Everything You Need to Get Quoting in Under 3 Hours
Welcome to SetSale! We built this system so you can focus on what you do best — helping homeowners and closing deals. SetSale handles the rest: matching equipment, calculating pricing, building presentations, and getting contracts signed.
This guide walks you through setup in priority order.
Setup at a Glance
# | What To Do | Time | Impact |
1 | Log in & add your team | 5 min | You can't do anything else without this |
2 | Set up your equipment tiers | 30–60 min | The brain of the system — highest impact |
3 | Configure your pricing | 15–20 min | Makes sure every quote is priced correctly |
4 | Build a test quote | 5 min | See everything come together |
5 | Set up financing | 10 min | Accurate monthly payments for customers |
6 | Customize your presentation | 10–15 min | Make it look and sound like yours |
Total estimated setup time: 2–3 hours spread over a few days. You can start quoting at any point — even 50% set up is better than what you're doing today.
Step 1: Log In & Add Your Team
⏱ Time estimate: 5 minutes
Log In for the First Time
You'll receive an invitation email from SetSale. Click the link, set your password, and you're in. Bookmark app.setsale.ai for easy access.
On a phone or tablet? Save the page to your home screen — it works just like a native app. You can jump between your field service app and SetSale without missing a beat.
Add Your Company Info
Go to Settings → Company. Upload your company logo and add your business details. This automatically appears on every quote and presentation.
Invite Your Team
Go to Settings → Members. Click Invite New Member and enter their email. Assign a role:
Sales: For technicians and salespeople. They can build and view their own quotes. They cannot see equipment costs, other people's quotes, or company pricing settings.
Owner: For administrators and business owners. Full access to all pricing, settings, quotes, and cost breakdowns.
✨ Pro Tip: If you have dedicated salespeople (not tech-sold), add them before the onboarding call so they can follow along and build quotes themselves.
Step 2: Set Up Your Equipment Tiers
⏱ Time estimate: 30–60 minutes — This is the most important step.
This is where you tell SetSale what equipment to offer in each tier. Think of it as building your playbook: when a technician selects "3-ton AC & Furnace," the system already knows what your Platinum, Gold, Silver, and Budget options should look like.
Where To Go
Settings → Quoting → System Templates
What You're Doing
For each system type (AC & Furnace, Heat Pump, Dual Fuel, etc.), you'll configure four tiers. Each tier has:
Spec filters (left side): Compressor stage, fan speed, furnace efficiency, brand. These filter your equipment to what belongs in that tier.
Equipment list (right side): The specific models that match your filters. Deselect individual items you don't want.
Available Matchups (bottom): Every valid AHRI-certified combination. This is the master list the system filters from when creating quotes.
✨ Pro Tip: Start with the system type you quote the most (probably AC & Furnace). Get that dialed in, then move to Heat Pump, Dual Fuel, etc. You can delete templates you don't use (rooftop units, etc.).
Common Setups We See
Single-stage equipment for your Budget tier, two-stage for Silver/Good, variable for Gold/Better and Platinum/Best.
If you're a single-brand dealer, filter to your brand on each tier. Dual-brand dealers often create separate templates (e.g., "AC & Furnace – Carrier" and "AC & Furnace – York").
Bottom tier as a Repair option — shows the customer that a repair costs nearly as much as a new system. Great for closing replace deals.
Rename tiers to match your terminology: Best/Better/Good/Budget, Premium/Standard/Economy, or whatever your team uses.
Add thermostats or accessories via the Additional Equipment section at the bottom of the template page.
⚠️ Heads Up: If a tier doesn't show up when you build a test quote, come back here and check the Available Matchups table. Usually the spec filters are too narrow for the selected tonnage or cabinet size.
Step 3: Configure Your Pricing
⏱ Time estimate: 15–20 minutes
This controls how every quote is priced. Get this right and every quote your team sends will be accurate — automatically.
Where To Go
Settings → Pricing
Job Costing
Choose Gross Margin or Markup and set your default percentage. Most HVAC contractors use gross margin at 40%.
Gross margin of 40% on a $1,000 cost = $1,666.67 sell price.
Markup of 40% on a $1,000 cost = $1,400 sell price.
They are not the same thing — make sure you pick the right one.
You can add rules for exceptions. Common ones:
Thermostats at a lower margin (expensive retail cost).
Different margins per tier (e.g., Best at 55%, Better at 50%, Good at 45%, Budget at 40%).
Permits or pass-through costs at 0% margin.
Price Drivers
Labor: Enter your lead installer + helper hourly rates. The system adds them together and multiplies by install hours (default 8, adjustable per quote). If you pay flat rate, set the rate to your flat amount and hours to 1.
