Answer: Use fourteen days as a planning window, not a requirement to contact the buyer every day. Confirm the proposal version and agreed channel, offer clarification, address the buyer’s named barrier, check the decision process and close the loop. Pause on request, honor opt-outs and revise material assumptions through the responsible reviewer before sending a changed proposal.
A useful follow-up answers the next buyer question. “Just checking in” gives the reader another task without helping them review the proposal. Preserve the original workflow—version check, clarification, named barrier, decision process and respectful closure—but tie each stage to an actual reason to contact the buyer.
This is an editable operating checklist for installers and EPCs, not a validated conversion sequence. Fourteen days is an illustrative review window. A procurement timetable, household decision, site visit or buyer-requested pause may require a different schedule.
Before day zero: agree the review and contact boundary
Record the recipient, property or project, proposal revision, delivery channel, review date and next action. Ask which questions the buyer wants answered and whether another stakeholder should attend. A household contact may need to consult a co-owner; a facilities contact may need finance, property or procurement input.
Check the applicable contact rules before using email, calls, texts, messaging services or automation. Keep the permission or other lawful basis, its scope and source, and any opt-out or suppression status available to the sender. A buyer’s channel preference is useful operating information; it is not by itself proof that every legal requirement has been satisfied.
The FTC CAN-SPAM business guide covers U.S. commercial email, including business-to-business messages. It distinguishes narrowly defined transactional messages from commercial promotion and describes truthful sender information, accurate subjects, a postal address and opt-out handling. Its ten-business-day opt-out limit is not an invitation to keep sending reminders after a buyer asks to stop.
The UK ICO direct-marketing guidance provides a different jurisdiction’s starting point. Email rules must not be assumed to authorize calls, texts or marketing in another country. Have the responsible compliance owner check the actual jurisdiction, recipient class, message purpose and sending method. This checklist does not determine legal eligibility for outreach.
The 14-day review checklist
| Window | Purpose | Action if useful and permitted | Record |
|---|---|---|---|
| Day zero | Establish the current proposal | Send or present the labeled revision and confirm the agreed next step | Recipient, revision, purpose, channel, review date |
| Days one–three | Offer clarification | Ask which assumption or scope item needs explanation | Buyer question, response owner, meeting if agreed |
| Days four–seven | Resolve a named barrier | Provide the reviewed answer or explain what remains pending | Evidence, revised document, unresolved condition |
| Days eight–ten | Confirm the decision process | Check who decides and which event comes next | Stakeholder, decision event, agreed timing |
| Days eleven–fourteen | Close the loop | Offer pause, closure or an agreed future contact | Actual response or no response; next action and owner |
These windows are not five mandatory contacts. If the buyer answered on day two and agreed to a meeting on day twelve, respect that plan. If the buyer opts out, remove remaining marketing touches rather than moving the same message to another channel.
Day zero: confirm the correct version
Use a clear identifier such as proposal date and revision. Summarize the configuration, included work, exclusions and assumptions that matter to the decision. Distinguish estimated production and savings from confirmed site or contract facts.
Illustrative message: “Here is the revised proposal we discussed. The roof area and equipment basis are shown in the scope section. Would you like to review the production assumptions at our agreed meeting?”
Do not treat delivery as proof that the buyer has read or accepted the offer. If an earlier version was sent, identify it as superseded and explain the material changes.
Days one to three: invite clarification
Ask a specific question about scope, roof assumptions, production, financing or the review meeting. Give the buyer an easy way to say that more time is needed. Avoid a list of unrelated questions that turns a clarification into a new intake form.
Illustrative message: “Which part would help to review first: the included installation scope, the production assumptions or the payment options?”
Adapt the wording to the actual discussion. Do not introduce financing options the company cannot offer or answer a specialist question from memory.
Days four to seven: address the named barrier
If the buyer raised an issue, reply with the answer and its basis. A request for more panels may affect layout, shading, production, electrical design, equipment quantities and price. A request for a battery may change backup scope as well as financial assumptions.
