Building mental models with new Sunrun customers.
Introduction
In 2016, I was the first to join a newly forming team at Sunrun. Led by Melissa Segil, the Customer Realization team was tasked with improving customer experience and retention from sales to install. We mapped, studied, and identified opportunity in the customer experience.
After building a system to track why customers changed their mind about going solar, we had data to suggest that customers were sometimes confused or unsure about their contract terms and project timeline. With hundreds of salespeople spread across more than 50 branches in over 20 states, “what’s next” wasn’t always clear to a new customer.
In response, I led the development of a Verification Call program that would connect a Solar Advisor with each new Sunrun customer shortly after they signed a contract. Realizing that customers didn’t always know what questions to ask to clear up a gap in understanding, the call preempts common concerns (i.e. what happens when I move?) and establishes better expectations for the installation journey. Smoothing these molehills before they grew into mountains has proven highly effective in getting more happy customers to the solar finish line.
Project Overview
Team // Joe Nangle (Program Manager, Experience), Raghu Puchala (Sr. Salesforce Developer), Tim Haines (Sr. Product Manager), Justin Padilla (Director, Call Center), Joe Trusso (Manager, Project Operations)
Stakeholders // Sunrun customers, Sunrun direct sales team, Sunrun sales partners, Sunrun call center, Sunrun project operations team
Deliverable // Salesforce-integrated customer education process, training, and management
My Role // Program management, concept development & validation, requirement writing, UX development & testing
Success Metrics // Realization rate (signed contract to installation conversion), Net Promoter Score
Verification call process map. Calls typically take about 5 minutes.
Prototyping
After examining the reasons for customer fallout during the installation journey, I focused on the misset expectations and potentially unclear contract terms that emerged most frequently as reasons for cancellation.
I developed a prototype call script that would address common questions like, “Will I still get a utility bill? How much is my monthly payment? What if I change my mind?”. Leveraging my inside sales experience and relationships, I began to call newly enrolled customers from that channel to see if this dialogue cleared up any issues. After administering the script questions and recording the confidence in customers’ answers, I gathered feedback about how the call affected their likelihood in proceeding with Sunrun.
Early results with the Inside Sales division & a low-fi Google Forms prototype were promising, so I trained a select group of Solar Advisors (who typically focus on lead qualification and appointment setting) to conduct the call at greater scale. With more capacity available, Inside Sales began to require the call for all new customers.
The next step was to build out a solution that could scale to the entire Sunrun business.
Development
Sunrun’s customer relationship management is orchestrated through a highly customized Salesforce.com (SFDC) instance. For the program to succeed and be adopted by more than a thousand salespeople, including our channel partners, we knew we’d have to design a solution that fully integrated with SFDC.
Working with Tim and Raghu, we began by architecting a new custom object that would record customer answers and connect to the exisiting Outstanding Document Indicator (ODI), which instructs salespeople and contract review representatives if all necessary documentation for a new project has been captured. A new project would only move forward after the call was successfully completed or a very narrow set of exemption criteria were met.
The next hurdle was to manage scripting—we needed to ask the right questions of the right customers. For example, customers entering a lease needed different information than those purchasing a system outright. By creating and serving different question versions based on product type, location, and more, we could ensure the right information reached the right ears.
We also wanted to ensure that questions could be easily updated to meet shifting business needs. Adding and modifying questions had to be simple and flexible. For example, when the launch of Brightbox battery storage required customers to identify backup circuit preferences, we were able to ensure this critical decision had been addressed and customer preferences recorded.
The ODI helps salespeople manage the submission process for new business. Without a completed VC or approved exemption, customers do not move forward in Sunrun’s project approval process.
Adoption & Behavior Change
After testing and validating the technology and training additional call center staff, we gradually phased in the Verification Call as a project requirement. At first, the call was optional but highly encouraged. I trained and tracked adoption with Regional Sales Directors and Managers via weekly reporting and routine meetings.
As evidence of the program’s effectiveness grew, the Verification Call became a routine and ultimately mandatory part of signing new business. When the time came to make the process mandatory, the integration with ODI meant projects without a verification call would automatically be blocked from further approval until the requirement was met.
As salespeople worked to ensure their projects moved through operational approvals quickly, we began to see a very positive trend emerging in sales ridealongs. Our sales teams were making a point of effectively summarizing and reviewing key project terms and timelines before conducting the verification call. In preparing their customers for the call, the sales team was also preparing them for the sometimes-bumpy reality of the journey of going solar.
End Result
Today, over 95% of new Sunrun customers complete this brief call to shore up their expectations and confidence as they begin the solar installation journey.
The program has given more than 100,000 families the opportunity to build better expectations and a strong understanding of what’s to come.
There was a demonstrable effect on both realization (sales to install conversion) and satisfaction as measured by Net Promoter Score (NPS). Compared to those who did not complete the call, customers who did were ~10% more likely to reach system activation. 100 days after installation, NPS was up to 16 points higher for customers who completed a Verification Call.
As of summer 2019, a verification call is now a required consumer protection measure in California. I’m proud to have been ahead of the curve in implementing this improvement to Sunrun’s customer journey.