Read the white paper, “Filling the Funnel: Increasing Leads to Contractors”

The answer may surprise you.

Many utilities are seeking to dramatically scale both participation in residential energy efficiency programs and the depth of savings from those programs. As efficiency standards increase and the market for common energy efficiency upgrades begins to saturate, utilities are turning towards deeper upgrade programs like HVAC equipment improvements, weatherization and performance-based retrofits. These programs rely on the complex task of effectively managing large networks of trade allies.

A unique challenge of these deeper retrofit programs is that customers need to connect with contractors who can perform the work. How does a utility help customers connect with contractors while maintaining neutrality and managing to appropriate industry-accepted privacy practices? 

We set out to answer that question. Based on data from programs run with EnergySavvy Optix, we compared the effectiveness of the most common baseline vs. alternative methods to approach this problem. Our findings were eye-opening: there is a dramatic difference in the contractor lead form completion rate depending on the technique used make the connection.

Contractor Referral Methods Analyzed

Utilities have historically struggled to solve the contractor referral challenge because of concerns about legal liability and unfairly favoring some contractors over others. There is no “one-size-fits-all” solution because utilities face different regulatory environments and levels of market maturity. But, there is solid evidence that the method used has a big impact on the lead completion rate. Here are the methods analyzed:

1. Contractor List. This method is often standard practice. A customer is presented a large list of contractors and their phone numbers, often in PDF format, with no further guidance.

2. Limited Choice. A customer is presented with a randomly organized subset of contractors from the utility approved list. For example, the customer might be given a list of five to ten contractors instead of the full list, based on geography or scope of work.

3. True Referral. A customer lead (ideally a pre-qualified lead) is automatically sent to one or more contractors based on a randomly rotating list of contractors in a round-robin fashion.

Read more.  Download our new white paper, Filling the Funnel:  Increasing Leads to Contractors, which explores each referral method—the pros, cons, results, and of course, best practices.

To address the expensive and complex challenges of managing energy data, EnergySavvy today launched its Partner Program. The program aims to transform how utilities and trade allies can work together more effectively to accelerate energy efficiency.

The Partner Program enables vendors of energy audit software to work seamlessly with EnergySavvy’s flagship product, Optix, an energy efficiency management system.

EnergySavvy CEO, Aaron Goldfeder, explains:  ”The industry is clamoring for transparency and better quantification of energy efficiency and until now it’s been far too complex and expensive. EnergySavvy’s Partner Program enables utilities and contractors to work together in a more business-friendly way through best-of-breed software while avoiding unnecessary costs and IT risk. We’re honored to work with some of the best diagnostic software companies to embrace and bring open standards to the market.”

Launch Partners

The audit tool vendors that have already signed on to the EnergySavvy Partner Program include Center for Energy and Environment, Energy Design Systems, OptiMiser and Snugg Home. EnergySavvy expects to announce additional partners in the coming weeks.

“We are excited to partner with EnergySavvy’s Optix Audit Partner Program as a way of expanding the value and market penetration of our innovative miScore mobile app development.  We look forward to working with EnergySavvy to build a highly integrated and versatile product based on use of the HPXML open standard.  This partnership definitely is a win-win for both of our organizations.” —Richard Szydlowski, Director of Engineering

“Energy Design System is proud to be working with Energy Savvy and our corporate partners Rheem and Knauf to support the HPXML standard.” – Phil Jeffers, President

“We’re excited about the potential to help more auditors, reach more homeowners, and save more energy through the Optix Audit Partner Program. The adaptability of the Optix platform is a great match for OptiMiser’s versatile and modular auditing tools.” –Andy Bardwell, CEO

“Snugg Home is thrilled to partner with Energy Savvy. The Snugg Pro platform is ideally suited to integrate with third party APIs and the HPXML standard. Energy Savvy’s Optix software aligns perfectly with our mission to streamline the energy retrofit process for contractors. This partnership will help ensure that the days of double data entry for contractors are over for good.” —Adam Stenftenagel, CEO

HPXML at the Core

At the core of the partner program is support for HPXML, a technical standard embraced by the Building Performance Institute (BPI) for data collection and exchange. HPXML has a critical role to play in standardization of software tools across all residential audit and measure-based energy efficiency programs – it lets industry software “talk” to other industry software using the same terms and in the same way.

Benefits for Utilities

Leveraging an Energy Efficiency Management System with seamless “out-of-the-box” integration to audit software lowers cost, reduces overhead, avoids painful integration and improves the experiences of trade allies.

Benefits for Contractors

This industry partnership means “one and done” data entry, reducing the time and expense required of contractors.

Benefits for Audit Providers

Open standards keep audit providers from having to perform multiple one-off integrations to each different utility program.

About EnergySavvy

EnergySavvy enables utility energy efficiency programs to drive more energy savings per dollar, increase customer satisfaction and achieve evaluation-ready quantification. EnergySavvy’s flagship product, Optix, is an Energy Efficiency Management System that brings utilities, their customers and trade allies onto a common platform. Founded in 2008 in Seattle, EnergySavvy Optix powers leading utility energy efficiency programs across the country including Tennessee Valley Authority, Long Island Power Authority, CPS Energy and Puget Sound Energy.

