From pv magazine Germany
Solar companies acquire new customers by purchasing leads or running social media campaigns. However, lead costs have risen sharply, and success rates for social media campaigns remain low.
Some companies have many such leads in their databases from the past. After a while, these are considered “cold,” so it is important to calculate whether the effort of contacting potential customers again is worthwhile for sales. This question can also be asked about newly acquired leads.
Albert Bakhoj and Oliver Rasmussen, the founders of Danish startup Shiney AI, claim that this burden on sales can be reduced and made more efficient. To do this, Shiney AI relies on email campaigns and text messages to contact potential customers again, and on artificial intelligence.
“We use various AI programs such as Llama from Meta, Claude from Anthropic or GPT from OpenAI to address potential customers personally,” explained Bakhoj. “This simply makes it seem more personal and not like a mass SMS or email. Our experience shows that customers feel more directly addressed and react accordingly.”
The Shiney AI system also works with new leads. The company is currently testing its method with various installation companies in Germany, the United States, Canada, and Australia.
The startup has demonstrated early results in the US market. For one installation company, it attempted to revive eight-month-old leads from New Jersey, contacting 1,355 addresses via email and text. Within 24 hours, nearly 400 potential customers responded, with 3% still considering PV systems and 2.1% booking appointments.
The results were even better in another campaign in the United States, according to Bakhoj. About 5,337 existing leads were contacted using the Shiney AI solution, with 1,506 potential customers sending responses. In the end, 266 of them booked appointments, which corresponds to the reacquisition of almost 5% of the “old” leads.
Shiney AI directly connects its text-message and email campaigns to the appointment calendars of installation company sales representatives. This setup allows the direct booking of appointments and visibility of all available time slots. The AI system maintains contacts with the lead, scheduling followup calls in the sales calendar and sending personalized reminders to potential customers.
It said the integration of the Shiney AI process into an installation company’s customer management system can take about seven days. Campaigns can then begin immediately.
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