When you send an estimate, the customer gets a link to their own approval page. On it they compare your options, pick one, sign on their phone and pick a time. Or they can say no thanks. Here's what they see, and what happens in Run a Call either way.
What the customer sees
The page is built for a phone and uses the estimate design you chose.
- Header. Your logo, company name and a Call button.
- Headline and title. The estimate headline, the title, and the service address.
- Option cards. One card per option, each with your description, price (including tax), line items and any badge such as Our pick or Best value. The customer taps a card to select it.
- Member price. Under the price of an itemized option, a customer who isn't a member yet sees Member price · Gold (your plan's name) with what the option would cost at the plan's repair discount and You'd save $X. Once per page, the note reads Member prices apply to work done after you join a plan. Today's total is the regular price. It appears only when Offer membership plans is on for your company and for this estimate, and never on an option sold at one flat price. Members don't see it. See Applying member discounts.
- Optional add-ons. Extras they can tick to add to the price.
- Payment plan. Shown if the estimate has a payment schedule: the deposit and progress payments for the option they're looking at.
- Financing. Shown if you offer it: Get this work for as low as $X/mo, with an apply button or a QR code. See Offering financing on estimates.
- Membership offer. Shown if you turned on Offer membership plans: a Protect your new system card.
- Your guarantee, and the Terms & conditions or contract, if you've set them.
- Bottom bar. The total for the selected option, No thanks, and Approve & schedule.
- Download PDF.
The customer approves
- They select an option. Approve & schedule stays inactive until they do.
- They tap Approve & schedule. The Sign to approve this work panel opens with the total for their choice.
- They sign by choosing Draw (finger on the screen) or Type, and confirm their Full legal name.
- If a contract is attached, they tick to accept it.
- They tap Approve & schedule.
The page shows Thank you, [name]. and turns into the customer's project page. There they can:
- Pick a time for the work, if you've turned on Customers pick their own time under Estimates → Estimate settings → Approval page.
- Pay the deposit, if the estimate has a payment schedule.
- Download the signed estimate.
What happens in Run a Call when they approve
| What | Result |
|---|---|
| Estimate | Changes to Approved, with the chosen option, the signature, the time signed and the approximate location recorded. |
| Job | Created automatically with the sold option's line items, ready to schedule. If the estimate was built from an existing job, the work is added to that job instead (see below). |
| Contract | If one was attached, the signed contract is saved to the job's files. |
| Deposit invoice | If there's a payment schedule, it's created (due on receipt) and sent to the customer, unless you turned that off in the schedule. |
| Your team | Everyone gets a notification: [Customer] approved an estimate. If the Estimate approved (internal) automation is on, your company email gets a message too. |
When the estimate was built from a job
Say a tech runs a service call, finds a failed part and quotes the repair from the job. When the customer approves, the sold work is added to that same job instead of a new one. The visit fee and the repair then go on one invoice.
- The job has a draft invoice (the tech started the invoice for the visit fee): the new lines are added to the draft invoice too.
- The job has already been invoiced (the invoice was sent, or the job is invoiced, closed or cancelled): the work isn't added to it. When the customer approves from their link, a new job is created for the work and your team's notification says why. When the office approves without creating a job, convert the estimate to put the work on a job. See Creating a job from an estimate.
- The estimate has a payment schedule and the job already has line items: a new job is created, so the scheduled payments bill the sold work correctly.
The same happens when the office approves the estimate from its status (see Approvals that happen in person or by phone).
The customer declines
- They tap No thanks.
- The Decline estimate panel asks Would you like to share why? They can type a reason; it's optional.
- They tap Confirm decline.
The customer sees that the estimate has been declined and is invited to contact you if they change their mind. In Run a Call:
- Estimate changes to Declined.
- Estimate page shows This estimate was declined by [name]. along with their reason.
- Your team gets a notification with the reason.
A declined estimate can't be sent again. To try a different offer, Duplicate it and send the copy.
If they don't respond
- Views. Once the customer opens the link, the estimate changes to Viewed. The estimate page shows how many times they opened it and which option they looked at most. See Knowing when a customer has viewed an estimate.
- Reminders. Run a Call doesn't send estimate follow-ups automatically. Click Resend on the estimate to email it again, or build a follow-up with a custom automation. See Building a custom automation.
- Expiry. After the Valid until date, the estimate changes to Expired. The link says This estimate has expired and asks the customer to call you; they can't approve it. To give them more time, click Resend and choose a New validity date.
Approvals that happen in person or by phone
If the customer says yes on the phone or in person, you don't need the link:
- Record the approval: change the status on the estimate to Approved. In the Approve estimate window, pick the Approved option and who Sold by, and choose whether to Create a job from this estimate.
- If the estimate was built from a job that hasn't been invoiced, the window says Approving adds the sold work to JOB-0412. (with your job's number) instead, and the work goes onto that job when you click Approve. To book the work as its own visit instead, switch on Schedule it as a new job instead: JOB-0412 keeps its own lines, date and crew. Set the install length, crew, and schedule below — or leave them and it lands in the unassigned rail.
- When the work is added, you'll see Estimate approved — added to JOB-0412. If it couldn't be added, for example because the job was invoiced in the meantime, you'll see The work was not added to the original job because the original job has already been invoiced. Convert the estimate to put it on a job.
- Convert straight to a job: click Convert to job. See Creating a job from an estimate.
- On site: a tech can present the estimate in the mobile app and have the customer sign on their device.
Note
If the estimate has a contract attached that the customer hasn't signed, it can't be approved from the office. Send them the link to sign, or remove the contract first. An estimate past its Valid until date also has to be extended before you can approve it.