Can't we be more efficient? Ultimately, it's questions like these that are at the root of any new idea. It's not an unjustified question, especially today when a large amount of paperwork and cumbersome administrative processes still slow down everyday work.
If you look back at how the world and especially communication has developed since the beginning of the 21st century, it doesn't really fit into the picture that the time and effort required for an installer to go from consulting to implementing a photovoltaic system can take anywhere from 12 to 20 hours.
Become a full energy service provider
At the same time, the trend is moving away from pure sales and towards becoming a full energy service provider. The prospective customer wants a customer experience that shows variations. This is only possible if efficiency barriers and persuasion efforts are replaced by automated and simple but precise advice. Customer orientation is one of the major issues that will strongly influence the future energy industry. And the customers’ needs are no longer just economic in nature.
"Surely this has to be more efficient?ˮ was ultimately also the key question that stood at the beginning of the Eturnity solar solution. It combines two digital tools that focus on this automated, precise and customer-oriented process: solar calculator and solar expert.
From filter to customer offer
The first contact is already a decisive one for the customer. They want to be picked up directly and experience how economical and sustainable their investment will be. The solar calculator, therefore, takes on the role of the first filter on both sides: not only for the customer, but also for the installer. The end customer receives a simulation of his personal energy system and then obtains an overview according to their criteria, such as CO2 reduction and compares providers - if necessary as an overall solution, combined with various technologies from heating to e-mobility.
The feedback from the end customers themselves was incorporated into the development of the solar calculator, so that the graphics are not too technical, but comprehensible, but nevertheless accurate.
See the first practical report: Good and fast advice
The installer generates his customer contacts via the solar calculator and at the same time sees who is only obtaining initial information and who is planning a concrete project - and saves valuable time here. Many energy companies and installers eventually often decide to automate the entire consulting and quotation processes by integrating the Eturnity solar expert.
More time for the customer
Niko Mack, for example, is an authorized signatory at actensys GmbH. Due to the increasing "Internet mentalityˮ of interested parties and the partly deteriorating quality of inquiries, he decided to reduce the effort to a minimum and at the same time increase the customer-friendliness of his offers.
By mapping the inquiries in the solar expert, the German specialist for the entire PV segment now has fewer interfaces in the roof system sales division. Personnel capacities can, therefore, be used elsewhere. The time savings up to the point of pure offer creation has reached up to 75 percent, even when on the road with the customer. Parallel to this, actensys has managed to have more time available for customers and to reach more new customers.
Staying on the ball
The PV market is transforming and, with it, customer behavior. End customers know their place and benefit from the competition in the market. If you want to keep up, you have to adapt to customer needs and analyze the customer to do so.
Therefore, the analysis of load profiles and the targeted design of, for example, PV systems and storage systems, is of particular importance. Also, the presence after the installation of a system is important to retain customers and to generate follow-up orders.
See also: More ambition necessary to achieve climate-neutral buildings
The solar expert software contains all of this analysis data, assesses the quality of all the process steps, and provides information on performance indicators such as the conversion rate (sales). At the same time, it integrates customer management functions that provide an overview of the entire customer contact.
As a wide variety of applications are now used in both medium-sized and large companies, the Eturnity software solution enables linking, by means of the Zapier web service, as a connecting link. For example, CRM systems, such as Pipedrive, can be linked to the solar expert without any programming knowledge. And, thus, in the end, a central office is created in the company from many interfaces.
Growth under control
Growth is important, but it is also important that the work processes of all installers and customer consultants do not differ too much. Working via a common automated software standardizes these processes and accommodates growth within the team.
See also: Energy transition made in Germany
What additionally facilitates the work of all the installers within the software is the map material used. For this purpose, high-resolution orthophotos are integrated in the Solar Expert, which, in many areas, are of significantly better quality than Google's satellite images. A pixel resolution of 20 cm simplifies the recognition of the selected roof and the corresponding placement of the solar cell area.
Tuning in to the customer
Becoming more attuned to customer service is no longer just an option, it is a necessity for all companies in the energy sector that want to keep up and succeed in the market.
Technological innovations help to simplify and centralize the work through automated processes, but most importantly, to understand the customer and their needs and, ultimately, to optimize and redefine the consulting process beyond pure sales. (mfo)
Eturnity AG
Eturnity is also in the heating sector
Eturnity's solutions are not only available for the solar sector. The product range also includes, among other things, a heating calculator and a heating expert, with the same advantages of the counterpart from the PV sector.
The Eturnity heating expert enables the simulation of heating and hot water systems. In the consultation process, this allows various system components of a heating and hot water system to be combined, including solar thermal collectors, simple and smart thermal storage tanks, and heating systems.
Cost comparisons of the current and future heating system are also possible. Customers receive information on annual maintenance costs, energy costs, and payback costs. The calculations are based on self-defined parameters.
