Thompson Electric

The Challenge

Before Quote Anvil, Thompson Electric was running their business the way most small electrical contractors do — with a patchwork of spreadsheets, paper forms, and sticky notes. Owner Mark Thompson spent at least 15 hours every week on paperwork: handwriting quotes, typing invoices, chasing payment status, and trying to keep track of which jobs were profitable.

The quoting process was the biggest bottleneck. A typical residential service call — replacing a panel, wiring a new addition, or installing an EV charger — required Mark to drive to the job site, measure and assess the scope, drive back to the office, look up material costs, type up a quote, print it, and either mail or hand-deliver it. Each quote took 30-45 minutes of actual office time, not counting the drive.

Material pricing was another source of frustration. Mark kept a paper notebook with supplier prices, but they were always out of date. He'd quote a job based on last month's prices, only to find the materials cost 15% more when he actually ordered them. That margin erosion added up to thousands of dollars in lost profit every year.

Payment collection was the worst part. Thompson Electric was sending paper invoices and waiting 45+ days on average to get paid. Some commercial customers stretched payments to 60 or even 90 days. Mark was spending hours every week on the phone asking customers when they were going to pay — time he could have spent actually working on jobs.

The Switch

'I knew there had to be a better way,' Mark says. 'I tried a few generic invoicing apps, but none of them understood how electrical contractors actually work. I needed something that could handle service calls and big installs, track materials properly, and make it easy for customers to pay online.'

That's when Mark found Quote Anvil. The first thing he noticed was how fast he could create a quote. With pre-built templates for electrical work — service calls, panel upgrades, EV charger installs, new construction — he could create a professional quote in under 5 minutes, right from his phone at the job site.

The Results

The online payment feature was a game-changer. Mark started including a 'Pay Now' link in every quote and invoice. Customers could pay by credit card or ACH with one click. Within the first month, average payment time dropped from 45 days to 10 days. Some customers were paying before Mark even got back to the shop.

The results were dramatic. With 90% faster quotes, Mark could bid on more jobs and win more work. Service calls doubled within 90 days because he could respond to inquiries immediately instead of saying 'I'll get you a quote tomorrow.' Faster payments improved cash flow, so Mark could buy materials without using credit cards. And with automated follow-ups, he stopped chasing payments entirely.