Carla De La Chapa, Energy Savers Program Manager for CPS Energy of San Antonio, shares best practices for engaging customers online. Carla will discuss how CPS Energy tripled the number of completed retrofits within the Energy Savers program while reducing the cost to acquire a retrofit by nearly 8 times compared with an in-home audit alone.

The complimentary webinar will take place on Wednesday, April 17 from 10:00 – 10:45 am PDT / 1:00 – 1:45 pm EDT.

>> Registration is open <<

Using a low-cost incentive to encourage customers, CPS has driven over 11,000 online energy audit completions during a 9-month period. Of all participating Energy Savers customers, 92 percent opted for the online audit as their first step vs. starting with an in-home audit.

While in-home audits have a place among energy efficiency programs, the data shows that online audits are a more effective way to pre-screen and enroll customers. The result? More retrofits at a lower cost per customer acquisition.

To learn the details, join Carla De La Chapa from CPS Energy as she discusses:

• – Optimizing online customer engagement
• – Reaching more customers for EE programs
• – Driving down cost per acquired retrofit

Register for the CPS Energy online engagement webinar today!

EnergySavvy is proud to announce that Minnesota Energy Resources, a division of Integrys (NYSE: TEG), is the latest investor-owned utility to adopt Optix Engage.  Partnering with lead program implementer Applied Energy Group, Minnesota Energy Resources has embraced Optix Engage as an intuitive and friendly customer experience to educate homeowners and increase customer satisfaction.

Optix Engage enables the utility to interact with its 211,000 natural gas customers to provide information on home efficiency and rebate programs. The tool guides customers down the road to energy efficiency and provides utility marketers with actionable intelligence.

The Minnesota Energy Resources implementation of Optix Engage focuses on natural gas-saving measures such as high-efficiency furnaces and water heaters.

“We chose Optix Engage because it is a highly effective enrollment tool that also provides a great experience for our customers,” said Jim Phillippo, Program Manager, Energy Efficiency Programs at Minnesota Energy Resources. “It helps us run cost-effective energy efficiency programs for our natural gas customers.”

EnergySavvy continues rapid growth

EnergySavvy has grown quickly over the last year and has recently made a significant investment in its business development and account management capabilities. Two new regional Directors of Client Solutions and a Director of Product Marketing join a growing team, bringing additional horsepower to the company.

“It’s an exciting time at EnergySavvy, and I’m thrilled to welcome Gabriel, Jeff and Dan,” said CEO Aaron Goldfeder. “As a software product company, our success relies on close, collaborative partnerships with our customers.  Our client solutions team is focused on delivering innovative solutions to the energy efficiency challenges of an increasingly large and diverse set of utilities.”

Gabriel Scheer joins EnergySavvy as Director of Client Solutions for the Northwest, responsible for managing and growing the company’s utility customer base throughout the region. Prior to EnergySavvy, Scheer headed Re-Vision Labs, a social innovation consultancy, and was General Manager for Zipcar’s Southern California region.

Jeff Soplop has also joined the team as Director of Client Solutions and will support the company’s growing utility customer base in the Southeast U.S. Before joining EnergySavvy, he led development and delivery of energy solutions and analytics for Phoenix Energy Technologies and Rockwell Automation.

As Director of Product Marketing, Dan Zasloff will be responsible for the EnergySavvy brand and growing the company’s profile among utilities nationwide. Previously in senior marketing roles at Bloom Energy, 3Degrees and Seattle-based Varolii Corporation, Zasloff brings years of energy and utility industry experience to EnergySavvy.

For the next two weeks, anyone who refers a developer or designer candidate to EnergySavvy who’s hired gets a Smart Car!

Is that you in there? It could be!

Why are we giving away cars for tech hires? What is this, 1999 all over again?

If you’re a techie in Seattle, you know the answer. The demand for the best developers and designers in Seattle is huge.

In the past, we’ve taken the well-trodden route of paying recruiters to troll LinkedIn, but we know that developers get sick of all the LinkedIn spam they get every day. We’d rather enlist all of Seattle to be our recruiters. We figure this makes our odds better.

And that’s where you come in. Refer your friends, family, or that random person you just met on the street that knows how to code. Not to say that we’ll take just anyone. Our hiring bar is, and will continue to be, very high. But if we do hire your candidate, you’ll get a fuel-efficient Smart Car, your friend gets a job with a cool tech company that is making a difference in energy efficiency and climate change, and EnergySavvy keeps growing. That’s what we call a win-win-win.

How to enter:

Contact us at joinus@energysavvy.com with an email introduction to the person you’re referring. Please put “EnergySavvy Referral” in the subject line, and include your referral’s email address in the body of the email.

The promo is only open to referrals for these positions:

1. Lead Designer
2. Senior Software Engineer
3. Software Engineer

Here’s the fine print:

The promo is open to anyone in the U.S. who refers a developer or designer candidate. Eligible positions are listed under “Design” and “Engineering” on www.energysavvy.com/jobs/current-openings/. To enter, email us at joinus@energysavvy.com with an email introduction to your referral. Candidates who apply without a referrer aren’t eligible. If your referral is hired and still employed at EnergySavvy after 90 days, we’ll provide you with the cash to buy a 2013 Smart Fortwo Pure coupe. Don’t want a car? We’ll give you a $14,000 cash prize instead. We’ll accept referrals until Tuesday, March 26^th If anything else comes up that is questionable, we’ll use our discretion to sort it out.

This promo is not sponsored or endorsed by Smart USA.