Step 14 of 15 · Clients
Show the client and the resident where things stand
Client portal software works best when nobody has to create an account, so everything Estimark puts in front of a client or a resident opens from a link. A client opens their quote, reads the line items, picks between any options and signs it. Where the project view is switched on, the same link carries job progress and milestones, payment applications, the documents you marked client-visible, the site diary, variations and the warranty. A resident of a managed property gets a link of their own for reporting a repair, and gets a reference number straight back. Visits can be booked from a public link, documents come back signed with the name, the time and the IP address recorded against them, and a nought-to-ten satisfaction score per job feeds a report.
- 01
What does a client see without logging in?
Their quote, opened from a link: the line items you chose to show, any options they get to pick between, net, VAT and total, your terms, and a signature pad to accept it or a box to say why they are declining. Once the quote is accepted and the project view is switched on, the same link grows tabs. Progress carries the job number, the status, the site address, the dates, the contract value and a percentage complete, with the milestones under it and the payment applications with their cumulative and net figures. Then the documents you marked client-visible, the last thirty site diary entries with the weather and who was on site, the variations register with a form for requesting one, the RFIs you sent them, and the warranty with its defect list. Every view is logged with the time, the page and the IP address, and issuing a new link revokes the old one.
- 02
Can a resident report a repair themselves?
Yes, from a link that belongs to their property rather than to them. It opens on the address and the name of the firm managing it, then asks what the problem is, a longer description, which of twenty-two kinds of repair it is, their name, a phone number or email, and any access notes. Picking a hazard category shows the resident the investigation timescale before they submit, and an emergency puts the twenty-four hour notice in front of them. Submitting returns a reference number, and the repair lands in the register marked as reported by the resident. Where the category is one of the Awaab’s Law hazards, the priority and both clocks are set from the moment it was reported rather than waiting for somebody to triage it in the morning.
- 03
Can a client book their own visit?
Yes, once you switch a booking link on. It offers the next fortnight, weekdays only, as morning or afternoon slots, and each day shows only what is left after the appointments already in the diary, against a number of slots a day you set. The client picks one and gives their name and a description of the work, with a phone number, an email and a postcode if they want to. The appointment arrives in your diary as proposed with a reference on screen for them, and somebody in the office confirms it. A client who has given the same email before is matched to their existing record rather than becoming a second one.
- 04
How does a document come back signed?
From a link, with the evidence attached to it. You send an NDA, a variation order, a subcontract agreement or anything else you have the wording for, and the person signing types their name and draws their signature on the page. Estimark records the time, the IP address and the browser, takes a SHA-256 hash of the document exactly as it was shown to them, and hashes that together with the signature and their details, so a later argument about what was signed has an answer. The trail holds when it was created, when it was first opened, when a reminder went out and when it was signed. The link works once, expires on the date you set, and a certificate PDF goes by email to you and to them.
- 05
How do you know whether the resident was satisfied?
From a survey per job and a report across the answers. The survey opens on its own page, asks for a score from nought to ten and a comment, and takes a name if they give one. The report totals how many went out, how many came back, the response rate, the average score, the spread across the ten and the most recent comments. A score of seven or better can carry through as a testimonial on your public company page where you have one, and a nine or a ten offers the resident your Google review link. Alongside it, six SMS templates ship with the customer messaging module (a confirmation, a reminder, an on-my-way, a no-access card, a completion message and a satisfaction ask), and the on-my-way message is a button on the appointment today.
- No login
- Quote, repair, booking, signature and survey all open from a link
- Signing
- Typed name, drawn signature, IP address, time and a document hash
- Satisfaction
- A nought-to-ten score per job, averaged and reported
What this step does not do
- A client can read and sign a quote from the portal. Paying an invoice from it isn’t available at launch.
- The photo tab lists the site photos marked client-visible. The images themselves don’t render on the client’s side yet.
- The resident form takes a description, a repair type and access notes rather than a photo, and it is one way: a resident can’t come back to the link to see what happened to their report.
- A self-booked slot lands in your diary as proposed and gives the client a reference on screen. Nothing texts or emails them to confirm it, and confirming it is a person’s job.
- A document sent for signature gives you a link to pass on yourself. Chasing reminders are emailed, the first send isn’t.
- A satisfaction survey goes out per job through the API rather than from a button on the job, and nothing sends one automatically when a job is marked complete.
- The satisfaction report gives the average of the nought-to-ten scores and the spread across them. It isn’t the promoter-minus-detractor Net Promoter Score calculation.
- Job update messages send by SMS. The email channel records the message against the appointment without sending it yet.
Questions
Clients, frequently asked
Does a client need a login to see their job?
No. The quote, the project tabs, a booking, a document to sign and a satisfaction survey all open from a link. There’s no account to create and no app to install.
Can we measure resident satisfaction?
Yes. A survey per job asks for a score from nought to ten and a comment, and the report gives the average, the response rate and the spread across the scores. It averages the scores rather than calculating the promoter-minus-detractor Net Promoter Score, and a survey goes out per job through the API rather than from a button on the job.
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