SolarCleaningBossPro Blog — Tech App

The First Cleaning for a New Solar Customer: What the Tech Checks in the App

The first cleaning at a new customer's house is the most important visit that customer will ever get. It is where they decide whether to keep you on a twice-a-year plan. It is also where your company learns the property: the real panel count, the spigot, the safe ladder spot, the gate and the dog. Everything the tech records on that first visit makes every visit after faster and smoother.

The First Visit Writes the Best Notes

Most of the notes described in Writing Job Notes the Next Solar Cleaning Tech Can Actually Use are written on a first visit. After that, notes are mostly about changes. The first visit is where the foundation goes in.

How a New Customer Reaches the Tech's List

New customers usually arrive one of two ways. Some fill out the request form or sign-up form on your website, which lands in Form Responses in the office, and one click converts a sign-up into a client. Others get an estimate built from your service list, approve it online, and the approved estimate becomes the scheduled job.

Either way, the job reaches the tech's phone with whatever the office knows so far: the address, the panel count from the quote, the mount, stories and pitch, any extras that were sold, and whatever access notes the customer gave. On a first visit, some of that may be a best guess.

Check the Panel Count

Quotes done from a map or a phone call can miss a roof face or a small array. Count every panel on the property before cleaning and compare to the card. If it is different, note the real count and where every array is: “30 panels total: 24 on south roof, 6 over garage.” The office fixes the job so every future card is right.

Check the Mount, Stories and Pitch

Confirm what the card says. A house quoted as 2-story low pitch that turns out to be 2-story steep on the back side should be corrected, both for safety and for pricing, since many companies charge story and steep-pitch add-ons. Note it and let the office handle the price.

Record the Access

This is the big one. On the first visit, the tech should record everything the next tech needs:

• Spigot. Where it is, whether it works, any quirks.
• Roof access. Which side, where the ladder sits firm and level, what to avoid.
• Gate. Which gate, the code or latch, what to do if it is locked.
• Dog. Is there one, is it friendly, can it get out.
• Anything else. Sprinkler days, a loose gutter, a power line near the roof.

Add a photo of the ladder spot and the spigot. The office copies all of it into the access notes, and from then on it shows on every card. Gate and dog notes are covered in detail in Gate Codes and Dogs: Access Notes in the Solar Cleaning Tech App.

Take a Full Set of Photos

The first visit's before photos are your baseline. Photograph every array, the worst dirt, and anything already wrong: cracked panels, loose wiring, nests, debris under the array. If something goes wrong later, these are the photos that show the condition when you started. Then take matching after photos of every array.

Look for Birds and Critters

New customers often have never had their panels cleaned, which means they have never had anyone look under them. First visits are where nests and droppings get found. Photograph them and write a note so the office can send a bird proofing or critter guard quote.

Make a Good First Impression

The customer will remember how the first visit felt. Automatic texts help: the night-before reminder, the on-the-way text and the arrived text tell them exactly when you are coming. Tapping Complete at the job means the invoice shows up in the customer app right away, and the card on file is charged without any awkward conversation. If the customer comes out to talk, be friendly and leave pricing questions to the office.

Set Up Every Visit After

Once the first visit is done and the office has updated the job, the customer is set. On a twice-a-year plan, the next cleaning comes due on the Waiting List on its own, and the tech who runs it, whoever that is, sees a complete card. For the rest of the tech app, visit the SolarCleaningBossPro solar cleaning app page.