The countdown to EOFY is on! Time to close out those deals.
Here are our top tips to help you close a few more deals – and get that bonus!

1. Fire up your pipeline
EOFY is the perfect excuse to revisit and recharge some of your lingering leads. These are the ones you’ve already put the hard yards in with, who have their proposed solution ready to go and all their objections addressed but are yet to make that final decision.

Call them and use the tried and tested assumptive close to finally push them over the line. On the phone, discuss possible installation dates with them. Stop using “if’ and start using “when”; everything in your manner and language should imply that the way forward is as obvious to them as it is to you.

Read more: Fire up customer leads

2. Workshop stalled deals
Sometimes you just need a fresh pair of eyes to review some of your stubborn leads and help you brainstorm closing strategies.

This is where you can take advantage of being a Smart Ease Channel Partner. Our sales directors help move through hundreds of decarbonisation deals every month, of various sizes, with various contexts and complications. We’re always happy to jump on a call with you and workshop some of your stuck deals.

3. Mine your existing database
It’s a lot easier working with existing clients than winning new clients. Have you thought about revisiting some of your previous clients and offering them equipment to supplement their existing system?

For solar customers, perhaps you could propose a battery system or even an EV charger? Offer them an audit to see where they could be more energy-efficient. If they’ve worked with you once, they’ll be more likely to want to work with you again.

4. Freshen dormant leads
Remember that customer you were speaking to about rising costs? And remember how they weren’t quite convinced on creating a natural hedge by installing solar?

Business circumstances change all the time. Those prospective customers may now be in a position where they need to desperately take a control of their operating costs. As a result, they may be much more open to your message.

5. Turn cost into your leading selling point
The number one objection prospective customers always raise is cost. The usual approach to this objection is to either wait for them to figure out their finances or mention different payment options that might help solve the cost issue.

There’s a better way to do it.

Integrate Payment Plans into your pitch. Payment Plans allow your prospects to install their decarbonisation equipment with zero upfront spend. Even better, 90% of the time, their monthly repayments are lower than their electricity savings and installing their system puts them in a cash-flow positive position.

Installing solar is an easy sell when it’s paying for itself and freeing up extra capital.

Read more: Close more deals with this killer sales hack

Smart Ease is passionate about making a positive impact on the environment and society. Last year we committed to allocating 1% of our funding revenue to projects that align with our ethos of sustainability and community.

As a business, we recognise the significance of educating the next generation on sustainable practices. That’s why we’re thrilled that our first 1% Project is in partnership with not-for-profit organisation, Cool.org.

Cool.org is an educational powerhouse dedicated to providing high-quality curriculum-aligned teaching resources on vital topics that create better outcomes for humanity.

A collaborative effort for a better tomorrow

Our involvement with Cool.org extends beyond financial support. We believe in actively participating in the initiatives we endorse, which is why our dedicated team members, including the talented Stefanie Di Trocchio, are contributing their expertise to create educational videos.

These videos feature Stefanie providing practical, energy-efficient solutions that schools can readily adopt, making the learning experience engaging and impactful.

There’s no getting around it: electricity prices are on the up. For Australia, New Zealand and most of the world, energy prices are skyrocketing.

So how can you explain what’s happening to your customers? And how can you help them to keep business costs down?

Why are electricity prices rising?

A combination of economic, political and climate events has led to continuing electricity price hikes. These include:

• rising global gas and coal prices, and increasing transportation costs, have increased the cost of generating electricity
• unexpected outages have resulted in reduced output at multiple generators
• the Russia-Ukraine war has led to further instability and created a supply shortage (due to countries rejecting oil and gas from Russia), and
• extreme weather events causing sharp and erratic increases in demand have led to higher wholesale electricity costs for retailers.

Are electricity prices likely to come down soon?

In a word: no.

Retailers’ costs of managing highly volatile prices in turbulent market conditions ultimately get passed on to consumers in their electricity bills.  

In the short to medium term, the best way for consumers to manage their energy costs is to reduce consumption through efficiency measures such as energy-efficient lighting and heat pumps – and to start generating their own on-site electricity e.g.  via solar panels.

