A solar cold call to a commercial building owner should settle two things in the first minute: who owns the roof, and who pays the electric bill. In a leased building those are often two different people, and the call goes nowhere until you have reached both. Offer one thing, a written estimate built from their last 12 months of bills, and book a bill review instead of quoting savings on the phone. Below are the opener, the four questions to ask before any quote, answers to the three objections you will hear most, a voicemail, and what to do differently when the person you reach is a homeowner.

Whose roof and whose bill

Residential solar is crowded with door-knockers and lead sellers, so commercial roofs are where a smaller installer can stand out. Warehouses, cold storage, farms, churches, car dealerships and small factories have large flat roofs and an electric bill somebody reads every month. But the person who answers the phone may not be able to say yes. A tenant who pays the utility bill usually cannot put panels on a roof they do not own, and a landlord who owns the roof may not pay the bill, which weakens their reason to care.

So the second question on the call is always some version of "who owns the building?" Most owner-occupied properties are simple. In a leased building, plan to talk to both parties, and expect the landlord to ask about the lease.

Who to call first

Many county assessor websites list the owner of record, the building's square footage and its use, and most are free to search. Sort for industrial and agricultural buildings above a size you can serve, then look each owner up to find a phone number for the business. The list-building steps are in how to get customers for a solar company, which also covers email. This page is the phone call.

The opener

Priyanka works for a made-up installer called Bluebird Solar. She calls Walt Dunham, who owns Dunham Cold Storage, a building with a roof of about 40,000 square feet.

Hi Walt, it's Priyanka with Bluebird Solar. I'm calling about the roof on your cold storage building on Mill Road. I'm not asking for a decision today. Refrigeration buildings tend to have big electric bills and a lot of flat roof, so I do free bill reviews for them. Do you own the building, or lease it?

She gives the reason for the call (the roof and the bill), says what she is offering (a review, not a sale) and ends on the ownership question. If Walt owns it, the next question is "Would it be okay if I look at your last 12 months of electric bills and tell you whether solar makes sense? If it doesn't, I'll say so." That sentence is the part that makes an owner stay on the line. Say it only if you mean it.

Four things to learn before you quote

Ask these in order, and write each answer down.

  1. Roof age and type. A roof near the end of its life should be replaced before panels go on, because taking panels off later to re-roof costs extra. "About how old is the roof, and has it been repaired?"
  2. The bill. "Could you email me the last 12 months of bills?" Ask whether the bill shows a charge for peak demand in kilowatts. Many commercial rate plans include one, and it changes what solar can save.
  3. Who else signs. A lender, a landlord, a board or a partner may need to approve. "Is it just you, or does anyone else weigh in on something like this?"
  4. Timing. "Are you planning any roof work or an equipment upgrade in the next couple of years?" A building about to be sold or re-roofed is a different conversation.

Do not quote savings or incentives on the call

Incentives, net metering rules and utility rates differ by state and change often, so any number you say out loud on the first call may be wrong by the time the estimate arrives. Say: "I'll put every number in writing with the date and the assumptions behind it. I won't guess on the phone." The owner hears an honest installer. A phone call that promises a savings percentage is the quickest way to sound like the last three companies who called.

Three objections, three answers

"We lease the building." "Understood. Who owns it? If the landlord owns the roof and you pay the bill, there are ways to structure it, and it usually starts with a conversation between you and them. Would you like me to write a one-page summary you can hand to your landlord?" Give the tenant something to carry upward.

"We looked at solar before and the payback was too long." "That's fair, and it's changed for some buildings and not others. When was that quote, and do you remember what the main numbers were? If your situation is the same, I'll tell you so, and if something has moved, we can look at it." Ask for the old quote. It shows you what the buyer already believes.

"Just send me some information." "Sure. What would you want it to answer? If it's the bill review I mentioned, I only need the last 12 months of bills and I'll send one page back." Brochures disappear. A request for bills turns the call into a task.

The gatekeeper and the voicemail

Hi, this is Priyanka with Bluebird Solar. Who handles the electric bill and the building at your company? Is that Walt, or someone in the office?

If someone says "Walt is out until Thursday," ask for the best time and for the office manager's name. The office manager often holds the bills. For the general approach, see how to get past the gatekeeper when cold calling. If you reach voicemail on a second try, leave this:

Walt, Priyanka at Bluebird Solar, 555-0126. I do free electric bill reviews for refrigeration and warehouse buildings, and I'd like to look at yours. If you email me the last year of bills, I'll send back one page that says whether solar fits. I'll try you again Thursday morning.

If the person is a homeowner

Residential calls are a different job. They are consumer calls, so the federal telemarketing rules apply: calls only between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. in the person's time zone, a scrub against the National Do Not Call Registry, and no autodialed or prerecorded calls to cell phones without permission. Many states also keep their own do-not-call lists or set shorter hours (Florida's sales calls stop at 8 p.m.), and some states add their own rules on solar sales, including licensing and what you must disclose. This is general information, not legal advice, so ask your state's licensing board what applies to you. For business-to-business calls, most are exempt from the Do Not Call rules, which is one more reason commercial roofs are easier to call. The cell phone rule still applies there: if the owner's number is a mobile, dial it by hand.

What to log

For each building write down the owner, whether the owner is the tenant, roof age, the bill status (promised, received, reviewed), and the callback date. The most valuable field is "who else signs," because it tells you who else needs a copy of the estimate. A few more tips on handling the first reply are in sales call script for a local business owner.

Asking for twelve months of bills works in an email as well as on a call, and building the list is the slow part. Describe the owners you want, such as warehouse and cold storage owners within an hour of your office, and Rocketship finds them by name, emails them from your own Gmail and follows up. A 7-day free trial shows you the list first; a card is needed to start.