The quote writes itself while you talk

You are up a ladder in a loft. The torch is in your teeth and the customer is asking what the job will cost. You say it out loud. The quote fills itself line by line while you are still holding the torch.

That is the whole idea. You do not climb down and type with one thumb. You talk, and the priced document is written by the time you are back on the floor.

What it does

The quote page is the form. It opens empty on today's date. You tap Talk and say the job in your own words. Each finished sentence is read as it lands and the line goes into the part of the quote it belongs to. The app works out the total from the lines as they arrive.

You can type into the same form. A typed quote and a spoken quote are the same document, and you can mix the two on one job.

Who it is for

It is for the solo trader who prices work while standing in it. One person and one phone, with no office behind it. It suits the job where your hands are full: a loft, a roof, under a sink, or a cupboard with the meter in it.

It is not for a team pricing jobs from a desk. There is no second user and no place to send the work for approval.

The six steps

1. Open a quote from the plus button, then tap Talk. The form is empty and dated today.
2. Say the job in any order. The customer, the work, the items, the day and the price can come in the order you think of them.
3. Each finished sentence is read on its own. You keep talking while the line before it is still being read.
4. The line files itself. An item goes into Materials, Labour, Travel time or Additional charges. The call-out fee keeps its own place. A customer name, an address, the work day and a note go into their own boxes.
5. Check the form. A line the reader could not place stays in your own words with one question: where does this go? You tap a section or delete it. Nothing is guessed and nothing is dropped.
6. Press Make quote. The microphone stops, the reads finish, and the quote is saved as a draft. It opens on the quote document. That press never sends it.

The button changes its word as you go. It reads Talk on a fresh page. It reads Make quote from the moment there is a line to save, even while the microphone is still listening.

The card before it writes

There is a second way to speak a quote. Ask the assistant for a quote and it answers with a card before anything is saved.

The card is called Make quote. It names the customer, the work and each line with the price it heard. It says when a line could not be read and when a price was not said. Nothing is written until you tap Make quote on the card. Then the draft is saved and the chat gives you one button to open it.

The card does not add a price you did not say. A line with no figure stays unpriced on the quote for you to set. A name that only looks like a saved customer is asked about rather than assumed.

Why a tradesman needs this

Typing a quote on a phone is slow, and the phone is in the wrong hand when the customer is standing there. If you wait until the evening, you have forgotten what the job looked like and you are guessing at your own price.

The spoken quote keeps the price next to the thing you are looking at. The customer gets the document while the job is still on their mind, and you get the evening back.

What it does not do

• It does not send the quote. Sending is a separate tap on the quote document. The message and the customer's link are there.
• It does not put a price on a line you did not price. The figure is the one you say. A line with no figure waits for you.
• It does not guess a line it cannot place. Your words stay on the form until you file them or delete them.
• It does not read a spoken line without a signal. The reading is done by the app's server. The records and the typed form stay on the phone.
• It does not keep a rate card and fill in your prices. It writes the figures you say.
• It does not know an answer given by phone. They can answer on the link, and the app records that. If they ring, you write it down.

Questions

Can I say a list of items in one breath?

Yes. Each finished sentence is read on its own, so a run of items lands as separate lines. A price said just after an unpriced item belongs to that item.

What if it hears the wrong word?

Change the line on the form. You can type over any box before you press Make quote. Nothing is saved until that press.

Can I type instead of talking?

Yes. The form is the same. You can type one line and speak the next.

Does it need a signal?

The reading does. The quote form and the records are on the phone, so you can type a quote with no signal. A spoken phrase needs the server, so a phrase it cannot read stays on the form in your words.

What happens to a line it cannot place?

It stays on the form in your words. You tap where it goes or delete it. The save refuses while a line is still waiting, so nothing is dropped by accident.

Do I need to set my rates up first?

No. The price is the one you say on the job. The app does not need a price list before it can write a quote.

Does the customer see the lines I spoke?

Yes. The quote they open shows the lines, the figures, the VAT you set and the total. They can approve or decline it there.

Related

• Quotes: the priced document and the customer's answer.
• Jobs: the work that starts when the customer says yes.
• Invoices: the bill that comes from the job.
• Every part of the app: the other pages.

Join the list

The app is not in the shops yet. Join the list and we will tell you the day it opens.