Sample report · Solar installer

Demo business — real audit patterns, anonymized

Inquiries are going cold between the job and the office.

A full demonstration report. The business is fictional; every pattern in it is one we have measured in real audits.

The phone line is excellent once someone replies — but the email goes nowhere, the inquiry form took 2d 4h, and one WhatsApp inquiry was answered from a personal WhatsApp number with a cash price below the company’s own.

Business
Example Solar (demo)
Market
Denver, CO (demo)
Audit period
Aug – Sep 2026
Channels shopped
5 of 5 · 7 days each
Revenue at risk

Revenue at risk on two of five channels

The email never replied, the inquiry form took 2d 4h, and one WhatsApp inquiry was quoted off the company books from a personal WhatsApp number.

  • Inquiry form · 46/100
  • Email inquiry · 0/100 · Not scored — no reply in 7 days
  • Live chat · 58/100
  • WhatsApp · 41/100
  • Phone call · 71/100
Slowest first reply
2d 4h

On the inquiry form. Benchmark for a solar installer: site assessment within 3 days.

Biggest price gap
$2,400

Quoted $9,600 on WhatsApp vs. “systems from $12,000 installed” on the solar installer’s own website.

Red flags found
1

A reply from a personal WhatsApp number offering a cash price.

What you're looking at

A demonstration report for a fictional solar installer, built from anonymized patterns we see in real audits.

One score, nine criteria

Speed, accuracy, personalization, qualification, follow-up, close, tone, red flags.

Evidence on every finding

Timestamps, transcripts, screenshots and recordings attached in the full report.

Fixes ranked by revenue

What to change this week, in order of money at stake.

01 — Per-channel scorecard

How each channel treated a real prospect

ChannelFirst replyQuoted vs listed priceFollow-upsCourtesyScore
Inquiry form2d 4h — Thu 16:10✓ $16,000 quoted · at or above “from $12,000” according to your website0 in 7 daysCourteous · 7046/ 100
Email inquiryNo reply in 7 days— nothing to compare0 in 7 days—0/ 100

Not scored — no reply in 7 days

Live chat4 minNo price given — “book a visit first”0 in 7 daysFriendly · 7258/ 100
WhatsAppRed flagReply from a personal WhatsApp number; cash price below the listed one38 min — from a personal number✗ $9,600 quoted · from $12,000 according to your website2 in 7 daysChatty · 6441/ 100
Phone callVoicemail; callback 20h 13m✓ $14,500 quoted · at or above “from $12,000” according to your website1 in 7 daysWarm · 8871/ 100

First reply, price accuracy, follow-up and courtesy are four of the nine criteria. A channel with no reply in 7 days scores 0 — there is nothing to judge, so it gets no partial credit. Listed price = what you publish on your website or social profiles. A quote at or above a “from” price counts as consistent; where nothing is listed we show “No listed price to compare” instead of a score. The overall score is the weighted total across the nine criteria.

02 — Criterion scores

Nine criteria, scored across every channel

Response time34/100
weakest: inquiry form

Inquiry form 2d 4h, live chat 4 min, WhatsApp 38 min and phone line to voicemail, callback after 20h 13m. The email never replied. The slowest reply took 2d 4h. Benchmark for a solar installer: site assessment within 3 days.

Answered at all80/100
weakest: email inquiry

Four of five channels replied. The email address on the website accepted our email (no bounce) and nobody answered it in seven days.

Price accuracy vs listed price48/100
weakest: WhatsApp

The website says “systems from $12,000 installed”. The inquiry form and phone line quotes are at or above that, so they count as consistent. The WhatsApp quoted $9,600 — $2,400 below the published “from” price.

Listed price = what you publish on your website or social profiles.

Personalization62/100
weakest: WhatsApp

The phone line reply used our name and picked up what we’d asked about. The WhatsApp reply was a template that could have gone to any homeowner.

Qualification questions71/100
weakest: WhatsApp

Good questions on the phone line: what we needed, where we were, and how soon we needed it. The WhatsApp asked nothing before pushing for a booking.

Follow-up cadence38/100
weakest: inquiry form

The WhatsApp followed up twice and the phone line followed up once. The inquiry form and live chat never followed up. The email never replied at all.

Close attempt / next step55/100
weakest: WhatsApp

The phone line offered a site assessment at a specific time. The WhatsApp ended “let us know if you’d like to go ahead” — no time offered.

Tone & professionalism76/100

Friendly and plain-spoken throughout; the personal-number reply was over-familiar for a first contact.

Red-flag screen50/100
weakest: WhatsApp

One flag raised — see below. Also noted: payback-period claim with no numbers behind it.

