Notes for owners · Industry playbooks
What an installer or EPC firm asks a solar equipment supplier before the first order
The questions a solar installer or EPC firm puts to a new equipment supplier, in the order they ask them, with answers a supplier should have written down before the call.
The GullySales team · Updated 17 Oct 2026 · 5 min read
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An installer or EPC firm puts four questions to a new equipment supplier before the first order. Will it arrive when you say? Can you give me the papers my customer will ask for? Who do I call when something fails? What do you charge? Price comes fourth. A supplier with the first three answers in writing has a better case when the fourth is questioned.
Why do they ask about delivery first?
An installer plans a crew. If panels or structures arrive two days late, the crew sits idle, the customer's handover moves, and the next job slips too. So the installer is not asking "how fast" so much as "how reliably".
Be ready with a straight answer. Say which items you hold in stock and which are ordered per job. Say how long a typical order takes to reach a town like theirs, and what you do when you cannot meet a date. Do not promise a date you cannot keep. A line in the form "Stock item, dispatched once payment is confirmed; ordered item, date given to you before you pay" (your own terms go there) is more useful than "always on time".
What papers will they want?
The installer is not the end customer. Their customer, a housing society, a factory or a consultant, may ask for documents, and the installer will pass the question on to you. Keep these ready for every item you sell:
- A datasheet that matches the item actually dispatched.
- The test and certification papers that apply to that item. What counts as accepted differs by customer, consultant and state, so ask the installer what their project needs and confirm anything regulated with your own adviser.
- Warranty terms as the manufacturer has written them, not your paraphrase.
- A note on who takes a warranty claim: you, the manufacturer, or the installer first.
- Your GST and bank details on one page.
A missing document seldom kills the order on its own. It delays the job by the time it takes to find, and an installer remembers who made the crew wait.
What will they ask about payment?
A new account is a stranger, so expect a request for credit, and expect to refuse part of it. A workable first-order rule is part advance, with the balance against dispatch, and credit only after a few clean orders. Tell the installer the rule in the first call. A stated rule goes down better than a refusal after they have planned their cash around you. If your cash cannot carry credit at all, say that too.
What do they ask about service?
Sooner or later a component fails or arrives damaged. The installer wants to know what happens next. Write it as a short routine: who they message, what photos or details you need, how you decide between replacement and repair, and who pays for the return. A supplier who can say this clearly looks safer than one with a lower price and a vague answer.
A question sheet to fill in before the first call
Fill this in once and keep it where your sales team can reach it.
| Question the installer asks | Your written answer | Who owns it |
|---|---|---|
| Which items are in stock, which ordered per job? | Stores | |
| What do you need from me to dispatch? | Sales | |
| What papers come with each item? | Technical | |
| Who handles a damaged or failed item? | Service | |
| What are your payment terms for a new account? | Owner | |
| Can you support a site query on the phone? | Technical |
An empty box is the thing to fix before an installer finds it.
For example: an inverter distributor in Jaipur
Imagine, as an invented case, a Jaipur distributor of string inverters who wants to sell to installers in Gwalior and Bhind. The price was good and the catalogue decent. An installer in Gwalior ordered a trial lot of four units. Two arrived on time. The other two waited on a consignment held up at the warehouse, and the installer's crew sat idle for two days while the customer's handover date went by. Nobody at the distributor rang to say so.
The delay was not the real fault, because delays happen. The silence was. So the distributor named one person to own each order from confirmation to site, with the job of telling the installer about any slip as soon as it is known, and wrote a one-page note on how a damaged unit is handled. The Gwalior installer did place a second order, but for two units, not ten, and asked for the damaged-unit note in writing first. Trust came back in small steps.
When should you not chase installers?
Skip this segment if you cannot hold stock or hold dates, or if nobody can pick up a technical query. A good brochure will not cover that gap. Start with two or three installers you can serve properly rather than a dozen you will let down.
Choosing installers also means choosing which ones to avoid. An installer who pays slowly or who asks for large credit before any history is a risk to weigh, not an account to win at any cost. Write the terms down once so every installer is treated the same way; the thinking carries over from onboarding a new dealer or distributor.
Fill in the question sheet for your best-selling item and see which boxes stay empty. Then send it to one installer you already know and ask which answer they would have wanted first. That is the order the sheet should be in. The trade is covered on our solar and renewable energy equipment page, and the terms side sits under dealer and distributor programme. If you would like a second view on the sheet, tell us what you need.
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