From 8 to 30 installs a month, by measuring what the sale was doing.
A Cork installer with a well-developed brand and an exceptional standard of workmanship brought us in to assess its revenue operations and sales function. The installs were excellent; the sales process around them was inconsistent and largely unmeasured. Nine months later, monthly installs have nearly quadrupled.
- Client
- Residential solar installer, County Cork. Anonymised.
- Sector
- Residential solar
- Engagement
- Nine months, ongoing
- Scope
- Revenue operations audit, sales process engineering, performance measurement
The situation
The company had a strong brand, an incredibly high standard of workmanship and a lot working well. The sales process was the exception, and the owners wanted an outside view of where revenue was being lost between the first enquiry and the signed contract.
What the audit found
The same pattern we see across installers: inconsistency and variability in how the process ran, and too little measurement of the numbers that matter.
- Lead-to-survey rate by lead source wasn’t being measured, so there was no way to tell which channels produced surveys and which only produced enquiries.
- Conversion by lead channel wasn’t being measured, so spend couldn’t be judged by the sales it produced.
- The process itself varied from lead to lead, which made every other number harder to read.
What we did
We set out every issue clearly, presented the findings back to the owners, and agreed a plan to improve the process methodically, stage by stage. The measurement came first, so each change could be judged by what it moved.
| Part of the system | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Sales process | Variable between leads and reps | One process, improved stage by stage |
| Lead-to-survey by source | Not measured | Measured |
| Conversion by channel | Not measured | Measured |
| Installs per month | 8 | 30 |
| Annualised revenue | Baseline | 2× baseline |
| Sales team | Existing team | Two new hires, a third on the way |
What happened
Average installs have gone from 8 a month at the start of the engagement to 30 in month nine. Annualised revenue has doubled, and the team has made two new hires with a third on the way.
What’s next
With a measured process and the capacity to match it, the installer is well placed to take on the demand as the market grows.