03 — Red flags, in plain English

What the shopper found first

Red flag

A cash price, off the company books, from a personal WhatsApp number

Our WhatsApp inquiry to the business was answered from a personal WhatsApp number. The sender offered a rooftop system for $9,600 “cash” and suggested it was “easier than going through the office”. We report what the evidence shows; we make no claim about intent.

Evidence: Screenshots of both contacts and the thread are attached in the full report.

Fix → Quotes go out only from the company’s own accounts and on company paper; remind the whole team in writing.

Missed revenue

The email goes nowhere

The email on the website accepted our inquiry and nobody answered it in seven days. Every homeowner who picks that route is lost before anyone knows they asked.

Fix → Route the email to the shared office inbox and send it a test inquiry on the first of every month.

Also noted

Payback-period claim with no numbers behind it

On the WhatsApp: payback-period claim with no numbers behind it. Not a red flag on its own — but it is the kind of gap that sends a homeowner to whoever spelled it out.

Fix → Write down how the team handles this, and check it in next month’s audit.

04 — Reply A vs Reply B

The reply you sent, next to the reply that wins the job

Left: the reply the business actually sent. Right: what a best-in-class reply to the same inquiry looks like — the name, the exact question answered, the price from the business’s own list, the timeline, what happens next, something to keep, a concrete time to talk, and a real person to call.

What Dave asked · Live chat · Wed 12:10
“Hi, we’re thinking about solar panels for a four-bedroom house. What would a system cost, roughly?”
Reply A — what the business sent57/100

From the audit record: the reply the business actually sent.

Live chat, answered by the office 4 min after the inquiry

Hi, thanks for your message. We’d need to book a visit first before we can give any price.
Speed
95
Answered
100
Price
—
Personal
15
Questions
10
Follow-up
10
Next step
25
Tone
72
Red flags
100
Reply B — the reply that wins the job96/100

What a best-in-class reply looks like — the standard your competitors are measured against

A named person at the solar installer, same live chat 4 min after the inquiry

Hi Dave, Thanks for getting in touch — yes, we can help, and here is everything you asked. Price: our website says “systems from $12,000 installed”. That’s the figure we work from; the exact price depends on the details. Timing: site assessment within 3 days, as standard. What happens next: a site assessment, then the exact figure in writing within 24 hours. One question so I can be exact: is there a date you need this sorted by? I’ve attached “Example Solar — prices and what’s included” (PDF), so you have it all in writing. Can I call you Thursday between 5 and 7 pm to arrange a site assessment? If another time suits, reply with it and I’ll hold it. If I don’t hear back, I’ll check in on Friday morning.

Example Solar — prices and what’s included (PDF)

Gary Holt
New inquiries, Example Solar
Direct line: (303) 555-0147

Speed
95
Answered
100
Price
100
Personal
95
Questions
90
Follow-up
90
Next step
100
Tone
95
Red flags
100

The difference · 39 points

Same inquiry, same business, same facts.

  • Just as fast — 4 min — but a full answer instead of a brush-off.
  • Gives a price — “systems from $12,000 installed” as published — instead of none at all.
  • Greets Dave by name and answers the question that was asked.
  • Says what happens next and when: site assessment within 3 days.
  • Asks one question that moves the booking forward.
  • Attaches a fact sheet the homeowner can keep.
  • Offers a specific call — Thursday, 5–7 pm — instead of an open “let us know”.
  • Signed by a named person with a direct line, and a dated check-in if nobody replies.

Reply B is written by us from the facts the business already had — its own published price, its own next step — so the gap is the reply, not the offer. It is the standard, not a named rival: this sample is fictional. In a live audit this panel is built from your own replies, and on SalesWitness Watch Pro the quarterly competitor benchmark shops two real competitors and scores their replies the same way. Follow-up on Reply B is scored on the dated check-in it commits to.

05 — Review snapshot and monitoring

What prospects read before they inquire

Rating
4.6

58 reviews on Google

Negative reviews
3

1–3★ in the last 90 days

Negatives unanswered
3 of 3

No owner reply on the profile

Oldest unanswered
71 days

Still waiting for an owner reply

What it means All three unanswered reviews mention a site assessment that never happened — the same gap the shop found.

On SalesWitness Watch, the next one never waits 71 days

The audit reads every profile once. Watch keeps reading them every day — and when a negative review lands, you hear about it within hours, with the reply already drafted.

  1. 01Watched daily

    Google, Yelp, BBB, Angi, Houzz, Facebook, Trustpilot and any other review site we find. Every negative review in each profile’s full history is captured on the first sweep.

  2. 02Alert within hours

    A new 1–3★ review triggers an alert, with the review quoted in full and the profile it is on.

  3. 03A drafted reply

    Empathetic, de-escalating, no admission of fault — marked “review before use”, ready to paste.

