At many trade businesses it takes days before a quote goes out. Not because the sums are hard, but because every quote is rebuilt from scratch: looking up details, copying an old document, checking prices and editing text. Whoever sends a clear quote first often stands the best chance. Automating here does not mean everything becomes generic; it means recording the fixed parts properly once.
How to record and follow up customer details and enquiries is covered in CRM automation without double entry. This article starts once the enquiry is in.
Start with the enquiry
A fast quote starts with a complete enquiry. If half the information is missing, you spend a day emailing first. So ask the questions you need for a price in the enquiry form, and no more than that.
- Installer: type of home, year of construction, current installation and a photo of the meter cupboard.
- Painter: inside or outside, approximate surface area and the condition of the woodwork.
- Hotel for groups: arrival and departure, number of rooms and whether a meeting room or meal is included.
- Recruitment agency: role, hours per week, start date and expected duration.
Choice fields instead of open text boxes give answers the software can use straight away. A photo upload often saves a visit beforehand.
Building blocks instead of a blank document
The core of an automated quote is a library of your own services and materials. Each line has a fixed description, unit, price and VAT rate. You put a quote together by choosing building blocks and entering quantities.
Pricing rules you set once
- Unit prices: per hour, per square metre, per item or per night.
- Surcharges: call-out costs, urgency, evening or weekend work.
- Packages: a fixed combination of lines at one price, for example a complete boiler replacement.
- VAT: the right rate per line, so the total always adds up.
Standard text
Scope of work, planning, payment terms and validity are written properly once. The software places the right text with the chosen service. You can still adjust it per quote, but you never start with a blank page.
Where a person deliberately decides
Not everything should happen automatically. A good quoting flow does the groundwork and leaves decisions with consequences to a member of staff.
- Discount: a strategic discount or a different price for a regular customer.
- Different terms: another payment term, a deposit or a warranty outside the standard.
- Uncertain assumptions: when the form does not say enough to estimate the scope.
An AI assistant can draft a quote from the enquiry, for example by suggesting the right building blocks. Always have someone read that draft before it goes out. How to arrange that check in practice is covered in human oversight in AI processes.
Sending and signing online
A quote as a PDF attachment easily disappears in an inbox. A quote with its own link works better: the customer opens it on their phone, sees the lines and totals and approves with one button. You see straight away that the quote has been opened and when it was signed.
Follow-up after sending
Many quotes are not rejected but forgotten. So schedule automatic follow-up:
- After a few days: a friendly reminder if the quote has not been opened yet.
- Opened, not approved: a task for a member of staff to give the customer a call.
- Nearly expired: a message that the validity is running out, with the link included.
- Signed: the quote automatically becomes a work order or job, and later the basis for the invoice.
That last step is where most time is saved. When the signed quote fills the work order and then the invoice, nobody retypes the lines. How that part continues is covered in automating invoicing from invoice to payment.
How it works in Vorlyo’s software
In our software for trade businesses you build the quote from your own services and materials, send it with a link and the customer signs online. Once approved it becomes a job in the schedule. If you want to know what goes into quoting software set up entirely around the way you work, read having quoting software built.
Frequently asked questions
Is an online approval legally valid?
For most jobs it is, as long as you can show who approved, when and on which version. For special contracts a stronger electronic signature can be sensible.
Can I use my current price list?
Yes. A price list in Excel can be imported as a library of services and materials. After that you change prices in one place.
How do I stop every quote looking the same?
By combining building blocks and adding a short personal introduction to each quote. The fixed parts give speed, the introduction gives the personal touch.
What if the customer wants to change something?
Then you create a new version. The old one is kept, so it is always clear which version was approved.