The Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) counts more than 5 million US solar installations, and the Energy Information Administration (EIA) tracks rising residential electricity prices. Finding curious homeowners is not the hard part. The hard part is what happens between the first dial and the day a crew shows up. Every dealer lives on a three-stage funnel: appointments set, appointments that actually sit, and systems installed. Price per lead means little until you run it through all three.
We have supplied call centers since 2005, and the dealers who buy well do the same arithmetic. Here is how to compute cost per install backward from your stage rates, how homeowner verification and utility-territory targeting move sit and close rates, where data lists and real-time leads fit, and how to run a two-territory split test.
Set: a lead becomes a booked appointment. That is your setters' stage, so it reflects contact, interest and call quality. Sit: the appointment happens, with people who can sign present. It leaks through no-shows, cancellations and visits booked with someone who cannot buy. Install: a sat appointment becomes a system on a roof. It leaks through lost deals, failed financing, cancellations after signature and unworkable sites.
Each stage has a different owner and a different fix, so one blended lead-to-install number hides the problem. Strong set rate, weak sit rate: a verification or confirmation problem. Appointments sit but do not install: an offer, territory or closer problem. Track all three separately, by lead source.
Start with four letters. A is your set rate: appointments set divided by leads bought. B is your sit rate: appointments that sit divided by appointments set. C is your close rate: systems installed divided by appointments that sit. P is your price per lead.
Worked example, in variables. Buy L leads at P each. You set L times A appointments, sit L times A times B of them, and install L times A times B times C systems. Spend is L times P, so L cancels and lead cost per install is P divided by (A times B times C). Along the way, cost per sat appointment is P divided by (A times B).
Now run it backward to plan. For N installs you need N divided by C sat appointments, which means N divided by (B times C) set appointments, which means N divided by (A times B times C) leads; multiply by P for the budget. Holding the others fixed, doubling any one rate halves your cost per install, so a cheap lead that drags down any one of them can cost more than a dearer one.
Much of what moves sit and close rates is decided before the appointment is booked. Solar is sold to homeowners, so a visit with a renter either falls through before it sits or sits and cannot close. Verifying ownership on the record removes those visits before a closer's day is built around them, which lifts both B and C.
Utility territory is the other lever. What a homeowner saves depends on the utility that bills the home: its rates, and how it credits power sent back to the grid (net metering). EIA tracks rising residential electricity prices, but rates and rules differ by utility, so a pitch that closes in one territory can fall flat in the next. Targeting by state and utility region keeps setters on homes where your offer works and where you can permit, interconnect and install, which protects B and C.
The two formats do different jobs, so compare them on cost per install, not price. A targeted data list, like our solar data lists, gives you volume and control: you choose the geography and homeowner filters and dial what your setters can work. Nobody has asked for anything yet, so expect a lower A and a lower P. Lists earn their place when you have setter capacity and a territory to fill.
A real-time lead gives you speed. The homeowner has just asked about solar, so your first call lands while the request is fresh, and A should run higher for a team that dials within minutes. Volume is capped by how many people ask. Our solar leads page covers real-time, live transfer, aged and appointment-set formats. Contact comes before set, and our fresh verified files average a 42% contact rate against an 18% industry norm for recycled data. Work real-time leads first and let the list fill the gaps.
A split test tells you where the next dollar should go. Pick two territories you can install and service equally well, and buy the same format, filters and volume for each, delivered in the same week. Give both to the same setters and closers on the same script and offer, alternating between the files so neither gets the better agents or hours. Tag every record by territory so A, B and C track separately.
Write the decision rule before the first dial: what result moves budget from one territory to the other. Read the stages as they mature: A first, B a little later, C last, because installs take time. Judge the interim on cost per sat appointment, and make the final call on cost per install once installs land. Do not crown a winner on a handful of installs; a couple of closes should not be able to flip the result. Retest before treating it as permanent.
The phrase covers two things: a lead your setters turn into a booked appointment, and an appointment a vendor books for you. The math works for both. If the vendor books it, you pay per appointment, and cost per install is that price divided by your sit rate times your close rate. Ask how the vendor defines a confirmed sit.
We will not quote benchmarks, because a borrowed figure would mislead you. Your rates depend on your offer, script, territory, lead source and how fast you dial. Measure your set, sit and close rates by source for a few weeks, then compare vendors on cost per install.
Work upstream. Confirm homeownership before you book, get every decision maker on the appointment, and tell the homeowner what the visit covers and how long it takes. Confirm again close to the time, then track sit rate by setter and source to see whether the leak is the lead or the call.
If you want a test built around your territories, send the states and utility regions you install in, your setter capacity and the formats you want to compare through our contact page, and we will help you set up equal batches.