“How much for tint?”
Every tint shop gets that message. It’s a fair question. It’s just missing everything you need to answer it: what they drive, which windows, which film, how dark, and whether there’s old tint to strip first. So you text back with five questions, wait, and text back again.
A good quote form asks those questions up front, in an order the customer can actually answer, so your first reply can be a price or a time to come in, not an interview.
Below is each field, why it’s there, and what happens when the customer doesn’t know the answer. The examples come from the quote flow I built for Fitchin Auto Detail & Tint, the shop I started. It’s live, so you can click through it yourself.
If you want the bigger argument, about why a guided form changes which film people pick, that’s in How Smart Quote Forms Help Local Businesses Increase Average Job Value. This post is the practical part: the fields.
Why a name, a phone number and a message box aren’t enough
A plain contact form hands you a name, a number and “how much for tint?” Then the real quote starts over text:
- What year, make and model?
- Which windows: all of them, or just the fronts?
- Carbon or ceramic? (Most people don’t know there’s a difference.)
- How dark?
- Is there old tint on it now?
Every one of those is a round trip. A quote form asks them once, in order, and sends you the answers together.
The fields, in the order customers can answer them
1. What service they need
Fitchin’s form opens with “What service do you need?”: window tint, auto detailing, ceramic coating, or home and business tint. Vehicle services can be combined.
Home and business tint goes down a different path. The form tells the customer it’s “handled as a custom request so we can measure the glass and quote it correctly”, then asks a few short questions instead of showing a price. For a home, that’s what they want to improve, roughly how many windows, what kind of glass, and whether there’s old film on it. Boats, RVs, motorcycles, semis and other unusual vehicles get a “Request a custom quote” link.
Why it’s there: a sedan and a storefront need different questions. Splitting them on the first screen keeps both paths short.
2. The vehicle: year, make, model, and which version
Year, then make, then model, picked from dropdowns. The list covers 450+ makes, models and body styles, and the price follows the vehicle type. The form says why it’s asking: “Pick your vehicle so we can price the right window layout.”
Two follow-up questions show up only when they matter:
- Which version? Some models come in more than one body style or cab size. When the year, make and model match more than one, the form asks which. For pickup cab sizes it adds: “Not sure? Choose the closest match. We’ll verify it before the final price is confirmed.”
- Third row? When a model comes in a regular and a larger three-row version, the form asks which one, because they price differently.
If the vehicle isn’t in the list, there’s a “Can’t find your vehicle? Enter it manually” link.
Why it’s there: the vehicle decides how many windows there are and how big they are. Without it, any number you give is a guess.
3. Which windows
Each option says exactly what’s included:
- Full vehicle tint: “All side and rear windows. Windshield is an optional add-on.”
- Front two windows only
- Just the windshield
- Just a sun strip
“Something else?” opens a custom request with a notes box and an optional photo.
Why it’s there: the price the customer sees should match the job you’re going to do. Saying up front that the windshield isn’t part of “full” means nobody is surprised at drop-off.
4. Film
Carbon, Nano Ceramic and Ceramic IR, side by side, in plain words, with the price for that vehicle and the difference between them spelled out. Under the heading “Pick your tint film”, the screen says: “All films block heat — upgraded films block more.”
Why it’s there: I spent years at Fitchin’s counter answering the same tint questions. Most customers don’t know carbon from ceramic, and I watched people pick the cheapest film because nobody showed them the difference. The form shows it.
If they don’t know: they don’t have to. The form never asks for a film name out of thin air. It shows three choices with what each one does, and the customer picks from that.
5. How dark
One shade for every window, or a different shade for the front windows, the back side windows and the back glass, since lighter up front and darker in back is common. The screen tells the customer the price is the same whatever shade they choose.
If they don’t know: each window group has a “Not sure — recommend for me” option. It asks one easier question, “What matters most to you?” (privacy, heat rejection, a subtle look, or the best of all three), and suggests a shade from the answer. The shop applies that suggestion when it prepares the job. On front-windows-only jobs there’s also “Match the back”: the shop meters the factory back glass and matches it at drop-off.
Shade is where tint law comes in, so the add-ons screen and the final quote both carry one plain line: “Check your local laws — tint regulations vary by state.”
