Sending a Quote for Signature

Once a quote is priced, three steps take it to the customer: build the document, advance the stage to Ready to send, and send the signing link. This article walks an estimator through those steps and the record the send leaves behind.

Before you begin

The quote needs a customer and a price. The canvas says so itself: “Priced and current — build the document first (Output ▾ → Preview PDF), then advance the stage, then send it.” Until the first cost run, it reads “Price the quote — the first cost run unlocks Preview PDF and the exports.”

Choosing Who Signs

In the quote header, Signs lists the customer’s contacts. Pick the person who will sign. Left alone, it reads “Not chosen” with the note “Nobody chose this — the customer’s contact order did. Editing the customer can change who signs.” — the first contact on the customer is the default. A contact that was later removed from the customer shows as “Removed from the customer” rather than silently becoming someone else.

Building the Document

1. In the quote header, open Output ▾.
2. Click Preview PDF. In the Preview PDF dialog, pick a template under Template (it reads “Choose a template” until you do), then click Generate PDF. The document is built from the latest cost run.
3. Read the preview: the cover, the pricing table, the terms, and the signature block. It carries the “DRAFT” mark until the quote is sealed, because nothing is sealed yet.

Output ▾

If you change the quote after building the document, open → Preview PDF again. The dialog says “This quote has changed since the presentation was built — update it to pick up the current numbers.” Its button now reads Update to match this quote instead of Rebuild. Use it before you send, or the customer’s document shows the earlier numbers.

Advancing to Ready to Send

1. In the quote header, open Advance to…. The list offers the next stages — → Ready to send, → Won, → Lost.
2. Choose → Ready to send. A dialog headed Send to “Ready to send”? explains: “Advancing seals this quote — the customer’s document is produced now, from the finalized quote, and cannot be edited afterwards. To revise it later you’ll clone it to a new draft.”
3. Click Advance & seal. The quote locks and its document is sealed. Nothing is emailed yet.

Admin

Stage names are your organisation’s: an administrator configures them under → Operations → Lifecycle. Ready to send is the name every NXTC tenant uses today for the stage that locks a quote before it goes out.

Sending the Signing Link

1. Click Send to customer. The Send to customer dialog opens.
2. Under Recipient, check To (email) and Name. They are prefilled with the proposal contact; if you change the address, a checkbox appears — “This address differs from the proposal contact ({address}). Send to it anyway — recorded as chosen by you.” — and you tick it to confirm.
3. Under Send a copy, set Copy to (optional): Nobody, one of the customer’s contacts, or Another address…. The dialog explains: “They receive the proposal as a PDF attachment, with no signing link — only {the signer’s address} can sign.”
4. Under Message, check Reply-to, Subject, and Message. The note beneath reads “When the customer signs, the signed copy is also sent to {your notify addresses}. Change this under Quote Settings.”
5. Click Send the signing link. The button reads “Sending…”, the dialog closes, and the quote shows its after-send badge.

Send once

After a send, the header offers Send again, and its button reads “Send again — issues a new signing link”. Use it only for a bounced address or a lost email: it issues a second link, and the earlier one stays valid until it expires.

Reading the Delivery Record

After a send, click Delivery record in the quote header. Each send is listed with who it went to, the subject, the reply-to address, how long the link is valid, how often it was opened, and who is told when the customer signs. Open Message as sent to read the email exactly as it left. Beneath it, the signing link’s own line shows Sent, the time, the address, and the Carrier id — the mail provider’s id for that message, which is what support asks for when an email is disputed. When an address bounced, the record says Not delivered to; when the customer has acted on a link, the acts are listed under Acts on these links.

Two actions live here: “Send another copy to… (commas separate addresses)” with Send copy mails a PDF copy after the fact, and Revoke this link ends a signing link that should no longer be answered.

Troubleshooting

I don’t see Send to customer

The button appears once the quote’s stage is Ready to send. Price the quote, build the document under Output ▾ → Preview PDF, then choose → Ready to send under Advance to… and confirm Advance & seal.

The dialog says the address differs from the proposal contact

You changed the recipient away from the customer’s first contact. Confirm it if that is intended, or fix the contact order on the customer — see Adding Customers and Contacts.

The record shows Not delivered to

The mail provider could not deliver to that address. Correct it on the customer’s contact, then use Send again, which issues a new signing link.

Related Articles

• Creating Quotes with Quote Generator
• Adding Customers and Contacts
• Reviewing and Signing a Proposal
• After the Customer Signs
• Designing a Template
• Previewing and Publishing a Template