A cold call has two things to earn and earns them in order. The first is thirty seconds, and the opener either gets it or does not. The second is a specific time on a calendar with the people who can say yes, and everything between the opener and the close exists to find out whether that time is worth booking.
This script is written for setters on a solar floor — people whose output is a held appointment, not a sale — and it is built in parts rather than as a monologue, because the parts are what get reused when the homeowner says something the script did not anticipate. It is the phone version of our door knocking scripts, which are built on the same principle at the door, and it assumes the compliance groundwork in DNC compliance for outbound solar was done before the file reached the dialer.
Disclosure: Scout Data is our product, and the property detail the opener leans on — storm exposure, permits, roof and system age, time in home, verified ownership — is what our homeowner files put on the setter’s screen before the dial. The script works with a detail from any source; it does not work without one.
The compliance lines below are operational practice, not legal advice. Rules change and state law varies — have your script reviewed by compliance counsel before it goes on a floor.
Part 1 — The opener
Name, company, and one true thing about this house that could not be said to the house next door. Then stop talking.
“Hi, is this [first name]? This is [name] with [company]. I’m calling about your place on [street] — I saw your neighbourhood took hail on the [date], and a couple of homes on your block have already had roof permits pulled. Has anyone been out to look at yours yet?”
Or, for a system-age angle: “I’m calling about [street] — it looks like your solar system went in around [year], and the company that installed it isn’t servicing that area any more. Is anyone looking after it for you?”
The specific detail does three jobs at once. It proves the call is about this address rather than a list. It gives the homeowner a reason the call is happening today. And it ends on a question the homeowner can answer without deciding anything. A generic opener — “I’m calling to see if you’ve looked into solar” — does none of those, which is why it is categorised as a pitch before the sentence ends.
Two things the opener must contain regardless of angle: your real name and the company’s real name, stated up front. Identification is not a courtesy on a telemarketing call; it is required, and a setter who buries it has also told the homeowner the call has something to hide.
Part 2 — The permission line
Once the opener gets a real response, ask for the next minute explicitly.
“I’m not going to try to sell you anything on this call — I’ve got about a minute of questions to see whether it’s even worth someone coming out. Is now all right, or is there a better time?”
Asking makes “no” cheap for the homeowner, which is exactly why more people say yes. It also gives you a callback if the answer is “not now” — and a callback with a time attached is a better outcome than a pitch delivered to someone who is walking out the door.
Part 3 — Four questions that qualify
The setter’s minute is for finding out whether this appointment would hold. Four questions, asked conversationally, in roughly this order:
- “And you own the place, is that right?” A renter cannot sign. If the record says owner and the answer is no, the file has a wrong-party problem, and that gets logged as its own disposition rather than as “not interested.”
- “Is it just you making a call like this, or is there someone else you’d want in the room?” Finds the second decision-maker now, not on the closer’s driveway.
- “Anything about the roof I should know before we send someone — is it due for replacement, lots of shade, anything like that?” Surfaces the obvious disqualifiers, and lets the homeowner tell you the record was wrong.
- “Has anyone else been out to look at it, or would this be the first conversation?” Tells the closer whether they are educating from zero or joining a comparison already in progress.
Each question costs some sets and saves more sits, which is the whole economics of the role. A script that skips them books more and sits less, and a floor paid on sets will skip them — solar appointment setting covers why the handoff and the pay plan decide whether these questions get asked.
Part 4 — The close is a time, not a sale
Alternative choice, close to the call, both decision-makers named.
“Here’s what I’d suggest — [closer’s name] can come by for about twenty minutes, walk the property and put real numbers in front of you and [partner’s name], no obligation either way. Would Thursday evening work, or is Saturday morning better?”
“Thursday or Saturday” gets answered; “does that sound good?” gets a fresh decision. Book inside the next few days rather than a week out, confirm the time back to them once, and tell them a text confirmation is coming so the confirmation is expected rather than ignored. Then write the handoff: which signal prompted the call, what the homeowner said about the roof, who will be present. A closer arriving with an address and nothing else re-opens the conversation from zero.
