The first ten days of solar lead follow-up.

What the 3/10/30/90 cadence actually looks like on the ground. Conversation scripts, SMS templates, rep-handoff criteria. Written for shops where the difference between 18% close and 34% close is the quality of the day-10 touch.

Why the first ten days are the whole game.

Solar is a 60-to-180-day sales cycle. Most shops treat the first ten days like they matter and everything after that like it's the customer's job. That's backwards. Leads in the first ten days are still processing curiosity, the proposal is fresh, the competing quote hasn't come in yet, the kitchen-table conversation with the spouse hasn't happened.

If you lose the lead after day ten, you lost them before day ten. The decision is made in the early window.

Day 0: The inbound touch.

Whether they called you, filled out a web form, or were referred by a neighbor, the first touch happens within 2 rings or 2 minutes. Not 2 hours. Not the next business day. Not at 9am tomorrow.

The opening question is not "what's your address so I can get a truck to you", it's "what got you looking at solar today?" The answer to that question drives the entire qualification flow. Rising utility bill is one path. New EV purchase is another. Home addition that'll increase load is a third. Each path triggers different follow-up content.

If your opening line is logistics, you've lost. Solar is sold on feeling before it's sold on math. The first question should surface the feeling.

Day 3: The soft check-in.

Three days after the initial qualification call or proposal send, a short SMS. Not a phone call, the proposal is still being read, and a phone call at day 3 feels pushy.

Template:

"Hi [name], wanted to make sure the proposal came through OK. Any questions come up as you looked it over? Happy to clarify anything."

That's it. No hard ask, no urgency, no "limited time offer." The response rate on this message is 60-70% in the solar category. You're not selling, you're opening the door to the real conversation.

What to do with the reply.

If they reply with a question, the AI (or rep) answers it and stays on the thread. If they reply "thanks, still thinking it over," that's acknowledgment, the cadence continues. If they reply "we went with [competitor]", document the loss reason, end the cadence, add to a 12-month re-engagement list.

Day 7: The mid-consideration touch.

By day 7, if they haven't responded and haven't signed, they're actively comparing or actively delaying. The AI's job is to figure out which.

Template:

"Hey [name], just circling back. Most folks at this point either have a few clarifying questions or they're comparing with one or two other shops. Either way, happy to help you decide. Want me to pull together a side-by-side on our pricing vs what else you're looking at?"

This is a deliberately honest message. It acknowledges that they might be shopping. That acknowledgment actually increases trust, the shops that pretend you're not comparing quotes lose to the shops that help you compare.

Day 10: The rep-handoff touch.

This is the first touch that transitions from AI/automation to human. If they haven't replied to the day-3 and day-7 SMS, day 10 is a voice callback from your rep team. Not a generic "checking in" call, a specific call triggered by signal.

What the rep actually says:

"Hi [name], this is [rep name] with [your shop]. I saw the proposal went out to you last week and wanted to catch up briefly. I know this is a bigger decision than most purchases, want to talk through what's on your mind? Happy to do it now or schedule a 15 min call later in the week."

The AI has already done the low-effort touches. By the time the rep calls at day 10, the lead is pre-warmed. The rep's job is to have the real conversation, financing, timeline, comparison with competitors, not to re-pitch the system.

What happens after day 10.

If they haven't responded to any of the first three touches, they move into the day-30/60/90 extended cadence. The touch frequency drops, but the content gets better, educational, market-timed, sometimes seasonal. A May lead gets a June touch about storm-season backup power. An October lead gets a November touch about year-end 48E deadlines.

The goal of the extended cadence isn't to close in the first 90 days. It's to stay present. A solar lead that went cold for 60 days and then re-engages at day 75 is a warm lead again. The shops that were disciplined enough to keep showing up are the shops that close.

How to know if your shop is actually running this cadence.

Ask your top rep: "For the three proposals you sent on Monday of last week, what's happened since?" If the answer isn't a crisp account of what touch happened on what day, your cadence exists in theory, not in practice.

That's what the AI solves. Not by replacing the rep, the rep is still there for the day-10 call and the close conversation. By handling the discipline layer underneath the rep, consistently, across every lead, at scale.

Your rep can have a good day or a bad day. The cadence should not.

The short version.

Day 0: Inbound within 2 rings. Open with a feeling question, not a logistics question.
Day 3: Soft SMS. No urgency. Open the door.
Day 7: Honest SMS. Acknowledge they may be comparing. Offer to help.
Day 10: Human voice callback. Context-rich. Real conversation.
Day 30 / 60 / 90: Extended cadence. Educational. Market-timed. Stay present.

That's the whole playbook. Running it every day on every lead is the entire game.