Being off-grid solar enthusiasts ourselves, we understand the complexities of solar power installation! After designing, building and installing a power system with battery storage friends and family began to ask us how they could benefit from a system of their own. We quickly discovered, however, that assisting them was quite a challenge.
First, they struggled to grasp the full concept of energy usage and because of this had difficulty in planning for their solar needs. It was necessary to interpret the industry jargon and simplify the whole process before they felt comfortable speaking to an installer.
As web developers this personal experience and discovery got us thinking. Company websites should be interactive in a way that the visitors could do all the planning themselves without any technical knowledge. Then, they could make an informed buying decision.
If this were fixed, would more people be ready to adopt solar energy and leave the grid? We sure thought so! Putting our plan into action proved to be challenging as we soon discovered that very little is available in the industry to provide for the unique needs of a solar installation company.
Management and organization of the whole process with the customer can be difficult, often requiring a dozen web tools to keep track of everything. This can be both frustrating and catastrophic for everyone involved in each project.
There was just no CRM available for the solar industry. So details such as photos, task lists, and memos would often get lost between sales reps, the customer, the designers, the engineers, the inspectors, the photographers, hardware manufactures, and support staff.
This creates confusion with the customer - being passed from one person to the next and having to repeat the same details over and over again. In our observation this problem is the main cause behind cancellations and financial disputes.
Another thing is because of the lack of a proper CRM, data must be entered manually, over and over again. This leaves room for human error - whether it be omitted details or mistyped words - either way it also slows down the progress of each install project.
Again we got to thinking, what if all of this could be streamlined and automated? That would eliminate many frustrations and save valuable time.
So, we did just that! We created a platform specific to the needs of the solar installation market.