How fast should you call a solar lead – and how do you keep it warm until SEAI approval?

Speed matters, but in Ireland it is only the first half of the job. The homeowner must then apply to SEAI and wait for approval before work can start, so most of your follow-up happens after the first call. This guide, part of the solar installer guide for Ireland, covers both halves.

What does the research say about lead response time – and what does it not say?

The often-quoted study found that the odds of reaching and qualifying a web lead drop sharply within the first hour. It is a 2007 presentation from a vendor and did not measure who signed, so use it as a reason to call quickly, not as a forecast.

The study is the InsideSales.com/MIT Lead Response Management Study, presented in October 2007 by InsideSales.com's chief executive and an MIT Sloan professor. It covered three years of data from six companies: over 15,000 web leads and over 100,000 call attempts.

Source: InsideSales.com/MIT Lead Response Management Study, presented 16 October 2007.

Four limits to know before you quote it:

• Contact and qualification, not sales. The study says it did not address close ratios, and each company defined "qualified" in its own way.
• Vendor data. The calls ran through the vendor's own system. The summary does not name the six companies, their industries or countries, so it says nothing specific about Irish solar.
• A secondhand copy. We read a 2008 web capture on a third party's site, not an MIT original. Cite it as "InsideSales.com/MIT, 2007".
• The 21 times figure. It is the drop in the odds of qualifying a lead when the call comes at 30 minutes rather than 5. The same researchers' 2011 article, The Short Life of Online Sales Leads, says in its abstract that most companies are not responding nearly fast enough. We have not read its full text, so we quote none of its figures.

The authors also reported that after 20 hours each extra dial appeared to lower the chance of qualifying, and wrote that they did not know why. Treat that as a hint.

What has the homeowner been told to expect?

Homeowners who request quotes through smart-solar.ie are told the first installers will contact them within 1–2 business days. That is the homeowner's expectation, not a delivery promise from Smart Solar and not a deadline for you.

Smart Solar passes on solar PV enquiries from private homeowners to installers and installs nothing itself. The homeowner fills in a form on smart-solar.ie or in a Facebook ad and agrees to installers contacting them about quotes. Enquiries are sent on a rolling basis, including evenings and weekends, when they meet the requirements and your filters; some wait for roof data first. Delivery is by email; other methods can be agreed.

Three things follow:

• The email has to reach a phone. An enquiry sitting in an inbox while everyone is on a roof is a slow response, whatever your target says.
• You may not be the only caller. The same enquiry can go to other installers, and the homeowner is comparing quotes.
• The first call can skip answered questions. An enquiry includes contact details, the address with Eircode and county, annual electricity use, roof pitch, a satellite-based roof and solar assessment, and wishes on battery and finance.

Why does SEAI approval change your follow-up?

Work cannot start until SEAI has approved the grant, so a verbal "yes" is not a start date. SEAI's solar grant page says approval must be in place before works proceed, and the homeowner then has 8 months to complete the works and submit all the documentation.

Unless a One Stop Shop manages several upgrades together, the homeowner applies and manages the upgrade through a registered contractor. SEAI's steps show the shape of the wait:

Source: SEAI, solar electricity grant page, November 2026.

SEAI's page gives no approval time, so do not promise a date. The rules are in the guide to selling with the SEAI solar grant.

What should the first call settle before the customer applies for the grant?

The first call should settle whether the customer can apply, who else has to agree, which system size you will quote and when you will speak next.

• Eligibility basics. SEAI requires an MPRN, a home built and occupied before 2025 and no earlier solar PV funding at that MPRN. The first-call checklist for qualifying solar leads has the full question list.
• Who applies and who decides. Ask whether the customer will apply themselves and whether a partner, co-owner or lender has to agree.
• System size. SEAI pays pro rata by system size, so fix the size you are quoting before the application goes in.
• Timeline. Ask when they want the system working and whether anything is holding them up.
• Next contact. Agree a date, a time of day and a channel before you hang up.

How do you stay in touch while approval is pending?

Give every contact a reason and a date. Each call or message should move something forward: send the quote you promised, ask whether the application has gone in and whether SEAI has asked for anything, offer a survey slot, or confirm dates once approval is in place. "Just checking in" is not a reason, because the customer has nothing to answer.

The Data Protection Commission says electronic direct marketing by phone, text message and email is covered by S.I. 336/2011, an extra set of rules alongside GDPR. Read contacting leads legally in Ireland before you build texts or emails into your routine.

Step by step: a follow-up routine from enquiry to signed contract

The routine has two parts: a quick path from enquiry to first call, then a slower one until approval and contract. It is a suggestion for a small firm, not a tested standard.

Send the delivery email to whoever is off the roof that day, and name a backup. Keep a simple sheet: arrival time, each attempt, outcome and next action date. Set a target for time to first call that your team can keep on a roofing day, and measure against it. In the study, 4 to 6pm was the best slot for reaching someone, and 8 to 9am and 4 to 5pm for qualifying. The study left out evenings, so test these slots with your own homeowners.

After the first call:

1. No answer: leave a short voicemail and try again at another time of day. Say who you are, that they asked for quotes and when you will call again. Log every attempt.
2. Send what you promised, such as a written summary of the call, once you have checked the rules above.
3. Diary the SEAI application. Note when the customer plans to apply and check in once, with a reason.
4. While approval is pending, make contact only when you have something to say.
5. When approval is in place, confirm the dates, the contract and who gathers the evidence, then plan the installation and post-works BER so the paperwork is in within the 8 months.
6. Set an end point. Decide in advance how many attempts you will make. If a customer has not replied by then, close the enquiry and log why.

Typical follow-up mistakes

• Treating one study as a forecast. It says reaching people gets harder after an hour. It does not say how many jobs you will win.
• Quoting the multiples as Irish evidence. Keep "21 times" out of your sales material.
• Waiting for the homeowner's 1–2 business days. The same enquiry can go to other installers, and any of them may call first.
• Promising a start date before approval. Work cannot start without it, and SEAI's page gives no approval time.
• Chasing without a reason. Each contact should carry a document, a question or a booking.
• Not recording the first attempt. Without it you cannot tell whether speed helps your business, and open-ended follow-up wastes time on cold enquiries.