Creating a Plumbing Quote in Batigest: The Complete Method

By Noa Benitez, founder of BenIT, an AI consultancy in Toulouse.

A plumber in the Ariège region told me he spent an average of 38 minutes per quote, from the client's phone call to sending the PDF. With the method below, the same plumbing quote takes 12 minutes in Batigest. No hidden shortcut: just the order in which things get done.

The difference doesn't come from the software. It comes from the fact that most tradespeople open Batigest before asking the right questions, then go back and forth three times. Here, each step is done only once.

Before going any further, let's run the numbers on what that lost time actually represents.

Ten quotes a week is a small business with two to three employees. The number climbs fast because billable time lost on paperwork is never replaced: it's taken out of the evening or Saturday. If your calculation goes above fifteen thousand euros a year, the thirty-minute conversation is worth having.

What you need before opening Batigest: the four-question client brief

Opening Batigest before you have these four answers guarantees you'll have to go back and forth. Ask them on the phone, jot them down on a scrap of paper or in your phone's contacts.

• The exact nature of the job: urgent repair, appliance replacement, new installation or code compliance upgrade. Each type calls for a different quote template.
• The full address and the floor: a fifth-floor apartment with no elevator doesn't take the same time as a single-story house. It changes the labor.
• How urgent it feels to the client: what feels urgent to them isn't always technically urgent, but it frames the margin and the proposed timeline.
• The budget they have: the question is direct and saves you twenty minutes on a rejected quote. Simply ask: "Do you have a budget in mind for this job?"

Once you've noted these four answers, you can open Batigest knowing exactly what you're going to put in it.

Setting up Batigest once and for all for plumbing

A poorly configured Batigest forces you to correct every quote by hand. Here's what to check once, then forget about.

• Create three service categories: Repair, Installation, Maintenance. Each category groups its own items, margin coefficients and average times.
• Enter items with the supplier cost price: Batigest calculates the margin automatically. Without this figure, you're guessing and pricing too low.
• Turn on the default margin calculation: 30% for repairs, 25% for installations. Adjust based on your reality, but never leave the software at zero.
• Pre-fill the payment terms: 40% deposit on order for any installation, payment on completion for repairs. This saves you retyping it every time.
• Enter your legal information once: SIRET (business registration number), ten-year liability insurance, VAT number. It carries over to every following quote.
• Save three templates: one for repairs, one for installation, one for maintenance. You'll just have to pick the right one when creating a quote.

Six setup mistakes come up in almost every plumbing business we work with. They skew quotes without anyone noticing. The details of the six mistakes are published here.

Creating a plumbing quote in Batigest, step by step

You have your four answers, Batigest is set up. Here's the sequence, from the first click to sending it.

1. Open a new quote and select the right template based on the type of job. No blank quote: start from the template.
2. Enter the client: type the first three letters of the name. If the client already exists, Batigest pulls up the address, SIRET and payment terms. If they're new, enter it once and it'll be saved.
3. Choose the service category matching the brief. The pre-filled items appear.
4. Adjust the quantities: this is the only line to change in 80% of cases. The unit price and margin are already calculated.
5. Add labor: Batigest suggests the average time entered for the item. Correct it if the job is unusual, but never start from scratch.
6. Check the total excl. VAT and the margin at the bottom of the screen. If the margin drops below 20%, the quote isn't right. Raise the issue with the client before sending it.
7. Save it: the quote moves to "Pending" status. It's saved, and you can edit it later without losing anything.

Seven steps, no re-entering data. The quote is ready to send.

Mandatory information on a plumbing quote

Checking mandatory information before sending

A quote missing mandatory information can be disputed. A quote with no validity period stays open indefinitely. The table above covers the seven points to check.

Two practical notes. First, the quote number is automatic in Batigest if you haven't disabled it: never replace it with a homemade system, you'll lose continuity. Second, ten-year liability insurance only applies to construction work, not simple repairs. Put it in the header, it doesn't take up much space.

Sending and following up without thinking about it

Once the quote is saved, Batigest offers to send it by email directly from the screen. The PDF is attached automatically. You don't have to save it, attach it and send it from your inbox: that's what takes an extra eight minutes for those who don't know about the feature.

After sending it, schedule an automatic follow-up for day 7. If the quote isn't signed, a second email goes out on day 14. The tone is neutral: "I wanted to follow up regarding the quote from [date]. Happy to answer any questions." No pressure, no insistence. The client signs or doesn't, but they have the information.

The automatic follow-up doesn't put clients off. It replaces what you forget to do on a Friday evening. How the follow-up process works in detail is explained here.

The three traps that waste time

Even with the method, three habits cancel out the gains.

• Starting the quote before having the full brief. You save three minutes on data entry and lose fifteen editing the finished quote.
• Entering every item by hand instead of using the templates. It's the first instinct. It's also the one that kills your margin, because you always forget a labor line.
• Sending the quote from your email inbox instead of Batigest. You lose the history, the quote status and the ability to follow up automatically.

The first trap affects everyone. The second disappears after a week of using templates. The third is a matter of setup, not skill.

When to hand off quote creation to an AI collaborator

The method above works. It still takes twelve minutes per quote, multiplied by the number of quotes per week. If you do fifteen or twenty, the total time exceeds four hours a week. That's the threshold above which delegating becomes worth it.

An AI collaborator set up on your current tools — Batigest, your inbox, your phone — can create the quote from the call notes, format it, send it and schedule the follow-up. You only open Batigest to approve it.

It's not a matter of skill. It's a matter of time you'd rather spend on the job site or at home. The solutions for construction and trades detail what's feasible. The subscription tiers are public, so you can check for yourself where you stand.

Creating a plumbing quote in Batigest: what really changes

The method doesn't transform your trade. It removes the back-and-forth between the phone, the paper and the screen. Twelve minutes instead of thirty-eight is one more quote per evening. Over a month, that's a whole weekend back.

If you want to test the method on your very next phone call, take the four questions, set it up once, and follow the seven steps. If you'd rather have someone handle it for you, the thirty-minute conversation will give you the answer.