Lead quality for Plano solar installers.

Cheap leads flood the pipeline and drown the sales team.

We see this constantly with Plano solar clients coming off a bad agency relationship: they were sold on 'more leads for less money,' the cost per lead looked great on a report, and the close rate was under 4 percent because half the leads were curious renters, people three states away who got matched by a national aggregator, or homeowners who filled out a form for a $50 gift card and never intended to buy.

Real lead quality in this market means filtering for homeowner status, roof age, and household income before the lead ever reaches your sales team's phone. Someone with a 15-year-old roof in a rental property is not the same lead as a West Plano homeowner with a roof replaced last year after hail damage — treating them the same wastes sales team hours that should go to the second person.

Speed to contact still matters enormously — leads called within 5 minutes convert at meaningfully higher rates than leads called an hour later — but speed on a bad lead just gets you a fast no. Quality has to come first, speed compounds on top of it.

The fix isn't always more targeting inside the ad platform. Sometimes it's a better qualifying question on the landing page — do you own your home, is your roof over 10 years old, what's your average monthly electric bill — that filters people out before they ever become a wasted call.

The signals that actually predict a signed solar contract in Plano.

• Homeowner, not renter, verified at the form level

  This sounds obvious but a shocking number of leads from broad-targeted campaigns come from renters who saw an ad and clicked out of curiosity, not intent to buy.

• Roof under 10 years old, or recently replaced after hail

  Collin County's hail history means a lot of roofs get replaced through insurance claims — those homeowners are primed for a bundled roof-plus-solar conversation and close at a noticeably higher rate.

• Home value $400K or above

  This isn't snobbery, it's cash flow reality — solar financing terms work more comfortably for homeowners with equity and stable income, and Plano's West side and Willow Bend fit that profile heavily.

• Self-reported monthly electric bill over $200

  A homeowner who volunteers this number on a landing page is already thinking about the math, which is a stronger signal than someone who just clicked an ad.

• Time on site and page depth before form submission

  Leads who viewed the financing page or the how-it-works page before submitting close at a higher rate than leads who filled out the form within 10 seconds of landing, which often signals an accidental click.

Why the cheaper campaign isn't automatically the better one.

Shared leads sold to multiple installers at once consistently produce the worst close rates despite the lowest sticker price.

Questions from Plano solar installers about lead quality

How do I know if I'm buying bad leads right now?

Pull your last 90 days and sort by source. If your close rate on one channel is under 5 percent while another is at 12 percent or higher, that gap is your answer. Also check for duplicate phone numbers or emails across sources, which often signals shared or recycled leads from an aggregator.

Are shared leads from aggregators ever worth using in Plano?

Rarely, and we generally advise against them. The close rate is so low, often under 3 percent, that the effective cost per sale ends up higher than a well-targeted exclusive campaign even though the per-lead price looks cheap on paper. They can work as a small supplement during slow months, not as a primary source.

What qualifying questions should be on our solar landing page?

At minimum: do you own your home, roof age or last replacement date, and average monthly electric bill. Each one adds slight friction and will reduce total form fills, but the leads that make it through convert at a meaningfully higher rate, which is the tradeoff you want.

Does speed to contact matter if the lead quality is already good?

Yes, it compounds. A high-quality lead called within 5 minutes converts noticeably better than the same quality lead called an hour later. Speed doesn't fix a bad lead, but it maximizes a good one, so both need to be dialed in together.

How much does roof age actually affect close rate in this market?

Significantly. Homeowners with a roof over 15 years old often get cold feet mid-process once a sales rep raises the possibility of needing a re-roof before or after panel installation. Leads with a roof under 10 years old, especially post-hail-claim replacements, close notably more often and with fewer stalled deals.