Ellie - Estimate Closer
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Ellie follows up with customers who have an open estimate from your team, to find out how they'd like to move forward. She works the way a good CSR works through the open-estimates report, using only what your ServiceTitan account tells her.
So when Ellie does something you didn't expect, the answer is almost always in your ServiceTitan records: an estimate's status, when it was written, what's on it, or whether the job behind it is finished. This article explains each rule she follows and why it's there. You can change most of them yourself by asking Jenny.
If you're here because Ellie texted a customer, or marked an estimate sold or declined, and you're not sure why, skip to Common questions at the end.
What Ellie does
Finds customers with an open estimate that fits one of your Ellie campaigns.
Texts them to see how they'd like to proceed, and answers questions using what's on the estimate.
When the customer says yes, records it and tells your team, so you can schedule the work.
When the customer says no and tells her why, records the decline in ServiceTitan so your team can see the reason.
Hands everything else to your team: pricing pushback, changes to the work, financing questions, complaints, and anything she can't answer from the estimate.
Ellie doesn't change prices or scope, negotiate, or offer discounts on her own.
Where Ellie gets her information
Ellie reads your ServiceTitan account, refreshed throughout the day:
Estimates: status (open, sold, dismissed), when each was written, the total, the name, line items and summary, and the proposal link if there is one.
Jobs: whether the job an estimate was written on is finished, and whether anything on it has already sold.
Follow-ups: whether your team has dismissed the follow-up on an estimate in ServiceTitan.
Customer records: phone numbers, residential or commercial, do-not-contact and do-not-service status, and tags.
She checks the estimate again every time she writes, including on follow-ups and replies. An estimate can be sold, re-priced or dismissed between one text and the next, and she always goes by what it says now.
Why this matters: Ellie can only be as accurate as your estimates. If an estimate that sold is still open in ServiceTitan, she'll follow up on it. If it's called "Option 2" with no line items, she can't tell the customer what it covers. Fix it in ServiceTitan and it's fixed for Ellie too.
What Ellie will and won't say about an estimate
She only quotes prices that are on the estimate. She never estimates, rounds or guesses a figure.
She only describes what the estimate itself says: its name, its line items and its summary. The job type and your service documents describe the visit in general, not what this customer was quoted, so she doesn't use them to describe an estimate.
If the estimate is just "Estimate 1" with no details, she tells the customer she doesn't have the breakdown in front of her and asks your office to send them an itemized copy.
If there's a proposal link on the estimate, she includes it so the customer can review it and sign.
She follows up on the customer's most recent estimate.
Who Ellie reaches out to
Each Ellie campaign is built around a group of customers with open estimates, described from your ServiceTitan data. Your account can run one campaign or several. Some examples contractors use:
Every open estimate from the last 30 days.
Larger estimates only, such as anything over $800.
Install and replacement quotes, separately from repair quotes, with more time before the first text, because a new system is a bigger decision.
One trade only, such as plumbing estimates.
Right after the visit: texting a few hours after a job with an open estimate is closed, while the visit is fresh.
A one-time message to everyone with an open quote, such as a notice that prices are going up on a set date.
If you can describe the group, Jenny can build the campaign and show you who's in it before anything sends.
When Ellie adds an estimate to her list
Every campaign has a window: how long after an estimate is written Ellie waits before her first text, and how long the estimate stays on her list.
With the standard setup, an open estimate is added two days (48 hours) after it was written and stays on her list until it's 30 days old.
Example: your tech writes an estimate on Monday, September 14th. It's added to Ellie's list on Wednesday, September 16th, and she texts that morning. It stays eligible until October 14th, unless it's sold, declined or dismissed first.
Why wait two days: it gives your tech and office the first chance to close it, and gives the customer time to look it over.
Windows are set per campaign. Common waits are 24 hours for repair quotes and 72 hours for install quotes. Common cutoffs are 14 or 30 days.
Which estimates and customers Ellie skips
Even with an estimate in the window, Ellie won't text about it if any of these are true:
It's sold, declined, or for $0. Only open estimates with a price are followed up.
Something else on the same job has already sold. The customer picked an option, so the others aren't still in play.
The customer bought something more recently. Usually that means they went with a different quote. Companies with more than one trade can have this apply per trade, so a sold plumbing job doesn't stop follow-up on an HVAC quote.
The job behind it isn't finished, or was no-charge. On most accounts, Ellie waits until the job is complete. Why: a text about the quote while your tech is still there, or before the work is wrapped up, comes too early.
Your team dismissed the follow-up in ServiceTitan. On most accounts, that tells Ellie your team has handled it.
They're marked do-not-contact or do-not-service, or have one of your exclusion tags. These always win.
They're a commercial customer, if the campaign is set to residential only.
They've ignored recent texts. If a customer's number has gone unanswered in two conversations with any of your agents in the last 60 days, no agent texts them until that 60-day stretch passes.
Ellie or another agent texted them recently. See If the customer doesn't reply.
When Ellie texts
Most Ellie campaigns work their list on weekday mornings, usually at 9:30 a.m. your shop's local time.
Campaigns that start from a finished job send a set time after the job closes, such as 30 minutes or two hours.
Each scheduled campaign has a daily limit, usually 50 to 100 texts, so a long list can take a few days to work through.
If the customer doesn't reply
On most accounts, Ellie sends two follow-ups: one two days after her first text, asking if they have questions, and a last one two days after that, saying your team is happy to walk through it whenever they're ready. Then she stops.
