Getting started with QuoteCloud

Draft QuoteCloud proposals from ServiceM8 jobs

The job is already in ServiceM8 on your phone. Drop it in a queue and a Zap drafts the proposal from your QuoteCloud template, with the job number, address and what the client asked for filled in.

Build a Zap with QuoteCloud's Zapier app, on Essentials and up. ServiceM8's Job Queued trigger starts it when a job is assigned to a queue such as 'QuoteCloud proposals', and QuoteCloud's Create Document drafts the proposal from your template with the job's details in data items. The tech adds photos, checks the options and sends it.

Last reviewed by the QuoteCloud team

Two overlapping panels with sample data. Behind, Ridgeline Trade Services' draft proposal RT-4127 for Hannah Whitfield, its data items filled by a Zap from the ServiceM8 job: job number 2071, job address 18 Kestrel Way, what the client asked for, hot water leaking at the base, technician Mia Tran; below, three hot water systems to choose from. In front, an illustration of job 2071 at Quote status, in the QuoteCloud proposals queue.

Why start the proposal from the ServiceM8 job?

Mia Tran, a plumber at Ridgeline Trade Services, logs every visit as a ServiceM8 job on her phone. Most are fixed on the spot or quoted in ServiceM8. A failed hot water system is different: Hannah Whitfield needs three systems to compare, photos of what's wrong and a deposit to book the install.

So Mia puts job 2071 in Ridgeline's 'QuoteCloud proposals' queue. A minute later the draft is in QuoteCloud with the job's number, address and description filled in, built from the hot water template with its three systems and add-ons. She adds her photos from the visit and hands Hannah the phone.

  • The queue is the switch: only the jobs your team sends there get a QuoteCloud proposal. Everything else stays in ServiceM8.
  • The template decides the systems, add-ons, wording and deposit; the Zap fills the details.
  • The ServiceM8 job number goes into a data item, so the office can match the signed quote to the job.

How does a ServiceM8 job create the proposal?

Two steps, and two more if the job carries the client's email. Every name is the exact event you pick in Zapier.

ZapJob queued for a proposal: draft it

  1. When ServiceM8TriggerJob QueuedChoose the queue, such as 'QuoteCloud proposals', and optionally a job category.Passes on
    • Job number
    • Job address
    • Job description
    • Staff
  2. Then QuoteCloudActionCreate DocumentFrom your template. Data items take the job's details; price-table rows are optional.Mapped in
    • Template
    • Document title
    • ServiceM8 job number
    • Job address
    • What the client asked for
    • Technician
  3. Or QuoteCloudSearch · optionalFind or Create ContactOnly if your test data shows the job contact's email.Searches on
    • Email
    • First name
    • Last name
  4. Or QuoteCloudAction · optionalAdd Document RecipientMapped in
    • Document
    • Contact

No ServiceM8 step writes back to job 2071: ServiceM8's Zapier app can't update a job. Use New Job with a job category instead of Job Queued if every job of that kind needs a proposal. The same job can be built in Make, bring your own.

Mia queues job 2071 at 9:02 am, in Hannah's driveway. At 9:03 RT-4127 is waiting in QuoteCloud as a draft with the job's details, and she's adding the photo of the corroded relief valve.

Result

A draft proposal from Ridgeline's hot water template, filled with the job's details a minute after the job is queued. Mia finishes it on site and Hannah signs there.

Essentials and up · per-document fee for each document a Zap creates

Quoting on site for trade businesses

The job goes in, the draft comes out

The draft RT-4127 in QuoteCloud, beside the ServiceM8 job that started it.

Ridgeline Trade ServicesJob quote RT-4127 Sample · fictional business

Data items filled by the Zap

ServiceM8 job number
2071From ServiceM8 · Job Queued
Job address
18 Kestrel WayFrom ServiceM8 · Job Queued
What the client asked for
HWS leaking at baseFrom ServiceM8 · Job Queued
Technician
Mia TranFrom ServiceM8 · Job Queued

Choose your new hot water system

Data items filled from the job. The three systems come from the template, for Hannah to choose.

Zap

  1. Job Queued
  2. Create Document
Jobs · QuoteRidgeline Trade Services Illustration · sample data

Job · ID 2071Hannah Whitfield · Hot water18 Kestrel Way

  1. Quote
  2. Work Order
  3. Completed
Status
Quote
Queue
QuoteCloud proposals
Job address
18 Kestrel Way
Job description
HWS leaking at base, relief valve corroded
Staff
Mia Tran

Job diary

  1. Added to the QuoteCloud proposals queueBy Mia Tran: this one needs optionsTue 13 Oct · 9:02 am
  2. Job created on siteBy Mia Tran, on her phoneTue 13 Oct · 8:40 am

Illustration with sample data: a generic CRM record, not ServiceM8’s screen.

