CRM
What lands on the contact record for every estimate — fields, tags and the consent note.
Once your CRM is connected, every submitted estimate is pushed in as a contact. That contact is what your automations run against. Connecting it is covered in CRM & Field Service Management.
The contact
Name, email, phone (normalised), street address and ZIP, with the source set to Instant Estimate HQ. An existing contact is updated, not duplicated.
The estimate fields
- Estimate Link — the homeowner's own results page. No cost or margin on it, so it's safe to send them. This is what your automations should use when you text or email "here's your estimate again."
- Estimate Summary — a plain-text recap:
HVAC estimate submitted March 4, 2026
Requested: Heat Pump (replacing Gas Furnace + AC)
Timeline: As soon as possible
Home: 2,692 sq ft · Built 1959 · Owner: Yes · Ductwork: Yes
Recommended size: 3 Ton
Options shown:
• Best — Carrier Infinity 20: $14,850 (from $198/mo)
• Better — Carrier Performance 17: $12,400 (from $165/mo)
• Good — Carrier Comfort 15: $10,200 (from $136/mo)For a home visit it reads "No online price shown — site visit required." The Timeline: line is the homeowner's answer to When are you looking to install?; leads from before lead scoring was added don't have it.
- Lead Score — the lead's score, from 0 to 100, such as
80. It's only written if you created this optional field. The score is for your team, so it never goes into the Estimate Summary: the summary stays safe to send to homeowners. Leads from before lead scoring was added have no score.
Tags
| Tag | Meaning |
|---|---|
lead: instant-estimate | Always applied. |
lead: iehq site-visit | No price shown — they need a home visit. |
lead: iehq sms-consent | They agreed to be contacted by text. |
lead: iehq heat_pump (etc.) | The system type they asked for. |
lead: iehq 3-zone | The zone count they picked on a mini-split. |
lead: iehq hot-lead, lead: iehq warm-lead, lead: iehq cold-lead | The lead's temperature. Leads from before lead scoring was added don't get one. |
Tags accumulate — come back and pick a different zone count and the old tag stays. The Estimate Summary field is the record of what they actually chose; the tags are for routing. The same goes for a homeowner who submits a second estimate: the contact keeps both temperature tags, and the Lead Score field, if you created it, has the latest score.
You don't need to pre-create any of these.
The consent note
When a homeowner agrees to be contacted, we switch off do-not-disturb on the contact so your automations can reach them, and attach a note with the exact wording they agreed to, their phone, email, IP address and browser.
That note is your audit trail if anyone ever disputes being texted.
Pipelines and opportunities
The Estimates pipeline and any automation that moves a deal between stages is configured inside your CRM during onboarding. Instant Estimate HQ writes the contact, its fields, tags and notes — your CRM turns that into an opportunity.
That's why the pipeline can be renamed or restructured to suit your team without anything changing on the estimator side. If you want the estimate details surfaced elsewhere on the record, or extra fields written, tell us.
Checking delivery worked
Delivery status, the Retry button and what to do when leads stop arriving are covered in CRM & Field Service Management.