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Interior Designer looking happy because they just sent a proposal with Sidemark

New Feature: Proposals & Estimates for Interior Designers

October 17, 20235 min read

Hey interior designer, are you tired of juggling multiple pieces of software to complete your sales and marketing tasks as an interior designer?

Keep scrolling for video 👇

Well, we have exciting news for you! Introducing Sidemark's new proposals and estimates feature. This new feature allows you to design stunning proposals in a drag-and-drop style web editor. Then, simply send them to multiple recipients to be e-signed, all without having to use another app or piece of software. Say goodbye to the hassle of logging into different platforms - get ready to streamline your sales process like never before.

Get ready to revolutionize your business and take your interior design game to the next level with Sidemark.

Feature Highlights

  • Drag-and-Drop Editor: Easily create stunning on-brand proposals and contracts in an easy-to-use interface that you're already familiar with -it's just like our email editor!

  • Multimedia support: Embed videos, photos, background images, pricing tables, and more to create professional proposals in minutes!

  • Multiple party signing: Get approval and signoff from multiple stakeholders in any project.

  • Customizable Proposal Sending Emails: It's not just the proposal that matters! Send your proposals inside of custom designed email templates that match your brand.

Why This Feature Is a Game Changer

Until now, you couldn't have your entire interior design sales and marketing process in Sidemark, because you still needed to get contracts and service agreements signed. Since most of you aren't doing paper signing, that means you needed software for e-signatures. Signing the contract is the final stage of the sales process, and now you can accomplish this right within Sidemark!

Bye bye DocuSign....

You also have a lot of freedom to design custom proposals to match your brand with our easy-to-use drag-and-drop editor. You're already familiar with the layout from our email editor. Landing more high ticket interior design clients means you need to have your processes dialed-in and on-brand. That just got easier with this new feature.

Where Can You Find the New Feature in Sidemark?

You can find the new Proposals & Estimates feature in the Payments section of Sidemark. In your left-hand menu, find the link to the Payments tab. Once you're inside of Payments, you will now see Proposals & Estimates in the navigation bar at the top of your screen.

How To Use Proposals & Estimates

To use this feature, navigate to the new Proposals & Estimates feature (see previous section, if you need help locating it).

Custom HTML/CSS/JAVASCRIPT
Custom HTML/CSS/JAVASCRIPT

1. Click the "+ New" Button in the Upper Right of the Screen

When you click the + New button you will see a dropdown that allows you to choose between new proposal and new estimate. Is there a practical difference between the two? Depends, but it's more about how you're going to use them. You will have the same design options either way. It's just a way to help you organize your document types.

2. Design Your Proposal or Estimate

Use the simple interface to add text, photos, and more to your document. You can upload background images as well as embed videos for true customization. We have also included an optional product list element that allows you to add a clean list of services and pricing.

Side note: If you don't see any products when you add a product list element, you can add them under the "Products" tab in the payments section.

3. Add Signature Blocks and Recipients

Once you're happy with the way your proposal looks, the next step is to add your primary recipient along with anyone else you need an e-signature from. Start by clicking the Recipients Icon in the upper-left corner. Then select a primary recipient from your contact list.

Once you've selected the primary recipient, you will have the option of adding one or more secondary recipients.

Now, simply add signature blocks in your proposal where you need the recipients to e-sign.

"What if I need to sign it too?" Don't worry - the user creating the proposal is always a selectable option when you add a signature block!

4. Design a Custom Email to Send your Proposal

Custom HTML/CSS/JAVASCRIPT

To customize the email that is sent with the link to the proposal, simply create a new email template under Marketing > Email > Templates. You can add dynamic variables to your email that link to the proposal.

Once you've designed your proposal template, just hit "save."

Now go back to the Proposals & Estimates section and click the "Settings" button in the upper-right corner. Under the customer notifications tab you will see the ability to select a template for "Document Received." This is the email the customer receives when you first send the document. The template you just created will now be a selectable option when you send a proposal or estimate.

If you want to customize the notification email that your client receives after signing, you can do that by following the same process as above. Then simply select that template from the dropdown under the "Document Signed" section of the "Customer Notification" screen.

Pro Tip: You can also customize the notification email that you or your team sees on the right by clicking "Team Notifications" and following the same process.

5. Send Your Proposal and Close the Deal

Before you send your proposal, be sure and hit "save." All you have to do now is hit "send." Your client will be sent your proposal via the email template that you created and selected (see previous section). If you do not select a custom template, then a default template will be used.

Sign Up For Your Free Demo Today!

Not a current Sidemark subscriber? What are you waiting for? Sign up for your free one-on-one demo today and see what all the hype is about. Get ready to see your interior design business grow!

Ben has been in the world of local, service-based business marketing for over 12 years. Specializing in strategy, he loves helping interior designers create low-effort marketing systems that work seamlessly together to generate leads and grow businesses.

Ben Rutledge

Ben has been in the world of local, service-based business marketing for over 12 years. Specializing in strategy, he loves helping interior designers create low-effort marketing systems that work seamlessly together to generate leads and grow businesses.

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