Reference build
A quoting workflow for a trades business
An enquiry arrives with a photo, a postcode and a rough description. The system asks the missing questions, drafts a quote from the price book, and waits for a person to approve it. This is a reference build, not a client project — no invented client, no invented results.
What “reference build” means
What “reference build” means
We built this to demonstrate a pattern, using synthetic data. It has not been sold to or deployed for a named client, and the figures below are examples, not measured outcomes. We are telling you that because the alternative — dressing it up as client work — is the thing this site exists to avoid.
The problem
Quoting is the bottleneck, not the work
A small trades business typically quotes in the evening, from memory, after a day on site. Enquiries arrive by phone, text, WhatsApp, Facebook and email, each with a different amount of information. Half of them are outside the travel area, too small to be worth doing, or not the kind of job the business wants.
The cost is not the quoting software. It is the unbilled evening, the enquiries answered three days late, and the jobs that are priced on a guess and lose money.
The flow
How the reference build works
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1. One intake form
Job type, postcode, photos, access notes and preferred timing. The form adapts: a bathroom enquiry asks different questions from a gutter repair.
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2. Qualification
Postcode checked against the travel area, job type against the services offered, and a rough size band against the minimum job value. Out-of-scope enquiries get a polite reply with a referral, not silence.
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3. Draft from the price book
A price book holds rates per job type and size band. The system drafts a quote with assumptions stated in plain English, and flags anything it could not price.
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4. Human approval
Nothing is sent automatically. The draft lands in a queue with the photos and the original message. The owner edits the price or the wording and presses send.
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5. Follow-up
A reminder after three days, then a second after seven, then a close-out. Every message is drafted and approved, not auto-blasted.
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6. Record
Accepted and declined quotes are logged with the reason, so the price book improves over time.
Before and after
The intended change
These are design targets for the pattern, not measured client results.
| Stage | Typical today | With the workflow |
|---|---|---|
| First reply | Same evening, if at all | Within minutes, automatically acknowledged |
| Information gathered | Phone tag, missing photos | Structured at intake |
| Quote preparation | 20–40 minutes each | Draft in minutes, reviewed before sending |
| Out-of-area enquiries | Answered manually or ignored | Declined politely with a referral |
| Follow-up | If remembered | Scheduled and approved |
| Price consistency | From memory | From a maintained price book |
Guardrails
What it deliberately does not do
- It does not send a price without approvalThe owner is the pricing decision. The system drafts and explains; it does not commit the business.
- It does not invent scopeIf the photos and answers are insufficient, it asks for more or flags the quote as provisional.
- It does not chase indefinitelyTwo follow-ups and a close-out. No drip sequence that makes a small business feel like a call centre.
- It does not hide the logicEvery draft shows which rates and assumptions produced it, and the owner can override any line.
Build
How it is put together
The intake form posts to a small service that validates and stores the enquiry. Qualification is deterministic rules, not a model: postcode area, service list, minimum value. The drafting step uses the price book and a template; where a language model is used at all, it is to turn structured answers into readable prose, not to choose the price.
That distinction matters. A probabilistic system should not be the thing that decides whether a job is profitable. It can write the email; the rules and the person decide the number.
Related
Related
- Trades websitesThe site that feeds this workflow.
- Agentic automationThe general pattern, and where it fits.
- AI governanceApproval steps, logging and limits.
Questions
The things people ask first
Can this be built for my business?
Yes, if your jobs can be described by a price book and your travel area by postcodes. It starts with a blueprint, not a build.
Do I need new software for the price book?
Not necessarily. It can start as a structured spreadsheet. The workflow reads it; the owner maintains it.
What happens to enquiries outside my area?
They get a polite decline and, where we have one, a referral. That is better for the customer and for your reputation than being ignored.
Is this AI?
Partly. The qualification and pricing are rules. A model may help write the message. The judgement stays with you.
Related
Let’s find out whether technology is the answer
Tell us what you are trying to achieve. We will tell you honestly whether we can help, what it would take, and roughly what it would cost — before anyone signs anything.