Solar Lead Follow-Up: What to Automate First

I'd start with the first reply, then follow the proposal through to a decision, then review old leads with a valid reason and permission to reconnect. The aim is to make each paid enquiry easier to act on without letting software make promises the installer has to honour.

Why Is Solar Lead Follow-Up a Race When Leads Are Shared?

As at 1 October 2026, SolarQuotes says customers can receive up to three quotes. Its published fees are $60 + GST for most solar referrals or $65 + GST for solar and battery. SolarQuotes gets paid whether the customer buys from the installer or not.

So the lead cost is already committed. I'd want the first reply to show someone has read the enquiry: acknowledge the battery question, ask for the missing bill and explain the next step. A fast, empty acknowledgement does little to help a customer compare installers.

Speed matters as an operating priority, but I wouldn't promise that replying within a particular number of minutes wins the job. Measure your own lead response time against conversations and signed proposals.

What Should a Solar Installer Automate First?

I'd build these workflows in sequence. Fixing new enquiries gives you cleaner records for proposal follow-up; both make an eventual old-lead review more useful.

1. Reply to New Enquiries with a Specific Next Step

Trigger: A new quote request reaches the inbox or CRM. Check for an existing record before creating another contact or sending a duplicate reply.

Prepare: An acknowledgement using the details supplied, one or two useful questions and a salesperson's call task subject to checked contact rules. Ask for a recent bill or switchboard photo when relevant; don't make the customer repeat the enquiry.

Approve: The installer can approve a standard acknowledgement once. Hold anything stating price, system size, savings or finance for a person to check.

Record and measure: Store the lead source, receipt time, first reply time, owner and answers. Track contact rate and progression to a site visit or proposal. That's the starting point for speed-to-lead automation.

2. Follow Up After the Proposal Is Sent

Trigger: A confirmed proposal-sent status or a pending signature reaches the follow-up interval chosen by the installer.

Prepare: A message based on the approved proposal and the customer's actual question. If battery sizing was the concern, bring that question back to the salesperson instead of sending another generic reminder.

Approve: Hold messages beyond a routine check-in for review. A customer reply should pause the sequence and create a task for the owner.

Record and measure: Log each message, reply, next action and reason lost. Measure proposal-to-signed rate and days to decision. My preferred quote follow-up workflow always leaves someone responsible for the next action.

3. Review Unconverted Leads Before Reactivating Them

Trigger: A scheduled review finds an unresolved enquiry with a reason to reconnect, such as a customer-requested later conversation.

Prepare: A ranked list explaining the reason to contact each person, the available permission evidence and a draft message. A record sitting in the CRM is not enough to approve a send.

Approve: A person checks the list and every message. Keep calls restricted to leads with current consent under this workflow; exclude opt-outs and hold uncertain records for review.

Record and measure: Save consent source and date, contact outcome and opt-outs. Count reactivated conversations and site visits, alongside complaints or requests to stop.

What Contact Rules Must Automated Solar Follow-Up Respect?

Build contact checks into the workflow before launch. The ACCC's unsolicited-selling guidance is the reference for applicable calling restrictions and cooling-off obligations. Don't assume every response to a quote request has the same legal status as a cold call.

Where unsolicited consumer agreement rules apply, the ACCC describes a 10-business-day cooling-off period and restrictions on supplying services or taking payment during that period. Check applicability and the period's start with your adviser before configuring contract or payment actions. This is general information, not legal advice.

For Approved Sellers, the New Energy Tech Consumer Code standards require identification, unbiased information, no pressure-selling and extra care where a customer may be vulnerable. I'd exclude invented deadlines and repeated “last chance” messages from every sequence.

Solar Victoria's consumer guidance, as at 1 October 2026, says marketing or sales calls require agreement and must fall within three months of opting in. It also describes 10 full business days to reconsider agreements made in any circumstances. These statements concern Solar Victoria's programs; don't apply them as a national rule.

For old calling lists, the Do Not Call Register provides a number-checking service. Marketing email and SMS fall under the Spam Act; check ACMA's guidance on consent, identifying the sender and unsubscribe before enabling sends.

What Should a Person Still Approve in Solar Sales Follow-Up?

Keep price changes, system designs, savings estimates, finance offers and uncertain answers behind approval. The NETCC standards require comprehensive quote details, including expected performance, limitations, inclusions, installation times and costs. A follow-up should stay within the approved quote.

I'd also stop automated follow-up when a customer appears confused, distressed or potentially vulnerable. Give the salesperson the conversation and the reason for the pause. Don't ask software to resolve that situation through another sales message.

What not to automate:

• Generating prices, system designs or savings estimates without the installer checking them.
• Finance offers.
• Countdown or high-pressure messaging.
• Call tasks outside checked calling rules.
• Messages to people without consent.
• Follow-up to a customer who may be vulnerable.

How Do You Connect Follow-Up to Pylon or Opensolar?

As at 1 October 2026, Pylon publishes built-in SMS and email follow-up, proposals and digital signatures. Its developer documentation describes a JSON-based API, lead imports and webhooks that notify connected applications when data changes.

I'd first check which existing features cover the job. For additional automation, map the available data to the lead record, approval status and next action, then verify which changes can actually trigger the workflow. Don't assume a particular proposal event is available.

OpenSolar lists a Project Management CRM, proposals and e-signature. Confirm the available connection before scoping external follow-up. Where a usable connection isn't available, keep that step manual.

Worked Example: A Shared Solar-and-Battery Enquiry

This is an illustrative workflow, not a client story. A lead arrives at 7:40 pm on Tuesday.

1. The system sends a pre-approved acknowledgement asking for a recent bill and a switchboard photo.
2. It records the source and reply time, drafts call notes and schedules a Wednesday call task subject to permission and calling-hour checks.
3. After the salesperson sends the approved proposal, the system drafts a day-three follow-up about the customer's battery-sizing question.
4. The salesperson checks and approves the message. The customer's reply pauses further follow-up and returns the conversation to the salesperson.

The day-three interval is an example setting, not a proven optimum. Agree the timing around the customer's preferences and your sales process.

What Should You Measure to Know Whether Follow-Up Converts?

Compare leads by source and enquiry period. Track first useful reply time, contact rate, site visits, proposals, signed jobs and reasons lost. Give each group enough time to reach a decision before comparing results.

Divide referral spend by won jobs from the same group to calculate lead spend per won job. Keep that separate from total acquisition cost, which would also include sales work and other costs. Faster replies alone don't establish that automation improved conversion.

Where Does Truespeak Fit?

For an Australian solar installer that wants follow-up designed, built and run around the tools it already uses, with a person approving anything sensitive, Truespeak is built for exactly that.

Truespeak's solar installer automation service covers enquiry response, lead follow-up and CRM upkeep, with ongoing monitoring, failure fixes and exception review. A Pylon connection would be scoped and tested first, and where a tool has no usable connection, that step stays manual. At Haus Bright, my own e-commerce business, I used Zapier automations to capture customer details, and I led e-commerce at Optus and Samsung. Start with a discovery call about where enquiries currently stall.