PV proposal do: Clear saving visuals help with making your proposal more understandable
You want to make sure your customer can see at first glance what their financial benefit is if they choose your system. By making a very complex visual with a lot of information, it will be difficult for your customer to directly get to the information they want. When it comes to PV proposals do’s & don’ts, we would classify this as a don’t.
Take a look at this example for instance.
At the end of the day, your customer is most likely interested in their overall savings. You can showcase this by having a simple image showing the overall savings, and having the option to go into further detail. Take a look at the image below for instance.
Complicated yield overview

Add a savings overview

PV proposals don’t: Text-heavy proposals are difficult to get through
Customers often don’t want to spend a lot of time to get through your proposal. So even when it looks great, having it very text-heavy will make your message less powerful as your customer will be distracted from the main message.
Take a look at this example for instance.
By using a simple overview of the year-by-year performance of the system and a short summary, you ensure your customer immediately gets the information they need. Take a look at the image below.
Text-heavy proposal

Graphs and summaries

PV proposals do: Your customer wants to see their system in your PV proposal
A PV system is often an economic decision, but your customer also wants to see what their system would look like and what the components look like.
Take a look at the example on the right for instance (source).
Although it is clearly stated what the components are, there is no visual representation of them. This can easily be solved by adding some product pictures to your offer. Take a look at the example below.
Textual system overview

Visual system overview

PV Proposal Do’s & Don’ts Summary
Proposal Do’s ✅
- Personalisation: Customers want a proposal that feels specially tailored to their specific needs. They appreciate companies that show they understand their wishes instead of offering standard packages. Think of a specific panel layout, consumption profile, and information from the site survey.
- Authority: Customers rely on reviews and experience. By displaying a testimonial from a satisfied customer, your time in business, and the number of systems you’ve already installed, you show that you know what you’re doing. You can also use independent rating systems like Trustpilot.
- Reliability: In a proposal, your expertise should be clear at first glance. For example, include a system overview that demonstrates your technical knowledge and the accuracy of your calculations. Keep the top layer of your offer simple, but make it possible for customers to click through to more details.
- Clarity: Effective proposals ensure that complexity is converted into understanding with simplified technical language. They contain clear cost breakdowns and appealing visuals so customers immediately understand what they’re getting.
Proposal Don’ts ❌
- Standardised packages: One-size-fits-all doesn’t work for PV. If you don’t give the customer the feeling you’re creating something especially for them, it doesn’t generate trust. And no trust often results in no sales
- Text-heavy proposals: Your customers want to see the key information about their system as quickly and easy as possible. By adding a lot of text to your PV proposals, you will distract customers from your main message. Keep it visual.
- Getting too technical: A portion of your customers will most likely be interested in the specific technical details. However, this isn’t the case for the majority of customers that are looking to buy a PV system. By adding a lot of technical details in your proposal, you not only make it more difficult for your customer to understand, but also more difficult to show the direct value of. the system. Use concise graphs instead of lengthy technical details. However, make sure that customers can access it if they want to.
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