Set your service area
Overview
Labor costs aren't the same everywhere. The national average is a long way from what an hour costs in Omaha, and a long way again from Seattle. Until Setell has your own signed quotes to learn from, it has to start somewhere — and by default it starts from the national number.
Service area is where you tell it your market. It's one small form in Settings, and it only matters for cold-start pricing: the quotes you send before Setell has your history. Once you have signed work behind you, your own numbers win and this setting stops doing anything.
Set this on day one. It's the difference between your first quotes being priced for your town and being priced for the average of the whole country.
Before you start
- Nothing to connect. This is a form, not an integration.
- It's on every plan.
- Know your city, your state, and ideally the postal code where you work.
Set it
- Open Settings and find the Service area card.
- Fill in City, State / province, and Postal code.
- Save. The card tells you what it matched on.
You don't have to fill in all three. More detail means a closer match, and the card is honest about which one it used.
What it matched on
Setell resolves your entry to a market and says which signal answered:
| What the card says | What it means |
|---|---|
| matched on postal code | The precise read — your metro, keyed off the code you gave. |
| matched on city + state | Your city named a metro area. Suburbs often fall through to the state instead; that's expected, not a failure. |
| matched on state — add a city or postal code to narrow it | It got as far as your state. Add a city or postal code for a closer read. |
If nothing matches — a typo, or somewhere Setell doesn't have the crosswalk for yet — your entry is still saved, and pricing stays national. Setell says so rather than showing you a green check for a match that never happened.
What happens next
- Cold-start pricing on new quotes calibrates to your market instead of the national average.
- It never overrides your own history. Once you have signed quotes and imported jobs, those are already local — they're your prices, from your town — and they always win. This only fills the gap before them.
- It's a one-time thing. Change it if you move; otherwise set it and forget it.
- Nothing about this reaches your customers. It's an input to pricing, not something printed on a quote.
Ask Setell instead
In Studio: "My service area is Omaha, NE" or "My postal code is 68106." Same setting, same one value — the card and Studio are two views onto it.
Troubleshooting
- The card says "matched on state". Your city didn't name a metro area — common for suburbs. Add the postal code to narrow it.
- Nothing matched at all. Check the postal code for a typo. Outside the US, the metro crosswalk isn't seeded yet, so pricing stays national — that's the same behavior as before you filled it in, not a broken setting.
- My quotes didn't change price after I set it. If Setell already has your history, that's correct — your own numbers were already in charge. This setting only moves cold-start numbers.
- Still stuck →
docs/reference/troubleshooting.
FAQ
- Is my address enough? No — the company address on your invoices is free text, meant for printing. These are the structured fields pricing can actually key on.
- Does it cost anything? No. It's on every plan.
- Does it change quotes I've already sent? No. Sent quotes are versions and never change.
- Can I clear it? Yes — empty the fields and save. Pricing goes back to the national baseline.
Related
docs/getting-started/shop-profile · docs/quotes/job-site-data · docs/insights/your-patterns · docs/import/quickbooks-history
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