The defect is known, the quote is not
An insurer's report lists three items on a lift at a retirement housing scheme. Your service manager reads it, agrees with the engineer on what needs doing, and adds it to the list of quotes to prepare. The estimator is working on a modernisation tender. Two weeks later the quote goes out, with a price that does not mention which report item each line relates to. The customer's property manager forwards it to their asset team, who ask what item two is for.
Weeks go by. Nobody chases, because nobody is responsible for chasing. The next examination arrives and repeats the same items.
Where the time goes between report and approval
Most lift companies can price remedial work quickly when they have the details and a free hour. The delays come from handoffs and silence.
- Defects wait in a queue that is really the estimator's inbox.
- Quotes do not reference the report, so customers struggle to approve them.
- Common repairs are priced from scratch each time.
- Several defects on the same lift go out as separate quotes.
- No one tracks which quotes are waiting for an answer.
What each defect requires, and how urgently, is a decision for your engineers and the customer. The admin problem is everything around that decision.
The cost of quotes that stall
Unapproved remedial work is work you do not get to do, and customers who wait are customers who sometimes ask another firm. When the same defect appears on a later report, it looks as though nothing has happened, even if you quoted it. For your service manager, stalled quotes mean repeated conversations and a growing list that never gets shorter.
A remedial quote workflow from defect to booked job
We build a remedial quoting workflow that starts from confirmed defects on each lift and ends with approved work on the planner.
- Confirmed defects from examination reports, and follow-up items from engineers, appear in a quote queue grouped by lift and customer.
- Your price book holds standard repairs with parts and labour. The estimator picks items, and the draft quote fills itself with prices they can adjust.
- Each quote line references the report item it addresses, with the report date and extract attached, so the customer's asset team sees exactly what they are approving.
- Quotes are sent from the system by email, with a link where the customer can approve all or part of the work online.
- Unanswered quotes are chased on a schedule you set, and the account manager sees a list of quotes waiting.
- Approved work creates a job on the planner, and requests a purchase order if the customer needs one.
| Step | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Defect confirmed | Added to someone's list | In the quote queue for that lift |
| Pricing | Built from scratch | Drafted from your price book |
| Quote sent | No link to the report | Each line references the report item |
| Waiting | Forgotten | Chased on schedule |
| Approved | Emailed to the planner | Job created, PO requested |
One report, followed through
Take an examination report listing a worn suspension item and a landing door gap issue on one lift, and a signalling fault on another at the same scheme. Once your service manager confirms them, the queue shows two lifts with three items. The estimator builds one quote per lift from the price book, adjusts the labour for access at that site, and sends them together with the relevant report extracts. The property manager approves the door and signalling work online the same week and asks for a meeting about the suspension item. The approved lines become two jobs on the planner, and the remaining item stays on the chase list with a note of the meeting date.
Quotes that move
The estimator spends time on judgement rather than typing. Customers get quotes that make sense next to their report, and can approve them without a meeting. The service manager sees at a glance what is waiting and for how long. When the next examination happens, you can show which items were quoted, when, and whether they were approved.
Signs your remedial quotes are stuck
- Defect quotes take weeks to go out.
- Customers ask which report item a quote line relates to.
- Nobody chases unanswered remedial quotes.
- The same defects appear on consecutive examination reports.
- Common repairs are priced from scratch each time.