The proposal is the last thing a homeowner sees from you before they decide, and often the only thing they show their partner. Heat-pump jobs make proposals harder than furnace swaps: more options, more technical terms, program money that may or may not apply, and longer decisions. This guide helps you choose a tool that handles that, without relying on vendor demos or feature lists. It's vendor-neutral, and it works whether you end up with a standalone tool or the module already inside your CRM.
Step 1: Work out what slow proposals cost you
Answer first: before you compare tools, put a dollar figure on the problem, so you know how much effort a fix deserves.
Pull your last 30 heat-pump site visits. For each one, note the date of the visit, the date the proposal was sent and whether it closed. Then fill in this worksheet.
| Measure | Your number | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Site visits per month | 40 | |
| Average days from visit to proposal | 3.5 | |
| Close rate on proposals sent within 1 day | 38% | |
| Close rate on proposals sent after 3+ days | 24% | |
| Average job value | $14,000 | |
| Gross margin | 30% |
In the example, the gap between fast and slow proposals is 14 points. If every one of the 40 monthly visits got a proposal within a day, and the faster close rate held, that's about 5.6 more jobs a month than if they were all slow. In practice some already go out fast, so assume half that gain: roughly 2.8 jobs. At $14,000 and 30% margin, each job leaves $4,200 of gross profit, so the gap is worth about $11,760 a month.
Your split will be different, and a small sample can mislead. But even a rough version of this tells you whether you're solving a $500 problem or a $10,000 one.
Step 2: List what a heat-pump proposal must do
Answer first: eight capabilities separate heat-pump-ready proposal tools from generic quoting.
- Multiple options in one document. Good, better and best side by side, with the homeowner choosing in the document itself.
- Price book with assemblies. A "ducted cold-climate system" assembly that pulls in the outdoor unit, air handler, line set, pad, electrical and labour, so technicians don't build it line by line.
- Optional add-ons. Backup heat, thermostats, duct changes, water heater, each with a tick box that updates the total.
- Separate program and financing lines. A clearly labelled estimate of program money and any financing offer, shown apart from the price.
- Total price including mandatory fees. Permits, disposal and other unavoidable charges in the headline number.
- Mobile build and e-signature. Built on a tablet, signed on a phone, deposit taken at the same moment.
- Job creation on signature. The signed proposal creates the job record, ideally with equipment and program details carried over.
- Reporting on options chosen. Which tier sells, at what price, by technician.
Point 5 is not only good practice. The Competition Bureau treats advertised prices that leave out mandatory fixed fees as drip pricing, and it also watches environmental claims. A proposal that states the real total and makes only factual efficiency claims keeps you on safer ground. For legal questions, talk to a lawyer.
Step 3: Weight the features for your business
Answer first: assign weights before you look at any product, or the demos will decide for you.
Give each capability a weight from 1 to 5 based on how much money it touches in your business. Here's an example for a four-crew installer selling mostly ducted systems:
| Capability | Weight | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Multi-option proposals | 5 | Most jobs are quoted in three tiers |
| Price book with assemblies | 5 | Speeds technicians up the most |
| Mobile build and e-signature | 5 | Proposals happen in the driveway |
| Total price with mandatory fees | 4 | Avoids disputes and drip-pricing risk |
| Separate program lines | 4 | Most customers ask about rebates |
| Job creation on signature | 4 | Stops double entry |
| Optional add-ons | 3 | Useful, not decisive |
| Option-choice reporting | 3 | Helps pricing decisions later |
A ductless-focused installer might weight assemblies lower and add-ons higher. A company that subcontracts installs might put job creation at 5.
Step 4: Shortlist and trial on real jobs
Answer first: shortlist no more than three tools, then run each on real proposals for two weeks.
Demo data is always clean. Your jobs aren't. A useful trial looks like this:
- Days 1–2: load a stripped-down price book with your ten most common items and two or three assemblies.
- Days 3–5: your estimator builds proposals for real visits in parallel with your current method.
- Days 6–10: one or two technicians build proposals on site, unaided.
- Days 11–14: send a handful of real proposals to homeowners from the new tool, and note questions they ask.
Score each tool from 1 to 5 against every capability, multiply by the weights, and add up. Then ask the technicians which one they'd actually use. If the highest score and the technicians' favourite disagree, find out why before you decide.
Step 5: Write the templates before go-live
Answer first: software doesn't sell; the words in the template do.
Before you switch, write:
- a one-paragraph summary of each tier in plain language: comfort, running cost direction, backup heat and warranty
- an explanation of key performance figures in homeowner terms, especially how the system copes on cold nights
- standard exclusions, so nobody is surprised later
- program wording that says "estimated", names the program, links the administrator and states that the homeowner must qualify
- an expiry date for prices and program notes
Assign one person to review the price book and templates every quarter. Equipment costs and program terms both move.
Step 6: Measure after launch
Answer first: compare the same three numbers you measured in step 1.
Track average days to proposal, close rate and tier mix each month for at least three months. If speed improves but close rate doesn't, the next fix is probably follow-up rather than proposals; our automation recipes guide covers that. If tier mix shifts toward the base option, look at how the middle tier is described.
Common mistakes
Answer first: most failures come from setup and habits, not the tool.
- Choosing on price alone. A cheaper tool that technicians avoid costs more than it saves.
- Showing rebates as already deducted. It implies certainty you can't give on site.
- Keeping the old method running "just in case". Set a switch-off date.
- Letting each technician edit templates. Consistency is what makes proposals comparable.
- No link to the job record. Signed proposals that need retyping into the CRM bring back the delays you were trying to remove.
When to get help
Answer first: if you've done steps 1 to 3 and the shortlist is still unclear, a second opinion saves weeks.
Our proposal software service covers the full setup, including price book build and technician training. If you haven't chosen a CRM yet, start with CRM selection so the proposal tool connects to it, and see pricing for how this work fits the plans.
Frequently asked questions
Should we use the proposal module in our CRM or a separate tool?
Start by testing the built-in module against the scorecard in this guide. If it handles multi-tier proposals, e-signature and price books well enough, keeping one system usually beats a better tool that needs integrating.
How long should a software trial last?
Two weeks of real proposals is usually enough to see whether technicians will use it and whether homeowners respond. Shorter trials tend to test the demo rather than the tool.
What's the single most important feature?
Speed of building a proposal on site. If a technician can't produce a clean three-option proposal in the driveway, every other feature matters less.
Do homeowners care what software we use?
They don't care about the brand. They care whether the proposal is clear, arrives quickly, lets them compare options, and can be signed without printing anything.