Can You Text an Estimate to a Client? Yes. Here Is How Yes. You can text an estimate to a client, and for most residential and service work it is the fastest way to get it opened, signed, and paid. Instead of a PDF attachment sitting in an inbox, the estimate goes out as a secure link from a business number dedicated to your company. The client taps it, reviews the line items, e-signs, and can pay a deposit on the spot. Here is why texting works so well for the trades and how to do it right. Why texting beats email for homeowners Think about how your clients already talk to you. They text. The estimate that lands in the same thread as "what time are you coming Tuesday" gets seen. The estimate that lands in an email inbox competes with promotions, receipts, and a spam filter. A few reasons text wins: Open rates. Widely reported industry figures put text message open rates somewhere north of 90 percent, with most messages read within minutes of arriving. Business email open rates are a fraction of that, and even the emails that do get opened often sit for days first. Speed to signature. Homeowners usually collect two or three bids. The first clear, professional estimate often sets the anchor for the whole decision. A texted estimate can be open on the client's phone before your competitor has finished typing up a Word doc. No spam folder. A text from the number the client already knows does not get filtered. An email from a company they talked to once absolutely can. Nothing to print. The client reviews and signs on their phone. No printing, no scanning, no "I'll get to it when I'm at my computer." None of this means email is dead. It means email should be the backup, not the default, when your client is a homeowner with a phone in their pocket. How texting an estimate works in Staxen Staxen handles the whole loop, from pricing the job to collecting the deposit: Build the estimate by voice. At the truck after the walkthrough, tap once and describe the job: scope, materials, rough quantities. Staxen drafts the line items with pricing, and you review and adjust before anything goes out. (For what a strong estimate should include, see how to send professional estimates.) Text it from your dedicated business number. The client gets a short message with a secure link, from a number they can save and text back. Not a random shortcode, not a no-reply email address. The client taps the link. They see a clean, branded estimate with your company name and every line item spelled out. No app to download, no account to create, no login. They e-sign and pay the deposit. Right on the same page, the client signs electronically and can put down the deposit by card or ACH bank transfer. You get notified. The moment the estimate is opened and the moment it is signed, you know. No "did you get my email" calls. The same loop carries through the rest of the job. Invoices go out as texted payment links from the same number, and change orders get approved by text too, so the client has one thread with your business from first quote to final payment. Keeping it professional Texting clients works because it is personal. That same closeness means you should treat it with some care: Use a business number, not your personal cell. Staxen sends from a dedicated business number, so your quotes and invoices come from the company, and your personal phone stays personal. Respect opt-outs. If a client replies STOP, that is the end of the conversation on that channel. Staxen honors opt-outs automatically, so you never accidentally message someone who asked you not to. Text about their job, not your marketing. A homeowner who gave you their number for a quote expects messages about that quote. Estimates, invoices, appointment reminders, change orders: all fair game. Promotional blasts are a different thing entirely and a fast way to lose trust. Keep it short and identified. The message should say who you are and what the link is. "Here is your estimate for the panel upgrade at 412 Elm, tap to review and sign" beats a bare link every time. Frequently asked questions Does my client need to download an app to view the estimate? No. The link opens in their phone's browser. They can review the estimate, e-sign it, and pay a deposit without downloading anything or creating an account. Can the client actually pay from the text? Yes. The estimate link supports deposit payment by card or ACH, and invoices sent later work the same way. The client goes from reading the message to paid in a couple of taps. What if a client prefers email? Send it by email instead, or send both. Staxen can deliver the same estimate link by text, by email, or through both channels at once, and the e-signature and payment work identically either way. Is texting estimates okay from a compliance standpoint? Texting a client about a job they asked you to quote is normal business communication. The basics still apply: send from a business number, identify yourself, and honor opt-outs. Staxen takes care of the opt-out handling for you. The bottom line An estimate the client never opens cannot get signed. Texting puts your quote where homeowners actually look, from a number they recognize, with the signature and the deposit one tap away. For the trades, that is not a gimmick. It is the difference between winning the job the same afternoon and chasing an email for a week.