Quoting
In auto glass, the quote is the product.
Nobody plans a windshield. It cracks, and the same afternoon the driver rings three shops. The first one that gives a complete, correct answer usually gets the job, which means the quote is not paperwork that follows the sale. It is the sale.
Anatomy
What has to be in the quote before it leaves.
A glass quote is short, and every line is load-bearing. Leave one out and the customer is ringing the next shop while you go and find it.
- VIN and the exact glass
- Not the year, make and model. The VIN decides which of several windshields fits, because the sensor package, the acoustic laminate, and the trim level all change the part.
- OEM versus aftermarket, named
- The customer is entitled to know which one they are buying. It also changes what a carrier will pay, so the quote has to say which part it is priced on rather than leaving the question open.
- The small parts
- Sensor pads, clip kits, molding, urethane, and the primer that goes with it. These carry their own numbers and their own cost, and they are the line items most often missing from a hand-written glass quote.
- Recalibration, stated either way
- A modern windshield usually carries a recalibration requirement for the camera behind it. The quote has to say whether calibration is included and what it costs. Silence here becomes an argument at pickup.
- Mobile or in-shop, and when
- The two paths carry different prices and different promises. The customer wants to know whether the van comes to them and how long the car is out of service either way.
- Both payment paths
- The insurance path and the cash path in the same message: what the carrier is expected to cover, what the glass deductible leaves with the customer, and what the total is if they simply pay. Most callers do not know which path they are on until they see both.
- Tax, fees, and the expiry
- The number the customer hears has to be the number they pay. A quote with a surprise at the counter is a quote that loses to whichever shop was clearer.
Why speed decides it
The call you are on is a bidding war you cannot see.
Three shops, one afternoon, and the customer is comparing on two axes only: how fast somebody answered, and whether the answer sounded complete. A glass quote is not a considered purchase, so the shop that needs a callback to price it is usually the shop that loses it.
The call comes in
The driver is in a parking lot with a crack spreading across the passenger side, and they are ringing whoever they can find first. They have no idea what it should cost.
They are still on the line
This is the only window where the shop owns the customer outright. Once they hang up to "call you back with a price", they are somebody else's lead.
The other shop answered
By now the driver has a number and a time from someone else. Coming back with a better price later is possible, and it is a much harder conversation.
The job is booked elsewhere
The work went to whoever answered completely and quickly. The follow-up question is not how to win the job back, it is why the quote took so long.
What automation does
Four jobs, none of them pricing.
Assembles the quote from the VIN and the part data
The decode, the candidate part, the small parts that belong with it, and the recalibration flag, gathered in one pass while the caller is still talking.
Shows the insurance path and the cash path together
Both numbers in one message, with the deductible and the recalibration cost broken out, so the caller can choose instead of calling back to ask.
Captures the customer while they are still on the phone
Name, vehicle, VIN, address, carrier, and an accepted appointment slot if the shop has the availability. The record is complete before the call ends.
Follows up a quote that did not close
The next morning, with the same part and the same number in hand, so the message is a reminder rather than a new sales pitch. How glass lead follow-up works ->
The honest limits
Three things the shop still owns, permanently.
Your pricing
Automation does not set a price, does not discount, and does not decide what a job is worth. It repeats the numbers the shop has already decided.
Your part sourcing
Which supplier, which brand, and whether aftermarket glass is good enough for a given vehicle are judgment calls the shop makes and stands behind.
Your insurance terms
Participation agreements, network rules, and what the shop has agreed to bill are between the shop and the carrier. Automation does not negotiate them and does not promise what a carrier will pay.
One more line worth drawing: automation does not decide whether a chip can be repaired or whether a windshield needs replacing. It can quote the replacement a technician has already called for. It cannot make that call.
Time your own quotes
How long from ring to number?
Bring us a week of calls and quotes. We will show you where the time went and which ones never got a complete answer.