Emerge Digital

Today I got an email that made me smile. One of our solar partners reached out to let me know they’d completed their first installation from a homeowner who came through GoSolarToday. Contracts signed. Deposit paid. Installation booked. I’ve read that email a few times now. When you’re building something from scratch, you spend most of your time looking at what’s next. More traffic. More installers. More features. Bigger goals. You don’t always stop to appreciate moments like this. For me, this isn’t just one installation. It’s proof that a homeowner found a company they trusted, an installer won new business, and the platform did exactly what it was supposed to do. It’s a small milestone in the grand scheme of things, but it feels like an important one. Thanks to everyone who’s backed GoSolarToday so far. We’re only just getting started. 💚

A solar installer told me my leads were "probably sh*t" two minutes into our first call. I was giving him some background on what I've built. He cut me off. "I don't care about all of that. I bet you're the same as everyone else. The leads are probably sh*t anyway." I waited about 5 seconds. Then I told him that if that's how he talks to me, I can only imagine how it goes with a homeowner who's nervous about spending £8k+ on their roof. And that we probably weren't the right platform for him. Thanked him. Ended the call. People hear that and think I turned down money. I don't see it that way. How an installer treats me is the clearest read I'll ever get on how they'll treat the homeowner I send them. Someone combative and dismissive before they've even joined doesn't get patient and warm when there's a sale on the line. They get worse. I've put serious time, money and energy into building GoSolarToday and connecting with brilliant solar companies, all to curate a panel homeowners can actually trust. Trust is the whole business. Hand that to the wrong person once and it's gone. The leads were never the problem. They have a 50-70% survey booking rate. They're solid. I dodged a bullet with that one! He still messages me, by the way.

I've built a free tool for solar installers. It’s called The Solar Opportunity Map. Enter any UK postcode and you’ll see: ✅ Opportunity hotspots by postcode sector ✅ EPC distribution across the district ✅ Area insights and comparisons ✅ A report you can save and revisit It’s completely free to use, and I’d genuinely love your feedback. 👉 https://lnkd.in/eJvCFTcV

I want to build the MoneySuperMarket of solar. Not a phrase I throw around lightly, and we're not there yet. But that's the direction, and I'll tell you exactly why. Right now most homeowners don't know which solar installers to trust. They search, they get bombarded, they pick whoever shouts loudest or quotes cheapest. The good installers get lost in the noise. MoneySuperMarket didn't win because it had the best products. It won because it became the name people think of first. When you want to compare, you go there. That's a brand position, not a price position. That's what I'm building for solar. The plan isn't a secret. Ads. PR. Radio. TV. Digital billboards. Video interviews with the installers on our panel, used in our ads so homeowners actually get to know the companies behind the work. When a homeowner sees those companies enough times, in enough places, trust gets built before a single call is made. And here's what that means if you're on the panel. You're not just getting enquiries. You're getting brand awareness you'd never buy on your own, attached to a name homeowners are starting to recognise. That's the whole point of capping the panel at 10. The brand we build doesn't get spread across 300 installers. It goes to the handful who got in early. We're not there yet. But that's where this is going. PS, I was supposed to be on a podcast today but i'm speaking with Max Sullivan about all things construction.

Here's something I genuinely can't fully explain. A good portion of our solar enquiries come in on two days. Thursdays and Sundays. Not Monday motivation. Not Friday wind-down. Thursday and Sunday, consistently. My best guess? It's psychological. Sunday is when people sit at home, look at their bills, think about the year ahead and decide to sort things out. Thursday might be the midweek point where they've had time to think and want to act before the weekend. But honestly, I'm guessing. What it's taught me is that timing matters more than installers realise. If your follow-up assumes everyone enquires Monday to Friday, nine to five, you're missing people exactly when they're most ready to talk. Anyone in solar seeing the same pattern? I'd love to know if it holds up across the industry.

Every industry eventually ends up with a place people trust to start their research. Hotels have Booking.com. Insurance has Compare the Market. Trades have Checkatrade. etc.... When it comes to solar, homeowners still don't really have that. Most people decide they want solar long before they decide which installer to use. The difficult part is working out who they can trust. That's one of the problems we've been trying to solve with GoSolarToday. Over the last couple of months, we've focused on building a platform that helps homeowners understand their options, compare local installers and make a more informed decision. We're now looking to welcome a small number of additional installation companies to join us on that journey. If you genuinely care about doing great work and giving homeowners an exceptional experience, we'd love to introduce more people to your business. I recorded a short video explaining what we've built, why we've taken this approach, and what we're looking for in the companies we work with. Here's some more info: https://lnkd.in/eYa9RETF I'd genuinely appreciate any feedback from people in the industry.