Customer's message
Underlined words are the evidence behind job card fields.
Every quote starts with a back-and-forth
Enquiries arrive in the customer's own words and often miss something the estimator needs. Someone re-types them, works out what's missing and writes back, sometimes twice, before a quote can start.
One enquiry, start to finish
need a new kitchen asap how much
To start a quote, the estimator needs the room size, the finish, the colour and whether it's installed. Kez gave none of them, and asked for a price.
Today
- A rep re-types Kez's details into the quote sheet
- Works out from memory what the estimator will need
- Writes back, careful not to guess a price
- Result: Kez answers half; the rep writes again. The quote waits.
2 rounds 1
With the copilot
- The job card is filled in, each detail quoted from the form
- The checklist shows the four missing details
- A draft asks for exactly those, with no price
- Result: the rep reads it and approves. Kez is asked once.
Where the business value is
Hypotheses, each with how it would be measured, mostly from the run log. No savings figures: without real enquiries, any number would be made up.
- Faster first replyCustomers asking for quotes often contact more than one business. A quick, clear reply keeps the lead warm.Time to draft and time to decide; % of each draft edited (run log)
- Ask once, not twiceEvery extra round adds days before a quote and is another chance for the customer to drift away.Rounds per quote, before and after (needs live inbox data)
- Estimators price, not chaseA complete brief means estimator time goes on quoting, the work that brings in revenue.Flagged fields per brief (run log)
- No promises it can't keepA price or date guessed in a first reply is hard to walk back. Upset customers get a person, not a template.Screen hits per draft (run log); routing accuracy (evaluation)
One quieter benefit: what "complete" means for each product is written down in one settings file. Today it may live in one experienced person's head; with the copilot, a new rep asks the same questions on day one.
Who it's for
- Sales repLess typing, and a reply they'd happily send
- EstimatorA complete brief to price from
- OwnerControl over what customers are told
- CustomerA quick reply that asks once
What it doesn't do
It doesn't price, send, or connect to an inbox or CRM. It prepares; a person decides. Those limits are deliberate: they keep the first version safe to trial.
What I'd ask in discovery
- How many enquiries a week, and through which channels?
- What does a complete enquiry look like for each product, and who decides?
- How many back-and-forths does a quote take today, and how long does the first reply take?
- How often does a lead go quiet before a quote is sent?
- Where do enquiries live now: shared inbox, CRM, paper?
- What must a reply never say, besides prices and dates?
From messy enquiry to a reply you approve
1
Choose an enquiry
Sent to , which sells . Anything else is out of scope.
2
What happened
3
Review and decide
Select any job card field to see the exact words it came from.
Draft reply for the sales rep
Job card
Quote brief for the estimator
Run log
Every approve or reject is logged, in this browser only.
How it works, and what it costs
Tested on hand-written messages. Every number here is read from the saved results, not typed in.
Who does what
AI reads and drafts, code checks, a person decides.
AI
Reads and writes
- Sorts each message
- Fills in the job card
- Drafts the reply
Code
Checks
- Every detail has a quote
- What's missing, from the business's list
- No prices or dates
Person
Decides
- Approves every reply
- Sets every price
All 9 steps
| Step | By | Why that way |
|---|---|---|
| 1 Classify the message | AI | Reading intent needs language understanding; the cheap model is enough |
| 2 Route it | Code | The AI can't talk its way into replying to an upset customer |
| 3 Extract the job card | AI | Messy wording and contradictions need a stronger model |
| 4 Check every quote | Code | A detail without words from the message is downgraded |
| 5 Find what's missing | Code | The business defines "complete", not the AI |
| 6 Draft the reply | AI | Natural writing is what models are good at |
| 7 Screen for prices and dates | Code | A prompt is a request; this is the guarantee |
| 8 Build the brief | Code | Same format every time |
| 9 Approve or reject | Person | Nothing reaches a customer without a person |