From a fiercely competitive customer base to fast-changing regulations, the solar market presents a series of particular obstacles to outbound call center teams—even as the industry continues to boom.

As I explained in my previous post about confronting solar sales challenges, your dialing strategies need to incorporate an omnichannel approach that’s supported by the right technology. Without that, your solar call center campaigns will struggle to succeed.

What I didn’t describe in depth, however, was just how essential the right cold calling script is for pitching solar panels or qualifying prospective solar buyers.

When it comes to knowing how to sell solar panels over the phone, nothing is quite as important to the success of your solar call center’s campaigns as your sales scripts.

To truly deliver on your solar lead generation strategy, from the moment your potential leads pick up the phone (and even before then) your agents need to be equipped with messaging that makes it easier for them to do what they do best: sell solar over the phone.

To build those ideal solar panel sales pitches and telemarketing scripts, dig into to this comprehensive guide, tailor-made for today's solar call centers. We’ll cover:

• How to deal with high demand and scarce solar data

• Helping your agents handle different rules and regulations

• Adjusting your scripts based on customer intent

• Why you should seal an appointment before you filter or qualify

• How dynamic scripting can help

To be competitive in the solar sales, you need to contact more leads and convert them quickly. However, in the solar industry, having a modern hosted predictive dialer will only get you so far.

Even though the solar industry is booming after the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act in 2022, high-quality data is still scarce. There’s simply more demand for leads than there is supply. And customer acquisition costs continue to rise. So, you need to be strategic.

You need to build a solar telemarketing strategy capable of making the most of each and every call. This means your scripts are the linchpin of your solar call center's campaigns.

The very best solar cold calling scripts don’t just guide efficient conversations for your agents. They first take into account the available and actionable information that you have on the people you’re dialing.

Anyone who has worked in solar telemarketing and lead generation knows just how many regulatory hurdles there are to account for while dialing. To make things more complicated, these different rules change regularly and vary from state to state. From “no-rebuttal” states to so-called “purchase-only” states, there’s simply more information out there than you can expect any agent to remember in order to remain compliant. That’s why these compliance differences need to be built into your cold calling scripts from the get-go.

So, consider the states that you’ll be dialing as you’re crafting individually tailored cold calling scripts. If, for example, a state requires–as many do–that your agent gives their name, your company’s name, and their employee number, make sure that your script reflects that. Or, if a state mandates two-party consent for recordings, make sure your scripts include a notice within the first ten seconds that the call is being recorded.

It used to be that I was always trying desperately to get my reps to realize that there were these different scripts for different states. Now, though, things have evolved: You can use dynamic scripting to make sure that your agents automatically get the right script in front of them.

Say one of your agents has been making calls to New Jersey, and suddenly they get one that’s in Texas. With dynamic scripting, we can have a script that, first and foremost, pops up in a bright, flashy red that grabs your rep’s attention. Plus, it will tell them right away, up top, that Texas is a purchase-only state.

And from there, the whole script is different: the hook, the pitch, the questions.

The rest of the script has to be different because compliance regulations aren’t the only things that separate states from each other. You’ve got to adjust your scripts for not just the states but the people in them, too. For instance, a lead in Vermont might be more likely to respond positively to a pitch that focuses on clean energy and its carbon footprint. But that probably won't play in other states, where you'll likely want to stick to selling them on the potential savings on their energy bills.

Every cold caller knows the importance of an opening hook.

However, your chance to positively influence your customer—or lose them—actually begins sooner. It starts from the moment the call starts, with the way that you greet your customer. When building effective scripts, you should use historical knowledge about a location’s customers to influence how your scripts begin. For example, you might not greet somebody from New Jersey in the same way you would someone from Texas.

More generally, if you lead your conversation with an impersonal, open-ended question like “Hi, can I speak with Mr. or Mrs. Smith?” you will likely instantly set off alarm bells and kill the lead. They might immediately think “Telemarketer!” and quickly disconnect.

Instead, if you connect with them using their name—recognizing them by saying, for example, “Jonathan?” when they answer—you’ll increase your chances of getting their attention, establishing a personal connection, and continuing the call successfully.

From this point on, your cold call script should be tailored to the intent of your data source. Understanding where your potential lead was sourced is key to creating a successful script.

When dialing high-intent data, you will want to remind them of their interest. For instance, if they signed up for more information online, tell them that you are following up with more information. Confirm that you have them on the line at a time that’s good for them, then head into your time-tested pitch, informing them of all of the benefits you’re offering.

With high-intent data, your call script should reflect what your call is really about: It’s an opportunity for brand-building. The person you have on the line has already said, in effect, “Yes, I want solar,” and opted-in to your funnel. The call, then, is your opportunity to tell them why, out of any company, they should choose your brand.

