The Estimate to Approval SOP

Purpose

A standard operating procedure (SOP) is the written, repeatable process everyone follows the same way, so results do not swing with who built the quote. The estimate-to-approval process turns a request for a price into a documented yes. Done consistently, every customer gets the same clear scope, the same pricing logic, and a real follow-up, and the shop stops losing jobs to quotes that were never sent, never explained, or never chased. This SOP defines how an estimate is built, presented, followed up, and recorded, from the moment a price is requested to the moment work is authorized.

Scope

Applies to any priced work that needs customer approval before it starts: a repair option, a replacement, a project bid. Covers building the estimate, putting it in writing, presenting it, following up, and recording the outcome. It does not cover the initial intake (see new customer intake) or executing the approved job (see job closeout). Change orders on an in-progress job follow the same present-and-approve discipline.

Roles and responsibilities

Procedure

1. Confirm the scope before you price anything

Nail down what the customer actually wants solved before you put a number on it. Guessing the scope is how a quote comes back too high to win or too low to survive. Write the scope in plain language and confirm it back to the customer, so the estimate prices the real job.

2. Build the estimate on the shop's standard pricing

Price from the shop's standard price book and labor rates, not from feel. Standard pricing is what keeps two estimators from quoting the same work two different ways. If the job needs a judgment call, base it on the standard and note the reason, rather than inventing a number.

3. Put it in writing with clear inclusions and exclusions

A verbal price is a dispute waiting to happen. The written estimate states what is included, what is not, the price, and how long it holds. Spell out exclusions plainly (permits, unforeseen conditions, restoration) so an approved job does not turn into an argument at billing.

4. Present it and walk the options

Do not just send a number. Explain what the customer is buying, and where it helps, offer a good-and-better choice rather than one take-it-or-leave-it price. A customer who understands the options approves faster and haggles less. Present in person or by a call for larger work; a bare emailed number wins the fewest jobs.

5. Get a documented approval before work starts

No work begins on a verbal maybe. Capture a clear approval, a signature, a written yes, a recorded confirmation, tied to the specific estimate version. This is the line that protects both sides: the customer approved this scope at this price, and that is what gets built.

6. Follow up on a fixed cadence

Most estimates are won or lost in the follow-up, not the first send. Set a standard cadence, a prompt first touch, then spaced reminders, and work it until you get a yes, a no, or a clear not-yet. Silence is not a no. A shop that follows up on a schedule closes work that a shop relying on the customer to call back never sees.

7. Record the outcome and the reason

Mark every estimate won, lost, or pending, with the reason. A lost-reason logged is a pattern you can fix (too slow, too high, lost to scope confusion). Unrecorded outcomes teach the shop nothing and let winnable work quietly disappear.

Watch out for

• Pricing before the scope is confirmed. A fast wrong number costs more than a slower right one.
• Sending a bare number with no explanation. Options and clarity close jobs; a lone figure gets shopped.
• No follow-up cadence. The estimate you never chased is the job your competitor closed.
• Starting work on a verbal yes. Get the documented approval first, every time.

References

• See related: The New Customer Intake SOP
• See related: The Job Closeout SOP
• Trade-standard practice for field-service estimating and quote follow-up