One-click acceptance and deposits: making it easy to say yes

To get more quotes accepted, make saying yes a single step: one link or one reply that accepts the quote, confirms the start date and takes the deposit. Put the cancellation information and the deposit amount in the quote itself. For homeowners who agree the job at their home, or remotely as part of how you normally sell, the law usually gives them 14 days to cancel, so get their written request if they want you to start sooner.

Why does acceptance need to be easy?

Because the customer who has decided to go ahead is at their most willing the moment they read the price. If accepting means printing a form, signing it, scanning it and then waiting for bank details, some of them will put it off, and some of those won't come back.

He was describing how far he'd let a customer travel from quote to yes. If you've cut a quote from hours to minutes, a quote that's slow to accept wastes most of that gain.

What does one-click acceptance look like?

The quote arrives with one button or one instruction: "Accept and pay deposit". The customer clicks, sees a short summary of what they're agreeing to, confirms, and pays the deposit by card or bank transfer. You get a notification and the job goes in the diary.

You can do this with most job management and invoicing tools, a quoting tool with e-signature, or a payment link from your card provider. A low-tech version works too: "Reply YES to accept and I'll send the deposit link." The goal is the same: no printing, no forms, one action.

TO ACCEPT THIS QUOTE
Click "Accept" below, or reply YES to this message. We'll then send a payment link for the deposit of £deposit amount (% of the total), which secures your start date of date.

What you're agreeing to: the scope of work, price and payment terms on this quote, quote number Q-number, valid until date.

Your right to cancel: you have 14 days from the day you accept to cancel without giving a reason. To cancel, tell us in writing at email or address. If you've paid a deposit, we'll refund it.

If you'd like us to start before the 14 days are up, tell us in writing. If you then cancel, you'll pay for the work done up to that point.

I'd like business name to start the work on date, within the 14-day cancellation period. I understand that if I cancel after work has started, I'll pay for the work done up to the point I cancel. Customer name, date

What are the cancellation rules?

Under the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013, a domestic job agreed at the customer's home is an off-premises contract. One agreed only by email, message or phone is a distance contract if you sell that way as a normal part of your business, for example quoting from photos and taking acceptance online. In both cases the customer can cancel within 14 days, starting the day after the contract is made, without giving a reason.

How much deposit should you take?

Enough to cover the costs you'll commit before the next payment: materials ordered for the job, special-order items and securing the date. There's no fixed legal percentage. A deposit far larger than your early costs is harder to justify if the customer cancels, and harder to sell.

On longer jobs, follow the deposit with stage payments tied to visible milestones, so money comes in before you spend the next stage's costs. Deposits and stage payments covers the detail.

For a £42,000 job with a 20% deposit, that's £8,400 up front and £33,600 left to bill, or £8,400 per stage over four stages. Change the figures to your own job.

How should you take the deposit?

The fastest way is a payment link sent the moment they accept: card, Apple Pay or open banking through your card provider, or a direct debit through a service such as GoCardless, which a gas engineering firm we spoke to used alongside Xero. Bank transfer works but adds a step and a delay. Whatever you use, send a receipt immediately and tell them what happens next: the start date, who'll arrive and what they need to do.

If a customer accepts but doesn't pay the deposit, follow up within a day with the link again. That's a booking problem, not a sales one. Following up quotes has message wording, and quote win rate shows how acceptance speed shows up in your numbers.

Common questions