5:06
Should you call solar leads in the evening?
Tonight’s video is about evening follow-up — and whether calling leads outside of normal working hours is acceptable.
There’s no blanket rule here.
But from what we see across our client base, speed matters more than almost anything else when it comes to booking surveys and moving leads forward.
In this video I share a real example of an installer who calls every lead immediately — regardless of the time — and why that approach has produced the highest call pickup and survey booking rates we see.
This isn’t advice everyone has to follow.
It’s a discussion worth having.
Especially for owner-operators and smaller teams handling enquiries themselves.
For context, this video was originally recorded on 17 January 2025, views & strategies may have changed since.
Featuring
Video transcript
Good evening. Tonight we’re talking about calling leads in the evening.
If a lead comes in during the evening from social media, and you act incredibly fast—and this is just my personal opinion, which you might disagree with—you can absolutely call that lead even if it’s technically outside of normal working hours.
We’ve got one client in particular, and I won’t say who they are, but they are an absolute machine. They’ve been through trade masterminds, had coaching, been an electrician for years and years, and they service their entire local area. As a result, they understand just how important rapid response is when an enquiry comes in.
That’s easy enough during the working day, and a lot of companies now have sales processes in place to respond within that golden five-minute window. But this person will call a lead no matter what. No matter the time, no matter where he is, no matter what he’s doing.
Because of that, he has the highest lead-to-survey booking rate of any of our clients, as well as the highest call pickup rate. It all comes down to speed.
In my opinion, if a lead comes through at 9:00pm, it’s a bit of a grey area. Should you call? Should you text? Should you wait until the next morning? But if you call at 9:01pm, you’re still top of mind. They’ve literally just registered their interest. They’ve probably just received an automated message acknowledging their enquiry and explaining next steps.
If they’re reading that message or watching that video and your call comes in right there and then, I personally see no issue with it. Of course, this comes down to personal discretion. Some people won’t want to disturb others in the evening. But if the response is fast enough, you can often get away with it.
I’d genuinely love to hear everyone’s thoughts on this, especially more established installers who care deeply about how they’re perceived in the local community and aren’t really operating like a sales organisation anymore. What do you do in this situation? Or more importantly, what did you do before you had admin staff and employed teams handling enquiries during 9-to-5 hours?
For smaller installers, owner-operators who handle enquiries themselves, what did you do up until that point?
Here’s the specific scenario: a lead comes in at 9:00pm from your social media ads. They’ve given loads of additional information. They’ve told you exactly what they want. Do you ignore it until the next day? Do you text them? Do you call them?
One potential way to judge it is by using automated WhatsApp messages. You can see whether the recipient has read it. If they’ve just opened it and are clearly engaged, it might be worth giving them a quick call or starting a WhatsApp conversation instead. People are often far more open to messaging back and forth in the evening than taking a phone call.
Keen to hear your thoughts. Drop a comment below and let us know what you’d do. I’ll see you in the next one.
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