Turning service calls from break-even into a profit line.
A local solar installer had most of its revenue tied to new installs just as the homeowner tax credit expired. The money was already in the service work it was doing. It just wasn't being billed.
- Business
- Solar install, service and storage
- Size
- Owner-operated, about $1M a year
- Engagement
- Six-week diagnosis and design
- Status
- Completed
- Systems
Where they started
A local installer doing solar, repair and battery storage, with a strong reputation and almost no marketing spend. More than 80% of projected revenue came from new installs, the exact segment set to shrink after the federal homeowner credit expired at the end of 2025.
The owner answered the phone, chased checks and handled warranty claims himself. Revenue by service line didn't exist, so every pricing decision ran on instinct.
What we found
- Service calls were running at roughly break-even. The loss wasn't the hour on site. It was the two to four unbilled hours afterward spent on manufacturer warranty claims.
- Most demand came through the Google Business Profile, maps, referrals and direct traffic. SEO tools understated it because they can't see those channels.
- There was an open lane: homeowners whose installer went out of business search for service around 1,100 times a month, and no local competitor was ranking for it.
- The company held manufacturer certifications that almost none of its customers knew about.
- The service and maintenance book was the only part of the business that could compound without adding crew hours.
What we designed
- Service pricing: a zoned trip fee, repairs quoted as fixed scope and approved before work starts, and warranty processing billed as its own disclosed line. On a typical warranty call the model nets about $380 for the company against break-even before.
- Two maintenance plans: remote monitoring at a low monthly price, and a care plan with an included annual visit. The care plan leads, because the included visit outweighs the monitoring setup cost.
- Intake: an AI text line and self-scheduling in the CRM, with a local answering service as backup, to get the owner off the phone.
- Payments and field work: one invoicing tool with payment at the point of service, and a field app for clock-in, on-my-way texts and invoices.
- Reviews: an automatic review request when each invoice closes, so reviews track completed jobs.
- Demand: lead with the orphaned-system question, "Who services your system now?", and put the certifications front and center.
- Measurement: a weekly dashboard of revenue and kilowatts installed, with revenue by service line.
Results
This engagement covered diagnosis, pricing and system design, handed over in August 2026. The $380 figure is modeled, not measured. We publish measured results only.
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