How US Solar Used SimpleTexting to Generate Over $140K in 1 Month

The length of a sales cycle can vary, but on average it’s 4-6 months for most B2B companies. 

For businesses in the renewable energy sector whose product is a larger and costlier investment, the process can take closer to 18 months!

That’s nearly an entire year’s worth of extra conversations, quotes, and follow-ups that the US Solar sales team has been doing over email.

For Keith Groben, Marketing Director at US Solar, keeping these conversations limited to one channel wasn’t working. 

Given that text messaging has a 78% higher open rate than email, it was just the kind of communication tool he was looking for. 

We spoke with Keith to learn why he chose SimpleTexting and how he’s using it to automate his team’s sales strategy.

From Door-to-Door Sales to SMS

Knowing the need for education about their product, the first step in the US Solar marketing plan is to start a conversation. 

Every lead that receives a text from US Solar is a direct product of an initial conversation with a door-to-door salesperson. 

Once a salesperson has gotten a lead’s phone number, Keith sends them a simple question:

Leads who get this message automatically receive a separate text letting them know how frequently they can expect to receive messages from US Solar and instructions to reply STOP to unsubscribe. (Think of it as the unsubscribe footer in an email.)

“You’re the only provider that I’ve found that sends that compliance text with a campaign,” notes Keith. “It’s exceptionally helpful because it gives folks a chance to leave before I waste resources on people that aren’t interested in hearing what I have to say.” 

Since Keith knows the remaining prospects are interested, he’s able to fully automate his first 90 days of conversations through our autoresponder feature. 

Autoresponders are text messages sent out at predetermined intervals after a customer joins your list. Similar to an email drip campaign. 

For Keith, this is a series of messages that customers receive every three and a half weeks. 

“What I love about autoresponders is that, at least in the first 90 days, if I don’t hear back from someone I know that about three weeks later, it’s going to hit them again. And then after that, it’s once a month up to 18 months. It allows me to have a long-term conversation with people in a way that’s not invasive.”

In between these scheduled messages, Keith and his team can respond to questions, set up phone calls, inspections, and more, all via SMS.

Why US Solar Chose SimpleTexting

The ability to automate its sales touchpoints is a crucial part of US Solar’s marketing strategy.

Keith tried out six different text marketing platforms over several months before he decided on us. 

"With some tools, you could program different responses based on keywords, but that doesn’t work for what we’re doing. We also need to be able to have a conversation, and SimpleTexting is the only tool that fits my marketing strategy."

Keith Groben

Marketing Director

So far, Keith’s decision to use our SMS drip campaigns has paid off. 

“I started these campaigns on February 11th, and so far, we’ve made $140,000. I have probably another $150,000 of business in the pipeline, and I can see easily, just in my first three months, we’ll make half a million.”

With so much success, US Solar is now also adding its phone number to its website, Instagram posts, and advertisements in an effort to start as many conversations as possible. 

Looking to Text Enable Your Sales Team?

If you’re looking for your sign to set up your sales team with SMS, this is it! 

You can sign up for a 14-day, risk-free trial. And, if you have questions about getting set up, email us at support@simpletexting.net.