CRM for custom sauna builders: pricing a room that does not exist yet
The estimate is a drawing and a price at the same time, and the price has to follow the drawing while the client is still watching.
By Eugene Romanov·Published
The short answer
A custom sauna builder is estimating a room nobody has built yet, so the drawing and the price are one object. What that needs: a 2D planner where dragging a corner moves the neighbouring walls and reprices the room as it moves, wall elevations drawn at one scale so two walls can be compared by eye, and deposits that land in the builder's own payment account. A system like this runs in production for a builder in California. From $2,000 over 30 to 45 days.
SHT-02What drives the number
The planner has to reprice while the shape changes
Drag a corner and the neighbouring walls move with it, because a diagonal wall prices a room nobody can frame. The area, the material take-off and the price follow the drag rather than being recalculated afterwards by hand. That is the difference between a drawing tool and an estimating tool: in one, the price is a separate step somebody remembers to redo, and in the other it cannot be out of date.
Elevations at one scale, because the crew reads them
Each wall is drawn as its own elevation, all at the same scale on purpose, so two walls can be compared by eye without reading the numbers. Doors default to swinging outward. Rough openings add their own margin, so the crew is not doing that arithmetic on site with a pencil. These are small decisions that only look small until a bench is framed against a drawing that disagreed with the wall next to it.
The caller card arrives before the phone rings
An inbound call lands and a card is already in Telegram: who is calling, the number in a tappable form, and the last project they discussed. By the time the phone is answered the context is there. Recording is off by default, because in several states both parties have to agree to it, and a call can never move a project on its own: only a person can.
Deposits into the builder's own account
Built on Stripe Connect so the money lands in the builder's account rather than passing through the studio. Bank transfer is offered alongside card because on a large deposit the card fee is the difference between a few dollars and a few hundred, and fees are computed in whole cents with refunds returning the fee proportionally. The estimate, the contract and the certificate of completion are signed in the same place, and the signed document is stored beside the project rather than in a separate signature service.
The rest of the working day
Stock comes off the shelf when a client approves, once, even if the notification fires twice. Crew payouts run under one rule instead of three that disagreed. Reports agree with each other because revenue is defined in one module. The crew moves a project forward by tapping a button rather than typing, and the bot refuses free text and voice notes on purpose, because one misheard word would move a real job.
Deliberately no AI in this one
Both AI features this system inherited were removed. Neither could actually run, and one of them reported work it had not done. Saying so out loud is more useful to the next builder than a feature list that quietly implies otherwise, and it is the honest version of what an agent is for: answering a call and handing it to a person, not deciding anything about a job.
SHT-03The options, side by side
What each route actually costs you.
| Option | Price | Timeline | The trade-off |
|---|---|---|---|
| General field-service CRM | Per seat, per month | Same day | Schedules jobs and sends invoices. The drawing and the take-off live somewhere else, and the price is retyped from them. |
| CAD plus a spreadsheet | Licence plus time | Already there | Accurate drawings and accurate arithmetic, kept in step by a person. It works right up until a change lands late and only one of the two gets updated. |
| A configurator from a kit supplier | Free with the product | Minutes | Prices their catalogue, not your build. Useful for a stock room, useless the moment the room is custom. |
| A system built for the trade | From $2,000 | 30-45 days | The drawing and the price are one object, and the deposit lands in your account. Costs more up front and needs one person inside the company to say how it should behave. |
SHT-04General notes
The questions people actually ask.
- N01Why does the planner move neighbouring walls when I drag a corner?
- Because a diagonal wall prices a room nobody can frame. Constraining the shape to something buildable is what makes the price meaningful rather than merely fast.
- N02Are all the wall elevations drawn at the same scale?
- Yes, deliberately. At one scale two walls can be compared by eye without reading the numbers, which is how a crew actually reads a sheet.
- N03Where does the deposit go?
- Into the builder's own payment account, by card or bank transfer. Fees are computed in whole cents and a refund returns the fee proportionally.
- N04Is the call recorded?
- Not by default. In several states both parties must agree to a recording, so the switch is off until it is turned on deliberately.
- N05Does the system have an AI assistant?
- This one does not, on purpose. The two features it inherited were removed because neither could run and one reported work it had not done. A voice agent that answers and hands off to a person is a different thing and does exist.
- N06What does it cost?
- From $2,000 over 30 to 45 days. A $500 Blueprint maps the process first and is credited 100% toward a build within 60 days. The audit is free and same day.