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SolarCity

Acquired by Tesla

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Field Energy Consultant - Field Energy Consultant SolarCity Employee Review

2.0
Jul 12, 2017
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Semi Autonomous work environment. Decent base pay, uncapped commissions. Company Car, Gas card. If you're lucky to get a good manager/good team, you'll learn a lot. When I started, it was wide open, easy, fun and everyone was making good money. Almost like a dream. Good work/life balance when I first started. A lot of passionate people still there believing in the cause for cleaner energy. The managers I've had were far better than I could have hoped for, but I've seen more than a few that needed the boot.

Cons

Since Tesla acquisition, work/life balance is out of whack. No longer a 'Sales' organization. The shift is now more to brand integrity than on convincing and persuading homeowners on going solar. Comp plan went from simple to complex(NEVER a good sign for a sales rep, no matter management tries to spin it). Now commission payouts are determined by how many you can get installed in a month, and payouts are systems already installed for the month are less if you miss month installation goal(installations are contingent on weather, crew capacities, scheduling/customer scheduling conflicts, PTO issuance = control factor is LIMITED and FEC's are on the hook for it all). Sales cycle are an average of 30-45 days long, and that's if you know how to process your deals from start to finish, and customers are committed and schedule without any issues. Cycles can be as long as 90 to 120 days or more, depending on the aforementioned variables. East Coast homeowner mindset is unlike West Coast, executive leadership out West doesn't appear to be aware of this. Restricted to getting leads from home Pod (designated store generated leads), limiting areas with larger roofs (meaning larger commissions), also limits area where you can self gen and/or get referrals. Industry has matured a bit. Lowest hanging fruit has already been picked so closing requires far more effort, and that means more customers are apt to ghosting you once they've signed up just to get you out of the home. (It's also not a good sign when vets start to reminisce about the good ol' days instead of being fired up on the fun in front of them). No longer can reps canvass door to door, big hurt on surrounding homes with installations. Benefits packages are fair but have high deductibles.

Explore other reviews about SolarCity

5.0
Oct 21, 2024
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Good pay and no supervision working at the different Home Depots

Cons

Having to make numbers and sales

4.0
Mar 22, 2016
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Just to quantify my review a bit, I am within the top 10% of inside sales reps within our 12,000 person company. It is a great place to work and people doing well ARE able to make good money here. The executive team ALWAYS has a platform for reps to help make SolarCity a better place every quarter. They involve the top 20 reps each quarter in various ways to help their peers through an interactive group called Team Elite. Executives, VP's, Directors, and Managers are always willing to help and go to bat when there are issues with things that need to be fixed. The direction of the company is consistent and although the company is large, decision makers work as hard as possible to steer the big ship quickly when necessary.

Cons

Knee jerk reactions with decision making at a director level create issues from time to time. Culture has had its ups and downs due to HUGE growth last year and subsequent high attrition rates.

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