SFS_TECHNICAL INSIDE SALES ADVISOR (SOLAR SOLUTIONS)
Smollan
2026/07/23   JHB North


Job Ref #: SM-7753
Industry: Sales
Job Type: Contract
Positions Available: 10
At Smollan, we’re on an evolutionary journey where we’re shifting our story. We’re looking for truly unique people who believe in fostering a diverse and inclusive environment. Where our people are cared for, happy and inspired in building an extraordinary place to work.
Job Description

Please note that this is a Fixed Term Contract (ideal for unemployed and immediately available candidates).

We are looking for high-performing inside-sales professionals who can sell subscription-based, financial-value, and technically enabled energy solutions over the phone. This is not a basic tele-sales role. Experience in insurance, telecoms, SaaS, financial services, Solar, Energy, Fibre, or other contract-based product categories will be highly advantageous.

Residential and Light Commercial Energy Solutions

Role Purpose

The Inside Sales Advisor is responsible for converting qualified leads into signed customer contracts through a professional, consultative, phone-based sales process. The role requires a commercially sharp sales professional who can sell subscription-based, financial-value, and technically enabled energy products to customers who may be skeptical, price-sensitive, comparison-shopping, or unfamiliar with solar and prepaid-led energy solutions. This JD builds on the original tele-sales profile, but raises the caliber requirement from basic tele-sales to technical inside sales, while retaining the core requirements around consultative selling, closing, CRM pipeline management, and customer experience.

Preferred Candidate Profile

The ideal candidate is not simply a call-center agent. The ideal candidate is a commercially mature inside-sales professional who can:

  • Sell a product where the customer needs education before they buy.

  • Explain financial value, aUordability, savings, return on investment, and long-term benefit.

  • Build credibility with customers who may be skeptical about solar, savings claims, subscriptions, or contracts.

  • Manage a multi-step customer journey from lead to signed agreement.

  • Maintain clean CRM discipline and take accountability for personal sales metrics.

  • Balance strong closing ability with responsible, ethical selling.

Key Responsibilities:

1. Sales Conversion and Pipeline Management

  • Convert qualified inbound, outbound, referral, and campaign leads into signed customer contracts.

  • Sell across residential and light commercial energy products, including solar, backup, prepaid-led, subscription, and adjacent energy solutions.

  • Run a structured consultative sales process to understand customer needs, electricity usage, property profile, aUordability, decision drivers, and objections.

  • Recommend the right product based on customer requirements and product fit.

  • Explain pricing, savings, subscription value, contract process, credit requirements, installation journey, and customer obligations clearly.

  • Close customers eUectively into signed contracts.

  • Maintain an accurate and up-to-date pipeline in the CRM system.

  • Create follow-up tasks, capture call notes, update sales stages, and record lost reasons accurately.

  • Proactively manage customer follow-ups to prevent leakage between interest, qualification, contract sent, and contract signed.

2. Customer Education and Trust Building

  • Build trust with customers who may be skeptical, cautious, price-sensitive, or comparing alternatives.

  • Explain complex product value propositions in simple, commercially compelling language. Handle objections related to price, aUordability, savings, contract terms, installation, product reliability, and service expectations.

  • Provide a professional and confidence-building customer experience from first contact through to signed agreement.

  • Avoid overpromising or misrepresenting product capability, savings, timelines, or contractual terms.

  • Ensure customers understand what they are signing and what happens next in the journey.

3. Financial and ROI-Based Selling

  • Hold confident conversations about monthly cost, savings, value, aUordability, and return on investment.

  • Help customers understand the financial benefit of the recommended product versus their current energy cost or alternative solutions.

  • Position subscription-based products in a way that is clear, credible, and customer-relevant.

  • Use financial-value framing to support conversion without creating unrealistic expectations.

  • Identify when a customer is not financially or operationally suitable and escalate or qualify out appropriately.

4. CRM, Data, and Performance Discipline

  • Use CRM consistently as the single source of truth for lead status, customer notes, next steps, and pipeline movement.

  • Maintain accurate records of contact attempts, customer interactions, qualification outcomes, objections, lost reasons, and contract status.

