Sense Partner Program Expands as Solar Installers Improve Customer Acquisition and Satisfaction With Home Energy Insights

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Jun 09, 2020, 10:00 ET

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., June 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Sense (sense.com) announced today that more than 150 new solar installers have joined the company's Sense Pro partner program over the past year. Together, Sense partners have equipped tens of thousands of homes across the country with solar power. New partners include Solgen Power, Pure Energy, Zenernet Solar, and Pro Bid Solar, among others. Sense also debuted the new Sense Pro app and a number of hardware and software improvements that streamline installations and help homeowners understand their energy use.

With in-person solar sales challenged by the pandemic, many solar installers are adapting to a remote sales approach. Leveraging the Sense Home Energy Monitor strengthens an online pitch by highlighting the engaging customer experience that can be expected after solar and Sense are installed.

"Sense is an impressive piece of smart-home technology that allows our homeowners to get even more value from their solar investment," said JP Gerken, CEO of Zenernet. "The app is incredibly intuitive and helps our homeowners really understand their solar production and energy consumption, and make easy adjustments that maximize the impact of going solar. The visuals are engaging and make the impact of solar production hit home in an entirely new and unique way."

"Sense has taken our amazing customer experience to a new level. Our customers are so pleased with how easy the Sense app is to use and understand," said Preston House, vice president at Solgen Power. "Each customer is using less energy and better understanding how their solar system is working and benefiting them. This, combined with our top quality product, has really helped in our mission of building a brighter future for our people."

Referrals from existing customers continue to be an industry focus in order to win new business at a lower cost of customer acquisition. The best time to ask for referrals is after the first utility bill arrives and shows solar savings, but many providers report that customers can be disappointed if their electricity usage exceeds solar production. The Sense app sets realistic expectations for homeowners and provides engaging, real-time insights into their energy usage and solar production to ensure they realize the savings benefit of going solar.

Said Gabe Abbott, Sense's vice president of strategic partnerships, "Sense partners have found that their customers' satisfaction increases when homeowners have greater visibility into the whole home energy picture, not just solar production. Building a strong foundation for customer satisfaction can lead to higher referrals and lower customer acquisition costs, driving business success even in challenging times."

Sense customer David Henderson was initially frustrated after he installed solar at his California home. "The first couple of bills showed almost zero change in my bill," says Henderson. He used Sense to audit his home and discovered several energy hogs, including a chandelier with incandescent lighting and a pool pump. Says Henderson, "It was so easy: the data that it gives, instant information." For more details about how Sense customers and partners are taking advantage of energy monitoring, download this Sense white paper.

The Sense Pro Program's Expanded Benefits
With feedback from Sense's partners, the Pro program now includes several new features. Sense partners now have exclusive access to new Sense hardware capabilities that provide additional Internet connectivity options in homes and accommodate installation in a wider variety of electrical panel configurations.

Sense also announced the release of the new Sense Pro mobile app for iOS and Android, which simplifies the installation process for solar installers, electricians, builders, and other Sense partners. With the Sense Pro app, installers are guided step-by-step through the installation process, including verification, troubleshooting, and support in real-time, to ensure the installation is completed in a single home visit and homeowners can start using the Sense app right away.

The Sense Pro App integrates with Fleet Manager, Sense's online partner dashboard where partners can maintain careful record-keeping of Sense monitor installation details in one place. Fleet Manager tracks each monitor installed by a partner after securing the homeowner's permission. With Fleet Manager, providers can generate reports that help customers understand their energy use so they can maximize savings from their solar investment.

To learn more about the Sense Pro program, visit sense.com/pro or contact [email protected].

About Sense
Sense's mission is to make all homes intelligent by keeping people informed about what's happening in their homes, and helping to make homes safer, more efficient, and more reliable. Founded in 2013 by pioneers in speech recognition, Sense uses machine learning technology to provide real-time insights on device behavior, even for those devices that are not "smart." Customers rely on Sense for a wide range of uses including monitoring their home appliances, determining whether they left appliances running and identifying how to reduce their energy costs. Sense has received investments from two of the world's largest energy technology companies, Schneider Electric and Landis + Gyr. Sense is headquartered in Cambridge, Mass. To make sense of your energy, visit: https://sense.com.

Media contact: [email protected]

SOURCE Sense