What Is Cancellation Rate?
Of every group of solar contracts signed, the portion that later cancels before installation is the cancellation rate. It includes cancellations inside the legal right-to-cancel window and later ones caused by financing, site conditions, or buyer’s remorse, and it is usually tracked by rep, source, and cohort.
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Of every group of solar contracts signed, the portion that later cancels before installation is the cancellation rate. It includes cancellations inside the legal right-to-cancel window and later ones caused by financing, site conditions, or buyer’s remorse, and it is usually tracked by rep, source, and cohort.
Cancellation Rate explained
Take a cohort, such as contracts signed in a month, count those that cancelled before a defined endpoint, and divide by the total signed. The endpoint matters: before installation, before permission to operate, or before funding. Companies also separate early cancellations, inside the cooling-off window, from late ones, because the causes differ.
Managers read it as a quality signal. Early cancellations tend to point at the appointment: a rushed close, an overpromised savings figure, a spouse who was not in the room. Later ones point at qualification and process: credit declines, a site survey that changed the scope, a long wait for permits. Breaking the rate out by lead source and by rep shows where the leak actually is.
Mistakes include reporting it without naming the endpoint, comparing teams with different financing mixes, and treating a low rate as proof of quality when the team simply discourages cancellations. A rep with a high signature count and a high cancellation rate may be producing paperwork instead of customers. Appointment quality upstream, meaning the right owner, the right decision makers, and a time everyone agreed to, is the cheapest lever.
Why it matters when you're buying
Cancellations quietly consume closer time, commissions, and goodwill, and tracking the rate by source tells an owner whether appointments become installs. VA Horizon’s exclusive, double-confirmed appointments are booked with homeowners who have agreed to a specific time, which gives the closer an engaged prospect instead of a loosely scheduled visit.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a normal cancellation rate for solar?
Why do solar contracts get cancelled?
How is solar cancellation rate calculated?
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