If you have a low-intent lead on the call, you will need to take a different approach. Instead of reminding them of their interest, you need to efficiently gauge their understanding of solar as well as their interest in proceeding. Ask them if they have seen the solar panels going up in their neighborhood. Better yet, ask them what they have heard or know about solar.

Though these types of questions are open-ended and might require some flexibility on the part of your agent and your script, there are so many answers that can lead to an opening. By getting someone to volunteer their own knowledge about solar, you open the door to a positive follow-up: Your agent having the opportunity to say, “So, it sounds like you’re interested.”

Whether you’re qualifying high-intent or low-intent leads, this sort of positive development in a call leads you closer to the primary conversion goal in solar: scheduling an in-person evaluation. Because of this evaluation’s importance in the sales process, create script that’s centered around the main goal your solar appointment-setting campaign—around getting them to say yes to an appointment before you ask filtering questions about their eligibility. To create the perfect solar appointment-setting script, follow these tips:

• Move quickly**:** Time is of the essence. Don’t dwell on unnecessary details and get to the point. Once you’ve gauged a low-intent user’s interest or presented your pitch to a high-intent lead, quickly move to schedule an appointment.

• Make it easy**:** Your audience needs to know how simple it is to see if their home is right for solar. Tell them that you have a solar specialist in their area—whether it’s on their street, in their neighborhood, or in their city—and ask if they would like to schedule an appointment imminently that can save them money.

• Give them options**:** As in all sales, it’s important to give your customers options. Although, you can inject some urgency by offering options in time slots that are very near. When you tell them that you can have a specialist drop by, say, tomorrow, give them a few times to choose from. Try: “I can have my specialist drop by tomorrow at 3:00 or 6:00. Which of these is best for you?”

• Be prepared to explain: Many callers will want to know exactly how much they can save with solar. Of course, your agent won’t be able to give them much more than general information on this front. To account for potential pushback against an appointment, incorporate a polite rebuttal into your script that enables your agent to explain how an in-person appointment is necessary because every home and solar installation is unique.

Once you’ve sealed that coveted appointment, then it’s time to confirm their eligibility. Tell your customer that, in order to avoid wasting any of their time, you just have a few final questions for them. Incorporate a set series of important screening questions like these into your solar cold calling scripts:

• Is your credit score still over ___?

• Is your utility provider still ___?

• Will your spouse be home, or are you the only person on the title?

• Looking at your roof, would you say that it has a lot of shade, a little shade, or no shade?

Even customers who have raised their hands to be contacted will sometimes be ready with an objection to the appointment or sale. Luckily, many customers rely on the same objections to solar (and the same preconceived notions about solar). With the right solar rebuttals in your scripts, you quickly respond in the right way—and sell more solar panels over the phone.

4 Common Solar Sales Objections include:

Price is a common hang-up for a lot of potential solar buyers. As a salesperson, you can either get to the bottom of their hesitation (Is it the upfront costs? Or do they think their monthly bills will go up?) or you can quickly provide a data point about solar costs. Consider rebutting with lines such as:

• “Are you aware we currently offer 0% financing on our panels?”

• “Did you know that homeowners in your state can currently take advantage of solar tax credits?”

• “With other customers in your area, we’ve actually seen that people save about [dollar amount] per month on their monthly electric costs.”

Lower-intent leads may have objections based on their ideas of solar’s effectiveness. Try to understand their particular pain points. But also underscore that solar isn’t just an energy decision, it's an economic one. Target pain points like rate hikes from utility companies, and be sure that you can concretely illustrate just how much these leads can save with solar.

Customers are busy just like you—but you can still respond in the right way to be sure that you close a lead. Offer alternative times that may work for them, or rely on an omnichannel SMS solution to follow up with the lead and schedule something at their convenience.

This is one of the most common objections to solar sales. The best rebuttal you have on your side here is to drive home the importance of an in-person appointment: “This is something that our expert technician can show you/determine during a short (and free!) consultation. Like I said, we’ll be in your area on Friday—is there a time then that’s convenient for you?”

Trying to account for all that the solar market has to throw at you, my solar sales and lead generation teams found that dynamic scripting truly changed our world.

From following rules in different states to adapting to customers of varying intent, introducing dynamic scripting into our solar call centers helped maintain compliance and make the most of solar leads. It’s simple: the system knows where the call is going and to whom, and then tells the rep what to say.

It’s been tremendous in helping us sell the right product in the right way. And in solar, sometimes you need all the help you can get.

Setting up your solar sales and lead generation team for success starts with setting them up with the right solar dialing software. Find out how Convoso can help your solar call center increase contact rates and lead conversions.