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The customer bid link

Every sent bid in Flow has its own private web page your customer can open from their phone — no login, no app. It lives at a long, unguessable link (a tokenized URL) that is unique to that one bid version. Your customer reads the work and the price, decides on any optional items, and signs the bid right on the page — a consent checkbox, their typed name, and a Sign and approve button. The moment they sign, Flow emails them a PDF copy of exactly what they agreed to.

The link is minted when the bid is sent. It points at that one version only — if you revise the bid, the new version gets a brand-new link, and the old link stops showing prices and says "This bid has been updated" instead. An out-of-date link can never show a customer stale numbers as if they were live.

The link is a bearer link: anyone who has it can open the bid, the same way anyone holding a movie ticket can walk into the theater. There's no password. So treat it like you would a bid you emailed — send it to your customer, not to a group thread. The link itself is long and random enough that nobody can guess their way to it.

When you click Send bid in the builder, Flow emails the bid for you — the link plus the bid PDF attached — to the email address on the job.

If the customer has no email on file, or the email fails to deliver, the job's Stage 3 screen tells you so plainly. Either way, Stage 3 always shows a Customer link card with the full URL and a Copy link button, so you can text the link yourself — which is the natural move for the customer who lives in their messages anyway.

What your customer sees

When your customer opens the link, the page shows, top to bottom:

  • Your business name — your shop's, not Flow's — with the customer's name and site address, so they know it's the right bid.
  • "Where we are" — a short progress tracker (Site visit → Pricing the job → Sent to you → Sign & deposit → Work begins) with the current step highlighted.
  • A "PROPOSED — NOT FINAL" notice, which stays on the document until it's signed, so nobody mistakes a proposal for a contract.
  • Scope of work — what you captured on site, in plain English.
  • Proposed work — each line of the bid by its label with a price, and the Total. The bid version and when it was last updated are shown too.
  • Optional items, if you marked any — each with its price and a pair of Include / Skip buttons, and a running total that updates with their choices. Every option has to be decided before the bid can be signed.
  • Approve this bid — the signing panel (see below).
  • Text us / Call / Email buttons that reach your business's phone and email, so a question is one thumb-tap away.

Your costs stay private. The customer sees only the line labels and the prices — never your labor rates, hours, materials cost, markup, or margin. None of the internal math leaves your shop.

If a bid has been superseded, voided, or has expired, the link shows a short explanation and who to contact — no prices. A link that never existed shows a plain "not found" page and reveals nothing.

The page also prints cleanly — an unsigned copy carries the PROPOSED watermark and a pen-and-ink signature block, for the customer who'd rather sign on paper.

For your customer (Carla's view)

Share this section with a customer who asks what the link is.

You got a text or an email with a link to your bid. Opening it is safe and takes a few seconds:

  • You don't need an account or an app. Tap the link and the bid opens in your phone's browser.
  • It's built for your phone. Scroll to read the work and the total price.
  • If anything is listed as optional, it's your call. Tap Include or Skip for each one and watch the total update — the price you sign for is the price with your choices.
  • Signing is three steps. Check the box agreeing to sign electronically, type your full name, and tap Sign and approve. An electronic signature here is as binding as one on paper — the page says so before you sign.
  • You'll get a copy. The signed bid arrives in your email as a PDF the moment you sign, so you always have your own record.
  • You will not be asked for a password or a payment on this page. If something looks off, or you have a question, use the Text us button to reach your contractor directly.

After the signature

The signature is recorded with the signer's name and the date, and:

  • The bid locks — it can't be edited any more, and the page shows a "Signed — thank you" confirmation with the name and date instead of the signing panel.
  • The Signed bid gate on the job's Stage 3 screen turns green on its own — no back-office step needed.
  • The customer's signed PDF copy is emailed automatically.

What's not built yet

Being honest about the current limits:

  • No online deposit. There's no card or Apple Pay / Stripe checkout on the page. You collect the deposit the way you do now and record it on Stage 3.
  • No decline button. A customer who doesn't want the work just doesn't sign — and, ideally, texts you. Nothing on the page records a "no".
  • Email needs an address. Automatic delivery uses the email on the job; a customer with only a phone number gets the link from you, via the Copy link button on Stage 3.