The Problem
Contractors are busy. They’re on job sites, in trucks, on ladders. The last thing they want to do is log into a quoting tool, fill out forms, and fiddle with templates. But they still need to send professional quotes to win jobs.
We asked: what if quoting was as easy as sending a text message?
What We Built
SnapQuote is an SMS-based quoting tool. A contractor sends a text describing their job — materials, labor, line items, whatever they have — and our system uses AI to parse the message, extract the line items, and generate a clean, branded PDF quote. The contractor gets a link back in seconds.
There’s nothing to install. No account to create. It just works.
How It Works
- Contractor texts a description of the job to a designated number
- Our AI parses the message and extracts line items, descriptions, and pricing
- A PDF quote is generated with their branding
- A shareable link is texted back within seconds
- The client receives a professional quote they can approve or discuss
The Tech Stack
We built SnapQuote as a Python/FastAPI backend with Twilio handling SMS routing. The AI parsing layer uses Claude (Anthropic) to extract structured line items from unstructured contractor text — handling everything from “demo bathroom tile + new install 200sqft @$4/sqft” to full paragraph job descriptions.
Quotes are generated as PDFs and stored server-side with unique links. The admin dashboard lets Haven Tech monitor submissions, view quote history, and manage customers.
What We Learned
The hardest part wasn’t the AI — it was designing a conversation flow that felt natural over SMS. Real contractor messages are messy. They abbreviate, skip punctuation, mix materials with labor without clear separation. The parsing logic went through several iterations before it handled edge cases gracefully.
We also built in confusion detection: when the AI isn’t confident about a line item, it asks the contractor a targeted clarifying question rather than guessing. This keeps quote accuracy high without requiring a perfect input.
The Result
A working product, built lean, that solves a real problem for a specific user. SnapQuote is live and actively being refined based on real usage. It’s a good example of how we work: identify a sharp problem, find the simplest technical solution, ship it, and iterate.
Interested in something like this?
We build custom tools like SnapQuote for businesses that have a specific problem and want a purpose-built solution — not an off-the-shelf product that almost fits.
Talk to Us