The short answer: respond within an hour, walk them through the customer portal, schedule the site survey within 7 days, and keep momentum through the 30-90 day pipeline. Solar Launch automates the first three stages — deposit confirmation, portal walkthrough, survey scheduling — but the installer still drives the relationship through contract, permits, and install.
The 8-stage onboarding flow
- Deposit confirmation (within 15 minutes). Automated email + SMS confirming the site-survey deposit. Solar Launch fires both automatically when Stripe registers the deposit.
- Personal call (within 1 hour). A live call from the rep gathering 12 months of utility bill data and confirming the site survey date. Single biggest conversion lever in the pipeline.
- Customer portal walkthrough. Homeowner sees their rendered roof, system size in kW, projected annual production, ITC math, and 25-year savings. Pre-qualifies them mentally before the survey.
- Site survey scheduled within 7 days. On-site assessment of roof condition, shading, electrical panel, and structural fit.
- Financing pre-qualification. Soft-pull pre-qual with Sunlight, GoodLeap, Mosaic, or Sungage on the customer portal — homeowner sees their monthly payment number before the proposal.
- Final proposal + contract. Engineered system design, locked pricing, financing path selected, contract signed.
- Permits filed. AHJ permits (varies by jurisdiction 7-60 days), utility interconnection application.
- Install + inspection + PTO. Physical install (1-3 days), AHJ inspection, utility approval to operate.
What to collect during onboarding
- 12 months of utility bills for accurate usage modeling.
- HOA name + contact (where applicable) — solar HOA approval letters auto-generate from the customer portal.
- Roof age + any recent roof work. Roofs under 5 years go straight in; roofs 20+ years may need replacement before solar.
- Electrical panel age + amperage. Panels under 100A may need upgrade ($1,500-$4,000 addon).
- Financing preference. Cash, loan, lease, PPA — drives the proposal path.
- Decision-maker check. Confirm both homeowners sign off before scheduling the site survey for a 2-spouse household.
Common onboarding mistakes
- 24-hour response time. Deposit-paid solar homeowners are at peak engagement immediately after paying. Lose the first hour and you lose 15-25% of conversion.
- Skipping the utility bill request. Without 12 months of usage data, the proposal is a guess. Get the bill before the site survey.
- Not surfacing financing pre-qual early. At $25K-$35K average ticket, the monthly payment number is what closes deals. Pre-qualifying before the proposal reduces the "let me think about it" objection at contract time.
- Letting permits go silent. 30-60 day AHJ permits feel like the deal is stuck. Send weekly "still working it" updates via the customer portal.
Automate the first three stages. Drive the rest.
Solar Launch handles deposit confirmation, portal walkthrough, and survey scheduling automatically. $1 per mailed solar quote.
Start free →