A practical follow-up process for solar and battery enquiries

1. Respond quickly, in the channel they used

Call new enquiries as soon as you reasonably can during business hours. If there is no answer, send a short SMS saying who you are, why you are calling and when you will try again. If they emailed, reply by email as well.

Keep the first message plain: your business name, the enquiry they made, and one question that is easy to answer, such as the best time to talk. Make sure marketing messages follow Australian spam rules, including identifying your business and offering an unsubscribe option where required.

2. Qualify with questions that help the homeowner too

Qualification is not an interrogation. Good questions help the homeowner understand what will affect their quote. A practical set:

• Do you own the home, and are you the person who will make the decision?
• Do you already have solar? If so, roughly what size and how old is the inverter?
• Are you interested in solar, a battery or both, and what is the main reason: lower bills, backup or something else?
• Could you share a recent electricity bill?
• What type of roof and how many storeys, and where is the switchboard?
• When are you hoping to have it installed?

Battery-only enquiries are common now, so do not assume every homeowner wants new panels. Ask about the existing system first.

3. Set expectations about price and the site inspection

Give a realistic range within your pricing guidance and explain what could change it: roof access, switchboard upgrades, battery location and network requirements. Tell them the final design and price are confirmed after your site inspection. Homeowners who understand this are less likely to feel surprised later, and your installers walk into better-prepared visits.

4. Follow up on a schedule, not on memory

A simple schedule for enquiries that are not ready on the first call:

Stop when someone asks you to, and record it. Persistence helps; pestering does not.

5. Send proposals that match the conversation

A proposal should reflect what the homeowner told you: their bill, their goal and their timing. Include the system, what is and is not included, and the condition that it is subject to site inspection. Follow up within two business days of sending it, by phone if possible, to answer questions while it is fresh.

6. Hand over cleanly to the site inspection

Before your installer arrives, they should have:

• The homeowner's goals and concerns in their own words.
• The proposed system and any assumptions made from imagery.
• Known issues: roof type, switchboard, access, pets, parking.
• What the homeowner was told about price and timing.

This is where many sales falter. A good handover means the installer confirms, rather than restarts, the conversation.

7. Reactivate older enquiries

Your CRM, inbox or quoting tool probably holds enquiries from the past year that were never fully followed up. Some of those homeowners still have not decided, and battery interest has grown. A short, respectful message asking whether they are still considering it is often the cheapest source of new appointments you have.

8. Measure the few numbers that matter

• Time from enquiry to first contact.
• Share of enquiries reached and qualified.
• Proposals sent and site inspections booked.
• Sales subject to site inspection, and installs completed.

If enquiries are not being reached, the problem is capacity or timing. If proposals do not convert, look at pricing, proposal quality or the follow-up after sending.