6. Old tint
Old tint removal is a choice on the add-ons screen: “Yes, my windows already have tint that needs removed.” Its note says that badly bubbled, layered or difficult film may need a look at drop-off.
Why it’s there: as the form puts it on the home-and-business side, “Old film that needs removed adds time to the job.” Asking before the total, not after, keeps that time in the price the customer sees.
If they don’t know: on home and business requests, “Is there existing film on the glass?” has a “Not sure” answer, and those jobs are measured before they’re priced anyway. On a vehicle, the optional notes box (below) is the place to say “I think there’s old tint on the back.”
7. Add-ons
Sun strip, full windshield and sunroof are simple tap-to-add tiles, with “No thanks, continue” already selected. The sunroof tile only appears when the vehicle actually has one.
Why it’s there: an add-on asked before the total isn’t a surprise after it. A question that doesn’t apply to the vehicle shouldn’t be on the screen at all.
8. Contact details
Name and phone are required. Email is optional. At Fitchin they’re asked after the customer has picked the windows and seen the film prices for their vehicle, not on the first screen, and they’re saved right then. If someone stops before the end, the shop still has the lead.
9. “Anything we should know?”
One optional box on the contact screen, up to 500 characters. It’s where customers put the things the buttons don’t cover, like old tint or when they want it done.
Photos are asked for only on the custom-request path (unusual vehicles and “something else”), and they’re optional there too: “A picture helps us quote faster.”
Why it’s optional: the goal isn’t a longer form. The form asks for what it needs to price the job and leaves everything else as a choice.
When the customer doesn’t know the answer
Plenty of customers won’t know some of these answers. A good form plans for that instead of stalling. The patterns above, in one list:
- Give them a “Not sure” answer instead of forcing a guess.
- Ask an easier question. “What matters most to you?” is easier to answer than “What percentage do you want?”
- Let them pick the closest match, and say you’ll check it.
- Show, don’t quiz. Put the films side by side instead of asking for a film name.
- Hand odd cases to a person. Unusual vehicles and “something else” become a custom request that the shop prices by hand.
- Keep the extras optional. The windshield, sun strip, sunroof, email, notes and photos are all optional.
Each one keeps the lead moving, and the shop can see exactly what it still needs to confirm.
A quote is not a booking
At the end, the customer sees a total for their vehicle and a quote number. If they gave an email, the same quote lands in their inbox, good for 14 days.
That quote is still provisional, and the screen says so: “Prices confirmed when we see your vehicle. Final amount verified at drop-off.” It also says no payment is taken online.
Booking is a separate step. At Fitchin, the customer texts the shop to book. Online booking with a time slot and a deposit can be built into the same flow (it’s built for Fitchin, but switched off, because the shop books by text).
Keep a quote provisional whenever something the form can’t see could change the job:
- the customer picked the closest vehicle match instead of being sure
- the shade came from a recommendation, not a choice
- the old film is bubbled, layered or hard to get off
- it’s an unusual vehicle that went through a custom request
- it’s home or business glass, which gets measured first
Don’t hide the number. Say on the quote what still gets checked, and when.
What the shop gets
When a quote comes through, the shop gets an email with the vehicle, coverage, film, shades, add-ons, line items and total, plus an add-to-calendar button. Every lead also lands on a dashboard, and anything open for more than two days gets a “needs follow-up” flag.
So the first call back is a confirmation, not an interview.
The short version
Always ask:
- the service (and send home, business and unusual vehicles to a custom request)
- year, make and model, plus the version or third row when it matters
- which windows
- which film, shown side by side
- name and phone
Ask, with a “Not sure” answer:
- shade for each window group
- old tint, on home and business glass
Offer, but don’t require:
- windshield, sun strip and sunroof
- old tint removal
- a notes box, and a photo on custom requests
Show, don’t ask:
- what each film does
- what each coverage option includes
- a reminder that tint laws vary by state
- what’s confirmed at drop-off
If your form only asks for a name, a number and a message, you’re doing all of this by text. That’s the problem I build websites for tint shops to solve, and the Fitchin case study shows the build behind these screens.
Want a second set of eyes on your shop’s quote process? Send me your current site or form, or the Facebook page you’re using instead, and tell me how you price. I’ll tell you straight what I’d change. Send it over