What Is Pull-Through Rate?

Companies calculate it by cohort, dividing the contracts that reached a defined endpoint, commonly installation complete or permission to operate, by the contracts signed in that period. Some compare sold watts with installed watts instead of counting contracts, which reduces the distortion from small jobs. Because installs take months, recent cohorts always look worse than they will eventually end up.

Financiers and sales managers watch it because it converts signatures into revenue. A team with a strong close rate and weak pull-through is manufacturing contracts that never become projects, and everyone downstream, from design to permitting to the crews, pays for that. Owners buying appointments should judge a source by installed systems per sat appointment, not by signatures alone. Crew scheduling and material orders ride on this number too.

Cautions: cancellation rate and pull-through rate are related but not identical, since a deal can be stuck, on hold, or abandoned without formally cancelling. Endpoints must match when comparing, and cohort timing matters. A utility backlog, a supply delay, or a paused rebate program can drag rates down without any fault of the sales team, so read the rate alongside the stage where deals are stalling.