  4. 04A removal path, when the rules allow

    If the review breaks the platform’s own policy, you get the rule it breaks and the exact appeal route.

One of the 3 unanswered reviews above, as the alert would arrive

Review alert · Google

Sent within hours
K. W.
“Booked a site assessment, then heard nothing — nobody turned up and nobody rang.”

Policy check: a genuine customer experience — not removable. Reply publicly, and fix the cause.

Drafted replyReview before use

Hi K., thank you for taking the time to tell us, and I’m sorry this wasn’t the experience you expected. That isn’t how we want anyone to be treated. I’d like to understand what happened and put it right — please call me directly on (303) 555-0147.

— Gary, Example Solar

When a review breaks the rules · Google

  1. 1Check the review against Google’s “Prohibited and restricted content” policy — e.g. not based on a real experience, a conflict of interest, personal information.
  2. 2Gather the evidence: most often, no matching booking, order or inquiry on your records.
  3. 3Report it: Business Profile → Read reviews → Report, or Google’s Reviews Management Tool. Google says decisions typically take several days.
  4. 4If it’s refused: one appeal through the same tool, with the case ID and the evidence. That decision is final.

SalesWitness Watch: the appeal drafted for you, citing the rule — you file it.SalesWitness Watch Pro: we file the appeal for you.

Platforms remove policy breaches, not bad opinions. We never file a false report, and we never post or solicit reviews — the public reply goes up either way, because it is the part prospects actually read. Every platform we read has its own route; the same checks apply.

06 — The tape: one inquiry, two replies

One inquiry. Two replies.

Our inquiry · email inquiry

📨 Prospect emails hello@abc-company.com asking for a quote.

✅ Reply 1 — from the company

sales@abc-company.com · quotes list price · books a call

🚩 Reply 2 — from a rep, personally

j.smith.freelance@gmail.com · “I can do it cheaper directly” · asks to move to WhatsApp

What the report says“The inquiry was answered from an address not on the authorized staff list, with an offer to transact off-channel (evidence attached).” Evidence-led, defamation-safe — and the kind of leak that costs more than a year of SalesWitness.
One customer inquiry receiving two separate replies — one official, one from a personal phone

07 — Evidence excerpt

The WhatsApp thread

[Wed 19:02] Auditor → Hi, found you on Google — we’re thinking about solar panels for a four-bedroom house. What would a system cost, roughly?

[Wed 19:40] Other number → Hi Dave, from the team. Can do a rooftop system for $9,600 cash — easier than going through the office. Can fit you in this week.

[— the business’s own WhatsApp never replied —]

08 — Case closed: what changes next month

Three fixes, under two hours

None of this needs new software or a new hire. In order of revenue impact.

  1. 01

    One inbox that someone owns

    Point the email at a shared inbox someone checks; test it monthly with a dummy inquiry.

    20 minOffice manager
  2. 02

    All quotes on company paper

    Quotes go out from the company’s own accounts and quoting system only — never cash, never from a personal phone.

    30 minOwner
  3. 03

    A site assessment in the first reply

    Every reply offers two concrete times for a site assessment instead of “someone will be in touch”.

    15 minOffice manager

Before → after

Illustrative — what the three fixes typically change within 30 days.

  • First-reply time

    2d 4hunder 2 h

    via One inbox that someone owns

  • Quotes off the books

    1 of 40

    via All quotes on company paper

  • Site assessment offered in reply 1

    1 of 44 of 4

    via A site assessment in the first reply

Confidential. Prepared under the written authorization of the business owner. Findings reflect the audit record only and are phrased to describe evidence, not intent. Not legal advice. The business and every figure above are illustrative, not a guarantee.

09 — What this costs

What slow and missed inquiries cost a business like this

Inquiries a month
55

Typical for a solar installer

Close rate
2 in 10

20% · lost to slow or missed replies: 3 in 10 of those

Average job value
$12,000

What one job is worth

Lost a month
$39,600

$475,200 a year

55 inquiries × 20% close rate × 30% lost to slow or missed replies = 3.3 jobs lost × $12,000 = $39,600 a month

One recovered sale ($12,000) pays for a whole year of SalesWitness Watch ($990, 2 months free) — 12 times over.

Typical figures for this kind of business, not a benchmark and not a promise. A lost inquiry isn’t a lost sale, so only the share you’d normally close counts. Put your own numbers into the calculator for your figure.

Your report looks like this — with your channels, your prices, your evidence

See yours.

One SalesWitness Audit shops every channel you offer — inquiry form, email inquiry, live chat, WhatsApp, phone call — twice, 15 days apart, scores them against your own fact sheet and lands in your portal. Owner-authorized, evidence-led.

Audit my sales channels — $299See what one lost sale costs you
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