Job 2071 at Quote, in the QuoteCloud proposals queue.

A Zap never ticks options or chooses content blocks: Hannah chooses the system. The job record is our illustration of a generic job app with sample data, not ServiceM8's screen.

What fills the proposal from the ServiceM8 job?

What each step maps, with the sample values from job 2071. Check the names against your trigger's test data.

Job queued to draft proposal: ServiceM8 fields and where they land in QuoteCloud
ServiceM8: ServiceM8 fieldDirectionQuoteCloud: QuoteCloud fieldGoes intoExample (sample data)Note
Into the document (Create Document)
Job number ServiceM8 to QuoteCloud ServiceM8 job number Data item 2071 The office uses it to match the signed quote to the job.
Job address ServiceM8 to QuoteCloud Job address Data item 18 Kestrel Way The Work Order Zap maps it back to ServiceM8.
Job description ServiceM8 to QuoteCloud What the client asked for Data item HWS leaking at base
Staff ServiceM8 to QuoteCloud Technician Data item Mia Tran
Job address ServiceM8 to QuoteCloud Document title Document field Hot water replacement, 18 Kestrel Way
Only if the trigger carries it
Job contact email ServiceM8 to QuoteCloud Contact (Find or Create Contact) Contact field hannah.whitfield@example.com Then Add Document Recipient adds Hannah. Otherwise Mia picks the contact in QuoteCloud.
A value you map ServiceM8 to QuoteCloud Price-table row: label, note, price, qty Price-table column Call-out & site assessment · $95 · 1 Optional, row by row. The systems and add-ons come from the template.

Data item names are the ones in your template. All values are sample data.

Variations for ServiceM8 teams

Small changes to the Zap, and the Make route.

  • Every job in a category

    Use ServiceM8's New Job trigger with a Job Category, such as 'Split system installs', when every job of that kind needs a proposal. See it at Halden.

  • A template per kind of job

    Use Paths by Zapier on the queue or job category, with a Create Document step and its own template in each path: hot water, switchboards, split systems.

  • Send it straight away

    Add QuoteCloud's Send Document after Add Document Recipient for standard proposals that need no photos. Most trades keep the draft to finish on site.

  • Build it in Make instead

    Bring your own: connect Make to QuoteCloud with Make's built-in OAuth, then call QuoteCloud's API from a scenario that starts with Make's ServiceM8 modules. No ready-made QuoteCloud app on Make.

Build it with a free trial

QuoteCloud's Zapier app is on the Essentials plan and up. Start a free 14-day trial, connect ServiceM8 in Zapier and test with a sample job.

Build the proposal Zap in five steps

  1. Make a queue in ServiceM8

    Add a queue such as 'QuoteCloud proposals' for the jobs that need options, photos and a deposit.

  2. Add data items to the template

    In QuoteCloud, add data items such as ServiceM8 job number, Job address and Technician to the proposal template. Custom data items are on Essentials and up.

  3. Start with Job Queued

    In Zapier, choose ServiceM8's Job Queued trigger and your queue, then load a test job and check which fields it carries.

  4. Create the document

    Add QuoteCloud's Create Document with your template and map the job's fields into the data items. Add the contact and recipient steps if the job carries an email.

  5. Test, then turn it on

    Queue a test job with an @example.com contact, check the draft in QuoteCloud, then switch the Zap on.

Questions about proposals from jobs

Which ServiceM8 trigger should start the proposal?

Job Queued, when your team decides job by job: it fires when a job is assigned to the queue you pick, so only the jobs sent there get a QuoteCloud proposal. New Job, with a Job Category, suits teams where every job of one kind needs a proposal. Both are ServiceM8 triggers in Zapier.

Can the Zap address the proposal to the client?

Only if the trigger's test data includes the job contact's email. Then QuoteCloud's Find or Create Contact and Add Document Recipient add the client. If it doesn't, the Zap leaves a draft and the tech picks the contact in QuoteCloud before sending. ServiceM8's Zapier app has no search step to look the client up.

Does the Zap price the job for me?

No. Create Document drafts from your template, so the systems, add-ons and labour lines are the template's, and it can add price-table rows from values you map. A Zap never ticks options or chooses content blocks: the tech checks the draft and the client makes the choices.

Does each proposal the Zap creates carry a fee?

Yes. Documents created through Zapier or the API carry a per-document fee of US$2.00, $1.80 or $1.60 by volume, and QuoteCloud's Zapier app is on the Essentials plan and up. Using a queue keeps the count down: only the jobs your team sends there create documents.

More ServiceM8 questions

More on QuoteCloud and ServiceM8

Six use cases with the exact Zapier steps, when to quote where, then how to connect and what it costs.

Queue the job. The draft is waiting.

Start a free 14-day trial, add data items to your template and build the Zap with a test ServiceM8 job.