. Drop it. Everybody knows why you're there. Tell them straight: you're there to see whether you can save them a meaningful amount of money, and if it doesn't make sense, you'll both agree it isn't for them.

Get the real numbers first, and get them from them

The first thing I want in a solar appointment is what they're spending on gas and electric right now. The actual figure, off the bill, not a guess. Then I want to know how they feel about it.

There's a reason for being fussy. When the price comes out later, that number's your evidence. They're already paying it every month, and they'll keep paying it whatever they decide. A good barrister keeps circling back to the evidence, and so should you. "Just remind me, what are you paying on your bills right now?" Let them say it again out loud.

Then: "How are you feeling about your energy bills at the moment?" And stop talking. This is where they drop the gold. I listened to a recorded appointment with a rep I coach where the customer said, more or less, "It's affordable while I'm working, but I'm thinking about when I retire." That's the whole sale, right there. She'd just told him what she was frightened of. He carried on talking about the roof.

People move away from pain

We're wired to protect ourselves from pain. Throw a punch at someone and they don't stop to weigh up the pleasure of not being hit. They move.

Most solar reps try to pull the customer towards something nice, like free electricity or a battery app. But people move away from pain a lot faster than they move towards pleasure. So spend your time on the pain first.

"If you don't do anything about this, where do you think your bills will be in five years?" Let them answer. Don't fill the gap with your own forecast. If nothing changes, nothing changes, and they know it. Then the good news: "How would it feel to have that money in your pocket rather than going to the energy company? What would you do with it?" A weekend away. Helping the grandkids. Not lying awake when the price cap moves.

That's the flight and the destination. Kilowatts are the flight. Not dreading the post is the destination.

When they tell you what they want, sell it to them

Here's one I use with reps. You walk into a sweet shop and ask for a bag of sweets. The shopkeeper's got them on the shelf, right there, and he won't sell them to you. What sort of shopkeeper is that?

When a customer says "I want a cheaper way to heat this house", that isn't "I'm looking into it." That's a desire, said out loud. Ask "Why now? What's brought this to the front this year?" and you'll know whether you're talking to a buyer or someone gathering prices for next spring.

If it's next spring, don't be a quote machine. Diarise them and have the conversation then.

Take the get out of jail cards off them early

Solar customers have the same cards as everyone else. "We're getting three quotes." "I need to talk to my husband." "We never decide on the day." Add finance and there's a fourth: "I'll have a think about the monthly payment."

Deal with them at the start, in the Frame. That's step one of the 7 Steps to Sales Mastery, and it's where most solar appointments are lost without anyone noticing. Agree up front that if it makes sense, at a price and timeframe that suits, they're happy to give you a yes or a no. Make sure both of them are there.

One rep I coach sold 4 of his 6 presentations in one week, £19k, after we worked on finding the emotional reason behind the purchase and getting agreement up front to make a decision on the day.

That's one person's result, not a promise. But it shows what changes when the emotional reason comes first and the decision's agreed before the price.

The callback is not a smash and grab

If you do have to go back, or ring them, don't open with "Did you have a look at the figures?" You'll get "We've decided against it," and you're done. You look like a smash and grab merchant.

A lot's happened since you left. They've talked to a neighbour and had another firm round. The feeling they had at the kitchen table has gone. So take them back to it first. "Since we spoke I've been thinking about what you said about your retirement and the bills." Warm them back up to their reasons. Then circle back to the evidence. Then ask.

People buy on emotion and back it up with logic. Solar's got plenty of logic. Most reps forget to bring the emotion.

If you'd like to see where your solar sales are leaking, take the free 2-minute Sales Leak Assessment and book a free 30-minute discovery call.