Route the change to the responsible reviewer. Keep pending items visible rather than replacing a reviewed figure with a quick sales estimate. Explain what changed, what stayed conditional and which document is now current.
Illustrative message: “Your request changes the proposed configuration. The design review is pending; I will send the labeled revision once its scope and estimate have been reconciled.”
Use the production assumption register to retain the basis of a material change.
Days eight to ten: confirm the decision process
Ask what must happen next rather than asking repeatedly whether the buyer is ready to sign. For a commercial project, the next event may be property approval, a finance comparison or procurement review. For a household, it may be a discussion with another decision-maker or a site visit.
Illustrative message: “Is the next step still the facilities review you mentioned? Let me know which scope question that group needs answered and whether our agreed timing has changed.”
Only state deadlines supported by the actual quote, supplier or program evidence. Do not invent installation-slot scarcity, expiring incentives or rate increases to produce urgency.
Days eleven to fourteen: close the loop respectfully
When another contact is appropriate, offer a practical choice: pause, close the inquiry or reconnect at an agreed event. This is a review point, not an artificial deadline for accepting solar.
Illustrative message: “Would you prefer that I pause this inquiry, close it for now or reconnect on a date you choose?”
If there is no reply, record no response. Do not infer that the buyer declined, accepted or wants indefinite follow-up. Apply the company’s permitted outreach and retention policy, keeping suppression information needed to respect an opt-out.
Use activity data carefully
An open or document view can be an incomplete signal. It does not establish who understood the proposal, who has authority or what the buyer will decide. Avoid messages that imply surveillance, such as “I saw you looking at the price page.” Use actual buyer questions and agreed actions as the operating basis.
The silent-prospect follow-up guide addresses different response scenarios. This page supplies the time-window checklist; neither page establishes a guaranteed conversion uplift.
Keep one useful follow-up record
Project and recipient:
Current proposal date/revision:
Allowed channel and contact-rule check:
Buyer-agreed review date or event:
Question or named barrier:
Evidence and response owner:
Material change and review status:
Next action, owner and agreed due date:
Pause, opt-out or suppression status:
Actual outcome: reply / meeting / pending / no response / declined / other:Update the record when the configuration, scope, assumption or commitment changes. Give the next teammate enough information to continue accurately without repeating a resolved question or sending an obsolete attachment.
Evaluate the SurgePV proposal workflow using a representative project and revision. Check the functions demonstrated, exported document identity and your team’s review process. Software access does not supply contact permission, specialist approval or a sales result.
Frequently asked questions
Should I contact the buyer every day for fourteen days?
No. The stages are review windows, not mandatory daily messages. Use the buyer’s agreed timing and channel, skip unnecessary touches and pause or stop when requested.
Does opening the proposal mean the buyer is ready to purchase?
No. Delivery, opens and views do not establish comprehension, purchase intent or permission for additional marketing. Use the buyer’s actual questions and agreed next action to decide what to do.
What should change when the buyer asks for a larger system?
Record the request and route its effect on layout, production, electrical scope, costs and financing assumptions to the responsible reviewers. Release a labeled new proposal only after the affected outputs agree.
What happens at day fourteen if the buyer has not replied?
If another contact is appropriate and permitted, ask whether to pause, close the inquiry or reconnect on an agreed date. Record no response accurately; do not call it a rejection, a sale or permission for indefinite outreach.
Is a proposal follow-up exempt from marketing rules?
Do not assume it is. Requirements depend on jurisdiction, channel, recipient and message purpose. A requested quote does not automatically permit every later email, call, text or automated campaign; check the applicable rules and honor opt-outs.
Sources
Primary research and reference material used for this desk-research article.
Where this fits
This article is part of SurgePV's Solar Business & Operations hub, which works through the topic from first principles to the decisions a project team actually has to make.
