If I could hand off one task in my business today, it would be turning an approved quote into a complete, ready-to-execute job plan.
We build detailed quotes line item by line item, but once the customer selects what they want to move forward with, there is still a lot of manual work required to turn those approved items into actionable job tasks. Especially when the client makes frequent change orders or requests add ons.
Ideally, Jobber could take each approved quote line item and automatically create a task with the scope, worker assignment, dependencies, materials, and status tracking connected to it. This would give our workers a clear sequence of work and allow the client to see exactly what is completed, in progress, or waiting on a dependency.
A major part of this would be an AI “Nothing Forgotten” Material List. AI could analyze the full scope and identify everything needed to complete the work—not just the primary materials, but quantities, waste, fasteners, adhesives, trim, transitions, consumables, and other easily overlooked items. We often lose time making multiple trips back to the store because something wasn’t captured upfront.
The ideal workflow would be:
Quote → Customer Selections → Job Tasks → AI Material List → Dependencies → Worker Assignments → Progress Tracking → Completion
Essentially, I want to hand Jobber the approved scope and have it help turn that scope into an organized, material-ready, trackable execution plan for both our team and our client.
I agree, moving a quote to a job, with details, is a bit of work. I try to make my quotes as complete as possible, with some extra materials for adjustments. That way, I can easily print my material list, which includes labor, and make sure everything is on-hand when the job starts. This is what I am an expert at: defining the (electrical) project and scope of work, then breaking all of the tasks down into a list of parts and labor. However, if I could hand-off anything, it would be the scheduling, which I am not an expert! There are multiple factors that disrupt the timing, and owner changes are the most consistent. That is a domino effect, because when jobs exceed the time allotted, it pushes everything forward. We want the extra work, but having to reschedule is frustrating for the customers, as well as the support team, not to mention our reputation. Also, if there are delays in receiving critical materials, that can disrupt the plan of the job. When the job is not ready, for example the ditch is not dug, or the framing is incomplete, then we need a back-up plan. If every job had a time window attached to it, and there were also categories for emergency response work, filler work, etc., it would be easier to adapt on the fly, and reroute crews to keep the flow going. It is best to always have some smaller jobs ready to go, so that when the inevitable happens, there is work ready. The way I usually schedule, is to leave gaps in between intentionally, because I would rather that we get to a job earlier than planned, not later. It is time consuming to arrange that with customers, so I think it is best to prearrange it, by informing them that the schedule may be modified by events beyond our control. So scheduling is, at best, to me some kind of artistic pattern with the first committed "brush **bleep**" time the start, then the reality of when it does happen still in the ether somewhere. I think it could be more scientific, whereas there are general patterns that can be better defined, and backup plans already in place. Ideally, all of the communication would happen before the actual day arrives, so we rarely find out in the morning that we need a plan B! The scheduling machine would be extremely helpful.
