It's amazing how exciting it is

[Worcester]

If you've clicked once on an add and click again within a short period then they detect you!
https://support.google.com/adwords/bin/answer.py?hl=en-GB&answer=6114
So we need all of us around the country every 5 days or so to click on them.

 

[SRE]

Someone reassure me - first quote in weeks, quoted £6.5k for a 4kwp Canadian Solar/Power One because of shading and extra electrical work needed - lost it - another local firm was £5.3k - how are they doing it? I don't know if I'm stupid but if I ever need to return to a job I need to build in costs to cover that - If I'm working at cost how can you do that ....

 

[dansk]

Thats nuts - leave em to it, next time ask the customer what counts most? "a solar system on the roof cheap as chips?" or "a solar system that will provide energy year after year and give you maximum yeilds"

 

[SRE]

What annoys me most is we the other installers - apparently we're more expensive than BGas too, just did a 5 minute visit measuring the length. Doesn't appear to matter these days, I'd pitched it so I coudl reduce to £6,200 but it's not worth it for us to go any further.

 

[solarsavings]

SRE I'm afraid you may find yourself in the same boat as me:hump: I look like losing a job (my first ever) to evo energy who have some how under cut my quote(with their overheads). Their quote was way below mine but I have been asked to re-quote like for like on the basis that I'm local and the ywant to use a local company as apposed to a national.

I can get down to evo's price and still make a profit over and above costs, but it's going to around 5%.......................................a long way from the 40% we were making this time last year.

 

[SRE]

I've got enough to keep us going til next year, fingers crossed the guys undercutting us now at these prices will have gone under and we can all settle into a sustainable business again.

 

[dansk]

Well just make sure you never need to put scaffold back up for a silly mistake otherwise your 5% is going to 1%

 

[solarsavings]

Fortunately it's on a stable roof and if it wasn't we have an easi dec system, which helps.

 

[dansk]

That not so bad - easi dec or no easi dec, it still fuel, wages and time spent not earning ;-) I honestly cant be bothered working for penny pinching customers, people who want to screw me down on price dont value a quality job - its one or the other.

 

[Gavin A]

we've just booked in our first job for 2013 - a 9 kWp 2 phase tracker system for a farm. It needs planning permission, which is unlikely to come through before Christmas, hence the Jan 2013 installation schedule.

I'm dead excited about it as well, as it'll be our first tracker systems, and it means I've actually found a customer who understood after going through all the figures that a tracker was a better option for them than a cheaper ground mount system due to their high onsite energy consumption (12 chest freezers etc). They even appreciated the geeky level of detail we'd gone into with our quote in comparing the costs and benefits of the 2 options, instead of the alternativeresponse of 'there was too much paperwork and I didn't understand it'.

Another string to our bow and all that

 

[Worcester]

We don't do much domestic, however just won a 3.75kW for £7k + VAT (and he's supplying a roofer for a day as he wants to be heavily involved) , it's a new build in roof (probably use renusol) how did we get it - referal - plus he said we were the only ones that talked sense and didn't try to just sell him something. I didn't think of in roof unitll he told me it was going to be covered in slate and I HATE slate roofs!!!! This way there's no roof to start with. his misses was against it untill I suggested 'in roof' and then she suddenly though it a brilliant idea.

Our commercial work is keeping us running at the same level as July / August last year, and we just got an enquiry yesterday for 3 more commercial projects, and got 3 more in the pipeline I think we've turned the corner and certainly my paradigm shift in thinking has helped.

The recent price hikes by the energy companies have also helped.

Customers are looking for three things 1) some security on energy prices, 2) an income 3) doing their green bit - that's very different from last year when the only thing that was on their mind was #2

If you haven't read it, I suggest Geoffrey Moore's' Crossing the Chasm Crossing the Chasm: Marketing and Selling Technology Products to Mainstream Customers: Amazon.co.uk: Geoffrey A. Moore: Books

 

[Somecamel]

In the last month I've sold 3 systems, a 2.5kW for 6.5k, a 3kW with edge for 6k and nearly 9 for a 4KW with micros. There's still money out there.

As far as I'm concerned prices are going up, we're no where near as busy as we were so to cover costs, prices go up.

 

[sedgy34]

Someone reassure me - first quote in weeks, quoted £6.5k for a 4kwp Canadian Solar/Power One because of shading and extra electrical work needed - lost it - another local firm was £5.3k - how are they doing it? I don't know if I'm stupid but if I ever need to return to a job I need to build in costs to cover that - If I'm working at cost how can you do that ....

just shows people are going in cheaper to get the work they are happy with a grand proffit

small but plenty usually works

 

[JulianC]

Well, things seem to be on the up for us. Submitted a tender to the local city council, partly out of desperation (nowt else to do), partly for a laugh (there's only two of us and we'd probably be up against the big boys) and partly to see how we'd do (never done any of this sort of thing before). Anyhoo, got called for interview last week and got a call yesterday to tell us we'd been awarded the contract for domestic PV and internal wall insulation. In your face Aldi, it back to Waitrose beans for me. Very happy, as this is the sort of thing that only usually happens to other people.

 

[Somecamel]

Well, things seem to be on the up for us. Submitted a tender to the local city council, partly out of desperation (nowt else to do), partly for a laugh (there's only two of us and we'd probably be up against the big boys) and partly to see how we'd do (never done any of this sort of thing before). Anyhoo, got called for interview last week and got a call yesterday to tell us we'd been awarded the contract for domestic PV and internal wall insulation. In your face Aldi, it back to Waitrose beans for me. Very happy, as this is the sort of thing that only usually happens to other people.

That's great news