Show customers how for $0 upfront they could be cash-flow positive

One of the major obstacles to installing renewable-energy infrastructure or other energy-efficient solutions can be the upfront cost. Often organisations don’t have the budget or they prioritise spending elsewhere in the organisation. 

But if they purchase energy-efficiency equipment using a Payment Plan, they pay $0 upfront. Their Payment Plan application can be instantly pre-approved – which means they can install energy-efficiency equipment straight away and start saving.

Best of all, Payment Plan monthly instalments are typically lower than electricity-bill savings.

This means your customers can often enjoy a cashflow-positive position.

Which is excellent news for their bottom line.

Last week’s SEANZ 2022 conference was action-packed and it was great to see the industry gathering in person again. The Smart Ease team was on the ground soaking up the insights and talking to industry.

Here are our key takeaways for the industry.

Collaboration for decarbonisation

The big theme of the event was collaboration – to accelerate decarbonisation goals. An excellent example of collaboration was between our Channel Partner Sunergy and water-heater-specialist Apricus. The businesses worked together to complete two heat-pump-based cylinders, powered by a solar farm, to process milk for Oaklands Milk (Raine) farm. This resulted in the farm not only reducing energy bills, but also reducing carbon emissions from their previous gas water heating technology.

To top it off, the project took out the SEANZ 2022 Fronius Energy Award for Best Environmental Impact. Congratulations, Sunergy!

Increasing the capacity to deliver

While the industry is abuzz with talk about utility-scale solar, the capacity to deliver solutions needs to be beefed up – fast. Right now, there’s less than 5MW of utility-scale solar installed (out of a total of 226MW) in NZ, but 3500MW in development!

More technical training and manpower is needed, and some of the industry’s bigger names are stepping up their development game. Wholesalers building training facilities or travelling roadshows to take the training to installers, and manufacturers setting up training centres and support programmes so installers can become accredited to install their products.

Business development opportunities

There are lots of opportunities for our Channel Partners to expand or cross sell into EV-charging infrastructure, off-grid systems, as well as help their customers with storage capability.

For more information about EV charging, cross-selling and expanding your capability portfolio, speak to a Smart Ease Account Manager today.

In exciting news for the industry, we’re pleased to announce that Australian business leader Tim Reed has joined Smart Ease as an investor and will Chair our company’s advisory board.

Tim, current President of the Business Council of Australia (BCA) and Managing Director of private equity firm Potentia, said he was drawn to Smart Ease by the problems it solves. “I like a technology business that helps companies achieve better outcomes, and the economics for the Smart Ease solution are compelling,” he said.

“With the cost of energy soaring, this allows organisations to access cheaper and cleaner energy and avoid the upfront capital outlays. Smart Ease will help businesses lower their energy costs and their carbon footprint at the same time.”

For our Channel Partners, Tim’s investment in the business means three things:

1. Bolstering the business case for decarbonisation

Recognition of the importance of decarbonisation by the President of the BCA highlights how critical this issue is for business.

“Smart Ease is well placed to help organisations accelerate their decarbonisation programs,” Tim said. “Even just accounting for battery and solar, the required investment will be in the billions. Smart Ease is poised to ride a wave of growth as organisations contend with rising energy costs and start to plan their transition towards net-zero emissions.”

Business owners who haven’t yet been swayed by the case for decarbonisation may now be more inclined to take notice – and take action.

2. Focussed advisory from an expert in tech solutions for Business

Tim’s background as CEO of tech company MYOB from 2003 to 2019 means that he has a deep understanding of the issues faced by businesses across Australia and New Zealand – as well as expertise in the tech solutions that can be used to address them.

With Tim’s support and mentoring, we’ll continue to work together to make it easier for organisations to adopt energy-efficiency and smart technologies.

3. More help, support and resources for Channel Partners

Tim’s investment in our business is specifically for the purposes of growing and scaling Smart Ease’s capability.

For Channel Partners, this means an investment in giving you even more of the help and support that you need to grow your business.

Read more about Tim’s investment here.