Write an estimate and have the client accept it
Price the work from your rate card, send it, and let the client accept it in their portal. Accepted, it becomes the campaign, with nothing typed twice.
5 min readUpdated
An estimate is a campaign that hasn't been agreed yet. It has the same scope lines as a campaign, priced from the same rate card, so the day the client accepts it, the agreed lines become the campaign's scope and billing starts from them.
- 1
Start one
Click New estimate, choose the client and give it a name. You can also start one from a client's page, under Work.
CampaignsEstimates - 2
Say what's being sold
Add scope lines under What's being sold: fees, retainers, milestones, hours, costs passed on and media. Hours by role are priced from the rate card.
- 3
Or draft it from the brief
Paste the client's brief or an RFP under Draft it from the client's brief and click Draft the lines. Each drafted line is marked to check: change it or click Looks right. It can't be sent until every one is checked. Worth asking the client lists what the brief left open.
- 4
Send it
Send to the client emails it with its PDF, or choose I sent it another way if it went by hand. Choose how long it stands. The client sees it in their portal, with your terms.
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Their answer
In the portal they click Accept the estimate or Ask for changes, giving their name and email. If they answered by email or signed the PDF, record it from the menu: The client accepted it… or They asked for changes….
Versions
Sending fixes a version: its lines, total, dates and terms. Change the estimate after that and the client still sees the version they were sent until you send the next one. Versions sent lists each one with its answer, and The PDF as sent opens exactly what they saw. They accept the version they were sent, never a draft.
Won, lost or expired
- Accepted. The estimate becomes a campaign in review, with the lines of the version accepted. Someone other than whoever sent it approves it, as for any campaign, and then it's under way.
- Lost. Choose Mark lost… and say why. Reopen brings it back if they come round.
- Expired. With no answer by the date it stands until, the client can no longer accept it. Send it again to give them more time.
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Related
- Campaigns for agenciesBill a campaign over time against its scopeGive a campaign a scope of fees, retainers, milestones, hours, costs and media, and bill each part as it falls due.
- Campaigns for agenciesWhat clients see: campaigns, deliverables and updatesClients follow their campaigns in their portal, accept estimates and deliverables there, and get an update from you drafted from the records.
- Campaigns for agenciesAI that drafts, and the rules that decideWith AI on, Claude drafts estimates, time, invoice wording, reminders and client updates. Every figure is still worked out by rule, and a person confirms everything.
- Campaigns for agenciesChange orders, closing a campaign, and engagementsChange an approved scope with a second approval, and the client's. Close a campaign once it's billed. Group campaigns under engagements you can renew.
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