Author: Sarah Morton
Actively promoting your bulk-buy offer can result in greater numbers of participants. The amount of promotion you do will depend on your resources and the group size you're aiming for. Doing promotion also helps you publicise the benefits of renewable energy, which may encourage your community to install their own systems - whether as part of a bulk-buy or not.
1. Understand what your members want
It's important to understand what people want from a bulk-buy, before you start calling for expressions of interest from suppliers. Refer to Setting up a bulk-buy program for ways to assess the preferences of prospective participants.
2. Promote your bulk-buy
The most common ways to promote bulk-buys are through:
- websites
- press releases or articles in local media
- community information sessions
- advertising in local media
- information stalls at community events.
Websites
Often community groups will put information on their website which links you to bulk-buy websites. Ask other community groups to link to your web page - this increases its page ranking in search engines. You can use your website as the main source of information on your bulk-buy.
Community information sessions
Many groups have one-off information sessions for the community, which may include a question and answer session involving both the organising group and supplier. In the case of the Moreland Energy Foundation bulk-buy, there were several suppliers and bulk-buy offers, so instead of a question and answer session, each supplier had a stall with information and staff on hand to answer any queries. Try to avoid information overload - you can follow up any detailed, niche or technical questions after the group session, or simply post the information on your website.
3. Structuring your information
Clear, concise, well-presented information will take some of the work out of choosing a product. It should help your decision making, which is often one of the main aims of a bulk-buy. It will also reduce the risk of having disgruntled participants who misunderstand your bulk-buy offer.
Your website should be well structured so that key, introductory information is in one section and more detailed, complex information is in another.
Be transparent about your selection criteria - in other words, how you decided which product to choose. Some groups include these criteria in a disclaimer. Remember you're not actually recommending a particular supplier or offer, you're simply helping potential participants decide whether your bulk-buy offer is for them.
Many groups also provide more general information about what to look for in an offer. This encourages potential participants to do their own research and choose a different product if they prefer.
4. Communicating clearly and consistently
The best way to achieve consistency in your verbal communications is to give one person the role of dealing with any enquiries - both from potential and existing group members. This is an extremely important role. The person should:
- be a clear communicator
- be very well organised
- have the time to dedicate to this role
- have a thorough understanding of the bulk-buy offer
- ideally have some relevant experience.
In most cases, unless the bulk-buy group is taking on an installation role, or has specific technical capacity, you can direct most technical enquiries to the supplier.
5. Managing expectations
Make sure your participants have realistic expectations. Be clear and upfront about:
- uncertainty in prices
- potential price changes
- government support programs
- timelines for installation.
In fact, you should always be upfront about any areas of uncertainty in your bulk-buy offer.