The Interplay Learning solar curriculum is full of video lessons and 3D simulations that are perfect for solar installation crew training. And now, it’s no surprise that it’s also getting adopted in the solar industry for sales staff training.
“We knew that our unique 3D and VR simulation-based approach was going to be a game-changer for the industry,” says Mark Mrohs, Interplay Learning Solar expert. “It allows people, that normally would never get a chance to participate in an install, or climb onto a rooftop, get that needed experience to make the products they are selling more real and familiar.”
Meet Brian DiPaolo.
Brian DiPaolo is a sales consultant with YellowLite, a 10-year old Ohio solar company. He recently shared how their sales group has fully adopted the Interplay Learning Solar Curriculum and how it is helping them improve their sales.
“I can definitely confirm,” he said, “that the Interplay Learning program is really helping me, as well as others on our team to really understand the technical knowledge of solar.“
He gave a surprising account of how it actually helped close a recent sale.
“I can tell you, there was this one lesson on the Main Service Panel, and the situation of not having enough circuit breaker spaces available for adding solar,” he recounted.
“I did that training lesson and learned all about tandem breakers [and how they can free up space for a solar breaker], and the very next day, I had a customer with that exact problem – and I was able to explain to him how we would handle that. We eventually signed that customer on, so I’m definitely seeing the benefits of the program, without a doubt!”
The Interplay Learning solar training seems to be tuned to just what they need to know.
Brian said, “One of the difficulties we face is how to get our sales staff to sell solar without having any sort of install experience themselves. I had worked with some other training platforms, just to get familiar with solar, and then Interplay Learning was introduced to our organization.”
“It really cemented in everything for me, and I was like ‘WOW, I wished that I had done this a lot earlier,’ because it really boiled down the information objectively and simply. It also provided that extra technical expertise that I could use to hone my understanding of the install process when I was talking to homeowners.”
He tells of how the program is being effective for both experienced solar sales staff as well as for those that are new to solar.
“The bulk of our experience so far has been using it for the Sales team,” he said. “That way they can get more familiar with ‘Solar Basics 101’ as well as some installation fundamentals, and better understand what goes into a solar install. We have sales guys with 3-4 years of [solar] experience that have used it to fine tune their knowledge, so we’ve had success with that group.”
He went on to say, “And then, we have guys that we’ve just on-boarded and we start them off with Interplay Learning lessons from the very beginning, and they can get familiar with all that is involved from the get-go.”
The power of the simulations has helped him in ways that traditional training just can’t offer.
“I’m a visual learner”, he says, “if I can visualize it and see it, then I get it. So instead of me having to go out to an install site, to see for example how an inverter is set up, all I have to do is go on the Interplay Learning [platform], watch the video lessons and then do it myself in the [simulation] to learn how it’s all set up.”
And he points out how our learner support features really help to motivate the sales team to learn more.
“We like the points system, because it can help people become more self-accountable. And then having the Certificates of Completion for each course, so we can track our progress, that whole thing works great.”
He went on to say, “And I like how it’s all segmented out in manageable chunks, how you can learn about just maintenance in a session, or mounting the rails in a session, I think that also really does help.”
His final conclusion about the Interplay Learning Solar program?
“Overall, I think we’ve seen some pretty good results. From my personal experience, I’ve noticed a significant difference in my confidence level when speaking with homeowners, and making sure I’m providing them with the most accurate information. I know I for one am a huge fan of it.”
Want to learn more about how our Solar training course catalog can help your business? Contact our team today and let’s chat. Email us sales@interplaylearning.com or click here for a demo.
