Photo quote intake
A quote request form, the way we build it, asks for photos and a few facts, then puts a clean file in front of the person who prices the job. It does not guess a dollar amount from a picture. We built the first version for a plumbing company. We are packaging that build so other trades can hand an estimator the same kind of file.
Two ways
By hand
The customer texts three pictures to whoever’s number they have. The office saves them to a camera roll, asks for the address again, and prices from memory. Half the details are in a different thread by the time the estimator sits down.
With the system
The form asks for the photos, the address, the trade, and what they think is wrong. It confirms what it received. It does not say “about four hundred.” The estimator opens one file, not a scroll of texts.
Status
A plumbing company used the first version. We are turning that into a system other trades can run. The worked example below is the file the office opened: photos, a note, and a confirmation that named no dollar amount.
How it runs
Photos, a short note, the address or ZIP, and a way to reply. If you need the panel, the roof slope, or the fixture in the frame, the form says so before they hit send. Vague photos come back as a request for a clearer one, not as a price.
Check that the files arrived and the address is in the area you serve. Build the file: photos, note, contact. Notify the person who prices. Stop. There is no step where a model names a dollar amount.
A file the estimator can open, a confirmation the customer can read, and a record that the request exists. The price, when it exists, is something a person typed, and the record can show that they typed it.
The yes
That the photos arrived. That someone will look on the next business day. That you do not serve that ZIP. Those lines are templates you approve once.
A range, a “probably a repair not a replacement,” or a date the crew will arrive. Those are estimates. They belong to the person who is willing to stand behind them.
A customer who asks “so what will it cost” gets the queued path: a person answers, or the confirmation repeats that pricing happens after a look. The form does not fill the silence with a number.
Worked example
Four photos, a note, and a confirmation. The estimator still priced the water heater.
Four photos of a water heater closet, a note that it was leaking at the top, and a ZIP code inside the shop’s area. The form asked for the closet because the first photo was a hallway.
One file: the four photos, the note, the address, and the time. The estimator priced it the way they already price water heaters. The confirmation to the customer said the photos were in and a person would reply. It did not name a dollar.
They opened the file, priced the water heater, and sent the number themselves. The form had already collected the closet shot, the address, and the leak note, so the pricing sat in one place instead of a scroll of texts.
Who uses it
Water heaters, panels, roofs, and condenser pads are the usual photos. The home services page puts this system next to the phone and the first reply, so you can see which one is actually late.
If you refuse to price without a truck on site, the form can still collect the request, but it should say a visit is required. Do not ask for photos you will ignore. That wastes the customer’s time and fills a queue nobody opens.
A request that started as a missed call may need the text first. A request that is only a question, with no photo, belongs on speed to lead.
Questions
Because that is what the customer thinks they are filling out, and the office still has to produce the quote. The form’s job is to collect a usable request: photos, place, and a note. The quote is a person’s job. Splitting those two keeps a bad photo from becoming a bad price. If you want the form to show a published flat rate you already charge, that rate has to be one you approved as a standing offer.
The photos, the note, the address, and the time they arrived. The confirmation tells the customer the photos are in and that a person will reply. The estimator opens that file and types the price. Packaging the build means other trades can hand their office the same kind of file.
The file is marked incomplete and the customer gets a request for a clearer shot of the thing you named, such as the label or the flashing. They do not get a price “to be refined later.” A number that depends on a photo you cannot read is a number a person should refuse to send.
Yes. The form is the front. The file has to land where your estimator already works, which we name in the plan. We do not ask you to open a second inbox for the sake of the demo. If the photos currently arrive by text to the owner’s personal phone, part of the build is giving that phone a rest.
Only when you already price that job from photos. Many jobs still need a truck. The confirmation should say so, in a sentence you approved. The system’s win is that the visit, when you require one, is scheduled from a complete file instead of from a blurry text and a missing ZIP code.
The photos
If they arrive as texts, say that. We will tell you whether this form is the first system or whether the phone is.
Get your free Systems Plan