Nothing else on this site changes your numbers as much as how fast you call.
A homeowner who fills in a form is, at that moment, thinking about solar. Twenty minutes later they are back at work. Two hours later they have filled in two more forms. Tomorrow they have a quote from someone else and you are the third call they take.
Response speed dominates this trade for a specific reason: your prospect is almost always contacting several installers, and the first substantive conversation frames every quote that follows. The installer who gets there first sets the terms, defines what a good system looks like, and everyone after them is arguing with that.
| Time to first call | What is happening |
|---|---|
| Under 5 minutes | They are still at the computer, still in the mindset, and impressed that you rang. You are the benchmark quote. |
| Within the hour | Workable. They remember filling in the form and can talk. |
| Same day | Acceptable floor. Someone has probably beaten you to it. |
| Next day | You are now a comparison quote for a decision that has already started. |
| Two days plus | You paid for this lead and gave it away. |
Nobody who installs solar can answer a form in five minutes, because they are on a roof. That is the actual constraint, and the answer is not to try harder. It is to decide, in advance, who is not on a roof: an office person, a part-timer, a family member, or an answering service with a two-question script. Their job is not to sell. It is to have a human voice reach the customer while they still care, and book a time.
Most installers either give up after one voicemail or chase until the customer blocks the number. A written cadence with a defined end solves both, because it removes the decision from whoever is having a bad day.
| When | What | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 0 to 5 min | Call | If no answer, leave a short voicemail and follow with a text immediately. |
| Same day | Text | Name, business, that you called, one question that invites a reply. |
| Day 2 | Call | Different time of day from the first attempt. |
| Day 4 | Something useful attached, not just a nudge. See below. | |
| Day 8 | Call | Final attempt at contact. |
| Day 14 | Text | The closing message. Then stop, and move them to the long list. |
Six touches over two weeks, then it ends. The last message should give them an easy exit, which is what makes it get a reply.
"Hi [name], Dave from [business]. I'll stop chasing you about the solar quote, I know it's a big call and the timing isn't always right. If you go ahead later this year, we're here, and the quote stands. All the best."
Call first, always. A voicemail with no follow-up text is a wasted attempt, because hardly anyone listens to voicemail and almost everyone reads a text. Email is for the thing you are sending, the quote or the comparison, and not for chasing. Nobody has ever been persuaded by a fourth email.
Homeowners comparing three quotes are not comparing price alone, whatever they tell you. Based on what our readers spend their time on, the three things they are trying to resolve are the payback maths, the equipment brands, and what the warranty actually covers.
So send those three things, on one page, in language a person can read. Not a fourteen-page PDF from your CRM.
Price after the certificate discount, your estimate of the annual bill saving, and the payback in years. State the assumptions: how much power they use, when they use it, what tariff you assumed and what feed-in rate. If they use most of their power at night, say so and say why that changes the answer.
Panel and inverter, one line each on why that combination for this roof. If you are cheaper than the other quote, say what is different. If you are dearer, say what they are getting for it. Do not make them work it out.
Product warranty on the panels, warranty on the inverter, and your workmanship warranty. Who they ring in year six, and whether that company will still exist. This is the question homeowners cannot answer for themselves and it decides more jobs than price.
Then one line about what happens next, and a date you will call.
The playbook has this as a template you can copy, along with the review-request script, the lead-price table with sources named, and what our own readers research before they buy. Twenty pages, free.
When someone tells you they went with a competitor, put a note in the calendar for six weeks out and ring them.
A surprising proportion of those jobs have not happened. The installer has gone quiet, the date has moved twice, the grid connection stalled, or the company has stopped answering. The homeowner is annoyed and has nobody to call, because they told you no and feel awkward about it. You ringing solves that for them.
"Hi [name], Dave from [business]. You went with someone else back in March, which is completely fine. I'm just ringing to check it all went in alright. If it did, that's great and I won't bother you again."
No pitch. If it went in, you have been decent and they will remember you when the battery conversation comes. If it did not, they will tell you within about ten seconds.
Five guides. Written once, reviewed every six months.
Lead prices by channel with the sources named, the Google Business Profile playbook, a follow-up cadence that stops instead of nagging, the 2026 rebate picture, and what our own readers research before they buy. Useful whether or not you ever advertise with us.