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Solar Energy Contractor: Best Referral Sources

Who should be sending you clients, and the rooms they are already sitting in. Tell us where you are and we will send the list.

Get your list

The rooms for solar contractors, the next meeting dates, and who to ask for when you walk in.

Your top referral sources
  1. Window & Door Installer
  2. Community Association Manager (HOA / Condo)
  3. Impact Window & Door Contractor
  4. Cabinetry & Countertops
  5. Interior Designer
See the full answer ↓
Start here

Your one-page action plan

Five partners, what starts the work for each one, and the three rooms to be in. Print it and keep it in the car.

Networking plan: Solar Energy Contractor

The five people who should be sending you clients

  1. Window & Door Installer (They send you work)
    Shared trigger: a homeowner decides to remodel
  2. Community Association Manager (HOA / Condo) (They send you work)
    Shared trigger: a homeowner decides to remodel
  3. Impact Window & Door Contractor (They send you work)
    Shared trigger: a homeowner decides to remodel
  4. Cabinetry & Countertops (They send you work)
    Shared trigger: a homeowner decides to remodel
  5. Interior Designer (They send you work)
    Shared trigger: a homeowner decides to remodel

The three rooms to be in

  1. Local home builders association (NAHB affiliate): Your partners are in this room: interior designers, cabinet and countertop companies, and general contractors.
  2. Distributor & showroom trade nights: Your partners are in this room: window and door installers, cabinet and countertop companies, and interior designers.
  3. Nextdoor: Your partners are in this room: window and door installers, impact window contractors, and remodeling contractors.

Don't confuse this with networking: Electrical contractors association (IEC / NECA). Learning and supplier access, not referrals.

Or have it emailed to you ↑
The people

Who should be sending you clients

Ranked by what starts the job, not by who sounds close to your trade. When something happens that makes people need solar contractors, who else gets a call that same week?

Match strength is how much of your work starts from the same event as theirs, scored out of 100. Higher means you are more often called into the same job in the same week.

  1. 1 Window & Door Installer They send you work Trigger: a homeowner decides to remodel 70 match strength out of 100
  2. 2 Community Association Manager (HOA / Condo) They send you work Trigger: a homeowner decides to remodel 68 match strength out of 100
  3. 3 Impact Window & Door Contractor They send you work Trigger: a homeowner decides to remodel 67 match strength out of 100
  4. 4 Cabinetry & Countertops They send you work Trigger: a homeowner decides to remodel 67 match strength out of 100
  5. 5 Interior Designer They send you work Trigger: a homeowner decides to remodel 67 match strength out of 100
  6. 6 Electrician They send you work Trigger: a homeowner decides to remodel 66 match strength out of 100
  7. 7 General Contractor They send you work Trigger: a homeowner decides to remodel 66 match strength out of 100
  8. 8 Remodeling Contractor They send you work Trigger: a homeowner decides to remodel 65 match strength out of 100
  9. 9 Pool Service & Repair They send you work Trigger: somebody buys a house 63 match strength out of 100
  10. 10 Plumber They send you work Trigger: a homeowner decides to remodel 63 match strength out of 100

Knowing the names is half of it. We will send the list with what to say to each one. Send me my list ↑

The rooms

Where those people actually are

Ranked by how many of your best partners are in the room, and how much work each one can send you. Give someone nine choices and they pick none, so we have marked the one to start with.

  1. 1 Local home builders association (NAHB affiliate) Your pick Your partners are in this room: interior designers, cabinet and countertop companies, and general contractors. Your partners' association · Monthly · $500–$2,000/yr · ~4 hrs/month Chapter finder →
  2. 2 Distributor & showroom trade nights Your partners are in this room: window and door installers, cabinet and countertop companies, and interior designers. Vendor & supply chain · Quarterly · Free · ~2 hrs/month
  3. 3 Nextdoor Your partners are in this room: window and door installers, impact window contractors, and remodeling contractors. Online community · Always on · Free · ~2 hrs/month Chapter finder →
  4. 4 Commercial contractors association (AGC / ABC) Your partners are in this room: general contractors, electricians, and plumbers. Your partners' association · Monthly · $2,000+/yr · ~4 hrs/month Chapter finder →
  5. 5 Local Facebook & community groups Your partners are in this room: window and door installers, impact window contractors, and electricians. Online community · Always on · Free · ~3 hrs/month Chapter finder →
  6. 6 AIA (American Institute of Architects) chapter Your partners are in this room: interior designers and general contractors. Your partners' association · Monthly · $500–$2,000/yr · ~3 hrs/month Chapter finder →
  7. 7 Manufacturer training & certification days Your partners are in this room: impact window contractors and plumbers. Vendor & supply chain · Quarterly · Free · ~3 hrs/month
  8. 8 NARI (National Association of the Remodeling Industry) Your partners are in this room: general contractors and remodeling contractors. Your partners' association · Monthly · $500–$2,000/yr · ~3 hrs/month Chapter finder →
The competitor trap

Electrical contractors association (IEC / NECA)

Most solar contractors join this room first. It is also the one most likely to be the wrong pick. Everyone in it does what you do. Join it for the training, the licenses, and the ties to manufacturers. Do not join it for referrals, and do not join it instead of the rooms above.

Let us be straight with you. For solar contractors, a weekly referral group is not the best pick. Your partners gather in professional groups instead, so spend your time there. We would rather say that than sell you a seat you do not need.

These rooms meet on real dates. We will send you the next ones for your area. Send me the dates ↑

Your seat

Is your seat open?

Prime Time takes one Solar Energy Contractor per chapter. Put a South Florida ZIP into the form above and we will show you which seats are open.

Add your ZIP code in the form above to see which seats are open. Go to the form ↑

Want this as a list you can act on?

Send it to yourself: the partners above, the rooms ranked for solar contractors, and the next meeting dates for your area.

Send me my list