Fab and sign shops · Carbonset
The shop quote that needs a proof approved before anyone signs.
Fab and sign shops quote from a sketch, revise from a proof, and wait on a purchasing department. Carbonset tracks who opened the proof and when the bid runs out.
Where quotes go missing.
A shop can finish a price before the buyer has approved the proof. The estimate waits in a purchasing inbox while material prices change and the bid date gets closer.
Keep the proof and scope tied to the quote, and set an honest expiry. The commercial cadence asks who else is reviewing before its final email repeats the date the bid is good until.
A real quote.
Channel letters, 14 in, aluminum returns, 9 letters
| Item | Qty | Price | Line |
|---|---|---|---|
| Channel letters, 14 in, LED lit | 9 letters | $480.00 | $4,320.00 |
| Raceway, painted to match | 1 | $780.00 | $780.00 |
| Install with a bucket truck, 4 hours | 1 | $840.00 | $840.00 |
| Sign permit filing | 1 | $300.00 | $300.00 |
| Total | $6,240.00 | ||
The cadence we'd start you on.
Commercial bid · starting point
- Day 3Email8:00The bid for the channel letters, with the proof attached.
- Day 7Call task10:00Call. Ask who else is reviewing and when they decide.
- Day 14Email8:00The bid is good until the date on the quote. Aluminum prices move after that.
When it gets busy.
Material prices move. Set fab quotes to expire in 14 days, and the last email says so.
Store openings in spring and budget-year purchasing in November and December both run on deadlines. Put the bid date on the quote, and the last email can say it plainly.
Questions from fab and sign shops.
Can more than one buyer review a bid?
The Commercial bid cadence supports up to three contacts. Keep them on the same revision so the office can follow one record.
What if material prices change quickly?
Set the quote to expire in 14 days. The final email repeats the valid-until date rather than implying the price will hold indefinitely.
Can the proof wait before signing?
Keep the proof approval step in the written scope. The sample cadence creates a call task to ask who is reviewing and when they decide.
Start with the commercial bid cadence.
Pick fab and sign shops when you sign up and it is loaded before your first quote.