Leads & Estimates

Creating an Estimate

Start an estimate from the lead, then build its route, inventory and price on the Estimate Dashboard and save it.

Estimates start on the lead page, in the Estimates tab. The estimate is the single record for the move: once booked, this same estimate carries the move through dispatch, warehouse, payments and documents, and its estimate number is the permanent move number.

Starting a new estimate

  1. Open the lead and go to its Estimates tab.
  2. Click Create Estimate. The Create New Estimate dialog opens.
  3. Choose the Move Type: Long Distance, Local or Auto Transport. If the lead has no department yet and your company has more than one, also choose the Service Department.
  4. Click Create Estimate.

When you open a lead that has no estimate, the Create New Estimate dialog opens on its own, once per lead in each browser tab. The Move Type is picked from the lead's addresses (their states, or their ZIP codes): Long Distance when the two states differ, Local when they are the same. When the addresses don't show both states, nothing is picked and you choose. Check the type before you click Create Estimate, because it can't be changed once the estimate exists. A long move within one state, or an auto lead, is yours to change in the same dialog. Click Cancel to leave the lead without an estimate for now; the dialog won't open on its own again for that lead in that browser tab, and Create Estimate is always there. If you can see only your own estimates, the dialog doesn't open on its own, because the lead may already have an estimate you can't see.

The estimate is saved straight away with its estimate number and opens on its own Estimate Dashboard in a new browser tab. The lead page stays open and lists the new estimate. Click any estimate in that list to open it in a new tab.

A new estimate starts from your company's pricing defaults (see Setting Your Rates). Its pickup date starts as the lead's move date when the lead has one.

Leads with no rep. If the lead has no sales rep yet, creating the estimate assigns the lead to you, as long as you appear in the assignment list (Show in Assign/Reassign List, which the Sales, Quality Assurance and Auto Transport roles carry). A lead that already has a rep keeps that rep.

You can keep more than one estimate on a lead, for example two options for the customer to choose between.

The Estimate Dashboard tabs

  • Estimate: the route, schedule and price.
  • Inventory: items by room, packing materials and item photos. Auto Transport estimates have no Inventory tab.
  • Storage & Job Details: warehouse and storage details, when your company uses Warehouse & Storage.
  • Payments: the payment ledger.
  • Dispatch: the pick-up and delivery schedule.
  • Insurance: valuation coverage. Every estimate starts on the standard released value.
  • Documents: signed and uploaded paperwork.
  • Revision: booked Local and Long Distance jobs only.

Some tabs only show when your company uses that feature and your role allows it.

The Estimate tab

Work from top to bottom:

  • Route. Click Edit Route to fill in Moving From and Moving To (for Auto Transport, Pickup From and Drop-off To): the contact's name, phone, email and address. Click Save Route when done. Calculate Distance measures the driving miles, and you can type over them with Edit Mileage. Each address links to Google Maps so you can check truck access.
  • Pickup Schedule. Set the Estimated Pickup Day, an optional Second Pickup Day and the Pickup Time Window. Use Add Pack Day or Add Box Delivery if you need them. Each date saves when you leave the field.
  • Charges Calculation. This is the price. See the next section.
  • Department, rep and broker number. The estimate's department, Sales Representative and Broker / Booking Agent Reference #.
  • Emails & Invoices. Send and view the estimate, the Bill of Lading and the email history. See Sending Proposals and Signatures.

Pricing the move

What you see in Charges Calculation depends on the move type:

  • Local. Each Labor: row is one crew: vans, men, hours and the crew rate per hour. Below it is a Travel: row. Use Add Labor Row for a second crew. Choosing the number of men fills in that crew's rate from your Local Pricing table; you can change it.
  • Long Distance. The Line Haul is the cubic feet (or Weight (LBS)) times the rate. The cubic feet come from the inventory. A new estimate starts at your company's baseline rate; click Tariff to use your tariff's rate for this route and size.
  • Auto Transport. List each vehicle (year, make, model and condition), choose the Carrier Type, and type the Total Auto Price and Deposit.

Then come the price adjustments: the surcharge, origin and destination fees, Accessorial services (stairs, long carry and shuttle on each side, a bulky item fee, and the job's free storage days and storage rate), Additional charges and Discounts. At the bottom are the Total Estimate and the Required Deposit.

Labor hours

Type the hours on every labor and travel row:

  • Whole or half hours, such as 6 or 6.5.
  • A labor row needs more than 0 hours. A travel row can be 0.
  • No more than 24 hours on one row. This catches a typo such as 65 for 6.5.

If an hours entry breaks a rule, a red line under the rows says why and the estimate will not save until you fix it.

Saving the price

Click Update Estimate Total at the bottom of Charges Calculation. Until you do, the new price is not saved: View Estimate shows the last saved version, and Send Estimate refuses to send until you save.

Notes typed in Prints on the estimate (under Emails & Invoices) save on their own when you click away.

Adding inventory

Open the Inventory tab. It has three parts: Inventory, Visuals and Packing Materials.

  1. Pick a room on the left. To add another room (for example "Bedroom 2"), type it under Add a room to this estimate and click Add.
  2. Click items in the catalog to add them to that room. The catalog shows the items for that kind of room, ten at a time.
  3. To find any item, use Search inventory. For a one-off item, use Add a specific item: type the name, cubic feet and quantity, then click Add to the room.
  4. All Added Items shows everything on the estimate, grouped by room, with a quick catalog search.
  5. Click Save Inventory & Packing at the top.

Catalog items show a small picture of the item. An item you type by hand under Add a specific item has no picture, and a few catalog items have none either.

Visuals holds photos of listed items. Packing Materials lists boxes, wrap and specialty packs, priced per item.

Locking

Once the estimate is booked, its inventory, cubic feet and pricing lock. A banner across the top says so. Payments, dispatch, storage, insurance, addresses and notes stay editable. See Booking an Estimate.

Your company setup checklist must be complete before customer estimate links can be sent. See Initial Company Setup.