  • Track and understand personal sales metrics, including contact rate, conversion rate, close rate, pipeline age, follow-up completion, and reasons for lost sales.

  • Use performance data to improve personal sales eUectiveness.

  • Participate in coaching, pipeline reviews, call reviews, and performance discussions.

  • Take ownership of personal sales activity, productivity, and conversion outcomes.

5. Brand Representation and Customer Experience

  • Represent the company professionally in every call, WhatsApp, email, and customer interaction.

  • Deliver a consistent, high-quality sales experience aligned to the brand promise. Communicate clearly, respectfully, and confidently.

  • Collaborate with sales supervisors, operations, credit, scheduling, installation, and customer success teams where required.

  • Support a smooth handover from sales to downstream operational teams.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

  • Strong professional selling capability in a phone-based or remote-sales environment.

  • Ability to rapidly learn and confidently articulate complex product value propositions.

  • Strong consultative selling and closing ability.

  • Financial and ROI-based conversation skills.

  • Strong objection-handling skills.

  • Ability to build trust with skeptical customers.

  • Excellent verbal and written communication skills.

  • Strong CRM and pipeline management discipline.

  • Good commercial judgement.

  • Ability to explain subscription, contract, aUordability, and service-related concepts clearly.

  • High resilience in a target-driven and commission-led environment.

  • Self-awareness of personal sales metrics and performance.

  • Strong follow-up discipline.

  • Customer-focused mindset.

  • Ethical and responsible selling approach.

  • Ability to work independently while following structured sales processes.

Key Competencies

  • Consultative selling and needs diagnosis.

  • High-conversion closing.

  • Ability to rapidly learn and confidently articulate complex product value propositions.

  • Financial and ROI-based conversation skills.

  • Trust-building with skeptical customers.

  • Objection handling.

  • CRM and pipeline discipline.

  • Customer focus and service excellence.

  • Self-awareness of personal sales metrics and performance.

  • Results-driven and commission-oriented mindset.

  • Ethical and responsible selling.

  • Resilience and accountability.

  • Structured follow-up and pipeline ownership.

Performance Measures

Success in the role will be measured through:

  • Lead-to-contact conversion.

  • Contact-to-qualified conversion.

  • Qualified-to-contract-sent conversion.

  • Contract-sent-to-signed conversion.

  • Overall signed contract volume.

  • Quality of signed contracts.

  • CRM hygiene and pipeline accuracy.

  • Follow-up task completion.

  • Speed to first contact.

  • Pipeline aging.

  • Lost reason accuracy.

  • Customer experience quality.

  • Compliance with sales process and responsible selling standards.

  • Personal improvement against sales metrics over time.

Job Requirements

Minimum Qualifications

  • Matric required.

  • Tertiary qualification in sales, marketing, business, finance, technical studies, or a related field is advantageous.

Minimum Experience

  • Minimum 2–3 years’ proven sales experience in a phone-based, remote-sales, tele-sales, or inside-sales environment.

  • Proven experience selling subscription-based, financial, technical, telecoms, SaaS, insurance, energy, solar, fibre, security, or other contract-based products is highly advantageous.

  • Demonstrated ability to manage a sales pipeline using a CRM system.

  • Proven experience in consultative selling, objection handling, follow-up management, and closing.

  • Experience working in a target-driven or commission-led environment.

  • Proven experience in consultative selling, objection handling, follow-up management, and closing.

Remuneration Orientation

This role is suited to candidates who are comfortable working in a performance-led environment with a strong commission component.

The candidate must be motivated by sales outcomes, but disciplined enough to prioritize high-quality, suitable, and correctly informed customer conversions over low-quality volume.

Candidate

Candidates may not be suitable if they:

  • Have only basic call-centre experience with no evidence of closing.

  • Rely on hard-sell tactics.

  • Cannot explain financial or technical value clearly.

  • Are weak on CRM admin and pipeline discipline.

  • Struggle with structured follow-up.

  • Are uncomfortable with variable or commission-led pay.

  • Cannot demonstrate awareness of their own sales metrics.

  • Overpromise to close deals.

  • Lack resilience in a target-driven environment.

  • Cannot build trust with cautious or skeptical customers.