image

A Solar Quote
in 60 Seconds

Solar at the speed of light with smart quoting tool powered by digital innovation

SOCO ENERGY, a leading residential solar energy solutions provider in South Africa, contracted Auxo Digital to create an accessible residential solar quoting tool to empower customers and their sales teams.

Customers visit www.soco.energy/quote to start the quoting process.

Smart quote

Customers visit www.soco.energy/quote to start the quoting process.

Site visit

They are then prompted to answer six simple questions about their current electricity usage and requirements on the tool’s intuitive interface.

Design

The tool’s backend takes the user input and intelligently extracts their needs, including costs, and solar options (battery backup, off-grid, hybrid).

Installation

Using this data, the tool quickly calculates a detailed, customised solar quote tailored to customer needs, providing them with 3 solar and battery backup options.

Empowerment

The final quote is generated as a PDF, which is then automatically sent to the customer via a branded email.

SOCO ENERGY created a sophisticated tool that would allow them to expand their business into the commercial solar space.

The goal? Develop an automated solar quoting tool capable of providing customers with a quote in under 60 seconds.

The decision to use Auxo Digital was due to the company’s proven track record and the full-service technical knowledge provided by a team of engineers.

Auxo Digital had all the expertise required by SOCO ENERGY under one roof.

The Solution

Defining Agility

The Auxo Digital team, with its unique blend of creative and technical skills, created a simple and easy-to-use solar quoting tool built on their in-depth knowledge and extensive research.

The team needed a deep understanding of the different phases of municipal power, the fixed costs associated with power generation, and any additional variable costs to ensure the questions asked by the tool, and the data included in the back-end, provided an accurate quote.

image

There are three different types of solar installation included in each quote so customers can select a solution that fits their budget and parameters:

These variable solutions give customers more choice and allow for them to customise their solar investment in a way that best fits their needs.

The quotes are then sent to the customers who can then use a contact form to start the purchase and installation process.

The simplicity of the online quoting tool is balanced by the depth of information provided in the final quote which includes everything a customer needs to know before making a decision.

The backend technology combined user input with existing data to personalise and customise the form, creating a PDF sent via SendGrid using APIs connected to the information hosted in Firebase.

The biggest technical challenge, that the team overcame through research and meticulous calculations, was ensuring the data provided by the customer delivered an accurate quote.

The Result

Solar Care

One of the most significant win for SOCO ENERGY is the simplicity of the quoting tool.

Instead of a lengthy, involved and frustrating experience that could potentially alienate customers, the company now has a simple solution that’s quickly populated and calculated.

Considering the complexity of a solar installation and the sheer scale of variables involved in its implementation and management, reducing these factors down to a few lines was a master stroke.

Consumers complete six answers and the rich back-end functionality processes the data to create a detailed quote with enough information for them to make an informed decision.

image
image

Today, the quoting tool is regularly used by potential customers and has proven to be a powerful addition to the SOCO ENERGY site.

Allowing for rapid customer service and immediate advisory in under 60 seconds, the quoting tool has delivered precisely what the solar company wanted.