Follow-ups only go out on weekdays. One that falls on a Saturday or Sunday waits until Monday morning. Example: first text Wednesday, September 16th; follow-up Friday, September 18th; last follow-up Monday, September 21st.
She stops right away if the customer replies or opts out, or if the estimate is sold, dismissed, or no longer open.
Afterward, most accounts wait 30 days before any agent starts a new conversation with that customer. Since most estimates only stay on Ellie's list for 30 days, that usually means one conversation per estimate.
What happens when a customer replies
They're ready to go ahead: Ellie records the yes and tells your team, so you can schedule the work and take care of any deposit or paperwork. On most accounts, recording the yes marks the estimate sold in ServiceTitan. If your policy is that only your team marks an estimate sold, for example after a signature or a deposit, ask us and we'll have Ellie pass the yes to your team instead. On some accounts, Ellie can also book the work.
They're unsure but don't say why: she asks what would make the decision easier.
They say no without a reason ("no thanks"): she asks once what's holding them back. She doesn't record anything yet.
They say no and give a reason ("too expensive," "we went with someone else," "the system's fine for now"): she thanks them, stops asking, and records the decline and the reason on the estimate in ServiceTitan. If they're upset, she treats it as a firm no and doesn't push.
They want a copy of the estimate: she asks your office to email one. That can take up to one business day.
They ask about price changes, financing, a different option, or anything not on the estimate: she flags the conversation for your team and tells the customer someone will follow up.
They ask her to check back on a certain date: she schedules her next text for that day.
"Stop": she marks them do-not-contact, and that holds for every agent.
Conversations Ellie flags show as needing attention in your Conversations inbox, and your team is notified through the path set up for your account. For how escalation works, see Working Your Conversations Inbox.
How Ellie knows an estimate is done
Sold, declined or dismissed estimates come off her list as soon as ServiceTitan shows the change, and any follow-ups still waiting are cancelled.
A sale anywhere on the same job closes out the other options on that job.
She checks the estimate's current status before every text, so a sale your team closed this morning stops this afternoon's follow-up.
How to change how Ellie works
In ServiceTitan, your team controls the records Ellie reads:
Estimate status: mark estimates sold or declined when they are.
Estimate names, line items and summaries: what Ellie can tell a customer.
Dismissing an estimate's follow-up when your team has handled it.
Do-not-contact, do-not-service, residential or commercial, and your exclusion tags.
From Ellie's page in UpSmith:
Pause and resume her sends.
Change her send time, on the Settings tab under Schedule & limits.
With Ask Jenny, you can change who Ellie follows up with and how. Tell Jenny what you want in plain language. She shows you a before-and-after, and an audience preview for targeting changes, and nothing changes until you confirm. For example:
"Only follow up on estimates over $1,000." (changes the minimum)
"Wait three days before Ellie's first text on install quotes." (changes the wait)
"Keep following up on estimates up to 60 days old." (changes the cutoff)
"Only follow up on HVAC estimates." (limits trade or job type)
"Add a third follow-up a week after the second." (changes follow-ups)
"Send one follow-up instead of two." (changes follow-ups)
"Let customers with open quotes know our prices go up November 1st." (starts a new campaign)
"Make Ellie sound less formal." (changes her tone)
See Build & Edit Campaigns with Ask Jenny and Adjust Your Agent's Persona & Objectives.
Through UpSmith, ask us to change:
Whether Ellie marks an estimate sold when a customer says yes, or only passes the yes to your team.
Whether Ellie can book the work when a customer says yes.
How soon after a job closes Ellie texts, for campaigns that start from a finished job.
Email support@upsmith.com. We're also happy to help put a Jenny change into words.
Common questions
Why did Ellie text this customer?
They have an open estimate with a price, it's inside one of your Ellie campaign's windows (by default, written between 2 and 30 days ago), nothing on that job has sold, and none of the skip rules applied. To see which estimate she used, send us the conversation.
Why did Ellie follow up on an estimate we already sold?
Usually the estimate is still open in ServiceTitan: the sale was recorded on a different estimate, on another job, or on a duplicate customer record. Mark the estimate sold in ServiceTitan and Ellie stops. If it shows sold there, send us the conversation.
Why did Ellie mark an estimate sold?
The customer told her they wanted to go ahead, and on most accounts Ellie records that by marking the estimate sold. If your policy is that an estimate is only sold after a signature or deposit, ask us and we'll have Ellie pass the yes to your team instead.
Why did Ellie mark an estimate declined?
The customer told her they weren't moving forward and gave a reason. Ellie records the decline and the reason on the estimate so your team can see it. If the customer changes their mind, your team can reopen it in ServiceTitan.
Why did Ellie tell a customer she didn't have the details?
The estimate didn't have line items or a summary, just a name like "Option 2." Ellie won't guess what it covers, so she asked your office to send an itemized copy. Adding line items or a summary to estimates fixes it.
Why hasn't Ellie texted about an estimate I expected her to?
Check the skip rules: the job isn't finished, something on the job already sold, the customer bought something more recently, the follow-up was dismissed, the estimate is outside the window, or a do-not-contact flag or exclusion tag. If none of those apply, send us the customer's name and the estimate, and we'll check.
How do I stop Ellie following up on one estimate?
Mark it sold or declined in ServiceTitan, or dismiss its follow-up. To stop all texts to the customer, mark them do-not-contact or add one of your exclusion tags; that stops every agent.
Can I see how Ellie is doing?
Yes. Ask Jenny how many estimates Ellie followed up on, how many customers replied, and how many estimates sold after she reached out.