CRM for Solar Installers and EPC Companies

Quick answer: A solar company's CRM has to cover a long chain: enquiry, site survey, proposal, advance, installation and then years of service. Odoo CRM suits EPC firms that want sales, projects and inventory in one system, SalesBabu CRM adds AMC and warranty tracking through its service module, and Zoho CRM is a flexible, per-user option for sales-led teams.

The solar sales cycle is long, and the lead is a person's roof

Rooftop solar is not an impulse purchase. A homeowner or factory owner enquires, then goes quiet while comparing three or four installers. A site survey is needed before you can quote properly. The proposal is revised once the customer decides between capacities or panel brands. Then there is a gap before the advance arrives, and after installation the customer expects service for years.

Lost deals in this business usually come from three places: the enquiry that waited a day before anyone called, the proposal that was sent and never chased, and the surveyed site that had no scheduled follow-up. A CRM turns each of those into a task with an owner and a date.

Stages for a residential and commercial pipeline

Run two pipelines if your mix includes both homes and businesses, because the buyer, the paperwork and the length of the cycle differ.

Residential: Enquiry, Call done, Survey booked, Survey done, Proposal sent, Negotiation, Advance received.

Commercial and industrial: Enquiry, Bill and load details received, Survey, Techno-commercial proposal, Management approval pending, Order.

Record what you need to size a system: location, type of property, roof type, monthly electricity bill, preferred capacity, and the decision-maker's name. Do not list subsidy or regulatory rules in your templates unless you have checked the official source for the current position; they change.

Odoo CRM: from lead to project to stock

Odoo's CRM page describes a Kanban pipeline, AI lead scoring, automatic email integration, scheduled activities, and professional quotations from a product catalogue. Its Sales app adds quote templates, electronic signatures and online payment, and invoicing options that include down payments, pro-forma invoices and billing based on delivery or project milestones.

That milestone billing is relevant to EPC work, where payment is often staged: advance, material delivery, commissioning. Odoo's Project app lists subtasks, dependencies, Kanban and Gantt views, and timesheets linked to invoicing. Odoo Inventory is available as a separate app for panels, inverters and cables; see Odoo Inventory.

Odoo's pricing page lists One App Free (one app, unlimited users) and a Standard plan at Rs 580 to 950 per user per month with all apps (per the vendor's pricing page, checked October 2026). The first app free is a way to start with CRM alone. Running several apps usually needs a consultant, so budget for implementation.

SalesBabu CRM: the after-sales side

SalesBabu's website lists Sales CRM, Service CRM, Inventory Management and a Distribution Management System. The Service CRM description includes complaint management, AMC management and warranty tracking. For a solar installer, that matches what happens after commissioning: a customer calls because generation has dropped, and you need to know the system, the warranty period and whether an annual maintenance contract is active.

SalesBabu also names integrations with WhatsApp, Tally, IndiaMART, TradeIndia and JustDial. Its home page does not show prices, so request a quote.

Zoho CRM: flexible and per-user priced

Zoho's pricing page lists a Free edition for 3 users, Standard at ₹800 per user per month, Professional at ₹1,400 and Enterprise at ₹2,400 (checked October 2026). Standard lists multiple pipelines and custom modules; Professional adds inventory management and CPQ.

A solar team could create a custom "Site survey" module storing measurements and photos, and use workflow rules to create a follow-up task when a proposal is sent. Zoho is strongest on the sales side; execution tracking and service contracts would need custom setup or another tool.

Comparison

What changes in your week

Mornings start with three lists: new enquiries not yet called, surveys scheduled today, and proposals older than the follow-up date. After a survey, the engineer logs measurements and uploads photos from the mobile app. Proposals go out from a template with the capacity and price filled in. Once a deal is won, the project is created with tasks for material order, installation and commissioning. After handover, the service record starts and an AMC reminder is set.

If you have a field team, see field sales and SFA software and the field service category.

Rollout in four steps

1. Clean the pipeline. Import only live enquiries and surveyed sites.
2. Define stages and mandatory fields. No proposal without a survey record.
3. Connect sources. Website form, WhatsApp number and any portals.
4. Review weekly. Look at stuck deals, lost reasons and survey-to-proposal time.

When a different tool fits better

If you are a small installer doing a few homes a month, a free CRM edition is enough. If your core need is design and engineering software for large utility projects, a CRM will not replace it. If you want only project scheduling, look at project management software. For wider comparisons, read best CRM software in India.

Survey-to-proposal speed is the number to watch

In solar, the time between the site survey and the proposal is where deals die. A homeowner who is surveyed on Saturday and receives nothing until the following Friday has already spoken to another installer. Track this interval as a simple metric: for every deal, note the survey date and proposal date. If the average is long, look for the cause: the engineer's report format, the pricing approval, or the design step. A template that pulls capacity, estimated structure and price into a proposal can shorten it.

Commercial and industrial deals have a different failure: multiple approvers. Record each approver on the deal (plant head, finance, owner) and track who has seen the proposal. A deal with no response from the finance approver after two follow-ups needs a call from your senior person, not a third email.

Lead sources to measure

Solar enquiries come from Google and Meta ads, channel partners, housing society drives, referrals from existing customers and B2B portals. Tag each enquiry with its source and compare cost per site survey and per order, not just cost per lead. A source that gives cheap leads but few surveys is expensive in practice. A referral that converts well deserves a thank-you and a request for more.

After installation: service, reviews and referrals

Commissioning is not the end. Set tasks for a first-month check-in, a request for a review or referral, and an AMC renewal reminder ahead of expiry. A customer whose plant is running well and who is asked for a referral is your cheapest lead source. A customer whose plant was never checked after handover is the one who posts a complaint.

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