SolarCleaningBossPro Blog — Quotes & Estimates

From Approved Estimate to Scheduled Job: What Happens After the Customer Says Yes

A lot of companies treat an approved quote as the finish line. It is really the handoff. The customer said yes, and now that yes has to turn into a real job: on a truck, on a day, with the right details for the tech and the right expectations for the customer. Done well, the customer barely notices the handoff. Done badly, they wait two weeks and wonder whether you forgot them.

After the Yes

Online Estimate Approval: Letting Customers Say Yes to a Solar Cleaning Quote covered getting the approval itself. This article picks up the moment the customer taps approve and follows the job until it is ready for the tech.

Step One: The Estimate Becomes the Job

In SolarCleaningBossPro, an approved estimate becomes the scheduled job. The services the customer approved, such as the per-panel cleaning, a story add-on, bird proofing or an inspection, carry into the job, so nobody retypes the work that was sold. The client and the address are already in the system from the estimate.

What you want to avoid is the old routine: the approval arrives by text, someone writes it on a calendar, someone else types it into a spreadsheet, and the extras get lost somewhere in between. One record from quote to job removes that.

Step Two: Enter the Panel Details on the Job

The job needs the details the tech will work from, and these are entered on the job once by the office:

• Number of panels.
• Mount: roof, ground mount or carport.
• Roof stories: 1-story, 2-story or 3+ story.
• Pitch: low, steep or flat roof.
• Extras: bird proofing, critter guards, inspection.
• Access notes: spigot location, roof access side, gate code, dog.

Once entered, they show under the address on the lists and on the tech's phone, like “24 panels · Roof · 2-story · Low pitch · Bird proofing,” on that visit and every visit after. There is a full article on doing this well: Entering Panel Details Once When a Solar Cleaning Quote Becomes a Job.

Step Three: One-Time or Recurring?

Before you pick a day, decide what kind of job this is. A one-time cleaning is done once and finished. A recurring plan comes back on its own:

• Twice a year for most homes, set at 180 days between visits.
• Yearly for customers who want one cleaning a year, at 365 days.
• Quarterly for commercial arrays, at 90 days.

Recurring cleanings come due on the Waiting List on their own once the minimum days have passed. The Waiting List is a live map and list, with pins colored by status: not due yet, due now, or overdue past a 7-day grace. If the customer did not pick a plan on the estimate, this is a good moment to ask.

Step Four: Put It on a Truck and a Day

Now the job goes on the schedule. On the dispatch board, you assign it to a truck and a day, then set the route order by hand or with auto-route, Closest First or Furthest First from the shop. Many companies run one truck on homes and another on commercial arrays, so a new residential job usually slots into the home truck's next pass through that area.

Try to get new jobs on the schedule within a few days of approval. A customer who just said yes is at their most eager. Leaving them waiting a month is a good way to get a cancellation.

Step Five: Keep the Customer in the Loop

Once the job has a day, the customer side runs on its own. Depending on the alert preferences the customer picks, they can get a reminder the night before, a text when they are next and a text when the tech arrives. On cleaning day, the customer app shows a live route map, like “You're stop 12 of 20 — the crew is 5 stops away.”

That is a big part of why customers trust a company they just met. They approved a quote, and the next thing they hear is exactly when you are coming.

Step Six: Completed, Invoiced, Paid

On the day, the tech works from the phone: navigation, panel details and access notes, Start, before-and-after photos and Complete. Completing the job creates the invoice and can charge the card on file. For a recurring plan, the next cleaning comes due on the Waiting List when the time between visits has passed.

Every step after approval is the same for every job, which is what makes it reliable. To see how estimates flow into scheduling, the tech app and billing, visit the solar cleaning estimate software page.