How Summit Solar Improves Customer Experience With Aircall and HubSpot

Consumers are increasingly taking advantage of the affordability of solar power, and governments are rewarding them for it, making solar panels highly sought after. With tens of thousands of solar panel installation companies in the US alone, businesses need to find ways to stand out.Summit Solar has achieved this by creating a one-stop shop—with consultation, design, and installation partners—and by constantly improving the customer experience.

Many installation companies outsource sales and marketing, but Summit Solar values owning client relationships from the outset, listening to their customers throughout the buying journey and collecting data along the way to enhance the customer experience. To have these crucial conversations, Summit Solar relies on Aircall's cloud call centre software with HubSpot’s CRM integration.

How Summit Solar Uses the Phone

Summit Solar's team includes marketers, inside sales reps, customer support agents, design consultants, and engineers from across the US, all of whom work remotely. They need to collaborate closely with each other and with clients, which requires more than a traditional phone system.

New customers usually find the company online and start at the website. When they call, they first speak with inside salespeople, who provide a brief overview of products and services and assess whether the caller is a suitable candidate for solar panels. After qualifying prospects, inside sales passes them to sales leaders known as "solar professionals," who guide customers through the cost of solar panels, potential savings, panel design, and the installation process.

Throughout the process, sales reps log all calls and customer information into HubSpot and follow up with customers via SalesMsg after the sale is complete, staying connected with customers throughout their journey.

Why They Use Aircall and HubSpot

Sara Kinsella, Sales Operations Manager for Summit Solar, wears many hats, managing both customer-facing teams and their tech stack. This involved a lot of manual work with the business's previous communications solution. Kinsella had to manually upload calling lists every morning for her reps, and they had to manually log calls in the CRM throughout the day.

This one-stop shop business needed a one-stop shop communication solution that integrated with HubSpot. It needed a reliable solution that was intuitive for reps while giving management insights to boost team performance and productivity. That's why the company chose Aircall, which integrates seamlessly with HubSpot and provides actionable data analytics.

Summit Solar's team also values Aircall's sleek, modern user interface and advanced productivity features, such as PowerDialer, Live Feed, and call coaching.

"With its integration with HubSpot and SalesMsg, its ease of use and analytics, Aircall really just ticked all the boxes for us that our previous solutions couldn't offer," Kinsella explained.

What a Difference an Integration Makes

Thanks to the HubSpot integration, Summit Solar's remote teams now have everything they need in one place. They no longer have to switch between tools; instead, they log information into HubSpot from within the Aircall platform.

The system automatically logs all call activity into HubSpot, prompting them to add new notes and tags during each customer interaction. And with Aircall's PowerDialer feature, the system makes calls for them, which has significantly boosted productivity.

"With Aircall, our overall call volume grew 17% in the first month. The PowerDialer has sped up our sales process, and it's amazing to see how many more people we can contact in an eight-hour shift."

While Aircall and HubSpot provide reps with vital customer data, they give management crucial performance data. Kinsella and her leadership team have automated much of their reporting and have better insight into call activity and employee productivity, helping them make data-driven business decisions.

For example, real-time monitoring helps them predict when clients will call so they can adjust representative availability accordingly, making operations more efficient. Meanwhile, call tagging and analytics allow them to confidently set revenue targets.

"We have increased our quotas by 10% because of the data we've gathered from call tagging and analytics from Aircall," said Kinsella.

Call tagging also provides data that can improve team performance. For example, reps use a tag called "booked on first call ce" when they close deals on the first engagement with a new customer. Leaders review calls with this tag so they can recognise the reps' outstanding performance, which boosts morale.

They also listen to the call recordings—which are automatically uploaded into HubSpot after each call—for insights that can help other reps have more meaningful and effective sales conversations in the future.

Different Locations, Same Page

Any company with a fully remote call centre needs the ability to provide coaching from afar. Aircall features such as Call Recording and Call Whispering make this process easy for Summit Solar.

Kinsella and her manager listen in on calls and review call recordings for training purposes. This helps them ensure all team members are up to speed and know how to best serve customers. The solar panel industry is nuanced, so it's crucial for everyone to be well-versed and on the same page. They also listen in on sales reps' calls to hear customer feedback and gain insights to improve the sales process and customer experience.

"Call Recording and Call Whispering bring us closer to the voice of our customers so we can better understand their needs," said Kinsella. "This ultimately speeds up our sales cycle and allows us to serve them better."

Kinsella is always there to support her team, no matter how far away they may be, and Aircall is always there to help, offering both support and solutions.

"We didn't receive this level of support from previous providers. It felt like we never really got an answer to our questions and requests, like we were just being put off. Aircall makes us feel like a valued customer, and it's just so easy to use. We're planning to roll out the solution to other teams across the company, and we're excited to see what's next with Aircall."