Convert Inquiries to Quotes (Estimates) | Lead Management

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Convert Inquiries to Quotes (Estimates) | Lead Management

Converting Inquiries to Quotes

When a customer submits an inquiry (lead) and you need to confirm scope and pricing before scheduling, you can convert the inquiry into a professional quote (also called an estimate) in just a few clicks. This prevents double entry, speeds up your sales process, and keeps a clear audit trail from lead → quote → booking.

Table of contents

What this feature does

Converting an inquiry to a quote creates a new quote record using the inquiry as the starting point. After conversion, the inquiry and quote remain linked, so your team can switch between them anytime and keep full context in one place.

Benefits and common use cases

  • Faster quoting: start from the inquiry instead of re-entering customer details.
  • Better lead management: move leads forward while keeping a clear history.
  • Higher conversion: respond faster with clear, professional pricing.
  • Team visibility: sales/office staff can see inquiry context alongside the quote.

Typical use cases: trades, cleaning, HVAC, maintenance, mobile services, wellness/therapy, inspections—any business that needs pricing approval before booking.

Method 1: Convert from the Inquiries list

  1. Open Inquiries in the admin dashboard.
  2. Find the inquiry you want to quote.
  3. Click Actions next to the inquiry.
  4. Select Convert to quote.

Inquiries list: Actions menu showing Convert to quote

The New Quote form will open. Review and complete your quote details (for example: status, labels/tags, sales rep, follow-up, expiry date, services/line items, pricing, discounts, taxes, and any internal notes), then click Save changes.

New Quote form opened after converting an inquiry

Method 2: Convert from the inquiry details page

Use this method when you want to review the inquiry first (requirements, notes, attachments, and context) before generating the quote.

  1. Go to Inquiries.
  2. Open the inquiry (for example: Actions > View inquiry).
  3. On the inquiry details page, click Actions.
  4. Select Convert to quote.

Inquiry details page: Actions menu showing Convert to quote

Complete the New Quote form, then click Save changes (same quote form as Method 1).

What happens after converting

1) The inquiry and quote stay connected

Once converted, the inquiry will show a direct reference/link to the quote (and you can navigate between them for fast follow-up and full traceability).

Inquiry record showing linked quote reference (View Quote)

2) The inquiry is no longer treated as “new”

After an inquiry is converted into a quote (or booking), it typically won’t appear under New Inquiries anymore, helping keep your new-leads queue clean and focused.

Send the quote to the customer

After saving the quote, an email draft pop-up appears so you can send the quote immediately. Review the recipient, subject, and message content, attach any files if needed, then click Send.

Send Email popup for sending the quote to the customer

Tip: If you don’t want to send it right away, you can save the quote first and send it later from the quote record.

Use templates (canned responses) & placeholders

To keep communications consistent and faster to send, use Canned Responses (pre-written templates) with Placeholders (dynamic fields) to automatically insert details like customer name, quote reference, pricing, dates, and links.

Canned Responses and Templates Engine

OctopusPro also includes a range of ready-made quote templates you can use immediately and customize from your Templates / Canned Responses settings. These are available for both Email and SMS (depending on the template type), and commonly include templates such as:

Template Placeholders Summary

Automations for quote follow-ups (optional)

To reduce manual chasing and improve conversion rates, you can enable built-in automation workflows from your Automations settings. These automations can automatically send email/SMS follow-ups based on quote status and customer activity.

Common quote-related automations include:

  • Pending Quote Follow-Up
  • New Quote Follow-Up Reminder
  • Quote Reminder
  • Abandoned Cart Follow-Up Reminder

Each automation can be configured to use a specific Email and/or SMS template, and you can fully customize the template content (subject, message, placeholders, and branding) from your templates/canned responses settings.

Automated Procedures & Automation

Best practices

  • Itemize your quote: break pricing into clear services/line items to reduce back-and-forth.
  • Set an expiry date: protect your pricing and encourage timely decisions.
  • Use labels/tags and assign a sales rep: improve reporting, ownership, and follow-ups.
  • Schedule follow-up reminders: prevent leads from going cold.
  • Convert to booking after acceptance: once the customer approves, convert the quote to a booking to lock in scheduling.
  • Operational note: if a quote is accepted but you can’t fulfill it (availability, service area, etc.), update the quote/lead status internally and communicate the next steps to the customer.

Troubleshooting

  • I can’t see “Convert to quote”: confirm your user role has permission to manage inquiries/quotes.
  • Email pop-up doesn’t appear: check browser pop-up blocking and ensure templates/communications settings are configured.
  • Quote looks incomplete: open the quote, update services/line items/pricing, then resend.

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