Overhead: If your margin already includes overhead (most do at 40%+), set this to 0%. Otherwise your prices will be inflated.
Credit card fee: Default 3%. Included in cost calculation.
Tax rate: Add if your distributor doesn't include tax. If you pay tax at the supply house, leave this off.
Commissions & Discounts
Set a default commission percentage (or per-tier / per-salesperson). Add standard discounts: cash, military, senior, membership. You control whether technicians can create custom discounts.
✨ Pro Tip: After adjusting pricing, build a new test quote (Step 4) and check Show Details at the bottom. Compare the numbers to how you're pricing today. Bring any discrepancies to your onboarding call — we'll help you dial it in.
Step 4: Build a Test Quote
⏱ Time estimate: 5 minutes
This is where everything comes together. Build a quote to see your settings in action.
Click New Quote from the main dashboard.
Enter a test customer. Use your own name, email, and phone so you can see the customer experience.
Choose a system type (e.g., AC & Furnace) and select specs: tonnage, cabinet size, airflow.
Click Create Quote — the system generates four tiered options based on your settings.
Click Preview to see the full customer-facing quote with descriptions, equipment, and pricing.
Click Share to send it to yourself via email and text. Open it on your phone to see exactly what your customer sees.
Things to check on your test quote:
Are the right equipment models in each tier?
Do prices make sense for your market?
Is the AHRI number green (valid matchup)? Click it — it opens the AHRI database for certificate downloads.
Click Show Equipment Details — brochures and spec sheets should appear.
Scroll to the bottom, click Show Details — does the cost breakdown look right?
✨ Pro Tip: Quotes lock in pricing rules at creation time. If you change settings later, existing quotes stay the same (this protects your customers). Build a new quote to see updated pricing.
Step 5: Set Up Financing
⏱ Time estimate: 10 minutes
Where To Go
Settings → Quoting → Financing
What To Do
Delete the default loans — these are examples only and will produce inaccurate monthly payments.
Add your lender application link at the top. Customers are directed to apply immediately after signing.
Add your real loan options. Enter manually (rate, term, fee) or drag-and-drop your lender's rate sheet.
The "fee" column is the financing company's charge to you (not the customer). SetSale bakes it into your job pricing so you're never upside-down on a financed deal.
✨ Pro Tip: Keep it to 4–5 loan options. Your technicians and customers don't need 15 choices — they need the right ones.
Step 6: Customize Your Presentation
⏱ Time estimate: 10–15 minutes
When you share a quote, customers see an interactive presentation that educates them about their system and walks them through your options. It builds credibility and makes the sale feel professional.
Where To Go
Settings → Presentation
Quick Wins
Update the "Our Promise" and "Our Guarantee" slides with your real company info.
Add your Google reviews — copy and paste your best 5-star reviews.
Pick a voiceover voice (7 AI options, or record your own per slide).
Set brand colors — click "Detect from Website" and enter your URL.
Review contract language under the Checkout tab.
Spanish language option available.
Hide slides you don't want. Equipment-specific slides auto-appear only when relevant.
✨ Pro Tip: Don't try to perfect every slide before you start quoting. Get the basics in (reviews, company info, colors) and refine over time.
Bonus: Understanding Services, Supplies & Upgrades
These three categories add items to quotes beyond core equipment. Understanding the difference will save you time:
Category | Customer Sees It? | Price Included? | Use It For |
Services | Yes (name only, not price) | Yes, baked into total | Labor warranties, electrical work, inspections, memberships, demo work |
Install Supplies | No — completely hidden | Yes, baked into total | Fittings, line sets, permits, or a flat material kit ($800 bundle) |
Upgrades | Yes — as toggleable add-ons | Optional — customer chooses | Air purifiers, humidifiers, duct cleaning, UV lights, extended warranties |
Configure these in Settings → Quoting → Services / Supplies / Upgrades.
For upgrades and services, you can add images, videos, and bullet points that turn them into clickable links on the quote — great for helping customers understand the value of add-ons like air purifiers or memberships.
Install supplies can be automated per system type (e.g., every AC & Furnace quote automatically includes $800 of material costs) so your technicians never forget to account for materials.
Getting Help
We're here to make sure you succeed:
Method | Details |
In-App Chat | Click the blue chat bubble in the bottom-right corner of your SetSale screen. It searches our knowledge base first, then connects you directly to our team. |
Onboarding Call | A live session with your Customer Success contact. We walk through settings, build quotes together, and answer every question. |
Follow-Up Sessions | We'll schedule a follow-up in 1–3 weeks. We can also run a separate training for your sales team once settings are locked in. |
Reply to any email from SetSale — it goes directly to your CS contact. |