Hi, and thanks for opening this blog post.
When we started in this industry in 2008, we didn’t set up to get rich or die trying.
We set up a small family business, partnered with an awesome installation company who shares our passion and beliefs and for many years have had a wonderful set up where local people come to our own home and our workshops that have been retro fitted with solar and other renewable technologies to demonstrate the wonders of this technology.
We show people how things are fitted, what’s involved and what the costs and benefits would be. For those who have visited and experienced our business set up, you’ll understand more than most why this post is so hard to write.
Our whole reason being has been to offer a totally different level of customer service. What other solar company invites clients into their own homes for two hours to see the products you’re buying in advance?
They don’t, we have been unique in that respect for almost 14 years now.
Since last summer, we have seen a noticeable increase in enquiries. Many from neighbours, friends and family of existing clients (our favourite clients) and more recently, 10 enquiries day or more when we open up the contact form on the website.
We never set up to manage that demand and no intention attempting to. That would become a numbers game where we employ more sales staff in the first instance, which would mean increased costs. It would mean I loose that personal contact with our clients. It would mean moving out of our 250yr old workshop and moving into a faceless office block or industrial unit somewhere.
That’s not going to happen.
We are happy to manage 10-12 installs a month, but not the 50-60 enquiries a week which has been recent demand.
So, as circumstances change, so must working practices and processes to manage the demand and hopefully retain some level of sanity at this end.
You may have noticed that we have started to turn the contact-us page on this website off, for a few weeks at a time. We clear the backlog and then we open the contact-us page again.
We were hit with so many enquiries, it was overwhelming. Within three days, we closed the contact-us page again and it’s taken two weeks just to respond to the fresh enquiries and arrange for them to be surveyed and installed.
On the installation side, we have a great structure and system in place. Built over 14 yrs and totally manageable and sustainable on the condition that a national grid always exists and on the basis that people want free energy.
Based upon that, we’re OK for decades to come.
However, what none of us want is to work 7 days a week, 12-14 hrs a day which has been the case since just before Christmas and with two days off in the last 5 months, decisions have been made.
We will change the contact-us page this week. It will have a notice and lead times displayed with some basic ‘homework’ listed to speed up the process for you.
We will no longer be accepting walk-ins and removed all signage from the front entrance.
Visits to the Solar Shed will be by appointment only and will be reserved for ‘special projects’ and B2B meetings.
All residential solar enquiries will be dealt with over the phone in the first instance, followed by a zoom meeting or visit to your home if with 20 miles or so of base, once agreements in principle are in place.
Our geographical area will also be changing. We will concentrate on West Norfolk and the area south towards Ely and surrounding villages. We will give consideration only after an initial chat to other areas.
We will still offer advice to those further afield and suggest looking for as local a company as you can via our Solar Nation page, (link at bottom of all web pages)
We will no longer install off-grid solar and small scale stand alone systems. Grid tied residential and local commercial installations only.
We will not be spending any time on clients who email us with ‘I’m getting loads of quotes mate, how much for……..’ We’re far too busy designing home energy systems for people who have already selected us as their chosen installer through 14 yrs of servicing the local geographical area to be joining queue of people driving around the countryside just to make sure you have your six quotes you insist on getting.
We’re about a week away from opening up the contact – us page again but this time, will be selective and be dealing with those in our immediate areas of PE12, PE14, PE30, PE31, PE32, PE33, PE34, PE35, PE36, PE37, PE38 and NR postcodes that border the listed PE postcodes, as will IP24 and IP25 and IP26.
All enquiries will be via email first contact, followed up with telephone and zooms until agreements n place.
Thank you for your understanding.
Kevin