The Fencing playbook
Covers wood privacy, vinyl, chain link, aluminum, farm and ranch
Linear-foot quotes with posts, gates, and grade handled before the crew rolls. A free starter setup: the intake questions Studio asks, structure-only starter quotes, and the nudges that make pricing learn from your own books.
Free to start · no credit card · structure only, never prices
What slows Fencing quoting down
Wood privacy, vinyl, chain link, farm and ranch — the same install quoted over and over, rebuilt from whatever you sent last, with the gates priced as an afterthought.
The linear feet are easy; the job is everything else — tear-out, grade changes, rock, access along the line, gate hardware — and quotes that skip those questions give the margin away before the auger hits dirt.
Generic tools price a fence like a product. Your quote has to separate materials, posts and concrete, gates, and labor — and say who calls in the utility locate before anyone digs.
What the playbook sets up on day one
All structure, no numbers — the scaffold your quotes hang on.
- Intake guidance for Studio: it establishes total linear footage and the layout by run, then asks what moves the price — fence style and height, post setting method and spacing, gate count, widths and hardware, tear-out of existing fence, grade changes, obstructions and access along the line, utility locate timing, and who confirms the property line.
- Two starter quote structures, by name: Fence Install (layout and prep, materials, gates, and labor as grouped sections, with posts and gates kept separate from the run) and Repair Visit (diagnostic-first, for posts, panels, and gates). Structure only — every price field starts unset.
- Crew-and-equipment profile hints in fencing language — augers, skid steer, drivers, the work you sub out like staining and gate automation, the fence lines you install and the yard you order from — so Studio speaks your setup from the start.
- A payment-terms suggestion (“Deposit at signing, balance on completion”) plus integration nudges: QuickBooks so Setell learns your real material and labor costs, inbound email so fence inquiries land as drafts, and the Deal Room so customers approve and sign from their phone.
What Setell learns from your own data
The playbook is the scaffold. The pricing comes from you.
- Your real material and labor costs from QuickBooks history — pickets, posts, concrete, gate hardware, crew time — mined from your recent invoices before your first Setell quote goes out.
- Your accepted quotes — every signed install sharpens your per-customer baselines by style and height, so suggestions converge on your numbers, not a canned per-foot rate.
- Your revision patterns — where the gate count changes and which lines customers question, learned from your own history.
- The receipts behind every number — suggested prices show their work on every line, so you can defend the quote at the fence line itself.
Structure on day one. Your prices, not ours.
A playbook never includes prices. Day one it gives you your trade’s structure; connect QuickBooks and Setell learns from what you actually paid and charged — and shows its work on every line.
See how the pricing engine learns →Fencing playbook: FAQ
Does the playbook come with pricing?
No — structure only. It sets up intake questions, phased starter structures, and profile hints; every price field starts unset. Pricing comes from your own data: connect QuickBooks and Setell learns from what you actually paid and charged — and shows its work on every suggested line.
Is the playbook free?
Yes. Applying a playbook is free — it is the starting scaffold for your account, not a paid add-on.
Does it handle gates and tear-out?
As first-class lines. The Fence Install structure keeps walk gates and drive gates separate from the run itself, and tear-out of the existing fence has its own line under layout and prep — the two places a per-foot number usually hides the real work.
How does it quote by linear foot without canned rates?
The structure carries the units — fence material, tear-out, and installation labor are linear-foot lines; posts and gates are each lines — and every rate starts unset. Connect QuickBooks and Setell learns your real per-foot numbers from what you have actually charged, then shows its work.
How do I apply it?
Three ways: pick it during onboarding, ask Studio in the app (“set me up with the fencing playbook”), or call the setell_apply_playbook MCP tool from your own agent.
What happens if I apply it again later?
Re-applying is safe. Setell returns a report of what it applied and what it skipped — and it never overwrites structures or settings you have edited.
Can I change the starter structures?
Yes — they become your templates the moment they are applied. Rename them, add or remove lines, change units, or set a different default.
Start with the structure
Apply the Fencing playbook during onboarding and send a structured quote today — the pricing gets smarter with every job you close.