workflow 05 · for quotes

Automated quotes & estimates

Automated quotes and estimates turn an inquiry, your notes and your price book into a clean, accurate estimate in minutes. Based around your business and your numbers, it never invents a price, and nothing goes out without your say. Follow-up stops the moment the customer replies.

Your pricing rules, exactly

A clay workshop desk with blueprints, a clipboard, a stamp and a stopwatch
example · 2:15 PM, after the site visit Notes and measurements in Estimate drafted from your price book · 1 item flagged Approved by you · sent the same afternoon

What are automated quotes and estimates?

Quotes are where a lot of local businesses lose jobs. The estimate goes out three days later, after the customer already hired someone faster. Or it goes out at midnight, missing a line, priced from memory.

Automated quotes and estimates take what you already know (your price book, your minimums, your add-ons) and turn an inquiry or a site visit into a professional estimate you review before it is sent. If the customer goes quiet, a polite follow-up goes out, and it stops the moment they reply.

how it works

How do automated quotes and estimates work?

  1. Capture the job

    From a web form, a call, or your notes and measurements from the visit. A person checks the measurements.

  2. Draft from your price book

    Line items, options and totals come straight from your prices and rules. Anything it can't price, it flags for you instead of guessing.

  3. You approve, it follows up

    You review and send. If the customer goes quiet, a polite follow-up goes out on your schedule and stops the moment they reply.

the rules are part of the build

What stays in your control.

  • It never invents a price or a line item outside your price book. It flags instead.
  • Nothing reaches a customer without your approval.
  • A person checks measurements.
  • Follow-ups stop the moment the customer replies.
  • Your prices stay private to your business.

worth knowing

In a study of 1.25 million sales leads, firms that tried to reach a lead within an hour were nearly seven times as likely to qualify it as firms that waited even one hour longer.

Source: Harvard Business Review, "The Short Life of Online Sales Leads," March 2011

questions owners ask

Questions about automated quotes and estimates

Will it change my prices?

Never. Every estimate is built only from the price book you approve, and you review each one before it goes out.

What if a job doesn't fit my price book?

It flags the job for you instead of guessing. You price the unusual parts; it handles the routine lines, totals, options and formatting.

Do I have to switch estimating software?

No. We build around the tools you already use, whether that is your invoicing software, a spreadsheet or a notebook.

How fast can a customer get a quote?

Minutes after you approve it. For straightforward jobs that can be the same day as the inquiry, and for site visits the draft can be ready before you are back at the shop.

Can customers accept the estimate online?

Yes. Customers can accept online, and you're told the moment they do.

What does it cost?

It depends on the business and the leak. On a short call we'll show you what fixing it is likely worth, and you'll see the price before anything starts. No long contract.

The other five.

Each one plugs a different leak. Start with the one that costs you the most, and add the next when it pays for itself.

Ready to send quotes the same day?

Tell us what's costing you the most. We reply within one business day.

What do you want help with?
Best time for a call back (optional · Eastern Time)

Pick a day and we'll call you then. Or leave it, and we'll reply by email.

or email joe@chalkthis.ai