Part 5 — When they push back
Most objections on a cold call are reflexes, not decisions, and the move that works is the same for all of them: agree, then split.
- “Not interested.” “Totally fair — most people say that before they know what the call’s about. Can I ask, is it solar in general, or just not a good time?” That separates “never” from “not now,” and only one of those ends the call.
- “We already had someone out.” “That’s good — you’re already looking. Mind if I ask what they told you?” A homeowner comparing quotes has decided to act; the job is to join the comparison, not to trash the other quote.
- “How did you get my number?” Answer it plainly: “It’s the number on record for the property — I’m calling owners on [street] about the [signal].” Then keep going. A dodge here ends the call; an honest answer usually does not.
- “Take me off your list.” “Of course — I’m removing you now, and you won’t hear from us again.” Then end the call and log it. This line is not a rebuttal opportunity, and the request is honoured the same day.
The fuller treatment — the three kinds of objection, the ones that are concerns rather than reflexes, and how to hear a real no — is in solar rebuttals and objection handling.
Part 6 — Voicemail and callback
Most dials do not connect, and the voicemail is the one part of the script the homeowner hears with no chance to interrupt. Keep it to the opener and a callback path:
“Hi [first name], it’s [name] with [company] — calling about your place on [street] and the [signal] in your area. Nothing urgent. I’ll try you again [day], or you can reach me at [number]. Thanks.”
No pitch, no price, no urgency that is not real. When the homeowner calls back, the setter starts at Part 2, not Part 1 — the opener has already been delivered. And a record that was reached once is held for that hour on the next attempt; a homeowner who picked up at 7:30 on a Tuesday is more likely to pick up then again than at any hour a schedule could suggest.
What the script never says
Some lines book appointments in the short run and generate complaints, cancellations and letters in the long run. Strip them:
- A price, a monthly payment, or a savings figure. The closer has not seen the roof or the bill.
- Any suggestion the call is from, or on behalf of, a utility or a government programme. It is not, and saying otherwise is the kind of claim regulators act on.
- “Free.” Nothing on a solar proposal is free, and the word is the one the homeowner remembers when the contract arrives.
- A deadline that does not exist. Real incentive windows can be named; invented ones are the fastest route to a cancellation.
- Anything after “take me off your list.”
Measuring the script
A script is judged on set rate off right-party conversations and on held rate off sets — never on sets alone, because a script that skips Part 3 will always win on sets. Log wrong-party as its own outcome so the file’s failures are not charged to the script, and compare versions only on the same file over the same weeks. KPI benchmarks for solar call centers covers which numbers flatter a script and which measure it, and the wider floor this script runs on is laid out in how to run a solar call center.
Frequently asked questions
What is a good opening line for a solar cold call?
One that is about the homeowner’s house rather than your product, and that could not be said to any other house on the street. “I’m calling about the hail that came through your neighbourhood on the fourteenth” earns thirty seconds; “I’m calling about solar savings” earns a hang-up, because the second sentence has already been categorised as a pitch before it ends.
Should a setter quote prices or savings on a cold call?
No. The setter’s only job is to earn a specific time with the people who can decide. A number quoted on the phone is a number the closer has to walk back, and savings claims made before anyone has seen the roof or the bill are the kind of statement compliance counsel will tell you to strip from the script. Book the appointment; let the appointment carry the numbers.
How long should a solar cold call be?
As long as it takes to qualify and book, and no longer — a setter who is educating is not setting. If the homeowner is not the owner, is not the decision-maker, or has a disqualifier, the right call is a short one. Long average talk time with a low set rate is the signature of a script that pitches instead of qualifying.
What do you say when a homeowner asks to be taken off the list?
“Of course — I’m removing you now, and you won’t hear from us again.” Then do exactly that, the same day, into a suppression file that outlives the list. The request is a legal obligation, the fastest way to end a call that was never going to book, and the one line in the script that must be delivered word for word every time.