April 23, 2014 | By RGR Marketing Blog

In the solar business, choosing the right type of lead is crucial to your return on investment. Are exclusive leads worth the extra cost, or is it best to save money by purchasing shared leads?

 

 

 

 

 

For small solar installers, how to best spend marketing dollars is a difficult and important decision. Competing directly with larger national installers is simply not an option. These larger firms often have sizable inside and outside sales teams, not to mention huge marketing and sales budgets.

Many have pockets deep enough to pay for extensive television and radio marketing campaigns, and because they’re so well staffed, they’re often able to respond to the leads that come their way within minutes.

Solar Leads: Exclusive Versus Shared

In order to make sales, your solar business needs good leads. But simply getting the leads isn’t all there is to closing deals: those leads must be converted from prospects into sales for your business to see the kind of growth that you’re looking for.

When your solar company purchases a shared lead, you’re essentially splitting the cost of that lead with several other companies. Unfortunately, you’re also splitting the prospect’s attention.

When competing with larger companies, smaller solar installers tend to lose out. Their larger competitors tend to have better brand recognition and aggressive, dedicated sales teams that bombard prospects with calls until they’ve capitulated.

In contrast, exclusive leads give small solar installers the full attention of their prospects. Instead of engaging in a high-pressure race against the clock with aggressive competitors, they’re able to deliver their message without any interference.

Give Your Prospects a Break

Think of it from your prospect’s perspective: instead of being inundated with calls from you and your larger competitors, they’ll get one call from their friendly local solar installer. Instead of accidentally stumbling into a marketing crossfire, they’ll have a helpful conversation with a knowledgeable solar professional who can answer all their questions and address their needs without any hassles.

What type of experience would you rather have? More importantly, what type of experience would you rather give your potential clients?

What About the Cost of Exclusive Leads?

Many smaller solar installers choose shared or semi-exclusive leads because their vastly reduced sticker prices seem to fit better into their limited marketing budgets.

It’s true that exclusive leads are more expensive. In some markets, they may be double or even triple the cost of shared leads. But as with so many other things in life, with solar leads, you get what you pay for.

Exclusive Leads: a Smarter Investment

Consider this: if exclusive leads are double the price of shared leads, but allow you to convert five times as many prospects, aren’t they a worthwhile investment?

With exclusive leads, you’ll not only have more customers, but you’ll also spend less time chasing hopeless prospects. You have to ask yourself – what’s your time worth?

As a small solar installer, you owe it to yourself and your business to consider the advantages of investing in exclusive leads. Try them out, and see what happens to your ROI. If you’re not convinced, you can always go back to the shared lead shouting match.

We want to know what your experiences have been with exclusive vs. shared leads, leave us a comment below.

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