Follow up on leads and estimates
On this page
An estimate records what was calculated. A lead records contact information associated with a customer submission. Contact capture connects the two; a completed calculator can exist without a lead when capture is disabled or not used.
Choose capture for the customer journey
Before-result capture requires contact information before revealing the estimate. After-result capture offers the result first and then a follow-up form. Optional capture does not make contact a prerequisite; disabled capture removes it.
Enabled forms require name and email. Add phone, company, address or notes only when useful for follow-up. Tell customers what will happen when they submit. Avoid using contact capture as a promise of booking, payment or guaranteed availability; those systems are not part of OpenQuoteStack.
A normal question labeled “Email” is not the contact-capture configuration. Use the dedicated result settings to attach a contact coherently to the stored quote.
Inspect a completed estimate
Open Estimates and select the new record. Review:
- The estimator and revision used for calculation.
- The customer's effective answers.
- Ordered line items and adjustments.
- Total and optional range.
- Contact details, when supplied.
- Internal notes and status activity.
The server calculates and retains the price. A browser preview does not create a stored estimate, and a client-supplied total is not accepted as the authoritative result.
Repeated customer submissions within the same public visit retain one estimate. Contact supplied after the result attaches to that quote instead of creating an unrelated calculation.
Use statuses consistently
| Status | Suggested business meaning |
|---|---|
| New | A quote needing review |
| Contacted | Follow-up has started |
| Qualified | Scope and customer interest have been confirmed |
| Won | The opportunity was accepted through your business process |
| Lost | The opportunity did not proceed |
| Archived | Removed from active follow-up |
These labels support a lightweight workflow. Setting Won does not collect payment or create a booking. Add a short internal note when a status change needs context.
Estimate status changes can emit webhook events. Review integrations before performing bulk operational work so downstream systems interpret the statuses correctly.
Understand the Leads view
The Leads view groups related contacts by email without replacing individual contact records. Look at linked estimates and latest activity when following up. Do not assume one grouped email equals one distinct person or that opportunity value is collected revenue.
The recent estimate and lead lists are limited to 200 records in this alpha. Search and pagination for those administration lists remain planned. REST lists have their own cursor pagination contract.
Generate a branded PDF
Open the estimate detail and use the PDF download. It contains retained line items and total/range with current business branding/contact information, estimator terms and optional expiration presentation.
A future expiration date does not automatically invalidate the estimate. A regenerated PDF after a branding change may display a new logo while keeping old pricing. Use your own business process to confirm a final proposal or contract.
Manual estimate email is available when SMTP is configured. A queued job is not proof that the recipient's provider accepted or displayed the message; inspect the worker and delivery configuration when sending fails.
Interpret analytics honestly
Dashboard and Analytics report a rolling 30-day view of visits, starts, completions, contacts and quoted values. Visits are sessions, not unique people. API-created estimates do not fabricate public views or step events.
Different currencies are kept separate. Do not add USD and BRL totals into one pipeline figure. Step reports also separate revisions, because moving a question between steps changes what a drop-off means.
Plan customer-data handling
The alpha does not provide automated retention or customer erasure/export workflows. Establish how your organization will handle requests before collecting real customer information. Protect backups and integrations as well as the live database.
Read privacy and data flow and production readiness.