In residential solar, the best salesperson is a happy neighbour. Most good installers get a large share of their business from referrals, and referrals come from how customers felt at each step, not only from the system working. This lesson walks the journey from first enquiry to the referral it should produce.
1. Enquiry: speed and respect
- Reply the same day, ideally within an hour or two in working hours. Customers often contact several installers; the first sensible conversation often wins.
- Ask for a photo of the last bill and the roof, the city, and what matters to them: savings, backup, subsidy, looks.
- Qualify gently: do they own the roof? Is the connection in their name? Any society permissions needed? This saves wasted surveys.
2. Survey: listen, then measure
- Arrive on time, in a uniform or with an ID card, with the right tools (module 2).
- Spend the first ten minutes listening. Where do they plan to use the terrace? Is a floor being added in two years? Who else decides (a son abroad, the society secretary)?
- Explain what you are measuring and why: shading, structure height, cable route, inverter position.
- Leave with a promise and a date: "You'll have the proposal by Thursday evening."
3. Proposal: clear, honest numbers
A good residential proposal fits on two or three pages: - System summary with a simple layout sketch on their roof - Expected generation by month and the savings estimate, with the assumptions box (lesson 2) - Price with GST, inclusions and exclusions, subsidy and net cost (lesson 1) - Payment milestones and the DISCOM clause (lesson 3) - Warranties and CMC in one table - Optional: two or three options (for example 3 kW and 4 kW, or with and without backup)
Walk the customer through it in person or on a video call; a PDF alone gets compared on price only.
4. Objections: answer honestly
| Objection | Honest answer |
|---|---|
| "X is quoting ₹10,000 less." | "Let's compare line by line: DCR modules, inverter model, structure height and gauge, earthing, net-meter fees and CMC. If they match, I'll look at my price again." |
| "Panel prices are falling; I'll wait." | "They may fall a little more, but each month you wait you pay about ₹3,500 extra in bills, and the subsidy scheme period is limited. Let me show the numbers both ways." |
| "Will my roof leak?" | "We seal every anchor and give a written waterproofing warranty on our fixing points. Here are photos from a job last month." |
| "Does it work in the monsoon?" | "Output drops on cloudy days, and our estimate already includes monsoon months. Here is the month-by-month figure." |
| "Will it work during a power cut?" | "An on-grid system shuts down in a cut, for safety of linemen. If you need backup, we can add a hybrid inverter and battery; here's what that costs and what it runs." |
| "Is it really free electricity?" | "No. Fixed charges remain, and savings depend on your use. For your bill, we estimate the energy charges fall by about X%." |
Never win an objection with a claim you cannot back up. The customer will remember it at the first bill.
5. Contract and installation: no surprises, regular updates
- Confirm the installation date two days ahead, and the evening before.
- Introduce the crew leader by name and phone number.
- Protect the house: shoe covers or mats inside, dust sheets near drilling, debris cleared every evening.
- Send a short update with photos at the end of each day.
- If anything changes (a module model, a cable route, the inverter location), ask first, explain why, and record the agreement on WhatsApp.
6. The DISCOM wait: keep talking
This is where trust is most often lost, because nothing visible happens for weeks. Send a status message every week, even if the news is "Application ID 123456 is with the AE for inspection; we followed up on Tuesday." Customers forgive delays; they do not forgive silence.
7. Handover and follow-up
- Handover as in module 9, lesson 4: training, file, app, shutdown procedure.
- Call after the first full net-metered bill and go through it together. Many customers do not understand their first net-metered bill and assume something is wrong.
- Check in at 3 and 12 months, or tie it to CMC visits.
Complaints: a simple process
- Acknowledge within hours: "Thank you, we have noted it, ticket 45, our technician will call by tomorrow noon."
- Diagnose remotely first (app data, photos), then visit if needed.
- Fix and explain what happened and what you did.
- Close the loop: confirm with the customer that it is resolved, and record the cause.
Track complaints by type. If three customers report the same thing (for example confusing bills, monkeys pulling cables), fix the root cause in your process.
Reviews: genuine, timely, never fake
- Ask at the right moment: after the first good bill, or right after a successful handover when the customer is pleased.
- Make it easy: send the direct review link on WhatsApp with a one-line request.
- Reply to every review, especially critical ones, politely and with an offer to resolve offline.
- Never write fake reviews, buy reviews, or offer payment only for positive ones. Apart from being dishonest, it breaches the Consumer Protection Act's provisions on misleading practices, and BIS has published IS 19000:2022 on the integrity of online consumer reviews.
Referrals: make them a habit
- Ask directly: "If you know anyone in your society who is thinking about solar, I'd be grateful for an introduction."
- Offer a simple, disclosed thank-you (for example a free cleaning visit or a fixed amount after the referred system is commissioned), the same for everyone.
- Society or RWA customers are especially valuable: one good system on a terrace is visible to hundreds of neighbours. Offer a short talk at the society meeting with real numbers from that building.
Worked example: why referrals matter
Suppose paid online leads cost you about ₹800 each and one in ten becomes a job: ₹8,000 of marketing per job. If referred enquiries convert at one in three and the thank-you is ₹2,000, the cost per job from referrals is about ₹2,000 plus the effort of asking. Use your own numbers, but the direction is almost always the same.
Key points
- Reply fast, listen at the survey, and promise a proposal date you can keep.
- Proposals should show clear numbers with assumptions, price with GST, inclusions, exclusions and payment terms.
- Answer objections honestly; never win with claims you cannot back up.
- Communicate through installation and especially during the DISCOM wait.
- Ask for genuine reviews at the right time and make referrals a routine; never fake or buy reviews.
Check yourself
- When is the best time to ask for a review?
- A customer says "your competitor is cheaper". What is the first thing you do?
- Why is the DISCOM wait the riskiest step for customer trust?
Answers
- After the first good net-metered bill, or immediately after a successful handover when the customer is pleased.
- Compare the two quotes line by line (modules, inverter, structure, earthing, fees, CMC) with the customer.
- Nothing visible happens for weeks and the cause is outside the customer's view; without regular updates they assume the installer has forgotten them.