What your customers see when you send an estimate

In this article, you'll learn what happens on your customer's side after you send an estimate: the message they get, what the estimate looks like in their customer portal, and how approving, signing and declining work. Knowing this makes it easier to answer "where do I sign?" when a customer calls.

To see it yourself:

  1. In the menu, click Estimates and open an estimate.
  2. Click Actions, then Preview as customer. The estimate opens in a new tab exactly as your customer will see it, without sending anything.

The text or email they get

On the estimate, click Send (it reads Send Again once the estimate has gone out). The Send estimate pane has two tabs: Via email and Via SMS. The Message is your Estimate template's wording with the customer's details filled in, and you can edit it before you click Send email or Send text. Edit template changes that wording for every future send.

  • A text always carries a link to the estimate.
  • An email carries the same link, plus a PDF copy of the estimate when Attach emailed PDF files is on in Settings › Estimates. It's on by default.

If the estimate asks for a deposit, the pane also shows Let client pay the deposit with: with a Credit card box. Leave it ticked and the customer can pay the deposit by card right after approving. Untick it and they approve without a card step, and you arrange the deposit with them yourself.

Once it's sent, the estimate's status moves from Unsent to Pending.

Where the link takes them

The link opens your customer portal at customer-portal.page under your company's name. There's no login step: the link signs them in by itself and lands on the estimate. The portal shows your business name and phone number, and a Book a service link when your website is on file.

Their estimate sits in Your Inbox as a card: Estimate # with the number, an Awaiting approval chip, the sent date, and a money line reading Total, with Deposit in front of it when one is due. Any invoices and documents you've sent them before sit alongside it.

Note: The first time they open the link, the CRM records the view and tells your office. Who hears about it, and how, is the Estimate viewed row in Settings › Document notifications.

What the estimate looks like

On a computer, the estimate shows its title, Total, a Decline button, an Approve button and a ⋮ menu with Print and Download as PDF. The full estimate sits below, laid out from your Estimate document template. If a card deposit is due, the button reads Approve & pay deposit instead.

On a phone, the estimate is its own page: Back to homepage and Download PDF at the top, the estimate in a scrolling box, and a fixed panel at the bottom with Total estimate, Required deposit when there is one, and the Approve and Decline buttons. On a phone, Download PDF emails the PDF instead of downloading it: the customer confirms the address and taps Send.

Approving and signing

Approving is signing. Approve opens a Sign & Approve panel (Sign & Pay when a card deposit is due) with step 1 Add your signature:

  1. If the estimate has optional items, each shows as a tick box reading Add plus the item name and price. Items you marked as default are already ticked, and the Total under them updates as they tick and untick.
  2. They draw their signature in the Sign box. Clear wipes it to start over.
  3. Get a copy via email sends them the signed estimate. It only shows when they have an email on file.
  4. They click Approve, or Continue when a deposit is next.

With no deposit, the buttons are replaced by Approved — thank you, the signature is stamped into the estimate, and in your CRM the status becomes Won.

With a deposit, step 2 Make a deposit follows. By default the customer goes straight to the deposit payment page. If Allow clients to pay deposit offline or after approving estimate is on in Settings › Estimates, they see Pay deposit and Pay later instead. Until the deposit is paid, their inbox card reads Deposit due with a Pay deposit button, and your CRM shows the estimate as Approved - Pending Deposit.

Tip: If you unticked Credit card when sending, the customer still approves and signs, then sees "Approved — the deposit will be arranged with you." No card form appears.

Declining

Decline opens a Decline estimate box that asks Please tell us why you're declining the estimate, with a Select a reason list: Too expensive for my budget, Found a better price or value, Doesn't align with my needs, Timeline doesn't work for me, Personal circumstances, or None of the above. They can't decline without picking one. The reason is saved on the estimate in your CRM, and your office is notified through the Estimate declined row in Settings › Document notifications.

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